CHAP. XVII.

[Contents]CHAP. XVII.New Instances of unprecedented Barbarity—Occurrences on Mount Magdenberg—Prices of Provisions at Paramaribo—Description of a new Animal—Great Mortality amongst the Troops in Tempatee and Comewina River.The first visit I now made was to Mr. Kennedy, to bid him farewel; I then paid five hundred florins for the black boy, for which he gave me a receipt, and Quaco was mine. About this time I fell ill with a fever, which however lasted but a few days. Walking out on the 1st of May, I observed a croud of people along the water-side, before the house of Mr. S—lk—r, where appeared the dreadful spectacle of a beautiful young mulatto girl, floating on her back, with her hands tied behind, her throat most shockingly cut, and stabbed in the breast with a knife in more than eight or ten different places. This was reported to have been the work of that infernal fiend, Mrs. S—lk—r, from a motive of jealousy, suspecting that her husband might fall in love with this poor unfortunate female. This monster of a woman had before drowned a negro infant merely for crying, as I have said; nay, she was accused of still greater barbarity, were greater barbarity possible. Arriving one[26]day at her estate to view some negroes newly purchased, her eye chanced to fall on a fine negro girl about fifteen years of age, who could not even speak the language of the country. Observing her to be a remarkably fine figure, with a sweet engaging countenance, her diabolical jealousy instantly prompted her to burn the girl’s cheeks, mouth, and forehead with a red-hot iron; she also cut the tendon Achilles of one of her legs, thus rendering her a monster of deformity, and a miserable object as long as she lived: the poor victim not knowing what she had done to deserve so severe a punishment.Some of the negroes now representing to this lady the many cruelties she daily inflicted, and supplicating her to be of a milder disposition; it was reported that she instantly knocked out the brains of a Quaderoon child, and caused the heads of two young negroes, its relations, to be chopped off, for having endeavoured to prevent her; these heads, when she had left the estate, were tied in silk handkerchiefs, and carried by the surviving relations to Paramaribo, where they were laid at the feet of the governor, with the following speech:“This, your Excellency, is the head of my son, andthisis the head of my brother, struck off by our mistress’s command, for endeavouring to prevent her murders. We know our evidence is nothing in a state of slavery; but, if these bloody heads be a sufficient proof of what we say, we only beg that such pernicious acts may be prevented in time to come; in acknowledgment[27]of which we will all chearfully shed our blood for the preservation and prosperity of our master, our mistress, and the colony.”To this humble and pathetic remonstrance the answer was, that they were all liars, and should, as such, be flogged round the streets of Paramaribo; and this most iniquitous sentence was executed with the greatest severity.Such is the consequence of the law of the colony, that the testimony of a negro is never to be taken. Had any one white person been present at the above carnage, the evidence would have been good, but even then this fury would have escaped by paying a fine of fifty pounds for each murder.—But enough—my soul sinks within me while I dwell so long upon the subject.On the 2d of May, being again perfectly recovered, I took leave of Joanna and her Johnny, for thus he was named after myself, though the ceremony of baptism could not yet be performed; they now continued at my friend De la Mare’s house, whilst I set out once more for Magdenberg in a tent-boat with six oars.On the 3d, I called at Egmond, on my French friend Monsieur Cachelieu, and next day stopt at Oranjebo or Ornamibo, where I was heartily entertained by my old adversary Captain Meyland, with whom I had fought at the Wana Creek. But now this gentleman declared, that he loved me better than any man in the colony. He was just returned from a twelve days cruize through the woods.[28]Among his men I recollected one Cordus, a gentleman’s son from Hamburgh, in which character I had known him, and who had been trepanned into the West India Company’s service by the crimps or silver-coopers as a common soldier. This corps, as I have already said, is composed of all nations, Christians, Gentiles, and even Jews; the latter, I must observe, devoured pork and bacon, without scruple or hesitation, as often as they could find it.On this spot, which had formerly been a plantation, but was now choked with weeds, I met with some herbs which again I cannot pass unnoticed, though I have no other names for them than those given me by the negroes, one only excepted, which is commonly known by the name of theSiliqua hirsulæ, cow-edge, or cow-itch, and called by the black peoplecrassy-weeree-weeree. I can only describe this as a kind of pea, or rather flattish small purple bean, growing in a pod from a slender creeping vine; these pods are covered with a kind of fine elastic spicula, which, when touched, cause an intolerable itching. This hairy coat scraped from the pod, and taken in a tea-spoon with jelly, &c. has been strongly recommended as a vermifuge. A sort of wood was also shewn me here by one of the slaves, which he calledcrassy-wood; this had the same itching effect when touched, but with respect to its general qualities I can say nothing further. The other shrubs that we found were what they calledconsaca-weeree-weeree; these grow[29]with large green leaves, which the negroes use for the cure of a disorder in the feet calledconsaca, when they can procure no limes or lemons, as I have already mentioned: this plant also makes an excellent sallad. Thedea-weeree-weereeis a fine wholesome herb, and very much esteemed; but thecutty-weeree-weereeis amongst the most serious pests in the colony, being a kind of strong edged grass, which is in some places very plentiful; and when a man walks through it will cut his legs like a razor. Herbs in general are in this country known by the name ofweeree-weereeby the negroes.On the 5th, I arrived at Magdenberg. Here Colonel Seyburg, and what he called his officers, seemed to form a distinct corps from those of Fourgeoud. They appeared totally destitute of politeness, and treated each other with the greatest rudeness, while their colonel was most cordially hated by the commander in chief. This state of things contributed to render our situation still more disagreeable: I however had at this time little reason to complain, being for the present, at least, in the good graces of Fourgeoud, which, by a trifling accident, I had nearly again forfeited. Colonel Fourgeoud having purchased of some Indians a couple of most beautiful parrots, called herecocatoos, which were in a cage ready to be shipped off as a present to her royal highness the princess of Orange, I persuaded Monsieur Laurant, his valet-de-chambre, to take one of them out, that I might the better examine it, but the cage-door was no sooner[30]opened, than it gave a shriek, and disappeared in an instant, flying over the Tempatee Creek. The poor valet stood perfectly petrified, and could only pronounce “Voyez-vous?” whilst I took to my heels to avoid the approaching storm, but stopped near enough to observe Fourgeoud’s motions through the underwood. He was no sooner informed of thedreadfulaccident, than he began to storm, swear, and dance like a man totally deprived of reason; he next, by kicking it, killed a poor waddling duck belonging to one of our officers; and at last actually trampled his very wig under his feet, while I stood trembling, and the rest of the spectators were laughing aloud. In about half an hour his passion began gradually to cool, and then he had recourse to a stratagem which actually brought the parrot back into his possession. He placed the remaining captive on the top of its cage, tied by a small cord round its claw; this he set in the open air, putting a ripe banana inside, and leaving the door open, so that any other bird except the prisoner might come at it; the poor captive at last becoming very hungry, made such a noise and shrieking as to be heard by his mate, who returning entered the cage in quest of food, and was once more deprived of his freedom. I now ventured from my concealment, and was acquitted after a gentle reproof; though poor Laurant, as may well be imagined, did not escape without a thundering lecture.The cocatoos are less than the parrots, and of a green colour, except the head and a few feathers in the tail,[31]which are of a pale red. This bird is crowned with apanasheor bunch of feathers, and which generally lie backward, but which it erects at pleasure, when it is irritated or afraid.I have also seen in Surinam a parrot of a deep slate blue colour, though not like those that come from the coast of Guinea, which are rather of a lead-grey. This parrot is said to be very scarce, and only inhabits the deepest recesses of the forest, whence it is brought to Paramaribo by the Indians: this bird is less than the common parrot, but appears very strong and lively. The most common parrots in Guiana are those which Marcgrave callsajurucura. These birds are not so large as those that come from Africa; they are green, with the breast and belly a pale yellow; on the top of the head they have a blue spot, and the feet are grey, with four toes like the rest of the genus, two before and two behind; in the wings they have some feathers of a bright blue, and some a deep crimson; they are more a nuisance than a pleasure in Surinam, where, in prodigious flocks, they perch amongst the coffee, maize, rice, &c. and commit great devastations; and what makes them a still greater nuisance, their shrieking noise is almost insupportable. They always fly in pairs, and very swift, towards the east, as I have observed, meeting the sun in the morning, and toward the west they follow it in the evening: they generally breed in remote places and lay two eggs. I brought down two of these parrots at a shot when I was[32]at Sporksgift estate; these animals not being quite dead, scratched me most terribly with their sharp claws, as they are very strong and tenacious of life. We had them dressed, and they made no bad soup; they may also do in a pye as rooks in England, but dressed in any other way they are tough and disagreeable. These green parrots may be taught to speak, laugh, cry, bark, whistle, or mew, but not near so well as those which come from Africa. It is said, they are often intoxicated by the seeds of the cotton plant. These parrots are also subject to fits, perhaps from their choleric disposition, yet longevity is peculiarly ascribed to them by the Indians: they have strong hooked bills, which assist them in climbing and cracking very hard nuts, and they sometimes bite very severely; they delight in swinging and balancing, hanging from the branches of trees, and in their wild as well as domestic state use one of their claws as a hand to take their food.The Anamoe & Green Parrots of Guiana.TheAnamoe& Green Parrots of Guiana.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.In Surinam there are also some beautiful paroquets, which are a species of parrots, but smaller though not less common; the finest of these is of the size of a very small pigeon; they are of a lively green on the back and tail, but the head and neck are auburn, the feathers on the last being edged with a gold colour, which gives them the appearance of rich scollops or scales: the breast is of a leaden hue, the belly lilac, the wings tipped with orange and azure, and the bill of a very dark blue; the eyes are the colour of fire, and the feet quite black. The other[33]species are perfectly green, with a white bill, and a crimson spot on the head; these make an agreeable chattering, but are not so easily domesticated as the former.I was presented this evening by a soldier with a bird of a quite different kind, which he had actually caught with his hands. This was no other than theannamoe, or Surinam partridge, and a finer creature I never saw: it was of the size of a large duck, extremely fat, and of a dark brown colour on the back and wings, and on the top of the head, the under part of which, the breast, the belly, and the thighs, were of a fine cream-colour, intermixed with orange feathers and very small transverse black bars. The body was exactly the shape of an egg, it had no tail, the neck was long, the bill short, but very sharp-pointed, and a little curved; the eyes were bright, and as black as jet; the legs short, of the colour of vermilion, with three small toes on each foot. This bird, it is said, runs with amazing swiftness, hiding itself amongst the grass and weeds, but flies very heavily on account of its plumpness, which was the cause of its being thus overtaken by the marine. We had it roasted, and indeed nothing could be more delicious. As I took a correct drawing of it, I refer the reader to the annexed plate; where he may also see the parrot of South America, as described above, besides a few curious nests, of which I have given an account in Vol. I. p. 375, but where I had no opportunity of placing them; and which, besides their curiosity, may serve to shew how much the public are imposed[34]upon; when, in Goldsmith’s Animated Nature, Vol. V. p. 253, that author asserts, that they are built on the banana and plantain trees, where he also describes the monkies, and numbers of large serpents as assembling. All this I here think it my duty to pronounce erroneous, as I consider it would be unpardonable in me to let such absurdities pass by unnoticed.On the 9th, an accident had nearly befallen me, which must have caused me much poignant and lasting sorrow. My black boy, washing my cotton hammock in the Tempatee Creek, was suddenly carried to the bottom by the rapidity of the stream, and entangled in its lashings, so that both the one and the other disappeared; the boy, however, luckily extricated himself, though with great difficulty, and to my great joy, though more than half drowned, appeared once more on terra firma; when he had the presence of mind instantly to sink a large fish-hook, with a lead tied to a strong line, some yards below the spot, with which he actually brought up the hammock, to our astonishment, the stream running so swift that it rolled over the ground, and was liable to shift its station every moment.The following day, as Captain Hamel was angling, his tackle got fast at the bottom of the creek, when, in diving to clear it, I struck my ancle with such violence against a rock, that it was several months before it was perfectly recovered.These accidents appeared greatly to entertain Colonel Seyburg, while in return I could not help feeling a degree[35]of indignation at what I considered as unhandsome behaviour; but the most extraordinary circumstance was, that this disgust between Seyburg and myself seemed to gain me the favour of old Fourgeoud, almost as much as if I had destroyed half the rebel negroes in the colony.—During all this time strong patroles cruized between Magdenberg, La Rochelle, and the Jew Savannah; and on the 17th, the commander in chief marched to Patamaca with nearly the half of his troops, leavingmethe command of those that remained on the mountain, for I was not able to accompany him, having by this time a dangerous mortification in my ancle.As I had now the prospect of remaining some time at Magdenberg, I dispatched Quaco to Paramaribo for provisions, and orders to buy me a live goat.Whatever may be thought of Fourgeoud’s manœuvres, in not being able to bring the rebels to a pitched battle, it is very certain that he exerted himself and his troops to the utmost; and that by his constantly traversing the upper parts of the rivers, and scouring the skirts of the colony, he prevented many depredations on the estates, which was undoubtedly a very essential service to the inhabitants, though at a dreadful expence of blood and money.Being now the commander in chief at this post, the two negroes I have formerly mentioned hunting and fishing for me, brought me almost every day one or twopingos, which are the wild boars formerly mentioned, besides a[36]fish callednewmara, some of which are as large as cod, and which I shall afterwards describe. With these dainties I regaled all the officers without exception, while I gave to the hospital all the plantains, bananas, oranges, and lemons, that were occasionally sent me as presents from theJacoband the plantations in Upper Comewina; and never was a deputy-governor more universally beloved. Patroles were also daily sent out to every quarter; and the environs of Magdenberg were so completely scoured, that no invasion from the rebels could be practicable. These precautions were the more necessary, as they hadformerlysurprised and taken by storm different military posts for the sake of ammunition and fire-arms, which are to them of the utmost value, and their seizure of the most pernicious consequence to the colony. Indeed some posts had not only been attacked and plundered of their stores and ammunition, but were actually massacred to a man.Mortified that it was not in my power to take a more active part at present, I availed myself of this leisure, by taking drawings of every animal, reptile, or shrub, that I thought could illustrate my little collection of natural curiosities, which I now began to form some idea of exhibiting to the public, if it should be my fate ever more to return to Europe.One of my negroes, on the 24th of this month, brought me two curious insects; which, though I had no opportunity of drawing, I will endeavour to describe:—[37]The one (which seemed to have some small affinity to the grasshopper kind) was what is here generally calledspaanse-juffer, and is without exception the most singular animal I saw in the colony. The body of this surprising creature, though not thicker than a quill, was no less than seven inches and a half in length, including the tail; it had no wings, and was mounted like a spider on six legs that were near six inches long; it had four antennæ projecting from its head, two being nearly five inches, and two much shorter; the head was small, the eyes large, black, and prominent, and the tail articulated like that of most insects: its colour was a brownish green, and, upon the whole, it seemed a monster. This creature is found near the marshy places, where its long legs appear designed to enable it to wade through the water, but not to swim (according to Mr. Farmine’s opinion) for which its feet are not calculated, as they terminate in two small claws like those of some beetles. The other was a large fly, which Madam Merian, who gives a drawing of it, calls thevielleur, but which I have generally heard called thescare-sleepby the Dutch. These words being extremely applicable, from the noise it makes towards the evening, which nearly resembles the sound of a cymbal, or that of a razor-grinder when at his work. This remarkable fly, whose grinding noise always begins at sun-set or six o’clock, is also called theporte-lanterneorlantern-bearer, from the light it diffuses after that time, and which is much stronger than that of any of the fire-fly species,[38]affording sufficient light for almost any purpose: these flies are above three inches long, and very thick, the body green, with four transparent wings variegated with little marks of all colours, particularly the under wings, on which are two large roundish spots not unlike those on the tail feathers of a peacock. Beneath the head of this insect is seen an inverted straight trump or tube like a needle, with which it is said to suck its food from the flowers. With the same instrument it is here supposed to produce that disagreeable, loud, and grinding noise, which I have already noticed. But, for my own part, I should rather ascribe the noise to the fluttering of its transparent wings, as is supposed to be the case with some flies in England: a large proboscis or snout striped red and yellow, and shaped like the first joint of a man’s finger, projects from the head, and makes one-third of the whole animal; this protuberance is vulgarly called its lantern, and emits that surprising light whence it takes its second name. I shall only add, that it is a very slow creeper, but flies with amazing velocity.On the 26th, my boy Quaco arrived from Paramaribo with the following list of provisions, which he had purchased for me. In order to give the curious a just idea of the prices in Surinam when things are cheapest, I will here insert some articles as charged to my account, with the prices in English money, calculating at the rate of eleven florins to one pound sterling.[39]These articles were as follow:2 bacon hams, 31 lbs. at 15d.per lb.1 small cag of butter, 10 lbs. at 1s.10d.per lb.1 small ditto of flour, 100 lbs. at 4d.per lb.1 Dutch cheese, 11 lbs. at 10d.per lb.2 quart bottles of vinegar, at 1s.10d.per quart.4 lbs. spermaceti candles, at 3s.8d.per lb.2 lbs. dried sausages, at 2s.9d.per lb.The prices of wine and spirits I have already mentioned in the twelfth chapter.He also brought me a goat with its kid to supply me with milk, for which I paid twenty florins, or near two pounds sterling: these prices are at least double, and some treble, to what they used to be in England.Goats are very common in all Guiana; they are not large, but very beautiful creatures, with small horns, and very short smooth hair, mostly of a dun-colour; they are as nimble as stags, and are kept on all the estates, where they breed fast and give much milk; they are also delicious eating when killed young.I had now the disagreeable news, that all my letters for Europe were sunk on board Captain Visser, who was wrecked in the Texel roads among the ice. I was also sincerely grieved to hear that my good friend Mr. Kennedy, with his lady and family, had taken their final farewel of the colony, and sailed for Holland. This gentleman, Mr. Gordon, and a Mr. Gourluy, were the only Scotch; a Mr. Buckland, a Mr. Townsend, and Mr.[40]Halfhide, the only English; and Captain Macneal, the only native of Ireland, residing in this colony.On the 28th, Colonel Fourgeoud returned with his command from Patamaca, much emaciated himself, and his men nearly exhausted by fatigue. He had left a great number behind him in the hospital at La Rochelle, but heard no account whatever of the rebels, although he varied his route every time. It was therefore pretty evident that they were routed, if latterly there had been any settled at all: but where to find them in this unbounded forest was the question. He however never despaired, and seemed as eager to discover the haunts of the rebels as he had been formerly in springing a covey of partridges, or discovering a nest of black badgers.On the 29th, Mr. Matthew, one of our officers who had been out shooting, presented me with theTaibo, an animal that is here called the wood-rat. This creature was the size of a young hare, and of a reddish brown colour, being remarkably thin, with long limbs, a roundish head, and a tail not unlike that of a sucking-pig; the claws were exactly like those of a common rat, but larger in proportion, and so was the head, mouth, teeth, and whiskers; the ears were short and naked, the eyes black and prominent, with a white iris; it is said to run very fast: we had it dressed, and ate it, having been told that it was very good, and so we found it, sweet, tender, and even fat, notwithstanding its lank appearance. This[41]creature, on account of its size, reminds me of another animal, known in this country by the name ofcrabbo-dago, or the crabbed dog, for its matchless ferocity, as it kills and devours every thing that comes in its way, without exception, whether quadrupeds, fowls, or reptiles; and never seeming to be glutted with blood, it murders, even without being hungry, all it can vanquish, which, on account of its courage, activity, and strength, are not a few, though it be not larger than a common cat. From what I have said, I should apprehend it much resembles theichneumon, but still more that animal mentioned by Mr. Allemand, in the Count de Buffon; (see Vol. IV. p. 266.) which he there calls thegrisonor grey-weazel, though this that I mention was rather larger; and he says, that notwithstanding its being a native of Surinam, none of the people coming from that country could give any account of it. If this be the same animal, (as I doubt not, and have therefore given it the name of thecrabbo-dagoor grison) I am happy to have had it in my power to give the reader some account of it. I shall now literally quote the Count’s own words, as extracted from Mr. Allemand, which will afford the best proof of its being the same animal, when compared with the annexed plate, where both the wood-rat, and thecrabbo-dagoor grison, are represented; and had I seen this account during the Count’s life, I would have most assuredly taken the liberty of informing him by a[42]letter, of what I now, though in this unconnected method, relate to the public.“I received,” says Mr. Allemand, “the small animal represented in the plate1. In the catalogue it was called the grey-weazel, from which circumstance I derived the name grison, because I knew not how it is denominated in the country where it is found. The whole upper part of its body is covered with deep brown hair, having white points, which gives it a greyish brown colour: under the head and neck is a bright grey, because the hairs are very short, and the white part is of equal length with the brown. The muzzle, the under part of the body, and legs, are black, which singularly contrasts with the grey colour on the head and neck.“The head of this animal is very large in proportion to its body, its ears almost form a semicircle, its eyes are large, and its mouth is armed with strong grinders and sharp tusks: it has six cutting teeth in each jaw, four of them hardly rising above the gums. Both the fore and hind feet have five toes, with yellowish claws; the tail is pretty long, and terminates in a point.The Wood-Rat of Surinam.Barlow sculp.The Wood-Rat of Surinam.The Crabbodago, or Grisson.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.“The grison has a greater resemblance to the weazel, than to any other animal, but it belongs not to the weazel tribe; for its body is not long enough, and its[43]legs are too long. It is not mentioned by any author or traveller. I shewed it to several persons who had lived long in Surinam, but none of them knew it; hence it either must be a rare animal, even in its native country, or it must live in deserts and unfrequented places: the length of its body is about seven inches; I have not been able to learn any thing of its history.”To this I shall only add my surprize.—It is true that this animal is very rare in Surinam, but it probably owes its not being described by naturalists to its extreme ferocity, which is without example, it being a very uncommon circumstance to take acrabbo-dagoor grison alive.Our old commander and I were now inseparable friends, to whose board being daily invited, he requested me to paint his portrait at full length in his bush equipage, which was to be engraved at the expence of the town of Amsterdam, and where he thought himself now as great a man as the Duke of Cumberland was in England after the battle of Culloden.Having provided a large sheet of paper, and some China ink, I began to delineate this wonderful character in his own hut. While I was now looking full in his face, to examine the features of this first of despots, and laughing aloud, to think how he and I now sat staring at one another, the whole mountain was suddenly shook by a tremendous clap of thunder, while the lightning actually scorched the Colonel’s forehead; and,[44]what is very curious, broke all the eggs under a hen that was sitting in a corner of the room where we were engaged. The hero’s features being re-composed, I proceeded, and the picture was completed in a short time after, to his great satisfaction.About this time the captive rebel, September, who was taken in the year 1773, died of a dropsy. Ever since his capture, when his companion was shot, this poor fellow was obliged to follow Fourgeoud like a dog through all his expeditions; the colonel always expecting that this negro would, one day or other, conduct him to different haunts of the rebels—but he was mistaken. The other negro slaves, suspecting that he had actually given some information, attributed his dreadful death to a punishment from God, for his want of fidelity to his countrymen, to whom they supposed he had sworn to be true.The reader may remember, that I have stated it in the third Chapter, as an invariable article of belief among the African negroes, that whoever breaks his oath shall die miserably in this world, and be punished for ever in that which is to come.By the 2d of June, the Hope in Comewina was become so very unwholesome for want of cleanliness, and being kept free from inundations (as it was much neglected by the newly-arrived troops which were now stationed there), that the commanding officer and most of his men were rendered unfit for duty by sickness, and many of them already buried. To this place Colonel Fourgeoud ordered[45]down Captain Brant to take the command, with a fresh supply of men, and orders to send, not to town but to Magdenberg, all the invalids he should relieve. These orders he gave to the above officer in such a brutal manner, and dispatched him so suddenly, that he had not even time to pack up his cloaths; while Colonel Seyburg deprived him of his only servant, whom he took for himself. This usage so much affected Captain Brant, that he burst into tears, and declared he did not wish longer to survive such galling treatment: he then departed to the Hope, truly with a broken heart.Upon his arrival he was informed that Captain Brough, the late commanding officer, was dead. This poor man had been on hard service in the woods, and being very corpulent, could no longer support the fatigues and excessive heat; he melted down very fast, and a putrid fever at last occasioned his dissolution. Captain Brant was soon followed by Colonel Seyburg to the Hope, with orders to inspect the sick.—In this interval of inaction, I shall describe two fishes, which, though very different in size and colour, equally merit particular attention.The first, and indeed the only one of the kind I ever saw, was caught by an angler. It was about the size of a large anchovy, and, the dorado excepted, was certainly the most beautiful coloured fish I ever saw. Its back and sides were divided in longitudinal bars of fine yellow and a deep blueish black, the belly was silver, the eyes were black and gold, and the fins a glowing transparent vermilion;[46]its shape was not unlike that of a trout, and the whole was covered with small scales; it had one dorsal fin on the middle of its back, with only the vestige of another near the tail, which was forked: under its belly were five fins, two pectoral, two ventral, and one behind the anus; the under jaw projected before the upper jaw, and made its mouth appear reversed; the gills were small. Having enquired concerning this little fish, the only information I could obtain was from a black man, who called itdago-fisee.The Fresh-water Fish called Dago-Fissee.The Fresh-water Fish called Dago-Fissee.The Rock Cod, or Newmara.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.The other is that fine large fish called by the Englishrock-cod, by the Indiansbaro-ketta, andnew-maraby the negroes, which I have several times mentioned, but not described; they are taken plentifully in all the upper parts of the rivers. This fish is the size of a large cod, but covered with scales, and by some compared to a salmon; the back is a brown olive colour, the belly is white, the head is strong, with small eyes, of which the pupil is black and the iris grey; the mouth is very large, and beset with one row of sharp teeth like those of a pike, and, like it, this creature is extremely voracious; the tail is obtuse and dark olive; as also the fins, six in number, one dorsal, two pectoral, two ventral, and one abdominal. This fish is extremely delicious eating, and particularly esteemed by the white inhabitants at Paramaribo, where it is very scarce, though in the upper parts of the rivers they are taken in great abundance. I painted these two fishes very correctly,the dago-fishas[47]large as life, and thenew-maraconsiderably less. The drawings were honoured in Surinam with the epithets of masterly performances.Several officers who kept poultry and hogs at this period lost all the latter in the space of two days, being poisoned probably by eating duncane, or some other fatal weed that was unknown to us. And yet it has been a general observation, as I have said before, that all animals know by instinct to distinguish their food from their poison.Mr. Seyburg now returned from the Hope in triumph, with LieutenantDederlin(one of Colonel Fourgeoud’s officers) guarded by a serjeant and six marines with fixed bayonets, for having been wanting in respect, as that gentleman pleased to call it.On the 7th, the sick officers and soldiers also arrived from the Hope in barges; some of the latter, being too ill to bear removing, died on the passage without medicines, and without assistance. One of our surgeons died also this day in camp, and a number of the privates died daily. This was the consequence of having marched so much in the wet season, which was judged however by our chief to be the only season in which he was likely to root the rebels from the forest of Guiana.[48]1The Dutch edition. Vol. XV.↑

[Contents]CHAP. XVII.New Instances of unprecedented Barbarity—Occurrences on Mount Magdenberg—Prices of Provisions at Paramaribo—Description of a new Animal—Great Mortality amongst the Troops in Tempatee and Comewina River.The first visit I now made was to Mr. Kennedy, to bid him farewel; I then paid five hundred florins for the black boy, for which he gave me a receipt, and Quaco was mine. About this time I fell ill with a fever, which however lasted but a few days. Walking out on the 1st of May, I observed a croud of people along the water-side, before the house of Mr. S—lk—r, where appeared the dreadful spectacle of a beautiful young mulatto girl, floating on her back, with her hands tied behind, her throat most shockingly cut, and stabbed in the breast with a knife in more than eight or ten different places. This was reported to have been the work of that infernal fiend, Mrs. S—lk—r, from a motive of jealousy, suspecting that her husband might fall in love with this poor unfortunate female. This monster of a woman had before drowned a negro infant merely for crying, as I have said; nay, she was accused of still greater barbarity, were greater barbarity possible. Arriving one[26]day at her estate to view some negroes newly purchased, her eye chanced to fall on a fine negro girl about fifteen years of age, who could not even speak the language of the country. Observing her to be a remarkably fine figure, with a sweet engaging countenance, her diabolical jealousy instantly prompted her to burn the girl’s cheeks, mouth, and forehead with a red-hot iron; she also cut the tendon Achilles of one of her legs, thus rendering her a monster of deformity, and a miserable object as long as she lived: the poor victim not knowing what she had done to deserve so severe a punishment.Some of the negroes now representing to this lady the many cruelties she daily inflicted, and supplicating her to be of a milder disposition; it was reported that she instantly knocked out the brains of a Quaderoon child, and caused the heads of two young negroes, its relations, to be chopped off, for having endeavoured to prevent her; these heads, when she had left the estate, were tied in silk handkerchiefs, and carried by the surviving relations to Paramaribo, where they were laid at the feet of the governor, with the following speech:“This, your Excellency, is the head of my son, andthisis the head of my brother, struck off by our mistress’s command, for endeavouring to prevent her murders. We know our evidence is nothing in a state of slavery; but, if these bloody heads be a sufficient proof of what we say, we only beg that such pernicious acts may be prevented in time to come; in acknowledgment[27]of which we will all chearfully shed our blood for the preservation and prosperity of our master, our mistress, and the colony.”To this humble and pathetic remonstrance the answer was, that they were all liars, and should, as such, be flogged round the streets of Paramaribo; and this most iniquitous sentence was executed with the greatest severity.Such is the consequence of the law of the colony, that the testimony of a negro is never to be taken. Had any one white person been present at the above carnage, the evidence would have been good, but even then this fury would have escaped by paying a fine of fifty pounds for each murder.—But enough—my soul sinks within me while I dwell so long upon the subject.On the 2d of May, being again perfectly recovered, I took leave of Joanna and her Johnny, for thus he was named after myself, though the ceremony of baptism could not yet be performed; they now continued at my friend De la Mare’s house, whilst I set out once more for Magdenberg in a tent-boat with six oars.On the 3d, I called at Egmond, on my French friend Monsieur Cachelieu, and next day stopt at Oranjebo or Ornamibo, where I was heartily entertained by my old adversary Captain Meyland, with whom I had fought at the Wana Creek. But now this gentleman declared, that he loved me better than any man in the colony. He was just returned from a twelve days cruize through the woods.[28]Among his men I recollected one Cordus, a gentleman’s son from Hamburgh, in which character I had known him, and who had been trepanned into the West India Company’s service by the crimps or silver-coopers as a common soldier. This corps, as I have already said, is composed of all nations, Christians, Gentiles, and even Jews; the latter, I must observe, devoured pork and bacon, without scruple or hesitation, as often as they could find it.On this spot, which had formerly been a plantation, but was now choked with weeds, I met with some herbs which again I cannot pass unnoticed, though I have no other names for them than those given me by the negroes, one only excepted, which is commonly known by the name of theSiliqua hirsulæ, cow-edge, or cow-itch, and called by the black peoplecrassy-weeree-weeree. I can only describe this as a kind of pea, or rather flattish small purple bean, growing in a pod from a slender creeping vine; these pods are covered with a kind of fine elastic spicula, which, when touched, cause an intolerable itching. This hairy coat scraped from the pod, and taken in a tea-spoon with jelly, &c. has been strongly recommended as a vermifuge. A sort of wood was also shewn me here by one of the slaves, which he calledcrassy-wood; this had the same itching effect when touched, but with respect to its general qualities I can say nothing further. The other shrubs that we found were what they calledconsaca-weeree-weeree; these grow[29]with large green leaves, which the negroes use for the cure of a disorder in the feet calledconsaca, when they can procure no limes or lemons, as I have already mentioned: this plant also makes an excellent sallad. Thedea-weeree-weereeis a fine wholesome herb, and very much esteemed; but thecutty-weeree-weereeis amongst the most serious pests in the colony, being a kind of strong edged grass, which is in some places very plentiful; and when a man walks through it will cut his legs like a razor. Herbs in general are in this country known by the name ofweeree-weereeby the negroes.On the 5th, I arrived at Magdenberg. Here Colonel Seyburg, and what he called his officers, seemed to form a distinct corps from those of Fourgeoud. They appeared totally destitute of politeness, and treated each other with the greatest rudeness, while their colonel was most cordially hated by the commander in chief. This state of things contributed to render our situation still more disagreeable: I however had at this time little reason to complain, being for the present, at least, in the good graces of Fourgeoud, which, by a trifling accident, I had nearly again forfeited. Colonel Fourgeoud having purchased of some Indians a couple of most beautiful parrots, called herecocatoos, which were in a cage ready to be shipped off as a present to her royal highness the princess of Orange, I persuaded Monsieur Laurant, his valet-de-chambre, to take one of them out, that I might the better examine it, but the cage-door was no sooner[30]opened, than it gave a shriek, and disappeared in an instant, flying over the Tempatee Creek. The poor valet stood perfectly petrified, and could only pronounce “Voyez-vous?” whilst I took to my heels to avoid the approaching storm, but stopped near enough to observe Fourgeoud’s motions through the underwood. He was no sooner informed of thedreadfulaccident, than he began to storm, swear, and dance like a man totally deprived of reason; he next, by kicking it, killed a poor waddling duck belonging to one of our officers; and at last actually trampled his very wig under his feet, while I stood trembling, and the rest of the spectators were laughing aloud. In about half an hour his passion began gradually to cool, and then he had recourse to a stratagem which actually brought the parrot back into his possession. He placed the remaining captive on the top of its cage, tied by a small cord round its claw; this he set in the open air, putting a ripe banana inside, and leaving the door open, so that any other bird except the prisoner might come at it; the poor captive at last becoming very hungry, made such a noise and shrieking as to be heard by his mate, who returning entered the cage in quest of food, and was once more deprived of his freedom. I now ventured from my concealment, and was acquitted after a gentle reproof; though poor Laurant, as may well be imagined, did not escape without a thundering lecture.The cocatoos are less than the parrots, and of a green colour, except the head and a few feathers in the tail,[31]which are of a pale red. This bird is crowned with apanasheor bunch of feathers, and which generally lie backward, but which it erects at pleasure, when it is irritated or afraid.I have also seen in Surinam a parrot of a deep slate blue colour, though not like those that come from the coast of Guinea, which are rather of a lead-grey. This parrot is said to be very scarce, and only inhabits the deepest recesses of the forest, whence it is brought to Paramaribo by the Indians: this bird is less than the common parrot, but appears very strong and lively. The most common parrots in Guiana are those which Marcgrave callsajurucura. These birds are not so large as those that come from Africa; they are green, with the breast and belly a pale yellow; on the top of the head they have a blue spot, and the feet are grey, with four toes like the rest of the genus, two before and two behind; in the wings they have some feathers of a bright blue, and some a deep crimson; they are more a nuisance than a pleasure in Surinam, where, in prodigious flocks, they perch amongst the coffee, maize, rice, &c. and commit great devastations; and what makes them a still greater nuisance, their shrieking noise is almost insupportable. They always fly in pairs, and very swift, towards the east, as I have observed, meeting the sun in the morning, and toward the west they follow it in the evening: they generally breed in remote places and lay two eggs. I brought down two of these parrots at a shot when I was[32]at Sporksgift estate; these animals not being quite dead, scratched me most terribly with their sharp claws, as they are very strong and tenacious of life. We had them dressed, and they made no bad soup; they may also do in a pye as rooks in England, but dressed in any other way they are tough and disagreeable. These green parrots may be taught to speak, laugh, cry, bark, whistle, or mew, but not near so well as those which come from Africa. It is said, they are often intoxicated by the seeds of the cotton plant. These parrots are also subject to fits, perhaps from their choleric disposition, yet longevity is peculiarly ascribed to them by the Indians: they have strong hooked bills, which assist them in climbing and cracking very hard nuts, and they sometimes bite very severely; they delight in swinging and balancing, hanging from the branches of trees, and in their wild as well as domestic state use one of their claws as a hand to take their food.The Anamoe & Green Parrots of Guiana.TheAnamoe& Green Parrots of Guiana.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.In Surinam there are also some beautiful paroquets, which are a species of parrots, but smaller though not less common; the finest of these is of the size of a very small pigeon; they are of a lively green on the back and tail, but the head and neck are auburn, the feathers on the last being edged with a gold colour, which gives them the appearance of rich scollops or scales: the breast is of a leaden hue, the belly lilac, the wings tipped with orange and azure, and the bill of a very dark blue; the eyes are the colour of fire, and the feet quite black. The other[33]species are perfectly green, with a white bill, and a crimson spot on the head; these make an agreeable chattering, but are not so easily domesticated as the former.I was presented this evening by a soldier with a bird of a quite different kind, which he had actually caught with his hands. This was no other than theannamoe, or Surinam partridge, and a finer creature I never saw: it was of the size of a large duck, extremely fat, and of a dark brown colour on the back and wings, and on the top of the head, the under part of which, the breast, the belly, and the thighs, were of a fine cream-colour, intermixed with orange feathers and very small transverse black bars. The body was exactly the shape of an egg, it had no tail, the neck was long, the bill short, but very sharp-pointed, and a little curved; the eyes were bright, and as black as jet; the legs short, of the colour of vermilion, with three small toes on each foot. This bird, it is said, runs with amazing swiftness, hiding itself amongst the grass and weeds, but flies very heavily on account of its plumpness, which was the cause of its being thus overtaken by the marine. We had it roasted, and indeed nothing could be more delicious. As I took a correct drawing of it, I refer the reader to the annexed plate; where he may also see the parrot of South America, as described above, besides a few curious nests, of which I have given an account in Vol. I. p. 375, but where I had no opportunity of placing them; and which, besides their curiosity, may serve to shew how much the public are imposed[34]upon; when, in Goldsmith’s Animated Nature, Vol. V. p. 253, that author asserts, that they are built on the banana and plantain trees, where he also describes the monkies, and numbers of large serpents as assembling. All this I here think it my duty to pronounce erroneous, as I consider it would be unpardonable in me to let such absurdities pass by unnoticed.On the 9th, an accident had nearly befallen me, which must have caused me much poignant and lasting sorrow. My black boy, washing my cotton hammock in the Tempatee Creek, was suddenly carried to the bottom by the rapidity of the stream, and entangled in its lashings, so that both the one and the other disappeared; the boy, however, luckily extricated himself, though with great difficulty, and to my great joy, though more than half drowned, appeared once more on terra firma; when he had the presence of mind instantly to sink a large fish-hook, with a lead tied to a strong line, some yards below the spot, with which he actually brought up the hammock, to our astonishment, the stream running so swift that it rolled over the ground, and was liable to shift its station every moment.The following day, as Captain Hamel was angling, his tackle got fast at the bottom of the creek, when, in diving to clear it, I struck my ancle with such violence against a rock, that it was several months before it was perfectly recovered.These accidents appeared greatly to entertain Colonel Seyburg, while in return I could not help feeling a degree[35]of indignation at what I considered as unhandsome behaviour; but the most extraordinary circumstance was, that this disgust between Seyburg and myself seemed to gain me the favour of old Fourgeoud, almost as much as if I had destroyed half the rebel negroes in the colony.—During all this time strong patroles cruized between Magdenberg, La Rochelle, and the Jew Savannah; and on the 17th, the commander in chief marched to Patamaca with nearly the half of his troops, leavingmethe command of those that remained on the mountain, for I was not able to accompany him, having by this time a dangerous mortification in my ancle.As I had now the prospect of remaining some time at Magdenberg, I dispatched Quaco to Paramaribo for provisions, and orders to buy me a live goat.Whatever may be thought of Fourgeoud’s manœuvres, in not being able to bring the rebels to a pitched battle, it is very certain that he exerted himself and his troops to the utmost; and that by his constantly traversing the upper parts of the rivers, and scouring the skirts of the colony, he prevented many depredations on the estates, which was undoubtedly a very essential service to the inhabitants, though at a dreadful expence of blood and money.Being now the commander in chief at this post, the two negroes I have formerly mentioned hunting and fishing for me, brought me almost every day one or twopingos, which are the wild boars formerly mentioned, besides a[36]fish callednewmara, some of which are as large as cod, and which I shall afterwards describe. With these dainties I regaled all the officers without exception, while I gave to the hospital all the plantains, bananas, oranges, and lemons, that were occasionally sent me as presents from theJacoband the plantations in Upper Comewina; and never was a deputy-governor more universally beloved. Patroles were also daily sent out to every quarter; and the environs of Magdenberg were so completely scoured, that no invasion from the rebels could be practicable. These precautions were the more necessary, as they hadformerlysurprised and taken by storm different military posts for the sake of ammunition and fire-arms, which are to them of the utmost value, and their seizure of the most pernicious consequence to the colony. Indeed some posts had not only been attacked and plundered of their stores and ammunition, but were actually massacred to a man.Mortified that it was not in my power to take a more active part at present, I availed myself of this leisure, by taking drawings of every animal, reptile, or shrub, that I thought could illustrate my little collection of natural curiosities, which I now began to form some idea of exhibiting to the public, if it should be my fate ever more to return to Europe.One of my negroes, on the 24th of this month, brought me two curious insects; which, though I had no opportunity of drawing, I will endeavour to describe:—[37]The one (which seemed to have some small affinity to the grasshopper kind) was what is here generally calledspaanse-juffer, and is without exception the most singular animal I saw in the colony. The body of this surprising creature, though not thicker than a quill, was no less than seven inches and a half in length, including the tail; it had no wings, and was mounted like a spider on six legs that were near six inches long; it had four antennæ projecting from its head, two being nearly five inches, and two much shorter; the head was small, the eyes large, black, and prominent, and the tail articulated like that of most insects: its colour was a brownish green, and, upon the whole, it seemed a monster. This creature is found near the marshy places, where its long legs appear designed to enable it to wade through the water, but not to swim (according to Mr. Farmine’s opinion) for which its feet are not calculated, as they terminate in two small claws like those of some beetles. The other was a large fly, which Madam Merian, who gives a drawing of it, calls thevielleur, but which I have generally heard called thescare-sleepby the Dutch. These words being extremely applicable, from the noise it makes towards the evening, which nearly resembles the sound of a cymbal, or that of a razor-grinder when at his work. This remarkable fly, whose grinding noise always begins at sun-set or six o’clock, is also called theporte-lanterneorlantern-bearer, from the light it diffuses after that time, and which is much stronger than that of any of the fire-fly species,[38]affording sufficient light for almost any purpose: these flies are above three inches long, and very thick, the body green, with four transparent wings variegated with little marks of all colours, particularly the under wings, on which are two large roundish spots not unlike those on the tail feathers of a peacock. Beneath the head of this insect is seen an inverted straight trump or tube like a needle, with which it is said to suck its food from the flowers. With the same instrument it is here supposed to produce that disagreeable, loud, and grinding noise, which I have already noticed. But, for my own part, I should rather ascribe the noise to the fluttering of its transparent wings, as is supposed to be the case with some flies in England: a large proboscis or snout striped red and yellow, and shaped like the first joint of a man’s finger, projects from the head, and makes one-third of the whole animal; this protuberance is vulgarly called its lantern, and emits that surprising light whence it takes its second name. I shall only add, that it is a very slow creeper, but flies with amazing velocity.On the 26th, my boy Quaco arrived from Paramaribo with the following list of provisions, which he had purchased for me. In order to give the curious a just idea of the prices in Surinam when things are cheapest, I will here insert some articles as charged to my account, with the prices in English money, calculating at the rate of eleven florins to one pound sterling.[39]These articles were as follow:2 bacon hams, 31 lbs. at 15d.per lb.1 small cag of butter, 10 lbs. at 1s.10d.per lb.1 small ditto of flour, 100 lbs. at 4d.per lb.1 Dutch cheese, 11 lbs. at 10d.per lb.2 quart bottles of vinegar, at 1s.10d.per quart.4 lbs. spermaceti candles, at 3s.8d.per lb.2 lbs. dried sausages, at 2s.9d.per lb.The prices of wine and spirits I have already mentioned in the twelfth chapter.He also brought me a goat with its kid to supply me with milk, for which I paid twenty florins, or near two pounds sterling: these prices are at least double, and some treble, to what they used to be in England.Goats are very common in all Guiana; they are not large, but very beautiful creatures, with small horns, and very short smooth hair, mostly of a dun-colour; they are as nimble as stags, and are kept on all the estates, where they breed fast and give much milk; they are also delicious eating when killed young.I had now the disagreeable news, that all my letters for Europe were sunk on board Captain Visser, who was wrecked in the Texel roads among the ice. I was also sincerely grieved to hear that my good friend Mr. Kennedy, with his lady and family, had taken their final farewel of the colony, and sailed for Holland. This gentleman, Mr. Gordon, and a Mr. Gourluy, were the only Scotch; a Mr. Buckland, a Mr. Townsend, and Mr.[40]Halfhide, the only English; and Captain Macneal, the only native of Ireland, residing in this colony.On the 28th, Colonel Fourgeoud returned with his command from Patamaca, much emaciated himself, and his men nearly exhausted by fatigue. He had left a great number behind him in the hospital at La Rochelle, but heard no account whatever of the rebels, although he varied his route every time. It was therefore pretty evident that they were routed, if latterly there had been any settled at all: but where to find them in this unbounded forest was the question. He however never despaired, and seemed as eager to discover the haunts of the rebels as he had been formerly in springing a covey of partridges, or discovering a nest of black badgers.On the 29th, Mr. Matthew, one of our officers who had been out shooting, presented me with theTaibo, an animal that is here called the wood-rat. This creature was the size of a young hare, and of a reddish brown colour, being remarkably thin, with long limbs, a roundish head, and a tail not unlike that of a sucking-pig; the claws were exactly like those of a common rat, but larger in proportion, and so was the head, mouth, teeth, and whiskers; the ears were short and naked, the eyes black and prominent, with a white iris; it is said to run very fast: we had it dressed, and ate it, having been told that it was very good, and so we found it, sweet, tender, and even fat, notwithstanding its lank appearance. This[41]creature, on account of its size, reminds me of another animal, known in this country by the name ofcrabbo-dago, or the crabbed dog, for its matchless ferocity, as it kills and devours every thing that comes in its way, without exception, whether quadrupeds, fowls, or reptiles; and never seeming to be glutted with blood, it murders, even without being hungry, all it can vanquish, which, on account of its courage, activity, and strength, are not a few, though it be not larger than a common cat. From what I have said, I should apprehend it much resembles theichneumon, but still more that animal mentioned by Mr. Allemand, in the Count de Buffon; (see Vol. IV. p. 266.) which he there calls thegrisonor grey-weazel, though this that I mention was rather larger; and he says, that notwithstanding its being a native of Surinam, none of the people coming from that country could give any account of it. If this be the same animal, (as I doubt not, and have therefore given it the name of thecrabbo-dagoor grison) I am happy to have had it in my power to give the reader some account of it. I shall now literally quote the Count’s own words, as extracted from Mr. Allemand, which will afford the best proof of its being the same animal, when compared with the annexed plate, where both the wood-rat, and thecrabbo-dagoor grison, are represented; and had I seen this account during the Count’s life, I would have most assuredly taken the liberty of informing him by a[42]letter, of what I now, though in this unconnected method, relate to the public.“I received,” says Mr. Allemand, “the small animal represented in the plate1. In the catalogue it was called the grey-weazel, from which circumstance I derived the name grison, because I knew not how it is denominated in the country where it is found. The whole upper part of its body is covered with deep brown hair, having white points, which gives it a greyish brown colour: under the head and neck is a bright grey, because the hairs are very short, and the white part is of equal length with the brown. The muzzle, the under part of the body, and legs, are black, which singularly contrasts with the grey colour on the head and neck.“The head of this animal is very large in proportion to its body, its ears almost form a semicircle, its eyes are large, and its mouth is armed with strong grinders and sharp tusks: it has six cutting teeth in each jaw, four of them hardly rising above the gums. Both the fore and hind feet have five toes, with yellowish claws; the tail is pretty long, and terminates in a point.The Wood-Rat of Surinam.Barlow sculp.The Wood-Rat of Surinam.The Crabbodago, or Grisson.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.“The grison has a greater resemblance to the weazel, than to any other animal, but it belongs not to the weazel tribe; for its body is not long enough, and its[43]legs are too long. It is not mentioned by any author or traveller. I shewed it to several persons who had lived long in Surinam, but none of them knew it; hence it either must be a rare animal, even in its native country, or it must live in deserts and unfrequented places: the length of its body is about seven inches; I have not been able to learn any thing of its history.”To this I shall only add my surprize.—It is true that this animal is very rare in Surinam, but it probably owes its not being described by naturalists to its extreme ferocity, which is without example, it being a very uncommon circumstance to take acrabbo-dagoor grison alive.Our old commander and I were now inseparable friends, to whose board being daily invited, he requested me to paint his portrait at full length in his bush equipage, which was to be engraved at the expence of the town of Amsterdam, and where he thought himself now as great a man as the Duke of Cumberland was in England after the battle of Culloden.Having provided a large sheet of paper, and some China ink, I began to delineate this wonderful character in his own hut. While I was now looking full in his face, to examine the features of this first of despots, and laughing aloud, to think how he and I now sat staring at one another, the whole mountain was suddenly shook by a tremendous clap of thunder, while the lightning actually scorched the Colonel’s forehead; and,[44]what is very curious, broke all the eggs under a hen that was sitting in a corner of the room where we were engaged. The hero’s features being re-composed, I proceeded, and the picture was completed in a short time after, to his great satisfaction.About this time the captive rebel, September, who was taken in the year 1773, died of a dropsy. Ever since his capture, when his companion was shot, this poor fellow was obliged to follow Fourgeoud like a dog through all his expeditions; the colonel always expecting that this negro would, one day or other, conduct him to different haunts of the rebels—but he was mistaken. The other negro slaves, suspecting that he had actually given some information, attributed his dreadful death to a punishment from God, for his want of fidelity to his countrymen, to whom they supposed he had sworn to be true.The reader may remember, that I have stated it in the third Chapter, as an invariable article of belief among the African negroes, that whoever breaks his oath shall die miserably in this world, and be punished for ever in that which is to come.By the 2d of June, the Hope in Comewina was become so very unwholesome for want of cleanliness, and being kept free from inundations (as it was much neglected by the newly-arrived troops which were now stationed there), that the commanding officer and most of his men were rendered unfit for duty by sickness, and many of them already buried. To this place Colonel Fourgeoud ordered[45]down Captain Brant to take the command, with a fresh supply of men, and orders to send, not to town but to Magdenberg, all the invalids he should relieve. These orders he gave to the above officer in such a brutal manner, and dispatched him so suddenly, that he had not even time to pack up his cloaths; while Colonel Seyburg deprived him of his only servant, whom he took for himself. This usage so much affected Captain Brant, that he burst into tears, and declared he did not wish longer to survive such galling treatment: he then departed to the Hope, truly with a broken heart.Upon his arrival he was informed that Captain Brough, the late commanding officer, was dead. This poor man had been on hard service in the woods, and being very corpulent, could no longer support the fatigues and excessive heat; he melted down very fast, and a putrid fever at last occasioned his dissolution. Captain Brant was soon followed by Colonel Seyburg to the Hope, with orders to inspect the sick.—In this interval of inaction, I shall describe two fishes, which, though very different in size and colour, equally merit particular attention.The first, and indeed the only one of the kind I ever saw, was caught by an angler. It was about the size of a large anchovy, and, the dorado excepted, was certainly the most beautiful coloured fish I ever saw. Its back and sides were divided in longitudinal bars of fine yellow and a deep blueish black, the belly was silver, the eyes were black and gold, and the fins a glowing transparent vermilion;[46]its shape was not unlike that of a trout, and the whole was covered with small scales; it had one dorsal fin on the middle of its back, with only the vestige of another near the tail, which was forked: under its belly were five fins, two pectoral, two ventral, and one behind the anus; the under jaw projected before the upper jaw, and made its mouth appear reversed; the gills were small. Having enquired concerning this little fish, the only information I could obtain was from a black man, who called itdago-fisee.The Fresh-water Fish called Dago-Fissee.The Fresh-water Fish called Dago-Fissee.The Rock Cod, or Newmara.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.The other is that fine large fish called by the Englishrock-cod, by the Indiansbaro-ketta, andnew-maraby the negroes, which I have several times mentioned, but not described; they are taken plentifully in all the upper parts of the rivers. This fish is the size of a large cod, but covered with scales, and by some compared to a salmon; the back is a brown olive colour, the belly is white, the head is strong, with small eyes, of which the pupil is black and the iris grey; the mouth is very large, and beset with one row of sharp teeth like those of a pike, and, like it, this creature is extremely voracious; the tail is obtuse and dark olive; as also the fins, six in number, one dorsal, two pectoral, two ventral, and one abdominal. This fish is extremely delicious eating, and particularly esteemed by the white inhabitants at Paramaribo, where it is very scarce, though in the upper parts of the rivers they are taken in great abundance. I painted these two fishes very correctly,the dago-fishas[47]large as life, and thenew-maraconsiderably less. The drawings were honoured in Surinam with the epithets of masterly performances.Several officers who kept poultry and hogs at this period lost all the latter in the space of two days, being poisoned probably by eating duncane, or some other fatal weed that was unknown to us. And yet it has been a general observation, as I have said before, that all animals know by instinct to distinguish their food from their poison.Mr. Seyburg now returned from the Hope in triumph, with LieutenantDederlin(one of Colonel Fourgeoud’s officers) guarded by a serjeant and six marines with fixed bayonets, for having been wanting in respect, as that gentleman pleased to call it.On the 7th, the sick officers and soldiers also arrived from the Hope in barges; some of the latter, being too ill to bear removing, died on the passage without medicines, and without assistance. One of our surgeons died also this day in camp, and a number of the privates died daily. This was the consequence of having marched so much in the wet season, which was judged however by our chief to be the only season in which he was likely to root the rebels from the forest of Guiana.[48]1The Dutch edition. Vol. XV.↑

CHAP. XVII.New Instances of unprecedented Barbarity—Occurrences on Mount Magdenberg—Prices of Provisions at Paramaribo—Description of a new Animal—Great Mortality amongst the Troops in Tempatee and Comewina River.

New Instances of unprecedented Barbarity—Occurrences on Mount Magdenberg—Prices of Provisions at Paramaribo—Description of a new Animal—Great Mortality amongst the Troops in Tempatee and Comewina River.

New Instances of unprecedented Barbarity—Occurrences on Mount Magdenberg—Prices of Provisions at Paramaribo—Description of a new Animal—Great Mortality amongst the Troops in Tempatee and Comewina River.

The first visit I now made was to Mr. Kennedy, to bid him farewel; I then paid five hundred florins for the black boy, for which he gave me a receipt, and Quaco was mine. About this time I fell ill with a fever, which however lasted but a few days. Walking out on the 1st of May, I observed a croud of people along the water-side, before the house of Mr. S—lk—r, where appeared the dreadful spectacle of a beautiful young mulatto girl, floating on her back, with her hands tied behind, her throat most shockingly cut, and stabbed in the breast with a knife in more than eight or ten different places. This was reported to have been the work of that infernal fiend, Mrs. S—lk—r, from a motive of jealousy, suspecting that her husband might fall in love with this poor unfortunate female. This monster of a woman had before drowned a negro infant merely for crying, as I have said; nay, she was accused of still greater barbarity, were greater barbarity possible. Arriving one[26]day at her estate to view some negroes newly purchased, her eye chanced to fall on a fine negro girl about fifteen years of age, who could not even speak the language of the country. Observing her to be a remarkably fine figure, with a sweet engaging countenance, her diabolical jealousy instantly prompted her to burn the girl’s cheeks, mouth, and forehead with a red-hot iron; she also cut the tendon Achilles of one of her legs, thus rendering her a monster of deformity, and a miserable object as long as she lived: the poor victim not knowing what she had done to deserve so severe a punishment.Some of the negroes now representing to this lady the many cruelties she daily inflicted, and supplicating her to be of a milder disposition; it was reported that she instantly knocked out the brains of a Quaderoon child, and caused the heads of two young negroes, its relations, to be chopped off, for having endeavoured to prevent her; these heads, when she had left the estate, were tied in silk handkerchiefs, and carried by the surviving relations to Paramaribo, where they were laid at the feet of the governor, with the following speech:“This, your Excellency, is the head of my son, andthisis the head of my brother, struck off by our mistress’s command, for endeavouring to prevent her murders. We know our evidence is nothing in a state of slavery; but, if these bloody heads be a sufficient proof of what we say, we only beg that such pernicious acts may be prevented in time to come; in acknowledgment[27]of which we will all chearfully shed our blood for the preservation and prosperity of our master, our mistress, and the colony.”To this humble and pathetic remonstrance the answer was, that they were all liars, and should, as such, be flogged round the streets of Paramaribo; and this most iniquitous sentence was executed with the greatest severity.Such is the consequence of the law of the colony, that the testimony of a negro is never to be taken. Had any one white person been present at the above carnage, the evidence would have been good, but even then this fury would have escaped by paying a fine of fifty pounds for each murder.—But enough—my soul sinks within me while I dwell so long upon the subject.On the 2d of May, being again perfectly recovered, I took leave of Joanna and her Johnny, for thus he was named after myself, though the ceremony of baptism could not yet be performed; they now continued at my friend De la Mare’s house, whilst I set out once more for Magdenberg in a tent-boat with six oars.On the 3d, I called at Egmond, on my French friend Monsieur Cachelieu, and next day stopt at Oranjebo or Ornamibo, where I was heartily entertained by my old adversary Captain Meyland, with whom I had fought at the Wana Creek. But now this gentleman declared, that he loved me better than any man in the colony. He was just returned from a twelve days cruize through the woods.[28]Among his men I recollected one Cordus, a gentleman’s son from Hamburgh, in which character I had known him, and who had been trepanned into the West India Company’s service by the crimps or silver-coopers as a common soldier. This corps, as I have already said, is composed of all nations, Christians, Gentiles, and even Jews; the latter, I must observe, devoured pork and bacon, without scruple or hesitation, as often as they could find it.On this spot, which had formerly been a plantation, but was now choked with weeds, I met with some herbs which again I cannot pass unnoticed, though I have no other names for them than those given me by the negroes, one only excepted, which is commonly known by the name of theSiliqua hirsulæ, cow-edge, or cow-itch, and called by the black peoplecrassy-weeree-weeree. I can only describe this as a kind of pea, or rather flattish small purple bean, growing in a pod from a slender creeping vine; these pods are covered with a kind of fine elastic spicula, which, when touched, cause an intolerable itching. This hairy coat scraped from the pod, and taken in a tea-spoon with jelly, &c. has been strongly recommended as a vermifuge. A sort of wood was also shewn me here by one of the slaves, which he calledcrassy-wood; this had the same itching effect when touched, but with respect to its general qualities I can say nothing further. The other shrubs that we found were what they calledconsaca-weeree-weeree; these grow[29]with large green leaves, which the negroes use for the cure of a disorder in the feet calledconsaca, when they can procure no limes or lemons, as I have already mentioned: this plant also makes an excellent sallad. Thedea-weeree-weereeis a fine wholesome herb, and very much esteemed; but thecutty-weeree-weereeis amongst the most serious pests in the colony, being a kind of strong edged grass, which is in some places very plentiful; and when a man walks through it will cut his legs like a razor. Herbs in general are in this country known by the name ofweeree-weereeby the negroes.On the 5th, I arrived at Magdenberg. Here Colonel Seyburg, and what he called his officers, seemed to form a distinct corps from those of Fourgeoud. They appeared totally destitute of politeness, and treated each other with the greatest rudeness, while their colonel was most cordially hated by the commander in chief. This state of things contributed to render our situation still more disagreeable: I however had at this time little reason to complain, being for the present, at least, in the good graces of Fourgeoud, which, by a trifling accident, I had nearly again forfeited. Colonel Fourgeoud having purchased of some Indians a couple of most beautiful parrots, called herecocatoos, which were in a cage ready to be shipped off as a present to her royal highness the princess of Orange, I persuaded Monsieur Laurant, his valet-de-chambre, to take one of them out, that I might the better examine it, but the cage-door was no sooner[30]opened, than it gave a shriek, and disappeared in an instant, flying over the Tempatee Creek. The poor valet stood perfectly petrified, and could only pronounce “Voyez-vous?” whilst I took to my heels to avoid the approaching storm, but stopped near enough to observe Fourgeoud’s motions through the underwood. He was no sooner informed of thedreadfulaccident, than he began to storm, swear, and dance like a man totally deprived of reason; he next, by kicking it, killed a poor waddling duck belonging to one of our officers; and at last actually trampled his very wig under his feet, while I stood trembling, and the rest of the spectators were laughing aloud. In about half an hour his passion began gradually to cool, and then he had recourse to a stratagem which actually brought the parrot back into his possession. He placed the remaining captive on the top of its cage, tied by a small cord round its claw; this he set in the open air, putting a ripe banana inside, and leaving the door open, so that any other bird except the prisoner might come at it; the poor captive at last becoming very hungry, made such a noise and shrieking as to be heard by his mate, who returning entered the cage in quest of food, and was once more deprived of his freedom. I now ventured from my concealment, and was acquitted after a gentle reproof; though poor Laurant, as may well be imagined, did not escape without a thundering lecture.The cocatoos are less than the parrots, and of a green colour, except the head and a few feathers in the tail,[31]which are of a pale red. This bird is crowned with apanasheor bunch of feathers, and which generally lie backward, but which it erects at pleasure, when it is irritated or afraid.I have also seen in Surinam a parrot of a deep slate blue colour, though not like those that come from the coast of Guinea, which are rather of a lead-grey. This parrot is said to be very scarce, and only inhabits the deepest recesses of the forest, whence it is brought to Paramaribo by the Indians: this bird is less than the common parrot, but appears very strong and lively. The most common parrots in Guiana are those which Marcgrave callsajurucura. These birds are not so large as those that come from Africa; they are green, with the breast and belly a pale yellow; on the top of the head they have a blue spot, and the feet are grey, with four toes like the rest of the genus, two before and two behind; in the wings they have some feathers of a bright blue, and some a deep crimson; they are more a nuisance than a pleasure in Surinam, where, in prodigious flocks, they perch amongst the coffee, maize, rice, &c. and commit great devastations; and what makes them a still greater nuisance, their shrieking noise is almost insupportable. They always fly in pairs, and very swift, towards the east, as I have observed, meeting the sun in the morning, and toward the west they follow it in the evening: they generally breed in remote places and lay two eggs. I brought down two of these parrots at a shot when I was[32]at Sporksgift estate; these animals not being quite dead, scratched me most terribly with their sharp claws, as they are very strong and tenacious of life. We had them dressed, and they made no bad soup; they may also do in a pye as rooks in England, but dressed in any other way they are tough and disagreeable. These green parrots may be taught to speak, laugh, cry, bark, whistle, or mew, but not near so well as those which come from Africa. It is said, they are often intoxicated by the seeds of the cotton plant. These parrots are also subject to fits, perhaps from their choleric disposition, yet longevity is peculiarly ascribed to them by the Indians: they have strong hooked bills, which assist them in climbing and cracking very hard nuts, and they sometimes bite very severely; they delight in swinging and balancing, hanging from the branches of trees, and in their wild as well as domestic state use one of their claws as a hand to take their food.The Anamoe & Green Parrots of Guiana.TheAnamoe& Green Parrots of Guiana.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.In Surinam there are also some beautiful paroquets, which are a species of parrots, but smaller though not less common; the finest of these is of the size of a very small pigeon; they are of a lively green on the back and tail, but the head and neck are auburn, the feathers on the last being edged with a gold colour, which gives them the appearance of rich scollops or scales: the breast is of a leaden hue, the belly lilac, the wings tipped with orange and azure, and the bill of a very dark blue; the eyes are the colour of fire, and the feet quite black. The other[33]species are perfectly green, with a white bill, and a crimson spot on the head; these make an agreeable chattering, but are not so easily domesticated as the former.I was presented this evening by a soldier with a bird of a quite different kind, which he had actually caught with his hands. This was no other than theannamoe, or Surinam partridge, and a finer creature I never saw: it was of the size of a large duck, extremely fat, and of a dark brown colour on the back and wings, and on the top of the head, the under part of which, the breast, the belly, and the thighs, were of a fine cream-colour, intermixed with orange feathers and very small transverse black bars. The body was exactly the shape of an egg, it had no tail, the neck was long, the bill short, but very sharp-pointed, and a little curved; the eyes were bright, and as black as jet; the legs short, of the colour of vermilion, with three small toes on each foot. This bird, it is said, runs with amazing swiftness, hiding itself amongst the grass and weeds, but flies very heavily on account of its plumpness, which was the cause of its being thus overtaken by the marine. We had it roasted, and indeed nothing could be more delicious. As I took a correct drawing of it, I refer the reader to the annexed plate; where he may also see the parrot of South America, as described above, besides a few curious nests, of which I have given an account in Vol. I. p. 375, but where I had no opportunity of placing them; and which, besides their curiosity, may serve to shew how much the public are imposed[34]upon; when, in Goldsmith’s Animated Nature, Vol. V. p. 253, that author asserts, that they are built on the banana and plantain trees, where he also describes the monkies, and numbers of large serpents as assembling. All this I here think it my duty to pronounce erroneous, as I consider it would be unpardonable in me to let such absurdities pass by unnoticed.On the 9th, an accident had nearly befallen me, which must have caused me much poignant and lasting sorrow. My black boy, washing my cotton hammock in the Tempatee Creek, was suddenly carried to the bottom by the rapidity of the stream, and entangled in its lashings, so that both the one and the other disappeared; the boy, however, luckily extricated himself, though with great difficulty, and to my great joy, though more than half drowned, appeared once more on terra firma; when he had the presence of mind instantly to sink a large fish-hook, with a lead tied to a strong line, some yards below the spot, with which he actually brought up the hammock, to our astonishment, the stream running so swift that it rolled over the ground, and was liable to shift its station every moment.The following day, as Captain Hamel was angling, his tackle got fast at the bottom of the creek, when, in diving to clear it, I struck my ancle with such violence against a rock, that it was several months before it was perfectly recovered.These accidents appeared greatly to entertain Colonel Seyburg, while in return I could not help feeling a degree[35]of indignation at what I considered as unhandsome behaviour; but the most extraordinary circumstance was, that this disgust between Seyburg and myself seemed to gain me the favour of old Fourgeoud, almost as much as if I had destroyed half the rebel negroes in the colony.—During all this time strong patroles cruized between Magdenberg, La Rochelle, and the Jew Savannah; and on the 17th, the commander in chief marched to Patamaca with nearly the half of his troops, leavingmethe command of those that remained on the mountain, for I was not able to accompany him, having by this time a dangerous mortification in my ancle.As I had now the prospect of remaining some time at Magdenberg, I dispatched Quaco to Paramaribo for provisions, and orders to buy me a live goat.Whatever may be thought of Fourgeoud’s manœuvres, in not being able to bring the rebels to a pitched battle, it is very certain that he exerted himself and his troops to the utmost; and that by his constantly traversing the upper parts of the rivers, and scouring the skirts of the colony, he prevented many depredations on the estates, which was undoubtedly a very essential service to the inhabitants, though at a dreadful expence of blood and money.Being now the commander in chief at this post, the two negroes I have formerly mentioned hunting and fishing for me, brought me almost every day one or twopingos, which are the wild boars formerly mentioned, besides a[36]fish callednewmara, some of which are as large as cod, and which I shall afterwards describe. With these dainties I regaled all the officers without exception, while I gave to the hospital all the plantains, bananas, oranges, and lemons, that were occasionally sent me as presents from theJacoband the plantations in Upper Comewina; and never was a deputy-governor more universally beloved. Patroles were also daily sent out to every quarter; and the environs of Magdenberg were so completely scoured, that no invasion from the rebels could be practicable. These precautions were the more necessary, as they hadformerlysurprised and taken by storm different military posts for the sake of ammunition and fire-arms, which are to them of the utmost value, and their seizure of the most pernicious consequence to the colony. Indeed some posts had not only been attacked and plundered of their stores and ammunition, but were actually massacred to a man.Mortified that it was not in my power to take a more active part at present, I availed myself of this leisure, by taking drawings of every animal, reptile, or shrub, that I thought could illustrate my little collection of natural curiosities, which I now began to form some idea of exhibiting to the public, if it should be my fate ever more to return to Europe.One of my negroes, on the 24th of this month, brought me two curious insects; which, though I had no opportunity of drawing, I will endeavour to describe:—[37]The one (which seemed to have some small affinity to the grasshopper kind) was what is here generally calledspaanse-juffer, and is without exception the most singular animal I saw in the colony. The body of this surprising creature, though not thicker than a quill, was no less than seven inches and a half in length, including the tail; it had no wings, and was mounted like a spider on six legs that were near six inches long; it had four antennæ projecting from its head, two being nearly five inches, and two much shorter; the head was small, the eyes large, black, and prominent, and the tail articulated like that of most insects: its colour was a brownish green, and, upon the whole, it seemed a monster. This creature is found near the marshy places, where its long legs appear designed to enable it to wade through the water, but not to swim (according to Mr. Farmine’s opinion) for which its feet are not calculated, as they terminate in two small claws like those of some beetles. The other was a large fly, which Madam Merian, who gives a drawing of it, calls thevielleur, but which I have generally heard called thescare-sleepby the Dutch. These words being extremely applicable, from the noise it makes towards the evening, which nearly resembles the sound of a cymbal, or that of a razor-grinder when at his work. This remarkable fly, whose grinding noise always begins at sun-set or six o’clock, is also called theporte-lanterneorlantern-bearer, from the light it diffuses after that time, and which is much stronger than that of any of the fire-fly species,[38]affording sufficient light for almost any purpose: these flies are above three inches long, and very thick, the body green, with four transparent wings variegated with little marks of all colours, particularly the under wings, on which are two large roundish spots not unlike those on the tail feathers of a peacock. Beneath the head of this insect is seen an inverted straight trump or tube like a needle, with which it is said to suck its food from the flowers. With the same instrument it is here supposed to produce that disagreeable, loud, and grinding noise, which I have already noticed. But, for my own part, I should rather ascribe the noise to the fluttering of its transparent wings, as is supposed to be the case with some flies in England: a large proboscis or snout striped red and yellow, and shaped like the first joint of a man’s finger, projects from the head, and makes one-third of the whole animal; this protuberance is vulgarly called its lantern, and emits that surprising light whence it takes its second name. I shall only add, that it is a very slow creeper, but flies with amazing velocity.On the 26th, my boy Quaco arrived from Paramaribo with the following list of provisions, which he had purchased for me. In order to give the curious a just idea of the prices in Surinam when things are cheapest, I will here insert some articles as charged to my account, with the prices in English money, calculating at the rate of eleven florins to one pound sterling.[39]These articles were as follow:2 bacon hams, 31 lbs. at 15d.per lb.1 small cag of butter, 10 lbs. at 1s.10d.per lb.1 small ditto of flour, 100 lbs. at 4d.per lb.1 Dutch cheese, 11 lbs. at 10d.per lb.2 quart bottles of vinegar, at 1s.10d.per quart.4 lbs. spermaceti candles, at 3s.8d.per lb.2 lbs. dried sausages, at 2s.9d.per lb.The prices of wine and spirits I have already mentioned in the twelfth chapter.He also brought me a goat with its kid to supply me with milk, for which I paid twenty florins, or near two pounds sterling: these prices are at least double, and some treble, to what they used to be in England.Goats are very common in all Guiana; they are not large, but very beautiful creatures, with small horns, and very short smooth hair, mostly of a dun-colour; they are as nimble as stags, and are kept on all the estates, where they breed fast and give much milk; they are also delicious eating when killed young.I had now the disagreeable news, that all my letters for Europe were sunk on board Captain Visser, who was wrecked in the Texel roads among the ice. I was also sincerely grieved to hear that my good friend Mr. Kennedy, with his lady and family, had taken their final farewel of the colony, and sailed for Holland. This gentleman, Mr. Gordon, and a Mr. Gourluy, were the only Scotch; a Mr. Buckland, a Mr. Townsend, and Mr.[40]Halfhide, the only English; and Captain Macneal, the only native of Ireland, residing in this colony.On the 28th, Colonel Fourgeoud returned with his command from Patamaca, much emaciated himself, and his men nearly exhausted by fatigue. He had left a great number behind him in the hospital at La Rochelle, but heard no account whatever of the rebels, although he varied his route every time. It was therefore pretty evident that they were routed, if latterly there had been any settled at all: but where to find them in this unbounded forest was the question. He however never despaired, and seemed as eager to discover the haunts of the rebels as he had been formerly in springing a covey of partridges, or discovering a nest of black badgers.On the 29th, Mr. Matthew, one of our officers who had been out shooting, presented me with theTaibo, an animal that is here called the wood-rat. This creature was the size of a young hare, and of a reddish brown colour, being remarkably thin, with long limbs, a roundish head, and a tail not unlike that of a sucking-pig; the claws were exactly like those of a common rat, but larger in proportion, and so was the head, mouth, teeth, and whiskers; the ears were short and naked, the eyes black and prominent, with a white iris; it is said to run very fast: we had it dressed, and ate it, having been told that it was very good, and so we found it, sweet, tender, and even fat, notwithstanding its lank appearance. This[41]creature, on account of its size, reminds me of another animal, known in this country by the name ofcrabbo-dago, or the crabbed dog, for its matchless ferocity, as it kills and devours every thing that comes in its way, without exception, whether quadrupeds, fowls, or reptiles; and never seeming to be glutted with blood, it murders, even without being hungry, all it can vanquish, which, on account of its courage, activity, and strength, are not a few, though it be not larger than a common cat. From what I have said, I should apprehend it much resembles theichneumon, but still more that animal mentioned by Mr. Allemand, in the Count de Buffon; (see Vol. IV. p. 266.) which he there calls thegrisonor grey-weazel, though this that I mention was rather larger; and he says, that notwithstanding its being a native of Surinam, none of the people coming from that country could give any account of it. If this be the same animal, (as I doubt not, and have therefore given it the name of thecrabbo-dagoor grison) I am happy to have had it in my power to give the reader some account of it. I shall now literally quote the Count’s own words, as extracted from Mr. Allemand, which will afford the best proof of its being the same animal, when compared with the annexed plate, where both the wood-rat, and thecrabbo-dagoor grison, are represented; and had I seen this account during the Count’s life, I would have most assuredly taken the liberty of informing him by a[42]letter, of what I now, though in this unconnected method, relate to the public.“I received,” says Mr. Allemand, “the small animal represented in the plate1. In the catalogue it was called the grey-weazel, from which circumstance I derived the name grison, because I knew not how it is denominated in the country where it is found. The whole upper part of its body is covered with deep brown hair, having white points, which gives it a greyish brown colour: under the head and neck is a bright grey, because the hairs are very short, and the white part is of equal length with the brown. The muzzle, the under part of the body, and legs, are black, which singularly contrasts with the grey colour on the head and neck.“The head of this animal is very large in proportion to its body, its ears almost form a semicircle, its eyes are large, and its mouth is armed with strong grinders and sharp tusks: it has six cutting teeth in each jaw, four of them hardly rising above the gums. Both the fore and hind feet have five toes, with yellowish claws; the tail is pretty long, and terminates in a point.The Wood-Rat of Surinam.Barlow sculp.The Wood-Rat of Surinam.The Crabbodago, or Grisson.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.“The grison has a greater resemblance to the weazel, than to any other animal, but it belongs not to the weazel tribe; for its body is not long enough, and its[43]legs are too long. It is not mentioned by any author or traveller. I shewed it to several persons who had lived long in Surinam, but none of them knew it; hence it either must be a rare animal, even in its native country, or it must live in deserts and unfrequented places: the length of its body is about seven inches; I have not been able to learn any thing of its history.”To this I shall only add my surprize.—It is true that this animal is very rare in Surinam, but it probably owes its not being described by naturalists to its extreme ferocity, which is without example, it being a very uncommon circumstance to take acrabbo-dagoor grison alive.Our old commander and I were now inseparable friends, to whose board being daily invited, he requested me to paint his portrait at full length in his bush equipage, which was to be engraved at the expence of the town of Amsterdam, and where he thought himself now as great a man as the Duke of Cumberland was in England after the battle of Culloden.Having provided a large sheet of paper, and some China ink, I began to delineate this wonderful character in his own hut. While I was now looking full in his face, to examine the features of this first of despots, and laughing aloud, to think how he and I now sat staring at one another, the whole mountain was suddenly shook by a tremendous clap of thunder, while the lightning actually scorched the Colonel’s forehead; and,[44]what is very curious, broke all the eggs under a hen that was sitting in a corner of the room where we were engaged. The hero’s features being re-composed, I proceeded, and the picture was completed in a short time after, to his great satisfaction.About this time the captive rebel, September, who was taken in the year 1773, died of a dropsy. Ever since his capture, when his companion was shot, this poor fellow was obliged to follow Fourgeoud like a dog through all his expeditions; the colonel always expecting that this negro would, one day or other, conduct him to different haunts of the rebels—but he was mistaken. The other negro slaves, suspecting that he had actually given some information, attributed his dreadful death to a punishment from God, for his want of fidelity to his countrymen, to whom they supposed he had sworn to be true.The reader may remember, that I have stated it in the third Chapter, as an invariable article of belief among the African negroes, that whoever breaks his oath shall die miserably in this world, and be punished for ever in that which is to come.By the 2d of June, the Hope in Comewina was become so very unwholesome for want of cleanliness, and being kept free from inundations (as it was much neglected by the newly-arrived troops which were now stationed there), that the commanding officer and most of his men were rendered unfit for duty by sickness, and many of them already buried. To this place Colonel Fourgeoud ordered[45]down Captain Brant to take the command, with a fresh supply of men, and orders to send, not to town but to Magdenberg, all the invalids he should relieve. These orders he gave to the above officer in such a brutal manner, and dispatched him so suddenly, that he had not even time to pack up his cloaths; while Colonel Seyburg deprived him of his only servant, whom he took for himself. This usage so much affected Captain Brant, that he burst into tears, and declared he did not wish longer to survive such galling treatment: he then departed to the Hope, truly with a broken heart.Upon his arrival he was informed that Captain Brough, the late commanding officer, was dead. This poor man had been on hard service in the woods, and being very corpulent, could no longer support the fatigues and excessive heat; he melted down very fast, and a putrid fever at last occasioned his dissolution. Captain Brant was soon followed by Colonel Seyburg to the Hope, with orders to inspect the sick.—In this interval of inaction, I shall describe two fishes, which, though very different in size and colour, equally merit particular attention.The first, and indeed the only one of the kind I ever saw, was caught by an angler. It was about the size of a large anchovy, and, the dorado excepted, was certainly the most beautiful coloured fish I ever saw. Its back and sides were divided in longitudinal bars of fine yellow and a deep blueish black, the belly was silver, the eyes were black and gold, and the fins a glowing transparent vermilion;[46]its shape was not unlike that of a trout, and the whole was covered with small scales; it had one dorsal fin on the middle of its back, with only the vestige of another near the tail, which was forked: under its belly were five fins, two pectoral, two ventral, and one behind the anus; the under jaw projected before the upper jaw, and made its mouth appear reversed; the gills were small. Having enquired concerning this little fish, the only information I could obtain was from a black man, who called itdago-fisee.The Fresh-water Fish called Dago-Fissee.The Fresh-water Fish called Dago-Fissee.The Rock Cod, or Newmara.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.The other is that fine large fish called by the Englishrock-cod, by the Indiansbaro-ketta, andnew-maraby the negroes, which I have several times mentioned, but not described; they are taken plentifully in all the upper parts of the rivers. This fish is the size of a large cod, but covered with scales, and by some compared to a salmon; the back is a brown olive colour, the belly is white, the head is strong, with small eyes, of which the pupil is black and the iris grey; the mouth is very large, and beset with one row of sharp teeth like those of a pike, and, like it, this creature is extremely voracious; the tail is obtuse and dark olive; as also the fins, six in number, one dorsal, two pectoral, two ventral, and one abdominal. This fish is extremely delicious eating, and particularly esteemed by the white inhabitants at Paramaribo, where it is very scarce, though in the upper parts of the rivers they are taken in great abundance. I painted these two fishes very correctly,the dago-fishas[47]large as life, and thenew-maraconsiderably less. The drawings were honoured in Surinam with the epithets of masterly performances.Several officers who kept poultry and hogs at this period lost all the latter in the space of two days, being poisoned probably by eating duncane, or some other fatal weed that was unknown to us. And yet it has been a general observation, as I have said before, that all animals know by instinct to distinguish their food from their poison.Mr. Seyburg now returned from the Hope in triumph, with LieutenantDederlin(one of Colonel Fourgeoud’s officers) guarded by a serjeant and six marines with fixed bayonets, for having been wanting in respect, as that gentleman pleased to call it.On the 7th, the sick officers and soldiers also arrived from the Hope in barges; some of the latter, being too ill to bear removing, died on the passage without medicines, and without assistance. One of our surgeons died also this day in camp, and a number of the privates died daily. This was the consequence of having marched so much in the wet season, which was judged however by our chief to be the only season in which he was likely to root the rebels from the forest of Guiana.[48]

The first visit I now made was to Mr. Kennedy, to bid him farewel; I then paid five hundred florins for the black boy, for which he gave me a receipt, and Quaco was mine. About this time I fell ill with a fever, which however lasted but a few days. Walking out on the 1st of May, I observed a croud of people along the water-side, before the house of Mr. S—lk—r, where appeared the dreadful spectacle of a beautiful young mulatto girl, floating on her back, with her hands tied behind, her throat most shockingly cut, and stabbed in the breast with a knife in more than eight or ten different places. This was reported to have been the work of that infernal fiend, Mrs. S—lk—r, from a motive of jealousy, suspecting that her husband might fall in love with this poor unfortunate female. This monster of a woman had before drowned a negro infant merely for crying, as I have said; nay, she was accused of still greater barbarity, were greater barbarity possible. Arriving one[26]day at her estate to view some negroes newly purchased, her eye chanced to fall on a fine negro girl about fifteen years of age, who could not even speak the language of the country. Observing her to be a remarkably fine figure, with a sweet engaging countenance, her diabolical jealousy instantly prompted her to burn the girl’s cheeks, mouth, and forehead with a red-hot iron; she also cut the tendon Achilles of one of her legs, thus rendering her a monster of deformity, and a miserable object as long as she lived: the poor victim not knowing what she had done to deserve so severe a punishment.

Some of the negroes now representing to this lady the many cruelties she daily inflicted, and supplicating her to be of a milder disposition; it was reported that she instantly knocked out the brains of a Quaderoon child, and caused the heads of two young negroes, its relations, to be chopped off, for having endeavoured to prevent her; these heads, when she had left the estate, were tied in silk handkerchiefs, and carried by the surviving relations to Paramaribo, where they were laid at the feet of the governor, with the following speech:

“This, your Excellency, is the head of my son, andthisis the head of my brother, struck off by our mistress’s command, for endeavouring to prevent her murders. We know our evidence is nothing in a state of slavery; but, if these bloody heads be a sufficient proof of what we say, we only beg that such pernicious acts may be prevented in time to come; in acknowledgment[27]of which we will all chearfully shed our blood for the preservation and prosperity of our master, our mistress, and the colony.”

To this humble and pathetic remonstrance the answer was, that they were all liars, and should, as such, be flogged round the streets of Paramaribo; and this most iniquitous sentence was executed with the greatest severity.

Such is the consequence of the law of the colony, that the testimony of a negro is never to be taken. Had any one white person been present at the above carnage, the evidence would have been good, but even then this fury would have escaped by paying a fine of fifty pounds for each murder.—But enough—my soul sinks within me while I dwell so long upon the subject.

On the 2d of May, being again perfectly recovered, I took leave of Joanna and her Johnny, for thus he was named after myself, though the ceremony of baptism could not yet be performed; they now continued at my friend De la Mare’s house, whilst I set out once more for Magdenberg in a tent-boat with six oars.

On the 3d, I called at Egmond, on my French friend Monsieur Cachelieu, and next day stopt at Oranjebo or Ornamibo, where I was heartily entertained by my old adversary Captain Meyland, with whom I had fought at the Wana Creek. But now this gentleman declared, that he loved me better than any man in the colony. He was just returned from a twelve days cruize through the woods.[28]

Among his men I recollected one Cordus, a gentleman’s son from Hamburgh, in which character I had known him, and who had been trepanned into the West India Company’s service by the crimps or silver-coopers as a common soldier. This corps, as I have already said, is composed of all nations, Christians, Gentiles, and even Jews; the latter, I must observe, devoured pork and bacon, without scruple or hesitation, as often as they could find it.

On this spot, which had formerly been a plantation, but was now choked with weeds, I met with some herbs which again I cannot pass unnoticed, though I have no other names for them than those given me by the negroes, one only excepted, which is commonly known by the name of theSiliqua hirsulæ, cow-edge, or cow-itch, and called by the black peoplecrassy-weeree-weeree. I can only describe this as a kind of pea, or rather flattish small purple bean, growing in a pod from a slender creeping vine; these pods are covered with a kind of fine elastic spicula, which, when touched, cause an intolerable itching. This hairy coat scraped from the pod, and taken in a tea-spoon with jelly, &c. has been strongly recommended as a vermifuge. A sort of wood was also shewn me here by one of the slaves, which he calledcrassy-wood; this had the same itching effect when touched, but with respect to its general qualities I can say nothing further. The other shrubs that we found were what they calledconsaca-weeree-weeree; these grow[29]with large green leaves, which the negroes use for the cure of a disorder in the feet calledconsaca, when they can procure no limes or lemons, as I have already mentioned: this plant also makes an excellent sallad. Thedea-weeree-weereeis a fine wholesome herb, and very much esteemed; but thecutty-weeree-weereeis amongst the most serious pests in the colony, being a kind of strong edged grass, which is in some places very plentiful; and when a man walks through it will cut his legs like a razor. Herbs in general are in this country known by the name ofweeree-weereeby the negroes.

On the 5th, I arrived at Magdenberg. Here Colonel Seyburg, and what he called his officers, seemed to form a distinct corps from those of Fourgeoud. They appeared totally destitute of politeness, and treated each other with the greatest rudeness, while their colonel was most cordially hated by the commander in chief. This state of things contributed to render our situation still more disagreeable: I however had at this time little reason to complain, being for the present, at least, in the good graces of Fourgeoud, which, by a trifling accident, I had nearly again forfeited. Colonel Fourgeoud having purchased of some Indians a couple of most beautiful parrots, called herecocatoos, which were in a cage ready to be shipped off as a present to her royal highness the princess of Orange, I persuaded Monsieur Laurant, his valet-de-chambre, to take one of them out, that I might the better examine it, but the cage-door was no sooner[30]opened, than it gave a shriek, and disappeared in an instant, flying over the Tempatee Creek. The poor valet stood perfectly petrified, and could only pronounce “Voyez-vous?” whilst I took to my heels to avoid the approaching storm, but stopped near enough to observe Fourgeoud’s motions through the underwood. He was no sooner informed of thedreadfulaccident, than he began to storm, swear, and dance like a man totally deprived of reason; he next, by kicking it, killed a poor waddling duck belonging to one of our officers; and at last actually trampled his very wig under his feet, while I stood trembling, and the rest of the spectators were laughing aloud. In about half an hour his passion began gradually to cool, and then he had recourse to a stratagem which actually brought the parrot back into his possession. He placed the remaining captive on the top of its cage, tied by a small cord round its claw; this he set in the open air, putting a ripe banana inside, and leaving the door open, so that any other bird except the prisoner might come at it; the poor captive at last becoming very hungry, made such a noise and shrieking as to be heard by his mate, who returning entered the cage in quest of food, and was once more deprived of his freedom. I now ventured from my concealment, and was acquitted after a gentle reproof; though poor Laurant, as may well be imagined, did not escape without a thundering lecture.

The cocatoos are less than the parrots, and of a green colour, except the head and a few feathers in the tail,[31]which are of a pale red. This bird is crowned with apanasheor bunch of feathers, and which generally lie backward, but which it erects at pleasure, when it is irritated or afraid.

I have also seen in Surinam a parrot of a deep slate blue colour, though not like those that come from the coast of Guinea, which are rather of a lead-grey. This parrot is said to be very scarce, and only inhabits the deepest recesses of the forest, whence it is brought to Paramaribo by the Indians: this bird is less than the common parrot, but appears very strong and lively. The most common parrots in Guiana are those which Marcgrave callsajurucura. These birds are not so large as those that come from Africa; they are green, with the breast and belly a pale yellow; on the top of the head they have a blue spot, and the feet are grey, with four toes like the rest of the genus, two before and two behind; in the wings they have some feathers of a bright blue, and some a deep crimson; they are more a nuisance than a pleasure in Surinam, where, in prodigious flocks, they perch amongst the coffee, maize, rice, &c. and commit great devastations; and what makes them a still greater nuisance, their shrieking noise is almost insupportable. They always fly in pairs, and very swift, towards the east, as I have observed, meeting the sun in the morning, and toward the west they follow it in the evening: they generally breed in remote places and lay two eggs. I brought down two of these parrots at a shot when I was[32]at Sporksgift estate; these animals not being quite dead, scratched me most terribly with their sharp claws, as they are very strong and tenacious of life. We had them dressed, and they made no bad soup; they may also do in a pye as rooks in England, but dressed in any other way they are tough and disagreeable. These green parrots may be taught to speak, laugh, cry, bark, whistle, or mew, but not near so well as those which come from Africa. It is said, they are often intoxicated by the seeds of the cotton plant. These parrots are also subject to fits, perhaps from their choleric disposition, yet longevity is peculiarly ascribed to them by the Indians: they have strong hooked bills, which assist them in climbing and cracking very hard nuts, and they sometimes bite very severely; they delight in swinging and balancing, hanging from the branches of trees, and in their wild as well as domestic state use one of their claws as a hand to take their food.

The Anamoe & Green Parrots of Guiana.TheAnamoe& Green Parrots of Guiana.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.

TheAnamoe& Green Parrots of Guiana.

London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.

In Surinam there are also some beautiful paroquets, which are a species of parrots, but smaller though not less common; the finest of these is of the size of a very small pigeon; they are of a lively green on the back and tail, but the head and neck are auburn, the feathers on the last being edged with a gold colour, which gives them the appearance of rich scollops or scales: the breast is of a leaden hue, the belly lilac, the wings tipped with orange and azure, and the bill of a very dark blue; the eyes are the colour of fire, and the feet quite black. The other[33]species are perfectly green, with a white bill, and a crimson spot on the head; these make an agreeable chattering, but are not so easily domesticated as the former.

I was presented this evening by a soldier with a bird of a quite different kind, which he had actually caught with his hands. This was no other than theannamoe, or Surinam partridge, and a finer creature I never saw: it was of the size of a large duck, extremely fat, and of a dark brown colour on the back and wings, and on the top of the head, the under part of which, the breast, the belly, and the thighs, were of a fine cream-colour, intermixed with orange feathers and very small transverse black bars. The body was exactly the shape of an egg, it had no tail, the neck was long, the bill short, but very sharp-pointed, and a little curved; the eyes were bright, and as black as jet; the legs short, of the colour of vermilion, with three small toes on each foot. This bird, it is said, runs with amazing swiftness, hiding itself amongst the grass and weeds, but flies very heavily on account of its plumpness, which was the cause of its being thus overtaken by the marine. We had it roasted, and indeed nothing could be more delicious. As I took a correct drawing of it, I refer the reader to the annexed plate; where he may also see the parrot of South America, as described above, besides a few curious nests, of which I have given an account in Vol. I. p. 375, but where I had no opportunity of placing them; and which, besides their curiosity, may serve to shew how much the public are imposed[34]upon; when, in Goldsmith’s Animated Nature, Vol. V. p. 253, that author asserts, that they are built on the banana and plantain trees, where he also describes the monkies, and numbers of large serpents as assembling. All this I here think it my duty to pronounce erroneous, as I consider it would be unpardonable in me to let such absurdities pass by unnoticed.

On the 9th, an accident had nearly befallen me, which must have caused me much poignant and lasting sorrow. My black boy, washing my cotton hammock in the Tempatee Creek, was suddenly carried to the bottom by the rapidity of the stream, and entangled in its lashings, so that both the one and the other disappeared; the boy, however, luckily extricated himself, though with great difficulty, and to my great joy, though more than half drowned, appeared once more on terra firma; when he had the presence of mind instantly to sink a large fish-hook, with a lead tied to a strong line, some yards below the spot, with which he actually brought up the hammock, to our astonishment, the stream running so swift that it rolled over the ground, and was liable to shift its station every moment.

The following day, as Captain Hamel was angling, his tackle got fast at the bottom of the creek, when, in diving to clear it, I struck my ancle with such violence against a rock, that it was several months before it was perfectly recovered.

These accidents appeared greatly to entertain Colonel Seyburg, while in return I could not help feeling a degree[35]of indignation at what I considered as unhandsome behaviour; but the most extraordinary circumstance was, that this disgust between Seyburg and myself seemed to gain me the favour of old Fourgeoud, almost as much as if I had destroyed half the rebel negroes in the colony.—During all this time strong patroles cruized between Magdenberg, La Rochelle, and the Jew Savannah; and on the 17th, the commander in chief marched to Patamaca with nearly the half of his troops, leavingmethe command of those that remained on the mountain, for I was not able to accompany him, having by this time a dangerous mortification in my ancle.

As I had now the prospect of remaining some time at Magdenberg, I dispatched Quaco to Paramaribo for provisions, and orders to buy me a live goat.

Whatever may be thought of Fourgeoud’s manœuvres, in not being able to bring the rebels to a pitched battle, it is very certain that he exerted himself and his troops to the utmost; and that by his constantly traversing the upper parts of the rivers, and scouring the skirts of the colony, he prevented many depredations on the estates, which was undoubtedly a very essential service to the inhabitants, though at a dreadful expence of blood and money.

Being now the commander in chief at this post, the two negroes I have formerly mentioned hunting and fishing for me, brought me almost every day one or twopingos, which are the wild boars formerly mentioned, besides a[36]fish callednewmara, some of which are as large as cod, and which I shall afterwards describe. With these dainties I regaled all the officers without exception, while I gave to the hospital all the plantains, bananas, oranges, and lemons, that were occasionally sent me as presents from theJacoband the plantations in Upper Comewina; and never was a deputy-governor more universally beloved. Patroles were also daily sent out to every quarter; and the environs of Magdenberg were so completely scoured, that no invasion from the rebels could be practicable. These precautions were the more necessary, as they hadformerlysurprised and taken by storm different military posts for the sake of ammunition and fire-arms, which are to them of the utmost value, and their seizure of the most pernicious consequence to the colony. Indeed some posts had not only been attacked and plundered of their stores and ammunition, but were actually massacred to a man.

Mortified that it was not in my power to take a more active part at present, I availed myself of this leisure, by taking drawings of every animal, reptile, or shrub, that I thought could illustrate my little collection of natural curiosities, which I now began to form some idea of exhibiting to the public, if it should be my fate ever more to return to Europe.

One of my negroes, on the 24th of this month, brought me two curious insects; which, though I had no opportunity of drawing, I will endeavour to describe:—[37]The one (which seemed to have some small affinity to the grasshopper kind) was what is here generally calledspaanse-juffer, and is without exception the most singular animal I saw in the colony. The body of this surprising creature, though not thicker than a quill, was no less than seven inches and a half in length, including the tail; it had no wings, and was mounted like a spider on six legs that were near six inches long; it had four antennæ projecting from its head, two being nearly five inches, and two much shorter; the head was small, the eyes large, black, and prominent, and the tail articulated like that of most insects: its colour was a brownish green, and, upon the whole, it seemed a monster. This creature is found near the marshy places, where its long legs appear designed to enable it to wade through the water, but not to swim (according to Mr. Farmine’s opinion) for which its feet are not calculated, as they terminate in two small claws like those of some beetles. The other was a large fly, which Madam Merian, who gives a drawing of it, calls thevielleur, but which I have generally heard called thescare-sleepby the Dutch. These words being extremely applicable, from the noise it makes towards the evening, which nearly resembles the sound of a cymbal, or that of a razor-grinder when at his work. This remarkable fly, whose grinding noise always begins at sun-set or six o’clock, is also called theporte-lanterneorlantern-bearer, from the light it diffuses after that time, and which is much stronger than that of any of the fire-fly species,[38]affording sufficient light for almost any purpose: these flies are above three inches long, and very thick, the body green, with four transparent wings variegated with little marks of all colours, particularly the under wings, on which are two large roundish spots not unlike those on the tail feathers of a peacock. Beneath the head of this insect is seen an inverted straight trump or tube like a needle, with which it is said to suck its food from the flowers. With the same instrument it is here supposed to produce that disagreeable, loud, and grinding noise, which I have already noticed. But, for my own part, I should rather ascribe the noise to the fluttering of its transparent wings, as is supposed to be the case with some flies in England: a large proboscis or snout striped red and yellow, and shaped like the first joint of a man’s finger, projects from the head, and makes one-third of the whole animal; this protuberance is vulgarly called its lantern, and emits that surprising light whence it takes its second name. I shall only add, that it is a very slow creeper, but flies with amazing velocity.

On the 26th, my boy Quaco arrived from Paramaribo with the following list of provisions, which he had purchased for me. In order to give the curious a just idea of the prices in Surinam when things are cheapest, I will here insert some articles as charged to my account, with the prices in English money, calculating at the rate of eleven florins to one pound sterling.[39]

These articles were as follow:

The prices of wine and spirits I have already mentioned in the twelfth chapter.

He also brought me a goat with its kid to supply me with milk, for which I paid twenty florins, or near two pounds sterling: these prices are at least double, and some treble, to what they used to be in England.

Goats are very common in all Guiana; they are not large, but very beautiful creatures, with small horns, and very short smooth hair, mostly of a dun-colour; they are as nimble as stags, and are kept on all the estates, where they breed fast and give much milk; they are also delicious eating when killed young.

I had now the disagreeable news, that all my letters for Europe were sunk on board Captain Visser, who was wrecked in the Texel roads among the ice. I was also sincerely grieved to hear that my good friend Mr. Kennedy, with his lady and family, had taken their final farewel of the colony, and sailed for Holland. This gentleman, Mr. Gordon, and a Mr. Gourluy, were the only Scotch; a Mr. Buckland, a Mr. Townsend, and Mr.[40]Halfhide, the only English; and Captain Macneal, the only native of Ireland, residing in this colony.

On the 28th, Colonel Fourgeoud returned with his command from Patamaca, much emaciated himself, and his men nearly exhausted by fatigue. He had left a great number behind him in the hospital at La Rochelle, but heard no account whatever of the rebels, although he varied his route every time. It was therefore pretty evident that they were routed, if latterly there had been any settled at all: but where to find them in this unbounded forest was the question. He however never despaired, and seemed as eager to discover the haunts of the rebels as he had been formerly in springing a covey of partridges, or discovering a nest of black badgers.

On the 29th, Mr. Matthew, one of our officers who had been out shooting, presented me with theTaibo, an animal that is here called the wood-rat. This creature was the size of a young hare, and of a reddish brown colour, being remarkably thin, with long limbs, a roundish head, and a tail not unlike that of a sucking-pig; the claws were exactly like those of a common rat, but larger in proportion, and so was the head, mouth, teeth, and whiskers; the ears were short and naked, the eyes black and prominent, with a white iris; it is said to run very fast: we had it dressed, and ate it, having been told that it was very good, and so we found it, sweet, tender, and even fat, notwithstanding its lank appearance. This[41]creature, on account of its size, reminds me of another animal, known in this country by the name ofcrabbo-dago, or the crabbed dog, for its matchless ferocity, as it kills and devours every thing that comes in its way, without exception, whether quadrupeds, fowls, or reptiles; and never seeming to be glutted with blood, it murders, even without being hungry, all it can vanquish, which, on account of its courage, activity, and strength, are not a few, though it be not larger than a common cat. From what I have said, I should apprehend it much resembles theichneumon, but still more that animal mentioned by Mr. Allemand, in the Count de Buffon; (see Vol. IV. p. 266.) which he there calls thegrisonor grey-weazel, though this that I mention was rather larger; and he says, that notwithstanding its being a native of Surinam, none of the people coming from that country could give any account of it. If this be the same animal, (as I doubt not, and have therefore given it the name of thecrabbo-dagoor grison) I am happy to have had it in my power to give the reader some account of it. I shall now literally quote the Count’s own words, as extracted from Mr. Allemand, which will afford the best proof of its being the same animal, when compared with the annexed plate, where both the wood-rat, and thecrabbo-dagoor grison, are represented; and had I seen this account during the Count’s life, I would have most assuredly taken the liberty of informing him by a[42]letter, of what I now, though in this unconnected method, relate to the public.

“I received,” says Mr. Allemand, “the small animal represented in the plate1. In the catalogue it was called the grey-weazel, from which circumstance I derived the name grison, because I knew not how it is denominated in the country where it is found. The whole upper part of its body is covered with deep brown hair, having white points, which gives it a greyish brown colour: under the head and neck is a bright grey, because the hairs are very short, and the white part is of equal length with the brown. The muzzle, the under part of the body, and legs, are black, which singularly contrasts with the grey colour on the head and neck.

“The head of this animal is very large in proportion to its body, its ears almost form a semicircle, its eyes are large, and its mouth is armed with strong grinders and sharp tusks: it has six cutting teeth in each jaw, four of them hardly rising above the gums. Both the fore and hind feet have five toes, with yellowish claws; the tail is pretty long, and terminates in a point.

The Wood-Rat of Surinam.Barlow sculp.The Wood-Rat of Surinam.The Crabbodago, or Grisson.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.

Barlow sculp.

The Wood-Rat of Surinam.

The Crabbodago, or Grisson.

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

“The grison has a greater resemblance to the weazel, than to any other animal, but it belongs not to the weazel tribe; for its body is not long enough, and its[43]legs are too long. It is not mentioned by any author or traveller. I shewed it to several persons who had lived long in Surinam, but none of them knew it; hence it either must be a rare animal, even in its native country, or it must live in deserts and unfrequented places: the length of its body is about seven inches; I have not been able to learn any thing of its history.”

To this I shall only add my surprize.—It is true that this animal is very rare in Surinam, but it probably owes its not being described by naturalists to its extreme ferocity, which is without example, it being a very uncommon circumstance to take acrabbo-dagoor grison alive.

Our old commander and I were now inseparable friends, to whose board being daily invited, he requested me to paint his portrait at full length in his bush equipage, which was to be engraved at the expence of the town of Amsterdam, and where he thought himself now as great a man as the Duke of Cumberland was in England after the battle of Culloden.

Having provided a large sheet of paper, and some China ink, I began to delineate this wonderful character in his own hut. While I was now looking full in his face, to examine the features of this first of despots, and laughing aloud, to think how he and I now sat staring at one another, the whole mountain was suddenly shook by a tremendous clap of thunder, while the lightning actually scorched the Colonel’s forehead; and,[44]what is very curious, broke all the eggs under a hen that was sitting in a corner of the room where we were engaged. The hero’s features being re-composed, I proceeded, and the picture was completed in a short time after, to his great satisfaction.

About this time the captive rebel, September, who was taken in the year 1773, died of a dropsy. Ever since his capture, when his companion was shot, this poor fellow was obliged to follow Fourgeoud like a dog through all his expeditions; the colonel always expecting that this negro would, one day or other, conduct him to different haunts of the rebels—but he was mistaken. The other negro slaves, suspecting that he had actually given some information, attributed his dreadful death to a punishment from God, for his want of fidelity to his countrymen, to whom they supposed he had sworn to be true.

The reader may remember, that I have stated it in the third Chapter, as an invariable article of belief among the African negroes, that whoever breaks his oath shall die miserably in this world, and be punished for ever in that which is to come.

By the 2d of June, the Hope in Comewina was become so very unwholesome for want of cleanliness, and being kept free from inundations (as it was much neglected by the newly-arrived troops which were now stationed there), that the commanding officer and most of his men were rendered unfit for duty by sickness, and many of them already buried. To this place Colonel Fourgeoud ordered[45]down Captain Brant to take the command, with a fresh supply of men, and orders to send, not to town but to Magdenberg, all the invalids he should relieve. These orders he gave to the above officer in such a brutal manner, and dispatched him so suddenly, that he had not even time to pack up his cloaths; while Colonel Seyburg deprived him of his only servant, whom he took for himself. This usage so much affected Captain Brant, that he burst into tears, and declared he did not wish longer to survive such galling treatment: he then departed to the Hope, truly with a broken heart.

Upon his arrival he was informed that Captain Brough, the late commanding officer, was dead. This poor man had been on hard service in the woods, and being very corpulent, could no longer support the fatigues and excessive heat; he melted down very fast, and a putrid fever at last occasioned his dissolution. Captain Brant was soon followed by Colonel Seyburg to the Hope, with orders to inspect the sick.—In this interval of inaction, I shall describe two fishes, which, though very different in size and colour, equally merit particular attention.

The first, and indeed the only one of the kind I ever saw, was caught by an angler. It was about the size of a large anchovy, and, the dorado excepted, was certainly the most beautiful coloured fish I ever saw. Its back and sides were divided in longitudinal bars of fine yellow and a deep blueish black, the belly was silver, the eyes were black and gold, and the fins a glowing transparent vermilion;[46]its shape was not unlike that of a trout, and the whole was covered with small scales; it had one dorsal fin on the middle of its back, with only the vestige of another near the tail, which was forked: under its belly were five fins, two pectoral, two ventral, and one behind the anus; the under jaw projected before the upper jaw, and made its mouth appear reversed; the gills were small. Having enquired concerning this little fish, the only information I could obtain was from a black man, who called itdago-fisee.

The Fresh-water Fish called Dago-Fissee.The Fresh-water Fish called Dago-Fissee.The Rock Cod, or Newmara.London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.

The Fresh-water Fish called Dago-Fissee.

The Rock Cod, or Newmara.

London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Pauls Church Yard.

The other is that fine large fish called by the Englishrock-cod, by the Indiansbaro-ketta, andnew-maraby the negroes, which I have several times mentioned, but not described; they are taken plentifully in all the upper parts of the rivers. This fish is the size of a large cod, but covered with scales, and by some compared to a salmon; the back is a brown olive colour, the belly is white, the head is strong, with small eyes, of which the pupil is black and the iris grey; the mouth is very large, and beset with one row of sharp teeth like those of a pike, and, like it, this creature is extremely voracious; the tail is obtuse and dark olive; as also the fins, six in number, one dorsal, two pectoral, two ventral, and one abdominal. This fish is extremely delicious eating, and particularly esteemed by the white inhabitants at Paramaribo, where it is very scarce, though in the upper parts of the rivers they are taken in great abundance. I painted these two fishes very correctly,the dago-fishas[47]large as life, and thenew-maraconsiderably less. The drawings were honoured in Surinam with the epithets of masterly performances.

Several officers who kept poultry and hogs at this period lost all the latter in the space of two days, being poisoned probably by eating duncane, or some other fatal weed that was unknown to us. And yet it has been a general observation, as I have said before, that all animals know by instinct to distinguish their food from their poison.

Mr. Seyburg now returned from the Hope in triumph, with LieutenantDederlin(one of Colonel Fourgeoud’s officers) guarded by a serjeant and six marines with fixed bayonets, for having been wanting in respect, as that gentleman pleased to call it.

On the 7th, the sick officers and soldiers also arrived from the Hope in barges; some of the latter, being too ill to bear removing, died on the passage without medicines, and without assistance. One of our surgeons died also this day in camp, and a number of the privates died daily. This was the consequence of having marched so much in the wet season, which was judged however by our chief to be the only season in which he was likely to root the rebels from the forest of Guiana.[48]

1The Dutch edition. Vol. XV.↑

1The Dutch edition. Vol. XV.↑

1The Dutch edition. Vol. XV.↑

1The Dutch edition. Vol. XV.↑

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