Man on horsebackDick Boldhero.CHAPTERVI.Deliverance—arrival at a strange place—sickness—kindness among strangers—account of Maroontown.Therushing sound that filled my ears, as I fainted and fell to the earth before the terrific image of the monster that threatened me with instant death, was occasioned by the discharge of a musket. How often does it happen that Providence interposes to save us, when there appears to be no help at hand, and hope itself has departed. A negro hunter happened to be passing at the precise moment that the serpent was about to rush upon me, and crush me in its folds. I was concealed from his view by the bushes that intervened; but he saw the threatening attitude of the reptile, and knew that it was about to strikeupon some object near at hand. The huntsman was on horseback, but the serpent was so intent upon its prey, that it allowed the man to approach within a few yards. He then levelled his gun, and the discharge nearly severed its head from the body. The convulsions of the dying monster lashed the earth, and tore the adjacent herbage, while the space around was covered with blood. These struggles gradually subsided; the form was stretched out at length upon the ground in a waving line, and, except a tremulous motion along the back, and a faint vibration of the tail, the creature ceased to move.Of this scene, I was, however, wholly unconscious. The negro, in looking about for the object of the serpent’s meditated blow, soon discovered me. He raised my head from the earth, and, after a few moments, I slowly recovered my senses. When my eyes first fell upon the face of the negro, his head covered with an immense palm-leaf hat, a strange fancy crossed my mind. I conceived myself to be in the coils of the serpent, and the countenance of the negro seemed to be the image of my destroyer. But this illusion quickly passed away, and I speedily realized my deliverance. A sense of unspeakable joy thrilled through my heart, and I burst into a flood of tears. I was utterly unable to speak, but I clasped the hands of the negro, who was kneeling by me, and showed in his countenance the utmost sympathy and kindness. Never have I felt toward any human being a more grateful emotion, than toward my kind-hearted preserver at that moment.I was soon able to get upon my feet, but when I saw the outstretched form of the serpent, and beheld the traces of blood, and the earth torn by its dying agony, a faintness again came over me, and I should have fallen to the ground, but for the support afforded by my protector. He now spoke to me, but in a language which I did not understand. He seemed to comprehend my situation, however, and, placing me upon the saddle of his horse, he mounted behind me. After winding through the shrubbery for a short distance, we came to a pathway along which we proceeded for the space of an hour, during which the negro paid the utmost attention to my weakness. He held me upon the saddle, kept the somewhat impatient steed in a walk, and did all in his power to render my situation comfortable.I now observed that we were emerging from the forest, and that cultivated fields were opening before us. I noticed plantations upon the hill sides, and, at a little distance, I perceived scattered dwellings. These, however, were of a very humble cast, the sides seeming to consist of stakes woven together with palm leaves, and the roofs to be made either of palm leaves or straw. As we passed along, I noticed a number of negroes engaged in various occupations; but I discovered no white people. The population increased as we proceeded, and when at last we entered a long, irregular street, the inhabitants seemed to swarm like a bee-hive. Never have I seen such a strange spectacle. The town consisted of huts, such as I have described, and the people were all black. I had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that this was Maroontown—the negro settlement, through which I had expected to pass on my journey.As we proceeded through the street of the town, we soon attracted attention, and I became the special object of curiosity. There were great numbers of children, and being entirely naked, they looked like so many little monkeys. Many of them were lying down at their ease; others were skipping and frisking about like squirrels. Many of these began to follow us, and when once a train had formed behind us, the plot seemed to thicken, and we were soon surrounded by a throng of all sizes and sexes. These flowed onward, leaping, shouting, babbling, laughing and dancing, and performing all sorts of antics.At length we reached a hovel of somewhat better appearance than the rest. Here my guide dismounted, and, clearing a space among the babbling crowd, partly by threats, and partly by blows, he took me from the horse, and carried me into the dwelling. Placing me upon a bed of straw, he drove out the children that had rushed into the room, and fastened the entrance. He then spoke to his wife and daughter, no doubt giving an account of the manner in which he had discovered me. I became the immediate object of the care and kindness of the two women. They provided for me some rice broth, of which I ate a little, and, overpowered with fatigue, I fell asleep. My slumbers, however, were disturbed, and my mind was agitated with terrific dreams. Worn out with suffering of mind and body, my constitution gave way, and I fell into a raging fever.During the period of my disease, I had little consciousness, and I have but faint remembrances of what passed. In the lucid intervals which visited me, I could always perceive some one of the kind family watching at my bedside, ready and prompt to attend to all my wants and wishes. For the space of three weeks, I remained in a critical condition, apparently hovering upon the narrow line between life and death. Owing, however, to the prescriptions of a black physician, who attended upon me with great care, and the affectionate nursing of my friends, aided by my elastic constitution, the disease was at last conquered, and I began to revive from my prostrate condition. I was, indeed, wasted to a shadow, and when the fever left me, I could not lift my arm from the bed, nor turn my head upon the pillow. During this period of excessive weakness, I was as tenderly treated, as if I had been an infant, and the heir of the house. Somebody was always at my bedside to wet my parched lips with lemonade, to bathe my forehead, or aid me to change my position. The rough, burly master of the hovel, when called upon to lift me from my bed, seemed to have a new sense of gentleness infused into his clumsy hands and arms.Under these kindly auspices, when once my disease had left me, I gradually acquired strength, and, in the space of a fortnight was able to totter to the door. I was led out by the two women, and, as I gazed around upon the uncouth scene, the ragged, irregular tenements, and the half-naked inhabitants, it still seemed as though I was breathing the air, and gazing on the landscapes of a sort of paradise. Such was the cheering influence of that sense of returning health, which flowed through my youthful veins.I now began to make some acquaintances among the people; their language was Dutch, with a mixture of negro and Indian gibberish. Of this, I understood nothing, except the names of a few familiar objects, which I gradually learned. At length, however, I met with a woman, who had been a servant in an English family, and could converse in the English tongue. From her I learned the history of this curious settlement. It seems to have sprung up from the slaves that escaped from their masters at Paramaribo, and the plantations along the Surinam. These were hunted by the white people, and shot down like wild animals, or, if captured, were subjected to the most cruel punishments, and the rigors of slavery were rendered still more severe. The number of these fugitives constantly increased. For a time, indeed, they wandered in the forests, often alone, and reduced to a state of wildness, like the native animals of the woods.But they soon associated together, and, by their union and numbers, became formidable to their oppressors. They retired to a considerable distance from the Dutch settlements, and, occupying a fertile tract of country, erected such slight habitations as their means afforded, and the climate required. They began to till the soil, and bountiful nature returned an abundant harvest for their efforts. They increased rapidly, and in process of years they established a government suited to their condition. By degrees the hostility between them and the Dutch settlement subsided, and amicable intercourse commenced, and at the time I was there, a considerable traffic was carried on between the inhabitants of Maroontown and those of Paramaribo. The settlement continues to the present time to consist entirely of a negro population, living in the heart of Guiana, almost without the mixture of foreign blood. Their manners are rather those of Africa than America. We shall have something more to say of this strange place in another chapter.(To be continued.)
Man on horseback
CHAPTERVI.
Deliverance—arrival at a strange place—sickness—kindness among strangers—account of Maroontown.
Therushing sound that filled my ears, as I fainted and fell to the earth before the terrific image of the monster that threatened me with instant death, was occasioned by the discharge of a musket. How often does it happen that Providence interposes to save us, when there appears to be no help at hand, and hope itself has departed. A negro hunter happened to be passing at the precise moment that the serpent was about to rush upon me, and crush me in its folds. I was concealed from his view by the bushes that intervened; but he saw the threatening attitude of the reptile, and knew that it was about to strikeupon some object near at hand. The huntsman was on horseback, but the serpent was so intent upon its prey, that it allowed the man to approach within a few yards. He then levelled his gun, and the discharge nearly severed its head from the body. The convulsions of the dying monster lashed the earth, and tore the adjacent herbage, while the space around was covered with blood. These struggles gradually subsided; the form was stretched out at length upon the ground in a waving line, and, except a tremulous motion along the back, and a faint vibration of the tail, the creature ceased to move.
Of this scene, I was, however, wholly unconscious. The negro, in looking about for the object of the serpent’s meditated blow, soon discovered me. He raised my head from the earth, and, after a few moments, I slowly recovered my senses. When my eyes first fell upon the face of the negro, his head covered with an immense palm-leaf hat, a strange fancy crossed my mind. I conceived myself to be in the coils of the serpent, and the countenance of the negro seemed to be the image of my destroyer. But this illusion quickly passed away, and I speedily realized my deliverance. A sense of unspeakable joy thrilled through my heart, and I burst into a flood of tears. I was utterly unable to speak, but I clasped the hands of the negro, who was kneeling by me, and showed in his countenance the utmost sympathy and kindness. Never have I felt toward any human being a more grateful emotion, than toward my kind-hearted preserver at that moment.
I was soon able to get upon my feet, but when I saw the outstretched form of the serpent, and beheld the traces of blood, and the earth torn by its dying agony, a faintness again came over me, and I should have fallen to the ground, but for the support afforded by my protector. He now spoke to me, but in a language which I did not understand. He seemed to comprehend my situation, however, and, placing me upon the saddle of his horse, he mounted behind me. After winding through the shrubbery for a short distance, we came to a pathway along which we proceeded for the space of an hour, during which the negro paid the utmost attention to my weakness. He held me upon the saddle, kept the somewhat impatient steed in a walk, and did all in his power to render my situation comfortable.
I now observed that we were emerging from the forest, and that cultivated fields were opening before us. I noticed plantations upon the hill sides, and, at a little distance, I perceived scattered dwellings. These, however, were of a very humble cast, the sides seeming to consist of stakes woven together with palm leaves, and the roofs to be made either of palm leaves or straw. As we passed along, I noticed a number of negroes engaged in various occupations; but I discovered no white people. The population increased as we proceeded, and when at last we entered a long, irregular street, the inhabitants seemed to swarm like a bee-hive. Never have I seen such a strange spectacle. The town consisted of huts, such as I have described, and the people were all black. I had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that this was Maroontown—the negro settlement, through which I had expected to pass on my journey.
As we proceeded through the street of the town, we soon attracted attention, and I became the special object of curiosity. There were great numbers of children, and being entirely naked, they looked like so many little monkeys. Many of them were lying down at their ease; others were skipping and frisking about like squirrels. Many of these began to follow us, and when once a train had formed behind us, the plot seemed to thicken, and we were soon surrounded by a throng of all sizes and sexes. These flowed onward, leaping, shouting, babbling, laughing and dancing, and performing all sorts of antics.
At length we reached a hovel of somewhat better appearance than the rest. Here my guide dismounted, and, clearing a space among the babbling crowd, partly by threats, and partly by blows, he took me from the horse, and carried me into the dwelling. Placing me upon a bed of straw, he drove out the children that had rushed into the room, and fastened the entrance. He then spoke to his wife and daughter, no doubt giving an account of the manner in which he had discovered me. I became the immediate object of the care and kindness of the two women. They provided for me some rice broth, of which I ate a little, and, overpowered with fatigue, I fell asleep. My slumbers, however, were disturbed, and my mind was agitated with terrific dreams. Worn out with suffering of mind and body, my constitution gave way, and I fell into a raging fever.
During the period of my disease, I had little consciousness, and I have but faint remembrances of what passed. In the lucid intervals which visited me, I could always perceive some one of the kind family watching at my bedside, ready and prompt to attend to all my wants and wishes. For the space of three weeks, I remained in a critical condition, apparently hovering upon the narrow line between life and death. Owing, however, to the prescriptions of a black physician, who attended upon me with great care, and the affectionate nursing of my friends, aided by my elastic constitution, the disease was at last conquered, and I began to revive from my prostrate condition. I was, indeed, wasted to a shadow, and when the fever left me, I could not lift my arm from the bed, nor turn my head upon the pillow. During this period of excessive weakness, I was as tenderly treated, as if I had been an infant, and the heir of the house. Somebody was always at my bedside to wet my parched lips with lemonade, to bathe my forehead, or aid me to change my position. The rough, burly master of the hovel, when called upon to lift me from my bed, seemed to have a new sense of gentleness infused into his clumsy hands and arms.
Under these kindly auspices, when once my disease had left me, I gradually acquired strength, and, in the space of a fortnight was able to totter to the door. I was led out by the two women, and, as I gazed around upon the uncouth scene, the ragged, irregular tenements, and the half-naked inhabitants, it still seemed as though I was breathing the air, and gazing on the landscapes of a sort of paradise. Such was the cheering influence of that sense of returning health, which flowed through my youthful veins.
I now began to make some acquaintances among the people; their language was Dutch, with a mixture of negro and Indian gibberish. Of this, I understood nothing, except the names of a few familiar objects, which I gradually learned. At length, however, I met with a woman, who had been a servant in an English family, and could converse in the English tongue. From her I learned the history of this curious settlement. It seems to have sprung up from the slaves that escaped from their masters at Paramaribo, and the plantations along the Surinam. These were hunted by the white people, and shot down like wild animals, or, if captured, were subjected to the most cruel punishments, and the rigors of slavery were rendered still more severe. The number of these fugitives constantly increased. For a time, indeed, they wandered in the forests, often alone, and reduced to a state of wildness, like the native animals of the woods.
But they soon associated together, and, by their union and numbers, became formidable to their oppressors. They retired to a considerable distance from the Dutch settlements, and, occupying a fertile tract of country, erected such slight habitations as their means afforded, and the climate required. They began to till the soil, and bountiful nature returned an abundant harvest for their efforts. They increased rapidly, and in process of years they established a government suited to their condition. By degrees the hostility between them and the Dutch settlement subsided, and amicable intercourse commenced, and at the time I was there, a considerable traffic was carried on between the inhabitants of Maroontown and those of Paramaribo. The settlement continues to the present time to consist entirely of a negro population, living in the heart of Guiana, almost without the mixture of foreign blood. Their manners are rather those of Africa than America. We shall have something more to say of this strange place in another chapter.
(To be continued.)