À p. I muft take notice that from our fîrft landing in
t> ; Surinam till this time our private men were paid m /'/^ r
tu ü
coin, which the captains had propofed to exchange for
card-money* atrfee rate o f ten p tr £ent. gain for them;
by Which fee poor fellows would have benefited between
two and three hundred pounds fterling p^rmnum^ to buy
refrelhment : but Colonel Eourgeoud infifted they fhould
continue to recéive feeh iitdepittaohe in com, Which -fer
fmall fums Was >of no more , value than paper ,; .and I
thought unaccountably hard, finee this was hurting the
whole, without profit to one iingle individual. One thing
more 1 müft remark, which is, feat allfee&fficers who
were now proceeding upon duty continued to paÿ at
the mefs, which toft each .captain at fee fate .of forty
pounds ; but for which, in his barge, he was to receive
in provifions after fee rate of ten pounds (feus
he loft thirty pounds ; and feefe provifions were fait
beef, pofk, and peafe) on an equal footing with the
private foMiers, a few bottles of wine excepted. But
certainly fome greater indulgence was due, and I muft
-fay neceftary, to officers, who were going in he ftationed
where abiblutely no kind of refreftiment was to be
had, being furrounded by the moft horrid and impenetrable
woods, beyond the hearing of a cannon-fhot
from any port or plantation. whatever. This was not
the cafe With thé other barges,, who were ftationed
in the midft of peace and plenty, being within view
of the moft beautiful eftates. We were indeed pitied
by
by all ranks without.exception; who forefeeing our CHAP,
approaching calamities, crpuded my barge with the , V1, ,
beft commodities they' had,, t;p prefent, which they
infifted upon my accepting. But the reader will
have a better idea of the liberality of my benefactors
from the following^ lift, than, from any encomiums
which I could pais upon it:
24 Bottles of beft claret,
i 2 Ditto' of Madeira,-
12 Ditto of EngHfli porter,
12 Ditto of Englafh cyder,
12 Ditto of Jamaica rum,
2 Large loayes of white fug^r,
2 Gallons of hrandy,
6 Bottles of mufcadel,
2 Gallons of lemon-juice,
2 Gallons of ground coffee,
2 Large W eftphalia hams,
2 Salted bullocks tongues,
S,Bottle of Purham muftard,
6 Dozen of fpermaceti candles.
From this fpecimen fee reader will eafily perceive,
that if fome of the inhabitants of the colony of §u*
rinam fhew feemfelves the difgrace of the creation* by
their cruelties and brutality» others*., by feek hofpitality
and fecial feelings, approve feemfelves an ornament to
the human fpecies.—With, this inftance of virtue , and
generality, I therefore conclude this chapter; and. truft
I ihall ever be found more ready to record the good
actions of my fellow-creatures, than to remark feeir
defers. |
Sa G HAP.