John Gabriel Stedman

“ 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 evening of the 15th I reached Fauconberg, where I was met by a packet of six or eight letters from different friends, accompanied with presents of hung-beef, bullocks tongues, Madeira, porter, rum, and two gallons of excellent shrub, besides a fine bacon ham, and a beautiful pointer; both the last from the identical Charles Macdonald, the English sailor, which he had brought me from Virginia, in return for the little civility I had formerly shewn him so unexpectedly at the Hope. ”

“ In the constitution of the negroes I have still observed this singularity, that while they bear the fatigue of labour in the hottest days, they can also bear the cold and damp better than an European, at least better than I could; sleeping all night on the wet grass, perfectly naked, without any injury to their health, while I have been glad, especially early in the morning, to have a fire lit under my hammock, and while the marines for want of it lay in a shiver. They also bear hunger and thirst, and pain or sickness, with the greatest patience and resolution. ”

“ No people can more esteem or have a greater friendship for one another than the negro slaves; they appear to have unbounded enjoyment in each other’s company, and are not destitute of social amusements, such as the soesa, which consists in footing opposite to each other, and clapping with their hands upon their sides to keep in time. So very eager are they at this animating play, in which sometimes six or eight couple are engaged at once, that the violent exercise having been known to kill some of the negroes, it is forbidden by the magistrates at Paramaribo. ”

“ He shifts his place, his colour comes and goes;
A dropping sweat creeps cold on every part,
Against his bosom beats his quivering heart:
At ten o’clock we met a small party of the rebels, with each a green hamper upon his back; they fired at us, dropped their bundles, and taking to their heels ran back towards their village. These we since learned were transporting rice to another settlement for their subsistence, when they should be expelled from Gado-Saby (the name of this settlement) which they daily expected, since they had been discovered by the gallant Captain Meyland. ”

“ Going now to take my leave of Surinam, after all the horrors and cruelties with which I must have hurt both the eye and the heart of the feeling reader, I will close the scene with an emblematical picture of Europe supported by Africa and America, accompanied by an ardent wish that in the friendly manner as they are represented, [395] they may henceforth and to all eternity be the props of each other. I might have included Asia, but this I omitted, as having no connection with the present narrative: we only differ in colour, but are certainly all created by the same Hand. ”

“ During this last mournful silence, we heard a sound like coughing and the rustling of arms, which, thank Heaven! soon proved to be our own troops, luckily for us resting near an old encampment, where the pursuing party from the river Pirica had lately lodged. At this moment, notwithstanding my present situation, I enjoyed an extraordinary degree of mental happiness; which proves how much all good and evil are only of a relative nature. Having now been heartily welcomed by the other officers, I partook of some cold beef and bread, and a gourd full of grog, as did also my poor boy. ”

“ If to what I have stated relative to negro slaves, when under a candid and humane master, we further add, their never being separated from each other; parents seeing their children around them, sometimes till the third and fourth generation, besides the confidence that they are all provided for to the end of their lives;—then if we draw the comparison between this class of people, and the numberless wretched objects that disgrace the streets of Europe, we can assuredly not call those Africans who fall under the above description—unhappy. ”

“ Another plan of murdering with impunity has often been put in practice. The slave is fastened naked to a tree in the forest, with his arms and legs extended, under pretence of stretching his limbs; but here he is left, and regularly fed, until he is actually stung to death by the musquitoes and other insects—a most infernal punishment, and such as may be with truth ascribed to the instigation of the devil! ”

“ I instantly dived, but Philander answering that we belonged to Magdenberg, we were permitted to come on shore one by one at the Jacob, and found that these trusty negro slaves, having heard a flouncing in the water, and seeing three armed men in the marsh, took it for granted that the rebels were coming, headed by Bonny himself, for whom they had mistaken me, being almost naked and so much sun-burnt; besides my hair, which was short and curly, I entirely resembled a mulatto. ”

“ But when negroes are sensible of having deserved correction, no people can be more humble, or bear their unhappy fate with greater resignation. The swallowing of the tongue, which they only practise during the moments of severe discipline, has of late been prevented in Surinam by the humane method of holding a fire-brand to the victim’s mouth, which answers the double purpose of burning his face, and diverting his attention from the execution of his fatal determination. ”

“ In what tables of longevity is there such an European to be found? though most probably [254] this venerable person spent her youth in hard labour, like other slaves; which, though a negro can bear much better in a tropical climate than a native of Europe, yet cannot be natural, either on the coast of Guinea or Guiana, where, without toil, the necessaries of life are produced, and vegetation flourishes spontaneously for ever. ”

“ The inconvenience of vermin he remedies without a comb, by plaistering up his hair with clay, which being dried on the head, and then washed with soap and water, makes him clean beyond conception; his teeth are constantly kept as white as ivory; for this purpose he uses nothing but a sprig of orange-tree, bitten at one end, until the fibres resemble a small brush; and no negro, male or female, is to be seen without this little instrument, which has besides the virtue of sweetening the breath. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Then let such men enact impartial regulations, by which the negro slaves are to perform no more than their fair task and labour a reasonable number of hours in the twenty-four: let these be followed by protecting laws, and let them be no longer racked, tormented, wantonly murdered, or infamously robbed of all that is dear to the human affections, their wives and daughters. Let regulations be adopted, by which they may be properly fed; and attended to when sick or indisposed; and, above all, let equal justice be administered; suffer them, when outraged or plundered, to obtain a hearing ”

“ And here, to our astonishment, we discovered that the reason of the rebels shouting, singing, and firing, on the night of the 20th, was not only to cover the retreat of their friends, by cutting off the pass, but by their unremitting noise to prevent us from discovering that they were employed, men, women, and children, in preparing warimboes or hampers filled with the finest rice, yams, and cassava, for subsistence during their escape, of which they had only left the chaff and refuse for our contemplation. ”

“ On his head is a cotton night-cap, as thin as a cobweb, and over that an enormous beaver hat, that protects his meagre visage from the sun, which is already the colour of mahogany, while his whole carcase seldom weighs above eight or ten stone, being generally exhausted by the climate and dissipation. To give a more complete idea of this fine gentleman, I in the annexed plate present him to the reader with a pipe in his mouth, which almost every where accompanies him, and receiving a glass of Madeira wine and water, from a female quaderoon slave, to refresh him during his walk. ”

“ On the 14th I arrived with a boat at Barbacoeba, in the upper part of the river Cottica, where formerly I was when I killed the aboma snake. I found here the old gentleman (who civilly welcomed me) ready to start the following day. I never saw the troops in such fine spirits, or so eager for service; which proceeded from different motives, as I had said before, some in the hopes of plunder, some from revenge on the rebels, and some from a wish to see the war at an end; while I believe in my soul, that others were tired of existence by continual illness and hard service ”

“ It is remarkable, that when the boy saw the first cow or horse he almost fell into convulsions with terror; nor could he bear to be touched by any white person, whom [175] he never had seen before, and whom he constantly called Yorica, which in his language signifies the devil.
About this time a dead sea-cow, or manatee, by the French called Lamantin, floating past Jerusalem, the negro slaves fell upon it, like so many crows upon a carrion, swimming round it, some with a rusty knife, some with a bill-hook, and each carrying off a slice for his dinner ”

“ I was this day also presented with a singular kind of fruit, called here the marmalade box, being about the size of a large apple, rather oval, and all covered over with down. This fruit in the beginning is green, and when ripe it turns to a brown colour: the husk is hard, and by a certain motion opens in halves like a walnut, when the pulp appears like that of a medlar, being a sweet brown substance, and adhering to large kernels, which the inhabitants suck off with avidity ”

“ Such is indeed the love and confidence of some planters for their slaves, that they often entrust their infants to a negro wet-nurse, in preference to an European, where both may be had; and such the attachment of some slaves to their masters, that I have known many refuse to accept of their emancipation, and even some, who had their liberty, voluntarily return to dependence. ”

“ In shooting, however, we had very little sport, except that of killing some snipes, which flew in such clouds that they almost darkened the sky; so that by only firing from time to time above our heads at random, we brought down scores at every shot, but they were of such a diminutive species, that they were scarcely worth the picking up. We might have here killed birds of greater size, such as spoon-bills, cranes, red curlews, and wild ducks of many kinds, had we not unluckily been cut off from the banks on which they were scattered, by the sea overflowing the quicksands betwixt us and them. ”

“ These insects are black, and very diminutive, but live in such amazing multitudes together, that their hillocks have sometimes obstructed our passage by their size, over which, if one chances to pass, the feet and legs are instantly covered with innumerable of these creatures, which seize the skin with such violence in their pincers, that they will sooner suffer the head to be parted from their body, than let go their hold. ”

“ I say, let them only read the narrative of this lady’s sufferings, and their credulity will no longer be staggered at what I myself have related. I have, indeed, even omitted facts, which, on account of their singularity, must in the eyes of some have appeared to border on the marvellous. But in the forests of South America such extraordinary realities are to be found, that there is assuredly no need to have recourse to fiction or the least exaggeration. ”

“ This march undoubtedly afforded us the most enchanting prospects that can be imagined, in a luxuriant and ever-green forest, while the dry season contributed greatly to beautify the scene; and simple nature by far outshone the most strenuous endeavours of art. ”