abandon the expedition immediately, and, -with "]his few
remaining troops to fail for Holland withouthdeky.
• In eonfequencê o f thefe commands -on the 27 th, the
tranfport fhips were put to«ommi®0», and .allfthe.officói?^
and privates received their clearance, which, made f^émt
very happy; and indeed all at Paramaribo were alive with
joy, except fojne o f the inhabjt»n|t and foyfialf, rt
On the 14th of February, ill-as I was with Ta badifoot^
a fore arm, the prickly heat, afid.aH my teèth ddofeiwith
the fcurvy, I found, means. to feranaMe ont crindhds^
with a thoafand ' flor ins in my : pocketj whiah having d k
vided between Feurgeotid and Mrs. ©tylgffeyt for. the
redemption o f the black boy and my I
returned home without a foifongdn my purfojTj^et foF
this final! fum o f goo florins, fo inadeapiate to ï8ö© Which
i owed that lady, foe was mdùoedtgenemùflÿ in reöéw
her perfuafions o f carrying. Joanna and tha> boy;with îniè*
to Hollands This, however, Joanna'as TnoMy asTfomiy
refufed, declaring, that, independant of : all other confix
“ derations, foe could never think o f faerificingiohe be-
“ nefaâor to the intereft o f another ;. and that her own
“ happinefs or even mine,1 which was-dearer to .her than
“ life, foou-ld never have any weight, till the debt, of her
“ liberty was paid fey me, or by her own induftry, to the
<l utmoft fraction, and which foe did not defpair to fee
one day compleated.” She added, 6i our reparation
44 foould only be for a time, and that the greateft proof I
f4 could ever foew her o f my real efteem, was-now to un-
4i dergo this little trial o f fortune -like a man, without
9 . * fo
<£ fo much as heaving afigh in her prefence which laft c h a p .
foe fpoke with a. fmile, next embraced bier infant, then XXIV.
turned fuddenly round, apd wept moft bitterly.—At this
moment I was called to la Mare‘s who was juft
■ dead, where my melancholy having furpafled all defcrip-
tion, I at laft determined to weather one or two painful
yeaSs Ip/hil' abfence ; and i’n the afternoon went to difli-
pate ' my mind at a Mr. Roux's cabinet of Indian curiofi-
ti.es ; where, as my eye chanced to fall on a rattle-fnake,
ï wilf/hefore. I leave the colony defcribe this dangerous
reptile.
The rattk-Jnake, o f Surinam, is fometimes eight or
nine feet long, and very thick about the middle, tapering
towards the heck and. tail. The head is dreadfully deformed,
being flat and broad, .with two large noftrils
near the fnout, and a large fcale or knob like the alligator
above' his eyës, which are jet-black and fparkling ; at the
extremity o f the tail are lèverai thin horny" fhells joined
together* which are: very dry, and which, when irritated,
the animal foakes, founding much like a rattle, from
which it derives its name. Thefe fhells augment, it is
/aid, in the proportion ohone every year, by which it is
fuppofed its age. may be ascertained. This whole fnake
is covered over with fcales, which on the ridge of the
hack it erexfts. The colour is a dirty orange mixed with
dark-brown and black fpots, which laft are al-fo on its
head, appearing like velvet, and marked in a very confph
(Cnous manner ; the belly is afo-coloured, with tranfverfe
G c a * fcales