92 N A R R AT I VE OF AN
C H AP. This evening .we encamped about four o’clock, Colonel
XX- Fourgeoud being feized with a-cold fit of the ag u e ..
As I - was. flinging my ..hammock between twovlarge
b ra n c hH b u t not fo flig h ts the preeedingf.night, ray eye
' chancedto fall upoii wha't I conceived to be the leaf of a tree,,
but which appeared to move and crawl up the. trunk.. I
called feveral officers to fee:it:: when a gentleman of the
Society exclaimed,' « C eß la Jeuille ambulante,” Tb^tfis
the waMng leaf.' Upon clofer examination it proved to be
an infed, .\yhofe wings fo pet fe€$y bsprefent ajleäf, tha t
b y many it has been miftaken 'for a^qg^tabl&pf 9&U$Lion.-
. TMsifeeffied to be jkfpecies raf 'g r ^ l ^ p i e F ^ ^ ; ; c o (s|erte^
over with faim'wdngs o f an ■ pvaf apd^aftout ? t^ne^f
inches in length, th e two uppermoftffo foldedtt-pgether
as _to. appear exa<5tly> läse ft»' bpowp.deaf,, iwith^-^l.th'e
fibres, &c. I f
I ndwtreturnedtd;my h ammo c k - g e f l e j f t i h g on
all th e wonders of,nature, while th e filver-mpon, glittering
through the verdure:added beauty, to th e feene, I fell
into a profound fleep, which I enjoyed, till near midnight,
when we w ere* all awaked in pitch darknefs and a lieavy
fhower of rain, by th b hallooing and ihouting pf the
rebel negroes, who difeharged feveral mufkets; but, as
the fhot did not . reach our camp, we were extremely
aftonilhed, the darknefs rendering.it impoffible to form
any juft idea of their meaning, /~. This difturbance con-,
tinuing till near day-break, made us expert every moment
to be furrounded, and keep a very lharp,lo6k -6ut.
In the morning early we unlalhed our hammocks, and
marched
E X P E D I T I O N TO S U R I N A M . 93
marched due N,- towards the place, whence we eon- CHAP.
' ' XX*
jedtiired the hallooing noife to have proceeded, being all .
much fatigued .for want of reft, efpecially Colonel Fourgeoud,
who could hardly fupport himfelf, fo much was
he weakened by the. ague.. We had not marched above
two miles, I having the van-guard, when a rebel negro- .
fprang up at ray .fie eW from under a flirub, where he
had been aileep; but, as we had orders' not to fire upon
ftragglers, he efcaped, running with almoft the fwiftnefs,
©-f,aftag^amongft. t jie, byambles. I np fooner made rep
o rt.^ th e old, herp^than,^fwear ingJhe .was a fpy,„which
I believe was true, he fliook off Ms lllnefs, and quickened 1
his pace with redoubled, vigour : but ouy.purfuit was
to. no putpofej4^ IcAft tips .dayj^or^about one, o’clock we
got into ,a. bog, frqm which \yp could hardly extricate
ourffcLves^ add were'farcefl tp re tu rn . to our laft night’s -
encampment, miffingttwo privates of the Society troops,
whom we fuppofed to have perifhed 411 the marfti,
•.-This rdayfiwe faw g re a t:quantities of amotta - trees,
with which this part of the foreft abounds., In the even-;
ing a Have,. prefented. me with of filch
magnitude, that putting him into a cafe-bottle above
eight inches high, he actually reached the furface with
fome of his hideous claws, whilft the others were retting
upon the bottom. No creature can be more dreadfully
ugly than this enormous fpider, which the people
of Surinam erroneoufly call the tarantula. The body is
divided in two, the pofterior part oval, and the lize of an
Orlean-plum; the fore-part fquare, with a figure fomewhat