c H A P, bunt, when hë feparates the flour X ircpx the bran* found- j£¥Is 1 ’ 7
i ing tuckety-mck and imckety-iuck ad perpetuum. To this
noifethey dance with upcommoh pleafüre, and moft
times foot it;away, with gi&ajr art and
. « Saltantes fetirQS imitabitijr AlphififeDeus.’’ t
. ' * Every Saturday evening, the fl'avB who are well treated
clofe the week with an entertainment o f this4 kind, and
generally * once a quarter are indulged with' a-grand
bafl^ to Which the neighhodring flaWes are invitedf the
mafter often contribnting ta'their-h-appinefs hy- his !pre-
féntóë^brhtïeaflhy fending thema prefentdf a'fer^vjugl
o f new rum.
At thefe grand balls thé’ ftavës are rèfh ark ably
the womeh- appearing in theif beft chintz*- petÖeoats,’' -and-,
many of the men in fine Holland trowfers. So indefatigable
are they at this cfiverfion, that Thave' known the
dHrms^^htinuh hëaöhg without interrniffion from "' Ax
o’clock on* Saturday night till the fun made its appéar-
ance on the Monday morning; thus had paffed fix-and-
thirty* hours in dancing, cheering, hallooing, andr*0fej5*
ping óf hands. The negroes dance always- ‘in- couples,1
the men figuring and footing, while the women turn
round like a top, their petticoats expanding like an umbrella
; and this they 'éiiHL waty+coit o . Durihgf this J3 the
by-ftanding youths fill about the liquor, whilé the girls
encourage the performance, and wipe the fweat from the
. brows and fides of the unwearied muficians.
% It
E X P E D I T I O N T O S U R.I N A M. 289
It is indeed upon the whole aftonifhing to fee with CHAP,
what good-nature and even good -manners, thefe dancing , XXVL,
fbeiëtïe^We kept1 up, of WhiSÊli I rëpeat it the'y are fp
fond, tirat *IduiVor known * a newly-imported negro, for
want of a‘' partnef.figure^and Iniptfdt for nearly* the fpace
o f two hours-, his fttad^w5-againft the wall.
I f tp h'ègfp ‘Haves, when '
under af&jhSid and humane m after ,;\we further add, their
never< beihgiffeparated from eaotT-otfijer; parents feeing
their children around them*, fometimtes-;till the? third and
fourth genêiiaïio#, bèfidesjthè - confidence that they'are*
allprbvM^ii * for to the end ofth’eir fiyu^-r-then i f Ve draw
th e cómparifoh betweehthisulafs of people, and the nnm-
bérfefs’ wróÓihed ohjeatScthat disgrace the ftireets of -Eu-*
fopt, we can afluredly hot call thofe Africans' who fall
ündër'thë above h^criip^ri—imbappy-. -*
*•' Anffnhw^ tcrfum tip all I hayelfö^y' on the fSbjedt 'of
fl ayes«''ih .thé*'’ fe’weif words|umr-^the * faRe^of the ’reacfer|
and ^alfó.for -my .own, deft T fhould f^m*tó ‘icontradiffc
myfê'lf,' by ’ havirlg>‘' 0'^fr:èquently '-animadverted; on the
flaoeking crudities of fome maftefs,'and%^caAouaIiy donë'
juft-ice to the humane and, liberal difnofitio.ns o f 'ófhefs,-~
I beg leave to, fay ..one word more on the p r o j e c t e d *
lit ion.— Gould we perfuade all our commercial neighbours
to join in that meafure, the cafe would be different:
but fince I have feèn cruelties exexcifed fo commonly in
Surinam, which I never heard of in the Britifh iHands,:
and from my certain obfervation have declared the foil
V ól. if. ' P p of