John Gabriel Stedman

“ I must confess indeed, that, notwithstanding the good intentions of Governor Mauricius, nothing appears to be more dangerous than making a forced friendship with people, who by the most abject slavery and ill usage are provoked to break their chains, and shake off their yoke in pursuit of revenge and liberty, and who by the trust which is placed in them have it in their power to become from day to day more formidable. ”

“ While speaking of insects, I ought not to forget that this evening one of the negro slaves who had been looking for dry wood, presented me, to my great surprize, with a beetle no less than three or four inches in length, and above two in breadth, called in Surinam the rhinoceros, on account of its proboscis or horn, which is hooked, forked, and thick as a goose-quill; on the head it has many hard polished knobs; the limbs are six; the wings are large, and the whole animal is perfectly black, being the largest of all the beetle kind in America. ”

“ In this way, however, we proceeded, keeping our course toward the mouth of the Cormoetibo Creek, each officer provided with a pocket compass, by which we were to steer, like sailors, through a dark wood, where nothing is to be seen but the heavens, as at sea nothing appears but clouds and water: thus those who were acquainted with navigation were the best qualified for marching, and ran the least hazard of losing themselves in a black unbounded forest. But those wretches who most deservedly attracted my pity, were the miserable negro slaves, who were bending under their loads ”

“ The ring-leading negroes were roasted alive by half dozens in a shocking manner, being chained to stakes in the midst of surrounding flames, and expired without uttering a groan or a sigh. The miserable fate of so many poor wretches excited great commiseration; and it is impossible to reflect, without the strongest feelings of indignation, on a punishment so shocking to humanity, inflicted upon men, the most of whom were drove to misconduct by tyranny and oppression. ”

“ Here I stepped on shore, with my officers, to wait on Captain Orzinga, the commander, and delivered three of my sick men into his hospital; where I beheld such a spectacle of misery and wretchedness as baffles all imagination: this place having been formerly called Devil’s Harwar, on account of its intolerable unhealthiness—a name by which alone I shall again distinguish it, as much more suitable than that of Slanswelvaren, which signifies the welfare of the nation. ”

“ Thus I have known slaves in Surinam, who have bought slaves for their own use. Some purchase their freedom from their masters, whilst others keep their money, preferring to be the slave of an indulgent master; being, so long as they continue slaves, free from all duties and taxes, which, in case of manumission, they become liable to. ”

“ All this is done to save the work of their negroes; while by this usage thousands are swept to the grave, who in the line of their profession alone might have lived for many years; nor dare the West India Captains to refuse their men, without incurring the displeasure of the planters, and seeing their ships rot in the harbour without a loading;—nay, I have heard a sailor fervently wish he had been born a negro, and beg to be employed amongst them in cultivating a coffee plantation. ”

“ It is amazing to observe, with what skill one negro discovers the haunts of another: while an European discerns not the smallest vestige of a man’s foot in the forest, the roving eye of the negro-ranger catches the broken sprig, and faded leaf trod flat, without ever missing it ”

“ One gentleman, a Mr. Kennedy, in particular, carried his politeness so far, as not only to offer me the use of his carriage, saddle-horses, and table, but even to present me with a fine negro boy, named Quaco, to carry my umbrella as long as I remained in Surinam. The other gentlemen of the regiment also [27] met with great civilities, and the whole colony seemed anxious to testify their respect, by vying with each other in a constant round of festivity. Balls, concerts card-assemblies, and every species of amusement in their power, were constantly contrived for our entertainment. ”

“ The planter, too earnest to become immediately opulent, never once considered the wretchedness of the slave; while drunkenness, luxury, and riot, became predominant in the one party, the misery of the other proportionably increased; nor did the destruction that so lately threatened them seem to have the smallest influence on their minds; at the same time the successful example of the Seramica and Ouca negroes served to stimulate the other slaves to revolt, and from these complicated causes the colony was again plunged into its former abyss of difficulties. ”

“ But finding this animal amongst the branches did not so much excite my surprize, as the contest between a snake and a frog, which I shall distinctly relate, and in which the poor frog lost the battle. Indeed when I first perceived him, his head and shoulders were already in the jaws of the snake, which last appeared to me about the size of a large kitchen poker, and had its tail twisted round a tough limb of the mangrove; while the frog, who appeared to be the size of a man’s fist, had laid hold of a twig with the claws of its hinder legs, as with hands. ”

“ The manner of taking these animals is by turning them on their backs with a hand-spike when they are discovered on shore, and leaving them in this situation till a convenient opportunity occurs for carrying them away; for such is the heaviness of their structure, or so languid are their powers, that they are utterly unable to turn themselves, and effect their escape. They are publickly exposed to sale by the butchers in Surinam, like the shambles meat in the European markets, and are esteemed the most delicate food between the months of February and May. ”

“ Guiana, is a beautiful bird indeed, about the size of a common turkey, to which it bears a resemblance both in appearance and taste. Its feathers are a shining black, except on the belly; its legs are yellow, and also its bill, except near the point, where it is blue and arched. Its eyes are lively and bright, and on its head it is crested with a brilliant plume of black frizzled feathers, which give it a noble appearance. These birds cannot fly far; and being easily tamed, may be reared for domestic purposes: at Paramaribo they are frequently sold for more than a guinea a piece. ”

“ Are we not the work of God? And can the Almighty not manifest his will without the help of a book? If this is true, and God is just, then how is it consistent with his justice to force life upon us without our consent, and then to condemn us all to eternal damnation, because we did not meet with you. No, Sir, we are convinced that the Christians are more depraved in their morals than we Indians, if we may judge of their doctrines by the general badness of their lives. ”

“ On the 8th we once more went under way, and after the usual ceremonies on both sides on leaving the fortress, sail’d up the river Surinam with drums beating, colours flying, and a guard of marines drawn up on the quarterdeck of each vessel. Having at length reached Paramaribo, we finally came to an anchor within pistol-shot off the shore, receiving a salute of eleven guns from the citadel Zealandia, which was returned by all the ships of our small fleet. ”

“ No sooner is this ceremony over, and a new name given to the newly-bought slave, than he or she is delivered to an old one of the same sex, and sent to the estate, where each is properly kept clean by his guardian, instructed and well fed, without working, for the space of six weeks; during which period, from living skeletons, they become plump and fat, with a beautiful clean skin, till it is disfigured by the inhuman flogging of some rascally proprietor, or rather his overseer. ”

“ The circumstance which chiefly entitles the dorado to our attention is, the unrivalled and dazzling brilliancy of its colours in the water, the whole of its back being enamelled with spots between azure blue and a reflecting light sea-green, on a very dark ground, which appears as bespangled all over with jewels, and forms a most beautiful contrast to the belly, which is of a whitish cast ”

“ After these precautions, we all lay down and slept soundly, from nine o’clock till about three in the morning, at which time Quaco and myself were both suddenly thrown down from our benches, by the boat all at once heeling upon one side, while all the negroes leaped overboard into the water. I instantly cocked my pistol, and jumping up, asked aloud what was the matter? positively determined to defend myself to the last extremity, rather than be taken alive by so relentless an enemy. ”

“ As I was resting in my hammock, between the paroxysms of my fever, about half way between Cormoetibo and Barbacoeba, while the Charon was floating down, the sentinel called to me that he had seen and challenged something black and moving in the brushwood on the beach, which gave no answer; but which, from its size, he concluded must be a man. I immediately dropped anchor; and having manned the canoe, ill as I was, I stepped into it, and rowed up to the place mentioned by the sentinel. ”

“ On the 1st of April 1774, Joanna came down the river in the Fauconberg tent-boat, rowed by eight negroes, and arrived at the Hope: I communicated to her immediately the contents of my letter to Holland, which she received with that gratitude and modesty in her looks which spoke more forcibly than any reply. I introduced her to her new habitation, where the plantation slaves, in token of respect, immediately brought her presents of casada, yams, bananas, and plantains, and never two people were more completely happy. ”

“ This evening we encamped near the Patamaca Creek, where the poor negro woman cried bitterly, and scattered some victuals and water at the root of a tree by way of libation, as being the spot where her husband was [280] interred, who had been shot in some former skirmish by the Europeans.
Here Captain Fredericy and myself, walking without the skirts of the camp in a sandy savannah, discovered the fresh footsteps of a large tiger with her young, at which time they are extremely ferocious: we thought it prudent therefore to make a sudden retreat. ”

“ Not only our officers, but our privates, began to feel the debilitating effects of the climate, and many, of that continued debauchery so common in all ranks in this settlement: and as hard labour and bad treatment constantly killed the poor sailors, so now our common soldiers fell the victims of idleness and licentiousness, and died frequently six or seven in a day; whence it is evident to demonstration, that all excesses, of whatever kind, are mortal to Europeans in the climate of Guiana.
But men will give lessons which they do not themselves observe. ”

“ It is a painful circumstance, that the narrative of my travels must so frequently prove the record of cruelty and barbarity: but once for all I must declare, that I state these facts merely in the hope that it may, in some mode or other, operate for their future prevention. Before my departure, I was informed of a most shocking instance of depravity, which had just occurred. A Jewess, impelled by a groundless jealousy, (for such her husband made it appear) put an end to the life of a young and beautiful Quadroon girl, by the infernal means of plunging into her body a red-hot poker. ”

“ The military in Surinam are composed of several very good and experienced officers, and well inured to the service, but for their private men I cannot say much; they are, in fact, little better than the outcasts of all nations: they are of all ages, shapes, and sizes, and seem by chance wafted together from all the different corners of the globe. ”

“ The national character of these people, as I have remarked it, where they are as free to act by their own will and disposition as in Africa, is perfectly savage; the twenty thousand Ouca and Seramica free negroes have lived separated, and under no controul of Europeans, for a number of years, and yet I have never seen any marks of civilization, order, or government among them, but, on the contrary, many examples of ungovernable passion, debauchery, and indolence. ”