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CHAP.
IX.
C H A P . IX.
Some Difeafes peculiar to the, Climate~~Group e f Negroes
newly imported going to be fold-^Refiedfions- oft the Slave
'Trade— The Voyage from Africa—Manner o f felling therm
in the Colony— Defcription o f a Cotton Plantation*.
Q E PT EM B E R 15th,, I found myfclf in? an* eï'é*~
gant and well-furnifhed apartment,, encouraged by
the hopes given by the phyfician, carefied by my friends*
and fupported by the care, and attention of my incomparable
Mulatto.
A Captain Brant having at this time the command;!®
Colonel Fourgeoud’s abfence, he fent, th e morning after-
my arrival* my trunks and baggage,' which had been
fealed upy but on looking into them,. I found* I had: enemies
at home as well as abroad; lrnce moft of my fhirts*
books, See. were gnawed to- duft by the blatta or cockroach,
called cafareluce in Surinam : nay, even my fhoes-
were deftroyed, of which I had brought with me
twelve, pairs new from Europe, as they were extremely?
dear and bad in this country.
This infe<a, whieh is of the beetle kind* is here one
inch and fometimes two inches long,, oval,, flat, and of sl.
dark reddilh colour. By getting through the locks of
ehefts or boxes, it not only depofits its eggs there,, but
commits its ravages on linen,, cloth,, fllk,. or any thing that
comes
I9S
’comes in its way ; by getting alfo into the victuals and ch a p.
drink of every kind, it renders them extremely loathfome, Ix*
for it leaves thé moft naufeous fmell, worfe indeed than
that of a bug. As moft Weft-India veffels (efpecially
yhöfe löaded With fugar) bring them home in great quantities,
I IhaR fay nothing more concerning them, only
that’they are feldom feed to fly, but creep very faft; and
that the beft, and Î think the only way to keep the boxes
free- from them is, to place them on four empty wine
bottles kept free from duft, which, by their fmoothnefs,
-prevent the infeéts afeending to get through the key.
holes, or even the fmalleft openings in the bottoms ; but
this precaution had been begleóled by my good friend
Colonel Fourgeoud. I found, however, linen fufficient
for piéfëflt ufe, and by thé induftry of Joaûna I was
Toon provided With a new ftock. None can conceive the
'comfort I felt in being properly dreflèd and fhifted; my
mental faèuMes wefe''recruiting apace, and I felt with
gratitude the bieding of a ftföng conftitution ; but poor
Macdonald was ftill ill at Mr. Kennedy’s, who had humanely
afforded him an afylum On his return from
Devil’s Harwar.
Having now time, I inquired concerning Fowler’s conduct
; when, to my infinite furprize, I was informed that
he had indeed got drunk, as was reported to me, by
which he had fallen amongft the bottles and cut his face,
but that he never had attempted the fmalleft rudenefs :
fo much indeed was his conduct the reverie of what
G c a had