CHAP.XX.

[Contents]CHAP.XX.A Rebel Negro described—Bush-fighting—Sentimental Expressions of the African Blacks—The Town of Gado-Saby taken by Colonel Fourgeoud—Superstition—Wonderful Expedients—Great Generalship in the Enemy.On the 15th of August 1775, the rebels, flushed with their late victory over Captain Meyland and his party, whether with a design to brave Fourgeoud, or to intimidate his troops, being well apprised by their spies that he was at Barbacoeba, had the assurance to set fire to all the huts in two different camps which had been left standing by his patroles, while they continued shouting and hallooing the whole night within our hearing; but this only proved an incentive to action, and enraged our veteran commander so much, that he now declared he would have ample revenge at all hazards. During this night a large tiger also alarmed the camp, but did no damage of any kind.An hour before day-break next morning, Colonel Fourgeoud, with his troops, were ready to march, and immediately entered the woods. They now amounted exactly to two hundred Europeans fit for service, the rest[88]being ill and unfit for service; but no rangers were as yet arrived, though they had been expected. The fact was, they were so much disgusted with Fourgeoud’s command, that they did not appear at all, which afforded this gentleman for once an opportunity of stigmatizing them as a band of pusillanimous rascals; and I confess I was myself extremely astonished at this wilful absence of my black favourites, who were at other times so eager to rush upon the enemy, and had declared their satisfaction at the hopes of a decisive engagement with their sable countrymen.A Rebel Negro armed & on his guard.A Rebel Negro armed & on his guard.Bartolozzi Sculpt.London, Published Decr. 1.st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.This whole day our course was due E.; and after proceeding about eight miles (which is a great distance in this country, where the pioneers with bill-hooks must constantly open a path), we erected huts, and encamped. Having frequently mentioned therebel-negroeswith whom we were now certain to have a rencontre, I present the reader with the figure of one of these people, upon his guard, as alarmed by a rustling amongst the bushes. At a distance are supposed a couple of our rangers, waiting the moment to take him by surprize. This rebel negro is armed with a firelock and a hatchet; his hair, though woolly, may be observed to be plaited close to his head, by way of distinction from the rangers, or any other straggling negroes, who are not yet accepted amongst them; his beard is grown to a point, like that of all the Africans, when they have no opportunity of shaving. The principal dress of this man[89]consists of a cotton sheet, negligently tied across his shoulders, which protects him from the weather, and serves him also to rest on; while he always sleeps under cover in the most obscure places he can find, when detached from his companions. The rest of his dress is a camisa, tied around his loins like a handkerchief; his pouch, which is made of some animal’s skin; a few cotton strings for ornament around his ancles and wrists; and a superstitiousobiaor amulet tied about his neck, in which he places all his confidence. The skull and ribs are supposed to be the bones of his enemies, scattered upon the sandy savannah.The two rangers who make their appearance at a distance may be distinguished by theirred caps; and here I must observe, that the rebels have many times availed themselves of seizing one of these scarlet distinctions, which by clapping on their own heads in an engagement, has not only saved their lives, but given them an opportunity of shooting their enemies.Another stratagem of theirs has sometimes been discovered,viz.that fire-arms being scarce amongst them, numbers have intermixed in the crowd, with acrooked stickshaped something like a musket; and this appearance has more than once had the effect of preventing a proper defence by the plantation slaves, when the rebels came to ransack the estates; while with this show of armed numbers they have often struck such a panic, and so damped the courage of the former, that they have[90]been calmly permitted, after burning their houses, even to carry away their wives and daughters.On the 16th we continued our march due E. upon a ridge or elevated ground. These ridges, if I mistake not, run generally in this country E. and W. as do also most of the marshes and swamps. Having advanced rather a less distance than we did the day before, we were ordered early to sling our hammocks, and to sleep without any covering, to prevent the enemy from hearing the sound of cutting the trees; nor were any fires allowed to be lighted, nor a word to be spoken, while a strict watch was kept round the camp. These, in fast, were all very necessary precautions; but if we were not discovered by the enemy, we were almost devoured by the clouds ofgnatsor musquitoes, which arose from a neighbouring marsh: for my own part I suffered more here than I had even done on board the fatal barges in the upper Cottica, as we could make no smoke to drive them away. In this situation I saw the poor men dig holes with their bayonets in the earth, into which they thrust their heads, stopping the entry and covering their necks with their hammocks, while they lay with their bellies on the ground. To sleep in any other position was absolutely impossible.By the advice of a negro slave, I however enjoyed my rest.—“Climb,” said he, “massera, with your hammock to the top of the highest tree that is in the camp, and there go sleep; not a single musquito will disturb you, the swarm will be sufficiently attracted by the smell of[91]the sweating multitude below.”—This I immediately tried, and slept exalted near one hundred feet above my companions, whom I could not see for the myriads of musquitoes below me, nor even hear them, from the incessant buzzing of these troublesome insects.This was the principal distress of the night; while, during the day, we had frequently been attacked by whole armies of small emmets, called herefire-ants, from their painful biting. These insects are black, and very diminutive, but live in such amazing multitudes together, that their hillocks have sometimes obstructed our passage by their size, over which, if one chances to pass, the feet and legs are instantly covered with innumerable of these creatures, which seize the skin with such violence in their pincers, that they will sooner suffer the head to be parted from their body, than let go their hold. The burning pain which they occasion cannot, in my opinion, proceed from the sharpness of their pincers only, but must be owing to some venomous fluid which they infuse, or which the wound imbibes from them. I can aver that I have seen them make a whole company hop about, as if they had been scalded with boiling water.On the 17th we continued our march still due E. till nine o’clock, when we altered our course to the N. and had to scramble through great quantities of those mataky roots, or trumpeters already described, which proved that we were descending into the low grounds, and indeed the soil soon became very marshy; fortunately, however, though it was now the wet season, we had as yet very little rain.[92]This evening we encamped about four o’clock. Colonel Fourgeoud being seized with a cold fit of the ague.As I was slinging my hammock between two large branches, but not so high as the preceding night, my eye chanced to fall upon what I conceived to be the leaf of a tree, but which appeared to move and crawl up the trunk. I called several officers to see it: when a gentleman of the Society exclaimed, “C’est la feuille ambulante.” That is the walking leaf. Upon closer examination it proved to be an insect, whose wings so perfectly represent a leaf, that by many it has been mistaken for a vegetable production. This seemed to be a species of grasshopper, but covered over with four wings of an oval form, and about three inches in length, the two uppermost so folded together as to appear exactly like a brown leaf, with all the fibres, &c.I now returned to my hammock; where, reflecting on all the wonders of nature, while the silver-moon glittering through the verdure added beauty to the scene, I fell into a profound sleep, which I enjoyed till near midnight, when we were all awaked in pitch darkness and a heavy shower of rain, by the hallooing and shouting of the rebel negroes, who discharged several muskets; but as the shot did not reach our camp, we were extremely astonished, the darkness rendering it impossible to form any just idea of their meaning. This disturbance continuing till near day-break, made us expect every moment to be surrounded, and keep a very sharp look-out.In the morning early we unlashed our hammocks, and[93]marched due N. towards the place whence we conjectured the hallooing noise to have proceeded, being all much fatigued for want of rest, especially Colonel Fourgeoud, who could hardly support himself, so much was he weakened by the ague. We had not marched above two miles, I having the van-guard, when arebel negrosprang up at my feet from under a shrub, where he had been asleep; but as we had orders not to fire upon stragglers, he escaped, running with almost the swiftness of a stag amongst the brambles. I no sooner made report to the old hero, than, swearing he was a spy, which I believe was true, he shook off his illness, and quickened his pace with redoubled vigour: but our pursuit was to no purpose, at least this day; for about one o’clock we got into a bog, from which we could hardly extricate ourselves, and were forced to return to our last night’s encampment, missing two privates of the Society troops, whom we supposed to have perished in the marsh.This day we saw great quantities of arnotta-trees, with which this part of the forest abounds. In the evening a slave presented me with abush-spiderof such magnitude, that putting him into a case-bottle above eight inches high, he actually reached the surface with some of his hideous claws, whilst the others were resting upon the bottom. No creature can be more dreadfully ugly than this enormous spider, which the people of Surinam erroneously call thetarantula. The body is divided in two, the posterior part oval, and the size of an Orlean-plum; the fore-part square, with a figure somewhat[94]resembling a star upon it. This monster has five pair of thick legs, with four joints in each; is entirely black or dark brown, and covered over, legs and all, with thick and long black hair, like some caterpillars, while each leg is armed with a crooked yellow nail, and from the head project two long teeth with inverted pincers, resembling the claw of a crab, with which it seizes its prey; while its bite, if not fatal by the venomous liquid infused into the wound, always occasions a fever. It has eight eyes like most spiders, and feeds on insects of every species; nay, it is even asserted, that young birds do not escape it, out of which this spider sucks the blood: its web is small but very strong. Upon the whole, it is such a hideous creature, that the very sight of it is sufficient to occasion a tremor of abhorrence, even in persons most accustomed to inspect the deformities of nature. Innumerable indeed are the pests and dangers to which one is hourly exposed in the woods of this tropical climate; and though it is my present business only to make mention of such as I met with in this march, and which must appear new to the reader, yet a recapitulation of the names only of our numerous plagues may not be improper to refresh the memory of those who have a heart to sympathize with our sufferings. I have already mentioned themusquitoes, monpieras, patatandserapat lice, chigoes, cock-roaches, common ants, fire-ants, horse-flies, wild bees, andspiders; besides theprickly heat, ring-worm, dry-gripes, putrid fevers, boils, consaca, bloody-flux, thorns, briars,[95]alligators, snakes, tigers, &c.; but I have not yet spoken of thebush-worms, large ants, locusts, centipedes, scorpions, bats, andflying-lice, thecrassy-crassy, yaws, lethargy, leprosy, anddropsy, with a thousand other grievances that continually annoyed our unhappy troops;—a particular description of which I must delay till a more suitable opportunity occurs for introducing them into this narrative.Such were the pests that we had to struggle with in this baneful climate, whilst our poor men were dying in multitudes, without proper assistance, unpitied, and frequently without a friend to close their eye-lids, neither coffin nor shell to receive their bones, but thrown promiscuously into one pit, like heaps of loathsome carrion.On the 19th, we again left our encampment, and after keeping a little S. marched E. till ten o’clock, when we were overtaken and joined by a party of one hundred rangers, with their conductor, Mr.Vinsack, to my great satisfaction. At this period we mustered three hundred men; and however little Colonel Fourgeoud affected, at other times, to value these black soldiers, he was now not at all displeased with their company, upon our near approach to an enemy with whom the rangers were well acquainted, and knew how to engage much better than the marines: while it will ever be my opinion, that one of these free negroes is preferable to half a dozen white men in the forest of Guiana; it indeed seems their natural element, whilst it is the bane of the Europeans.[96]Colonel Fourgeoud now issued orders for our little army to march in three lines or columns, his own regiment in the centre, the Society troops on the right, the rangers or black soldiers on the left, all within hearing of each other, with a fewflankersor riflemen outside the whole: thus formed we advanced till about noon, when we changed our course from E. to N. E. and continued our march over abiree-bireeswamp, or quagmire: these are very common and dangerous in this country, being a deep soft miry bog, covered over with a thin crust of verdure, sufficient in most places to bear the weight of a man, and quaking when walked over; but should this crust give way, whoever breaks it is swallowed up in the chasm, where he must inevitably perish if not immediately extricated; thus it has frequently happened that men have been seen to sink, and have never more been heard of.Quicksands are quite different, as they overwhelm by a gradual suction, whereas the effects of a quagmire are instantaneous. To avoid accidents, we opened our files as much as possible, which occasioned a very long rear; but even with this precaution several men sunk through it, as if the ice had broken under their feet, and some in my presence up to the arm-pits, but were fortunately, though with much difficulty, extricated.In the afternoon we passed through two oldcassavafields, which indicated our near approach to the rebel settlement; we afterwards fell in with Captain Meyland’s[97]path, which we knew by the marks cut upon the trees, as before explained. The evening being too far advanced to attack the enemy, we once more encamped a few miles from the swamp in which Captain Meyland and his party had been defeated.Having had a long march, and the men being much fatigued, Colonel Fourgeoud allowed, during this night, both huts and fires; which surprized me greatly, being so near the rebels, though he had forbidden these comforts when we were at a very considerable distance from them. I however availed myself of his bounty, and having got somepigeon-peasfrom my serjeant, which he had picked up in the old cassava grounds, and laid hold of one of the kettles, I invited him, and a captain of the black corps calledHannibal, to a share; who having thrown their salt-beef and rusk-biscuit into the mess with mine, and stirred it round with a bayonet, we made a very excellent supper, though in a sad dreary night and heavy rain.ThepigeonorAngolapeas grow on a shrub about eight or ten feet high; five or six of these peas are contained in a pod; they are flat like lentils, and of a reddish-brown colour: the negroes are extremely fond of them, and cultivate them in their gardens without any expence or much trouble.Hannibal now observing that we should certainly see the enemy to-morrow, asked me if I knew in what manner negro engaged against negro? Having answered in the negative, he gave me the following relation, while[98]smoking his pipe under my hammock.—“Massera,” said he, “both parties are divided in small companies of eight or ten men, commanded by a captain, with a horn, such as this (shewing me his) by which they do every thing, and fight or run away. When they fight they separate immediately, lie down on the ground, and fire at the flash of each other’s pans through the trees; while each warrior is supported by two negroes unarmed, the one to take his place if he is killed, and the other to carry away the dead body, to prevent its falling into the hands of their adversaries1.”From this discourse I perfectly understood his meaning, which I have since seen put in practice; and for the clearer conception of the reader, I have illustrated it with the following plan, where the whole engagement is exhibited at one view.Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.Gradation of Shades between Europe & Africa.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.The two columnsEandFare supposed to be first engaged, where No1 in the columnEcommences the attack by firing at random in the opposite bushes; and instantly retires, by shifting his place to No1 in the columnC, where he re-loads; while No2 in the columnF, having fired at the flash of his pan, advances in the same manner, shifting his station to re-load at No2 in the columnD; and at the flash of whose pan No3 fires inE, and receives the fire of No4 inF, &c. &c. Thus continuing through both lines, till No8 has fired inF,[99]when the whole have shifted their stations; and the same manœuvre is continued with the columnsCandD, beginning again with the identical numbers 1, 2, 3, &c. at the top; while these lines, having shifted their places, still the firing is repeated by the linesAandB, and thusad infinitum, until by sounding the horn one of the parties gives way in flight, and the battle is over. I shall only add, that when the forest is thick, instead of lying on their bellies, or kneeling, each negro skulks behind a thick tree, which serves him as a bulwark, and from which he fires at his adversary with more certainty and less danger, usually resting his piece against the trunk, or in the forked branches, like theShawaneseandDelawareIndians.Captain Hannibal also informed me, that the famous chiefBonnywas supposed to be in person amongst the neighbouring rebels; and that he was born in the forest amongst them, notwithstanding his being a mulatto, which was accounted for by his mother escaping to the woods from the ill treatment of her master, by whom she was then pregnant.Having frequently mentioned the different shades between ablackand awhite, the same plate represents them to the reader at one view. From the above two colours themulattois produced; from the mulatto and black, thesamboo; from the mulatto and white, thequaderoon, &c. &c.—This sable warrior made me also acquainted with the names of several other rebel commanders,[100]against whom he had frequently fought for the Europeans. Such asQuammy, who was the chief of a separate gang, and had no connection with the others;Coromantyn, Cojo,Arico, andJoli-Cœur; the two last being celebrated captains, whose revenge was insatiable against the whites, particularlyJoli-Cœur’s, who had I confess great reason, as has been already stated. The noted rebel negroBaron, he believed, was now serving also under the great chiefBonny.He next proceeded to tell me the names of the principal rebel settlements, some of which were already destroyed, some now in view, and some of these were only known to us by name. These appellations were all very expressive indeed; and as they may serve in some measure to elucidate our enquiries concerning the negro nations, I have thought proper to give them a place in this narrative, with their meaning in an English translation;viz.BoucooI shall moulder before I shall be taken.Gado SabyGod only knows me, and none else.CofaayCome try me, if you be men.Tessee SeeTake a tasting, if you like it.Mele meDo disturb me, if you dare.Boosy CrayThe woods lament for me.Me SalasyI shall be taken.Kebree meHide me, O thou surrounding verdure.[101]The others were:Quammi CondreFrom Quammi, the name of the chief.PinenburghFrom the pines or manicole-trees which formerly surrounded it.Caro CondreFrom the quantity of maize it afforded.Reisee CondreFrom the quantity of rice it produced.Such were the names of the negro warriors, and their settlements.I now shook hands with Captain Hannibal, while my mind being occupied with the hopes of victory unstained by cruelty, and being very much fatigued, I soon fell profoundly asleep.On the 20th in the morning, no one could awake in a more beautiful day and better spirits than I did, until they were damped by observing that at so critical a time, and even in the moment before the conflict, instead of that kind treatment which it would have been prudent to have shewn to those from whose exertions we were to expect a happy period to our sufferings, there was even then such discouragement of the subaltern officers and private men as involuntarily drew from me the reflection—That (if possible to avoid it)princesandministersshould never invest any oneindividualwith unlimited authority, especially in a foreign country, without being perfectly well acquainted with the rectitude of their moral principles and disposition; no men being fit to command but those who are possessed of manly feelings, and whose valour is tempered with humanity;[102]since ’tis a truth that sterling bravery is incompatible with a cruel heart.At six o’clock we advanced N. E. by N. towards the marsh, my melancholy evaporating with the rising sun.About eight o’clock we entered this formidable swamp, and soon found ourselves above our middle in water, well prepared nevertheless for the warm reception we expected from the opposite shore, as the former party had so fatally experienced. After wading above half a mile, our grenadiers rapidly mounted the beach with cocked firelocks and bayonets fixed; the main body instantly followed, and also mounting the beach, the whole formed without the smallest opposition. We now beheld a spectacle sufficient to shock the most intrepid, the ground strewed with skulls, bones, and ribs still covered with human flesh, and besmeared with the blood of those unfortunate men who were killed with Captain Meyland.—That officer had indeed found means to bury them, but the rebels had dug them up for the sake of their cloaths, and to mangle the bodies, which, like ferocious animals, they had torn limb from limb. Amongst these, the fate ofMeyland’s nephew, a promising young man, was peculiarly affecting. He came from the mountains of Switzerland in quest of military preferment, and met his fate in a marsh of Surinam just after his landing. His bravery was equal to that of his uncle, his intrepidity, voluntarily exposing himself to danger, knew no bounds.—Such is the enthusiasm of military ambition.[103]“And ’tis most true, while Time’s relentless handWith sickly grasp drags others to the tomb;Thesoldierscorns to wait the dull command,But springs impatient to a nobler doom.“Tho’ on the plain he lies, outstretch’d and pale,Without one friend his stedfast eyes to close,Yet on hishonour’d corpseshall many a galeWaft the moist fragrance of the weeping rose.“O’er the dread spot the melancholy moonShall pause a while—a sadder beam to shed;And starry night amidst her awful noonSprinkle light dews upon his hallowed head.“There too the solitary bird shall swellWith long-drawn melody her plaintive throat;While distant echo from responsive cellShall oft with fading force return the note.“Such recompence bevalour’s due alone.”*   *   *This being the second or third heap of human bones we had met with in our march, I frankly acknowledge did not operate upon me as a stimulative to engage with negroes; yet these awful relics spurred on the common soldiers to take revenge for the loss of their massacred companions.Having so frequently had occasion to speak of marching through a swamp, it may not be improper to illustrate[104]the description by theannexed drawing. The first figure represents Colonel Fourgeoud (preceded by a negro slave, as a guide, to give notice by his swimming when the water deepens) followed by myself, some other officers and marines, wading through the marsh above our middle, and carrying our arms, ammunition, and accoutrements above our heads, to prevent their being damaged by the wet.In the back-ground may be seen the manner in which the slaves carry all burdens whatever on the head, and the mode of the rebel negroes firing upon the troops from the tops of high palm-trees, &c. A march of this nature, though occasionally necessary in Surinam, must be always very dangerous, being exposed to an attack from under cover of the surrounding bushes, without having the power of returning the fire more than once; for in such a depth of water no soldier can re-load his musket without wetting both the lock and the priming.We now followed a kind of foot-path made by the enemy, which after a little turning led us in a westerly direction. SerjeantFowler, who preceded the van-guard, at this time came to me pale, declaring, that the sight of the mangled bodies had made him extremely sick; and that he felt himself completely disarmed, being that moment, as it were, rivetted to the ground, without the power of advancing one single step, or knowing how to conceal his tremor:——I d—n’d him for a pitiful scoundrel, and had only time to order him to the rear.March thro’ a swamp or Marsh in Terra-firma.March thro’ a swamp or Marsh in Terra-firma.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.[105]“No force, no firmness, thepale cowardshews:He shifts his place, his colour comes and goes;A dropping sweat creeps cold on every part,Against his bosom beats his quivering heart:Terror and deathin his wild eye-balls stare;}With chattering teeth he stands, and stiff’ning hair,And looks a bloodless image of despair.”At ten o’clock we met a small party of the rebels, with each a green hamper upon his back; they fired at us, dropped their bundles, and taking to their heels ran back towards their village. These we since learned were transportingriceto another settlement for their subsistence, when they should be expelled fromGado-Saby(the name of this settlement) which they daily expected, since they had been discovered by the gallant Captain Meyland. The green hampers, which they callwarimbos, were very curiously plaited with the manicole leaves. And when our men cut them open with their sabres, there burst forth the most beautiful clean rice that I ever saw, which was scattered and trampled under foot, as we had no opportunity of carrying it along. A little after this we perceived an empty shed, where a picquet had been stationed to give notice of any danger, but they had precipitately deserted their post. We now vigorously redoubled our pace till about noon; when two more musket shot were fired at us by another advanced guard of the enemy, as a signal to the chief,Bonny, of our approach. Major Medler and myself, with a few of the[106]van-guard, and a small party of the rangers, at this time rushing forward, soon came to a fine field of rice and Indian corn: we here made a halt for the other troops, particularly to give time for our rear to close up, some of whom were at least two miles behind us; and during which period we might have been cut to pieces, the enemy, unknown to us, having surrounded the field in which we were, as we were afterwards informed.In about half an hour the whole body joined us, when we instantly proceeded by cutting through a small defile of the wood, into which we had no sooner entered, than a heavy fire commenced from every side, the rebels retiring, and we advancing, until we arrived in the most beautiful field, of ripe rice, in the form of an oblong square, from which therebel townappeared at a distance, in the form of an amphitheatre, sheltered from the sun by the foliage of a few lofty trees, the whole presenting acoup-d’œilromantic and enchanting beyond conception. In this field the firing was kept up, like one continued peal of thunder, for above forty minutes, during which time our black warriors behaved with wonderful intrepidity and skill. The white soldiers were too eager, and fired over one another at random, yet I could perceive a few of them act with the utmost coolness, and imitate the rangers with great effect; amongst these wasnowthe once-daunted Fowler, who being roused from his tremor by the firing at the beginning of the onset, had rushed to the front, and fully[107]re-established his character, by fighting like a brave fellow, by my side, until the muzzle of his musket was split by a shot from the enemy, which rendered it useless; a ball passed through my shirt, and grazed the skin of my shoulder; Mr. Decabanes, my lieutenant, had the sling of his fusee shot away: several others were wounded, some mortally, but I did not, to my surprize, observe one instance ofimmediatedeath—for which seeming miracle, however, I shall presently account.This whole field of rice was surrounded and interspersed by the enemy with the large trunks and roots of heavy trees, in order to make our approach both difficult and dangerous; behind these temporary fortifications the rebels lay lurking, and firing upon us with deliberate aim, whilst theirbulwarkscertainly protected them in some measure from the effects of our fire, we having vast numbers of these fallen trees to scramble over before we could reach the town: but we still advanced, in defiance of every obstacle, and while I admired the masterly manœuvres of their general, I could not help pitying them for their superstition. One poor fellow, in particular, trusting to hisamuletor charm, fancied himself invulnerable; he mounted frequently upon one of the trees that lay near us, discharged his piece, descended to re-load, and then with equal confidence and the greatest deliberation returned to the charge in my full view; till at last a shot from one of my marines, namedValet, broke the bone of his thigh, and he fell crawling[108]for shelter under the very same tree which had supported him just before; but the soldier instantly advancing, and putting the muzzle of his musket to the rebel’s ear, blew out his brains, while several of his countrymen, in spite of their spells and charms, shared the same fate.Being now about to enter the town, a rebel captain, wearing a tarnished gold-laced hat, and bearing in his hand a torch of flaming straw, seeing their ruin inevitable, had the resolution to stay and set the town on fire in our presence, which, by the dryness of the houses, instantly produced a general conflagration, when the firing from the woods began gradually to cease. This bold and masterly manœuvre not only prevented that carnage to which the common soldiers in the heat of victory are but too prone, but also afforded the enemy an opportunity of retreating with their wives and children, and carrying off their most useful effects; whilst our pursuit, and seizing the spoil, were at once frustrated both by the ascending flames, and the unfathomable marsh, which we soon discovered on all sides to surround us, as in theMaccabees:“Behold thebattleis before us, and behind us, and thewater of Jordanon this side, and that side, and themarsh, andforest, so that there is no place for us to turn aside.”I must indeed confess that within this last hour the continued noise of the firing, shouting, swearing, and hallooing of black and white men mixed together; the groans of the wounded and the dying, all weltering[109]in blood and in dust; the shrill sound of the negro horns from every quarter, and the crackling of the burning village; to which if we add the clouds of smoke that every where surrounded us, the ascending flames, &c. &c. formed, on the whole, such an uncommon scene as I cannot describe, and would perhaps not have been unworthy of the pencil ofHogarth: this scene I have, however, faintly endeavoured to represent in thefrontispiece—whereI may be seen, after the heat of the action, fatigued, and dejectedly looking on the body of an unfortunaterebel negro, who, with his musket in his hand, lies prostrate at my feet.In short, having washed off the dust, sweat, and blood, and having refreshed ourselves with a dram and a bit of bread till the flames subsided, we next went to inspect the smoking ruins; and found the above town to have consisted of about one hundred houses or huts, some of which were two stories high. Among the glowing ashes we picked up several trifles that had escaped the flames, such as silver spoons and forks, which we supposed, by the marks BW. to have been pillaged from theBrunswickestate in Rio Cottica. We found also some knives, broken china and earthen pots; amongst the latter one filled with rice and palm-tree worms fell to my share: as this wanted no fire to dress the contents, and as my appetite was very keen, I emptied it in a few minutes, and made a very hearty meal. Some were afraid this mess had been left behind with a view to poison us; but this suspicion,[110]proved however, fortunately for me, to be without foundation.The silver plate I also purchased from the men that picked it up, determined to carry it off as a trophy, and I have used it ever since. Here we likewise found three skulls fixed upon stakes, the mournful relics of some of our own brave people, who had been formerly killed; but what surprized us most, were the heads of two young negroes, which seemed as if fresh cut off, these we since learned had been executed during the night of the 17th, when we heard the hallooing and the firing, for speaking inourfavour.Having buried all these remains promiscuously in one pit, we returned to sling our hammocks, under those beautiful and lofty trees which I have already mentioned; but here I am sorry to add, we found the rangers shockingly employed, in playing at bowls with those very heads they had just chopped off from their enemies; who, deaf to all remonstrance,“Resistless drove thebatter’d skullsbefore,And dash’d and mangled all the brains with gore.”They related that upon reconnoitring the skirts of the surrounding forest, they had found quantities of human blood in different places, which had flowed from the dead and wounded bodies the rebels had carried away during the action.To reprimand them for this inhuman diversion would[111]have been useless, as they assured us it was “Condre fassee,” the custom of their country; and concluded the horrid sport by kicking and mangling the heads, cutting off the lips, cheeks, ears, and noses; they even took out the jaw-bones, which they smoke-dried, together with the right hands, to carry home, as trophies of their victory, to their wives and relations. That this barbarous custom prevails amongst savages is a well-known fact, which originates from a motive of insatiable revenge. And though Colonel Fourgeoud might have prevented their inhumanity by his authority, in my opinion he wisely declined it; observing, that as he could not do it by persuasion, to do it by power, might break their native spirit, and produce no other effect than alienating them from the service, so necessary were they to us, though so savagely revengeful, and so bloody.About three o’clock, whilst we were resting from our fatigue, we were once more surprised by an attack from a party of the enemy; but after exchanging a few shots they were repulsed. This unexpected visit, however, put us more upon our guard during the night, so that no fires were allowed to be lighted, and double sentinels were placed around the camp. Thus situated, being overcome by excessive toil and heat, I after sun-set leaped into my hammock, and soon fell fast asleep; but in less than two hours my faithful black boy Quaco roused me, in the midst of pitch darkness, crying,[112]“Massera, massera! boosee negro, boosee negro!”—“Master, master! the enemy, the enemy!” Hearing, at the same moment, a brisk firing, with the balls whistling through the branches, I fully concluded that the rebels were in the very midst of our camp. Surprised, and not perfectly awake, I suddenly started up with my fusee cocked; and (without knowing where I ran) first threw down Quaco, and next fell down myself, over two or three bodies that lay upon the ground, and which I imagined to be killed. When one of them, “d—ning me for a son of a b—ch, told me, if I moved I was a dead man; Colonel Fourgeoud having issued orders for the troops to lie flat on their bellies all the night, and not to fire, as most of their ammunition had been expended the preceding day.” I took his advice, and soon discovered him by his voice to be one of our own grenadiers, namedThomson. In this situation we lay prostrate on our arms until sun-rise, during which time a most abusive dialogue was carried on indeed between therebelsand therangers, each party cursing and menacing the other at a very terrible rate; the former “reproaching the rangers as poltroons and traitors to their countrymen, and challenging them next day to single combat; swearing they only wished to lave their hands in the blood of such scoundrels, who had been the principal agents in destroying their flourishing settlement.” The rangers “d—n’d the rebels for a parcel of pitiful skulking rascals, whom they would fight one to two in the open[113]field, if they dared but to shew theiruglyfaces;swearing they had only deserted their masters because they were too lazy to work.” After this they insulted each other by a kind of war-whoop, sung victorious songs on both sides, and sounded their horns as signals of defiance; when the firing commenced once more from the rebel negroes, and continued during the night, accompanied by their martial voices, at intermissions resounding through the woods, which echo seemed to answer with redoubled force.At length poor Fourgeoud took a part in the conversation, myself and Serjeant Fowler acting as his interpreters, by hallooing, which created more mirth than I had been witness to for some time: he promised them life, liberty, victuals, drink, and all they wanted. They replied, with a loud laugh, that they wanted nothing from him; characterized him as a half-starved Frenchman, who had run away from his own country; and assured him that if he would venture to paythema visit, he should return unhurt, and not with an empty belly. They told us, that we were to be pitied more than they; that we werewhite slaves, hired to be shot at and starved for four-pence a day; that they scorned to expend much more of their powder upon such scarecrows; but should the planters or overseers dare to enter the woods, not a soul of them should ever return, any more than the perfidious rangers, some of whom might depend upon being massacred that[114]day, or the next; and concluded by declaring thatBonnyshould soon be the governor of the colony.After this they tinkled their bill-hooks, fired a volley, and gave three cheers; which being answered by the rangers, the clamour ended, and the rebels dispersed with the rising sun.Our fatigue was great; yet, notwithstanding the length of the contest, our loss by the enemies fire was very inconsiderable, for which I promised to account; and this mystery was now explained, when the surgeons, dressing the wounded, extracted very few leaden bullets, but many pebbles, coat-buttons, and pieces of silver coin, which could do us little mischief, by penetrating scarcely more than skin deep. We also observed, that several of the poor rebel negroes who were shot, had only the shards of Spa-water cans, instead of flints, which could seldom do execution; and it was certainly owing to these circumstances that we came off so well, as I have mentioned before; yet we were nevertheless not without a number of very dangerous scars and contusions.Inconceivable are the many expedients which these people employ in the woods, where in a state of tranquillity they seemed, as they boasted, to want for nothing, being plump and fat, at least such as we had an opportunity of observing. It should be noticed, thatgameandfishthey catch in great abundance, by artificial traps and springs, and preserve them by barbacuing; while their[115]fields are even overstocked with rice, cassava, yams, plantains, &c. They makesaltfrom the palm-tree ashes, as the Gentoos do in the East Indies, or frequently supply the want of it with red pepper.We here found concealed near the trunk of an old tree a case-bottle filled with excellent butter, which the rangers told me they made by melting and clarifying the fat of the palm-tree worms: this fully answers all the purposes of European butter, and I found it in fact even more delicious to my taste. Thepistachioorpindanuts they also convert into butter, by their oily substance, and frequently use them in their broths. The palm-tree wine they have always in plenty; they procure it by making deep incisions of a foot square in the fallen trunk, where the juice being collected, it soon ferments by the heat of the sun; it is not only a cool and agreeable beverage, but sufficiently strong to intoxicate. The manicole or pine-tree affords them materials for building; they fabricate pots from clay found near their dwellings; the gourd or callebasse tree procures them cups; the silk grass plant and maurecee-tree supplies materials for their hammocks, and even a kind of cap grows naturally upon the palm-trees, as well as brooms; the various kinds of nebee supply the want of ropes; fuel they have for cutting; and a wood calledbee-beeserves for tinder, by rubbing two pieces on each other; it is also elastic, and makes excellent corks; candles they can make, having plenty of fat and oil; and the wild bees afford them wax, as well as excellent honey.[116]Cloaths they scorn to wear, preferring to go naked in a climate where the warmth of the weather renders every kind of covering an useless incumbrance.They might breed hogs and poultry, and keep dogs for hunting and watching them, but this they decline, from the apprehension of being discovered by their noise, as even the crowing of a cock may be heard in the forest at a considerable distance.———I shall now once more proceed.The rebels of this settlement being apparently subdued and dispersed, Colonel Fourgeoud made it his next business to destroy the surrounding harvest; and I received orders to begin the devastation, with eighty marines and twenty rangers. Thus I cut down all the rice that was growing plentifully in the two above-mentioned fields; this being done, I discovered a third field south of the first, which I also demolished, and made my report to Fourgeoud, with which he appeared highly satisfied. In the afternoon CaptainHamelwas detached, with fifty, marines and thirty rangers, to reconnoitre behind the village, and to discover, if possible, how the rebels could pass to and fro through an unfathomable marsh, whilst we were unable to pursue them. This officer at length perceived a kind of floating bridge amongst the reeds, made of maurecee-trees, but so constructed, that only one man abreast could pass it. On this were seated astride a few rebels to defend the communication, who instantly fired upon the party, but were soon repulsed by the rangers, who shot one of them dead, but he was carried away by his companions.[117]On the morning of the 22d, our commander ordered a detachment to cross the bridge and go on discovery, at all hazards. Of this party I led the van. We now took the pass without opposition; and having all marched, or rather scrambled over this defile of floating trees, we found ourselves in a large oblong field of cassava and yams, in which were about thirty houses,nowdeserted, being the remains of the old settlement calledCofaay. In this field we separated into three divisions, the better to reconnoitre, one marching north, one north-west, and the third west. And here, to our astonishment, we discovered that the reason of the rebels shouting, singing, and firing, on the night of the 20th, was not only to cover the retreat of their friends, by cutting off the pass, but by their unremitting noise to prevent us from discovering that they were employed, men, women, and children, in preparing warimboes or hampers filled with the finest rice, yams, and cassava, for subsistence during their escape, of which they had only left the chaff and refuse for our contemplation.This was certainly such a masterly trait of generalship in a savage people, whom we affected to despise, as would have done honour to any European commander, and has perhaps been seldom equalled by more civilized nations.[118]1The negroes have a savage custom of mangling and tearing the dead bodies of their enemies; some even devouring part of them with their teeth, like the Caribbee Indians.↑

[Contents]CHAP.XX.A Rebel Negro described—Bush-fighting—Sentimental Expressions of the African Blacks—The Town of Gado-Saby taken by Colonel Fourgeoud—Superstition—Wonderful Expedients—Great Generalship in the Enemy.On the 15th of August 1775, the rebels, flushed with their late victory over Captain Meyland and his party, whether with a design to brave Fourgeoud, or to intimidate his troops, being well apprised by their spies that he was at Barbacoeba, had the assurance to set fire to all the huts in two different camps which had been left standing by his patroles, while they continued shouting and hallooing the whole night within our hearing; but this only proved an incentive to action, and enraged our veteran commander so much, that he now declared he would have ample revenge at all hazards. During this night a large tiger also alarmed the camp, but did no damage of any kind.An hour before day-break next morning, Colonel Fourgeoud, with his troops, were ready to march, and immediately entered the woods. They now amounted exactly to two hundred Europeans fit for service, the rest[88]being ill and unfit for service; but no rangers were as yet arrived, though they had been expected. The fact was, they were so much disgusted with Fourgeoud’s command, that they did not appear at all, which afforded this gentleman for once an opportunity of stigmatizing them as a band of pusillanimous rascals; and I confess I was myself extremely astonished at this wilful absence of my black favourites, who were at other times so eager to rush upon the enemy, and had declared their satisfaction at the hopes of a decisive engagement with their sable countrymen.A Rebel Negro armed & on his guard.A Rebel Negro armed & on his guard.Bartolozzi Sculpt.London, Published Decr. 1.st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.This whole day our course was due E.; and after proceeding about eight miles (which is a great distance in this country, where the pioneers with bill-hooks must constantly open a path), we erected huts, and encamped. Having frequently mentioned therebel-negroeswith whom we were now certain to have a rencontre, I present the reader with the figure of one of these people, upon his guard, as alarmed by a rustling amongst the bushes. At a distance are supposed a couple of our rangers, waiting the moment to take him by surprize. This rebel negro is armed with a firelock and a hatchet; his hair, though woolly, may be observed to be plaited close to his head, by way of distinction from the rangers, or any other straggling negroes, who are not yet accepted amongst them; his beard is grown to a point, like that of all the Africans, when they have no opportunity of shaving. The principal dress of this man[89]consists of a cotton sheet, negligently tied across his shoulders, which protects him from the weather, and serves him also to rest on; while he always sleeps under cover in the most obscure places he can find, when detached from his companions. The rest of his dress is a camisa, tied around his loins like a handkerchief; his pouch, which is made of some animal’s skin; a few cotton strings for ornament around his ancles and wrists; and a superstitiousobiaor amulet tied about his neck, in which he places all his confidence. The skull and ribs are supposed to be the bones of his enemies, scattered upon the sandy savannah.The two rangers who make their appearance at a distance may be distinguished by theirred caps; and here I must observe, that the rebels have many times availed themselves of seizing one of these scarlet distinctions, which by clapping on their own heads in an engagement, has not only saved their lives, but given them an opportunity of shooting their enemies.Another stratagem of theirs has sometimes been discovered,viz.that fire-arms being scarce amongst them, numbers have intermixed in the crowd, with acrooked stickshaped something like a musket; and this appearance has more than once had the effect of preventing a proper defence by the plantation slaves, when the rebels came to ransack the estates; while with this show of armed numbers they have often struck such a panic, and so damped the courage of the former, that they have[90]been calmly permitted, after burning their houses, even to carry away their wives and daughters.On the 16th we continued our march due E. upon a ridge or elevated ground. These ridges, if I mistake not, run generally in this country E. and W. as do also most of the marshes and swamps. Having advanced rather a less distance than we did the day before, we were ordered early to sling our hammocks, and to sleep without any covering, to prevent the enemy from hearing the sound of cutting the trees; nor were any fires allowed to be lighted, nor a word to be spoken, while a strict watch was kept round the camp. These, in fast, were all very necessary precautions; but if we were not discovered by the enemy, we were almost devoured by the clouds ofgnatsor musquitoes, which arose from a neighbouring marsh: for my own part I suffered more here than I had even done on board the fatal barges in the upper Cottica, as we could make no smoke to drive them away. In this situation I saw the poor men dig holes with their bayonets in the earth, into which they thrust their heads, stopping the entry and covering their necks with their hammocks, while they lay with their bellies on the ground. To sleep in any other position was absolutely impossible.By the advice of a negro slave, I however enjoyed my rest.—“Climb,” said he, “massera, with your hammock to the top of the highest tree that is in the camp, and there go sleep; not a single musquito will disturb you, the swarm will be sufficiently attracted by the smell of[91]the sweating multitude below.”—This I immediately tried, and slept exalted near one hundred feet above my companions, whom I could not see for the myriads of musquitoes below me, nor even hear them, from the incessant buzzing of these troublesome insects.This was the principal distress of the night; while, during the day, we had frequently been attacked by whole armies of small emmets, called herefire-ants, from their painful biting. These insects are black, and very diminutive, but live in such amazing multitudes together, that their hillocks have sometimes obstructed our passage by their size, over which, if one chances to pass, the feet and legs are instantly covered with innumerable of these creatures, which seize the skin with such violence in their pincers, that they will sooner suffer the head to be parted from their body, than let go their hold. The burning pain which they occasion cannot, in my opinion, proceed from the sharpness of their pincers only, but must be owing to some venomous fluid which they infuse, or which the wound imbibes from them. I can aver that I have seen them make a whole company hop about, as if they had been scalded with boiling water.On the 17th we continued our march still due E. till nine o’clock, when we altered our course to the N. and had to scramble through great quantities of those mataky roots, or trumpeters already described, which proved that we were descending into the low grounds, and indeed the soil soon became very marshy; fortunately, however, though it was now the wet season, we had as yet very little rain.[92]This evening we encamped about four o’clock. Colonel Fourgeoud being seized with a cold fit of the ague.As I was slinging my hammock between two large branches, but not so high as the preceding night, my eye chanced to fall upon what I conceived to be the leaf of a tree, but which appeared to move and crawl up the trunk. I called several officers to see it: when a gentleman of the Society exclaimed, “C’est la feuille ambulante.” That is the walking leaf. Upon closer examination it proved to be an insect, whose wings so perfectly represent a leaf, that by many it has been mistaken for a vegetable production. This seemed to be a species of grasshopper, but covered over with four wings of an oval form, and about three inches in length, the two uppermost so folded together as to appear exactly like a brown leaf, with all the fibres, &c.I now returned to my hammock; where, reflecting on all the wonders of nature, while the silver-moon glittering through the verdure added beauty to the scene, I fell into a profound sleep, which I enjoyed till near midnight, when we were all awaked in pitch darkness and a heavy shower of rain, by the hallooing and shouting of the rebel negroes, who discharged several muskets; but as the shot did not reach our camp, we were extremely astonished, the darkness rendering it impossible to form any just idea of their meaning. This disturbance continuing till near day-break, made us expect every moment to be surrounded, and keep a very sharp look-out.In the morning early we unlashed our hammocks, and[93]marched due N. towards the place whence we conjectured the hallooing noise to have proceeded, being all much fatigued for want of rest, especially Colonel Fourgeoud, who could hardly support himself, so much was he weakened by the ague. We had not marched above two miles, I having the van-guard, when arebel negrosprang up at my feet from under a shrub, where he had been asleep; but as we had orders not to fire upon stragglers, he escaped, running with almost the swiftness of a stag amongst the brambles. I no sooner made report to the old hero, than, swearing he was a spy, which I believe was true, he shook off his illness, and quickened his pace with redoubled vigour: but our pursuit was to no purpose, at least this day; for about one o’clock we got into a bog, from which we could hardly extricate ourselves, and were forced to return to our last night’s encampment, missing two privates of the Society troops, whom we supposed to have perished in the marsh.This day we saw great quantities of arnotta-trees, with which this part of the forest abounds. In the evening a slave presented me with abush-spiderof such magnitude, that putting him into a case-bottle above eight inches high, he actually reached the surface with some of his hideous claws, whilst the others were resting upon the bottom. No creature can be more dreadfully ugly than this enormous spider, which the people of Surinam erroneously call thetarantula. The body is divided in two, the posterior part oval, and the size of an Orlean-plum; the fore-part square, with a figure somewhat[94]resembling a star upon it. This monster has five pair of thick legs, with four joints in each; is entirely black or dark brown, and covered over, legs and all, with thick and long black hair, like some caterpillars, while each leg is armed with a crooked yellow nail, and from the head project two long teeth with inverted pincers, resembling the claw of a crab, with which it seizes its prey; while its bite, if not fatal by the venomous liquid infused into the wound, always occasions a fever. It has eight eyes like most spiders, and feeds on insects of every species; nay, it is even asserted, that young birds do not escape it, out of which this spider sucks the blood: its web is small but very strong. Upon the whole, it is such a hideous creature, that the very sight of it is sufficient to occasion a tremor of abhorrence, even in persons most accustomed to inspect the deformities of nature. Innumerable indeed are the pests and dangers to which one is hourly exposed in the woods of this tropical climate; and though it is my present business only to make mention of such as I met with in this march, and which must appear new to the reader, yet a recapitulation of the names only of our numerous plagues may not be improper to refresh the memory of those who have a heart to sympathize with our sufferings. I have already mentioned themusquitoes, monpieras, patatandserapat lice, chigoes, cock-roaches, common ants, fire-ants, horse-flies, wild bees, andspiders; besides theprickly heat, ring-worm, dry-gripes, putrid fevers, boils, consaca, bloody-flux, thorns, briars,[95]alligators, snakes, tigers, &c.; but I have not yet spoken of thebush-worms, large ants, locusts, centipedes, scorpions, bats, andflying-lice, thecrassy-crassy, yaws, lethargy, leprosy, anddropsy, with a thousand other grievances that continually annoyed our unhappy troops;—a particular description of which I must delay till a more suitable opportunity occurs for introducing them into this narrative.Such were the pests that we had to struggle with in this baneful climate, whilst our poor men were dying in multitudes, without proper assistance, unpitied, and frequently without a friend to close their eye-lids, neither coffin nor shell to receive their bones, but thrown promiscuously into one pit, like heaps of loathsome carrion.On the 19th, we again left our encampment, and after keeping a little S. marched E. till ten o’clock, when we were overtaken and joined by a party of one hundred rangers, with their conductor, Mr.Vinsack, to my great satisfaction. At this period we mustered three hundred men; and however little Colonel Fourgeoud affected, at other times, to value these black soldiers, he was now not at all displeased with their company, upon our near approach to an enemy with whom the rangers were well acquainted, and knew how to engage much better than the marines: while it will ever be my opinion, that one of these free negroes is preferable to half a dozen white men in the forest of Guiana; it indeed seems their natural element, whilst it is the bane of the Europeans.[96]Colonel Fourgeoud now issued orders for our little army to march in three lines or columns, his own regiment in the centre, the Society troops on the right, the rangers or black soldiers on the left, all within hearing of each other, with a fewflankersor riflemen outside the whole: thus formed we advanced till about noon, when we changed our course from E. to N. E. and continued our march over abiree-bireeswamp, or quagmire: these are very common and dangerous in this country, being a deep soft miry bog, covered over with a thin crust of verdure, sufficient in most places to bear the weight of a man, and quaking when walked over; but should this crust give way, whoever breaks it is swallowed up in the chasm, where he must inevitably perish if not immediately extricated; thus it has frequently happened that men have been seen to sink, and have never more been heard of.Quicksands are quite different, as they overwhelm by a gradual suction, whereas the effects of a quagmire are instantaneous. To avoid accidents, we opened our files as much as possible, which occasioned a very long rear; but even with this precaution several men sunk through it, as if the ice had broken under their feet, and some in my presence up to the arm-pits, but were fortunately, though with much difficulty, extricated.In the afternoon we passed through two oldcassavafields, which indicated our near approach to the rebel settlement; we afterwards fell in with Captain Meyland’s[97]path, which we knew by the marks cut upon the trees, as before explained. The evening being too far advanced to attack the enemy, we once more encamped a few miles from the swamp in which Captain Meyland and his party had been defeated.Having had a long march, and the men being much fatigued, Colonel Fourgeoud allowed, during this night, both huts and fires; which surprized me greatly, being so near the rebels, though he had forbidden these comforts when we were at a very considerable distance from them. I however availed myself of his bounty, and having got somepigeon-peasfrom my serjeant, which he had picked up in the old cassava grounds, and laid hold of one of the kettles, I invited him, and a captain of the black corps calledHannibal, to a share; who having thrown their salt-beef and rusk-biscuit into the mess with mine, and stirred it round with a bayonet, we made a very excellent supper, though in a sad dreary night and heavy rain.ThepigeonorAngolapeas grow on a shrub about eight or ten feet high; five or six of these peas are contained in a pod; they are flat like lentils, and of a reddish-brown colour: the negroes are extremely fond of them, and cultivate them in their gardens without any expence or much trouble.Hannibal now observing that we should certainly see the enemy to-morrow, asked me if I knew in what manner negro engaged against negro? Having answered in the negative, he gave me the following relation, while[98]smoking his pipe under my hammock.—“Massera,” said he, “both parties are divided in small companies of eight or ten men, commanded by a captain, with a horn, such as this (shewing me his) by which they do every thing, and fight or run away. When they fight they separate immediately, lie down on the ground, and fire at the flash of each other’s pans through the trees; while each warrior is supported by two negroes unarmed, the one to take his place if he is killed, and the other to carry away the dead body, to prevent its falling into the hands of their adversaries1.”From this discourse I perfectly understood his meaning, which I have since seen put in practice; and for the clearer conception of the reader, I have illustrated it with the following plan, where the whole engagement is exhibited at one view.Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.Gradation of Shades between Europe & Africa.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.The two columnsEandFare supposed to be first engaged, where No1 in the columnEcommences the attack by firing at random in the opposite bushes; and instantly retires, by shifting his place to No1 in the columnC, where he re-loads; while No2 in the columnF, having fired at the flash of his pan, advances in the same manner, shifting his station to re-load at No2 in the columnD; and at the flash of whose pan No3 fires inE, and receives the fire of No4 inF, &c. &c. Thus continuing through both lines, till No8 has fired inF,[99]when the whole have shifted their stations; and the same manœuvre is continued with the columnsCandD, beginning again with the identical numbers 1, 2, 3, &c. at the top; while these lines, having shifted their places, still the firing is repeated by the linesAandB, and thusad infinitum, until by sounding the horn one of the parties gives way in flight, and the battle is over. I shall only add, that when the forest is thick, instead of lying on their bellies, or kneeling, each negro skulks behind a thick tree, which serves him as a bulwark, and from which he fires at his adversary with more certainty and less danger, usually resting his piece against the trunk, or in the forked branches, like theShawaneseandDelawareIndians.Captain Hannibal also informed me, that the famous chiefBonnywas supposed to be in person amongst the neighbouring rebels; and that he was born in the forest amongst them, notwithstanding his being a mulatto, which was accounted for by his mother escaping to the woods from the ill treatment of her master, by whom she was then pregnant.Having frequently mentioned the different shades between ablackand awhite, the same plate represents them to the reader at one view. From the above two colours themulattois produced; from the mulatto and black, thesamboo; from the mulatto and white, thequaderoon, &c. &c.—This sable warrior made me also acquainted with the names of several other rebel commanders,[100]against whom he had frequently fought for the Europeans. Such asQuammy, who was the chief of a separate gang, and had no connection with the others;Coromantyn, Cojo,Arico, andJoli-Cœur; the two last being celebrated captains, whose revenge was insatiable against the whites, particularlyJoli-Cœur’s, who had I confess great reason, as has been already stated. The noted rebel negroBaron, he believed, was now serving also under the great chiefBonny.He next proceeded to tell me the names of the principal rebel settlements, some of which were already destroyed, some now in view, and some of these were only known to us by name. These appellations were all very expressive indeed; and as they may serve in some measure to elucidate our enquiries concerning the negro nations, I have thought proper to give them a place in this narrative, with their meaning in an English translation;viz.BoucooI shall moulder before I shall be taken.Gado SabyGod only knows me, and none else.CofaayCome try me, if you be men.Tessee SeeTake a tasting, if you like it.Mele meDo disturb me, if you dare.Boosy CrayThe woods lament for me.Me SalasyI shall be taken.Kebree meHide me, O thou surrounding verdure.[101]The others were:Quammi CondreFrom Quammi, the name of the chief.PinenburghFrom the pines or manicole-trees which formerly surrounded it.Caro CondreFrom the quantity of maize it afforded.Reisee CondreFrom the quantity of rice it produced.Such were the names of the negro warriors, and their settlements.I now shook hands with Captain Hannibal, while my mind being occupied with the hopes of victory unstained by cruelty, and being very much fatigued, I soon fell profoundly asleep.On the 20th in the morning, no one could awake in a more beautiful day and better spirits than I did, until they were damped by observing that at so critical a time, and even in the moment before the conflict, instead of that kind treatment which it would have been prudent to have shewn to those from whose exertions we were to expect a happy period to our sufferings, there was even then such discouragement of the subaltern officers and private men as involuntarily drew from me the reflection—That (if possible to avoid it)princesandministersshould never invest any oneindividualwith unlimited authority, especially in a foreign country, without being perfectly well acquainted with the rectitude of their moral principles and disposition; no men being fit to command but those who are possessed of manly feelings, and whose valour is tempered with humanity;[102]since ’tis a truth that sterling bravery is incompatible with a cruel heart.At six o’clock we advanced N. E. by N. towards the marsh, my melancholy evaporating with the rising sun.About eight o’clock we entered this formidable swamp, and soon found ourselves above our middle in water, well prepared nevertheless for the warm reception we expected from the opposite shore, as the former party had so fatally experienced. After wading above half a mile, our grenadiers rapidly mounted the beach with cocked firelocks and bayonets fixed; the main body instantly followed, and also mounting the beach, the whole formed without the smallest opposition. We now beheld a spectacle sufficient to shock the most intrepid, the ground strewed with skulls, bones, and ribs still covered with human flesh, and besmeared with the blood of those unfortunate men who were killed with Captain Meyland.—That officer had indeed found means to bury them, but the rebels had dug them up for the sake of their cloaths, and to mangle the bodies, which, like ferocious animals, they had torn limb from limb. Amongst these, the fate ofMeyland’s nephew, a promising young man, was peculiarly affecting. He came from the mountains of Switzerland in quest of military preferment, and met his fate in a marsh of Surinam just after his landing. His bravery was equal to that of his uncle, his intrepidity, voluntarily exposing himself to danger, knew no bounds.—Such is the enthusiasm of military ambition.[103]“And ’tis most true, while Time’s relentless handWith sickly grasp drags others to the tomb;Thesoldierscorns to wait the dull command,But springs impatient to a nobler doom.“Tho’ on the plain he lies, outstretch’d and pale,Without one friend his stedfast eyes to close,Yet on hishonour’d corpseshall many a galeWaft the moist fragrance of the weeping rose.“O’er the dread spot the melancholy moonShall pause a while—a sadder beam to shed;And starry night amidst her awful noonSprinkle light dews upon his hallowed head.“There too the solitary bird shall swellWith long-drawn melody her plaintive throat;While distant echo from responsive cellShall oft with fading force return the note.“Such recompence bevalour’s due alone.”*   *   *This being the second or third heap of human bones we had met with in our march, I frankly acknowledge did not operate upon me as a stimulative to engage with negroes; yet these awful relics spurred on the common soldiers to take revenge for the loss of their massacred companions.Having so frequently had occasion to speak of marching through a swamp, it may not be improper to illustrate[104]the description by theannexed drawing. The first figure represents Colonel Fourgeoud (preceded by a negro slave, as a guide, to give notice by his swimming when the water deepens) followed by myself, some other officers and marines, wading through the marsh above our middle, and carrying our arms, ammunition, and accoutrements above our heads, to prevent their being damaged by the wet.In the back-ground may be seen the manner in which the slaves carry all burdens whatever on the head, and the mode of the rebel negroes firing upon the troops from the tops of high palm-trees, &c. A march of this nature, though occasionally necessary in Surinam, must be always very dangerous, being exposed to an attack from under cover of the surrounding bushes, without having the power of returning the fire more than once; for in such a depth of water no soldier can re-load his musket without wetting both the lock and the priming.We now followed a kind of foot-path made by the enemy, which after a little turning led us in a westerly direction. SerjeantFowler, who preceded the van-guard, at this time came to me pale, declaring, that the sight of the mangled bodies had made him extremely sick; and that he felt himself completely disarmed, being that moment, as it were, rivetted to the ground, without the power of advancing one single step, or knowing how to conceal his tremor:——I d—n’d him for a pitiful scoundrel, and had only time to order him to the rear.March thro’ a swamp or Marsh in Terra-firma.March thro’ a swamp or Marsh in Terra-firma.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.[105]“No force, no firmness, thepale cowardshews:He shifts his place, his colour comes and goes;A dropping sweat creeps cold on every part,Against his bosom beats his quivering heart:Terror and deathin his wild eye-balls stare;}With chattering teeth he stands, and stiff’ning hair,And looks a bloodless image of despair.”At ten o’clock we met a small party of the rebels, with each a green hamper upon his back; they fired at us, dropped their bundles, and taking to their heels ran back towards their village. These we since learned were transportingriceto another settlement for their subsistence, when they should be expelled fromGado-Saby(the name of this settlement) which they daily expected, since they had been discovered by the gallant Captain Meyland. The green hampers, which they callwarimbos, were very curiously plaited with the manicole leaves. And when our men cut them open with their sabres, there burst forth the most beautiful clean rice that I ever saw, which was scattered and trampled under foot, as we had no opportunity of carrying it along. A little after this we perceived an empty shed, where a picquet had been stationed to give notice of any danger, but they had precipitately deserted their post. We now vigorously redoubled our pace till about noon; when two more musket shot were fired at us by another advanced guard of the enemy, as a signal to the chief,Bonny, of our approach. Major Medler and myself, with a few of the[106]van-guard, and a small party of the rangers, at this time rushing forward, soon came to a fine field of rice and Indian corn: we here made a halt for the other troops, particularly to give time for our rear to close up, some of whom were at least two miles behind us; and during which period we might have been cut to pieces, the enemy, unknown to us, having surrounded the field in which we were, as we were afterwards informed.In about half an hour the whole body joined us, when we instantly proceeded by cutting through a small defile of the wood, into which we had no sooner entered, than a heavy fire commenced from every side, the rebels retiring, and we advancing, until we arrived in the most beautiful field, of ripe rice, in the form of an oblong square, from which therebel townappeared at a distance, in the form of an amphitheatre, sheltered from the sun by the foliage of a few lofty trees, the whole presenting acoup-d’œilromantic and enchanting beyond conception. In this field the firing was kept up, like one continued peal of thunder, for above forty minutes, during which time our black warriors behaved with wonderful intrepidity and skill. The white soldiers were too eager, and fired over one another at random, yet I could perceive a few of them act with the utmost coolness, and imitate the rangers with great effect; amongst these wasnowthe once-daunted Fowler, who being roused from his tremor by the firing at the beginning of the onset, had rushed to the front, and fully[107]re-established his character, by fighting like a brave fellow, by my side, until the muzzle of his musket was split by a shot from the enemy, which rendered it useless; a ball passed through my shirt, and grazed the skin of my shoulder; Mr. Decabanes, my lieutenant, had the sling of his fusee shot away: several others were wounded, some mortally, but I did not, to my surprize, observe one instance ofimmediatedeath—for which seeming miracle, however, I shall presently account.This whole field of rice was surrounded and interspersed by the enemy with the large trunks and roots of heavy trees, in order to make our approach both difficult and dangerous; behind these temporary fortifications the rebels lay lurking, and firing upon us with deliberate aim, whilst theirbulwarkscertainly protected them in some measure from the effects of our fire, we having vast numbers of these fallen trees to scramble over before we could reach the town: but we still advanced, in defiance of every obstacle, and while I admired the masterly manœuvres of their general, I could not help pitying them for their superstition. One poor fellow, in particular, trusting to hisamuletor charm, fancied himself invulnerable; he mounted frequently upon one of the trees that lay near us, discharged his piece, descended to re-load, and then with equal confidence and the greatest deliberation returned to the charge in my full view; till at last a shot from one of my marines, namedValet, broke the bone of his thigh, and he fell crawling[108]for shelter under the very same tree which had supported him just before; but the soldier instantly advancing, and putting the muzzle of his musket to the rebel’s ear, blew out his brains, while several of his countrymen, in spite of their spells and charms, shared the same fate.Being now about to enter the town, a rebel captain, wearing a tarnished gold-laced hat, and bearing in his hand a torch of flaming straw, seeing their ruin inevitable, had the resolution to stay and set the town on fire in our presence, which, by the dryness of the houses, instantly produced a general conflagration, when the firing from the woods began gradually to cease. This bold and masterly manœuvre not only prevented that carnage to which the common soldiers in the heat of victory are but too prone, but also afforded the enemy an opportunity of retreating with their wives and children, and carrying off their most useful effects; whilst our pursuit, and seizing the spoil, were at once frustrated both by the ascending flames, and the unfathomable marsh, which we soon discovered on all sides to surround us, as in theMaccabees:“Behold thebattleis before us, and behind us, and thewater of Jordanon this side, and that side, and themarsh, andforest, so that there is no place for us to turn aside.”I must indeed confess that within this last hour the continued noise of the firing, shouting, swearing, and hallooing of black and white men mixed together; the groans of the wounded and the dying, all weltering[109]in blood and in dust; the shrill sound of the negro horns from every quarter, and the crackling of the burning village; to which if we add the clouds of smoke that every where surrounded us, the ascending flames, &c. &c. formed, on the whole, such an uncommon scene as I cannot describe, and would perhaps not have been unworthy of the pencil ofHogarth: this scene I have, however, faintly endeavoured to represent in thefrontispiece—whereI may be seen, after the heat of the action, fatigued, and dejectedly looking on the body of an unfortunaterebel negro, who, with his musket in his hand, lies prostrate at my feet.In short, having washed off the dust, sweat, and blood, and having refreshed ourselves with a dram and a bit of bread till the flames subsided, we next went to inspect the smoking ruins; and found the above town to have consisted of about one hundred houses or huts, some of which were two stories high. Among the glowing ashes we picked up several trifles that had escaped the flames, such as silver spoons and forks, which we supposed, by the marks BW. to have been pillaged from theBrunswickestate in Rio Cottica. We found also some knives, broken china and earthen pots; amongst the latter one filled with rice and palm-tree worms fell to my share: as this wanted no fire to dress the contents, and as my appetite was very keen, I emptied it in a few minutes, and made a very hearty meal. Some were afraid this mess had been left behind with a view to poison us; but this suspicion,[110]proved however, fortunately for me, to be without foundation.The silver plate I also purchased from the men that picked it up, determined to carry it off as a trophy, and I have used it ever since. Here we likewise found three skulls fixed upon stakes, the mournful relics of some of our own brave people, who had been formerly killed; but what surprized us most, were the heads of two young negroes, which seemed as if fresh cut off, these we since learned had been executed during the night of the 17th, when we heard the hallooing and the firing, for speaking inourfavour.Having buried all these remains promiscuously in one pit, we returned to sling our hammocks, under those beautiful and lofty trees which I have already mentioned; but here I am sorry to add, we found the rangers shockingly employed, in playing at bowls with those very heads they had just chopped off from their enemies; who, deaf to all remonstrance,“Resistless drove thebatter’d skullsbefore,And dash’d and mangled all the brains with gore.”They related that upon reconnoitring the skirts of the surrounding forest, they had found quantities of human blood in different places, which had flowed from the dead and wounded bodies the rebels had carried away during the action.To reprimand them for this inhuman diversion would[111]have been useless, as they assured us it was “Condre fassee,” the custom of their country; and concluded the horrid sport by kicking and mangling the heads, cutting off the lips, cheeks, ears, and noses; they even took out the jaw-bones, which they smoke-dried, together with the right hands, to carry home, as trophies of their victory, to their wives and relations. That this barbarous custom prevails amongst savages is a well-known fact, which originates from a motive of insatiable revenge. And though Colonel Fourgeoud might have prevented their inhumanity by his authority, in my opinion he wisely declined it; observing, that as he could not do it by persuasion, to do it by power, might break their native spirit, and produce no other effect than alienating them from the service, so necessary were they to us, though so savagely revengeful, and so bloody.About three o’clock, whilst we were resting from our fatigue, we were once more surprised by an attack from a party of the enemy; but after exchanging a few shots they were repulsed. This unexpected visit, however, put us more upon our guard during the night, so that no fires were allowed to be lighted, and double sentinels were placed around the camp. Thus situated, being overcome by excessive toil and heat, I after sun-set leaped into my hammock, and soon fell fast asleep; but in less than two hours my faithful black boy Quaco roused me, in the midst of pitch darkness, crying,[112]“Massera, massera! boosee negro, boosee negro!”—“Master, master! the enemy, the enemy!” Hearing, at the same moment, a brisk firing, with the balls whistling through the branches, I fully concluded that the rebels were in the very midst of our camp. Surprised, and not perfectly awake, I suddenly started up with my fusee cocked; and (without knowing where I ran) first threw down Quaco, and next fell down myself, over two or three bodies that lay upon the ground, and which I imagined to be killed. When one of them, “d—ning me for a son of a b—ch, told me, if I moved I was a dead man; Colonel Fourgeoud having issued orders for the troops to lie flat on their bellies all the night, and not to fire, as most of their ammunition had been expended the preceding day.” I took his advice, and soon discovered him by his voice to be one of our own grenadiers, namedThomson. In this situation we lay prostrate on our arms until sun-rise, during which time a most abusive dialogue was carried on indeed between therebelsand therangers, each party cursing and menacing the other at a very terrible rate; the former “reproaching the rangers as poltroons and traitors to their countrymen, and challenging them next day to single combat; swearing they only wished to lave their hands in the blood of such scoundrels, who had been the principal agents in destroying their flourishing settlement.” The rangers “d—n’d the rebels for a parcel of pitiful skulking rascals, whom they would fight one to two in the open[113]field, if they dared but to shew theiruglyfaces;swearing they had only deserted their masters because they were too lazy to work.” After this they insulted each other by a kind of war-whoop, sung victorious songs on both sides, and sounded their horns as signals of defiance; when the firing commenced once more from the rebel negroes, and continued during the night, accompanied by their martial voices, at intermissions resounding through the woods, which echo seemed to answer with redoubled force.At length poor Fourgeoud took a part in the conversation, myself and Serjeant Fowler acting as his interpreters, by hallooing, which created more mirth than I had been witness to for some time: he promised them life, liberty, victuals, drink, and all they wanted. They replied, with a loud laugh, that they wanted nothing from him; characterized him as a half-starved Frenchman, who had run away from his own country; and assured him that if he would venture to paythema visit, he should return unhurt, and not with an empty belly. They told us, that we were to be pitied more than they; that we werewhite slaves, hired to be shot at and starved for four-pence a day; that they scorned to expend much more of their powder upon such scarecrows; but should the planters or overseers dare to enter the woods, not a soul of them should ever return, any more than the perfidious rangers, some of whom might depend upon being massacred that[114]day, or the next; and concluded by declaring thatBonnyshould soon be the governor of the colony.After this they tinkled their bill-hooks, fired a volley, and gave three cheers; which being answered by the rangers, the clamour ended, and the rebels dispersed with the rising sun.Our fatigue was great; yet, notwithstanding the length of the contest, our loss by the enemies fire was very inconsiderable, for which I promised to account; and this mystery was now explained, when the surgeons, dressing the wounded, extracted very few leaden bullets, but many pebbles, coat-buttons, and pieces of silver coin, which could do us little mischief, by penetrating scarcely more than skin deep. We also observed, that several of the poor rebel negroes who were shot, had only the shards of Spa-water cans, instead of flints, which could seldom do execution; and it was certainly owing to these circumstances that we came off so well, as I have mentioned before; yet we were nevertheless not without a number of very dangerous scars and contusions.Inconceivable are the many expedients which these people employ in the woods, where in a state of tranquillity they seemed, as they boasted, to want for nothing, being plump and fat, at least such as we had an opportunity of observing. It should be noticed, thatgameandfishthey catch in great abundance, by artificial traps and springs, and preserve them by barbacuing; while their[115]fields are even overstocked with rice, cassava, yams, plantains, &c. They makesaltfrom the palm-tree ashes, as the Gentoos do in the East Indies, or frequently supply the want of it with red pepper.We here found concealed near the trunk of an old tree a case-bottle filled with excellent butter, which the rangers told me they made by melting and clarifying the fat of the palm-tree worms: this fully answers all the purposes of European butter, and I found it in fact even more delicious to my taste. Thepistachioorpindanuts they also convert into butter, by their oily substance, and frequently use them in their broths. The palm-tree wine they have always in plenty; they procure it by making deep incisions of a foot square in the fallen trunk, where the juice being collected, it soon ferments by the heat of the sun; it is not only a cool and agreeable beverage, but sufficiently strong to intoxicate. The manicole or pine-tree affords them materials for building; they fabricate pots from clay found near their dwellings; the gourd or callebasse tree procures them cups; the silk grass plant and maurecee-tree supplies materials for their hammocks, and even a kind of cap grows naturally upon the palm-trees, as well as brooms; the various kinds of nebee supply the want of ropes; fuel they have for cutting; and a wood calledbee-beeserves for tinder, by rubbing two pieces on each other; it is also elastic, and makes excellent corks; candles they can make, having plenty of fat and oil; and the wild bees afford them wax, as well as excellent honey.[116]Cloaths they scorn to wear, preferring to go naked in a climate where the warmth of the weather renders every kind of covering an useless incumbrance.They might breed hogs and poultry, and keep dogs for hunting and watching them, but this they decline, from the apprehension of being discovered by their noise, as even the crowing of a cock may be heard in the forest at a considerable distance.———I shall now once more proceed.The rebels of this settlement being apparently subdued and dispersed, Colonel Fourgeoud made it his next business to destroy the surrounding harvest; and I received orders to begin the devastation, with eighty marines and twenty rangers. Thus I cut down all the rice that was growing plentifully in the two above-mentioned fields; this being done, I discovered a third field south of the first, which I also demolished, and made my report to Fourgeoud, with which he appeared highly satisfied. In the afternoon CaptainHamelwas detached, with fifty, marines and thirty rangers, to reconnoitre behind the village, and to discover, if possible, how the rebels could pass to and fro through an unfathomable marsh, whilst we were unable to pursue them. This officer at length perceived a kind of floating bridge amongst the reeds, made of maurecee-trees, but so constructed, that only one man abreast could pass it. On this were seated astride a few rebels to defend the communication, who instantly fired upon the party, but were soon repulsed by the rangers, who shot one of them dead, but he was carried away by his companions.[117]On the morning of the 22d, our commander ordered a detachment to cross the bridge and go on discovery, at all hazards. Of this party I led the van. We now took the pass without opposition; and having all marched, or rather scrambled over this defile of floating trees, we found ourselves in a large oblong field of cassava and yams, in which were about thirty houses,nowdeserted, being the remains of the old settlement calledCofaay. In this field we separated into three divisions, the better to reconnoitre, one marching north, one north-west, and the third west. And here, to our astonishment, we discovered that the reason of the rebels shouting, singing, and firing, on the night of the 20th, was not only to cover the retreat of their friends, by cutting off the pass, but by their unremitting noise to prevent us from discovering that they were employed, men, women, and children, in preparing warimboes or hampers filled with the finest rice, yams, and cassava, for subsistence during their escape, of which they had only left the chaff and refuse for our contemplation.This was certainly such a masterly trait of generalship in a savage people, whom we affected to despise, as would have done honour to any European commander, and has perhaps been seldom equalled by more civilized nations.[118]1The negroes have a savage custom of mangling and tearing the dead bodies of their enemies; some even devouring part of them with their teeth, like the Caribbee Indians.↑

CHAP.XX.A Rebel Negro described—Bush-fighting—Sentimental Expressions of the African Blacks—The Town of Gado-Saby taken by Colonel Fourgeoud—Superstition—Wonderful Expedients—Great Generalship in the Enemy.

A Rebel Negro described—Bush-fighting—Sentimental Expressions of the African Blacks—The Town of Gado-Saby taken by Colonel Fourgeoud—Superstition—Wonderful Expedients—Great Generalship in the Enemy.

A Rebel Negro described—Bush-fighting—Sentimental Expressions of the African Blacks—The Town of Gado-Saby taken by Colonel Fourgeoud—Superstition—Wonderful Expedients—Great Generalship in the Enemy.

On the 15th of August 1775, the rebels, flushed with their late victory over Captain Meyland and his party, whether with a design to brave Fourgeoud, or to intimidate his troops, being well apprised by their spies that he was at Barbacoeba, had the assurance to set fire to all the huts in two different camps which had been left standing by his patroles, while they continued shouting and hallooing the whole night within our hearing; but this only proved an incentive to action, and enraged our veteran commander so much, that he now declared he would have ample revenge at all hazards. During this night a large tiger also alarmed the camp, but did no damage of any kind.An hour before day-break next morning, Colonel Fourgeoud, with his troops, were ready to march, and immediately entered the woods. They now amounted exactly to two hundred Europeans fit for service, the rest[88]being ill and unfit for service; but no rangers were as yet arrived, though they had been expected. The fact was, they were so much disgusted with Fourgeoud’s command, that they did not appear at all, which afforded this gentleman for once an opportunity of stigmatizing them as a band of pusillanimous rascals; and I confess I was myself extremely astonished at this wilful absence of my black favourites, who were at other times so eager to rush upon the enemy, and had declared their satisfaction at the hopes of a decisive engagement with their sable countrymen.A Rebel Negro armed & on his guard.A Rebel Negro armed & on his guard.Bartolozzi Sculpt.London, Published Decr. 1.st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.This whole day our course was due E.; and after proceeding about eight miles (which is a great distance in this country, where the pioneers with bill-hooks must constantly open a path), we erected huts, and encamped. Having frequently mentioned therebel-negroeswith whom we were now certain to have a rencontre, I present the reader with the figure of one of these people, upon his guard, as alarmed by a rustling amongst the bushes. At a distance are supposed a couple of our rangers, waiting the moment to take him by surprize. This rebel negro is armed with a firelock and a hatchet; his hair, though woolly, may be observed to be plaited close to his head, by way of distinction from the rangers, or any other straggling negroes, who are not yet accepted amongst them; his beard is grown to a point, like that of all the Africans, when they have no opportunity of shaving. The principal dress of this man[89]consists of a cotton sheet, negligently tied across his shoulders, which protects him from the weather, and serves him also to rest on; while he always sleeps under cover in the most obscure places he can find, when detached from his companions. The rest of his dress is a camisa, tied around his loins like a handkerchief; his pouch, which is made of some animal’s skin; a few cotton strings for ornament around his ancles and wrists; and a superstitiousobiaor amulet tied about his neck, in which he places all his confidence. The skull and ribs are supposed to be the bones of his enemies, scattered upon the sandy savannah.The two rangers who make their appearance at a distance may be distinguished by theirred caps; and here I must observe, that the rebels have many times availed themselves of seizing one of these scarlet distinctions, which by clapping on their own heads in an engagement, has not only saved their lives, but given them an opportunity of shooting their enemies.Another stratagem of theirs has sometimes been discovered,viz.that fire-arms being scarce amongst them, numbers have intermixed in the crowd, with acrooked stickshaped something like a musket; and this appearance has more than once had the effect of preventing a proper defence by the plantation slaves, when the rebels came to ransack the estates; while with this show of armed numbers they have often struck such a panic, and so damped the courage of the former, that they have[90]been calmly permitted, after burning their houses, even to carry away their wives and daughters.On the 16th we continued our march due E. upon a ridge or elevated ground. These ridges, if I mistake not, run generally in this country E. and W. as do also most of the marshes and swamps. Having advanced rather a less distance than we did the day before, we were ordered early to sling our hammocks, and to sleep without any covering, to prevent the enemy from hearing the sound of cutting the trees; nor were any fires allowed to be lighted, nor a word to be spoken, while a strict watch was kept round the camp. These, in fast, were all very necessary precautions; but if we were not discovered by the enemy, we were almost devoured by the clouds ofgnatsor musquitoes, which arose from a neighbouring marsh: for my own part I suffered more here than I had even done on board the fatal barges in the upper Cottica, as we could make no smoke to drive them away. In this situation I saw the poor men dig holes with their bayonets in the earth, into which they thrust their heads, stopping the entry and covering their necks with their hammocks, while they lay with their bellies on the ground. To sleep in any other position was absolutely impossible.By the advice of a negro slave, I however enjoyed my rest.—“Climb,” said he, “massera, with your hammock to the top of the highest tree that is in the camp, and there go sleep; not a single musquito will disturb you, the swarm will be sufficiently attracted by the smell of[91]the sweating multitude below.”—This I immediately tried, and slept exalted near one hundred feet above my companions, whom I could not see for the myriads of musquitoes below me, nor even hear them, from the incessant buzzing of these troublesome insects.This was the principal distress of the night; while, during the day, we had frequently been attacked by whole armies of small emmets, called herefire-ants, from their painful biting. These insects are black, and very diminutive, but live in such amazing multitudes together, that their hillocks have sometimes obstructed our passage by their size, over which, if one chances to pass, the feet and legs are instantly covered with innumerable of these creatures, which seize the skin with such violence in their pincers, that they will sooner suffer the head to be parted from their body, than let go their hold. The burning pain which they occasion cannot, in my opinion, proceed from the sharpness of their pincers only, but must be owing to some venomous fluid which they infuse, or which the wound imbibes from them. I can aver that I have seen them make a whole company hop about, as if they had been scalded with boiling water.On the 17th we continued our march still due E. till nine o’clock, when we altered our course to the N. and had to scramble through great quantities of those mataky roots, or trumpeters already described, which proved that we were descending into the low grounds, and indeed the soil soon became very marshy; fortunately, however, though it was now the wet season, we had as yet very little rain.[92]This evening we encamped about four o’clock. Colonel Fourgeoud being seized with a cold fit of the ague.As I was slinging my hammock between two large branches, but not so high as the preceding night, my eye chanced to fall upon what I conceived to be the leaf of a tree, but which appeared to move and crawl up the trunk. I called several officers to see it: when a gentleman of the Society exclaimed, “C’est la feuille ambulante.” That is the walking leaf. Upon closer examination it proved to be an insect, whose wings so perfectly represent a leaf, that by many it has been mistaken for a vegetable production. This seemed to be a species of grasshopper, but covered over with four wings of an oval form, and about three inches in length, the two uppermost so folded together as to appear exactly like a brown leaf, with all the fibres, &c.I now returned to my hammock; where, reflecting on all the wonders of nature, while the silver-moon glittering through the verdure added beauty to the scene, I fell into a profound sleep, which I enjoyed till near midnight, when we were all awaked in pitch darkness and a heavy shower of rain, by the hallooing and shouting of the rebel negroes, who discharged several muskets; but as the shot did not reach our camp, we were extremely astonished, the darkness rendering it impossible to form any just idea of their meaning. This disturbance continuing till near day-break, made us expect every moment to be surrounded, and keep a very sharp look-out.In the morning early we unlashed our hammocks, and[93]marched due N. towards the place whence we conjectured the hallooing noise to have proceeded, being all much fatigued for want of rest, especially Colonel Fourgeoud, who could hardly support himself, so much was he weakened by the ague. We had not marched above two miles, I having the van-guard, when arebel negrosprang up at my feet from under a shrub, where he had been asleep; but as we had orders not to fire upon stragglers, he escaped, running with almost the swiftness of a stag amongst the brambles. I no sooner made report to the old hero, than, swearing he was a spy, which I believe was true, he shook off his illness, and quickened his pace with redoubled vigour: but our pursuit was to no purpose, at least this day; for about one o’clock we got into a bog, from which we could hardly extricate ourselves, and were forced to return to our last night’s encampment, missing two privates of the Society troops, whom we supposed to have perished in the marsh.This day we saw great quantities of arnotta-trees, with which this part of the forest abounds. In the evening a slave presented me with abush-spiderof such magnitude, that putting him into a case-bottle above eight inches high, he actually reached the surface with some of his hideous claws, whilst the others were resting upon the bottom. No creature can be more dreadfully ugly than this enormous spider, which the people of Surinam erroneously call thetarantula. The body is divided in two, the posterior part oval, and the size of an Orlean-plum; the fore-part square, with a figure somewhat[94]resembling a star upon it. This monster has five pair of thick legs, with four joints in each; is entirely black or dark brown, and covered over, legs and all, with thick and long black hair, like some caterpillars, while each leg is armed with a crooked yellow nail, and from the head project two long teeth with inverted pincers, resembling the claw of a crab, with which it seizes its prey; while its bite, if not fatal by the venomous liquid infused into the wound, always occasions a fever. It has eight eyes like most spiders, and feeds on insects of every species; nay, it is even asserted, that young birds do not escape it, out of which this spider sucks the blood: its web is small but very strong. Upon the whole, it is such a hideous creature, that the very sight of it is sufficient to occasion a tremor of abhorrence, even in persons most accustomed to inspect the deformities of nature. Innumerable indeed are the pests and dangers to which one is hourly exposed in the woods of this tropical climate; and though it is my present business only to make mention of such as I met with in this march, and which must appear new to the reader, yet a recapitulation of the names only of our numerous plagues may not be improper to refresh the memory of those who have a heart to sympathize with our sufferings. I have already mentioned themusquitoes, monpieras, patatandserapat lice, chigoes, cock-roaches, common ants, fire-ants, horse-flies, wild bees, andspiders; besides theprickly heat, ring-worm, dry-gripes, putrid fevers, boils, consaca, bloody-flux, thorns, briars,[95]alligators, snakes, tigers, &c.; but I have not yet spoken of thebush-worms, large ants, locusts, centipedes, scorpions, bats, andflying-lice, thecrassy-crassy, yaws, lethargy, leprosy, anddropsy, with a thousand other grievances that continually annoyed our unhappy troops;—a particular description of which I must delay till a more suitable opportunity occurs for introducing them into this narrative.Such were the pests that we had to struggle with in this baneful climate, whilst our poor men were dying in multitudes, without proper assistance, unpitied, and frequently without a friend to close their eye-lids, neither coffin nor shell to receive their bones, but thrown promiscuously into one pit, like heaps of loathsome carrion.On the 19th, we again left our encampment, and after keeping a little S. marched E. till ten o’clock, when we were overtaken and joined by a party of one hundred rangers, with their conductor, Mr.Vinsack, to my great satisfaction. At this period we mustered three hundred men; and however little Colonel Fourgeoud affected, at other times, to value these black soldiers, he was now not at all displeased with their company, upon our near approach to an enemy with whom the rangers were well acquainted, and knew how to engage much better than the marines: while it will ever be my opinion, that one of these free negroes is preferable to half a dozen white men in the forest of Guiana; it indeed seems their natural element, whilst it is the bane of the Europeans.[96]Colonel Fourgeoud now issued orders for our little army to march in three lines or columns, his own regiment in the centre, the Society troops on the right, the rangers or black soldiers on the left, all within hearing of each other, with a fewflankersor riflemen outside the whole: thus formed we advanced till about noon, when we changed our course from E. to N. E. and continued our march over abiree-bireeswamp, or quagmire: these are very common and dangerous in this country, being a deep soft miry bog, covered over with a thin crust of verdure, sufficient in most places to bear the weight of a man, and quaking when walked over; but should this crust give way, whoever breaks it is swallowed up in the chasm, where he must inevitably perish if not immediately extricated; thus it has frequently happened that men have been seen to sink, and have never more been heard of.Quicksands are quite different, as they overwhelm by a gradual suction, whereas the effects of a quagmire are instantaneous. To avoid accidents, we opened our files as much as possible, which occasioned a very long rear; but even with this precaution several men sunk through it, as if the ice had broken under their feet, and some in my presence up to the arm-pits, but were fortunately, though with much difficulty, extricated.In the afternoon we passed through two oldcassavafields, which indicated our near approach to the rebel settlement; we afterwards fell in with Captain Meyland’s[97]path, which we knew by the marks cut upon the trees, as before explained. The evening being too far advanced to attack the enemy, we once more encamped a few miles from the swamp in which Captain Meyland and his party had been defeated.Having had a long march, and the men being much fatigued, Colonel Fourgeoud allowed, during this night, both huts and fires; which surprized me greatly, being so near the rebels, though he had forbidden these comforts when we were at a very considerable distance from them. I however availed myself of his bounty, and having got somepigeon-peasfrom my serjeant, which he had picked up in the old cassava grounds, and laid hold of one of the kettles, I invited him, and a captain of the black corps calledHannibal, to a share; who having thrown their salt-beef and rusk-biscuit into the mess with mine, and stirred it round with a bayonet, we made a very excellent supper, though in a sad dreary night and heavy rain.ThepigeonorAngolapeas grow on a shrub about eight or ten feet high; five or six of these peas are contained in a pod; they are flat like lentils, and of a reddish-brown colour: the negroes are extremely fond of them, and cultivate them in their gardens without any expence or much trouble.Hannibal now observing that we should certainly see the enemy to-morrow, asked me if I knew in what manner negro engaged against negro? Having answered in the negative, he gave me the following relation, while[98]smoking his pipe under my hammock.—“Massera,” said he, “both parties are divided in small companies of eight or ten men, commanded by a captain, with a horn, such as this (shewing me his) by which they do every thing, and fight or run away. When they fight they separate immediately, lie down on the ground, and fire at the flash of each other’s pans through the trees; while each warrior is supported by two negroes unarmed, the one to take his place if he is killed, and the other to carry away the dead body, to prevent its falling into the hands of their adversaries1.”From this discourse I perfectly understood his meaning, which I have since seen put in practice; and for the clearer conception of the reader, I have illustrated it with the following plan, where the whole engagement is exhibited at one view.Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.Gradation of Shades between Europe & Africa.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.The two columnsEandFare supposed to be first engaged, where No1 in the columnEcommences the attack by firing at random in the opposite bushes; and instantly retires, by shifting his place to No1 in the columnC, where he re-loads; while No2 in the columnF, having fired at the flash of his pan, advances in the same manner, shifting his station to re-load at No2 in the columnD; and at the flash of whose pan No3 fires inE, and receives the fire of No4 inF, &c. &c. Thus continuing through both lines, till No8 has fired inF,[99]when the whole have shifted their stations; and the same manœuvre is continued with the columnsCandD, beginning again with the identical numbers 1, 2, 3, &c. at the top; while these lines, having shifted their places, still the firing is repeated by the linesAandB, and thusad infinitum, until by sounding the horn one of the parties gives way in flight, and the battle is over. I shall only add, that when the forest is thick, instead of lying on their bellies, or kneeling, each negro skulks behind a thick tree, which serves him as a bulwark, and from which he fires at his adversary with more certainty and less danger, usually resting his piece against the trunk, or in the forked branches, like theShawaneseandDelawareIndians.Captain Hannibal also informed me, that the famous chiefBonnywas supposed to be in person amongst the neighbouring rebels; and that he was born in the forest amongst them, notwithstanding his being a mulatto, which was accounted for by his mother escaping to the woods from the ill treatment of her master, by whom she was then pregnant.Having frequently mentioned the different shades between ablackand awhite, the same plate represents them to the reader at one view. From the above two colours themulattois produced; from the mulatto and black, thesamboo; from the mulatto and white, thequaderoon, &c. &c.—This sable warrior made me also acquainted with the names of several other rebel commanders,[100]against whom he had frequently fought for the Europeans. Such asQuammy, who was the chief of a separate gang, and had no connection with the others;Coromantyn, Cojo,Arico, andJoli-Cœur; the two last being celebrated captains, whose revenge was insatiable against the whites, particularlyJoli-Cœur’s, who had I confess great reason, as has been already stated. The noted rebel negroBaron, he believed, was now serving also under the great chiefBonny.He next proceeded to tell me the names of the principal rebel settlements, some of which were already destroyed, some now in view, and some of these were only known to us by name. These appellations were all very expressive indeed; and as they may serve in some measure to elucidate our enquiries concerning the negro nations, I have thought proper to give them a place in this narrative, with their meaning in an English translation;viz.BoucooI shall moulder before I shall be taken.Gado SabyGod only knows me, and none else.CofaayCome try me, if you be men.Tessee SeeTake a tasting, if you like it.Mele meDo disturb me, if you dare.Boosy CrayThe woods lament for me.Me SalasyI shall be taken.Kebree meHide me, O thou surrounding verdure.[101]The others were:Quammi CondreFrom Quammi, the name of the chief.PinenburghFrom the pines or manicole-trees which formerly surrounded it.Caro CondreFrom the quantity of maize it afforded.Reisee CondreFrom the quantity of rice it produced.Such were the names of the negro warriors, and their settlements.I now shook hands with Captain Hannibal, while my mind being occupied with the hopes of victory unstained by cruelty, and being very much fatigued, I soon fell profoundly asleep.On the 20th in the morning, no one could awake in a more beautiful day and better spirits than I did, until they were damped by observing that at so critical a time, and even in the moment before the conflict, instead of that kind treatment which it would have been prudent to have shewn to those from whose exertions we were to expect a happy period to our sufferings, there was even then such discouragement of the subaltern officers and private men as involuntarily drew from me the reflection—That (if possible to avoid it)princesandministersshould never invest any oneindividualwith unlimited authority, especially in a foreign country, without being perfectly well acquainted with the rectitude of their moral principles and disposition; no men being fit to command but those who are possessed of manly feelings, and whose valour is tempered with humanity;[102]since ’tis a truth that sterling bravery is incompatible with a cruel heart.At six o’clock we advanced N. E. by N. towards the marsh, my melancholy evaporating with the rising sun.About eight o’clock we entered this formidable swamp, and soon found ourselves above our middle in water, well prepared nevertheless for the warm reception we expected from the opposite shore, as the former party had so fatally experienced. After wading above half a mile, our grenadiers rapidly mounted the beach with cocked firelocks and bayonets fixed; the main body instantly followed, and also mounting the beach, the whole formed without the smallest opposition. We now beheld a spectacle sufficient to shock the most intrepid, the ground strewed with skulls, bones, and ribs still covered with human flesh, and besmeared with the blood of those unfortunate men who were killed with Captain Meyland.—That officer had indeed found means to bury them, but the rebels had dug them up for the sake of their cloaths, and to mangle the bodies, which, like ferocious animals, they had torn limb from limb. Amongst these, the fate ofMeyland’s nephew, a promising young man, was peculiarly affecting. He came from the mountains of Switzerland in quest of military preferment, and met his fate in a marsh of Surinam just after his landing. His bravery was equal to that of his uncle, his intrepidity, voluntarily exposing himself to danger, knew no bounds.—Such is the enthusiasm of military ambition.[103]“And ’tis most true, while Time’s relentless handWith sickly grasp drags others to the tomb;Thesoldierscorns to wait the dull command,But springs impatient to a nobler doom.“Tho’ on the plain he lies, outstretch’d and pale,Without one friend his stedfast eyes to close,Yet on hishonour’d corpseshall many a galeWaft the moist fragrance of the weeping rose.“O’er the dread spot the melancholy moonShall pause a while—a sadder beam to shed;And starry night amidst her awful noonSprinkle light dews upon his hallowed head.“There too the solitary bird shall swellWith long-drawn melody her plaintive throat;While distant echo from responsive cellShall oft with fading force return the note.“Such recompence bevalour’s due alone.”*   *   *This being the second or third heap of human bones we had met with in our march, I frankly acknowledge did not operate upon me as a stimulative to engage with negroes; yet these awful relics spurred on the common soldiers to take revenge for the loss of their massacred companions.Having so frequently had occasion to speak of marching through a swamp, it may not be improper to illustrate[104]the description by theannexed drawing. The first figure represents Colonel Fourgeoud (preceded by a negro slave, as a guide, to give notice by his swimming when the water deepens) followed by myself, some other officers and marines, wading through the marsh above our middle, and carrying our arms, ammunition, and accoutrements above our heads, to prevent their being damaged by the wet.In the back-ground may be seen the manner in which the slaves carry all burdens whatever on the head, and the mode of the rebel negroes firing upon the troops from the tops of high palm-trees, &c. A march of this nature, though occasionally necessary in Surinam, must be always very dangerous, being exposed to an attack from under cover of the surrounding bushes, without having the power of returning the fire more than once; for in such a depth of water no soldier can re-load his musket without wetting both the lock and the priming.We now followed a kind of foot-path made by the enemy, which after a little turning led us in a westerly direction. SerjeantFowler, who preceded the van-guard, at this time came to me pale, declaring, that the sight of the mangled bodies had made him extremely sick; and that he felt himself completely disarmed, being that moment, as it were, rivetted to the ground, without the power of advancing one single step, or knowing how to conceal his tremor:——I d—n’d him for a pitiful scoundrel, and had only time to order him to the rear.March thro’ a swamp or Marsh in Terra-firma.March thro’ a swamp or Marsh in Terra-firma.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.[105]“No force, no firmness, thepale cowardshews:He shifts his place, his colour comes and goes;A dropping sweat creeps cold on every part,Against his bosom beats his quivering heart:Terror and deathin his wild eye-balls stare;}With chattering teeth he stands, and stiff’ning hair,And looks a bloodless image of despair.”At ten o’clock we met a small party of the rebels, with each a green hamper upon his back; they fired at us, dropped their bundles, and taking to their heels ran back towards their village. These we since learned were transportingriceto another settlement for their subsistence, when they should be expelled fromGado-Saby(the name of this settlement) which they daily expected, since they had been discovered by the gallant Captain Meyland. The green hampers, which they callwarimbos, were very curiously plaited with the manicole leaves. And when our men cut them open with their sabres, there burst forth the most beautiful clean rice that I ever saw, which was scattered and trampled under foot, as we had no opportunity of carrying it along. A little after this we perceived an empty shed, where a picquet had been stationed to give notice of any danger, but they had precipitately deserted their post. We now vigorously redoubled our pace till about noon; when two more musket shot were fired at us by another advanced guard of the enemy, as a signal to the chief,Bonny, of our approach. Major Medler and myself, with a few of the[106]van-guard, and a small party of the rangers, at this time rushing forward, soon came to a fine field of rice and Indian corn: we here made a halt for the other troops, particularly to give time for our rear to close up, some of whom were at least two miles behind us; and during which period we might have been cut to pieces, the enemy, unknown to us, having surrounded the field in which we were, as we were afterwards informed.In about half an hour the whole body joined us, when we instantly proceeded by cutting through a small defile of the wood, into which we had no sooner entered, than a heavy fire commenced from every side, the rebels retiring, and we advancing, until we arrived in the most beautiful field, of ripe rice, in the form of an oblong square, from which therebel townappeared at a distance, in the form of an amphitheatre, sheltered from the sun by the foliage of a few lofty trees, the whole presenting acoup-d’œilromantic and enchanting beyond conception. In this field the firing was kept up, like one continued peal of thunder, for above forty minutes, during which time our black warriors behaved with wonderful intrepidity and skill. The white soldiers were too eager, and fired over one another at random, yet I could perceive a few of them act with the utmost coolness, and imitate the rangers with great effect; amongst these wasnowthe once-daunted Fowler, who being roused from his tremor by the firing at the beginning of the onset, had rushed to the front, and fully[107]re-established his character, by fighting like a brave fellow, by my side, until the muzzle of his musket was split by a shot from the enemy, which rendered it useless; a ball passed through my shirt, and grazed the skin of my shoulder; Mr. Decabanes, my lieutenant, had the sling of his fusee shot away: several others were wounded, some mortally, but I did not, to my surprize, observe one instance ofimmediatedeath—for which seeming miracle, however, I shall presently account.This whole field of rice was surrounded and interspersed by the enemy with the large trunks and roots of heavy trees, in order to make our approach both difficult and dangerous; behind these temporary fortifications the rebels lay lurking, and firing upon us with deliberate aim, whilst theirbulwarkscertainly protected them in some measure from the effects of our fire, we having vast numbers of these fallen trees to scramble over before we could reach the town: but we still advanced, in defiance of every obstacle, and while I admired the masterly manœuvres of their general, I could not help pitying them for their superstition. One poor fellow, in particular, trusting to hisamuletor charm, fancied himself invulnerable; he mounted frequently upon one of the trees that lay near us, discharged his piece, descended to re-load, and then with equal confidence and the greatest deliberation returned to the charge in my full view; till at last a shot from one of my marines, namedValet, broke the bone of his thigh, and he fell crawling[108]for shelter under the very same tree which had supported him just before; but the soldier instantly advancing, and putting the muzzle of his musket to the rebel’s ear, blew out his brains, while several of his countrymen, in spite of their spells and charms, shared the same fate.Being now about to enter the town, a rebel captain, wearing a tarnished gold-laced hat, and bearing in his hand a torch of flaming straw, seeing their ruin inevitable, had the resolution to stay and set the town on fire in our presence, which, by the dryness of the houses, instantly produced a general conflagration, when the firing from the woods began gradually to cease. This bold and masterly manœuvre not only prevented that carnage to which the common soldiers in the heat of victory are but too prone, but also afforded the enemy an opportunity of retreating with their wives and children, and carrying off their most useful effects; whilst our pursuit, and seizing the spoil, were at once frustrated both by the ascending flames, and the unfathomable marsh, which we soon discovered on all sides to surround us, as in theMaccabees:“Behold thebattleis before us, and behind us, and thewater of Jordanon this side, and that side, and themarsh, andforest, so that there is no place for us to turn aside.”I must indeed confess that within this last hour the continued noise of the firing, shouting, swearing, and hallooing of black and white men mixed together; the groans of the wounded and the dying, all weltering[109]in blood and in dust; the shrill sound of the negro horns from every quarter, and the crackling of the burning village; to which if we add the clouds of smoke that every where surrounded us, the ascending flames, &c. &c. formed, on the whole, such an uncommon scene as I cannot describe, and would perhaps not have been unworthy of the pencil ofHogarth: this scene I have, however, faintly endeavoured to represent in thefrontispiece—whereI may be seen, after the heat of the action, fatigued, and dejectedly looking on the body of an unfortunaterebel negro, who, with his musket in his hand, lies prostrate at my feet.In short, having washed off the dust, sweat, and blood, and having refreshed ourselves with a dram and a bit of bread till the flames subsided, we next went to inspect the smoking ruins; and found the above town to have consisted of about one hundred houses or huts, some of which were two stories high. Among the glowing ashes we picked up several trifles that had escaped the flames, such as silver spoons and forks, which we supposed, by the marks BW. to have been pillaged from theBrunswickestate in Rio Cottica. We found also some knives, broken china and earthen pots; amongst the latter one filled with rice and palm-tree worms fell to my share: as this wanted no fire to dress the contents, and as my appetite was very keen, I emptied it in a few minutes, and made a very hearty meal. Some were afraid this mess had been left behind with a view to poison us; but this suspicion,[110]proved however, fortunately for me, to be without foundation.The silver plate I also purchased from the men that picked it up, determined to carry it off as a trophy, and I have used it ever since. Here we likewise found three skulls fixed upon stakes, the mournful relics of some of our own brave people, who had been formerly killed; but what surprized us most, were the heads of two young negroes, which seemed as if fresh cut off, these we since learned had been executed during the night of the 17th, when we heard the hallooing and the firing, for speaking inourfavour.Having buried all these remains promiscuously in one pit, we returned to sling our hammocks, under those beautiful and lofty trees which I have already mentioned; but here I am sorry to add, we found the rangers shockingly employed, in playing at bowls with those very heads they had just chopped off from their enemies; who, deaf to all remonstrance,“Resistless drove thebatter’d skullsbefore,And dash’d and mangled all the brains with gore.”They related that upon reconnoitring the skirts of the surrounding forest, they had found quantities of human blood in different places, which had flowed from the dead and wounded bodies the rebels had carried away during the action.To reprimand them for this inhuman diversion would[111]have been useless, as they assured us it was “Condre fassee,” the custom of their country; and concluded the horrid sport by kicking and mangling the heads, cutting off the lips, cheeks, ears, and noses; they even took out the jaw-bones, which they smoke-dried, together with the right hands, to carry home, as trophies of their victory, to their wives and relations. That this barbarous custom prevails amongst savages is a well-known fact, which originates from a motive of insatiable revenge. And though Colonel Fourgeoud might have prevented their inhumanity by his authority, in my opinion he wisely declined it; observing, that as he could not do it by persuasion, to do it by power, might break their native spirit, and produce no other effect than alienating them from the service, so necessary were they to us, though so savagely revengeful, and so bloody.About three o’clock, whilst we were resting from our fatigue, we were once more surprised by an attack from a party of the enemy; but after exchanging a few shots they were repulsed. This unexpected visit, however, put us more upon our guard during the night, so that no fires were allowed to be lighted, and double sentinels were placed around the camp. Thus situated, being overcome by excessive toil and heat, I after sun-set leaped into my hammock, and soon fell fast asleep; but in less than two hours my faithful black boy Quaco roused me, in the midst of pitch darkness, crying,[112]“Massera, massera! boosee negro, boosee negro!”—“Master, master! the enemy, the enemy!” Hearing, at the same moment, a brisk firing, with the balls whistling through the branches, I fully concluded that the rebels were in the very midst of our camp. Surprised, and not perfectly awake, I suddenly started up with my fusee cocked; and (without knowing where I ran) first threw down Quaco, and next fell down myself, over two or three bodies that lay upon the ground, and which I imagined to be killed. When one of them, “d—ning me for a son of a b—ch, told me, if I moved I was a dead man; Colonel Fourgeoud having issued orders for the troops to lie flat on their bellies all the night, and not to fire, as most of their ammunition had been expended the preceding day.” I took his advice, and soon discovered him by his voice to be one of our own grenadiers, namedThomson. In this situation we lay prostrate on our arms until sun-rise, during which time a most abusive dialogue was carried on indeed between therebelsand therangers, each party cursing and menacing the other at a very terrible rate; the former “reproaching the rangers as poltroons and traitors to their countrymen, and challenging them next day to single combat; swearing they only wished to lave their hands in the blood of such scoundrels, who had been the principal agents in destroying their flourishing settlement.” The rangers “d—n’d the rebels for a parcel of pitiful skulking rascals, whom they would fight one to two in the open[113]field, if they dared but to shew theiruglyfaces;swearing they had only deserted their masters because they were too lazy to work.” After this they insulted each other by a kind of war-whoop, sung victorious songs on both sides, and sounded their horns as signals of defiance; when the firing commenced once more from the rebel negroes, and continued during the night, accompanied by their martial voices, at intermissions resounding through the woods, which echo seemed to answer with redoubled force.At length poor Fourgeoud took a part in the conversation, myself and Serjeant Fowler acting as his interpreters, by hallooing, which created more mirth than I had been witness to for some time: he promised them life, liberty, victuals, drink, and all they wanted. They replied, with a loud laugh, that they wanted nothing from him; characterized him as a half-starved Frenchman, who had run away from his own country; and assured him that if he would venture to paythema visit, he should return unhurt, and not with an empty belly. They told us, that we were to be pitied more than they; that we werewhite slaves, hired to be shot at and starved for four-pence a day; that they scorned to expend much more of their powder upon such scarecrows; but should the planters or overseers dare to enter the woods, not a soul of them should ever return, any more than the perfidious rangers, some of whom might depend upon being massacred that[114]day, or the next; and concluded by declaring thatBonnyshould soon be the governor of the colony.After this they tinkled their bill-hooks, fired a volley, and gave three cheers; which being answered by the rangers, the clamour ended, and the rebels dispersed with the rising sun.Our fatigue was great; yet, notwithstanding the length of the contest, our loss by the enemies fire was very inconsiderable, for which I promised to account; and this mystery was now explained, when the surgeons, dressing the wounded, extracted very few leaden bullets, but many pebbles, coat-buttons, and pieces of silver coin, which could do us little mischief, by penetrating scarcely more than skin deep. We also observed, that several of the poor rebel negroes who were shot, had only the shards of Spa-water cans, instead of flints, which could seldom do execution; and it was certainly owing to these circumstances that we came off so well, as I have mentioned before; yet we were nevertheless not without a number of very dangerous scars and contusions.Inconceivable are the many expedients which these people employ in the woods, where in a state of tranquillity they seemed, as they boasted, to want for nothing, being plump and fat, at least such as we had an opportunity of observing. It should be noticed, thatgameandfishthey catch in great abundance, by artificial traps and springs, and preserve them by barbacuing; while their[115]fields are even overstocked with rice, cassava, yams, plantains, &c. They makesaltfrom the palm-tree ashes, as the Gentoos do in the East Indies, or frequently supply the want of it with red pepper.We here found concealed near the trunk of an old tree a case-bottle filled with excellent butter, which the rangers told me they made by melting and clarifying the fat of the palm-tree worms: this fully answers all the purposes of European butter, and I found it in fact even more delicious to my taste. Thepistachioorpindanuts they also convert into butter, by their oily substance, and frequently use them in their broths. The palm-tree wine they have always in plenty; they procure it by making deep incisions of a foot square in the fallen trunk, where the juice being collected, it soon ferments by the heat of the sun; it is not only a cool and agreeable beverage, but sufficiently strong to intoxicate. The manicole or pine-tree affords them materials for building; they fabricate pots from clay found near their dwellings; the gourd or callebasse tree procures them cups; the silk grass plant and maurecee-tree supplies materials for their hammocks, and even a kind of cap grows naturally upon the palm-trees, as well as brooms; the various kinds of nebee supply the want of ropes; fuel they have for cutting; and a wood calledbee-beeserves for tinder, by rubbing two pieces on each other; it is also elastic, and makes excellent corks; candles they can make, having plenty of fat and oil; and the wild bees afford them wax, as well as excellent honey.[116]Cloaths they scorn to wear, preferring to go naked in a climate where the warmth of the weather renders every kind of covering an useless incumbrance.They might breed hogs and poultry, and keep dogs for hunting and watching them, but this they decline, from the apprehension of being discovered by their noise, as even the crowing of a cock may be heard in the forest at a considerable distance.———I shall now once more proceed.The rebels of this settlement being apparently subdued and dispersed, Colonel Fourgeoud made it his next business to destroy the surrounding harvest; and I received orders to begin the devastation, with eighty marines and twenty rangers. Thus I cut down all the rice that was growing plentifully in the two above-mentioned fields; this being done, I discovered a third field south of the first, which I also demolished, and made my report to Fourgeoud, with which he appeared highly satisfied. In the afternoon CaptainHamelwas detached, with fifty, marines and thirty rangers, to reconnoitre behind the village, and to discover, if possible, how the rebels could pass to and fro through an unfathomable marsh, whilst we were unable to pursue them. This officer at length perceived a kind of floating bridge amongst the reeds, made of maurecee-trees, but so constructed, that only one man abreast could pass it. On this were seated astride a few rebels to defend the communication, who instantly fired upon the party, but were soon repulsed by the rangers, who shot one of them dead, but he was carried away by his companions.[117]On the morning of the 22d, our commander ordered a detachment to cross the bridge and go on discovery, at all hazards. Of this party I led the van. We now took the pass without opposition; and having all marched, or rather scrambled over this defile of floating trees, we found ourselves in a large oblong field of cassava and yams, in which were about thirty houses,nowdeserted, being the remains of the old settlement calledCofaay. In this field we separated into three divisions, the better to reconnoitre, one marching north, one north-west, and the third west. And here, to our astonishment, we discovered that the reason of the rebels shouting, singing, and firing, on the night of the 20th, was not only to cover the retreat of their friends, by cutting off the pass, but by their unremitting noise to prevent us from discovering that they were employed, men, women, and children, in preparing warimboes or hampers filled with the finest rice, yams, and cassava, for subsistence during their escape, of which they had only left the chaff and refuse for our contemplation.This was certainly such a masterly trait of generalship in a savage people, whom we affected to despise, as would have done honour to any European commander, and has perhaps been seldom equalled by more civilized nations.[118]

On the 15th of August 1775, the rebels, flushed with their late victory over Captain Meyland and his party, whether with a design to brave Fourgeoud, or to intimidate his troops, being well apprised by their spies that he was at Barbacoeba, had the assurance to set fire to all the huts in two different camps which had been left standing by his patroles, while they continued shouting and hallooing the whole night within our hearing; but this only proved an incentive to action, and enraged our veteran commander so much, that he now declared he would have ample revenge at all hazards. During this night a large tiger also alarmed the camp, but did no damage of any kind.

An hour before day-break next morning, Colonel Fourgeoud, with his troops, were ready to march, and immediately entered the woods. They now amounted exactly to two hundred Europeans fit for service, the rest[88]being ill and unfit for service; but no rangers were as yet arrived, though they had been expected. The fact was, they were so much disgusted with Fourgeoud’s command, that they did not appear at all, which afforded this gentleman for once an opportunity of stigmatizing them as a band of pusillanimous rascals; and I confess I was myself extremely astonished at this wilful absence of my black favourites, who were at other times so eager to rush upon the enemy, and had declared their satisfaction at the hopes of a decisive engagement with their sable countrymen.

A Rebel Negro armed & on his guard.A Rebel Negro armed & on his guard.Bartolozzi Sculpt.London, Published Decr. 1.st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.

A Rebel Negro armed & on his guard.

Bartolozzi Sculpt.

London, Published Decr. 1.st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.

This whole day our course was due E.; and after proceeding about eight miles (which is a great distance in this country, where the pioneers with bill-hooks must constantly open a path), we erected huts, and encamped. Having frequently mentioned therebel-negroeswith whom we were now certain to have a rencontre, I present the reader with the figure of one of these people, upon his guard, as alarmed by a rustling amongst the bushes. At a distance are supposed a couple of our rangers, waiting the moment to take him by surprize. This rebel negro is armed with a firelock and a hatchet; his hair, though woolly, may be observed to be plaited close to his head, by way of distinction from the rangers, or any other straggling negroes, who are not yet accepted amongst them; his beard is grown to a point, like that of all the Africans, when they have no opportunity of shaving. The principal dress of this man[89]consists of a cotton sheet, negligently tied across his shoulders, which protects him from the weather, and serves him also to rest on; while he always sleeps under cover in the most obscure places he can find, when detached from his companions. The rest of his dress is a camisa, tied around his loins like a handkerchief; his pouch, which is made of some animal’s skin; a few cotton strings for ornament around his ancles and wrists; and a superstitiousobiaor amulet tied about his neck, in which he places all his confidence. The skull and ribs are supposed to be the bones of his enemies, scattered upon the sandy savannah.

The two rangers who make their appearance at a distance may be distinguished by theirred caps; and here I must observe, that the rebels have many times availed themselves of seizing one of these scarlet distinctions, which by clapping on their own heads in an engagement, has not only saved their lives, but given them an opportunity of shooting their enemies.

Another stratagem of theirs has sometimes been discovered,viz.that fire-arms being scarce amongst them, numbers have intermixed in the crowd, with acrooked stickshaped something like a musket; and this appearance has more than once had the effect of preventing a proper defence by the plantation slaves, when the rebels came to ransack the estates; while with this show of armed numbers they have often struck such a panic, and so damped the courage of the former, that they have[90]been calmly permitted, after burning their houses, even to carry away their wives and daughters.

On the 16th we continued our march due E. upon a ridge or elevated ground. These ridges, if I mistake not, run generally in this country E. and W. as do also most of the marshes and swamps. Having advanced rather a less distance than we did the day before, we were ordered early to sling our hammocks, and to sleep without any covering, to prevent the enemy from hearing the sound of cutting the trees; nor were any fires allowed to be lighted, nor a word to be spoken, while a strict watch was kept round the camp. These, in fast, were all very necessary precautions; but if we were not discovered by the enemy, we were almost devoured by the clouds ofgnatsor musquitoes, which arose from a neighbouring marsh: for my own part I suffered more here than I had even done on board the fatal barges in the upper Cottica, as we could make no smoke to drive them away. In this situation I saw the poor men dig holes with their bayonets in the earth, into which they thrust their heads, stopping the entry and covering their necks with their hammocks, while they lay with their bellies on the ground. To sleep in any other position was absolutely impossible.

By the advice of a negro slave, I however enjoyed my rest.—“Climb,” said he, “massera, with your hammock to the top of the highest tree that is in the camp, and there go sleep; not a single musquito will disturb you, the swarm will be sufficiently attracted by the smell of[91]the sweating multitude below.”—This I immediately tried, and slept exalted near one hundred feet above my companions, whom I could not see for the myriads of musquitoes below me, nor even hear them, from the incessant buzzing of these troublesome insects.

This was the principal distress of the night; while, during the day, we had frequently been attacked by whole armies of small emmets, called herefire-ants, from their painful biting. These insects are black, and very diminutive, but live in such amazing multitudes together, that their hillocks have sometimes obstructed our passage by their size, over which, if one chances to pass, the feet and legs are instantly covered with innumerable of these creatures, which seize the skin with such violence in their pincers, that they will sooner suffer the head to be parted from their body, than let go their hold. The burning pain which they occasion cannot, in my opinion, proceed from the sharpness of their pincers only, but must be owing to some venomous fluid which they infuse, or which the wound imbibes from them. I can aver that I have seen them make a whole company hop about, as if they had been scalded with boiling water.

On the 17th we continued our march still due E. till nine o’clock, when we altered our course to the N. and had to scramble through great quantities of those mataky roots, or trumpeters already described, which proved that we were descending into the low grounds, and indeed the soil soon became very marshy; fortunately, however, though it was now the wet season, we had as yet very little rain.[92]

This evening we encamped about four o’clock. Colonel Fourgeoud being seized with a cold fit of the ague.

As I was slinging my hammock between two large branches, but not so high as the preceding night, my eye chanced to fall upon what I conceived to be the leaf of a tree, but which appeared to move and crawl up the trunk. I called several officers to see it: when a gentleman of the Society exclaimed, “C’est la feuille ambulante.” That is the walking leaf. Upon closer examination it proved to be an insect, whose wings so perfectly represent a leaf, that by many it has been mistaken for a vegetable production. This seemed to be a species of grasshopper, but covered over with four wings of an oval form, and about three inches in length, the two uppermost so folded together as to appear exactly like a brown leaf, with all the fibres, &c.

I now returned to my hammock; where, reflecting on all the wonders of nature, while the silver-moon glittering through the verdure added beauty to the scene, I fell into a profound sleep, which I enjoyed till near midnight, when we were all awaked in pitch darkness and a heavy shower of rain, by the hallooing and shouting of the rebel negroes, who discharged several muskets; but as the shot did not reach our camp, we were extremely astonished, the darkness rendering it impossible to form any just idea of their meaning. This disturbance continuing till near day-break, made us expect every moment to be surrounded, and keep a very sharp look-out.

In the morning early we unlashed our hammocks, and[93]marched due N. towards the place whence we conjectured the hallooing noise to have proceeded, being all much fatigued for want of rest, especially Colonel Fourgeoud, who could hardly support himself, so much was he weakened by the ague. We had not marched above two miles, I having the van-guard, when arebel negrosprang up at my feet from under a shrub, where he had been asleep; but as we had orders not to fire upon stragglers, he escaped, running with almost the swiftness of a stag amongst the brambles. I no sooner made report to the old hero, than, swearing he was a spy, which I believe was true, he shook off his illness, and quickened his pace with redoubled vigour: but our pursuit was to no purpose, at least this day; for about one o’clock we got into a bog, from which we could hardly extricate ourselves, and were forced to return to our last night’s encampment, missing two privates of the Society troops, whom we supposed to have perished in the marsh.

This day we saw great quantities of arnotta-trees, with which this part of the forest abounds. In the evening a slave presented me with abush-spiderof such magnitude, that putting him into a case-bottle above eight inches high, he actually reached the surface with some of his hideous claws, whilst the others were resting upon the bottom. No creature can be more dreadfully ugly than this enormous spider, which the people of Surinam erroneously call thetarantula. The body is divided in two, the posterior part oval, and the size of an Orlean-plum; the fore-part square, with a figure somewhat[94]resembling a star upon it. This monster has five pair of thick legs, with four joints in each; is entirely black or dark brown, and covered over, legs and all, with thick and long black hair, like some caterpillars, while each leg is armed with a crooked yellow nail, and from the head project two long teeth with inverted pincers, resembling the claw of a crab, with which it seizes its prey; while its bite, if not fatal by the venomous liquid infused into the wound, always occasions a fever. It has eight eyes like most spiders, and feeds on insects of every species; nay, it is even asserted, that young birds do not escape it, out of which this spider sucks the blood: its web is small but very strong. Upon the whole, it is such a hideous creature, that the very sight of it is sufficient to occasion a tremor of abhorrence, even in persons most accustomed to inspect the deformities of nature. Innumerable indeed are the pests and dangers to which one is hourly exposed in the woods of this tropical climate; and though it is my present business only to make mention of such as I met with in this march, and which must appear new to the reader, yet a recapitulation of the names only of our numerous plagues may not be improper to refresh the memory of those who have a heart to sympathize with our sufferings. I have already mentioned themusquitoes, monpieras, patatandserapat lice, chigoes, cock-roaches, common ants, fire-ants, horse-flies, wild bees, andspiders; besides theprickly heat, ring-worm, dry-gripes, putrid fevers, boils, consaca, bloody-flux, thorns, briars,[95]alligators, snakes, tigers, &c.; but I have not yet spoken of thebush-worms, large ants, locusts, centipedes, scorpions, bats, andflying-lice, thecrassy-crassy, yaws, lethargy, leprosy, anddropsy, with a thousand other grievances that continually annoyed our unhappy troops;—a particular description of which I must delay till a more suitable opportunity occurs for introducing them into this narrative.

Such were the pests that we had to struggle with in this baneful climate, whilst our poor men were dying in multitudes, without proper assistance, unpitied, and frequently without a friend to close their eye-lids, neither coffin nor shell to receive their bones, but thrown promiscuously into one pit, like heaps of loathsome carrion.

On the 19th, we again left our encampment, and after keeping a little S. marched E. till ten o’clock, when we were overtaken and joined by a party of one hundred rangers, with their conductor, Mr.Vinsack, to my great satisfaction. At this period we mustered three hundred men; and however little Colonel Fourgeoud affected, at other times, to value these black soldiers, he was now not at all displeased with their company, upon our near approach to an enemy with whom the rangers were well acquainted, and knew how to engage much better than the marines: while it will ever be my opinion, that one of these free negroes is preferable to half a dozen white men in the forest of Guiana; it indeed seems their natural element, whilst it is the bane of the Europeans.[96]

Colonel Fourgeoud now issued orders for our little army to march in three lines or columns, his own regiment in the centre, the Society troops on the right, the rangers or black soldiers on the left, all within hearing of each other, with a fewflankersor riflemen outside the whole: thus formed we advanced till about noon, when we changed our course from E. to N. E. and continued our march over abiree-bireeswamp, or quagmire: these are very common and dangerous in this country, being a deep soft miry bog, covered over with a thin crust of verdure, sufficient in most places to bear the weight of a man, and quaking when walked over; but should this crust give way, whoever breaks it is swallowed up in the chasm, where he must inevitably perish if not immediately extricated; thus it has frequently happened that men have been seen to sink, and have never more been heard of.

Quicksands are quite different, as they overwhelm by a gradual suction, whereas the effects of a quagmire are instantaneous. To avoid accidents, we opened our files as much as possible, which occasioned a very long rear; but even with this precaution several men sunk through it, as if the ice had broken under their feet, and some in my presence up to the arm-pits, but were fortunately, though with much difficulty, extricated.

In the afternoon we passed through two oldcassavafields, which indicated our near approach to the rebel settlement; we afterwards fell in with Captain Meyland’s[97]path, which we knew by the marks cut upon the trees, as before explained. The evening being too far advanced to attack the enemy, we once more encamped a few miles from the swamp in which Captain Meyland and his party had been defeated.

Having had a long march, and the men being much fatigued, Colonel Fourgeoud allowed, during this night, both huts and fires; which surprized me greatly, being so near the rebels, though he had forbidden these comforts when we were at a very considerable distance from them. I however availed myself of his bounty, and having got somepigeon-peasfrom my serjeant, which he had picked up in the old cassava grounds, and laid hold of one of the kettles, I invited him, and a captain of the black corps calledHannibal, to a share; who having thrown their salt-beef and rusk-biscuit into the mess with mine, and stirred it round with a bayonet, we made a very excellent supper, though in a sad dreary night and heavy rain.

ThepigeonorAngolapeas grow on a shrub about eight or ten feet high; five or six of these peas are contained in a pod; they are flat like lentils, and of a reddish-brown colour: the negroes are extremely fond of them, and cultivate them in their gardens without any expence or much trouble.

Hannibal now observing that we should certainly see the enemy to-morrow, asked me if I knew in what manner negro engaged against negro? Having answered in the negative, he gave me the following relation, while[98]smoking his pipe under my hammock.—“Massera,” said he, “both parties are divided in small companies of eight or ten men, commanded by a captain, with a horn, such as this (shewing me his) by which they do every thing, and fight or run away. When they fight they separate immediately, lie down on the ground, and fire at the flash of each other’s pans through the trees; while each warrior is supported by two negroes unarmed, the one to take his place if he is killed, and the other to carry away the dead body, to prevent its falling into the hands of their adversaries1.”

From this discourse I perfectly understood his meaning, which I have since seen put in practice; and for the clearer conception of the reader, I have illustrated it with the following plan, where the whole engagement is exhibited at one view.

Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.Gradation of Shades between Europe & Africa.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.

Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.

Gradation of Shades between Europe & Africa.

London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.

The two columnsEandFare supposed to be first engaged, where No1 in the columnEcommences the attack by firing at random in the opposite bushes; and instantly retires, by shifting his place to No1 in the columnC, where he re-loads; while No2 in the columnF, having fired at the flash of his pan, advances in the same manner, shifting his station to re-load at No2 in the columnD; and at the flash of whose pan No3 fires inE, and receives the fire of No4 inF, &c. &c. Thus continuing through both lines, till No8 has fired inF,[99]when the whole have shifted their stations; and the same manœuvre is continued with the columnsCandD, beginning again with the identical numbers 1, 2, 3, &c. at the top; while these lines, having shifted their places, still the firing is repeated by the linesAandB, and thusad infinitum, until by sounding the horn one of the parties gives way in flight, and the battle is over. I shall only add, that when the forest is thick, instead of lying on their bellies, or kneeling, each negro skulks behind a thick tree, which serves him as a bulwark, and from which he fires at his adversary with more certainty and less danger, usually resting his piece against the trunk, or in the forked branches, like theShawaneseandDelawareIndians.

Captain Hannibal also informed me, that the famous chiefBonnywas supposed to be in person amongst the neighbouring rebels; and that he was born in the forest amongst them, notwithstanding his being a mulatto, which was accounted for by his mother escaping to the woods from the ill treatment of her master, by whom she was then pregnant.

Having frequently mentioned the different shades between ablackand awhite, the same plate represents them to the reader at one view. From the above two colours themulattois produced; from the mulatto and black, thesamboo; from the mulatto and white, thequaderoon, &c. &c.—This sable warrior made me also acquainted with the names of several other rebel commanders,[100]against whom he had frequently fought for the Europeans. Such asQuammy, who was the chief of a separate gang, and had no connection with the others;Coromantyn, Cojo,Arico, andJoli-Cœur; the two last being celebrated captains, whose revenge was insatiable against the whites, particularlyJoli-Cœur’s, who had I confess great reason, as has been already stated. The noted rebel negroBaron, he believed, was now serving also under the great chiefBonny.

He next proceeded to tell me the names of the principal rebel settlements, some of which were already destroyed, some now in view, and some of these were only known to us by name. These appellations were all very expressive indeed; and as they may serve in some measure to elucidate our enquiries concerning the negro nations, I have thought proper to give them a place in this narrative, with their meaning in an English translation;viz.

BoucooI shall moulder before I shall be taken.Gado SabyGod only knows me, and none else.CofaayCome try me, if you be men.Tessee SeeTake a tasting, if you like it.Mele meDo disturb me, if you dare.Boosy CrayThe woods lament for me.Me SalasyI shall be taken.Kebree meHide me, O thou surrounding verdure.

[101]

The others were:

Quammi CondreFrom Quammi, the name of the chief.PinenburghFrom the pines or manicole-trees which formerly surrounded it.Caro CondreFrom the quantity of maize it afforded.Reisee CondreFrom the quantity of rice it produced.

Such were the names of the negro warriors, and their settlements.

I now shook hands with Captain Hannibal, while my mind being occupied with the hopes of victory unstained by cruelty, and being very much fatigued, I soon fell profoundly asleep.

On the 20th in the morning, no one could awake in a more beautiful day and better spirits than I did, until they were damped by observing that at so critical a time, and even in the moment before the conflict, instead of that kind treatment which it would have been prudent to have shewn to those from whose exertions we were to expect a happy period to our sufferings, there was even then such discouragement of the subaltern officers and private men as involuntarily drew from me the reflection—That (if possible to avoid it)princesandministersshould never invest any oneindividualwith unlimited authority, especially in a foreign country, without being perfectly well acquainted with the rectitude of their moral principles and disposition; no men being fit to command but those who are possessed of manly feelings, and whose valour is tempered with humanity;[102]since ’tis a truth that sterling bravery is incompatible with a cruel heart.

At six o’clock we advanced N. E. by N. towards the marsh, my melancholy evaporating with the rising sun.

About eight o’clock we entered this formidable swamp, and soon found ourselves above our middle in water, well prepared nevertheless for the warm reception we expected from the opposite shore, as the former party had so fatally experienced. After wading above half a mile, our grenadiers rapidly mounted the beach with cocked firelocks and bayonets fixed; the main body instantly followed, and also mounting the beach, the whole formed without the smallest opposition. We now beheld a spectacle sufficient to shock the most intrepid, the ground strewed with skulls, bones, and ribs still covered with human flesh, and besmeared with the blood of those unfortunate men who were killed with Captain Meyland.—That officer had indeed found means to bury them, but the rebels had dug them up for the sake of their cloaths, and to mangle the bodies, which, like ferocious animals, they had torn limb from limb. Amongst these, the fate ofMeyland’s nephew, a promising young man, was peculiarly affecting. He came from the mountains of Switzerland in quest of military preferment, and met his fate in a marsh of Surinam just after his landing. His bravery was equal to that of his uncle, his intrepidity, voluntarily exposing himself to danger, knew no bounds.—Such is the enthusiasm of military ambition.[103]

“And ’tis most true, while Time’s relentless handWith sickly grasp drags others to the tomb;Thesoldierscorns to wait the dull command,But springs impatient to a nobler doom.“Tho’ on the plain he lies, outstretch’d and pale,Without one friend his stedfast eyes to close,Yet on hishonour’d corpseshall many a galeWaft the moist fragrance of the weeping rose.“O’er the dread spot the melancholy moonShall pause a while—a sadder beam to shed;And starry night amidst her awful noonSprinkle light dews upon his hallowed head.“There too the solitary bird shall swellWith long-drawn melody her plaintive throat;While distant echo from responsive cellShall oft with fading force return the note.“Such recompence bevalour’s due alone.”

“And ’tis most true, while Time’s relentless handWith sickly grasp drags others to the tomb;Thesoldierscorns to wait the dull command,But springs impatient to a nobler doom.

“And ’tis most true, while Time’s relentless hand

With sickly grasp drags others to the tomb;

Thesoldierscorns to wait the dull command,

But springs impatient to a nobler doom.

“Tho’ on the plain he lies, outstretch’d and pale,Without one friend his stedfast eyes to close,Yet on hishonour’d corpseshall many a galeWaft the moist fragrance of the weeping rose.

“Tho’ on the plain he lies, outstretch’d and pale,

Without one friend his stedfast eyes to close,

Yet on hishonour’d corpseshall many a gale

Waft the moist fragrance of the weeping rose.

“O’er the dread spot the melancholy moonShall pause a while—a sadder beam to shed;And starry night amidst her awful noonSprinkle light dews upon his hallowed head.

“O’er the dread spot the melancholy moon

Shall pause a while—a sadder beam to shed;

And starry night amidst her awful noon

Sprinkle light dews upon his hallowed head.

“There too the solitary bird shall swellWith long-drawn melody her plaintive throat;While distant echo from responsive cellShall oft with fading force return the note.

“There too the solitary bird shall swell

With long-drawn melody her plaintive throat;

While distant echo from responsive cell

Shall oft with fading force return the note.

“Such recompence bevalour’s due alone.”

“Such recompence bevalour’s due alone.”

*   *   *

This being the second or third heap of human bones we had met with in our march, I frankly acknowledge did not operate upon me as a stimulative to engage with negroes; yet these awful relics spurred on the common soldiers to take revenge for the loss of their massacred companions.

Having so frequently had occasion to speak of marching through a swamp, it may not be improper to illustrate[104]the description by theannexed drawing. The first figure represents Colonel Fourgeoud (preceded by a negro slave, as a guide, to give notice by his swimming when the water deepens) followed by myself, some other officers and marines, wading through the marsh above our middle, and carrying our arms, ammunition, and accoutrements above our heads, to prevent their being damaged by the wet.

In the back-ground may be seen the manner in which the slaves carry all burdens whatever on the head, and the mode of the rebel negroes firing upon the troops from the tops of high palm-trees, &c. A march of this nature, though occasionally necessary in Surinam, must be always very dangerous, being exposed to an attack from under cover of the surrounding bushes, without having the power of returning the fire more than once; for in such a depth of water no soldier can re-load his musket without wetting both the lock and the priming.

We now followed a kind of foot-path made by the enemy, which after a little turning led us in a westerly direction. SerjeantFowler, who preceded the van-guard, at this time came to me pale, declaring, that the sight of the mangled bodies had made him extremely sick; and that he felt himself completely disarmed, being that moment, as it were, rivetted to the ground, without the power of advancing one single step, or knowing how to conceal his tremor:——I d—n’d him for a pitiful scoundrel, and had only time to order him to the rear.

March thro’ a swamp or Marsh in Terra-firma.March thro’ a swamp or Marsh in Terra-firma.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.

March thro’ a swamp or Marsh in Terra-firma.

London, Published Decr. 1st, 1794, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.

[105]

“No force, no firmness, thepale cowardshews:He shifts his place, his colour comes and goes;A dropping sweat creeps cold on every part,Against his bosom beats his quivering heart:Terror and deathin his wild eye-balls stare;}With chattering teeth he stands, and stiff’ning hair,And looks a bloodless image of despair.”

“No force, no firmness, thepale cowardshews:

He shifts his place, his colour comes and goes;

A dropping sweat creeps cold on every part,

Against his bosom beats his quivering heart:

Terror and deathin his wild eye-balls stare;

With chattering teeth he stands, and stiff’ning hair,

And looks a bloodless image of despair.”

At ten o’clock we met a small party of the rebels, with each a green hamper upon his back; they fired at us, dropped their bundles, and taking to their heels ran back towards their village. These we since learned were transportingriceto another settlement for their subsistence, when they should be expelled fromGado-Saby(the name of this settlement) which they daily expected, since they had been discovered by the gallant Captain Meyland. The green hampers, which they callwarimbos, were very curiously plaited with the manicole leaves. And when our men cut them open with their sabres, there burst forth the most beautiful clean rice that I ever saw, which was scattered and trampled under foot, as we had no opportunity of carrying it along. A little after this we perceived an empty shed, where a picquet had been stationed to give notice of any danger, but they had precipitately deserted their post. We now vigorously redoubled our pace till about noon; when two more musket shot were fired at us by another advanced guard of the enemy, as a signal to the chief,Bonny, of our approach. Major Medler and myself, with a few of the[106]van-guard, and a small party of the rangers, at this time rushing forward, soon came to a fine field of rice and Indian corn: we here made a halt for the other troops, particularly to give time for our rear to close up, some of whom were at least two miles behind us; and during which period we might have been cut to pieces, the enemy, unknown to us, having surrounded the field in which we were, as we were afterwards informed.

In about half an hour the whole body joined us, when we instantly proceeded by cutting through a small defile of the wood, into which we had no sooner entered, than a heavy fire commenced from every side, the rebels retiring, and we advancing, until we arrived in the most beautiful field, of ripe rice, in the form of an oblong square, from which therebel townappeared at a distance, in the form of an amphitheatre, sheltered from the sun by the foliage of a few lofty trees, the whole presenting acoup-d’œilromantic and enchanting beyond conception. In this field the firing was kept up, like one continued peal of thunder, for above forty minutes, during which time our black warriors behaved with wonderful intrepidity and skill. The white soldiers were too eager, and fired over one another at random, yet I could perceive a few of them act with the utmost coolness, and imitate the rangers with great effect; amongst these wasnowthe once-daunted Fowler, who being roused from his tremor by the firing at the beginning of the onset, had rushed to the front, and fully[107]re-established his character, by fighting like a brave fellow, by my side, until the muzzle of his musket was split by a shot from the enemy, which rendered it useless; a ball passed through my shirt, and grazed the skin of my shoulder; Mr. Decabanes, my lieutenant, had the sling of his fusee shot away: several others were wounded, some mortally, but I did not, to my surprize, observe one instance ofimmediatedeath—for which seeming miracle, however, I shall presently account.

This whole field of rice was surrounded and interspersed by the enemy with the large trunks and roots of heavy trees, in order to make our approach both difficult and dangerous; behind these temporary fortifications the rebels lay lurking, and firing upon us with deliberate aim, whilst theirbulwarkscertainly protected them in some measure from the effects of our fire, we having vast numbers of these fallen trees to scramble over before we could reach the town: but we still advanced, in defiance of every obstacle, and while I admired the masterly manœuvres of their general, I could not help pitying them for their superstition. One poor fellow, in particular, trusting to hisamuletor charm, fancied himself invulnerable; he mounted frequently upon one of the trees that lay near us, discharged his piece, descended to re-load, and then with equal confidence and the greatest deliberation returned to the charge in my full view; till at last a shot from one of my marines, namedValet, broke the bone of his thigh, and he fell crawling[108]for shelter under the very same tree which had supported him just before; but the soldier instantly advancing, and putting the muzzle of his musket to the rebel’s ear, blew out his brains, while several of his countrymen, in spite of their spells and charms, shared the same fate.

Being now about to enter the town, a rebel captain, wearing a tarnished gold-laced hat, and bearing in his hand a torch of flaming straw, seeing their ruin inevitable, had the resolution to stay and set the town on fire in our presence, which, by the dryness of the houses, instantly produced a general conflagration, when the firing from the woods began gradually to cease. This bold and masterly manœuvre not only prevented that carnage to which the common soldiers in the heat of victory are but too prone, but also afforded the enemy an opportunity of retreating with their wives and children, and carrying off their most useful effects; whilst our pursuit, and seizing the spoil, were at once frustrated both by the ascending flames, and the unfathomable marsh, which we soon discovered on all sides to surround us, as in theMaccabees:

“Behold thebattleis before us, and behind us, and thewater of Jordanon this side, and that side, and themarsh, andforest, so that there is no place for us to turn aside.”

“Behold thebattleis before us, and behind us, and thewater of Jordanon this side, and that side, and themarsh, andforest, so that there is no place for us to turn aside.”

I must indeed confess that within this last hour the continued noise of the firing, shouting, swearing, and hallooing of black and white men mixed together; the groans of the wounded and the dying, all weltering[109]in blood and in dust; the shrill sound of the negro horns from every quarter, and the crackling of the burning village; to which if we add the clouds of smoke that every where surrounded us, the ascending flames, &c. &c. formed, on the whole, such an uncommon scene as I cannot describe, and would perhaps not have been unworthy of the pencil ofHogarth: this scene I have, however, faintly endeavoured to represent in thefrontispiece—whereI may be seen, after the heat of the action, fatigued, and dejectedly looking on the body of an unfortunaterebel negro, who, with his musket in his hand, lies prostrate at my feet.

In short, having washed off the dust, sweat, and blood, and having refreshed ourselves with a dram and a bit of bread till the flames subsided, we next went to inspect the smoking ruins; and found the above town to have consisted of about one hundred houses or huts, some of which were two stories high. Among the glowing ashes we picked up several trifles that had escaped the flames, such as silver spoons and forks, which we supposed, by the marks BW. to have been pillaged from theBrunswickestate in Rio Cottica. We found also some knives, broken china and earthen pots; amongst the latter one filled with rice and palm-tree worms fell to my share: as this wanted no fire to dress the contents, and as my appetite was very keen, I emptied it in a few minutes, and made a very hearty meal. Some were afraid this mess had been left behind with a view to poison us; but this suspicion,[110]proved however, fortunately for me, to be without foundation.

The silver plate I also purchased from the men that picked it up, determined to carry it off as a trophy, and I have used it ever since. Here we likewise found three skulls fixed upon stakes, the mournful relics of some of our own brave people, who had been formerly killed; but what surprized us most, were the heads of two young negroes, which seemed as if fresh cut off, these we since learned had been executed during the night of the 17th, when we heard the hallooing and the firing, for speaking inourfavour.

Having buried all these remains promiscuously in one pit, we returned to sling our hammocks, under those beautiful and lofty trees which I have already mentioned; but here I am sorry to add, we found the rangers shockingly employed, in playing at bowls with those very heads they had just chopped off from their enemies; who, deaf to all remonstrance,

“Resistless drove thebatter’d skullsbefore,And dash’d and mangled all the brains with gore.”

“Resistless drove thebatter’d skullsbefore,

And dash’d and mangled all the brains with gore.”

They related that upon reconnoitring the skirts of the surrounding forest, they had found quantities of human blood in different places, which had flowed from the dead and wounded bodies the rebels had carried away during the action.

To reprimand them for this inhuman diversion would[111]have been useless, as they assured us it was “Condre fassee,” the custom of their country; and concluded the horrid sport by kicking and mangling the heads, cutting off the lips, cheeks, ears, and noses; they even took out the jaw-bones, which they smoke-dried, together with the right hands, to carry home, as trophies of their victory, to their wives and relations. That this barbarous custom prevails amongst savages is a well-known fact, which originates from a motive of insatiable revenge. And though Colonel Fourgeoud might have prevented their inhumanity by his authority, in my opinion he wisely declined it; observing, that as he could not do it by persuasion, to do it by power, might break their native spirit, and produce no other effect than alienating them from the service, so necessary were they to us, though so savagely revengeful, and so bloody.

About three o’clock, whilst we were resting from our fatigue, we were once more surprised by an attack from a party of the enemy; but after exchanging a few shots they were repulsed. This unexpected visit, however, put us more upon our guard during the night, so that no fires were allowed to be lighted, and double sentinels were placed around the camp. Thus situated, being overcome by excessive toil and heat, I after sun-set leaped into my hammock, and soon fell fast asleep; but in less than two hours my faithful black boy Quaco roused me, in the midst of pitch darkness, crying,[112]“Massera, massera! boosee negro, boosee negro!”—“Master, master! the enemy, the enemy!” Hearing, at the same moment, a brisk firing, with the balls whistling through the branches, I fully concluded that the rebels were in the very midst of our camp. Surprised, and not perfectly awake, I suddenly started up with my fusee cocked; and (without knowing where I ran) first threw down Quaco, and next fell down myself, over two or three bodies that lay upon the ground, and which I imagined to be killed. When one of them, “d—ning me for a son of a b—ch, told me, if I moved I was a dead man; Colonel Fourgeoud having issued orders for the troops to lie flat on their bellies all the night, and not to fire, as most of their ammunition had been expended the preceding day.” I took his advice, and soon discovered him by his voice to be one of our own grenadiers, namedThomson. In this situation we lay prostrate on our arms until sun-rise, during which time a most abusive dialogue was carried on indeed between therebelsand therangers, each party cursing and menacing the other at a very terrible rate; the former “reproaching the rangers as poltroons and traitors to their countrymen, and challenging them next day to single combat; swearing they only wished to lave their hands in the blood of such scoundrels, who had been the principal agents in destroying their flourishing settlement.” The rangers “d—n’d the rebels for a parcel of pitiful skulking rascals, whom they would fight one to two in the open[113]field, if they dared but to shew theiruglyfaces;swearing they had only deserted their masters because they were too lazy to work.” After this they insulted each other by a kind of war-whoop, sung victorious songs on both sides, and sounded their horns as signals of defiance; when the firing commenced once more from the rebel negroes, and continued during the night, accompanied by their martial voices, at intermissions resounding through the woods, which echo seemed to answer with redoubled force.

At length poor Fourgeoud took a part in the conversation, myself and Serjeant Fowler acting as his interpreters, by hallooing, which created more mirth than I had been witness to for some time: he promised them life, liberty, victuals, drink, and all they wanted. They replied, with a loud laugh, that they wanted nothing from him; characterized him as a half-starved Frenchman, who had run away from his own country; and assured him that if he would venture to paythema visit, he should return unhurt, and not with an empty belly. They told us, that we were to be pitied more than they; that we werewhite slaves, hired to be shot at and starved for four-pence a day; that they scorned to expend much more of their powder upon such scarecrows; but should the planters or overseers dare to enter the woods, not a soul of them should ever return, any more than the perfidious rangers, some of whom might depend upon being massacred that[114]day, or the next; and concluded by declaring thatBonnyshould soon be the governor of the colony.

After this they tinkled their bill-hooks, fired a volley, and gave three cheers; which being answered by the rangers, the clamour ended, and the rebels dispersed with the rising sun.

Our fatigue was great; yet, notwithstanding the length of the contest, our loss by the enemies fire was very inconsiderable, for which I promised to account; and this mystery was now explained, when the surgeons, dressing the wounded, extracted very few leaden bullets, but many pebbles, coat-buttons, and pieces of silver coin, which could do us little mischief, by penetrating scarcely more than skin deep. We also observed, that several of the poor rebel negroes who were shot, had only the shards of Spa-water cans, instead of flints, which could seldom do execution; and it was certainly owing to these circumstances that we came off so well, as I have mentioned before; yet we were nevertheless not without a number of very dangerous scars and contusions.

Inconceivable are the many expedients which these people employ in the woods, where in a state of tranquillity they seemed, as they boasted, to want for nothing, being plump and fat, at least such as we had an opportunity of observing. It should be noticed, thatgameandfishthey catch in great abundance, by artificial traps and springs, and preserve them by barbacuing; while their[115]fields are even overstocked with rice, cassava, yams, plantains, &c. They makesaltfrom the palm-tree ashes, as the Gentoos do in the East Indies, or frequently supply the want of it with red pepper.

We here found concealed near the trunk of an old tree a case-bottle filled with excellent butter, which the rangers told me they made by melting and clarifying the fat of the palm-tree worms: this fully answers all the purposes of European butter, and I found it in fact even more delicious to my taste. Thepistachioorpindanuts they also convert into butter, by their oily substance, and frequently use them in their broths. The palm-tree wine they have always in plenty; they procure it by making deep incisions of a foot square in the fallen trunk, where the juice being collected, it soon ferments by the heat of the sun; it is not only a cool and agreeable beverage, but sufficiently strong to intoxicate. The manicole or pine-tree affords them materials for building; they fabricate pots from clay found near their dwellings; the gourd or callebasse tree procures them cups; the silk grass plant and maurecee-tree supplies materials for their hammocks, and even a kind of cap grows naturally upon the palm-trees, as well as brooms; the various kinds of nebee supply the want of ropes; fuel they have for cutting; and a wood calledbee-beeserves for tinder, by rubbing two pieces on each other; it is also elastic, and makes excellent corks; candles they can make, having plenty of fat and oil; and the wild bees afford them wax, as well as excellent honey.[116]

Cloaths they scorn to wear, preferring to go naked in a climate where the warmth of the weather renders every kind of covering an useless incumbrance.

They might breed hogs and poultry, and keep dogs for hunting and watching them, but this they decline, from the apprehension of being discovered by their noise, as even the crowing of a cock may be heard in the forest at a considerable distance.———I shall now once more proceed.

The rebels of this settlement being apparently subdued and dispersed, Colonel Fourgeoud made it his next business to destroy the surrounding harvest; and I received orders to begin the devastation, with eighty marines and twenty rangers. Thus I cut down all the rice that was growing plentifully in the two above-mentioned fields; this being done, I discovered a third field south of the first, which I also demolished, and made my report to Fourgeoud, with which he appeared highly satisfied. In the afternoon CaptainHamelwas detached, with fifty, marines and thirty rangers, to reconnoitre behind the village, and to discover, if possible, how the rebels could pass to and fro through an unfathomable marsh, whilst we were unable to pursue them. This officer at length perceived a kind of floating bridge amongst the reeds, made of maurecee-trees, but so constructed, that only one man abreast could pass it. On this were seated astride a few rebels to defend the communication, who instantly fired upon the party, but were soon repulsed by the rangers, who shot one of them dead, but he was carried away by his companions.[117]

On the morning of the 22d, our commander ordered a detachment to cross the bridge and go on discovery, at all hazards. Of this party I led the van. We now took the pass without opposition; and having all marched, or rather scrambled over this defile of floating trees, we found ourselves in a large oblong field of cassava and yams, in which were about thirty houses,nowdeserted, being the remains of the old settlement calledCofaay. In this field we separated into three divisions, the better to reconnoitre, one marching north, one north-west, and the third west. And here, to our astonishment, we discovered that the reason of the rebels shouting, singing, and firing, on the night of the 20th, was not only to cover the retreat of their friends, by cutting off the pass, but by their unremitting noise to prevent us from discovering that they were employed, men, women, and children, in preparing warimboes or hampers filled with the finest rice, yams, and cassava, for subsistence during their escape, of which they had only left the chaff and refuse for our contemplation.

This was certainly such a masterly trait of generalship in a savage people, whom we affected to despise, as would have done honour to any European commander, and has perhaps been seldom equalled by more civilized nations.[118]

1The negroes have a savage custom of mangling and tearing the dead bodies of their enemies; some even devouring part of them with their teeth, like the Caribbee Indians.↑

1The negroes have a savage custom of mangling and tearing the dead bodies of their enemies; some even devouring part of them with their teeth, like the Caribbee Indians.↑

1The negroes have a savage custom of mangling and tearing the dead bodies of their enemies; some even devouring part of them with their teeth, like the Caribbee Indians.↑

1The negroes have a savage custom of mangling and tearing the dead bodies of their enemies; some even devouring part of them with their teeth, like the Caribbee Indians.↑

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