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Bought with the income ofthe
New York
Alumni Association Fund

mo

DESULTORY SKETCHES

TALES

BARBADOS.

Farrago libelli. — Jo v. Sat.

LONDON:
HENRY WASHBOURNE, SALISBURY SQUARE,
FRASER AND CO., EDINBURGH ; MACHEN AND CO. DUBLIN;
AND SMITH AND CO. GLASGOW.
1840.

LONDON 1
PRINTED BT STEWART AND HURRAY,
OLD BAILEY.

PREFACE.

It would be in vain for the Author to attempt
to deny that he is altogether exempt from the
prevailing propensity to write, which so strongly
characterizes the present age: in venturing,
however, to embody in the little work before
the reader a few recollections of the Island of
Barbados, he must do himself the credit to say
that he is influenced by a stronger motive —
one which induces him to hope, that the
contents of a volume, trivial enough in itself,

IV PREFACE.
may lead to more general and impartial enquiry
concerning our West Indian possessions. He
is fully aware that a great deal has already
been written on the Colonies in question ; but
as thus much was penned during the period
of slavery, so was it written and canvassed in a
spirit of censure and odium ; and although the
dark blot of slavery, as far as it was connected
with our Colonies in the West, is now and for
ever wiped away, there yet remains attached
to them a "damned spot," a stigma consequent
on that state of society, which surely ought
not to be considered as inseparable from the
latter, when that which gave rise to the infamy
exists no longer. Indeed, it is painful and
embarrassing to observe among individuals
otherwise well informed, the prejudice and
enmity which prevail against the West Indies
— feelings only to be explained by supposing

PREFACE. V
such persons to be totally ignorant of the true
state of things there.
In premising the foregoing remarks, the
author wishes clearly to be understood that
he does not profess to instruct; his observa
tions are confined to one small portion of our
Colonies, and the topic on which a want of
accurate information seems to be most needed,
namely, the present condition of the emanci
pated Negroes, is but sparingly introduced into
his volume.
His object is to amuse his reader with a few
homely scenes, perhaps imperfectly sketched,
and by throwing a little interest into the
subject, incite a desire for more minute and
rigid inquiry, ere implicit credence be given to
all that may be alleged and urged against the
West Indies. If he could only succeed in
doing this — remembering that "fair play and

VI PREFACE.
no favour" is the Englishman's motto, it will
be a source of gratification to think, that his
time was not misemployed when he whiled
away the tedium of a long voyage by writing
his "Desultory Scenes and Tales of Barbados."

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
H. M. Brig Hydra — Low spirits — Bulam fever of Sierra
Leone — Carlisle Bay, and anecdote of Lord Nelson — Bridge
town and its environs — The cabbage-tree — The letter-bearer
— The letter and its results  ,  page 1
CHAPTER II.
The Schooner and her passengers — Paul, his encounter with
the huckster — The Missionary, his observations on Barba
dos in reference to the labouring population, and to the al
tered and present state of society there — West Coast of
Barbados described — Tumble Diet's gully — -Paul's story —
Speights  11
CHAPTER III.
Speights, its populousness not accounted for on the principles
of Mr. Malthus — Mr. X. — Dover-hill Station-house, and re
marks pertinent thereon — St. Peter's Church — A Windfall
to the Author, — to which the reader is indebted for the
posthumous tale ofthe " Leeward Settlers."  30
CHAPTER IV.
A day in the plovering pasture  137
CHAPTER V.
The Bay-house— The Bachelor's Cave — The Animal-flower
Cave — The Carpet Room — The Animal Flower — The Back
Cave — Shark Catching  151

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

Samuel Seagrave — A dinner-party — Equalization of Sugar
Duties— St. Nicholas Abbey, and Cherry Tree Hill— A view
of Scotland — Anecdotes of Runaway Ground — The aspect of
the country fancifully compared with the battle-field of the
Titans— Miss D. — The Boiling Spring, and Turner's-hall
Wood — Dr. Maycock's book — Dr. Collyns  page 163
CHAPTER VII.
The East Coast —Barbados Tar — Reminiscences of the Coast
— The Duel — Round Rock — Melancholy occurrence of
Drowning — Cole's Cave  183
CHAPTER VIII.
The Parishes of St. George and St. John — Various places
visited — Drax Hall Wood : one of its inmates, a scion of
the Palaeologi — The Obiah-man, a Tale in five parts  196
CHAPTER IX.
A visit to Codrington College — The approach to, and the ap
pearance of the Edifice, with the reflections it awakened —
The interior — A brief outline of its foundation, and present
constitution — Burnt Hill  242
CHAPTER X.
Return to Bridge-town — The labouring population — Various
observations concerning them — Sir Evan MacGregor —
The subject of the Labourer resumed, in connexion with
Emigration — A permanent impression is made by my visit to
Barbados — Conclusion.  250

SKETCHES OF BARBADOS,
$c q-c.

CHAPTER I.
H.M. Brig Hydra— Low spirits — Bulam fever of Sierra
Leone — Carlisle Bay, and anecdote of Lord Nelson — Bridge
town and its environs — The cabbage-tree — The letter-bearer
— The letter and its results.

It was in the latter part of the month of August,
and about a week after our arrival in Carlisle
Bay, Barbados, from Sierra Leone, that I
sat in the fore-cabin of H. M. brig Hydra. The
day was sultry and oppressive ; and this ener
vating state of the weather, combined with a
depression of spirits, frequently one of the
sequelae of the bilious fever engendered on the
coast of Africa, and from an attack of which I
Was now slowly recovering, — had induced just
B

2 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
that morbid frame of mind, which is fitted to
receive, and is sensitively ahve to such im
pressions only, as tend to plunge it yet deeper
into despondency and gloom. My eye caught
the last, and otherwise, inoffensive step of the
companion ladder, as it stood out beyond the
entrance of the cabin; and this object alone
sufficed to conjure up the most melancholy
reflections, and to renew in vivid and protracted
succession, each scene of suffering and despair,
as it had occurred on board the brig in her
disastrous passage from Sierra Leone. We
had gone there on business connected with a
slaver that we had captured ; and her adju
dication being determined, had at length sailed
from thence, — not, however, without conveying
with us, the concealed miasma of the Bulam,
or marsh-fever.
This fell monster shewed itself to its un
suspecting victims, when we had been nearly a
week at sea ; and our brig, lately teeming with
life and freshness, seemed now the abode of
death. -and corruption. None was wholly ex
empt from its ravages ; all, to a man, on board,
came under the scourge of our dread visitant,
which, after stalking forth, in all its horrors, on

TALES OF BARBADOS. 3
its isolated stage, from the cabin's berth to the
lowliest hammock, and satiating itself on those
who were food for its voracity, left us the
scanty remains of an enfeebled crew — barely
sufficient to work out vessel. I was of that
relic ; and in my arms died our much regretted
and gallant commander. Stricken with the
disease, which day after day consigned to the
deep, the black and already putrefying remains
of his officers and crew,. he never laid himself
down, but walked wildly in his delirium, alter
nately on the deck, and in his cabin; and
when nature could bear up no longer, he sunk
exhausted, and breathed his last on that very
step, which now recalled these sad and mourn-
. fui images. Such painful associations, added
to which, the close and confined cabin I was
in, gave rise to the most distressing and suffo
cating sensations in my chest and head, similar
to those I had recently experienced during
my illness, so that I rose hurriedly from my
seat, seized my cap tha*t lay beside me on the
table, and rushed on the deck in order to
breathe more freely, and to divert the current
of my thoughts into a less gloomy and revolt
ing channel, by other and surrounding objects
b2

4 DESULTORY sketches, a*nd
of contemplation. Mounted on the carriage
of one of the guns, and looking over the bul
warks of the brig, Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown,
and its environs, soon occupied my attention
in such a manner as to chase away the " devil's
blue," and all recollections of the fever and its
consequences. In Carlisle Bay, anchored the immortal Nel
son, when in 1805 he came to these latitudes in
pursuit of the French fleet; and an anecdote
still told of him in Barbados, is aptly illustra
tive of the all-absorbing passion for naval deeds
of daring excitement and glory, that ever
strongly marked the character and history of
that gallant commander, and which, like the
mountain torrent that rages and breaks from
its bounds at every obstacle to its mad and
impetuous course to the sea, led him in this
instance to a burst of feeling, — an expression
reflecting on the conduct of a truly brave man,
the use of which, it is to be hoped, that he
afterwards regretted.
On arriving in the bay, Lord Nelson imme
diately telegraphed for the Admiral on the sta
tion to come on board the Victory; and Sir
Alexander Cochrane, who held this command,

TALES OF BARBADOS. 5
obeyed the command. " Well, Cochrane," said
the excited and impatient Nelson; " the French !
the French! where are they?" "I cannot
tell," was the reply, "report says — " "Not
tell !" echoed the other, in a disappointed tone
of voice, and stamping his foot on the deck.
" Oh ! Cochrane, Cochrane, if my friend, Sam
Hood, had been here, I should have known
to-day where to find the French fleet !"
The view of Bridge-town, the capital of Bar
bados, is by no means a very striking one ;
yet, on the whole, does it present a pleasing
and not uninteresting picture from the harbour
or bay in which we lay at anchor. Need-
ham's Point and the Garrison, which by the
way, is an extensive and handsome range of
buildings, and makes a very respectable appear
ance in the prospect, from the south angle, or
horn ofthe bay, while the northern, or opposite
one, is occupied by Rickett's battery, low
coral reefs in front, and by Fontabelle and its
neighbourhood behind, embosomed in trees,
among which the tall coco-nut erects its
tufted head, and towers high above its more
leafy companions. The interval between these
two points, receding beyond the graceful curve

0 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
formed by the waters of the harbour, and by
the shore, is filled up by the Carenage and
Mole, and by the town itself, with its two only
steeples, or rather towers, belonging to their
respective edifices, — to St. Michael's church,
or the cathedral, and to St. Mary's. In relief
to the dense buildings of the town, rise the
green and sloping hills in the back-ground,
thickly studded with the elegant villas and
houses of the gentry and merchants who
reside in its vicinity ; and among the number
may be distinguished by the lazy flag that
hangs listlessly over a structure scarcely dis
cernible through the trees that surround it,
Pilgrim, or Government house, the residence
of the Governor. Still more beyond these sub
urban dwellings, and over the eminences and
ridges of the undulating hills, the horizon is
frequently broken by the sugar mills, and
offices attached to the plantations, and by an
occasional clump of the tall and stately cab
bage-trees, — the latter denoting the existence,
or now the site only, of some old dwelling-
house, to which they probably form an avenue
that had been planted a long time ago by the
hand of the hospitable master of the mansion.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 7
The older inhabitants of the island seemed
indeed to have delighted in these beautiful trees,
for scarce a country-house exists that can boast
of having any pretensions to being "time
honoured," that has not its "cabbage walk," or
at least some of these gigantic palms* growing
in its immediate vicinity.
While I enjoyed the scenery before me, one
of the wharf boats that ply about the shipping
shot out of the Carenage, and under the vigor
ous pulling of the blacks who manned it, and
who are first-rate hands at the oar, the boat
soon reached the object ofits destination, which
proved to be the Hydra. I was attempting at
the moment it came alongside to catch the
burthen and chorus of a song which issued
from the deck of a merchant vessel that was
moored to windward of the brig, and which
very edifying song, to the tune of Jim Crow,
the black porters were trolling forth with sten
torian voices to enliven the work of hoisting in
and stowing away the sugars on board the
ship, — when I heard my name pronounced by
the gruff voice of our boatswain. On turning
round to ascertain the cause of this interrup-
* The Areca oleracea.

O DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
tion, I observed the veteran pointing me out to
a tall black young man who had come in the
boat, and who now at the request to " walk
aft" advanced, and presented me with a letter,
and " Master's compliments." I immediately
recognized my friend Seacroft's servant, by his
spare form and long thin legs, which peculiar
conformation of body and lower extremities had
gained for him the name of " Compasses."
" Well, Compasses," said I smiling, as I
looked at the fellow, and thought the sobriquet
most appropriate. " How's your master 1"
" Quite hearty, sir," replied Compasses, grin
ning, and thereby displaying a very white
range of teeth at the idea of my having recol
lected him.
I broke the seal of the letter, which was from
my valued friend and school-fellow. Its con
tents and purport were as follows : —
" My dear Easel,
" The Globe paper, nearly a week old, and
received only yesterday, announces the arrival
of the Hydra, and details, at length the sad
mortality on board occasioned by that dreadful
scourge the Bulam fever. Allow me to con
gratulate you on your escape ; and as I know

TALES OF BARBADOS. 9
your health must have suffered materially from
the disease, let me also remind you of your
promise, made me when you were last at this
port, — that as soon as you obtained leave of
absence, you would repeat your visit, and re
main with me a longer period than your duties
permitted you to do at that time. Being under
this engagement to me, — and I shall not be
satisfied but in the due performance of it, — I
require you to repair forthwith to Champaign
ground, where I have taken for a month or six
weeks a ' Bay-house,' id est, a house near the
sea, capitally adapted for invalids, and such as
you whose health requires nursing. Here you
will soon recruit, which will not be the case if
you remain on board your brig. As the place
from which I write is rather a remote spot, and
you may experience some difficulty in finding
your way hither, I will send my phaeton for
you ; so let me know what day you will re
quire it. Believe me,
Dear Theodore, Ever yours,
" Moorland Cottage. SAMUEL SeACROFT."

10 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
Leave of absence had been granted me, which
Seacroft was already aware of; and as I only
waited for an opportunity to return to England,
1 resolved to accept this kind invitation, and to
see as much of the island as my limited time
would permit me to do. I therefore dispatched
Compasses with an assurance that I would
be with his master in a few days, and would
send for his phaeton from Speights-town, to
which place it was my intention to pro
ceed by water. Nor did Compasses fail
before he left the brig, to offer a further induce
ment to my visit to Champaign ground. " Mas
Thedore," said the fellow, " mind bring your
gun wid you ; capital place that, Massa in for
plover ; he say he felt sick, and must hab
change of air, — he tell the doctor so, — no sich
ting, sir ! he gone to loord (leeward) for the
plovering season ! Mas Sam speck capital
sport too, sir ; plenty of fun ! Good bye, sir ;
mind bring your gun," and the fellow left me
with another bow and a grin, to clamber over
the brig's side into his boat.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 11

CHAPTER II.
The Schooner and her passengers — Paul, his encounter with
the huckster— The Missionary, his observations on Barba
dos in reference to the labouring population, and to the al
tered and present state of society there — West Coast of
Barbados described — Tumble Dick's gully — Paul's story —
Speights.
Two days after what had occurred, and is men
tioned in the foregoing chapter, I bade adieu to
the brig ; and the hour of 3 o'clock, p. m., found
me seated in the stern sheets of one of the
droghers that run daily from Speights-town to
the capital, with my portmanteau and the gun,
which Compasses had urged should accompany
me on my visit to his master. The little
schooner, worked by black hands, floated buoy
antly out of the Carenage, for she was returning
without any other load, save the passengers she
conveyed. These, besides a missionary preacher
and myself, consisted of eight or ten huckster
women, who with their empty bags and baskets,
the contents of which they had disposed of

12 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
during the morning, formed, as they squatted
down or lay at their length in the bottom of
the boat, an odd and singular-looking group
— their fat persons, greasy laughing faces,
and the loud jibbering lingo of these ladies in
cessantly ringing on one's tympanum, exhibit
ing, certainly, a spectacle I had rarely met with.
" Set still, and kip yer tongues inside yer
teeth," bawled out one of the crew, as the little
vessel was in the act of rounding the reef before
she hauled her wind for home; and such a
shout of jibes and invective followed this exhor
tation to their ladyships, as perfectly to astonish
me and scandalize the worthy preacher. The
man, who so unceremoniously had called upon
them to do a thing that seemed totally out of
their nature entirely to comply with — that of
holding their tongues — was a smart, dapper,
roguish looking fellow, and appeared to act,
independently of his ordinary duty as seaman,
in the threefold character of a steward, wag, and
receiver of fare. He was in no way discon
certed at the torrent of words he had brought
upon himself, but taking up a rope's end, threat
ened in a joking manner to " make it bite some
of their backs." At that moment, a woman,

TALES OF BARBADOS. 13
who was leaning over the aftermost thwart,
engaged in a t<3te-a-t£te with one of her com
panions, shewed so seductive a posture to the
mischievous imagination of Master Paul, for
the practical illustration of his threat, that
winking his eye at the others, he unhesitatingly
suited the action to the word, and applied some
what smartly the instrument of castigation to a
prominent feature of the lady's person. Thus
saluted, she quickly turned on her assailant,
and immediately there commenced a battle,
half earnest and half in joke on the part of the
assaulted damsel, amidst a roar of laughter and
vociferation. " That's it, Nanny, gee it him well, gal, for
taking de exbantage of you," cried a voice from
the women. " At her, Paul ! now's your time,
lad," shouted the men as the schooner made a
lurch, and occasioned Nanny to lose her equi
librium ; while her more practised antagonist
taking advantage of the moment, put an end to
the combat by securing Nanny's arms, and
forcibly seating her on the flooring of the boat,
imprinting gallantly at the same time, by way
of an armistice, a sounding smack on the thick
and pouting lips of the half exhausted huckster.

14 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
Peace and harmony being shortly after re
stored, there ensued between the missionary
and myself a conversation originating from
some inquiries I made of him as to the pros
pects of Barbados since the altered condition
of the negro population by the recent and vo
luntary act of the Island Legislature, which had
surrendered to them the remaining period of
their apprenticeship. My informant, a man of
about fifty years of age, of unassuming man
ners, and with a slightly foreign accent, was an
intelligent and shrewd observer of the times,
apparently divested of the prejudices common
to men of his profession, and completely versed
on all points relating to the topic on which he
spoke. His remarks, given with every demon
stration of diligent enquiry and deep reflection,
so coincide in many particulars with my own
after-observation, that I do not hesitate to
introduce them to the notice of such of my
readers as may be interested in the affairs and
fate ofthe West India colonies.
" Barbados," said the missionary, " as a pro
ductive sugar plantation, may, I think, do
well, probably better, than her sister colonies,
because every inch of land that is not a bare

TALES OF BARBADOS. 15
and barren rock is already cultivated, and in
the possession of private individuals. There
are here no wilds, no virgin and unoccupied lands,
to which, as is the case in many other parts
of the West Indies, the emancipated people
can resort to, in their desire for unconditional li
berty. They must therefore necessarily be
dependent on labour and on their own manual
exertions for support ; consequently the work
ing and cultivation of the estates will follow,
although for a time disturbed and rendered
irregular by the new and altered condition of a
race of people merging from slavery into free
dom, and intoxicated with unenlightened and
narrow ideas of liberty, which many of them
viewed as an entire cessation from all employ
ment. Nor am I apprehensive of voluntary
emigration, that is, emigration not forced by
calamitous circumstances, or by utter privation
of the necessaries of life, acting detrimentally
here ; for the negro is very much attached to
the place in which he is bred and born, and
generally averse to change his services even
from one estate to another ; and the fact of the
very few labourers having as yet emigrated
from the island in spite of the inducements

16 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
held out to them by some of the neighbouring
colonies, evinces a strong disinclination to at
tempt to ' better their luck elsewhere.'
" Persons have, indeed, imagined the island
to be over-populated with labourers, and that
some could well be spared, but this opinion
is erroneous ; for during periods of plenty,
when provisions are abundant, many a negro
is prone to discontinue his employment, and
live idly upon the wages he may have pre
viously earned, until all are spent, and dire
necessity compels him to renew once more his
exertions. This casualty, or hiatus in the
routine of continuous labour, so necessary to
the cultivation of the sugar-cane, the apparent
surplus of population is actually required to
remedy and to supply. There is one circum
stance, however, which claims for itself serious
and important consideration, as it may one
day operate to the prejudice ofthe future pros
perity of Barbados : it is, that the younger
children of the present generation of the la
bouring population are not trained up to habits
of agricultural labour. Their parents, asso
ciating field-labour with slavery, and still
looking upon the hoe as a humiliating emblem

TALES OF BARBADOS* 17
of their past days of servitude, seem to con
sider agricultural work as a degrading occu
pation, and instil this idea into the minds of
their children; hence, in our schools you will
not find one boy in fifty who seems disposed
to adopt the labourer's line of life; their in
clinations seem bent on following the different
trades. Whether their present dispositions
will undergo any change, and the case in point
ultimately find its own level, can only be mere
conjecture." I remarked, that all could not confine
themselves to trades ; and asked my compa
nion if he considered the emancipated labourers
a cheerful and contented peasantry 1
" Without drawing any comparisons between
them and the labouring classes of other coun
tries, I should decidedly say they were, and
likely to continue so, unless made disaffected by
any external intervention."
" I presume," said I, " you allude to the
saints of Aldermanbury ?"
The missionary looked at me seriously, —
paused, and evading a direct reply to my
query, said, in a grave tone of voice, " They
err greatly, and have much to answer for,
c

18 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
who either for sinister and self-interested pur
poses, through obstinate ignorance, or sullen
indifference to the real condition of the negro
population, would sow the seeds of a dissen
sion which might ultimately end in strife.
Even the home government should be cautious
in their policy with the colonial legislatures.
It has done a good deed in giving liberty to a
once oppressed race of people ; it has likewise
provided for their rights, and the free exercise of
them ; so far, this is generous, noble, and just !
Let it not, however, forget that slavery in the
West Indies has ceased to exist ; and that to
supererogate, is to trample upon the rights and
properties of others, who have as great a claim to
their protection as the black children of Africa."
" Then you imagine that there does not
exist any intention on the part of the pro
prietary body to oppress the emancipated
people, or that they have any desire to renew
the old slave system of treatment with the
labourers?" "No, certainly not; nor could they do it
with impunity, were they so disposed. The ad
ministration of the law is now based on such
fair and equitable principles, that if a labourer

TALES OF BARBADOS. 19
conceives himself to be in any way injured by
his employer, the . magistrate's office of the
district is open to him for complaint, which
if not redressed to the labourer's entire satis
faction, he may refer his case (the decision of
the magistrate being suspended in the mean
while) to the Court of Appeal ; and this tri
bunal has the power to annul or reverse the
judgment of the magistrate, should it appear
that justice has not been adequately awarded
to the appellant. Even from this court there
is an appeal to the Governor and council ; but
in no instance has it yet been resorted to, so
satisfactory appear to have been the decisions
ofthe former tribunal."
" But cases of cruelty and oppression to the
labouring population in ejecting them from
their cottages are reported to have occurred."
" It cannot be denied that ejectments did
frequently take place soon after the emancipa
tion ; but the facts connected with these cir
cumstances that demanded those harsh mea
sures, were sadly perverted and misrepresented.
Such examples of severity were really needed.
The labourers ejected were those, who positively
refused to work for their former masters, and
c2

20 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
contumaciously insisted on retaining and living
in the houses attached to the estate on which
they had been located as slaves. This state of
insubordination and idleness infected the rest,
who were otherwise disposed to be industrious
and orderly ; and in the mean time the pro
perty suffered. It is not to be supposed that
this could be passively endured ; and what
happens every day in England with landlord
and tenant, occurred here. The cases are
parallel; but certainly more allowance ought
to have been made in favour of the planter, on
account of the recent transition in the relations,
that had only a short time before subsisted
between him and the labourer, as master and
slave. Such, however, are the cases, that
calumny and misrepresentation have converted
into cases of cruelty and oppression ! "
Here terminated our discourse on this sub
ject, and I became attentive to the scenery,
which we, from time to time, glided past as the
Schooner, coasting from point to* point, held
her course to the place of her destination.
There is something peculiar in the character
of the western coast of Barbados. After
leaving behind Bridge-town and its immediate

TALES OF BARBADOS. 21
neighbourhood, a low tract of land, highly cul
tivated in some parts of it, and bordering on
the sea, runs nearly through the whole length
of the island, being thickly wooded near the
water's. edge with mahogany, manchineel, coco
nut, and other trees. More or less contracted
in its breadth, as certain abrupt ridges that
form its inland boundary, recede from, or ap
proach the sea, it is the site of many and
detached dwellings, and must many years
ago, have presented a formidable appearance
from the long line of forts and batteries that
were thrown up to defend the coast from foreign
invasion. These are not now visible from the
sea, being for the most part dismantled. With
one or two exceptions, the only vestiges that
remain of them, are a few old dark-stained
walls, crumbling more from neglect, than from
the hand of time ; and some low stone breast
works partly concealed by grass and weeds, the
traveller being only informed of their where
abouts, by the rusty and dismounted guns,
which he frequently meets with on his way
from Bridge-town to Speights, — the road be
tween these places running along this tract.
Here also is situated the Hole or James-town —

22 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
the latter being the name originally given to it
by the first adventurers who came to colonize
Barbados, and who settling themselves on this
spot, founded the town and called it James
town ;* its present designation of Hole being a
corruption of the word old. On looking to the
interior, the country rises in long chains of hills
or cliffs running north and south, and presenting
here and there, as they ascend one above
the other, precipitous and mural faces. These
" ragged and bare washed surfaces to the
west" seemed to the Rev. Mr. Hughes in his
history of Barbados, as illustrative of his
opinion, that on the subsidence of the deluge,
the currents of the retreating flood ran from
east to west, thus tearing these cliffs "like cas
cades" by the violence of its falling waters over
them. They certainly have that appearance,
and the gullies or ravines which frequently and
invariably intersect the hills in the direction of
east and west, and which form striking features
in the scene, are strongly corroborative of that
supposition. The undulating ground and the
table-lands, that lie between and above these
cliffs, are clothed with the most luxuriant vege-
* 1625. l

TALES OF BARBADOS. 23
tation, in which the sugar cane, spread out on
their surfaces like so many sheets of beautiful
green, every where predominates, — while, to
diversify and enhance the interest of the view,
the eye meets continually with mills, dwelling-
houses, and the stately but formal rows of
cabbage-trees, which ever and anon crown the
summits of the hills.
One of the gullies just alluded to, attracting
my attention by its singular and wild appear
ance, and exciting in me a latent curiosity to
know whether this ravine assumed any name,
or had any circumstances of interest connected
with its history, which fancy whispered me was
the case, I asked the missionary respecting it.
He did not know its name, but the skipper,
who was steering the schooner, replied to my
enquiry, by stating that the place was called
" Tumble-Dick's Gully," and " dat was all he
know'd." "Tumble-Dick's Gully?" repeated I aloud,
laughing at this strange appellation.
At the mention of Tumble- Dick's gully, Paul
came alertly aft, doffed his straw hat, scratched
his woolly head, and assuming a consequential
air, with which there mingled a good share of

24

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

low cunning and humour, exclaimed, " Aye, yer
honour, I can tell you a funny story about dat
same gully."
On being requested to tell his story, Paul
began his yarn, which I shall narrate as near
as my memory serves me, in his own phrase
ology. It, however, would require Charles
Matthews's mimic powers to do justice to the
telling ; and I fear it will lose its effect, and
much of the relish it then afforded me, and his
other auditors, for want of Paul's manner of
description. " To suit the action to the word —
the word to the action," prevails ever with the
negro when relating his story ; but Paul's lick-
erishness, his expression of successful cunning,
and his practised duplicity, were highly di
verting and characteristic. paul's story.
" When I was a youngster, and belonged to
Mister Robinson, that lives down to loord, he
says to me one night, Paul, says he, you mus
tak de horse in de mornin, and go to St.
Thomas's to Mr. Thingumbe, I forgets his name,
yer honour — and get de money he prommis to
pay me. So in de mornin my master gibs me

TALES OF BARBADOS. 25
a scrip to de gen'lman, and off I sets. Well,
I had to cross dat same gully you see dere,
but a good bit higher up in de country, and
when I comes to de gully, I was obligated to
get off de horse, for de path was steep and
berry bad ; so I leads my horse down de
path, and as I gets in de bottom, I hears some
body say hem ! hem ! berry loud. Well, dis
startles me ; and to tell you de truth, I feels
myself grittly relarmed ; for it was a queer sort
of a place : howsomdever, I looks round me,
and I sees a tall black man in de bushes, wid a
good bowstick in his hand. Stop ! says he, in
a big voice dat made de gully ring ; and down
he comes to me. Where is you going dis fine
mornin ? says he ; so I up, and tells him I was
going to St. Thomas's for money, and shows
him de scrip massa had gib me. Oh ! dats it,
going for money, eh ! and he look berry much
pleased ; den he say ater a bit, I s'pose you
habn't had yer breakfast yet. No, sir, says I,
I habn't chaw'd yet dis morning. Well den,
follow me, says he, and I'll gie you som'ut to
eat. So I follows him, leading de horse, till we
comes to a cave in de side of de gully, which
we goes into. Patience me ! dere was a sight !

26 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
why dere was turkeys, fowls, guinea-fowls, all
picked and ready for de spit, and besides all
dese, a side of mutton and a ham hangin up.
Lord, yer honors, dem mak my mouth water,
too sweet ! He den set some cold turkey and
ham before me wid plenty of yams and potatoes,
and tells me to eat hearty. And I didn't, eh ?
S'blood ! I made a hole in de vittels. I gotted
too, some drink ; and when I wer done, he
says to me, says he, I hope you hab fare well.
Oh yes, sir, says I, berry well, I tank you.
Well den, says he, softly and kindly like, when
you returns dis way, you can step in and get
some dinner ; and he pints wid his finger to de
side of mutton, and winks his eye. Berry
well, sir, says I, I'll be sure to come back and
tak some of dat nice mutton wid you. Be
sure you do, says he, for I shall rispect you.
Well, I wish him good-bye for de present,
leads my horse out of de gully, and goes on to
de genl'man's house, who, as it happened,
warn't at home ; but as dey rispected him home
soon, I sits down in de yard ; and as I waits
for him, I tinks 'pon de money, and de same
man I meet up wid in de gully. Presently, up
de genl'man comes, and I hands him de scrip/

TALES OF BARBADOS. 27
which as soon as he read, he goes in de house,
and brings me out ten gold doubloons. I
takes dem, and begs him to gee me back de
scrip, which accordingly he did. Well, I sets
off agen, and as I comes up to an old mill dat
stands by de side of de path, 1 gets off de
horse and goes in, pulls off my trowsers, taks
my handkerchy, and folds up de doubloons
nicely and flat in it, you see, and den ties em
tight round my body. I'm bless, says I to
myself, if I don't eat some of dat same mutton.
Dat chap Primus, for I guess'd t'was he, thinks
to receive (deceive) me, but tak care I don't
receive him ! I den mounts and rides on till
I comes to de gully, and leads my horse down,
whistling all de time to make him believe
I 'speckt nothing ; so when I comes in de
bottom, sure enough, dere was Mister Primus
waiting for me, and grinning hke a monkey
at de thought of habing took de exbantage of
me. Well, says he, my lad, coming up close
to me, hab you gotted de money? No, sir,
Says I, defgenl'man warn't at home, and so I
brings back my massa's scrip ; and as I says
dat, I pulls out de scrip, and shows him. He
look at it, and seem berry disappointed ; den

28 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
he look good at me, and begin to search me ;
he claps his hands to my two sides, and in my
bosom, and feels my jacket pockets, but
howsomdever, he didn't feel de money ! So
when he was done, he said it was dam pur-
boking, — and was going away, but I says to
him, I'll go wid you, and eat some of dat
mutton, sir, for I feels berry hungry. TJmph !
says he, laughing, your ride has gib you an
appetite ; but come along. Well, I went to de
cave, and gotted plenty to eat of de cold
vittels; but eus de tief! de mutton still hang
up in de cave. Burn his vitals ! I don't know
which of de two wer most disappinted, he at
not gettin de money, or me, at not eatin de
mutton ! I seed another man in de cave, his
name was Loue ; as soon as I had eat and
drink hearty, I wish 'em good bye, and away I
goes. But yer honours, I didn't take de straight
path for home ; no, no, I went to de Hole-town,
and I gibs 'em in dere; and berry soon ater
Mas Primus, Loue, and two more of de gang
were took up and sent to de jail." Here Paul
indulged in a hearty laugh.
"But Paul," said I, "you behaved rather

TALES OF BARBADOS* 29
ungratefully to your friend Primus, who treated
you so well in the cave."
" Ungritful ! " exclaimed he, " what he gib
me breakfast for, but to 'tice me back agen ?
and if he had find de money 'pon me, you tink
he were goin to let me go back to my massa ?
No, eus him ! Poor Paul would hab catch'd a
cold in de gully, and hab died of a sore trote,
(passing his finger across his throat.) Drot
him ! he got what he desarved ater ; for he and
de rest of 'em were hang'd. I seed 'em myself
swingin in chains."
"Hung!" said I; "for what?"
" Why, you see, sir, Primus was an outlord
(an outlaw) and used to rob ebery body he
could catch hold of, and de Black Rock people
were too 'fraid of him; and he and his gang
had barbarously murdered a genl'man for his
money; but dey neber could lay hands on him
afore." We soon after arrived at Speights, and I was
escorted by Paul to the hotel, where, in addi
tion to my passage-money, he received an extra ~
gratuity for the story of his adventure in Tumble-
Dick's gully.

30

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

CHAPTER III.
Speights, its populousness not accounted for on the principles
of Mr. Malthus — Mr. X. — Dover-hill Station-house, and re
marks pertinent thereon — St. Peter's Church — A Windfall
to the Author, — to which the reader is indebted for the
posthumous tale ofthe " Leeward Settlers.'*
Speights, famed for sand and flying fish ! is an
irregular-built town, about the average size of
the larger villages in England, and having in
proportion to its dimensions so large a popula
tion, that one wonders how it can contain the
number of people who inhabit it. Whether
this exuberant population, consisting of a con
siderable number of the white, but chiefly of
the coloured and black classes, may be attri
buted, in opposition to the tenets of the Mal-
thusian philosophy, to its being a fishing town,
and thus contributing to the use of its inhabi
tants that comparatively maugre diet of fish,
which among its lower classes is the chief
article of consumption,— I do not presume to
assert : certain it is, however, that like most of

TALES OF BARBADOS. 31
the fishing towns of England and France,
where the inhabitants live principally on fish,
no very luxurious or rich food, and conse
quently, the converse of Mr. Malthus' theory,
of one of the causes of too prolific increase, —
the town of Speights is densely populous. Here
one meets in the streets, in the shape of idle
loitering men, sauntering women nine times in
ten enceinte, noisy children of all ages, and in
the meaner description of houses, the doors and
windows- of which I observed to be thronged
with squatting tailors, knights of St. Crispin,
and hucksters, — a mass of human beings suffi
cient to excite the astonishment and admiration
of the stranger. I should add, however, that
Barbados for its size has been calculated ac
tually to contain more human beings than any
other spot on the surface of the globe, China
and the island of Malta not excepted.*'
I rambled over the place with Mr. X. as my
cicerone, visiting its church, the schools, its
police stations, and house of correction, before
breakfast on the morning that followed my
arrival in Speights. Mr. X. had found me out
* Barbados is 21 miles by 14 in its greatest breadth, and
contains nearly 130,000 inhabitants.

32 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
at the hotel late on the past evening, and
insisted on my accepting a bed at his house,
promising to show me the " lions of Speights,"
and to convey the intelligence of my arrival
there to Seacroft, with whom he was an inti
mate acquaintance, and at whose residence I had
before met him. I could not have had a more
amusing conductor. X. was a little middle-
aged bachelor, slightly inclining to corpulency,
with light eyes and hair, the latter of which
leaving the front of his head partly bare, caused
a strong contrast between the clear white fore
head and the roseate hue of his red and choleric
face. Humorous in his temper, cynical in his
manner, and poignant and cutting in his re
marks on men and things, X. was, for all this,
much esteemed for his hospitality, his strong
attachment to his friends, openness, and honesty
of character, and his willingness to assist de
serving objects who needed pecuniary aid : those
unworthy of his liberality knew the man, and
were afraid to ask it.
"Solitary cells!" burst from him, as the
keeper ofthe station-house on Dover-hill showed
us some small rooms built against the prison-
yard wall. " Zounds, sir ! comfortable cham-

AND TALES OF BARBADOS. 33
bers, sir ! eight feet by eight and a half! why,
this is holding out a premium for the commis
sion of crime with a vengeance ! Bless my
soul ! " continued he, examining the inner wall
of the cell, which was the outer wall or enclo
sure of the prison ; " why, sir, I'd warrant with
nothing else than my digits to scratch a hole
here, and give you active demonstration, Mr.
Keeper, of the meaning of the term leg-bail."
" Hush, sir," said I, in an audible whisper ;
and wishing to indulge his humour, " the soli
tary of the adjoining cell will certainly hear
you, and commence an attack on the wall with
his finger-nails, by way of amusing his lonely
hours." "Ha! ha!" chuckled X., "Good that-
solitary cells these, Mr. Keeper — eh? — where
the prisoners may play at Pyramus and Thisbe :"
and leading me from the cell into the yard, he
there commenced to inveigh strongly against
the mistaken and fashionable philanthropy of
the day, that would make palaces of prisons,
and persuade itself that it punished or re
claimed hardened vice and crime, by changing
their abodes, chiefly those of hovels and the
worst description of dwellings, for places of
D

34 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
comparative ease and luxury ! In this philippic
the Government came in for its share of vitu
peration. "Yes, sir, while out of office the Whigs
denounced patronage, and having some little
modesty, have not, when in office, sacrificed so
much to this deity at home : they do not hesi
tate, however, to make up for this self-denial,
by a full observance of her worship abroad.
The tortured colonies have groaned under sti
pendiaries and commissioners by wholesale.
They sent out one of the latter gentry to inspect
prisons, — a man that knew as much about a pri
son, and its proper object, as he did of a palace !
— save the mark ! — and that could have been but
little, to judge from his appearance ! The
consequence was, the destruction of a good
and wholesome house of correction, and the
substitution of this ginger-bread baby-house.
Only fancy too, sir ! — as an instance of the
ignorance of our distant rulers — the Colonial
Secretary having advised the enactment of poor
laws for Barbados, when there are not half a
dozen paupers in each parish !"
On our way home, we visited St. Peter's
Church ; its interior is neatly fitted up, and is

TALES OF BARBADOS. 35
in good keeping throughout with the style of
architecture in which it is built : the order is
Grecian. The edifice, however, is ill propor
tioned outwardly, from the want of height in
the tower, which is the only relic of the old
church, the hurricane of 1831 having totally
destroyed the rest of the building : even the
tower itself was damaged, and thrown out of its
perpendicular; in consequence of which, no
material addition has since been made to it.
A slight superstructure is contemplated.
After a hearty breakfast, about which X.
clamoured with his cook for its not being
ready as soon as we entered the house, he re
tired; and returning with a bundle of manu
script papers, presented them to me, saying,
" I found out by your inquisitiveness this morn
ing, and by the interest you evinced in deci
phering the half-effaced inscriptions on the
tomb-stones in the church-yard, that you have
a wish to know more of the traditional history
of our island than I myself could impart. These
papers are the labour of a deceased young
friend, a great lover of research in such mat
ters. He died, poor fellow ! some years back,
and left me his executor. The papers I found
d2

36

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

in his desk, and as they were not valued by his
relatives, I was permitted to retain them. Here
they are, and if they interest you, make what
ever use you like of them ; for their only value
to me consists in their having been written by
him." Having complimented X. on his pene
tration, I seized with avidity the bundle, and
seating myself in a snug corner of the balcony
which overhung the street, commenced inspect
ing its contents ; while the caterer to this
mental feast, smiling at my curiosity, left me
on some pretext of business, to devour it at my
leisure. I found the bundle to consist of a
miscellaneous collection of botanical and geolo
gical notes and observations, of traditions,
stories, and anecdotes. On some of these tra
ditions, the writer had founded several tales,
some of which were in a finished state, while
the rest were mere fragments, commenced,
but never completed. One of the former, bear
ing the title of the "Leeward Settlers," ran
thus : —

TALES OF BARBADOS. 37

THE LEEWARD SETTLERS.
CHAPTER I.
" See'st thou my home? 'tis where yon woods are waving
In their dark richness to the sunny air." Felicia Hemans.
"¦ Start on the fisher's eye like boat
Of island pirate or Mainote." — The Giaour.
On the north-west coast of Barbados, and on
the same site that the town of Speights now
occupies, there once stood a hamlet chiefly
formed of the rude dwellings and stores of
some of those adventurers who had emigrated
from their native land, and settled in the island
under the protection and patronage of Sir
William Courteen, — an enterprising merchant
of London, and the original founder of the
colony. Of the houses of the hamlet, which
were for the most part constructed of wood, a
few were here and there detached throughout a
narrow, but otherwise extensive clearing bounded
on the inland side by a low ridge of rocky
heights, running almost parallel with the sea ;
each of these cottages having attached to it a

38 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
few acres of land, in which were cultivated
esculent plants for the subsistence of the pro
prietor and his family, tobacco and cotton, the
chief articles then of barter and exportation, if
we except the timber-trees, which were felled
in the preparation of the land, and much valued
for their hardness and durability. Others,
principally stores and buildings for the drying
of tobacco, were more nearly connected ; and
when these happened to be opposed, so as to
leave an interval or thoroughfare betweeh, such
a circumstance entitled the row to the dignified
appellation of a street.
The inhabitants of this infant settlement were
comparatively few; although progressing emi
gration had recently added to their numbers ;
and hard and arduous had been their task to
render the spot selected for their future home
capable of cultivation ; but such was their
apparent devotion to the rich and fertile soil,
that they continued to persist in combating the
difficulties and innumerable hardships incident
to their situation, and with astonishing diligence
had now contrived to clear large tracts of land
in and about the neighbourhood of the hamlet,
on which but a few years back grew the im-

TALES OF BARBADOS. 39
mense and almost impenetrable woods peculiar
to the island. The forest, indeed, crowned
with dark and exuberant foliage, and occasion
ally intercepted by deep and gloomy chasms or
gullies, — effects no doubt of some terrible con-
vulsion of nature, — could still be seen from the
heights immediately adjacent to, and above the
dwellings of the colonists, to spread itself in
every direction over the face of the country.
Such being the more immediate scene of our
tale, it may be necessary, ere we proceed, to
premise for the information of our readers a
brief statement of occurrences in no little degree
connected with it ; its date referring to a period
towards the end of the year 163 — .
The Spaniards and Portuguese, in their inef
fectual attempts to exclude the other nations of
Europe from participating in the commerce with
their colonies in the New World, had introduced
prior to the settlement made in Barbados, by
this line of policy, an illicit intercourse hetween
the Dutch and their settlements in the Brazils;
and the vast wealth resulting from this trade,
that frequently passed across the broad expanse
of the Atlantic to the shores of Holland, and in
particular, their own ships returning home laden

40 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
with specie and produce, held out too many
and alluring temptations to be long resisted
by the licentious characters peculiar to the age.
That restless spirit of enterprise that pervaded
almost every maritime country of Europe, thus
found in this floating store of wealth, a ready
channel, into which, the daring and dissolute
of its many votaries might vent their wild
desires ; and so that the goal promised a rich
prize, it mattered not to them how it might be
attained. Robberies at sea began to be com
mitted; and soon became prevalent. Crews
composed of a heterogeneous mixture of all
countries, emboldened by one or two signal
instances of success, now appeared on the
western main, and continued for a series of
years after, to infest these seas, exhibiting in
their thirst after gain deeds of revolting atrocity,
and in the acquirement of riches, often connect
ing murder with pillage. These marauders did
not confine their depredations and excesses to
the sea alone ; for in order to victual their ships
and to procure water, or sometimes driven
either by a superior force, or by stress of
weather to seek a secure harbour, they seldom
failed on such occasions to make a good use for

TALES OF BARBADOS. 41
themselves of the emergency of the case, which
ever it chanced to be, and to exact supplies, &c.
from the settlements, or take them " vi et
armis," when a show of resistance was offered ;
if they found they could venture to do so with
impunity. 'Tis true that the infant colony of
Barbados, of which our hamlet formed only a
detached portion, had not as yet been actually
visited by any crews of this description ; owing
probably to the circumstance of the island
being more out of their immediate track; yet
rumours of their violence and robberies, de
scribed in the most distorted and exaggerated
terms, had latterly reached the ears of the
settlers, by means of the vessels that occasion
ally traded or touched there. The anticipation,
therefore, of an event of this nature, induced
the colonists to take such measures, as their
limited means permitted, to resist any hostile
intentions either on the part of the pirates, or
any other external enemy. In imitation of
their windward neighbours of Carlisle Bay, the
people of the hamlet had but lately completed
their own works of defence, a species of fortifi
cation constructed with what materials could
hastily or conveniently be obtained and employed

42 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
for such a purpose ; these, chiefly consisting cf
logs of wood, stone and turf, were raised into a
kind of rampart, which was thrown up on
points best calculated for defensive operations,
and to command the approach by sea ; each
rampart being mounted principally with Falconet
and Saker, pieces of cannon of small calibre,
and much used in those times. Independent
of these warlike resources, each individual was
well armed ; and generally speaking, being
robust of body and inured to fatigue and priva
tion, there was not, one of their number, who
was not resolutely* determined to defend the
land, which in spite of reminiscences not easily
nor readily effaced, they all had become now
reconciled to, as their home and country.
It was towards the close of a fine evening,
that two men, who apparently had just returned
from fishing and had hauled up their little skiff
on the sandy beach before the hamlet, stood
conversing and intently gazing on two vessels —
the subject of their discourse, and which for the
last hour had been seen by them to sail on and
off, without any obvious indication of pursuing
one determined course. On this account they
had now become the objects of their attention

TALES OF BARBADOS. 43
and curiosity. The waste of waters over which
they bent their eyes, reflected the bright beams
of the western sun ; while the hull and shrouds
of each vessel contrasted darkly with the varied,
glowing, and richly tinted clouds, in the distant
heavens behind.
The elder person was a tall sinewy man, and
clad like a fisherman or seaman, in a long
greyish jacket or doublet, similar in make to
the dreadnought sometimes worn by persons of
that calling in our times, only of a thinner
material and texture to suit the climate he lived
in — with loose trowsers, which, on jumping
from the boat, he had rolled up above the knee
to prevent the said nether garment from being
wet and soiled by the light surf as it broke on
the shore. A large clasp-knife was stuck into
a broad buff belt that encircled his waist ;
while from it depended portions of sea-line,
hooks, and other articles of the craft. A hat,
having a low conical crown with a slouching
rim of moderate dimensions, shaded a face,
which though tanned by frequent exposure to
the weather, shewed a tolerably regular set of
features. His years may have numbered fifty
only, but incessant toil, added to which, the

44 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
effects of a tropical sun, made him appear
somewhat older. It was evident, from the
almost troubled aspect which sat on his other
wise open, good-humoured, but shrewd counte
nance, that the ships on which his attention
was riveted, were not only objects of curiosity
but of suspicion likewise. His companion was
a good-looking young man, and habited in a
similar manner to his father; for so the other
appeared to be from the likeness which the
younger of the two bore to his more aged
associate. " 'Tis strange ! " muttered Dan Hanmer,
interrupting a silence that had prevailed for
some minutes.
" What can yon fellows be doing ? " said he,
again raising his voice after having unconsciously
uttered the first expression of doubt.
" If they be fair traders, or our good friends
from England, they would have hoisted signals
afore this — ah ! and have anchored in the bay
to boot; for the wind holds good. Nay, now
methinks it bodes something ill, when folks
sport no bunting."
" And yet," remarked young Ralph Hanmer,
catching from the vague manner and expressions

TALES OF BARBADOS. 45
of his father, what the thoughts were that
passed in his bosom ; " the thief of a pirate, who
has gone by us before, seldom hesitated to
show his black rag."
" Except the skulker saw in the bay the broad
red ensign of merry old England, my lad !" and
the father's face glowed with enthusiasm, as he
loudly uttered the boast. Dan was an English
man, and had been in early life a sailor. Again
he relapsed into a musing mood, and after having
once or twice put his hands on either side of his
face, in order to exclude the sun, which by its
dazzling brilliancy appeared to render his vision
imperfect, he suddenly exclaimed,
" If the northernmost craft amt Dutch-built,
and one of your smuggling dare-devil cruizers,
call me a gull, and a lubber to boot : egad, and
now I mind me, this accounts for the sounds we
heard while we fished off yon point ; and what
you then took to be thunder (rather early i' the
year for thunder too), was a brush, no doubt,
'tween these very fellows. Hard a lee ! the
Dutchman tacks, and stands in, I warrant."
" Ifit be a pirate, as you suppose," observed
Ralph, " he'll scarce think of landing to-night,
if he even anchors here ; and that's not certain

46

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

yet; moreover, we know not which of the two
has had the worst of the fray, for there's not a
mark of it visible yet !"
" Ah ! boy," said Dan, shaking his head,
and smiling incredulously, at the equivocal tone
of his son's remarks, " if t'other sail there that's
now gone about, and follows in the Dutchman's
wake, has taken him, she would have had his
flag on board with her own hoisted above it.
What ! think you, lad, she would fail to hang
out her signal of victory, and especially too,
afore strangers? Nay, nay, — the pirate has
him hard and fast for a ducat ! and belike hides
his own black rag, as the old one is said to con
ceal his cloven foot and tail, when he wishes to
catch us poor mortals a napping ! but that cock
won't fight. Come ! come !" continued he
hastily, " its getting late, and what can happen,
may happen ; so then if the rover has a mind to
land to-night, it won't be my fault if he should
chance to catch a Tartar ! Take up the fish,
Ralph, run thee up the hill, and sound the
shell to hasten home whoever may yet linger in
the woods, while I go and consult old Arnold
touching this mattter."
" Harkee," said he, looking round on the

TALES OF BARBADOS. 47
light boat that lay on the sand beside them, and
which had only been partially lifted on the
beach out of reach of any advancing tide,
" 'tis a-tempting the devils to do mischief to
leave this bit of a boat here ; give us a hand,
boy, to hoist and hide her in yon bushes."
The cautious Dan and his son soon hid the
object of their solicitude in the underwood,
which grew in wild profusion on the shore,
within twenty yards of the rippling edge of the
water ; and each taking an oar from the boat,
hurried from the place where they had carefully
deposited her, to perform his allotted duty.

CHAPTER II.
Menenius — What works, my countrymen, in hand ?
Where go you
With bats and clubs 1 The matter 1 Speak, I pray
you. — Coriolanus.
In all societies, whether of a civil or political
nature, there is a measure almost universally
adopted for the prevention and correction of
many evils, that grow naturally out of society
itself, and which, without some proper restraint,

48 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
would inevitably produce them, to the utter de
struction of all quietude and order. Old cus
tom from time immemorial sanctions the mea
sure, and experience proclaims it to be necessary.
We allude to the investment of authority in
the hands of one or more persons whose know
ledge and mature judgment, in conjunction with
that power, may repress and control the pas
sions, and check the growing ills inseparable to
a mixed community ; and give solidity and har
mony to the whole, by directing the efforts of
every individual to the benefit of the public
good. The people of the hamlet did not fail to
appreciate the principle, and to see the propriety
of adopting a plan, which would enhance the
comfort of their situation ; and actuated by the
best motives in the pursuit of a social and happy
life, they voluntarily submitted to the guidance
and discretion of William Arnold and Daniel
Hanmer — the two oldest of their companions —
men whose characters were unexceptionable,
and who having families, were also on that
account considered to possess a still greater
claim to the power thus reposed in them. In
electing them, however, as their more imme-

TALES OF BARBADOS. 49
diate chiefs, they still tacitly acknowledged the
authority of the person, who was then termed
Governor of Barbados — a situation barely else
than nominal, and at this precise period of an
uncertain and precarious tenure, arising from
the disputes at home, between the two noble
claimants for the possession of Barbados — the
Earls Carlisle and Pembroke : the latter Earl
advocating the cause of Sir William Courteen,
who indubitably was the founder of the colony :
while the Earl of Carlisle claimed the island as
his right, from its having been included among
the number of the Caribbee islands, in that
famous charter granted to him by Charles the
First, and which constituted him " absolute
proprietor and lord ofthe said region."
Our readers have already been introduced to
one of these functionaries, in the person of Dan
Hanmer; but of Dan's associate and colleague,
old Arnold, it remains to be told that he was
not quite so old as his friend's sobriquet would
imply ; his quiet placid demeanour, with a head
greatly sprinkled with grey hairs, having gained
for him this title of age, which really did not
belong to a person of his time of life and indus
trious habits. William Arnold had been a most
E

50 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
respectable landed proprietor of the southern
part of England, and one of the many votaries
of Mother Earth, whom, in spite of attention to
agricultural affairs, Dame Fortune sometimes
refuses to smile upon. Harassed by a long
series of adversities, he was induced to pursue
his professional labours in another clime, hoping
there to meet with that reward for his indus
trious efforts, which had been denied to him in
the land of his birth. His manners and educa
tion were far above those of his fellow settlers,
by whom he was much valued on account of
his knowledge and experience in the general
routine of agricultural business, such as the
draining and preparation of land. He was
frequently consulted on these matters, and his
advice was always imparted with so much
readiness and good will, that this obliging dis
position caused him to be as much loved, as he
was respected and esteemed for his other less
sociable, but more valuable qualities. He was
generally cheerful and communicative ; at times,
however, a melancholy sadness would cloud
Arnold's brow, and it was invariably remarked,
that when this was the case, a similar dejection
communicated itself to the other members of

TALES OF BARBADOS. 51
his family. What was the cause ? — none knew :
then, and then only was he silent and reserved ;
and to those who inquired the reason of his
grief, his only answer was, that the remem
brance of a domestic affliction occasioned this
gloom ; and the extreme repugnance with which
even this reply was extorted, sufficiently deterred
the curious interrogator from prosecuting fur
ther particulars. A wife and daughter, with an
attached and faithful serving-man, comprised
his family, and were both the willing partakers
and companions of his fortunes.
Mary Arnold was a pretty artless girl of seven
teen. Her dark brown hair formed a pleasing-
contrast with her deep-blue eye, the innocent
vivacity of which, conjoined with a sweet smile,
that in moments of joyous feeling lurked around
her rosy mouth, evinced a cheerful and happy
disposition; a form slight, yet symmetrical; and
her step light and elastic, bore further evidence
to the gentleness of her temper, which indeed
gave additional interest to this young and
almost isolated being ; for with the exception of
her mother and Daniel Hanmer's wife, she was
the only female of the hamlet. Cut off, how
ever, from the early companions of her sex, she
e2

52 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
pined not at her lot, her aim being solely to
promote the comfort of her affectionate parents.
She was the idol of her father, and the source
of happiness and chief restorer to joy, when the
moments of gloom that embittered his days,
were fading before calm reflection, and a con
sciousness, that the immoderate indulgence of
grief, " Shews a will most incorrect to heaven,
A heart unfortified, or mind impatient."
Often in the cooler hours of an evening was
she to be seen reading to her father, in the
porch or arbour in front of his dwelling ;
and while the affectionate parent listened to,
and caressed his daughter, the observer might
gather from the anxious glance and humid
eye — the silent betrayers of his feelings —
the thoughts that oppressed his bosom ; and
which might be said to imply, that the
beloved object of his attention and cares was
unfitted for the toils and dangers of the place
to which he had brought her.
While Mary was engaged in reading to her
father in the manner just related, she and her
auditor were suddenly interrupted by the hasty
approach of Dan, who came to apprise his col-

TALES OF BARBADOS. 53
league of the appearance and demeanour of the
vessels in the bay ; circumstances in themselves,
he considered of sufficient importance to justify
suspicion and caution. On entering the porch,
he was heartily welcomed by both inmates;
while he failed not to salute the maid's fair
cheek for having offered him the seat she had
previously occupied by the side of her father.
" There now," said he, refusing the proffered
chair, and looking slyly, " Ralph would sooner
be here, I trow, to pay that due for thy courtesy,
than be just now kissing the conch, whose rosy
lips, pretty as they be, equal not thine, Mistress
Mary." " Truly, Master Dan," replied the blushing
girl, who was a great favourite of the fisherman,
and, as his insinuation somewhat implied, of his
son also, " thou art quite gallant this evening ;
has the mermaiden met thee to-day? for I
see thou hast but just come from her watery
home, and while singing to entrap thee, — has
she inspired thee with the art to flatter
others?" " Nay, lass : thy fair self prompted the com
pliment," retorted Dan, bowing low, " if thou
wilt have it so ; nor have I met with the mer-

54 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
maiden thou speakest of; but a monster of the
seas far more to be dreaded."
At this moment, one or two persons in arms,
who had been already alarmed at the commu
nication given to them by Dan, were seen by
Arnold and his daughter, to hurry past at no
great distance from them ; while almost at the
same time, the deep tone of the shell, burst
upon their astonished ears, and intimated to the
somewhat dilatory harbinger of intelligence,
whose gallantry had caused a delay in explain
ing the purport of his visit, the necessity of
accounting for the appearance of the armed
men, and the long, loud, and repeated sounds
of the shell. The conch-shell, used instead of
a horn, was seldom resorted to, except in cases
of apprehended danger, or to collect the people
together when their presence was required for
any special object ; and even on these emer
gencies, the notes blown, differed from those
rarely though sometimes used on ordinary occa
sions, and denoted to the hearers the peculiarity
of the circumstance that demanded their use.
Its present tones, which now indicated danger,
startled Arnold, and he anticipated his daugh
ter's inquiry of the " dreaded sea-monster," by

TALES OF BARBADOS. 55
asking in hurried terms, — " The shell, Master
Dan, why these sounds of the shell? and the
men in arms, where go they? is't the Caribs
that have come upon us ?"
" No," said Dan, looking mysteriously, " 'tis
not the wild Carib ; but there be two suspicious
looking crafts in the offing, and I judge that
one of them may perchance turn out to be a
fellow who will e'en take without saying ' by
your leave,' and if he bestow a curse or two as
a guerdon, an' you get nothing more, you may
pocket the affront, and bless your lucky stars
that matters are no worse."
" How then, think you, it be one of the
roving pirates we heard so much of, from the
folks at the bridge in Carlisle Bay ?"
" Even so, Master Arnold, even so, — and for
that reason have I summoned the people to
meet at the rock. 'Twere as well to hie
thither, for I'm thinking thou wilt have to
change thy pruning-knife, that's now stuck in
thy girdle, for a more formidable weapon ; as
one Cincinnatus, that Mistress Mary once read
to us of, did afore thee. — 'Twas a brave, and
methinks a useful fellow that, who could both
speed plough, and wield a good bilboa too.

56 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
Beshrew me ! for lack of wit," continued
Dan, as he turned and observed Mary Arnold,
leaning on her father, pale and alarmed at
his intelligence of the danger with which they
were menaced, "to talk thus, and afore the
poor lass too."
" Nay, girl, fear not," said Arnold, hastening
to encourage his daughter. " Friend Daniel's
conjecture may not be correct ; thou knowest
'tis but a surmise of our worthy, but wary col
league, of the vessel being a pirate. Come,
get thee in, and let not thy speech to thy
mother get the better of thy usual discretion :
thou shalt hear more of this anon ;" then kiss
ing her cold forehead, and seizing his hat, he
turned from the porch to follow Dan Hanmer,
who stalked on with hasty strides, muttering
as he went, at his indiscretion, and grumb
ling at the " faint-heartedness of the women
folk." The two soon gained the summit of a low
eminence — a continuation of the heights or
ridge before alluded to, on which stood the
dwelling of Hanmer. The hill itself was termed
the Dover rock. Why it was so, we can
assign no probable reason. The ascent to it,

TALES OF BARBADOS. 57
sloped gradually from the narrow space of
land beneath, that separated it from the sea ;
and then rising abruptly near the top, and on
the left of the pathway, in a natural wall of
bare rock, it ended itself in table-land, which,
partially clothed with forest, extended for some
miles inland, until again intersected by another
range of similar, but taller heights.
The Dover rock, on which the two worthies
now stood, overlooked some of the houses of
the hamlet, and commanded a good view ofthe
sea ; while on the ocean's broad and gilded
bosom, were observed the suspected vessels,
which had now neared the land, with the
evident purpose of anchoring in the bay. Men
who had been variously occupied during the
day, and had attended to the summons of the
shell in going at once to this apparently usual
place of rendezvous, were listening to young
Hanmer, who was explaining the occasion of
their being' called, while ever and anon he
pointed to the subject of his. conversation.
Here was the sturdy woodsman, with his thick
leathern gauntlet, high boots, and broad axe,
the latter of which, a short time before, had
awakened the slumbering echoes of the forest

58 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
with the measured and oft-repeated blows in
flicted on the mighty trunk of the bearded fig,
or some other less vulnerable, but equally
gigantic tree, by the sinewy arm of its toiling
owner ; — there the hunter, leaning on his long
spear, with the spoil of his chase, the wild hog,
lying at his feet; who, while gazing on the
ships, seemed not at all discomfited at the idea
of proving his weapon against a more daring
foe than had fallen by his hand in the chase of
the day ; the planter, too, with his implements
of husbandry, — a more numerous set; and a
few individuals already armed, filled up the
throng around Ralph, who was immediately
quitted as soon as the chiefs made their ap
pearance ; while these, in their turn, became
the centre of attraction to the excited and
wondering settlers. Various as their avocations,
were the sayings and opinions spoken and
broached by the motley group, who, although
they respected the presence of their superiors,
hesitated not to join in a somewhat discordant
manner, the conference, which was considered
on the present occasion as general, and in
which, each one might be permitted to speak
his own sentiments.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 59
" Many, run up our old country's flag, and
see what th'U say to that," said one.
" Give him a shot athwart his bows from
the long gun at the battery," cried another;
" I warrant thee, that'ill provoke an answer of
some sort."
" 'Twould be as well," said the woodsman,
" to take your skiff, Master Hanmer, and board
with two or three men in her, and ask who they
be, and what's their pleasure. I'll be one to go
in her."
"Ah, ah!" said Dan, "and when thou
comest alongside, perchance, to get a few
hundred-weight of iron ballast or balls, hove
'with a will' into the boat — smash goes her
bottom ; and while we flounder and splash
into the water, marry ! a good jest and subject
of laughter to these incarnates, — for a shot or
two to be put into our sterns, as we come up,
blowing like a parcel of porpoises. Nay, nay,
man," continued he, striking his hand on the
broad shoulders of the last speaker, " we are
but few of us, and can ill spare thee, or any
other, an the worst come to the worst, and we
be driven to defend our lives and property."
"A truce to thy further advice just now.

60 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
good friends," said Arnold, " for the sun now
sinks behind yon dense mass of clouds, and
our light will soon fail us : and listen to what
Master Dan and myself have advised touching
this matter. 'Tis to shot our guns, and place
an armed watch at the bay works, who will
give the alarm, should yon fellow prove to be
a pirate, and attempt to land during the
night; the watch we will relieve at 12 o'clock,
and again at early dawn, by which time, I
doubt not we shall learn the upshot of this
visit — so shall we be using every precaution
without giving the first offence ; for we are yet
to know whether they come on friendly terms
or not. How say ye, friends, to this?"
This mode of proceeding proposed by
Arnold in the doubtful case before them, met
the approbation if not of all, of by far the ma
jority of the assembled settlers, and imme
diate steps were taken to put into execution
the measures that were devised to ensure
protection, and to prevent surprise. The first
watch were told off, and after an harangue
from Dan, not to slumber on their post, but to
be vigilant and alert in giving warning, should
any attack or landing be meditated, these

TALES OF BARBADOS. 61
hastened from the hill to arm themselves, and
then to proceed to the fortified works on the
bay, already mentioned. The remainder soon
after broke up and dispersed themselves to
their different habitations ; the callous and
indifferent to obtain some rest after the fatigue
of the day, and the anxious to enjoy a less
profound slumber, or to await with restless
impatience the expected denouement of the
morning.

CHAPTER III.

That raised emotions both of rage and fear.
The Corsair.
Montjoy. — Once more I come to know of thee,
King Harry,
If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound. King Henry V.
Morning had long since dawned, without any
attempt having been made by the pirates to
surprise either the hamlet, or those who had
acted as its guardians during the night ; while

62 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
they, who at the early approach of day, had
hastened to relieve the watch, were still doomed
to await, in anxious suspense, the result of the
equivocal conduct on the part of the strangers
anchored in the bay; to whom some mystery
unquestionably now attached itself; for distant
sounds of oars and voices had repeatedly startled
the sentinels of the night-watch ; but to their
belief, no landing whether of a hostile or peace
able nature had been as yet effected ; nor was
there at the present moment, after that the
sun had dissipated the sombre shadows of
night, any indication of such being immediately
the case. Of one, at least, of the vessels being
a pirate, was perfectly evident by the flag that
hung listlessly from her mizen peak, save when
some gentle breeze off the land spread out its
black and sluggish folds, and displayed for a
moment or two to the admiring beholders on
shore, the white outline of an hour glass, one
of the emblems of death that was frequently
added to the pirate's flag to impart terror, —
faithfully and fearfully portrayed on its centre.
The ship that bore this ominous signal lay
inside her companion, and considerably within
half a mile of the shore. She was a long, low,

TALES OF BARBADOS. 63
dark-looking craft, with tall raking masts, and
perfectly devoid of all that heavy garnished
work, so usual on the stern and quarters of
vessels of that period ; in short, her tout en
semble impressing one with the idea, that she
was in every respect a fast sailer, which opinion
was further strengthened by the declaration of
no less a connosieur than Dan Hanmer, who,
mounted on the parapet of wall that consti
tuted one of the works of defence, and, sup
ported by the staff that upheld England's
proud banner, leisurely scanned her, after the
manner that a dealer in horses is wont to view
the points of an animal for which he feels an
interest ; and after having for some time com
mented on her apparent qualifications, with all
the confidence of a man who knows his sub-.
ject, ultimately assured his auditors with an
expression that savoured very much of an
oath, that she was " a clipper, and a craft too
that would outwind the devil himself."
On board the vessel in question, all was
bustle and activity. Not so, her companion;
for no signs of life shewed themselves on her
deserted decks.
The reader must pardon our freedom, and

64

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

permit us to take a similar liberty with him as
Asmodeus, the liberated imp of the bottle, is
said to have done with Don Cleofas, the student
of Madrid, and to transport him after the man
ner of le Diable boiteux, to the deck of the
pirate ship, where in some confusion lay a part
of the spolia opima that had not as yet been
consigned to the hold, and which had been
removed no doubt, from the captured vessel,
during the night ; the plying of the boats to and
fro for that purpose, thus accounting for the
sounds heard by those on shore.
On a gun near midships, leant a powerful-
looking man, somewhat above the middle sta
ture, who was occupied in perusing some
tablets that lay on the gun before him. His
dress consisted of a loose white vest, or shirt,
which turning back in a collar on his broad
shoulders, and fastened in front with gold rings
passed through loop-holes, partly displayed the
upper portion of his wide chest, and bull-neck;
over this, from the waist down to a little below
the knee, he wore a kind of frock, similar to
the Highland kilt, but in this instance it was
also white, and his legs too, instead of being
partially bare, the uniform accompaniment of

TALES OF BARBADOS. 65
the Highland costume, were clothed in high,
sad-coloured hose. A broad baldrick, gar
nished with pistols, encircled his waist, while a
massive gold chain, of quaint workmanship,
once the property, no doubt, of some rich
cacique, sustained by his side a long, two-
edged Spanish sword. On his head he wore
a sombrero, mounting the feather of an aquatic
bird, perhaps the cormorant's, as typifying his
vocation. An upper habit, and a short mantle,
both of which had apparently been thrown off,
on account of the oppressive heat of the morn
ing, lay on the stock of the gun by his side.
There was something paradoxical in this man's
appearance — a feud as it were between feature
and expression. His features were decidedly
handsome; but violent passions, too strongly
depicted in his countenance, counterpoised any
favourable impression their regularity may
have first caused in the mind of the observer ;
while an habitual sneer, and a scar that came
aslant the left cheek, even gave a sinister ex
pression to his looks. A few feet from. him, a
young and handsome man, dressed in the style
of the more moderate gallants of the time of
James the First, was leaning over the gunwale
F

66 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
and gazing into the deep profound, as if in as deep
thought, and his brows contracted, as though
the subject of his meditations was any thing
but pleasant or amusing. Twice had his com
panion accosted this latter person without ob
taining a reply, such was the perfect abstrac
tion of the youth. At length, the other, with
an impatient gesture turned from his tablets,
and exclaimed in a louder tone of voice than he
had hitherto used :
" Zounds ! Master Walter, what canst thou
see below there to occupy thine eye, and me
thinks thine ears too? for even they heed me
not, although I have greeted them more than
once in the last few minutes."
The young man, thus addressed and aroused
from his reverie, changed his position so as to
confront the speaker, and answered as one who
apologizes for absence of mind, rather than
intimidated by the harsh voice, and hasty ges
ture of his companion.
" I crave your pardon," said he, " truly I
heard thee not before ; but say on, Captain
Langley, ifit please you, I am now quite at your
service." The pirate, whose name was Mark Langley,

TALES OF BARBADOS. 67
relaxing from the harsh tone of voice with
which he had disturbed the cogitations of the
youth, assumed a milder key, as if to conciliate
for the vehemence of his expression.
"What ails thee, man?" said he, looking
fixedly at Walter, " the fiend, Care, sits on thy
brow — sink me now ! if thou lookest not more
like a doomed prisoner under hatchways, than
a captor of such a prize as yonder craft. Ah !
I see the bone still sticks in thy gullet. Pshaw,
man ! think no more on't. It matters not one
jot, a toss up of a groat, whether we fight
under the flag of the Low Countries, or the jolly
Roo-er, now that the Don and our friend the
Dutch, in whose service we exert our poor
abilities, are at open rupture. Gad ! think
thee, the Senor would have had any qualms
about boarding us if we had carried Dutch
colours, and he had thought he was an over
match for us?"
Walter only shook his head, and smiled
gloomily at Mark's sophistry, while the latter
continued :
" And if thou object to our cruizing under
the black banner and hour-glass, please thee to
consider that no compulsion or entreaty of ours
f 2

68 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
occasioned thy presence on board the Sylph, —
'twas thine own will and pleasure."
Walter was about to speak, when Mark
resumed —
" Come, come, Master Walter, I want your
counsel touching the disposal of our prisoners
below : and right glad am I now, thou earnest
so opportune, between me and the Portu
guese merchant, who fought indifferently well,
barring his years and his calling. For, hark
ye ! I find the old man to be Senor Henrique
Tremano, the rich merchant of Lisbon, of whose
intended voyage you brought us such good and
timely notice."
" I warned you of Tremano's intended voy
age !" exclaimed Walter, in a tone of astonish
ment and emotion : " Now, by Heaven ! thou
wrongest me, or do but jest."
Mark Langley stared for a moment at the
earnest manner of his companion, and imagin
ing that it emanated from a supposition on the
part of Walter that he had applied to him
the objectionable character of a spy, which the
tenor of his own words might possibly imply,
smiled at the sensitiveness he had evinced,
and hastened to explain their meaning.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 69
" Nay, man, no offence. Among the papers
thou broughtest with thee from Lisbon, came
there one from the old Jew our agent. 'Twas
from it, Walter, that our good and honest
burgher of Amsterdam, my most worthy and
approved principal, transferred to my tablets
certain hints, the which he recommended to
my especial notice. ' A word to the wise,'
quoth he. Here they are ; I will e'en read
them to thee;" and taking up the tablets, he
read to the youth, whose countenance betrayed
strong symptoms of vexation, not unmingled
with anger, the following extract from the
agent's letter. " ' One Senor Henrique Tremano
sails hence shortly ; two ships with rich cargo
bound to Pernambuco — leaves wealth behind
would pay a noble ransom.' Ha ! ha ! ha !
—the sly Hebrew, and the honest burgher!"
and here Mark laughed outright. The irony
displayed in the pirate's speech, and in his man
ner of laughing, failed to effect any change in
the youth's gloomy, but handsome features.
He bit his lip, in the endeavour to suppress
feelings that had become painful to him ; and
after a pause, demanded of Mark, " How
know you the prisoner to be Tremano ?"

70 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
" Why, from the brands on the bales ; and,
moreover, the captain of yon vessel told that pry
ing skinflint, Stenseil, that 'twas he ; and that
the other ship to which the Jew alludes, parted
company a week since in a gale. 'Tis an ill
wind that blows no good ; and so here have
we fallen in with the Don, without cruizing to
seek him."
" And what are your intentions," asked Wal
ter, " regarding the old man and his daughter ?"
" Why 'twould be wrong to neglect old
Moses's hint," said Mark, with a grin : " 111
demand ransom for himself, daughter, and
crew ; but how to dispose of them in the mean
while, till that matter is negotiated, I am at
fault. 'Tis there I want, and demanded but
now thy advice."
Walter considered for a moment, and then
calmly observed, "Why not leave them with
the islanders here, and retain a hostage for the
performance of the bond ?"
"Ah, that thought struck me before, but
then, whom shall I leave to receive the ransom
money?" He paused for an instant or two, and
then added, " I have it, Master Walter; and
now for this matter, for time wears apace, and

TALES OF BARBADOS. 71
I would rid me of this . business. Ho ! there,
Stenseil, bring hither thy inkhorn, and other
writing appurtenances, and summon the pri
soners before us."
Thus invoked, a diminutive, thin, and spare
personage emerged from the hold where he had
been taking an inventory of the cargo, with a
quill, the emblem of his calling, stuck behind
his ear. He was the fac-simile of Shakspeare's
beggarly conjuror —
" A hungry, lean-faced villain,
******
A needy, hollow-eyed, sharp-looking wretch ;
A living dead man."
This notable object, with noiseless tread, and
stealthy gait, having arranged on a table the
articles first called for, dived below to . obey
his other instructions ; while Mark . Langley
employed himself in donning his habit and
slouched hat.
A minute or two had elapsed; when, accom
panied by Master, Stenseil, there appeared on
deck three individuals, one of whom was a young
and lovely girl, a. . dark-browed daughter of
Portugal. A soft and melancholy sadness,
with an expression of resignation to the fate

72 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
that might await her, sat upon her beautiful
countenance ; and when, on attaining the deck,
she raised her eyes to Heaven, moistened with
a tear that had found its way there, even the
stern lineaments of the pirate relaxed for a
moment, and he unconsciously paid a tribute
to her heavenly beauty, by doffing the hat he
had assumed. Wrapt in her long mantillo, she
hung on the arm of her father, — a tall, elderly
man, whose demeanour evinced but little dread
ofthe peculiar circumstances he was placed in;
for, with a firm and haughty step, and an en
couraging remark to his daughter, he advanced
within a few feet of Mark Langley ; who, as if
ashamed of the momentary weakness he had
displayed, recalled his stern look, and demand
ed, in an equally stern voice,— if Signor spoke
English ?
The merchant nodded an assent, and Mark
proceeded, with some emphasis :
" Signor Tremano, I know thee to be wealthy;
I presume that thou wouldst desire to be liber
ated. I will treat with thee for thine own,
thy daughter's, and the crew's liberty."
" Ha !" said Tremano, " and what are your
conditions ?"

TALES OF BARBADOS. 73
" Give me a draft on thy friends in Lisbon
for 20,000 crowns, and when it is negotiated
all shall be as free as the wind."
" And what then, if I refuse so extortionate
a demand, after being already deprived of much
valuable property?"
" Look there," said Langley, with a sneer,
and pointing upwards with the forefinger to the
ominous flag, " Canst thou read its purport?"
The merchant's eyes rested for a moment on
the hour-glass that occupied the centre of the
flag, and when they again fell to meet those of
the pirate, he was evidently disconcerted.
" You would intimate to me by your horrible
appeal, that our hours are numbered, unless
we accept your proposals ?"
" Even so," said Mark, shortly and grimly.
Tremano considered, looked at his daughter,
and casting a scornful glance at the pirate,
muttered, "She is in your power too!" at the
same time he quitted her side, and sat down at
the table, and wrote the required draft; while
Mark whistled : whether at the feelings of the
father, or in derision at the look he had re
ceived, we do not undertake to say.
" Good," said he, when he had conned the

74 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
draft indited by the merchant ; " and now to
obviate any inconvenience that may attend the
procuring of thy ransom, I shall send this by
thine own ship : meanwhile, be content to
remain with the islanders here, until it be
punctually paid to the person whom I have
appointed to receive it. Furthermore, Signor,
I require thy promise for thyself and daughter,
neither to quit the island of Barbados, nor
molest, in any way, the person to be left with
you." The merchant reluctantly consented to this
arrangement : he, indeed, ventured to expos
tulate, but the pirate's menace, and determined
tone, obliged him to submit to the only alter
native left him ; and with a sigh he pledged
himself to abide by this provision in the verbal
contract between them.
" Captain," said Mark ; " but he speaks not
English ; say to him, Stenseil, he must negotiate
the draft, and that I shall detain his son on
board with me, as a hostage for the faithful
performance of this duty."
Stenseil addressed the Portuguese captain
in his native tongue ; he was the person that
accompanied Tremano and his daughter on

TALES OF BARBADOS. 75
deck. He wore his arm in a sling, for he had
been wounded in the action. From loss of
blood, his face was pale and haggard; but
ghastly grew his aspect, when the interpreter
mentioned that his son was to be detained as
an hostage.
" Nay ! nay !" said the captain, in an im
ploring tone of voice, " let him swear me by the
Holy Virgin and all the blessed saints, but let
my Francesco go with me. His mother ! his
poor mother ! what should I say if I returned
without her boy !"
Mark Langley's countenance underwent a
visible change when the Portuguese's request
was reported to him. However ignorant of the
language, he had seen the effect of his commu
nication through Stenseil to the father; and his
stern features relaxed into something like an
emotion bordering on pity ; such would a casual
observer have construed it ; but one deeper
read in the mysterious workings of the human
face when called into action by any unwelcome
coincidences, would have traced in that of the
daring rover of the western sea, other feelings
than pity, he would have seen there remorse,
one of " the vultures of the mind."

76 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
"Swear him then, Master Stenseil, swear
him," said he, in tones differently modulated
from those he had used during the conference
with his captives. God knows ! I would fain
not have that too on my head."
"Signor," continued he, addressing Tremano,
while he bowed to the lady, " remember that
thyself and daughter are on your parole of
honour ; I will land you in two hours after the
vessel gets under weigh."
Walter Langley, previously to the conference
just narrated, had separated from Mark. Muf
fled in his cloak, and pulling his hat over his
brows, he partly concealed Tiimself behind the
mainmast, and watched with intense anxiety
and interest the scene we have just described.
Thick and short was his respiration, and hard
and quick beat his heart against a bosom in
which so many contending emotions arose.
When Isabella Tremano raised that look of
appeal to heaven with the tear struggling in
her full dark eye, scarcely could he refrain from
rushing forward to dare those who should
attempt to offer her insult or wrong. His
sense, however, of Mark Langley's violent and
ungovernable passions, and of the consequences

TALES OF BARBADOS. 77
that might probably ensue, detrimental alike to
the cause he wished to assist, as well as to his
own safety, should he thus attempt to intrude,
deterred him from so rash and precipitate a
step. Already in the melee of the day before,
had he stayed the arm of the pirate when in
the act of slaying the disarmed merchant ; and
although this interference was compromised by
the avowal Mark had made him a few minutes
ago, he feared any further attempt to thwart
his purposes, might not only involve him in
difficulty, but tend to injure the cause of those
whom he was most anxious to serve. He
waited therefore, with impatience, the result of
the treaty, and after the captives had retired
from deck, he resumed his self-possession, and
calmly joined Mark, who was giving instruc
tions preparatory to the sailing ofthe prize, and
the landing of the merchant and his daughter.
" Stenseil," said the pirate, " I must dispense
with your valuable services this trip, my man of
the goose-quill — my interlocutor — and send
thee ashore among yon Islanders."
" Sir, sir, — captain ! consider," exclaimed the
little man, looking, while he spoke, at his
spindle shanks and emaciated figure; "con-

78 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
sider, sir, my bodily weakness, and my inability
to enforce the due observance of the conditions
entered into by the prisoners should they refuse
to abide by them ; besides, they may treat me
unkindly." " Tush man ! put thee on a long sword ; gird
thee with a pistol or two — look big, an that be
possible — swagger and play the bravo, and tell
them, thy looks belie thee ; for though a pigmy
in body, thou art a very giant in soul !"
" Master Stenseil," said Walter, smiling at
the terror assumed by the miser, whose only
anxiety was occasioned by the thoughts of
leaving his all on board, " what guerdon wilt
thou give me to abide here in thy place ? I
will do so for thee if Captain Langley permit
the exchange."
" What have I to give thee, good Master
Walter?" said Stenseil, "save thanks — a poor
man's benison, for thy kindness — and truly
thou art young and a proper man for the
purpose; thy good sword and brave presence
will repel the ill usage, that will assuredly
happen to such as I."
Mark stared at Walter, and knew not whether
to take this sudden resolution of his as a jest or

TALES OF BARBADOS. 79
not. On Walter Langley, however, seriously
repeating his wish to supersede Stenseil in his
appointment, he looked slily, and whispered
him, " Sits the wind in that quarter ? the black-
eyed Portuguese, eh ? Well, Wat," continued
he, taking the young man's hand kindly in his,
" I consent to this arrangement, but I did not
think thy love of adventure would so soon have
yielded to the attractions of a petticoat."
Walter had gained his point ; but something
bordering on self-reproach as to the part he
had acted, smote him when he betook himself
to his cabin to prepare for his landing, and
reflected on the events of the morning. He
could not but censure himself for having
attained the end he aimed at, by means which
partook of the character of subterfuge, — a mea
sure which he deemed derogatory to a gentle
man and a. man of spirit. " I have," said he,
" deceived Mark Langley. 'Tis true that he
is stern, and his present mode of life objection
able ; his passions too, are violent ; yet is their
impulse sometimes as powerful in the cause of
good, as of evil. I may have trusted him, and
he might have befriended me. Ah ! but how
know I that Isabella still loves me ; and to use

80 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
Mark Langley's influence over the present
fortunes of her father to favour my suit, — I
spurn the base idea ; after all,'' continued he,
musingly, " I have only concealed from Mark
my knowledge of the captives; my fault is
a negative one, and imparted by prudence to
watch over their safety, should their lives have
been menaced, or in danger. If in this instance,
then, artifice be a crime, prudence was . my
monitor, and love must be my excuse."

CHAPTER IV.
" As if a man were author of himself,
And knew no other kin." — Coriolanus.
" 'Tis a wise child that knows his own
father," says the somewhat musty proverb of
Sancho. Fair and gentle reader, we crave your
pardon, should you deem it brings with it aught
of disparagement to thy gentler sex, and accept
as a plea for our introducing it here at the com
mencement of the chapter, the aptitude it bears
to the case of our hero; who, moreover, pleads
doubly guilty to the want of that peculiar

TALES OF BARBADOS. 81
wisdom embodied in the saw; inasmuch, as
Walter Langley knew neither father nor mother.
His memory, stretched to its utmost limits,
recalled only the time when, until the age of
fourteen, he lived in London with one who from
his earliest recollection had taught him to call
her his aunt. This gentlewoman, whose loss he
deeply regretted, died several years antecedent
to the period in which our tale begins ; and in
her dying moments had undeceived him as to
her being the relative he had always considered
her to be, and thus left all beyond his earliest
memory, dark and void.
" Walter," said the dying woman, " I have
ever been kind to thee — I have nothing to re
proach myself for in thy after-nurture and bring
ing up ; but all my care and fondness can never
atone for one sad deed committed in thy infancy,
which act, were it even in my power to divulge,
now when the cold hand of death is upon me, I
dare not ; lest thy kind look change and blast
me, and thy curse ring like a knell to summon
a guilty sinner to torment ! No ! no ! my vow,
my husband's curse, should I reveal it, forbid
me ! Oh ! Walter, forgive me — I indeed need
thy soothing pardon and kind look ere I depart ;

82 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
and when, after I am gone, Mark shall tell thee
the secret, oh ! pity, pity the weak, erring, but
penitent woman in her grave !"
Walter, we have just stated, lived with this
female as his kinswoman and aunt. He had
been often told that he had no parents living —
in fact, that he was an orphan committed to
her charge. His reputed uncle was Mark
Langley, the pirate, who came at long intervals
of years to see his wife. When Walter had
attained his fourteenth year, Mark was then on
a visit to Mistress Langley, and admiring the
spirit and precocity of the young Walter, desired
to take him with him on his departure from
England; but Mistress Langley, who was de
voted to our hero, could not be prevailed upon
to listen to Mark's suggestion. It was, how
ever, mutually arranged that both Mistress
Langley and the youth should remove to Hol
land, where was the firm to which Mark, as
master of a trading vessel, was attached. There
Walter's handsome mien and good qualities
soon endeared him to the only son of a junior
partner of the Dutch firm of Amsterdam ; and
the son's predilection for our hero in a short
time extending itself to the father, he became,

TALES OF BARBADOS. 83
after Mistress Langley's death, which occurred
soon after her removal to Amsterdam, the pro
tegee of the one, and the inseparable companion
of the other. Both young men had the same
masters, and were taught all the accomplish
ments of the day. It was Walter's lot, how
ever, when about twenty years of age, to ex
perience the loss of both his kind and generous
friends, who, in the course of one week, were
hurried to a premature grave by an epidemic
disorder that about this time prevailed through
out the city. By the benevolence and liberality
of his older patron, and the kind remembrance
of his young friend and companion, Walter
became possessed of an independent fortune,
and previously to their demise, had been ad
mitted in a subordinate situation as a member
of the firm. Our hero had brooded over the
dark but equivocal communication of Mistress
Langley on her death-bed : at first the impres
sion it made on his mind was strong and vivid,
and not readily effaced; but youth is seldom
prone to give way to reflection, particularly
when it brings with it a boundless waste, where
the mental eye cannot reach the things it vainly
seeks to descry; and when, like a lone and

84 DELULTORY SKETCHES, AND
despairing wanderer of the desert, who sinks
down exhausted and overcome by the difficul
ties and obscurity of the way, the enquirer be
comes lost and perplexed in the mazes of
mystery and doubt. The process of his educa
tion, — his friendship, and latterly his avocations,
had in a manner contributed to prevent the fre
quent recurrence of his thoughts to the death-
scene of her whom he had called his aunt ; but
when friendship interposed no more to heighten
the pleasures of study and recreation, or to
enliven the dull routine of business, his acquire
ments, amusements, and the avocations in the
firm, became alike distasteful ; — gloom and
melancholy succeeded to the first, and fits of
abstraction at variance with his pursuits, pre
vented his assiduously attending to the latter.
The obscurity and mystery in which his birth
was involved, again assumed its sway over every
other circumstance ; and the only one who could
dispel the charm was rarely thrown in his way>
and had never to his earnest solicitation given
any clue by which the secret might be un
ravelled. That he was not his uncle, he had
told him on being questioned on that head ; but
beyond this, Mark Langley evinced a repug-

TALES OF BARBADOS. 85
nance to disclose any thing, or doggedly refused
to gratify his curiosity further. Impaired in
bodily health by mental suffering, Walter re
solved to travel, and surrendering his situation
in the firm from motives of dislike to the busi
ness, as well as to the surviving partners, he set
out on his meditated tour. This was Spain and
Portugal. The heads of the firm furnished him
with letters of introduction, and he in turn prof
fered to transact any business they might have
with their agents in these countries.
It was at Lisbon that Walter became ac
quainted with Isabella Tremano ; and a fervent
and mutual attachment soon prevailed between
these two young persons. His suit was urged
with the father, Senor Henrique Tremano, but
the merchant refused immediate compliance, on
the ground that he could not give the hand of
his only and much loved daughter to a stranger,
of whom he knew but little, and who, indeed,
did not even appear to know himself. The
apparently ungracious reception of his suit, and
the terms in which Tremano's qualified refusal
was couched, wounded the sensitive mind of
Walter Langley ; and this, with hostilities that
had for some time been threatening to break

00 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
outj between Spain, Portugal, and the Low
Countries, induced him to quit Lisbon.
He tore himself from Isabella with the inten
tion of seeking out Mark Langley, and obtain
ing from him the disclosure of his birth. He
fortunately arrived in Amsterdamln time to meet
Captain Langley, who had equipped a vessel
for the ostensible object of trade; but which
really was more adapted to answer the purposes
of plunder than of commerce ; for Mark had of
late voyages availed himself of the precedents
afforded him by the buccaneers and freebooters,
and had not returned home so unsuccessful as
not to please his employers ; who finding this
trade to be vastly lucrative, while it increased
their avarice and cupidity, were induced to em
ploy him secretly in any service that might
prove so profitable as the one in which he had
been lately engaged. Nor, indeed, was Mark
at all averse to this service ; for the love of ad
venture was the ne plus ultra of his wishes.
He was on the point of sailing when Walter
arrived in Amsterdam ; who, absorbed by one
object alone, determined not to lose sight of
Mark, and immediately proposed to accompany
him. Mark, however, was reserved on his

TALES OF BARBADOS. 87
employer's account, as to the nature of the
expedition. Walter Langley only saw in the
full complement of men and arms, a defence
against the Spaniards and Portuguese.
Having thus far made the reader acquainted
with a portion of Walter Langley's history, in
order to throw some light upon circumstances
already narrated in connexion with him and
other characters, who appear in the preceding
pages, we will now return to the original scene
of our tale.
" Good e'en, Mistress Arnold, and how does
the young lady and her good father ? — faith ! I
would not have tarried till now to wait on them,
but my husband bade the young gentleman
that's left a-shore a welcome to our house ; and,
trust me, I must need make all ready for his
reception." The speaker was Mistress Deborah, the fat,
short, good-natured, and thrifty spouse of Dan
Hanmer, arrayed in her very best apparel, and
come to pay her respects to the Tremanos, with
a very pardonable desire to gratify a curiosity
respecting the foreigners, that under the garb
of courtesy and attention, lurked in the little
woman's bosom. Her somewhat apologetic

88 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
speech was addressed to a middle aged person,
whose general appearance and demeanour indi
cated a superiority in point of rank and educa
tion over the wife of her husband's friend and
colleague. Seated on a low stool, in a trellised porch,
which was formed of the wild cane split
and arched over-head, aud where the passion
flower or water-lemon combining both beauty
as a plant, utility in affording shade, and a most
refreshing and delightful fruit, — twined its ver
dant and vigorous shoots — Mrs. Arnold was
dispensing food to the feathered stock that had
clamoured for their evening supplies, and were
now fighting and struggling greedily to devour
the grain as it fell from the liberal hand of their
provident mistress. Leaving her feathered
charge, she advanced and saluted with much
kindness and courtesy of manner, her only female
acquaintance of the hamlet.
" Welcome, Mistress Deborah, this is kind in
you, truly !" alluding to the occupation she had
just quitted, "I have assumed Mary's place;
for she is so taken up in offering condolence to
her new friend, that she has forgot the poor
creatures this evening."

TALES OF BARBADOS. 89
" Aye, forsooth ! poor lady," sighed Mistress
Deborah. " But come in, neighbour, come in," said
Mistress Arnold, and she forthwith ushered
Mistress Deborah into the house.
Mark Langley, in accordance with his word,
had, previous to his departure, landed Signor
Tremano and his daughter, whose misfortunes
failed not to excite and awaken fhe sympathy
and good feeling of the people of the hamlet.
As soon as their story and^ situation were
known, they vied with each other in shewing
them acts of kindness and hospitality. Mis
fortune in some shape or the other had fre
quently visited them, and they, therefore, knew
how to appreciate the blessings of condolence
and assistance whenever these had been offered.
Signor Tremano and his daughter became the
inmates of Arnold's house ; for such accommo
dation as the planter's simple means could
afford, was freely offered, and as readily
accepted. The apartment into which Mistress Arnold
ushered her visitor and neighbour, was a long
low room, paved with square flat stones, and
having unglazed windows, these being closed

90 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
when necessary with hanging shutters outside,
which were kept open to admit light and air by
long sticks projecting between the mullion of
the window and the shutter itself. Its furniture
was of the most simple kind : at its upper end
was placed a table with benches for the conve
nience of the family at meals, while round the
walls, at certain intervals, were ranged a few
high-backed chairs. A book-case containing a
few books, a couple of musketoons, one or two
swords hanging on pegs, and a solitary lamp
pending from the centre rafter of the roof, com
pleted its arrangements. Several doors, one of
which was only partially closed, leading to the
dormitory and the outer offices, occupied, in
their places in the walls, the lower end and one
side of the room. At the table sat Senor Tre- '
mano and Arnold conversing over a flagon of
wine made from the banana, " a wine," says
the Abbe Raynal, " equal to any of the Spanish
wines." At the entrance of their visitor the two rose,
while salutations passed respectively between
the parties.
" Glad to see thee, neighbour," said Arnold
to the curtseying dame, " and where is friend

TALES OF BARBADOS. 91
Dan, that he could not along with thee and
assist us in the matter of a cup of our home
made — 'twas as much as he might have done
after our alarm, and the riddance of our trouble
some visitors of the black flag and hour-glass."
" The young gentleman is at our house,
please you, Master Arnold, and" 
" Ah ! marry is he, I forgot that ; the young
pirate that's left on shore with you, Senor ; he
that was so muffled up in his Spanish cloak ;
and wore his hat so plucked over his brow, that
one could not discover if his looks belied or not
his somewhat questionable calling."
" The same an it please you, the same," said
Mistress Hanmer, " and 'tis a pity that one so
young and handsome should sort with those
'cut-throat rovers. Why, bless me ! he's as un
like them that brought the lady and gentleman
ashore ! I warrant you, I felt some misdoubt
when Daniel brought him up home ; for Daniel
said, pirate or no pirate, 'twas sore against
his heart to see such like him want shel
ter and food. But in good truth, Sir, he is
a pretty man, and gentle and honest I'll be
sworn." " Should be glad to think so, Dame," said

92 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
Arnold, doubtingly : " but all is not gold that
glitters, neighbour."
" Why, Sir," rejoined Senor Tremano, " I
think this good Dame's favourable conjecture
may not be far wrong; I myself am deeply
bound to him, for the saving of my poor life
from the violence of the Captain ; and I should
wish much to know him better ; for I have not
even had an opportunity to thank him for his
timely interposition, he has kept himself so
aloof from me since. Prithee, dame, how calls
he himself?"
" He told my husband, an it please you,
when he demanded his name, to call him
Master Walter."
This name brought no reminiscences to
Tremano; not so, however, did it affect his"
daughter. Isabella was sitting in the room, the
door of which stood ajar, as we have before
mentioned, with Mary Arnold, whose affection
ate and kind caresses had, in some measure,
alleviated the distress of the Portuguese maiden.
She was thoughtful and sad from another cause
than the capture of her father and herself; the
recital of which occurrence she had minutely
detailed to her friend. One circumstance con-

TALES OF BARBADOS. 93
nected with it retained a strong hold on her
imagination, and gave rise to such mingled
emotions, that it would have been difficult for
her to describe whether, of these, joy, hope, or
uncertainty predominated. If hope flattered
her that 'twas he, who had rescued her from
the rude grasp of men, had watched near her,
and had, indirectly by others, sought her com
fort while a prisoner on board the pirate vessel,
— this feeling was only momentary, and the
revulsion, alas ! as sudden ; — for j oy at his
having been her protector, and at his being now
so near her, yielded to regret, on reflecting that
he was found among companions so uncongenial
and repugnant to her ideas of propriety and
high conduct. Uncertainty — did that bring
relief? No, doubt is never a relief, and, if it
even existed, it soon passed away. Again did
all these feelings blend themselves together in
her bosom, and she experienced relief only
when the full tide of contending emotions
vented their painful sensations in a gush of
tears. " Dear Lady," said Mary, who sat on a low
stool at the feet of her excited friend, with the
hands of the latter clasped in her own, " me-

94 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
thinks you give way too much your thoughts to
your misfortune; if you thus afflict yourself,"
continued she reprovingly, " we shall think
your grief a reproach for our want of kindness
and hospitality."
" Heavens forbid ! " said Isabella, " deem it
not so, I pray you ; I am not so ungrateful for
your kindness evinced to a stranger; but I
have distracting thoughts within me that weigh
down and oppress my spirits. I will disburthen
my mind to you, fair and gentle girl. You have
heard me speak of the strange and mysterious
conduct of one among the pirate crew, to whom
I owe much, not only for my father's safety,
but probably for my own. In him, I fancy I
have discovered one, (here her voice became
low and tremulous,) who not long since sought
my hand, and who — yes, you shall know all, —
still possesses this poor heart."
Mary looked up with some astonishment in
her friend's blushing face at this disclosure, and
inquired, " Did not you see his face nor hear his voice?"
" No, neither ; my terror and dismay pre
vented me recognizing him at first, and when I
saw him for a moment or two after, causine

TALES OF BARBADOS. 95
others to administer to our comfort, no word
passed his lips ; and there was such studied
care to render himself unknown, that I could
not obtain the sight of a single feature. His
figure, his behaviour, however, strongly im
pressed me that it was— but hist ! hist ! I hear
a strange voice speaking with your father in the
next room about the same person."
Both the maidens listened attentively to the
conversation which ensued in the adjoining
room, and which came audibly through the
partially closed door to their eager eafs. Isa
bella's hands trembled violently in those of her
friend, as she bent her graceful person forward
to catch every word that successively reached
her ; while a painful interest betrayed itself in
the looks of Mary Arnold, whose gentle spirit
sympathized with the distress and anxiety of
the stranger.
" 'Tis our neighbour, Mistress Hanmer,"
whispered Mary ; and when she heard Senor
Tremano demand of Mistress Hanmer the
young gentleman's name, Mary gazed enquir
ingly into her friend's excited and anxious coun
tenance, and, as the reply was given, involunta
rily exclaimed, " Surely 'tis he ! " and rose to

96 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
support and assist her friend. Isabella had
fainted !

CHAPTER v.
" An Indian, .....
Of buskin'd limb, and swarthy lineament,
The red wild feathers on his brow were blent."
Gertrude of Wyoming.
Signor Tremano walked hastily from Arnold's
house, with a troubled and anxious counte
nance: he sought an interview with Walter
Langley ; for Isabella, during the last evening,
had communicated her suspicions and fears to
her father; and he was now on the road to
Dan Hanmer's cottage to remove his own
doubts, or rather, to confirm the conjectures of
his daughter : these were too well-grounded to
permit him, if there did exist any doubt in his
own mind, as to the identity of Master Walter
Langley and the pirate, — to harbour them long,
without a resolve to investigate a matter, which
seemed so momentous to him, as being insepar
ably connected with his daughter's happiness.
Isabella had declared to him (for between

TALES OF BARBADOS. ,. 97
parent and child there had ever been a com
munion of thoughts and sentiments) her un
abated attachment to Walter, and the uneasi
ness it now occasioned her to find the man she
loved in the society of pirates, among whom he
appeared , to have no common influence. The
idea haunted her, — it was dreadful ! She be
sought her father, if he valued her peace of
mind to seek him and gather from his own lips,
the reasons that induced him to be connected
with men who so grossly violated the laws both
of God and man, and to learn his motives for
his present concealment ; — for surely he could
have no evil designs against her father or her
self. No, — 'twas impossible, — her previous
estimation of his character, his late behaviour
when he possibly possessed more power to
injure them, if he had so wished it, than be
longed to him now, disallowed such a tliought.
Should a rencontre take place between her
and Master Walter, which, circumstanced as
they were, was very likely to happen, it could
not fail to embarrass and distress her. Her
father would be the best medium through which
she could satisfy her doubts and fears; — she
felt herself too timid, and dreaded an interview,
H

98 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
where an explanation was necessary. And if
her father on enquiry found Master Walter a
willing associate of a pirate crew, and if his
nature was changed from what she had hitherto
deemed it to be, then would she without com
promising her dignity and feelings, demean
herself on all occasions to Walter Langley as
became his daughter to do.
Perceiving the delicacy of his daughter's
situation, and of her motives for thus wishing
him to unveil the equivocal and mysterious
circumstances connected with her lover, and
under the influence of strong paternal feelings
of affection, Tremano strode rapidly through the
hamlet, and was mounting the steep path, which
led to the dwelling of Dan Hanmer, when sud
denly the object of his search coming down the
hill, presented himself to him. He awaited his
approach ; and the recognition was for a moment
embarrassing to both parties.
Tremano drew himself up with a cold and
offended air, while Walter, slightly bowing,
said with a distant but respectful manner,
" I rejoice to see Senor well, I trust his fair
daughter is equally so."
" That both are well," replied Tremano, " is

TALES OF BARBADOS. 99
not owing altogether to Master Walter Langley's
efforts to render us so : yet, no," he continued,
with some irony of tone, " I am unmindful of
his favours, — I forget that I am under weighty
obligations to him, for having saved my life at
the expense of my property."
" Senor Tremano wrongs me, and most un
justly; even now, not anticipating this meeting,
I was on my way to seek you, and to explain
away any erroneous surmises that might have
arisen, (should you have already discovered
me,) relative to my presence on board the vessel
which captured your ship."
" The intention of an interview was mutual,
Master Walter, and you see me here, to learn
what are the extraordinary engagements vou
appear to have with the pirate, to which you
seem attached both by your presence and in
fluence there, as well as by the distinguished
office you now hold, as receiver of ransom
money, unlawfully exacted. Methinks, although
our countries are at rupture, Walter Langley
might have found more honourable means of
opposing the enemies of his adopted land, if I
may so term the Low Countries, than by asso
ciating himself with lawless freebooters ; — and
h2

100 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
a more fitting place to draw his sword in its
defence, than on the deck of a pirate."
" If Senor Tremano will listen to the expla
nation I have to offer, which will relieve him
from any mistrust he may have on that score,
he will learn that my presence on board the
pirate is partly to be attributed to his reception
of my suit, when I asked for the honour of an
alliance with his fair daughter. You start, and
seem incredulous at this ; but come, Senor,
under the shade of yon tree, where we shall
escape the sun, and I will there disclose to you
those particulars of my conduct, which seem to
excite your surprise."
Accompanied by Tremano to the shelter
which he pointed out, Walter proceeded to
inform the merchant what the reasons were,
that had induced him to sail with Mark
Langley, and of his ignorance of the fact of the
vessel being destined and fitted out for the
purpose of piracy. The influence he appeared
to exert, in administering by means of others of
the pirate crew, to the comfort of Tremano and
his daughter, he attributed to his being con
sidered the nephew of her captain ; and that
his motive for not making himself known to

TALES OP BARBADOS, 101
them before, was to prevent Mark Langley from
having any suspicion of their intimacy, and so
using precautionary measures to foil any plan
of escape, which Walter might devise, in the
event of the pirates attempting the lives of their
captives, or meditating violence. " My very
distinguished appointment here," continued
Walter with a smile, " was owing to mere
chance; I happened fortunately to be present
when the person who was designed for this
office, seemed reluctant to undertake it, and I
volunteered my services with the hope of
devoting them to the use of yourself and
daughter, should my poor assistance be deemed
worthy of acceptance."
The result of this interview, prolonged further
than is here described, was a perfect reconcilia
tion between the Senor and Walter. The latter,
from henceforth, became an almost daily visitor
at the house of William Arnold, by whom he
was cordially received and welcomed when pre
sented by Tremano; and to the lively imagina
tion of our readers we feel disposed to leave the
reception he met with from the fair Isabella.
Walter now sought by every possible atten
tion to reconcile the captives to their situation ;

102

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

and the Senor Tremano, aware of Isabella's sen
timents towards him, and won by his engaging
manners and conversation, not only permitted
the continuance of his addresses to his daugh
ter, but already looked upon him in the light of
his son-in-law. Happy and cheerful as circum
stances would admit soon became the inmates
of Arnold's house. In talking over future plans
of agricultural and commercial ventures (for
Tremano hinted at obtaining grants of land, and
investing capital in Barbados, instead of Per
nambuco, as was his original intention), the
elder folks found an interesting theme, and
were happy in the society of each other ; while
love and friendship heightening the innocent
enjoyments and sweet converse of the younger
people, rendered the hours agreeable, and made
time, unalloyed with care, at least for a period,
to pass pleasantly and swiftly by.
Several months, however, had now elapsed,
and no tidings either of Mark Langley, or the
Portuguese Captain ; the latter of whom was to
have returned with Tremano's ransom. 'Twas
*hen their arrival began to be momentarily and
anxiously looked for by those who felt most
interested in their return ; and yet, when this did

TALES OF BARBADOS. 103
occur, what a train of circumstances accompa
nied it! what an eventful period for all! for
both the stranger and the settler ! Desolation
and fear, retributive justice, gladness yielding to
despair — but why should we anticipate the
sequel of our tale ; nay, let us only add here,
the consolatory and beautiful poetry of the
psalmist, — " Heaviness may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning."

One day early in the month of August, Walter
Langley and Ralph Hanmer, as was their wont
occasionally, went with Peter, the most ardent
huntsman of the hamlet, to course the wild hog
in the recesses of the woods. They had devoted
many hours to this employment without success,
and were on their return home, tired by the
pursuit, and oppressed by the unusual heat and
solemn stillness that reigned in the forest, when
an incident occurred to awaken their curiosity
and surprise. Not a leaf moved in the gloomy
solitudes where they then were; all nature
seemed at rest, and deep silence pervaded every
where, save the murmuring sound of a tempo
rary stream of water, which, caused by recent
and heavy rains, found its way over the rocky

104 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
and rugged bottom of the gully, near to which
the exhausted hunters had stopped for a few
minutes to rest themselves. A dog that ac
companied them, had lain himself down panting
at his master's feet, seeming to feel the sultry
state of the weather as much as the hunters
themselves ; when suddenly a noise heard over
that of the brawling stream, caused him to
prick his ears, and to utter a low and deep growl.
This interruption to the general silence that had
prevailed, came upon the astonished ears of
the young men as a chorus of wild voices, which
at one time rising into loud and unearthly cries,
and then falling into prolonged cadences, died
away gradually, until they again awoke into simi
lar and successive tones. There was something
so strange in this " outcry wild," the echoes of
the place probably lending their aid to increase
its almost supernatural sound, that each of the
party started to his feet, from the fragment of
rock, or from the decaying trunk of a tree, on
either of which he might have been previously
sitting, and looking vacantly at each other, lis
tened attentively for its continuance. Silence
was imposed on the dog, who seemed disposed
to join in the outcry, by a significant gesture

TALES OF BARBADOS. 105
from his master, and the sagacious creature im
mediately understood the sign and remained
quiet. Again the sounds were repeated ; — to
astonishment now succeeded conjecture; and
at length Peter the huntsman and Ralph ex
pressed themselves satisfied, that the noise
could only proceed from the Caribs, a party of
whom they supposed to have taken up their
quarters in the woods, not very distant from
themselves. To see the Caribs, whom he had
heard of from the hamlet people, was Walter
Langley's wish ; and he proposed to his com
panions to follow the direction of the sounds,
and endeavour to obtain a sight of the Indians.
Taking precautionary measures not to come
suddenly on them, nor to emerge at once into
any open space, which they might probably
occupy, and where the arrows of the Indians
might be used to their disadvantage, — they
walked noiselessly along, and followed their
four-footed companion, whose sagacity had
immediately recognized the intentions of the
party, and who as their conductor, began to wend
his way among the trees in the direction whence
the sounds had proceeded. In this manner
they continued their course for some minutes,

106 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
when suddenly their further progress was
arrested by a deep ravine or gully, through
which wound the watercourse and its stream, —
the same they had previously heard. Of the
nature of the place, and the gully's dangerous
proximity, the dog not only warned them by
stopping shortly at its brink, but by a long and
smothered growl, intimated that some other
circumstances called forth this admonition on
his part. Coming up to the spot where the
dog had stopped, and putting cautiously aside
the tall underwood that fringed the edge of the
gully, a spectacle presented itself which created
several hurried exclamations of surprise from the
young men ; and hastily withdrawing themselves
among the brushwood, which would conceal
their persons, they crouched under the branches
to witness the same.
The edge of the ravine or gully where they
were, was considerably elevated over the irregu
lar and broken grounds, from which the gully
itself and its watercourse separated them, and
permitted an extensive view of the wooded
country beneath, as well as of the western sea,
which lay about a mile and a half distant,
calm, placid, and its surface unruffled as that of

TALES OF BARBADOS. 107
a mirror. On the right, and to the extreme
north, the view was interrupted by a round-
backed hill, which rose from the opposite and
right bank of the gully, and seemed to termi
nate a line of heights running in that direction.
A large cavernous mass of rock, denuded and
bare, protruded itself from the side of the hill,
of which it formed a part, and broke its gradual
line of descent; which being again continued
from the bottom of the rocky mass, ended the
steep slope in an open and level space of ground
at the base of the hill.
To this latter space, the young men's atten
tion was irresistibly attracted ; for there, on a
huge rocky pedestal, was placed a large, round,
and dingy-coloured substance, having some
faint resemblance in shape to the human neck
and head. Four perforations to represent the
eyes, nose, and mouth of this uncouth image,
completed its outlines ; and before this mon
strous effigy of the deity, the Caribs were cele
brating some unhallowed rites ; sending up
during the performance of them, those un
earthly cries which had been heard in the
woods. Those engaged in this worship were
men in " nature's garb," of robust and muscu-

108 DESULT6RY SKETCHES, AND
lar frame, and possessing skins of an olive
complexion, which, however, was in some
scarcely to be recognized as their natural hue,
so fantastically were their skins painted with
crimson and other dyes. Shining jet-black, and
long hair, studiously adorned with feathers of
rich and various colours, crowned their heads.
Their foreheads were flat and elevated ; and the
dark full orbs that gleamed beneath their brows,
moved with wild restlessness, and flashed with
the most penetrating quickness. One of the
Indians now separated himself from a group of
eighteen or twenty that surrounded the idol;
and advancing, made an obeisance, and com
menced an address to the deity. He was taller
and older than the rest, and had an air of com
mand, which led Walter and his companions to
conclude that he was the chief. His cheeks
were ploughed with deep gashes, stained with
black ; while white and black circles were
painted round his eyes. A fish-bone, extending
on either side of his dilated nostril, perforated
the cartilage of his nose. On his legs and arms
he wore bracelets of human teeth, trophies of
the successes he had gained over his enemies ;
and in his hands he bore an ugly looking weapon

TALES OF BARBADOS. 109
made of the teeth of some animal, inserted in
wood ; with this he inflicted on himself several
severe wounds, the blood streaming from the
gashes thus made by this dreadful instrument
of torture. During this part of the ceremony,
those around him shouted, and uttered those
piercing cries which the young men had pre
viously heard, and which, no doubt, had been
produced by similar sanguinary oblations to the
idol. While addressing the idol, the Carib chief
frequently pointed to the heavens, and more
particularly to a cloud of brassy brightness over
head, which deepening as it stretched away to
the north-west, hung in that quarter over the
sea, in dense and lurid masses. This ominous
object seemed in some measure to be connected
with the occupation of eight or ten women; since
he alternately pointed to them and to the cloud
during his oration. Some of these females were
employed in breaking up the encampment of
cabins or huts, which had been pitched on the
open space of land below the hill ; the others in
carrying the poles and materials of which the
cabins were constructed, and culinary utensils,
up the ascent to the rock ; round which they
•were for a time lost to the sight of the concealed

110 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
and observant party, until they again appeared
and descended the hill, to return there with
fresh burthens. Desirous of ascertaining the
meaning of these movements of the Indian
females, the young men, by a hazardous and
circuitous route, commenced a careful descent
into the watercourse or gully which swept round
one side of the encampment ; and then gaining,
with some exertion and difficulty, a point nearly
opposite, and beneath their late elevated posi
tion, they there, without being discovered, ob
tained a full view of all their proceedings.
They now perceived that the women, whose only
dress was a short cotton buskin, carried their
burthens, and deposited them in a cave na
turally formed in the rock that constituted a
part of the hill, and which had only been par
tially seen from their former position. The
mouth of the cave opened to the west, and with
a few men only to keep it, admitted of great
and obstinate defence against numbers. This
being observed and commented upon by the
young men, induced them to give to the cave
the name of the " Indian's Castle ;" and having
likewise sufficiently gratified their curiosity with
a sight of the Caribs, they next sought their

TALES OF BARBADOS. Ill
way home, pondering on what they had seen,
and wondering why the Carib should break up
his encampment, and betake himself to the cave
in the side of the hill.

CHAPTER VI.
Lenox. — The night has been unruly ; where we lay
Our chimneys were blown down.
Macbeth. — 'Twas a rough night.
Lenox. — My young remembrance cannot parallel
A fellow to it. Macbeth.
Little did Walter Langley and his companions
suspect, what the Carib — the wild, savage, but
observant native of the tropics — had foreseen,
and had provided himself for ! They had found
him essaying to propitiate the vengeance of the
demon of evil ; while his experience in the
changes of the weather incidental to his own
clime, taught him to expect the coming storm,
and to seek refuge and a secure retreat from its
violence. Heavy drops of rain, even now pelted
the leafy glades through which the hunters

112 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
walked in returning to the hamlet; and the
distant but rolling thunder gave notice of some
approaching change in the weather. A few
hours only had elapsed after they had reached
their respective dwellings, when the wind began
to sigh heavily and to moan through the forest
trees in the neighbourhood of the hamlet. It
then increased every minute after, veering about
with awful suddenness, and blowing in gusts
from quarters opposed to those from whence it
had come but a moment before. Vivid and
forked lightnings, accompanied with deafening
peals of thunder, darted through the gloomy
heavens ; while the surcharged clouds passing
with frightful rapidity, poured forth ever and
anon their contents, which, cold, slanting, and
driven with a violence indescribable, rattled on
the houses like hail-stones, and pierced with
chilliness every living thing they beat against.
A lull succeeded this commencement of the
storm ; but it was delusive and only momentary,
for the wind again burst with renovated fury
from the north-west, and lifting into mountains,
in its passage across the ocean, the waves of
the mighty deep, flung them warring and
chafing against the shore, with a noise that

TALES OF BARBADOS. 113
commingled with the occasional bursts of thun
der, and the crashing of the falling limbs of the
trees, infused terror and dismay in every bosom
of the hamlet. Nothing stood uninjured from
the violence of the blast ; the roofs of the houses
were blown off, and many of the dwellings them
selves (fortunately being built of light materials)
fell in upon their inmates, and inflicted injuries,
which, however, owing to the construction of
the houses, were of a slight nature only. To
add to the distresses of the hamlet, night had
some time set in, and the only source of light
was the occasional and vivid flash of the light
ning which gleamed brightly through the dark
ness for a moment, and realizing every fear,
" Served only to discover sights of woe."
But what has become of those who chiefly
figure in our tale during this jarring commotion
of the troubled elements? Walter Langley,
after having refreshed himself on his return from
the woods, had gone, as was his usual custom, to
Master Arnold's house, and there, in common
with its other terrified inmates, awaited in dread
suspense the termination of the hurricane. More
than once, the doors and windows of the house
i

114 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
had been shut and fastened, in the hopes of
preventing the ingress of the rain and wind ;
but vain and fruitless were the attempts to
exclude the latter boisterous element. A howl
ing — the forerunner of its coming violence — a
loud crash — one general bursting of the unavail
ing impediments to its admission — and then in
rushed the whirlwind, which filling the house,
and having no free and immediate egress, tore
the roof from the under-structure, and bearing
it along with the gale, wafted its disjointed
fragments, found on the morning after, to dis
tances almost incredible. In another hour, the
rage of the hurricane began to subside ; when
it was discovered that a shelter existed in one
of the out-houses : it had not been entirely
unroofed, its preservation having been owing to
the screen from the wind, which the main build
ing had afforded. Here the family, cold,
drenched with rain and awe-struck, betook
themselves, and remained until morning dawned
and shewed the sad devastation which the hur
ricane had committed. Dispirited, yet thank
ful, for the provident mercies of Him —
" Who rides on the whirlwind, and directs the storm,"

TALES OF BARBADOS. x 115
in having preserved their lives, William Arnold
contemplated for some minutes the wreck and
waste around him. At once, however, appre
hension of famine flashed on his mind ; for the
store of provisions was no doubt spoiled, and
almost useless, and the plantations he saw were
levelled with the earth. Losing his self-com
mand, and horror-struck at the thought, the old
man glared on those near him with an almost
frantic and despairing look ; and overwhelmed
with the horrid impression, he sunk on the trunk
of a prostrate tree behind him, and hiding his
face in his hands sobbed audibly. Women are
susceptible of grief at all times ; but under the
present circumstances grief became doubly
catching, and tears flowed freely from the eyes
of those who were witnesses to Arnold's emo
tion. The whole scene was a thrilling one ;
and unwilling to yield to the painful sensations
that it awakened, Tremano gently disengaged
himself from his weeping daughter, who had
clung to his arm, and, with Walter Langley,
withdrew himself from the place : both thinking
that it was better to leave the rest to feelings
which it would have been mockery in them to
have attempted to assuage, so acutely were
i2

116

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

their own wound up by the fearful events of
the night !
Silently and unconsciously they bent their
steps to the shore. The sea, although much
swollen and disturbed, had in some measure
abated of its roughness, and was rolling in long
and successive swells upon the shore, occasion
ing that oft-heard hissing sound, as the retiring
surf recoiled over the fragments of coral, shells,
and pebble, which had been thrown up on the
shelving beach during the storm. As the surf
rolled into the land, Walter's eye caught a
dark-looking object floating on the summit of
the curving waves, and pointing it out to Tre
mano, he advanced in the direction, in which it
would probably be thrown up on the beach.
The wave broke, and the object was for a mo
ment lost in the foam. Again it appeared, and
a succeeding wave bore it to Walter's feet. It
was a shattered stern-post and transom of a
boat, bearing the word Sylph. This incident
sent a pang to the young man's heart; and he
sighed and turned to his companion, saying
with a mournful expression of countenance,
" We are not the only sufferers by the storm,
Senor. Mark Langley and his crew are probably

TALES OF BARBADOS. 117
lost, and I — yet how selfish ! — I lose all the
hopes I once entertained of knowing who I
am." " Not so, my young friend," returned Tre
mano, kindly, as he saw the tear, vainly sup
pressed, start to the eye, and course its way
over the cheek of Walter Langley, who continued
to look abstractedly on the shattered portion of
boat before him. " It may not be as you suppose.
The Sylph might have been wrecked on the
coast, and despite of that, her crew yet be safe."
Walter shook his head despondingly, and
pointing to the sea, said, " It's almost impos
sible, Senor, that any thing could have lived on
that boiling surge last night; and yet," con
tinued he, " 'twere as well to search for other
evidences of the wreck ; for if, perchance, any
lives are spared, our help may be needed.
Farewell, Senor, for the present; I'll to the
northward in quest of the Sylph, and her
crew, if indeed the latter exist."
" Stay, Walter, and I will accompany thee,"
said Tremano, " as the young man, suddenly
buoyed up with a hope of meeting with the
pirate's captain, started on his way to prosecute
further search for the vessel : but his voice was

118 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
unheard above the roaring sea, and after watch
ing the hasty strides of his young friend for a
moment, as he sped on the wings of expectation
across the sandy shore, he retraced his own
steps to the dilapidated house of his despond
ing host.

Several miles to the northward of the hamlet
there is a small sandy bay, backed on the inland
side by a sloping hill, covered with low trees
and underwood, the latter of which grows on
the very sand itself, as far as the high tides and
occasional rough sea will permit it to take root
and vegetate. Among this underwood, were
but partially concealed some piraguas, or
Indian canoes ; for the wind had bent down
the shrubs about them. The Carib chief, of a
former chapter, having his bow and arrows in
one hand, and otherwise armed with a formi
dable club, stalked along the sand; and ad
vancing to the spot where the canoes lay,
stopped and uttered an exclamation, on ob
serving that a tree had fallen across one of the
number. He laid down the weapons he car
ried, and attempted to lift the tree, which had

TALES OF BARBADOS. 119
in some degree crushed the frail bark ; but
despite of great efforts made by the athletic
muscular Indian, the tree yielded but little to
his exertions. Failing to remove it from the
canoe, he once more resumed his arms, and
left the place, returning by the way he had
previously come. A few minutes had scarcely
elapsed, after that the Carib had disappeared
from the bay, when one might observe in the
waves a spar and shrouds of a ship, and a man
clinging to these, and using every possible
means, with one of his arms, to steer or direct
the fragment of wreck he was on, to the shore.
The heavy 6urf soon accomplished what ap
peared to be the object of the individual, who
thus struggled with the sea, and rolling the
spar and him who so pertinaciously adhered
to it, over and over, ultimately drove both high
upon the sand. The person saved from the
watery element, lay for some minutes stunned
by the shock ; and then disencumbering himself
with difficulty from the shrouds and ropes that
were attached to the spar, he staggered to one
of the canoes, and sat upon its prow, appa
rently faint and exhausted. Once more he
recovered himself sufficiently to place his long

120 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
sword between his legs, as he sat on the canoe ;
and then resting his cold, tremulous hands, and
aching head, on the hilt of his weapon, Mark
Langley thus muttered to himself:
" So here am I at last, after all this buffeting
with the waves ; — 'gad, yon cursed surf too,
had well nigh sent me along, with all my brave
crew — ah! had the poor fellows stuck to the
wreck as I advised, instead of venturing in the
boats last night! — some, at least, may have
got on shore, like me. But zounds ! — 'twas
madness to attempt it then — such a sea! —
smite me blind ! if their cries and shrieks,
heard far above the blast, don't still ring in my
ears, as the boats with the poor fellows, went
down in the black and yawning gulf! Oh, it
was a fearful night ! Zounds ! how cold and
chilly I feel, and as faint as a child !" Mark,
shivering, raised his head from his hands.
"Ha!" he exclaimed, and started to his feet,
while at the very instant of this hurried move
ment, an arrow pierced his left side, below the
ribs. The shaft had flown true to its mark;
but the pirate suddenly raising himself from
his former posture, and involuntarily starting to
his feet, defeated the aim of the Carib chief,

TALES OF BARBADOS. 121
and his arrow, which seldom erred, entered the
pirate's loins, instead of penetrating his heart.
Three Indians, with horrid yells, now bounded
over the space that separated them from their
intended victim ; while Mark, resolutely tear
ing the arrow from his wound, waited with
scorn and defiance the approaching foes.
" 'Tis great odds," muttered he between his
teeth, " for a weak and exhausted man to en
counter; but Mark Langley will die game at
bay." One Carib, younger and more nimble than
the other, was close to Mark, with club up
lifted, and ready to strike.
"Ware savage!" shouted the pirate — the
sword glanced in the sun, — and ere the club
had performed half its descent, the steel bit
deep in the Indian's scull ; and his quivering
body rolled on the sand. The others paused
for an instant; then the chief, uttering a dread
ful cry, sprung over the body of his expiring
son ; and so quick and impetuous was his
assault with the .ponderous mace, that the
pirate, although he partially avoided the blow,
was struck to the knee. In a moment, the
third Carib was by his side, and brandished

122 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
aloft his stone hatchet, with the purpose of de
spatching Mark, when the unexpected arrival
of Walter Langley on the field, stayed the
blow. Seizing the Indian by his long black
hair, and uplifted arm, Walter hurled him to a
distance, and thus turned the vengeance of the
Carib on himself.
The Indian, evidently disconcerted at the
appearance of a new comer, made an ineffectual
blow at Walter, and before he could recover his
weapon, was thrust through the body.
Mark, in the meantime, had regained his
footing, and an encounter again ensued between
him and the chief, whose unwieldy weapon,
although vigorously handled, was no match
for the sword of his skilful and wary adversary.
The latter had already proved the strength and
prowess of the Indian; and aware that unless he
at once terminated the combat, his increasing
weakness from the loss of blood, which poured
from his side, would not allow him long to cope
with his well-breathed and agile foe, he col
lected all his remaining energies for one good
blow, and avoiding the mace by stepping aside,
he struck the Indian so desperate a stroke on
his cheek, that it caused him to stagger, while

TALES OF BARBADOS. 123
he followed up this advantage by running him
through, ere his bewildered foe could recover
the effects of the head-stroke.
The body of the Carib chief fell heavily on
the sand from the reeking blade of the pirate,
who, totally exhausted by this last exertion,
sunk into the arms of Walter Langley.
It will naturally be inquired how the latter
came so timely to the aid of the pirate. While
observing the wreck of the Sylph, that still
remained on the ledge of rocks, now called the
Breaches, from the hill above the spot where
the foregoing scene occurred, he heard the
appalling shout of the Indians as they rushed
on to the attack of Mark ; and conceiving it to
be the despairing cry
" Of some strong swimmer in his agony,"
as a late and noble poet expresses it, Walter
hastened down the hill to give whatever assis-
tance he might be enabled to render ; and at a
glance, discovered the pirate and his extreme
situation.

124 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

CHAPTER VII.
Redman, he saw and heard alone,
Clasp'd him, and sobbed, " My son ! my son !"
liokeby.
It was evening. — All around was still and
placid, save the deep breathings and occasional
moans of the suffering man, as, restless and
feverish, he turned him in his bed, and thus
pained by the movement the wounds he had
received during the morning. The moon shone
brightly through the broken roof of the cham
ber, and lit up the pale countenance of the
pirate, as it alternately worked with anguish,
spasm, and other conflicting feelings. How
dissimilar to the calm and peaceful present
hour, was the bosom of Mark Langley ! The
struggles between his passions and a loftier,
holier feeling, were as the strife of the contend
ing elements of the last night — pride, remorse,
and a sense of gratitude to Walter Langley for
his timely assistance and care, were striving
for the mastery. The wounded man had not
long waked from a disturbed sleep, which had

TALES OF BARBADOS. 125
continued with scarcely any intermission during
the day, and since he had been removed to the
hamlet. His rest, if it may be so termed, had
no doubt been induced by his previous exhaus
tion, as well as by the sedative effects of some
medicine which Arnold, as the medical adviser
of the place, had administered to him. By the
pirate's bed, sat Walter Langley, watching,
with intense interest and anxiety, every change
of his countenance ; and in a corner of the room
were Tremano and Arnold, the latter thoughtful,
careworn, and absorbed with some impression
on his mind, that the wounded man had caused
to recur there. Several times he rose from
his seat, and while putting questions to his
patient, that referred to his present state, he
peered with more than ordinary earnestness into
his face ; and then returning to his chair,
muttered words of dubious purport to himself.
Once more Arnold looked on the sick man
with so scrutinizing an expression, that the
pirate who encountered his earnest gaze de
manded in a somewhat petulant tone,
" Dost know me, sir mediciner ? if thou dost,
thou canst boast ofthe better knowledge ofthe
two."

126 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
" Pardon my rudeness — "
" Pshaw !" interrupted the pirate painfully;
and his contorted visage, still illuminated by
the moonlight, gave evident indication of an
guish. Spasmodic twitchings of the face, and
convulsive movements of the limbs seized him ;
and they who were around his bed, supposed
him to be in the final struggle of death. But
no; these symptoms gradually wore off; and
the pirate once more became in body compara
tively tranquil. Internal commotion, however,
succeeded, for he closed his eyes firmly, bit his
nether lip, breathed hard and chokingly, and
gave low utterance to some inaudible expres
sions between his grinding teeth. At length
his better feelings seemed to prevail, and hold
ing out his hand to Walter, and looking at
Arnold, thus addressed himself to the former :
"Walter, this good man doubtless sees in
me a resemblance to some friend of former
days. My memory cannot serve me that I have
seen his face before, and yet, it has the traces
of one, the recollection of whom, brings with it
bitter and painful thoughts. Old man, thou
shalt hear my tale, — thou art a fit witness to
what shall fall from a dying man's lips, — and

TALES OF BARBADOS. 127
Walter," — pressing the young man's hand con
vulsively between his, — " listen, for it concerns
thee much — 'tis now thy due — -I owe it thee for
some short hours of life, boy, — interrupt me not ;
for I feel my time here is closing fast. Listen,
then, for I reveal to thee the knowledge of thy
birth !"
The pirate lay musingly for a minute, and
then commenced his tale, interrupted only by
convulsive movements of his body, as tetanic
spasms succeeded each other at intervals.
" 'Tis some twenty-five years ago since I first
left my native land, old England, for the sea ;
and I was then about twenty years of age.
Need I tell of the days of my youth ? — no ; it
matters not ; suffice it to say, I was wayward,
bold, and possessed of strong passions. The
sea was my fancy,— for I heard of Raleigh and
Drake, and to be like them was my ambition.
Ere I left my home for this life of adventure, —
ah ! and it was a stirring time, — strong attach
ment for a beautiful girl, with whom in child
hood I had been a playmate, led me to swear
fidelity to her — the feeling and the vow were
mutual. I went to sea, — in five years I returned
and claimed the hand of her whom I loved and

128 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
had never for a moment forgotten — her parents
had died during my absence, and I found her
living with, and dependent on a cousin, who
had been married three years before. He had
been my friend in our boyish days, although
much my senior in age ; but his mildness, in
later years, had revolted at my headstrong
nature, and as he was also my rival in love, our
friendship became alienated. She had rejected
his suit. This, however, to do him justice, did
not prevent him from receiving his lovely cousin
into his house as one of his family, when she
was an orphan and stood alone in the world.
But he refused his consent to our union on
account of my disposition, and because of a
character for loose principles, which I had
earned at sea, and which told disadvantageously
to myself, — lastly, he denied me access to his
house. That cut deep — my feelings were out
raged — ah ! I have never forgotten it. Clandes
tine meetings were the consequences of this
denial, and I induced her, after much solicitation
and entreaty, to quit him and to become my
wife. I left that part of the country for a week,
taking leave of every one, as if about to resume
my occupation at sea, so as to conceal my

TALES OF BARBADOS. 129
intentions, and returning one night, by a pre
concerted arrangement, received her weeping in
my arms, as she sprung from a window near
the ground. We were hastening away, when
she turned once more to the house she was
leaving, and saw the room she had just quitted
in flames. ' Save him ! save him !' was all she
could say, and fainted on the ground. I had
heard her mention that you, Walter, then only
two years old, was her charge, and slept nightly
in the same chamber as she did. After a mo
ment's hesitation, I sprung into the room, and
took you sleeping and unhurt from your cradle.
A candle had been inadvertently left near the
bed, and the draught of air from the open win
dow had blown its curtains to the flame. If I
had so wished it, to have given the alarm would
have discovered our flight, — so leaping from the
burning room I gave you into the hands of a
mounted attendant who waited hard by with
horses, threw myself on one, and lifted my
almost lifeless, but precious burthen, before me.
Desiring the man who attended me to follow,
and to lead the horse which was intended for
her, I pushed smartly on. Once I looked
backward, as we gained the summit of a hill
K

130 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
which overlooked the valley, in which stood the
house — it was enveloped in flames, and lit up
the surrounding gloom with an unnatural and
flickering light — I laughed inwardly, and strik
ing my spurs deeply in my horse's flanks, pur
sued my route. Two days' travelling brought Us
to a large town, where we were married. During
our short sojourn there, I endeavoured to learn
the fate of the inmates of the burning house.
Rumour said that the whole family were burnt,
and then again, that a child and female alone
were missing and were supposed to have perished
in the fire. We went afterwards to London,
and lived there under the assumed names of
Langley ; it was then that I engaged myself in
the service of a Dutch house. Before I left
my wife for my employment, I made her
solemnly engage never to communicate with
her relation, or to mention to any one the exis*
fence, or real name of his child. Ah ! poor
Margaret is now  "
Master Arnold, who had been violently
agitated during the pirate's recital, could con
tain himself no longer, and exclaimed, as he
forcibly shook the sick man's arm,
"Margaret? — his name, — herrelative'sname?
— speak !"

TALES OF BARBADOS. 131
Mark, surprised at thus being interrogated,
replied, " Holloa, man ! thou art rough, master — his
name sayest thou ? What's that to thee ? His
name — why it was William Arnold."
"And thou, — yes, yes, I see all; thou art
Mark Overton; and this young man," con
tinued Arnold hysterically, — and clasping Walter
in his arms, — "this is my son, my own dear
son Walter!"
The pirate hastily sat up in his bed — gazed
wistfully into Arnold's face ; and as he recog
nized the man, who he thought had wronged
him, — whom he hated, — a bitter smile came
over his features, and he was again com
posing them into an expression of stern and
dogged silence, when the imploring look and
deeply excited tones of Walter's words — " Is
it not so, Mark ?" awakened his better nature.
Fearful became the struggle — it was over —
pride and hate had yielded to purer feelings;
and the pirate, taking Walter's hand once
more in his own, sunk slowly on the pillow,
saying, as a death-like hue overspread his
features, " If thou art William Arnold, this is thy
k2

132 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
son." A convulsion followed, and Mark Over
ton, otherwise Langley the pirate, was no
more !
The arrow of the Carib chief had slowly, but
surely dope its work — it was a poisoned one.

About six weeks after the death-scene just
described, one might see in the bay before the
hamlet, a ship hung in colours ; while at the
mizen peak fluttered conspicuously in the breeze,
the Portuguese flag. The ship (she was Senor
Tremano's) and her display of flags denoted a
gala day. That day the Rev. Mr. Kentlane, fro m
Bridgetown, united in holy bonds Isabella Tre
mano and Walter Arnold, Mary Arnold and
Ralph Hanmer. La Santa Felicia, arrived a week
after the hurricane, and being freighted with an
abundance of provision, chased away the phan
tom famine from old Arnold's excited imagi
nation, while, with the assistance of her
crew, soon, and once again were seen to rise,
like the phoenix from her ashes, the ruinous
dwellings of the Leeward Settlers.

What says your chronometer, Mr. Easel?''

TALES OF BARBADOS. 133
asked Mr. X, as a servant placed certain indi
cations of a forenoon's draught on the table
before us.
" Twelve, precisely," said I, pulling out my
watch. " Grog time o'day, sir, then," and X, forth
with commenced to mix a large glass of san-
garee. " You have read the tale of the Leeward
Settlers in your friend's budget ?" enquired I, of
X, as he concoeted the beverage.
" Yes I have," replied he.
"There are a few questions I would like to
ask you," continued I, in reference to that
tale ; " why did the writer think proper to intro
duce in it the Portuguese and the Carib ? Was
there any necessity for the admission of the
first into the story, and is there any certainty
of the latter being the aborigines of the
island ?"
" Why — a — the writer, Mr. -Easel, has
founded his story upon well-grounded suppo
sition, — I will not say upon fact, because the
earlier history of this comparatively recent
colony, is involved in much obscurity; and
matters connected with its first periods of set-

134 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
tlement, but very little known. Local cir
cumstances, I have no doubt, suggested to my
friend the propriety of venturing to embody
in his story the Carib and the Portuguese, in
order to account for certain names and re
mains belonging to these people, that exist at
the present day. You are well aware that the
Portuguese were the discoverers of the island —
landed here, and called it Barbados ;* but we
are not told that any remained for any length
of time. There is, however, every reason to
suppose, that at some period of its early settle
ment, individuals of that nation might be met
with on the island ; because there are places,
the names of which are derived from the Por
tuguese tongue — for instance, there is a wild
romantic spot to the north-east of the island,
called Boscobelle, which is nothing more than
the Portuguese bosque, a grove or little wood,
and bello, beautiful."
" Oh you horrible matter-of-fact man," said
I, laughing, "to attempt to dispel the charm
that hung over the place. I have heard that it
* " Las Barbadas" — the bearded islands — from the bearded
fig-tree that once abounded in this and the other neighbouring
islands.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 135
received the name of Boscobelle from some
stout and loyal cavalier, who settled there, and
called it so, in remembrance of the escape of
his royal master."
" Ha ! ha ! ha ! that seems probable indeed ;
take another pull at the sangaree, — won't hurt
you; but there is another circumstance to
corroborate my friend's supposition for these
his views of the subject: in that very place,
Boscobelle, there is a conical hill, with a tall
pinnacle of rock, which hill is laid down in our
maps as the Peak of Teneriffe, and familiarly
known as such ; but the old people in its neigh
bourhood give it no other name in common par
lance than that of the Pico. With regard
to the Caribs, 1 will not undertake to say,
whether they were, or were not, the aborigines ;
this, however, is an undeniable fact, that they
occasionally visited the island in their canoes,
for the purpose, it is presumed, of hunting and
fishing; for they have left many traces of their
having been here. I have several of their
stone chisels in my possession ; and these are
still picked up in unfrequented places. I
could show you too, from my upper windows,
Six-men's Estate, called so from the first settlers

136 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
having seen six Indians in that spot. And
then again, there is Indian Castle, Indian Pond,
Indian River, &c. all affording evidence to their
former presence here. So let us finish our
sangaree.'' " Mister Seagrave's phaeton's below," said
a servant entering the room ; and, being unwill
ing to detain the horses, and anxious to see
my old chum, I took my leave of Mr. X, and
was presently on my road to Champaign
Ground.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 137

CHAPTER IV.
A DAY IN THE PLOVERING PASTURE.
The migration of birds — how curious a theme !
the plover and his associate the curlew, with
thirty or forty other species of water-birds,
wing their way across the mighty waters of
the Atlantic, from regions probably unknown.
Every year at this season, without any deviation,
myriads of these feathered travellers of the sea
and air, (for on the bosom of the former they
have been seen to rest themselves, tired doubt
less of their flight,) swarm among the islands in
continuation of their course to the low and
swampy coasts of Guiana. Whence come they 1
conjecture has ever been alive to the solution
of this problem ; but it has never been satisfac
torily solved. Some persons suppose them to
come from the northern regions of America,
instinctively anticipating the time when the

138 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
winter months will set in, and the ice and frost
deprive them of their natural sources for the
supply of food, — the water, the swamp, and the
mud, their food being small fish and aqueous
insects ; the greater number, however, living by
what is termed suction. Others, that they fly
from the banks of the mighty lakes and rivers
of the more central parts of the great continent.
Whichever it be, is not, however, of much mo
ment to the sportsman of Barbados. He is no
ornithologist, but a bird-fancier in another way,
and looks forward with pleasure to the yearly
recurrence of the plover's flight. 'Tis the only
recreation he has of its kind to relieve the dull
monotony of his daily routine of business, or
planting. No sooner does he hear some idle
urchin's whistle in the street ; or the cattle boy
" whistling o'er the lea," than the guns are in
requisition — are forthwith taken from their
repositories to which they have been consigned
since last season, are cleaned, oiled, rubbed,
and cleaned again. " Who's is the best pow
der?" he enquires of some friend. " Laurence
and Son, — Curtis and Harvey, or Burton's?
— Charles Laurence's, say you ? Well, then,
Sambo," (to a servant about to set off for the

TALES OF BARBADOS. 139
capital,) " mind and enquire for Laurence and
Son's powder, boy, — get me some No. 6, and
No. 8 ; and above all, don't forget my licence.
Licence ! aye, — to shoot plovers is a luxury ;
and as we must pay for luxuries, ' you know,'
the legislature in their wisdom have made us
pay for shooting. Two dollars for a licence ; —
well, it helps to swell the revenue ; and who
would not pay double that for shooting plo
vers !"
Before daybreak on the third of September,
Seagrave and myself were mounted on our nags,
and on our way to the shooting pasture, fol
lowed by several lads on foot carrying the guns
and ammunition. The morning indicated rain,
and we pushed on as well as the nature of our
road would permit, in order to escape it, and
with the hope of not only obtaining early sport,
but of having to boast of being the first in the
field. We were denied, however, this latter
gratification ; for as we entered on the land of
promise, Seagrave pointed out to me the shooting
hut, and we could distinguish by the dull grey
light of morning, persons already moving about.
We drew in our horses into a walk, and pro
ceeded leisurely, to allow the boys to come up

140 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
with us ; this slow advance giving me an oppor
tunity to survey the scene of our intended sport.
It was a large open sour-grass field, with every
appearance of having been recently mowed.
On a gentle eminence close to the edge of the
pasture, stood the plovering or shooting hut,
rudely constructed of upright posts firmly driven
into the ground, and enclosed with boards ;
three apertures being left, one on either side as
entrances, and the other in its back, for the ad
mission of air: the roof, depending very low all
round, save over the doorways, was thatched
with trash — the dried leaves of the cane. We
dismounted aud entered this primitive fabric;
Seagrave introducing me to the early sportsman
who had anticipated our arrival by some four or
five minutes.
He was a tall, venerable-looking old man,
with close shorn hair, " white as the driven
snow ;" and sat in an arm-chair enjoying most
complacently his morning pipe, which he only
removed from his lips when in the act of accost
ing us. In attendance on the old gentleman
were two mulatto servants, who administered to
his wants of the weed and fire, arranged on the
long deal table that occupied the centre of the

TALES OF BARBADOS. 141
hut, his shooting apparatus, and rubbed, with
studied care, by way of amusement only, I pre
sume, two beautifully kept single-barrel guns ;
which, indeed, seemed to divide the "boys'"
attention between them and their old master.
To enlighten our reader, who may be so pro
foundly ignorant as not to know the nature of
plover-shooting, as practised in Barbados, to
which island, I believe, it is chiefly confined, —
it will be necessary to premise, for his informa
tion on some points, which might perplex and
puzzle him, a few observations connected with
the sport. We have said, the birds come from
the northward ; — southerly winds, rain, or both,
are therefore generally indispensable to a good
shooting-day, causing to take to the ground
such birds as are on their flight, and which,
otherwise, would soar high and invisible to
mortal ken, and continue their course without
descending from their high altitudes. Let but
those impediments to their flight, namely, an
hour's rain fall, and a southerly wind blow, — in
less than half that time, you will both see and
hear birds ; and if your whistler does not allure
or decoy them within killing range of your gun,
and you do not drop some dozens as fast as you

142 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
can load, why the fault lies not with the plover,
Mr. Sportsman; for, accompanied with some
fifty or sixty more, tired with his journey, and
beaten by the rain, he will fly in your very face."
" Ha ! Captain, you are before us this morn
ing," said Seagrave, addressing himself to the
old gentleman, " what say you to the pros
pect?" " Capital, capital ! depend upon it we'll have
birds presently."
" I'm glad to hear you say so, for I've brought
a stranger to shoot with us to-day."
" Aye, aye. Oh ! I think I can venture to
promise you sport, sir. John, how's the wind
still? it has been touching southerly all this
morning." John looked out of the hut for a moment, and
reported the wind to be " rank sow-east — de
rain's a coming too, and a set of gentlemen's
making for de hut."
Fresh arrivals now take place in quick suc
cession, and in half an hour the hut contains
eight or ten sportsmen, who chat, laugh, criti
cise, and make fun of each other's dress, and all
with the most perfect good humour. One ex
amines a newly imported gun — talks of the

TALES OF BARBADOS. 143
number of birds he has already shot — of the
weather — and rubbing his hands with much
glee, looks with intense delight at the coming
rain. Another may be seen at the hut door
gravely admonishing a wicked-looking urchin,
who is mounted on a horse for the purpose of
conveying it to a neighbouring stable, " to mind
and gallop it well, when he gets out of sight, —
to throw it down and break its knees, — but
particularly to mind and break his own neck ;"
which instructions, barring the latter, the owner
of the horse makes up his mind will be carried
into effect to the very letter. Down comes the
rain at last, and the hut is filled with sportsmen,
guns, and " boys," each of the latter with his
whistle round his neck, and seeking shelter
from the shower, which pours in torrents ; while
the thunder is heard to growl audibly far away
to the northward.
" Hear that!" exclaims a stout humorous-
looking man, whose arrival had been hailed
with evident satisfaction by all the party as a
promoter of fun, anecdote relater, and joke
retailer. His very appearance and manner of
speaking excites a general laugh, — he is dressed
in a grey shooting-coat of a quaint cut, — his

144 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
short legs clothed in corduroys with high thick
leather gaiters ; he possesses a singular power
over the muscles of his scalp, which he can
move at will without distorting his features, or
wrinkling his forehead, so as to cause the thick
wiry hair to bristle on his head " like the quills
on the fretful porcupine." To add to this, when
speaking, he has a habit of impelling his breath
forcibly through his throat and nostrils, thus
emitting a complex guttural and nasal sound,
resembling no one sound ever heard — it is a
noise between a sneeze, a snort, and a grunt.
" Hear that ! tnigh ! tnigh — we'll maul 'em
presently — but here ! Cap'n — tnigh — no nan
keen this damp morning — tnigh — tnigh — eh !"
" Helloa! Mas Dick, at it so early? fie!"
said a thin doubled-up anatomy of a man in an
immense broad-rimmed Panama hat, and who
bore a strong resemblance to a contorted osier-
twig in the hands of the basket-maker.
" Tnigh — now only listen to Satan correcting
sin. You won't drink any yourself after that,
surely ? Oh, certainly not, — besides it will only
be cast away on that lean carcase of yours, for
nothing thrives with you. Look at him ! he's a
true specimen of a half-starved, dry-weather

TALES OF BARBADOS. 145
overseer; — tnigh— -little legs, less thighs, pot
belly, and no  ."
Here this elegant description was drowned in
the gurgling sound that issued from a capacious
bowl of coffee mixed with spirits ; which com
position, facetiously termed "nankeen," from its
colour, he of the shorts and gaiters imbibed in
no small quantity, and with no inconsiderable
gusto — thus convincing us, that if there existed
any obstruction in his throat, it did not in the
least impair his deglutition.
The rain ceases, when all at once the boys cry
out " There's a flock !" All now is hurry and
bustle — the sportsmen snatch up their guns, and
run pell-mell, helter-skelter to their places. The
Captain, Seagrave, and myself are alone left in
the hut, and the former, after looking out for a
moment, cries, " Pshaw ! 'tis only a flock of
small birds ;" but adds directly after, " We had
better take our stands, for these little fellows
are the pilots to the plovers." Followed by
Compasses with a chair, I went to the stand
which the polite owner of the ground had
pointed out to me as a good one. " Taking
our stands," implies the act of the shooters
being stationed some eighty or a hundred yards
L

146 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
apart in different places on the field ; there to
sit, and patiently await the coming of the birds.
One gentleman, passionately fond of the sport,
has caused a hole to be dug, breast high, and
has placed therein a snug and large sort of box,
capable of containing several persons ; over
which contrivance is a moveable lid raised on
iron rods, sufficiently high to allow him to shoot
under it without being inconvenienced by rain
or sun. Several have tents, like sentinels'
boxes, — the rest are seated off in low chairs,
screened or not, by umbrellas. Scarcely had
we thus arranged ourselves, when a whistle is
heard ; every one starts, and looks wistfully
around ; and the whistling is successively taken
up, and continued by each boy behind his mas
ter, as he perceives the birds soaring away at a
considerable distance in the air.
" Look, sir," said Compasses, half mad with
delight, — there's a noble flock !"
" Where, boy, where?" said I, straining my
eyes to no purpose in the direction to which he
pointed. " Why, you no see 'em ? — see 'em in de bright
eloud yonder. Look yonder again," as with a

TALES OF BARBADOS. 147
hawk-eye, he discovered another flock, " there's
a rope !"
I now saw the plovers, — not, indeed, unlike a
short rope, stretched across the bright cloud,
now winding and now uncoiling itself, as the
birds that formed it flew irregularly in line, or
en masse.
" Get ready, sir — them's a coming," ex
claimed Compasses, ejaculating hasty sentences
between his whistling, which had commenced
from the moment he saw the flock. " Put up
the umbrella — twillip — twillio-o — potato, potato,
potato, — dere dey pitch — now dey go to the
Colonel, — potato, potato, potato ! "
All now was excitement — every man motion
less, and with his gun ready, awaits their
approach with breathless anxiety — while the
loud shrill whistle resounds throughout the
field. The flock, consisting of fifty or sixty
birds, makes a wheel or two, low in the air, and
pitches in a compact body immediately before
the gentleman concealed in the hole : — bang —
bang — awful precision! a dozen at a fall; — and
the flock discomfited for a moment, reunites its
broken rank and seeks another stand, lured by
the nice and accurate imitation of the plover's
l2

148 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
notes. Poor birds ! in vain you wheel away
like lightning and dash from the next sports
man, who in rising to fire has scared you —
bang — bang — the leaden shower follows, — and
once again are your numbers diminished.
" Twillip — twillio — potato, potato, potato ! —
Get ready, sir, they go to Mr. P., he'll be sure
to miss 'em; for he look flurried. I wish I
may be d  m ! 1 told you so — he aint got
one ! Mind out, Mas Theodore, as they come
to you — tak time, sir — don't be in a hurry —
potato, potato, potato, twillip, twillio, twillip,
tootoo — tootoo-o-o-o." The birds poise at the
last beautifully executed note — it is the one
they themselves give when about to light —
" Now's yer time ! " Bang, goes the left
barrel — eight birds fall, — bang, goes the right —
six more !
" Hurray for us," shouts Compasses, " I'm
d  d if we hav'n't maul'd 'em ! "
Flock after flock now come upon us as fast
as we can well discharge and reload our guns, —
few escaping without a considerable thinning of
their ranks; while such as do avoid present
death, fly from us only to be massacred in
other pastures, or to be shot at by the unlicensed

TALES OF BARBADOS. 149
tenant, as they pass over his house ; in which,
five or six children, clamorous for a " plover to
eat," have induced the poor man, in order to
appease their desires, to run the risk of being
given over by the police for a breach of the
game (?) laws.
The " flight" is over; an occasional flock, —
a solitary bird, — or a few stragglers flying
wildly over the country, in vain search of a
resting-place, afford us, however, excellent sport
during the remainder ofthe day.
Breakfast is announced, and the stands are
vacated for the table. We have seen Scotch
breakfasts, and the dejeuner franpais, but the
Barbados morning's meal beats both hollow.
It is of the old school, — one of your Elizabethan
breakfasts; and although the ale flagon and
the venison pasty be wanting, the latter for the
best reason in the world, yet, in lieu of it,
there is enough of fish, flesh, and fowl — hot
and cold — to satisfy the most inordinate cravings
of Justice Greedy himself; while a vast china
bowl of "Tea — and" — delicious and fascinating
drink! assumes the place ofthe silver flagon of
ale or sack.
Breakfast concluded, some resume their sta-

150 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
tions at the stands ; while perhaps the Colonel,
the Captain, he of the shorts, and Mr. Q. sat
down to a game of whist.
Dinner, in due season, makes its appearance ;
and the table literally groans under the weight
of the numerous and substantial viands. The
cloth removed, the Queen's health is drunk, and
successively the Governor's — the shooting hut,
&c. &c. &c. Then come songs and jelly-
punch, both of which are duly circulated, until
the shadows of evening, and the impatient
horses kicking and neighing behind the hut,
warn us to depart. So ends a day on the
plovering pasture.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 151

CHAPTER V.
The Bay-house — The Bachelor's Cave — The Animal-flower
Cave — The Carpet Room — The Animal Flower — The Back
Cave — Shark Catching.
" Lucus a non lucendo" may not be inaptly
quoted in reference to my friend's tempo
rary dwelling on Champaign Ground, for the
" Bay-house" in question has neither bay,
beach, nor bathing ! Its proximity to the sea,
may, probably, give it some pretext for usurp
ing a title, which I should suppose essentially
belongs to the cottage or house situated in a
bay, and dedicated to the purpose of a residence
for those whose object is to lave themselves in
the briny waters of the ocean. Faulty as may
be its nomenclature, for want of a better, the
said Bay-house, or Moorland cottage, as Sea
grave terms it, from its marshy site, stands on
an elevated, flat, and iron-bound coast, on
which the waves of the vasty deep, impelled by

152 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
the trade winds, dash themselves in hoarse and
tumultuous roar, against the precipitous rocks,
or rush into caverns, from whence, through
apertures in the ground above, the water during
rough weather, issues in a column, and forms
a natural jet-d'eau or "spout," as it is here
termed. There are two or three of these spouts
on the coast : the caverns are, I believe, nu
merous, but I only visited two — the Bachelor's,
and the Animal-flower Cave.
The former is about half-a-mile from the
house, and is considered to be attached to it
as a bathing-place, the uneven surface of the
cavern affording holes of water, in which one
can bathe in tolerably fair weather, the water
being supplied and deposited in them, by the
continued heavy surge striking against the face
of rock under the mouth of th e ca ve, (which looks
out on the roaring sea beyond), and sending
up the spray in dense showers ; these falling
into the cavern, thus furnish and replenish the
bath ; while the superabundant water that must
result from this constant supply, runs off by
the same embouchure through which it has
entered. On first descending into the Bache
lor's cave, which is gained by a rude staircase

TALES OF BARBADOS. 153
of unhewn and piled stones leading from an
entrance hole above ground, the stranger is
awe-struck by the manner in which his bath is
supplied, shrinks at the idea of bathing in such
a place, and reluctantly and slowly undresses for
that purpose. The sea is foaming and boiling
outside the opening, and as the long swells
roll in towards the land, and bound against
the rocks, with deafening roar and terrific im
petus, — up is dashed the shower of spray, so
thick as wholly to shut out the view, and at the
same time, so translucent, that a glare is shed
on every thing within the cavern.
The Animal-flower Cave is an object of cu
riosity to many strangers who have leisure and
inclination for a ramble over the island ; and
is more particularly attractive to the naturalist,
on account of the singular species of zoophyte
to be found there. Its approach is generally
considered dangerous ; and a lady, if she has
been into the cave, deems herself to have ac
complished no ordinary or inconsiderable feat ;
the danger is, however, more apparent than
real, except at times when the sea is very high,
it then becomes impracticable to visit this
cave. On arriving at the brink of the cliff,

154 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
which when the sea is calm, may be about forty
feet above its level, — one peeps over the rugged
precipice ; and to make use of Quashy's*
expression, feels "funny." The water is be
neath, and although comparatively calm, there
it is — deep, dark, and seemingly unfathomable ;
its heaving billows slowly rising upon the flat
ledge of rock that forms a basement to the
cliff, and as they sink down again, streaming
off from the wave-worn basement, in cataracts
of foam ; another look — a desire to proceed,
and a consequent screwing of courage to the
sticking -place, and Quashy's undefinablef
feeling passing away, one ventures to descend
slowly the narrow and rudely hewn steps that
lead diagonally across the precipice, holding on
by the hands like " grim death," for Quashy,
with a broad grin, has told you, by way of
consolation, and to support you in your hour
of trial, that " if you miss your foot, and let
go your hans, if you no fall and mash yourself
* A general term for a Negro.
f I suppose this feeling to be allied to that of the mighty
king — " Nor mulligrubs nor devils blue are here ;
But yet we feel a little queer." Printer's Devil.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 155
all to fritters on de sharp rocks, or you no
drown, one or toder — Jack Shark will be sure
to hold you!"' So here we are safe and sound
under the porch—" but this is not the cave ?"
" Kigh ! massa, no — but you can get up dere
and see de pot and de round of beef in 'em.
Cha ! Cha ! Cha ! 'ant him too like. I wish
'em were piece of beef for true — I guess him
woudn't top dere too long — Cha ! Cha ! Cha !"
The subject of Quashy's attempt at wit, and
of his laughter, was a large circular hole in a
rock under the archway or porch, through
which one passes on his way to the cave, —
bearing the most perfect resemblance to the
interior of a cauldron, with a piece of beef in
it ; a stone lying at the bottom of the hole
being the very counterpart of the meat. The
adventurous visitor has yet further to go ere
he gain the cave, he must walk along the
rugged face of the cliff, and on turning an angle
of the same called the horse, he descends a
few steps, and enters the cave. Stranger, I
have said that the peril in getting into the
cave is imaginary, and so it is ; it is the sea
beneath that unnerves you, and not sp much
the difficulty of the way; once having been

156 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
down, and learnt your footing, you will laugh
at your nervousness and fears. I was told that
many years ago, a gentleman betted that he
would " ride down ;" he won, and claimed the
wager, although I doubt whether the jockey
club would have conceded it, had the point
been disputed ; he used blocks and ropes, and
bestriding a small pony, was, in this manner,
lowered from the height above !
The cavern is spacious, irregular, and di
vided into several compartments by the rocky
supports of the roof, and is lighted up by as
many openings, or mouths, all of which look
upon the sea ; its height is not uniform, being
high in some places, low in others — while a
pure limpid water distils from the small sta
lactites and incrusted surface of the roof, and
mingles with the salt water left in the many
holes, more or less deep, by the sea, when in
stormy weather the waves find ready entrance
into the cave through the openings just men
tioned. To see the animal-flowers, from which
the cave derives its name, one must wade knee
deep through a pool of water, and enter by a
low arch-way the Carpet room, so called from
the endless variety of rich and beautiful colours

TALES OF BARBADOS. 157
displayed by a kind of velvet moss that ad
heres to the bottom and sides of the natural
basin, sunk in the floor of this fairy grotto,
the intermixture of the moss assuming the ap
pearance of a handsome Turkey carpet. In
the centre of the basin is a large, oblong, and
submerged rock, also clothed with the va
riegated moss; and from this rock, which is
always covered over with the clearest water,
the singular species of zoophyte, called the
animal-flower, is seen to bloom. Most like in
appearance to the single flowers of the com
posite plants, this intermediate scale between
the animal and vegetable creation, radiates or
expands its petals from a small stem or tube,
into which the flower withdraws itself the in
stant the hand is approached to touch it,
while the tube shrinks into the small hole in
the rock from which it has issued. If the
hand be removed, and the creature left undis
turbed, the tube again comes forth ; and once
more the animal flower discloses its fine and
sensitive petals ; which, when they are of a
yellow colour, bear a strong resemblance to a
flower of the single marigold. The antenna--,
or feelers, which spring from the centre or disk

158 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
of the flower, are so delicate and fine as not
to be easily perceived ; and on this account
render the deception still more complete. In
fact, Mr. Hughes disbelieved at first the ex
istence of animal life in these curious produc
tions of nature, and was induced to examine
them more accurately to solve his doubts.*
There are three varieties of the zoophyte:
the yellow, the blue, and the brown ; the latter,
however, is rarely seen in this place, but grows
to a large size in the Bachelor's Cave.
By clambering round the angle at the mouth
of the Carpet room, the Back Cave may be
attained, where the moss displays richer and
more brilliant colours than in the preceding
grot; and where there is a large hole of cool
and limpid water to tempt one to bathe in.
This cave, unless the sea be extremely calm, is

* I plainly saw four dark-coloured resemblances of threads,
something like the legs of a spider, rising out of the centre of
what I have termed a flower. Their quick spontaneous motion
from one side to the other of this circular border of seeming
leaves (which in realitywere so many arms or feelers) and their
closing together in imitation of a forceps, as if they had
hemmed in their prey, which the yellow border likewise soon
surrounded and closed to secure, fully convinced me that i t
was a living creature. — Hughes' Nat. Hist, of Barbados.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 159
really dangerous to go into, — the water being
only eight or ten feet below its mouth, and one
may he swept off the rocks by the rising waves
in going to and from its entrance.
The birds had ceased to fly for some days ;
when the younger and more restless of the
shooting party at the hut, proposed by way of
killing time, instead of plovers, that we should
maroon at the Animal-flower Cave, and try our
skill at shark catching. To effect this purpose,
a glandered horse was proffered and accepted ;
lines, hooks, and other implements for slaughter
procured, and the attendance of a wary black
fisherman obtained, — a noted hand was he at
hooking the sea-lawyers. On the day appointed
for this sport, Seagrave and myself taking our
guns, walked to the cave along the flat and
stony summit of the cliffs that overlook the sea,
shooting, as we went, at the numerous water-
birds that collect about the swamps and pools
of water with which the place abounds. The
others ofthe party had already assembled ; and
our arrival was the signal to commence opera
tions. The horse, which had been tethered to
a large stone, was now brought close to the
edge of the precipice and bled ; the blood being

160

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

caught in a bucket, was then discharged into
the sea, while yet warm, to allure the sharks,
whose extraordinary and strong powers of scent
are too well known to need comment here. As
soon as the animal showed symptoms of faint
ing, he was dispatched by shooting him in the
head with one of our fowling-pieces which had
been previously loaded with ball for that pur
pose ; his body opened, the lungs and liver
excised to serve the purpose of bait, and his
carcase thrown over the cliff upon the ledge
before the cave, and there confined by a rope
in order to afford additional scent to the fish.
These revolting preliminaries concluded, we de
scended into the cave; and baiting our lines,
threw them and sundry pieces of unarmed bait
into the water. In a few minutes up rose the
rapacious sharks, and we could plainly distin
guish the ravenous monsters sailing about
many feet under the water in eager search of
their prey. Such of the floating pieces of bait
as were wafted out from the ledge, were imme
diately seized upon by them; but, strange to
say, they swam round and round the baited
hooks without touching* one. Disappointed at
our want of success, most of the party dispersed

TALES OF BARBADOS. 161
themselves about the cave, either to bathe in
its deep basins, or to ramble about its recesses.
I however retained my line, and remained to
wait in expectation of entrapping some incau
tious and less discerning fish, than those we had
already seen : I had kept the line in my hands
some ten minutes or more, when becoming tired
of not hooking one, I resigned it to a gentle
man with whom I had been conversing ; he
had scarcely taken it into his hands when it
darted through them with such rapidity, as
nearly to tear off one of his nails ; while the
blood spun from the injured finger. " Strike ! .
strike !" shouted I ; and my companion having
struck his fish bravely, gave up the line to the
black fisherman, who had come to us on hear
ing the clamour I made.
He managed matters in good style ; and
after about twenty minutes' play, succeeded in
bringing the shark to the side of the ledge.
To land him was now a nice point, — so jump
ing on the ledge at the risk of being swept off
by the sea as it rose upon the rock, the fisher
man with the assistance of a keen sportsman of
our party, contrived with much difficulty to
drag the fish on the ledge, from whence be was
M

162 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
hauled Up into the cave by additional lines and
ropes attached to him, and then dispatched
with no little triumph and exaltation. What
joy ever attends the destruction of this creature !
But is it to be wondered at? Is not the shark
the most dreaded, cunning and rapacious enemy
of our race, and is he not on that account most
hated? When we looked at his formidable
range of teeth, his small crafty piercing eye, his
immensely powerful tail, the Roman tyrant's
very amiable wish, reverted to my mind, and
I wished the whole tribe of sharks was concen
trated in one, and that one — the dying shark of
the cave.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 163

CHAPTER VI.
Samuel Seagrave — A dinner-party — Equalization of Sugar
Duties — St. Nicholas Abbey, and Cherry Tree Hill — A view
of Scotland — Anecdotes of Runaway G round — The aspect of
the country fancifully compared with the battle-field of the
Titans — Miss TJ. — The Boiling Spring, and Turner's-hall
Wood — Dr.Maycock's book — Dr. Collyns.
Seagrave proposed breaking up his quarters
on Champaign Ground to accompany me on my
tour through the island. His knowledge ofthe
country, and acquaintance with numerous fami
lies resident in the different parishes, rendered
him independent of our friendship, and his
merits as a literary character, a valuable com
panion to me, — who am a stranger in the land,
but to whom, I am confident every attention
would have been shewn, by the kind and hospi
table persons, into whose houses I have been
admitted, and there entertained as a guest,
whether I had presented letters of introduction
alone, or have entered their doors, under the
favourable countenance of my friend himselfT
Inwardly rejoicing at his determination to go.
m 2

164 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
with me, I could not refrain from formally ex
pressing my regret at being the cause of his
leaving his sport.
" Now, I dare say," said he, half reproach
fully, " you give me great credit for self-denial
in not staying behind to shoot plovers ; and
none at all for what will infinitely be more
agreeable, a real desire, Mister Easel, to go
with you, and to enjoy your society as long as
you remain in the Island."
" Nay, Sam," replied I, " if you come Mister
Easel, it will be my turn to upbraid; and I can
only say, my dear fellow, that I shall experience
more pleasure and relish in your company than
by rambling about the country alone ; so when
will it be convenient for you to start?"
" Well then, let me see. X. and some others
of the shooting party dine with us the day after
to-morrow ; we'll set out on the morning fol
lowing, eh ? — .what say you — will that suit you ?"
My answer was, of course, in the affirmative ;
and having arranged our plans for the tour, and
projected the route, Seagrave called for his desk,
and wrote several letters to some of his friends,
to ask the rites of hospitality, and to obtain
permission to convert their dwellings into tem-

TALES OF BARBADOS. 165
porary caravanseries for the repose and enter
tainment of the travellers : for in Barbados,
inns there are none, save in the towns, and
"mine host " were he to set up his sign in this
social and hospitable country, would stand a
very fair chance of starvation, if he relied on the
purses of wayfaring folk to supply his table
d'hote. While he dispatches the letters by his
trusty courier, Compasses, let us take a hasty
sketch of Samuel Seagrave, Esq. My friend
was in his thirty-fifth year, tall, good-looking,
intellectual, and a widower. He had received
a liberal education in England, where, as I have
before observed, we had known each other as
schoolfellows. Except his public duties, which
were of a high grade, he followed no particular
pursuit ; his income, derivable from his estates,
securing to him so handsome competence as to
render him independent of professional avoca
tions. This was in some respects a disadvan
tage to my friend Seagrave, as he was a man
fitted for an active sphere of life ; but having
no family — generally a stimulus to active habits
— there was little encouragement, and no actual
occasion, for him to exert himself: and he
gradually settled down into the man of ease.-

166 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
His sedentary life, thus opposed to his natural
disposition, and coupled perhaps with painful
regrets and reminiscences of an early lost wife,
wrought conjointly upon an otherwise strong
mind, and tended occasionally to foster within
it, an idea that he was in some measure a valetu
dinarian — in other words, Seagrave would at
times be hippish. What Compasses meant in
allusion to his master, as expressed in the first
chapter of this work, will readily recur to the
reader, and be explained by this description of
him . The hypochondriac sought the excitement
of the plovering pasture, not from mere love of
the sport only, but to relieve the teedium vita,
the dull monotony that every idle day brought
with it to the restless and impatient mind of a
naturally active man. Seagrave, however, was
careful not to importune one's attention to his
fancied ailments ; and when his mind was
amused and engaged in any thing that inter
ested him, there could not be a more entertain
ing, pleasant, and sensible person.
The day after to-morrow came : and with it
the expected party to dinner. Our conversation
during the meal was desultory and lively ; but
when the cloth was removed, it took a more

TALES OF BARBADOS. 167
grave turn, and topics relating to the West
India Colonies in general, and to Barbados in
particular were introduced and discussed. From
the general tenor of the conversation, I gleaned
sufficient information to arrive at certain con
clusions on some points, which, considering that
they are of moment to Britain herself, as well
as to her colonies in the West, I shall here briefly
transcribe ; praying my reader to pass over the
next three or four pages, if he find any disin
clination to enter on the subjects they contain.
Should the equalization of the duties on
British and foreign sugars be carried into effect,
such a measure would be attended with dis
astrous and ruinous results to the British and
West India colonies, and to the commercial and
manufacturing interests of the mother country.
It would also on her part be an overt act both
of injustice and impolicy.
It would be impolitic for two reasons ; —
Firstly, because it would inevitably injure those
commercial advantages which the mother coun
try enjoys from its present protective duties on
the produce of these colonies, by seriously di
minishing the continuance of the importations
from Great Britain of those articles which are

168 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
of home manufacture. Let us contemplate for
a moment the falling off of nearly four millions
sterling* from the annual income to the British
manufacture, alone derivable from the West
India Colonies. What an abandonment of
solid advantages to her commercial and manu
facturing interests this would be ! and for what?
for the mere purpose of gratifying an impatience
created by the temporary rise in the value of
sugar in the British market, occasioned by the
decrease of that commodity ; the defalcation of
which, be it remembered, is consequent on the
first and important experiment of the cultivation
of it by free labour. Secondly ; this measure
Would unquestionably tend to the maintenance
of slavery, and to increase the traffic in slaves,
by whose labour foreign sugars are for the most
part produced. And where would be the policy,
the consistency of that Government, who having
liberated her own slaves at a cost of 20 millions,
and lavished so many valuable lives and so
much treasure in the endeavour to accomplish
the extinction of the slave-trade, to recognise a
* The imports of British goods into Barbados in 1836, as
taken from the returns of the Customs, were «£408,2.-3-± 10s. ;
but probably, the amount may have been much greater.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 169
principle utterly subversive of that of universal
emancipation? It would be an act of injustice, because many
of the West India Colonies, in their desire to
meet the wishes of the Government, and relying
on the protection of the imperial parliament,
have voluntarily abridged the term of appren
ticeship ; thus incurring the heavy expences of
free labour, which they can never defray or
continue to support, should they have to com
pete with those states where the produce of
sugar is the result of slave manufacture. For,
however well the experiment may ultimately
end of cultivating sugar plantations by means
of free labour, it cannot be denied, that the
first fruits of the trial, from physical as well as
moral causes, have been reaped under great dis
advantages by the planter, so that nothing could
justify the sanction of a measure which would
interfere with and hazard the ultimate success
of an experiment, now faithfully begun by
British subjects, under a reliance of support
from the imperial parliament, whose dixit had
subjected them to the trial.
" Even at this moment," said Mr. X., "are our
sugar plantations suffering from the encourage-

170 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
ment given to the foreign slave trade by the per
mission that has been granted to import slave-
grown sugars into the British American pro
vinces; the refiners of sugars at home being
allowed to refine in bond foreign and slave
sugars, and to send them to the above-named
colonies. The Government, in giving sanction
to this proceeding, have thus indirectly refused
protection to the produce of free labour, and
have excluded it from the market of those very
colonies, from which they compel us to purchase
articles, that could be elsewhere procured at
much cheaper rates.
" Is this just, is it fair?" asked Mr. X., the
little man's face growing even more red than
was its natural hue, as he warmed with the
subject. "Is it just that the Government
should restrict us to purchase articles from
those very provinces, to the markets of which,
our sugars are denied access by the indirect
protection, which is afforded to foreign
sweets?" " Pray," said I, interrupting him for infor
mation sake, " shew me an instance where the
mother country does this ?"
" Why," responded X., " the foreign sugars

TALES OF BARBADOS. 171
refined in bond, are imported into New Bruns
wick ; now, from this place, we are obliged to
receive our supplies of lumber at a compara
tively high cost, instead of obtaining it at
cheaper rates from the United States ; to pur
chase the lumber of which, amounts to a pro
hibition—so high are the duties imposed on it
to protect the lumber market of the British
province in question ! This, sir, is a grievous
case, inasmuch as the quantity of lumber used
in this island alone is enormous, — almost incre
dible ; indeed, the Yankees say, ' We must
eat the horses they send us, and cook them
with the lumber we import.' I contend, Mr.
Easel, that this system is unjust, and oppres
sive : there ought to exist a reciprocity of
interest among the British possessions ; so
that in the instance of New Brunswick — if
that colony be supplied with cheap sugars,
we should be permitted to purchase cheap
lumber." " Quid pro quo," quoth I, smilingly, at X.'s
earnestness. " Exactly so — exactly so," responded X.
"Then practise what you preach, X.," cried
Seagrave, laughing; "and don't monopolize

172 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
the wine ; help yourself, and let others do the
same." X. apologized, poured out a bumper, passed
the bottles, and having gulped down his wine,
resumed the subject ofthe equalization of sugar
duties. " If the measure be adopted, it will be an
outrage on humanity ; for what will be the
consequences to the labouring population? —
their means of livelihood and comfort derived
from the profitable employment of cultivating
sugar, will be taken from them — their moral
and religious instruction suspended for the
want of means to support their ministers and
teachers ; the churches, chapels, and schools,
which on this island are amply provided for
their use and benefit, will be deserted, and sink
into decay — and the blessings of civilization
and religion, now so rapidly progressing, as
indeed, to warrant the assertion that among
them ' the schoolmaster is abroad,' will pass
away, and give place to ignorance and super
stition, with all their concomitant evils. In
short, instead of a contented, happy, and flou
rishing peasantry, we should have a disaffected,
miserable, and impoverished people."

TALES OF BARBADOS. 173
" Grant," said I, " that the measure in ques
tion would throw the negro population out of
employment, which you assume will be the
case, are there not other resources to whjch
their labour might be profitably employed, as
well for themselves as their present employ
ers ?"
" No," replied Seagrave, " the cultivation
and manufacture of sugar requires ten times
the amount of manual labour than would the
cultivation and manufacture of any other mar
ketable article or material ; and I think I have
rather under-rated this comparative quantum of
labour; therefore, supposing that some of the
agricultural labourers might meet with employ
ment; the surplus population of the unem
ployed will still be very great, and what would
become of them ? Emigration in their case
would avail them little ; in fact, it would be
useless — hopeless ; for the fountain of their
subsistence, comforts and luxuries, would be
dried up in the other British West India colo
nies, as well as in this island ; and to no other
colder settlements are the negroes disposed to
emigrate. Under the tropical zone lies their
climate, and their home ; while to send them,

174 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
(the naturalized people and natives ofthe West
India Islands) to the continent of barbarous
Africa, would be at once to undo what England
has been for years attempting to attain— the
Negro' s freedom and his civilization."
Early on the following day we had started
on our route, purposing to spend the day in
Saint Andrew's parish. We rode slowly up the
long avenue of young mahogany trees, that
leads from St. Nicholas's Abbey to Cherry-tree
Hill; looking back from time to time on the
old house with its ornamented and antiquated
gables. Standing in front of a wood, and occupying
the. back ground in our rear, St. Nicholas's
Abbey presented a pleasing and picturesque
subject for a sketch, as it may be seen through
the defile of hills between which, our road
ran. Seagrave engaged me in conversation, and
withdrew my attention from the sudden view
that awaits the traveller as he reaches the top
of the avenue, by directing my looks to some
passing object, just as we had arrived at the
summit of the hill. I had averted my face for
a moment to observe what he had pointed out ;

TALES OF BARBADOS. 175
and when he drew up his horse, and bade me
stop, I uttered an exclamation of delight and
surprise at the scene so unexpectedly brought
before my eyes.
Beneath us lay St. Andrew's parish — the
Highlands in miniature — its uneven surface of
tumuli, rather than hills, and the fancied resem
blance of the scenery around, to that moun
tainous region of the Land of Cakes, have gained
for this district, parva componere magnis, the
name of Scotland. The eastern waters of the
Atlantic stretched far away, until shaded by
the mist of the morning, both sea and sky
became almost blended and lost in each
other ;
" And the fringe of the foam may be seen below
On the line that it left long ages ago :
A smooth short space of yellow sand
Between it and the greener land."
The high lands of St. John's parish, or the
Cliff, bounded the view on our extreme right ;
from whence is continued the intervening
heights of Hackleton's Cliff, and the long line
of hills belonging to the respective parishes of
St. Joseph, St. Thomas, St. James, and St.
Peter, — all looking down upon, and enclosing

176 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
the district of Scotland. Within this semi
circular range of heights, many objects of in
terest and note, besides the numerous estates
that occupy the hills and valleys of Scotland,
present themselves. Turner's Hall Wood, one
ofthe few relics of the old forest; — Chalky
Mount, with its white and weather-worn top,
devoid of vegetation ; — and Greenhill, are those
that principally attract the notice of the stran
ger. We lingered some minutes on Cherry-tree
Hill, snuffing up the sea-breeze as it ascended
over the land beneath us ; and then continued
our road to Boscobelle. As we proceeded, my
companion pointed out several places, where
large masses of soil, accompanied with huge
rocks, and vegetable growths, had glided from
their original site, from whence they had slipped
and transferred themselves to spots far below.
This erratic propensity of the soil, which is
chiefly reddish loam, is not of unfrequent oc
currence ; and our comments on the cause of it,
produced from Seagrave the two following
anecdotes relative to Runaway Ground, for such
is the name this phenomenon bears.
About fifty years ago, a christening, or a
marriage, was to have been celebrated at a

TALES OF BARBADOS. 177
place situated in some parts of St. Joseph's
parish. At an early period of the night pre
ceding the anticipated ceremony, a watchman
in great alarm roused the family, by telling
them that the hill above the place was " coming
down." They had scarcely time to make their
escape, — which was fortunately effected without
loss of life, — when down indeed came a part of
the hill, and overwhelmed the house ! On the
morrow, no vestige of it was to be seen — a
large and deep stratum of earth occupied the
place on which it had stood on the evening
before; and it was only discovered some time
after by a person observing a portion of the
roof, that appeared through a sun-crack in the
soil. The fissure was then enlarged, an open
ing made into the roof, and through it some
one descended into the buried house, which, as
far as its internal arrangements were concerned,
was found uninjured — even the great cake was
proved to be in good condition, and eaten by
the finders, who claiming salvage, laid profane
hands on it, and very considerably diminished
its former bulk !
The other story narrates, that two tenants
residing on lands adjoining each other, lived
N

178 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
upon no very amicable terms. Both tenements
occupied the side of a sloping hill, in a direct
line one above the other, and the higher ground
rejoiced in a beautiful green patch of potatoes.
The tenant of the lower land sent up to him of
the high ground, to beg a few of his potatoe
slips to plant ; and on his request being denied,
he returned the messenger with this advice to
the owner of the potatoe patch : — " Tell him to
make haste and dig his crop ; for the old adage
says, ' there's many a slip between the cup and
the lip,' and before to-morrow morning, I may
get other slips besides potatoe cuttings." The
advice and warning were alike disregarded.
The rain fell heavily during the day, and all
night ; and in the morning, to the consternation
and chagrin of the late owner, he saw his
neighbour below, in full possession of his beau
tiful patch of potatoes, and had the mortifica
tion to find him reaping them in, as fast as he
could, lest they should again feel inclined to
move down the hill. The land had slipped
during the night, and with it the potatoe-piece !
The country hereabouts, by an association of
ideas that will frequently occur to the mind of
the traveller absorbed in the contemplation of

TALES OF BARBADOS. 179
natural objects, at once reminded me of the
battle of the Titans. Rocks of all shapes and
sizes torn by convulsion, or separated from
the main hill by landslips, are scattered about
the sloping grounds in every direction; and
with no very great stretch of the imagination,
provided it be limited to the old fabulous sto
ries of mythology, one might fancy this region
to have been the scene of the contest between
mighty Jove and the giants : the rocks around
are the missiles of the Titans, with which they
assailed the omnipotent rulers of the heavens,
and which falling again to the earth, are thus
left on the imaginary scene of the battle !
During the day, a small party went to see
the Boiling Spring, and Turner's-hall Wood.
Miss D. was one of our number — a young lady
of high literary attainments, and of consider
able botanical knowledge. The Boiling Spring
is situated in a hollow, or dell, and overhung
by the towering trees of Turner's-hall Wood.
On descending the declivity that leads to the
spring, we found it dry, and the hole in the
water-course, from whence issues the gas,
choked up with the dry leaves that had fallen
from the trees which surround and entwine
n2

180 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
their branches over the spot. An elderly
coloured woman, who lived in a cottage hard
by, and who had followed us to the spring,
bringing with her a pail of water, a light, and
a cylindrical tin apparatus, pierced at the top
with holes, soon cleared out the rubbish that
had there collected ; and at once proceeded to
afford us testimony to the presence of an in
flammable gas, by applying her light to the
hole. The gas immediately ignited, and burnt
with a clear lambent flame ; and on the receiver
being placed over the hole, we had jets of flame
darting through the tiny apertures of the ap
paratus ; an exhibition, which the old woman
who performed, thought exceedingly wonderful,
and seemed no less pleased at, although, per
haps, she had repeated the experiment some
scores of times before. The pail of water was
lastly emptied into the hole, and the gas
escaping through the denser medium, caused
an ebullition on its surface ; this appearance of
boiling, observed only during such times as the
hole may contain water, has gained for this
small and singular outlet to some chemical
operations existing in the bowels of the earth,
and of which this gas is a product, — the name

TALES OF BARBADOS. 181
of the Boiling Spring. The gas I presume to
be carburetted hydrogen.
The wood became the next object of our
inspection, and while threading its many mazes,
we saw and admired the fine trees and beautiful
plants it contains. Miss D. was good enough
to call our attention to a beautiful specimen of
the tree-fern (cyathea arborea) the palm-like
stem and leaves of which must have been over
twelve feet high. In our perambulations
through the wood, and in the course of conver
sation, Dr. Maycock's botanical work was
mentioned. The Flora Barbadensis is certainly
useful, as a book of reference for synonyms ;
but is in some respects defective, inasmuch as
there are many indigenous plants, and these too,
not unfrequently met with, which have no place
in the work.
" The author," observed Seagrave, " was no
doubt much indebted to the labours of Dr.
Collyns for his catalogue of native plants, al
though in the introduction to the Flora Barba
densis, the doctor's name occurs only in a note !
Dr. Collyns, however, deserved more honour
able allusion, for he was a man of great research,
particularly in his botanical pursuits ; and I

182 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
recollect to have once seen some valuable
papers of his on botanical subjects, as well as a
large collection of dried specimens of native
and other plants, upon which he seemed to
have bestowed much pains in collecting and
preserving." The doctor's remains lie in the Quaker's
burial ground near Speights ; for he was a
member of the Society of Friends. A plain
white marble slab marks the spot and informs
the reader of his epitaph, that
BENJAMIN COLLYNS,
Died April 26, 1826,
Aged 68 years.
A poetical effusion follows, and eulogizes his
merits as a " son of genius " and a botanist ;
but as it is not a very creditable composition, I
refrain from inserting it here.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 183

CHAPTER VIL
The East Coast — Barbados Tar — Reminiscences of the Coast
— The Duel — Round Rock — Melancholy occurrence of
Drowning — Cole's Cave.
The east, or windward coast of the island, is
inaccessible to vessels, the sea rolling in upon
the sandy shore over a rocky bottom in long
and curling breakers, which create a constant
and stunning noise, often heard during rough
weather at great distances in the interior, while
the spray rises in thin veil-like clouds, and sails
away as a vapour through the adjacent valleys
of Scotland. The atmosphere, too, besides
being loaded with the sea spray, is highly
impregnated with a bituminous odour, which
found to be an exhalation from the petroleum,
Barbados, or green tar, as it is here commonly
called. This bituminous liquid exudes from
the clay masses or strata about the hills in this
region, and is either deposited on the surface of
natural pools of water, or collected in holes'

184 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
dug for the express purpose of procuring the
tar, which is used internally and externally as
an antispasmodic, and given to both man and
beast : it usurps likewise the place of oil in the
lamps of many of the boiling houses in Scotland.
We cantered our horses lightly along the
shore, keeping as near the wash of the water as
possible, in order to have the benefit of the firm
sand, as well as to avoid the danger of the
quicksands, which are frequently met with on
this coast, and stopping occasionally for a
moment or two, as my companion would point
out to me some spot that recalled to his
memory any incident or story of which it hap
pened to have been the scene. These stop
pages were by no means unfrequent; for the
Scotland coast is pregnant with recollections of
an interesting nature ; and some of these, no
doubt, sad and painful to many persons now
living. Near the base of Greenhill — I think it is
Greenhill — there lies a large flat stone, or rather
a reddish argillaceous flake of the hill itself,
which at some period has fallen from its side :
this marks the place where occurred a duel of
so startling a nature, from the peculiar circum-

TALES OF BARBADOS. 185
stances that led to the fatal transaction, that
our readers unacquainted with the details, may
probably feel an interest in its recital. The
story is by no means un instructive, and incul
cates a moral of much import. For the sake of
better distinguishing the parties, as well as for
the obvious reason of omitting, or rather of con
cealing names, Charles and George are here
substituted for those of the real actors, who
figured in the tragic drama I am about to
relate. There are men, who seem to experience no
greater gratification than when some individual
sensitive to ridicule is presented them, against
whom they may point their shafts of personal
satire and wit. The more the butt of their
ridicule is pained and his feelings outraged —
the more he winces under the galling remark,
or evinces displeasure at the practical joke — the
higher is the enjoyment of the tormentor.
Regardless of the feelings of the sufferer, and
reckless of the consequences that may probably
ensue from this indulgence of his humour, he
thinks only of gratifying his own selfish display
of. wit. That there should exist in our nature
this propensity to pain, and to inflict on another

186 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
what we ourselves are so sensible of, — and what
we dread to encounter, and never fail to writhe
under, when the lash is hurled at us ! Plea
santry it is often termed, but whatever mirth it
may afford its author or his auditors, to them,
it is only shortlived ; while on the object of the
jest it frequently makes a permanent impression,
and sinks indelibly in the memory, not to be
easily forgiven nor obliterated. Let the sequel
of the following narrative — for the record is true
¦ — hear witness to the verity of the concluding
reflections. Of such a disposition as is above portrayed
for ridiculing the foibles of others was Charles.
Brave, young, and otherwise of an unexception
able character, this was his besetting fault ; and
when an opportunity offered itself for exercising
his powers of ridicule, his dearest and nearest
friends might not be exempt from the scourge.
With one of these, George, he was particularly
intimate; but even friendship, as before men
tioned, could not refrain him from noticing and
criticising some peculiarities of manner belong
ing to this individual. On several occasions,
had he in company given reins to ill-timed jests
at his friend's expense, who being a man of

TALES OF BARBADOS. 187
patient disposition, bore them at the time
calmly and seemingly undisturbed, remonstrat
ing, however, with Charles in private on the
impropriety and unfriendly levity of his re
marks : but remonstrance produced no amend
ment, and his friend still continued to be
exposed to his merciless attacks. One evening,
on some occasion, a party of gentlemen met
together, and among the number were Charles
and George. The former, as usual, made
George the subject of his raillery, and as he
went on in the old strain, the brow of the latter
became clouded, — he was silent and thoughtful
during the remainder of the evening, and the
man hitherto calm and unmoved by the unwar
rantable liberty of his friend's speech, now
seemed to be under the influence of some
strong emotion, which he in vain endeavoured
to struggle with and repress. Supper was
announced, and human endurance could resist
no longer, when, during the meal, on George's
asking for a slice of turkey which stood oppo
site Charles, the latter, with some offensive and
personal allusion to his friend, placed the whole
bird on his plate. Casting a look of stern and
bitter indignation at the author of this insult,

188 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
the injured man immediately retired from the
supper table, and quitted the house. When
Charles returned home, he found a letter
awaiting him : it was from George, upbraiding
him in strong terms for his conduct, and de
manding, if he valued his honour, to meet him
early in the morning without the interference of
seconds. Charles thought little of the hostile
import of the letter : but feeling some remorse
at his own unkind treatment of his friend, he
determined on going to the appointed place of
meeting, in order to pacify the man he was too
conscious that he had grossly and undeservedly
wronged. The morning's dawn, therefore, found
him on the road to the place of assignation, and
in accordance with the terms of the letter, ac
companied only by his servant. George was
already there and alone ; and paced with
agitated demeanour and hasty steps the ground
on which they were to meet. A case of pistols
lay on the sand. Charles dismounted from his
horse, threw the reins to his servant, and
ordered him to retire. He then went up to the
man whom he once could call his friend, but
whom he had now made his bitterest enemy.
What followed is unknown — is mere conjecture.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 189
Whether the duel was a fair one or not, has I
believe never transpired ; for no human eye was
near to observe what passed. The servant, who
had retired from the spot, heard, after a little
time had elapsed, the report of a pistol, and
went up to the place where he had left the
parties together. His master lay dead and
bleeding on the stone beside the hill, and
George knelt by the body, and was rifling the
pockets of the unfortunate Charles ! " Good
God ! " exclaimed the servant man, " are you
not satisfied with shooting my master, but you
must rob him too ?" The perpetrator of the
deed, on being thus addressed, looked up from
what he was doing, and with frenzied excite
ment in manner and in language, threatened to
shoot the intruder if he dared to interpose. It
is supposed that he sought for the challenge,
which as it would have been an evidence against
him, it was his object to obtain and destroy.
The unhappy man, the search being completed,
mounted his horse and galloped from the tragic
scene. He fled the country, and has never been
heard of more.
A prominent feature of the coast is an oblong
solitary rock of huge dimensions. It stands

190 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
out in bold relief on the sand ; and no doubt
was separated ages ago from the neighbouring
hills by a land-slip. It is called Round-roek,
and is situated nearly opposite the place in the
sea, where perished, in the vigour of youth and
health, two promising young men, whose self-
devotion in an unsuccessful attempt to save the
life of a fellow-creature, involved them both,
together with the object they endeavoured to
rescue from the waves, in one common and pre
mature grave. This melancholy event occurred
as follows : the brothers, for such was the
relationship between them, followed by their
servant, came here one morning to bathe. The
place they selected for their bath, although com
paratively less rough and agitated than any
other part of the coast, is extremely dangerous
from the circling eddies and currents which pre
vail among the rocks outside, that ever and
anon show their dark fiat tops, when the reced
ing tide, after that the billows have broke upon
the shore, sweeps back again over them, mainly
to contribute in the formation of those very
eddies and currents themselves. The young
men had already bathed, when the servant boy,
a slave, ventured into the sea alone : being

TALES OF BARBADOS. 191
lured by the occasional and insidious smooth
ness of the waters outside the rocks nearest the
beach, he swam towards it, and was borne away
by a strong current, against which, in order to
return, he struggled in vain. He called loudly
for help, when one of the young men, alarmed
by his cries, plunged into the sea after him. He
reached and supported the sinking lad ; but his
utmost efforts to regain the shore with him
proved abortive. The brother on the land, seeing
the extreme peril and difficulty of their situation,
without hesitation, swam to tlieir assistance;
but, alas ! his help availed nothing — the eddies
into which they had all now got, whirled them
round and round ; and the strong back-tide
setting outwards, bore them still further from
the shore. The billows broke tumultuously
over the hapless youths, who, after struggling
for some time in vain against the tide, resigned
themselves to their fate, sunk and perished
miserably in the water.
After riding several miles on the coast, we
suddenly struck off into the interior through a
wild and romantic road ; and then ascending the
steep hills of St. Joseph, obtained some fine
views of the country around us. Eventually by

192 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
a circuitous route through some part of St.
Thomas parish, we terminated our day's jour
ney, and arrived at the door of the friendly
house, where we were expected to remain for
the rest ofthe day, and to lodge that night.
Cole's Cave is a natural curiosity well worth
the observation of those who delight in seeing
Nature's varied works; and surely the dame
must have been in her capricious mood, when,
in the exercise of her fertile powers of creation,
she planned and formed this curious cavity !
A beautiful ride, such as we took through St.
Thomas's, and which was rendered so by the
romantic scenery, the distant and occasional
views of the sea, of Bridge Town, and other
places, and by the pleasing sight of the rind-
fruit-trees laden with their yellow produce, and
scenting the air with the delicious perfume of
their snow-white blossoms, brought us to the
edge of a gully, in the bottom of which is to be
found the cave we came purposely to examine.
A dark, narrow, and break-neck path, down
some part of which you have to slide, support
ing yourself in your progress by the roots and
branches of the trees and shrubs that grow on
either side of the rugged descent, — leads to

TALES OF BARBADOS. 193
what may very properly be termed, a dismal
abyss. The visitor then finds himself in a large
entrance cavern of some height, and partaking
very much of the general character of Salvator
Rosa's wild and savage representations of rob
ber scenery. An irregular opening in its roof
admits the sun-beams, which, struggling through
the bush and creepers that interlace their
branches over the aperture, afford you sufficient
light to discover in one corner, the hole that
pierces the side, and traverses the base of the
hill. Our lantern being lighted, and each of
the party taking a candle in his hand, we com
menced to grope our way along the narrow
passage or souterrain, avoiding the occasional
pools of water to be met with in the rocky cavi
ties of the floor, and guarding our heads against
the hazard of running foul of the jutting roof
above. As soon as we became accustomed to
the darkness, which our lights did not altogether
dispel, we advanced with less caution and
quicker; the passage widening and becoming
higher as we proceeded. The cave then
branched into two directions, and we were un
determined as to which we should first explore :
the hoarse murmur of water however decided
o

194 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
the point, and we struck into the right branch
from whence the sound issued. There the cave
became much higher, and by kindling a fire
with the cane-trash, with which we had pro
vided ourselves, we were thus enabled to see
the long stalactites, and the very curious holes
indented in the roof like so many inverted
basins ; these elicited much wonder and conjec
ture, as to their formation, and are certainly the
most remarkable features of the cave ; we at all
events could make nothing of them. At length
we arrived at the water, which gushed from a
rock in the side of the passage, and continued
its brawling course, leaping in tiny cascades
along the rocky and irregular floor. We fol
lowed the stream for some distance until the
roof became too low to permit our advancing
without difficulty; the water, too, had accumu
lated itself in a deep hole, through which we
should have been compelled to wade, had we
desired to proceed ; but as this was not the
case, having already seen enough of this part of
the. cave to gratify our curiosity, these impedi
ments stopped our further progress, and we
retraced our steps in order to explore the left
branch. How far the stream flows through its

TALES OF BARBADOS. 195
subterraneous channel, is not precisely known ;
but we were told that to ascertain whence it
emerges, a duck was once consigned to its
waters, and that it was found at Indian river, a
distance by crow-fly of six miles at the least.
The other branch of the cave presents thousands
of long stalactites, in close apposition, pending
from the roof, and is devoid of running water ;
small pools, however, are met with, the water
in them distilling either from the roof, or lodged
in the cavities of the floor, by the torrents that
flow through the cave in the rainy season ; at
least, this latter supposition would appear to be
the true one, from the deposition of clay we
found in the passage.

o2

196 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

CHAPTER VIII.
The Parishes of St. George and St. John — Various places
visited — Drax Hall Wood : one of its inmates, a scion of
the Palasolbgi — The Obiah-man, a Tale in five parts.
The parishes of St. George and St. John com
prise one of the most delightful districts of the
island. The air here is remarkably pure, and
the breezes that blow through the valley and
over the cliff, are cool and refreshing ; while the
face of the country teeming with vegetable life
ofthe greenest hue, and of the most luxuriant
description, is rendered quite alive with the
elegant and tasty houses of the gentry, and
their well-regulated and highly cultivated pro
perties. The valley of Sweetbottom, in St.
George's, particularly enchants the eye, and
despite of the sugar mills, with their blue-
washed walls, forcibly recalls the smiling vales
of merry old England.
It was upon the cliff, or the high land which
commences its rise in St. George's parish, and

TALES OF BARBADOS. 197
stretches away to the eastward to constitute
that of St. John's, that we remained for many
days : the hospitable mansion of one of Sea-
grave's friends, situated here, becoming our
head-quarters ; while each succeeding day found
us diverging from it, as from a centre, in search
of fresh sights and new scenery. In this way
we visited the adjacent parishes of St. Phillip
and Christ Church, Hackleton's Cliff, and other
objects worthy of note, not forgetting to men
tion Drax Hall and Monkey Jump. The latter
is a ridge of the cliff on Drax Hall plantation ;
one of the largest landed properties in the
island, and commands an extensive and beau
tiful view of the rich and fertile plains of St.
Philip, and its adjoining parish, Christ Church.
Drax Hall Wood clothes the precipitous side of
the height, as the latter abruptly sinks down to
terminate itself in the plain beneath. In the
dark recesses of the wood is said to reside, as
an humble tenant, a descendant of the last of
the Greek Emperors — Constantine Palseologus !
Quantum mutatus ab illo !
Interested by having learned so much, I in
vain endeavoured to obtain further traces of
this individual — his history, and how he came

198 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
hither, to live so poor and obscure ; but my
efforts were fruitless, and all the information I
could collect was, that he was an ignorant and
illiterate man, and a " poor buckra."

THE OBIAH-MAN, OR A TALE OF ST. PHILLIP S.
The slaves had not long taken their morning
meal, and were either sitting in different groups
under the sheds built against the high walls of
the slave market, or were walking up and down,
for exercise, the central space or yard within its
enclosures, both sexes mixing promiscuously
with each other. It was curious to observe and
compare the demeanour of some, as contrasted
with the behaviour of others, of this recently
landed cargo of Africans. The noble poet, in
delineating a similar scene, facetiously says,
" All, save the blacks, seemed jaded with vexation,
From friends, from home, and freedom far estranged ;
The negroes more philosophy display'd —
Used to it, no doubt, as eels are to be flay'd."
We know not whether he has assigned the
true cause of their apathy or not ; certain it was,
that an indifference to their situation seemed to

TALES OF BARBADOS. 199
pervade the major part of the cargo. Here and
there, however, a state of abstraction, care, and
melancholy with the tear-drop entangled and
struggling through the long dark eyelash,
plainly told the mental anxiety and anguish of
a few, whose feelings were thus made evident
by their manner, or acutely portrayed in the
sad and forlorn expression of their sable coun
tenances. All, indeed, appeared more ot less
excited by the opening of the gate that led from
the street into the market, and seemed disap
pointed if it only admitted the consignee and
his assistants, instead of a purchaser; for a
willingness to get beyond the confined place
they were in, and to risk their present inactive
state, for whatever their future lot might be,
sufficiently displayed itself among the whole.
Once more the gate opened, and two persons
entered the yard, one of whom was a tall man
of gentlemanly exterior, and of prepossessing
appearance : benevolence beamed in his eye,
and mildness and kindness characterized his
manner and expression. His companion, who
paid him much deference and respect, was a
little, irritable, fidgetty personage, with a rubi
cund complexion, caused evidently, on a near

200 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
inspection, by the minute blood-vessels of his
face, which, seen distinctly through the trans
parent skin, meandered and twisted themselves
in net-work complexity over his ruddy cheeks
and nose. An immense broad-rim white hat
sat firmly on his head ; and a whole suit of
nankeen completed his attire. He held in his
hand a large heavy horsewhip, with which he
was constantly whipping his legs ; these indeed
one would suppose to have suffered severely
from the frequent flagellation inflicted on them,
had not habit and constant application of the
whip doubtless hardened and inured his ex
tremities to the penance they passively en
dured. The new comers walked up to a shed, under
which, screened from the morning sun, sat the
consignee, a stout, portly-looking man. He
was listening to the reports of the keepers of
the slaves as to their health and condition, and
patted the woolly pate of a young African, who
had ventured to approach the white man, and
had clasped his little arms round the fat mer
chant's leg.
" How dy'e do, Mr. Mildmay ?" said the con
signee, politely. " Any thing in our way, this

TALES OF BAUBADOS. 201
morning? — fine people, healthy, strong, and
don't seem to pine for Africa."
" Good morning, sir," returned the gentleman
thus addressed. " I've brought Mr. Scridlem
to choose a few able-bodied people for field-
work, as he requires additional hands on the
property he manages."
" Ah ! easily suited, sir, easily suited ; pray
look around, and make your choice — a very
fine cargo — I'll attend you, gentlemen, di
rectly." Mr. Mildmay, followed by Mr. Scridlem, then
advanced to the various groups of Africans ; the
latter selecting, during their inspection of them,
such of the slaves as he deemed would best
answer the purpose for which they were wanted.
The manager scanned well their muscular limbs,
and made conjectures as to their ages and capa
bilities for toil and exertion. Some he looked
at suspiciously, and instantly rejected, although
they were young, and well proportioned; but
Mr. Scridlem detected certain personal pecu
liarities, against which he had an antipathy,
and which influenced him in advising his em
ployer not to purchase those in whom they
existed.

202 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
" He's a fine chap that, sir," said Scridlem,
pointing to one young man of good mould;
" but then he has little eyes, and small ears ;
dont like 'em with little eyes and small ears —
apt to be wicked, play up pranks, and run
restive." " There again, sir 's a big stout woman ; but
by the Eternal—"
" No occasion to swear, Mr. Scridlem," in
terrupted his employer, mildly.
" Beg pardon, sir," stammered the manager ;
" but I wouldn't have her as a gift ; she'd
swell and die before she'd work ; look to her
great goggle eyes, dull as lead ! and her lips ;
why, I'm d — d — beg pardon, sir — if they dont
look like a wild bee had stung 'em ! — lazy,
sir, lazy, — I'd swear to it."
"No doubt," said Mr. Mildmay, drily, "for
an oath seems of little consequence to you,
Mr. Scridlem !" Mr. Mildmay's attention was at
length attracted bythe appearance and manner
of a young man, who may have been about
eighteen years of age. He was of the middle
height, and of thin make naturally ; but more
attenuated and reduced in size from the effects
of the voyage, as well as from the mental

TALES OF BARBADOS. 203
anxiety and distress which were visibly de
picted in his countenance. His skin was not so
black as that of the greater part of the slaves,
but of a dark brown tinge; neither did his
features present the usually strong charac
teristic marks of the negro race, for the fore
head was more upright, the nose more promi
nent, and inclined to aquiline ; and as to the lips
and lower jaw, the former were thinner, and
the latter less protruding than is ordinarily the
case with the majority of the African tribe.
His cheeks bore slight marks of the tattoo, in
dicative of his being a person of rank in his
own country. To his arm clung a delicate,
weeping girl, about 12 years old, bearing a
strong resemblance to him, who affectionately
and tenderly supported her frail and emaciated
form. These two beings immediately excited the
worthy man's sympathy and interest in their
behalf; and he paused before them on the male
slave laying his hand tremulously on his arm.
Pointing significantly to himself and his sister,
(for thus were the two captives related) the
young man seemed to implore him, with the
most supplicating gestures, to become their

204 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
purchaser. He expressed himself rapidly, in
words of his own language; but a moment's
reflection convincing him that his speech was
not understood, tears coursed each other down
his dark cheeks, and disengaging himself from
his companion, he threw himself at Mr. Mild-
may's feet, and bowed his head in the dust.
Mr. Mildmay had already comprehended his
meaning, and touched with his distress, mo
tioned to him to rise from his humiliating
posture, and then looking benignly on the poor
slave, nodded his head, in token that his wish
should be complied with. Dejection now gave
place to a languid smile on the face of both the
Africans ; and the consignee was called upon
by Mr. Mildmay, to state the terms of pur
chase. " Ah ! " said the wily merchant, with a se
ductive smile, " he has shewn himself a youth
of great discrimination in selecting you, Mr.
Mildmay, as his master ; but I cannot part the
two — you must really take them both — can't
make up my mind to part them — brother and
sister, you know, and apparently much at
tached." " I do not wish that they should be sepa-

TALES OF BARBADOS. 205
rated, my good sir," replied Mr. Mildmay ;
" and although I have no need of their ser
vices ; yet as they have voluntarily elected me
as their future owner, the appeal shall not be
made in vain — your price ?"
" They are very weak," said Scridlem, cast
ing a contemptuous glance on the couple, with
a design to ingratiate himself with his employer,
by depreciating the value of the slaves in order
to abate the merchant's price — "very weak,
indeed ; require great nursing and care — pining,
sir, — pining for home — sure to make a die of
it — no use."
The merchant, although he saw that Mr. M.
had decided on buying them, did not, how
ever, name a very exorbitant price; and the
poor Africans became the property of the latter
gentleman ; who having also arranged for the
purchase of the other slaves selected by Scrid
lem, was about to leave the slave-market, when
in crossing the yard for that purpose, his pro
gress was arrested by some one who withheld
him by the skirts of his coat.
On looking round to ascertain the cause of
his detention, he perceived that an elderly
African, of a very crafty and forbidding aspect,

206 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
had thus stopped him, to signify that he also
wished to go with him. Mr. Mildmay, how
ever, disliking his appearance, declined the
invitation, and turning from the negro, left the
market. The man's face, on his petition being thus
denied, assumed an intense degree of ferocity,
with a most blighting and hateful expression.
This being observed by Mr. Scridlem, induced
that personage to shake his whip at him, with
the idea of intimidating the African. The
action, however, produced quite a contrary
effect, for the negro, much to Scridlem's asto
nishment, shook his clenched fist in return,
and spat at the manager, who having no for
bearance, and irritated at this mena ce and
incivility, struck the fellow a smart blow with
his whip across the cheek ; at which the Afri
can became highly excited, using violent ges
tures, and jabbering loudly in his own lan
guage, what appeared to be the direst causes
and imprecations against the author of this
outrage on his person.
The noise brought the consignee to the spot.
He expostulated with Mr. Scridlem, and re
buked him sharply for his hasty conduct to the

TALES OF BARBADOS. 207
man, whose wrath he next attempted to as
suage. Scridlem left the market soon after, in
high dudgeon, muttering, as he closed the gate
after him, some words, about " teaching the
old villain better manners."

Many years after this scene of the slave
market, George was living as head servant on
his master's estate : he had ever shewn the
most unabated attachment to Mr. Mildmay
and his family ; and by his sense of gratitude,
respectful manners, and fidelity, had long since
risen in the esteem and confidence of that gen
tleman. His office on the estate was that of
key-keeper of the buildings, a situation of trust;
and the most implicit reliance was placed in his
integrity for the faithful discharge of its duties,
which consisted in taking charge of the pro
ceeds and stores of the plantation, and in
issuing the daily rations to the other slaves.
His sister Lucy, as well as himself, had in the
first instance served her master in the capacity
of house servant ; but on her becoming a wife
to one of the principal men on a neighbouring

208 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
estate, and a mother, she was located in the
negro yard, and her services only occasionally
required as an assistant nurse to Mrs. Mild-
may's children.
Mr. Scridlem had been discharged some
years past by his employer, on account of his
severity to the people on the property he had
formerly charge of, and now possessed a small
estate in the neighbourhood of Mr. Mild may's.
" Mr. Mildmay," said that gentleman's lady
to him one evening, " I am afraid there is
something preying upon Lucy's mind ; — she
looks so pale, and seems always in a reverie, —
and the children, when thev went to see her
7 •/
this evening at her house, found her weeping;
she has fallen away too very much lately, yet I
cannot get her to acknowledge that any thing
ails her : 1 wish you could request the doctor
to see her when he next comes to the estate."
" Certainly, my dear, — to-morrow is the
doctor's visiting day, and I will beg the over
seer to mention to him your wish about Lucy."
It was night — and the object of Mrs. Mild-
may's solicitude sat in her little cottage in a
state of melancholy abstraction, and rocked
almost unconsciously with her foot, the tray

TALES OF BARBADOS. 209
that contained her youngest child, which,
seduced to sleep by the motion, lay in tranquil
repose in its simple cradle on the floor before
her. A half-extinguished candle burnt on the
table, its long wick bending down on the tallow,
and making it to course in streams down its
side, while the flame, rendered blear and flick
ering from thus being overfed, shed a dismal
and uncertain light around the darkened room.
The lowly light was a type of poor Lucy's
mind, — the latter is feeding too much on dismal
images, and on dark and strange forebodings —
is wearing itself out in the gloom it creates, —
and will, probably, like the flame, assist in its
own extinction !
The mother sat as we have described her for
some time ; — the candle had long gone out ;
when lo ! she was awakened from her reverie,
by a knocking at the door.
" Who's there ? " said she in a tremulous
tone. " 'Tis me — William," replied a well-known
voice from without.
The door is at once joyously opened, and a
man enters the room.
" Oh, William, bo ! when have I seen you
p

210 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
last?" and Lucy sobbed loudly on the man's
bosom. " Kigh ! gal, what's the matter ? unno not
know Mr. Scridlem have locked me up for a
week?" " Ah bo ! I heard of that, — but then," con
tinued Lucy, her crying choking her utterance,
" but then you hav'n't been here for four weeks
come Tuesday gone. Well, William, you'll
soon get rid of Lucy — but stay, let me light the
candle — now look, William — look at little Kitty
Maria — see ! how she's sleeping ! — Ah, William,
when I'm dead, don't let Affie have any thing
to do with her and the rest of your children ; —
promise me, William, do bo ! "
" Fie upon it, Lucy," said the man, whom
the light shewed to be a tall well-dressed negro,
somewhat affected at Lucy's sad tones of
despondency and entreaty — " now you're jealous
of Affie, Lucy — and for what? What has she
done to you to make you hate her so ? — but,
bless me ! Lucy, you look very poorly."
" What has she done to me ? " asked Lucy
slowly and deprecatingly. " You ask me,
William, what Affie has done to me — hasn't
she taken you away from me? Am I your

TALES OF BARBADOS. 211
only mate now ? You tell me I look poorly —
God ! I have cause, William — I'm dying ! and
that bad woman is doing it ! "
" How so?" demanded William, sitting
down by the side of Lucy, who had resumed
her seat.
" Why, since I saw you last, she has treated
me too bad ; she came to a dance on the estate,
and wore the undervalue coat; and when she
found I didn't go to the dance, she came here,
and tried to pick a quarrel with me. I begged
her to go out of my house, but instead of that
she began to abuse and curse me, and told me
that you had cast me off entirely, and taken up
with her alone. I then told her I didn't believe
her — when she puts the blows upon me — but
that's not all, William ; " and here Lucy
hesitated. " Well, and what else?" said her husband.
" William," said Lucy, timorously, and in a
low whisper, " she told me she'd work obiah for

me :

i"

Both looked in silence at each other, with
terror depicted in their countenances, and as if
they expected instant annihilation at the bare
pronunciation of that dread word.
p2

212 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
" Well," said William, after he had recovered
the effects of the disclosure, which Lucy had
made, "then you feel it working, Lucy?"
" Oh yes, bo ! I'm sick, very sick — my heart
beats as if it would leap from my bosom — and
my head, how dreadfully it hurts me ! I feel I
shall die — Oh ! William, God bless you ! and
take care of our children " — and the poor victim
to one of the most singular kinds of supersti
tion that ever was invented and practised by
strong minds, to awe and infatuate the weaker
portion of humanity — burst into a flood of
tears. William attempted to soothe and calm the
deluded creature, and asked her what means
Affie had employed ; to which demand Lucy
had scarcely replied, " Old Uncle Mingo," when
a long continued grumbling, buzzing sound was
heard outside the house.
Both looked aghast, and were struck speech
less with fright. A knocking succeeded, and
William rose mechanically, opened the door,
and admitted his other mate, Affie, and Old
Mingo the obiah man ! Affie was a tall mas
culine woman of bold appearance ; she was
dressed in a chintz gown, round the bottom of

TALES OF BARBADOS. 213
which were disposed scraps of scarlet and blue
cloth, cut into shapes representing the human
figure: this was the undervalue or challenge
gown, formerly worn by the wives when they
were at variance with each other. She first
addressed herself to William; who gazed upon
her with an angry and upbraiding look, as soon
as he had recovered from the terror that the
grumbling noise made by the obiah man had
inspired. " Uncle Mingo," said she, " came to look
for you at Scridlem Pond, but you were not
there, so I brought the old man here, where I
somehow guess'd you was." And Affie passed
by William, and went up to Lucy.
" Kigh ! Lucy, mate, how you do ? ha ! ha !
I'm glad to see you looking so well, honey,"
this was said with a fiendish sneer, and with
such a piercing look as caused Lucy's blood to
curdle in her veins.
" And how's the pickininy titty?" continued
she, attempting to take the sleeping child from
the tray. The mother's love for her offspring
overcame every feeling of infatuation; and in
the impulse of that moment, Lucy sprang up,
and boldly thrusting aside the intruder, snatched

214 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
the child from its cradle, ere Affie could
touch it ; then sinking again on her seat with a
countenance exhibiting the most anxious ap
prehension for the welfare of her little one, she
nestled the infant close to her beating bosom, as
if she dreaded that some ill might yet befall the
object of her care. Astonished at this outbreak
of spirit, that maternal affection had called up,
and fearing the further displeasure of William,
Affie retired to a corner of the room; there,
while humming some low-toned ditty, she fixed
her eyes with the most fascinating effect on
Lucy ; who, shrinking under the evil and ser
pent-like glances of this woman, seemed spell
bound and unable to move ; until the voice of
William, who observed her situation, begging
her to go to her bed, " because she was sick,"
recalled her bewildered senses ; and she left the
others, silent and sorrowful, to betake herself to
her chamber.
Old Mingo, since his entrance into the house,
had remained near the door-way. He leant a
little forward on a stick, for his back was
slightly bent with age — his grizzle hair peeped
under an old blue cotton handkerchief, tied
round his head, and surmounted with a rush

TALES OF BARBADOS. 215
hat, in the band of which was stuck his pipe : —
his face still bore the same crafty, cunning, and
demon-like expression that it had when, fifteen
years ago, he accosted Mr. Mildmay in the
slave-market ; for he was the identical African
whose request to be purchased was denied by
that gentleman. His present appearance was
however more repulsive than it had even been
at that period ; for his exterior, which be
tokened great destitution, added, if possible,
still more to the hideousness of his natural
aspect. He wore blue pennistone trousers,
patched all about ; and over his otherwise bare
shoulders was thrown a long threadbare coat or
cloak of the same material, which served to
conceal, when it pleased him, a long knife stuck
into a leathern strap, that encircled his waist
and suspended at his side a canvass bag, well
stuffed with rusty nails, parrots' feathers, broken
glass, pieces of sun-baked clay, &c. &c, the
usual cabalistic accompaniments of an obiah
man. " William," said he, in a low voice, and look
ing steadfastly at the person he addressed, (his
English, if it may be so termed, being very in
different,) " is you ready ? You cum out dungun

216 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
to-day, dey tell me ; cha, cha, cha ! fine place
dat to tink pon rebenge ; noting intrupt de tin-
kee tinkee ; when de ions (irons) rub you kin,
and mak you foot sore, it mek you tink de
more. Cha, cha ! Tell Mingo, budda, is you
ready ?"
' William confronted the old man, and then
looked sulkily on the floor ; for he brooded on
the part the latter was acting in concert with
Affie against Lucy ; he made no reply.
" Willum, Willum!" said the other, in a deep
harsh tone of voice, and shaking his stick im
patiently on the floor, while he scowled angrily
on the man before him, " I say agen, is you
ready? de gall on you foot no well yet, and you
no member you oath dat you swear on de nigger
grave dirt! eh?" and Mingo paused.
William started and shuddered, but remained
silent ; while the old man, stooping and peering
up into his downcast face with the most wither
ing look, continued in a sneering tone :
" Ha ! Willum, him turn coward, and forget
him oath. Cha ! cha ! he no wish for freedom
— he one turn back, liar, slave ! Well — him
shall die 'fore to-morrow sun-rise !" and Mingo
whispering in his ear, turned to leave the house.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 217
" Stop, stop ! Uncle Mingo," said William,
who quailed beneath the old man's look, and
the denunciation he had uttered, "I'm no coward
— I'm ready for anything; what you want to
see me for to-night? but Lucy — "
" Pshaw ! neber mind her, budda," inter
rupted the old man peevishly ; and then looking
round suspiciously, and observing that Affie
slept soundly on a bench, he added, " she no
hear — but must talk softly — softly — I come,
Willum, to tell you, all ready, — time fix for de
rising, is to-night-week, budda. Busso, Frank
lin, and two or tree more come to my house
fore we begin, to tak de old man's exbice, and
hab him blessin, if him trong and bold ; but him
tousand curses, if him trimmel and fraid ! Wil
lum mus cum too — I bin to Scridlem Pond to
look for you, when I hear him let out dungun ;
dungun ! cha ! cha ! no more dungun for black
man — we mus fill him wid de buckra man, what
we no kill all at once — nigger must be free,
and de fire shall light him to freedom dat night,
budda ! Look ! Willum, let me show what
mus no see agen, 'cept it pon de white kin,"
and he went up to the candle, and throwing off
his cloak from one shoulder, displayed his bare

218 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
back bloody, and marked with recent lashes,
William started at the sight, and exclaimed —
" Uncle Mingo, who did this?"
Mungo looked at him with eyes that literally
sparkled with fury, gnashed his teeth, and with
a bitter laugh, replied,
" Who? but your massa, Misser Scridlem —
yes, your Massa, Willum, — who licks you so
too! — and will lick you till you him slave no
longer. He see me in nigger-yard looking for
you, and call me dam old obiah rascal ; den he
make dem tie me up, and cut my back so wid
cowkin; but, Willum, de dam old obiah ras
cal will cut him troat I Ah ! and when de
blood gurgle, old Mingo will laugh ! Cha !
cha ! I wish 'em were to-night !" and the old
man looked at his knife in anticipation of the
great pleasure he should experience in dividing
Mr. Scridlem's windpipe.
" Well budda," continued he, gathering up
his cloak over his shoulder, " you mus cum in
de ebening, to-night-week, — mind dat; and
Willum, member your oath !" He then opened
the door, and plunged into the darkness without.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 219
A week had passed ; and the sun may have
been an hour high, when George entered his
neat little cottage, and hanging up a ponderous
bunch of keys that he carried with him, sat
down to partake of a meal, which Hannah his
wife had already prepared and spread for him.
He appeared unusually thoughtful, and even
dejected ; and the supper remained almost
untasted. " What's the matter, George?" said Hannah,
" are you sick, bo ?"
" No," was the reply ; " but Lucy is dying
fast ; and the doctor, when he saw her to-day,
says he cannot do any thing more for her ; for
he's quite sure there's something wrong upon
her mind, and that all the physic in the world
won't cure her unless that gets better. Master
sent for her, and tried his best to get her to tell
if any thing troubled her ; but she would not
say. Since then, she has told me that Affie and
old Mingo are working obiah for her; and
that Affie has buried a bottle for her ?"*

* The deluded creatures can rarely or never be persuaded
to acknowledge the cause of their malady, or to impeach those
who are practising against their lives. Even their own rela
tions, connive, in a great measure, at the evil, by withholding

220 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
" Ah !" said Hannah, with a shudder, " I
thought so before. Affie is a bad, wicked wo
man, and I seed her one day carrying a bason
of soup to Lucy, which made me s'pect wrong
doings, because people that hates a person,
don't carry presents to 'em, 'cept 'tis for some
bad purpose."*
George rose from his chair, and having
paced the room considerably agitated, suddenly
stopped. "Hannah," said he, "it is getting
late, and I want to go to Drax Hall Wood, where
old Mingo lives. I must buy him off to undo
the charm against Lucy; 'tis the only thing to
save her poor body ! Bring me the money I
sold my pig for. —I would give my all to save
her!" The money bag was brought, from which he
took several dollars, and transferred them to
what they may know, or believe to be the cause of the invalid's
sickness, through the awe and dread that prevail among the
negroes on the subject of obiah. Burying a bottle with old
nails, dead lizards, parrots' feathers, &c. &c. clay, or dough,
kneaded in the form of a human figure, are two of the cere
monies of obiah.
* Odi Graecos dona ferentes ! It has been suspected, and
not without foundation, that, in many instances, when the
mind alone does not destroy the " infatue," slow poison is
administered to assist in the destruction of the individual.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 221
his pocket. A bottle of rum, a pair of fowls,
and a bunch of plantains were then succes
sively put into a rush-bag, called a tuckerokee.
This George slung on his arm ; and taking
down the bunch of keys, set out on his mission
to the obiah man's dwelling, leaving the keys
with the manager of the estate, as he went
through the Works on his way.
The shades of evening had set in, ere George
came to Drax Hall Wood ; and when he had
quite advanced into the wood, it was dark.
Not being familiar with the place, and ignorant
where Mingo's hut stood, he stopped, and
looked around him in search of the obiah
man's dwelling. A light twinkled through the
trees; and to this he bent his steps, walking
cautiously over one of the numerous trodden
paths with which the wood abounds. He had
neared the light so far as to distinguish that it
proceeded from a hut, the door of which stood
ajar, and permitted him to observe the shadows
of persons upon the opposite wall. He was
about to step into the small open space that
surrounded the hut, and to go up to the
door, when a noise near him attracted his
attention, and to his astonishment, George dis-

222 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
covered a saddled horse tethered to a tree close
beside him.
A voice from the hut, which he recognized as
William's, asked "what noise was that?" when
a lad sitting on a stone near the door, aud
whom George had not previously perceived,
replied "that it was Uncle Bussa's horse a-
kicking." The horse, and the circumstance of William
and other visitors being in the house, perplexed
George much, and he at last came to the reso
lution to endeavour and ascertain if possible,
what was going on within, ere he demanded
admittance. Retracing his steps a little, and
then striking off into a side path that wound
round the hut, he gained the back of it, and
was enabled, through the knot holes, and the
opened joint of a hanging window-shutter, to
observe every thing that was passing inside,
without much risk of being detected. Four
men with old Mingo sat round a deal table, on
which was a solitary candle, a bottle of spirits,
a few cups, and a calabash of mould. Old
Mingo was assiduously whetting his knife on a
piece of broken paving square. The other men
were talking in low tones to each other over the

TALES OF BARBADOS. 223
table, and casting now and then an inquiring
look on their companion, who so busied him
self with his present occupation as not to join
in their conversation. At length he desisted
from his employment, and having examined the
edge of his knife, wiped the blade, and with a
gleam of savage satisfaction, returned it into its
leathern case at his side.
" Now," said he, addressing himself to the
other man, " 'tis time for we to get to work ;
you, de leaders of our people, sabby well what
to do, and you hab all sworn agen on de nigger
grave dirt,* dere in de calabash, not to spare de
buckra. Well, all dat berry good ; but 'fore
you go you must drink the nigger's freedom,
and may all de buckra go dead ! Ah !" and
the old fellow smacked his lips, "him dam
good rum dat — fill again ! Well, den, — here's
may de cane trash burn good to-night, and no
rain come down to put de fire out ! Cha ! cha !
cha ! Cum, chillern, let we go now, for old
Mingo him long to see de cane piece blaze, and
try him knife on de white kin. Old Mingo,
buddas, mus be here, dere, and ebery where
* A serious oath, not to be violated, and its obligations most
sacredly esteemed.

224 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
among de people dis night — so cum !" They
all rose, and prepared to go — the light was put
out; and George heard first the door locked,
and then the foot-drops of the departing men.
The faint tread of the horses' hoofs had entirely
died away, ere George recovered his astonish
ment at what he had seen and heard. At
first, he could scarcely believe his own senses ;
but that an insurrectionary movement was con
templated by the negroes, there could be no
doubt, from the language of old Mingo. His
master's safety was the next thing that he
thought of; and he hastily quitted his place of
concealment to inform Mr. Mildmay of what
he had witnessed, that the latter might be
enabled at once to provide for his own and his
family's security. He walked out of the wood
without meeting with any of the conspirators,
and was passing through a gully on his way
home ; when in his haste to arrive there, and
deceived by the darkness of the night as to the
proper track-path, he fell over a precipitous
place in the ravine, and lay stunned by the
severity of the fall.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 225
Mr. Scridlem had been in bed several hours,
and suddenly awaking from a sleep, disturbed
by unpleasant dreams of very ominous purport,
he turned his face to the wall, and observed on
its whitewashed surface, a faint reflection of
light : presently, as he gazed upon the luminous
spot, uncertain how it was produced, for there
was no moon, — it became stronger, more ex
tended, and ultimately illuminated the whole of
the wall with a ruddy and flickering glare. In
another moment, and before he could recover his
astonishment, a flood of bright light burst into
the room, and Scridlem, much terrified, j umped
hastily from his bed and ran to the window :
from thence he beheld the appalling spectacle
of the cane-fields in a blaze. The parish of
St. Phillip seemed all on fire, and the heavens
were red with the wide and rapidly extending
conflagration, while ever and anon, tumultuous
and exulting shouts rent the air, and brought
the alarming fact that Scridlem's visions were
realized, and that an insurrection had broke out
among the negroes ! He remained rooted to
the spot with fear and indecision, gazing on the
destructive element as it spread among his own
canes, until he was roused from the stupor,
Q

226 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
which the scene before him had occasioned, by
a voice close to his ear. Oh ! that voice, it
rung in demoniacal and laughter-like accents on
the bewildered man's organ of hearing. Cold
sweats suffused his body, and he turned and
recognized Old Mingo with the most horrid
apprehensions. " How you do, Massa Scridlem — how you
feel to-night, budda? tek care you no catch
one cold at de window — ah ! but de fire will
keep you warm — ain't him hansom sight?"
Close to Scridlem was the obiah man stripped
to the waist, for he had let fall his cloak on the
floor — the fire lightening up his swarthy ugly
visage, and making apparent the hellish exulta
tion it had assumed at the terror depicted in
the planter's countenance.. Mustering his reso
lution, Scridlem shouted loudly for help, and
sprung upon Mingo, whose oiled limbs eluded
his grasp, and in the next moment found him
self firmly seized by persons behind him, whom
he had not before discovered.
" Ah ! cry for help," said Mingo jeeringly,
" and see, massa, who'l cum for help you. —
Cum, chillern — no lose no time, trow him down
buddas!"

TALES OF BARBADOS. 227
The wretched man was thrown on his back,
despite all the powers of resistance that despair
summoned to his aid, and securely held on the
ground by William and others of his own
people. His entreaties to his slaves, and to
William in particular, to release and save him —
his protestations to reward, and to give them
freedom, were of no avail. One and all were
silent and unmoved at his prayers ; for the
lynx-eyed obiah man glared upon them, and
restrained their better intents, if indeed they
harboured any,— with the fascinating influence
that the serpent is said to possess and exerciee
over its prey.
" No, no," he exclaimed maliciously, " dey
no want you to gib dem freedom, dey will free
demselves aud ask no fabers."
Mingo then knelt beside the prostrate man,
and while he gloated his eyes on the victim of
his revenge, slowly drew forth his knife and
leisurely felt its edge, as if to protract the
sufferings of Scridlem with all the anticipated
horrors of the death he was to die.
" Massa Scridlem," continued Mingo, fixing
his eyes steadily on the planter, " you member
de slave market? It you forget, Mingo no forget
q2

228 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
— 'tis long time, but he member him like yes
terday ! — de cut of de hoswhip — ha ! I feel him
now ! Massa Scridlem, to-day gone week, you
see Mingo in nigger-yard, you tie him up — you
call him names, and cut him kin — tink you
nigger no feel ? Mingo beg — Massa Scridlem
laugh — de flesh ain't heal yet — ha ! " shouted
the savage, " him smart me now, and tell me
cut you trote ! so — so — so — cha ! cha ! cha ! "
and the room rung with his wild laugh.
The blood gushed from the hideous wound,
as the knife pursued its relentless track through
the stretched muscles and vital parts of the
neck ; and the last sound of gurgling, failing
respiration of the dying man, is lost in the
fiendish laughter of his murderer !
The deed of death completed, the house is fired,
and the victim to the vengeance of a ruthless
savage, and of his own oppressed slaves, was
generally supposed to have perished in the
flames.

The island was declared to be under martial
law — the troops in garrison had marched to
some of the disaffected estates — and every male
inhabitant liable to serve in the militia, had

TALES OF BARBADOS. 229
already joined his regiment in order to quell the
insurrection of the slaves. Night after night,
the fires blazed away in the cane-fields, and
many a Negro taken up by the patrole under
suspicious circumstances, or caught in the act
of incendiarism, underwent the rigor ofthe law,
forfeiting his life either by the musket or the
rope, according as time and circumstances would
permit. A skirmish had also ensued between
the militia and the rebel forces collected on an
estate in St. Phillip's parish, and ended in the
discomfiture of the latter, and the capture of
some of the principal ringleaders of the rebel
lion. Fugitives from the broken and dispersed
ranks of the rebel slaves fled from the scene of
action to return to their homes, in the falla
cious hope of gaining their abodes undiscovered
and undetected in their participation of the in
surrection ; but many were taken and suffered
death. Such was the posture of affairs, — when, on
the day, and soon after the defeat of the slaves,
two persons were to be seen threading in haste
the narrow paths of the deserted negro-yard of
Scridlem Pond. Often . did they look suspi
ciously behind them, as if they anticipated and

230 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
dreaded pursuit. One was a tall man, arid
appeared to be wounded, for his arm hung use
lessly by his side, and his clothes were bespat
tered with blood. His companion, a female,
led the way, and from time to time urged him
to quicken his pace and to gain his house ere
they were seen and intercepted. At length
they reached the house, — the door of which
was at first closed, but opened immediately on
their coming up, and discovered the obiah man
standing in the centre of the threshold. A
slight appearance of trepidation marked Mingo's
manner, and when he moved to allow the en
trance of the new comers, he said mysteriously,
and as if relieved by their presence of some
fearful impression,
" Well — Willum, I'm glad you cum ! "
William groaned, and sunk faint and ex
hausted upon a bench in the middle of the
room, and opposite the door — while Affie im
mediately busied herself in searching for linen
to bind up the wound in his arm.
" Willum," continued the old man in an
agitated whisper, and laying his hand on the
other's shoulder, " did you no see noting as you
cum long, budda?"

TALES OF BARBADOS. 231
The wounded man faintly murmured out a
negative. " See noting!" echoed Mingo, sitting down
greatly embarrassed. " He see noting, den ! —
Old Mingo see somting dow — he see one
duppe * — he see Massa Scridlem duppe ! Yes,
he stand in de window, and him nod him head"
— here he paused for a moment, and then
gazing on the ground in deep commune with
himself, continued to mutter his thoughts as they
rose rapidly and almost incoherently in his bosom.
" Mingo time now cum — he try to free de
nigger; but no — de white people luck prebail,
and nigger lose de battle — den cum de duppe !
Massa Scridlem duppe — why he cum for? for
call Mingo — Mingo see him and mus die —
neber mind — he go back to Africa den, and
turn young man agen — he hunt once more in
hunting-grounds in him own country f — well—
him should be glad — yes, yes," — his counte
nance evincing satisfaction at the prospect of
the renewal of his youth and its pleasures,
" feim feel joy — him ready to die now — hist !
hist ! " Mingo suddenly ceased talking to
himself, and having listened attentively for
* A ghost. t The firm belief of the African slave.

232 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
some time, started to his feet : snatching up an
old musket which lay on a table near him, he
first carefully examined the priming, then sat
down and laid the gun across his knees, wildly
repeating, " Yes, him ready to die — but Mingo no die
alone ! "
The faint trampling of feet, which had inter
rupted the old man's meditations, now sounded
clear and distinct; and as the party by whom
it was occasioned neared the house, it became
instantly hushed, on the word " halt," being
given by the officer commanding the soldiers
outside. A loud knocking at the door, and an
imperative summons to open it, succeeded ; but
to this there was no response : a breathless
silence prevailed within ; for the obiah man
has risen noiselessly from his seat, with the
fore-finger of his left hand on his lips, and the
cocked musket thrown into the hollow of the
same arm. He looks sternly at William, who
seems irresolute what to do, and sits on the
bench in a state of speechless alarm; while
Affie, who had been previously occupied in
dressing her husband's wound, remains trans
fixed with terror, and stands statue-like by his side.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 233
" Break it open," cries the impatient officer.
Simultaneous with the attempt to force the
door, Mingo raises the gun and fires — the sol
dier without is wounded, and muttering a curse,
returns the fire through the door. A loud and
fearful shriek rings through the house, and
Affie, with a bound in the air, falls a corpse at
Mingo's feet. The leaden messenger of death
has sped and cleft the heart of her, (retributive
justice !) who would break that of another !
The door being forced, the soldiers rushed
in, and made William and Mingo their prison
ers : the latter was seized without any resist
ance on his part, as, thunderstruck with the
event, he gazed on the lifeless body before himy
and leant on the musket; the pan of which still
reeked from the discharge that had wounded
the soldier.
The escort, with their captives bound, passed
on their way to head quarters, the remains of
Mr. Scridlem's house. The walls presented the
usual effects of fire, for they were blackened
with* smoke ; but no other appearance was
observable about the place, save a white goat
or two, which had broken their tethers, and
were playing their gambols within the desolate

234 DESULTORV SKETCHES, AND
scene of the murder. Old Mingo, upon whom
the soldiers found his mystic bag, had endured
their taunts and scoffs with passive resignation
and callous bearing. Now, however, his indif
ference forsook him, and he averted his face
from the ruin, while a violent tremor seized his
whole frame, and caused him to lag a little
behind the foremost of the party, which being
observed by one of the soldiers, the man slightly
pricked him with his bayonet to quicken his
steps. This sufficed to awaken his savage
nature; and burning with resentment, he gnashed
his teeth at his guard, recalled the dogged
manner he had assumed since his capture, and
walked moodily on to the place they were
leading him to, where soon followed his execu
tion, — and where to the last moment of under
going the sentence of the law, he continued to
breathe curses and execrations indiscriminately
on all white men, — the alleged authors of his
servitude and wrongs.

It was dark, — and a heavy dew falling, gave
to the night-air a damp and chilly feel, and
warned the convalescent and the invalid, to

TALES OF BARBADOS. 235
keep within doors, and to shun the pernicious
effects of exposure to its moisture. George sat
within the door of the porch of Mr. Mildmay's
dwelling-house, — recovered from the fall which
he had received when on his way home from
Drax Hall Wood, to disclose the designs of
the leaders of the rebellion to his master.
His information, however, came too late to
effect the prevention of the outbreak ; and before
Mr. Mildmay could act in any way, or commu
nicate with the authorities, the fires had com
menced to blaze. He obtained the thanks of
his master; and after peace and tranquillity
were restored, George was manumitted by his
generous owner. None of Mr. Mildmay's slaves
had any participation in the insurrection, which
circumstance may be attributed, not only to his
own uniform kind treatment to them, but to the
influence and example of his grateful servant.
He now sat, as we have described him, with a
long pike leaning across the entrance he
guarded ; for George, in the capacity of warder,
had placed himself there every evening since his
master's absence on military duty ; and remained
at his post until the doors of the house were
closed for the night, and Mrs. Mildmay and the

236 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
family retired to rest, when he would throw him
self on a mat within the house, and continue
there till the morning light awoke him, to resume
his other duties on the estate. The family had
already gone to their rooms, and George waited
the return of a messenger from the regimental
quarters, ere the house was shut up for the
night. With his elbow on the back of the
chair he sat upon, and his cheek resting in the
hollow of his hand, he had got into a train of
thought, commencing with the earliest recollec
tions of his own country, and continuing through
an interval of many years, up to the present
period of his life. As the visions of the past
would thus float in connected succession before
him, his sister Lucy would be the chief object
to rise and mix with the rest of his thoughts ;
for with her were linked all associations of by
gone years ; with him were spent her infancy —
her childhood calling up the remembrance of
their being torn together from their native land
and friends — the joyous morning of her days,
although passed in servitude — and lastly, their
meridian, now clouded with sadness and des
pair. And they were to be parted. Death
hovered over the companion of life's changing

TALES OF BARBADOS. 237
scene ; and the destroyer had been summoned
by a superstition emanating from his own coun
try ; — the rites of which strange superstition
were known only to such as were initiated in
its dark mysteries, or were the priests of a
familiar spirit termed Obi ; who when invoked
with charms and spells, visited the persons of
those denounced with pains, disease, and death !
As George dwelt on the mysterious agency of
those who practised obiah in opposition to the
island laws, which had made it death to any
one convicted of working by spells against the
life of another, — he held debate with himself,
and reasoned rather sceptically on the power
which individuals thus possessed over the lives
of their fellow-men. While his thoughts were
thus occupied, and he had very nearly come to
the conclusion, that there really was no such
power ; or that, at all events, it was only to be
exercised by cunning and designing men over
persons of credulous imagination, — a hand, cold
as death, touched his own. The unbeliever
started, — his blood froze in his veins ; and the
dew on that icy, damp hand, was not more cold
than the sweat that covered his own brow, as
his heresy flashed upon his mind. The dark-

238 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
ness of the night had increased ; and he could
only discern a white figure standing by his side.
"George!" exclaimed a low and hollow voice.
" Who are you ?" demanded he in great
alarm. " 'Tis I, Lucy."
" Good God !" cried George, recovering his
self-possession, and breathing more freely, " why
are you out this time o'night, and you so ill ?"
" I cannot sleep," replied his sister, " I've
been dreaming ; and oh ! such dreams — horrid !
horrid ! — all about Mingo, Affie, and William.
My head pains me too, as if my brain was on
fire, — and such a crawling in my skin ! sure
there are lizards or something in it!"*
" Pooh !" said her brother, forgetting his
fright, " you had better come out of the cold,"
and he led her gently into the porch, and
placed a footstool for her, upon which the in
valid sunk exhausted by the efforts she had
used to come hither.
" George," said Lucy, " your wife told me
to-day, the militia had beat the niggers ! I hope
poor William wasn't amongst them."
* A prevailing idea of such as consider themselves under
the influence of obiah.

TALES OF BARBADOS. 239
" Humph !" muttered George, and then eva
sively continued, " you had better not think so
much of William, for he hasn't behaved well to
you, Lucy."
Lucy wept; both continued silent for some
minutes, busy with their own gloomy forebod
ings. You could almost hear, between her
stifled sobs, the unnatural, and morbid beatings
of Lucy's heart; when the stillness of the night
was all at once broken by the sounds of horses'
feet, as the animal advancing, trotted briskly up
the avenue.
" 'Tis Sambo, from our master," said George,
and he rose to meet the messenger, as the latter
reined up his steed in front of the house.
" A note from our master," said the man,
without dismounting.
"Give it me, then, Uncle Sambo," exclaimed
a damsel at George's side, whom her mistress
had dispatched for the expected note, as soon
as her quick and amxious ears had detected the
horse's feet ; and having obtained it, away flew
Abigail again.
"Well, Sambo, what's all the news?" in
quired George, in a subdued tone of voice.
" Why, master comes home to-morrow," re-

240 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
turned the other ; " old Mingo was catch'd too
to-day, and they hung de old rebel this after
noon to the mill-arm — faith ! it was a shocking
sight to see, — he died wid such a frightful grin
on his face ! it makes me shudder to think 'pon
it ;" and the man peered furtively in the dark
ness around, as if he expected to behold the
contorted and ugly visage of the obiah-man, as
he had violently struggled in the agonies of
death. *
" Any news of William ?" asked George,
anxiousl. " Oh, yes ! poor fellow ! he was taken at de
same time with Mingo, and tried along with
him ; they found him guilty too — and he's
ordered to be shot to-morrow morning at  "
A deep convulsive sigh, and then a dull heavy
fall on the floor of the porch arrested the finish
ing of the speaker's sentence.
" Heaven save me ! what's that?" exclaimed
Sambo, while George, almost overcome by his
fears, hastily turned from the other, and entered
the porch.
" Lucy, — sister Lucy, — what's the nratter,
where are you?" All was still, and when a
light was brought, the brother's worst appre-

TALES OF BARBADOS. 241
hensions were realized — on the ground lay ex
tended the cold corpse of poor Lucy ! Small
and fragile was the thread which a few moments
before had bound that lifeless body and a dis
eased mind together: the news of William's
fate struck too forcibly the slender chord; and
with the vibration it had snapt asunder. The
bereaved African, like hundred others of his
tribe, mourns a lost sister, a victim to obiah !

242 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

CHAPTER IX.
A visit to Codriugton College — The approach to, and the ap
pearance of the Edifice, with the reflections it awakened —
The interior — A brief outline of its foundation, and present
constitution — Burnt Hill.
In rambling about St. John's parish, we did not
fail to pay a visit to Codrington College, which
from our line of route was only accessible by
a steep and rugged road, impassable to vehicles
with any thing like tender springs. This re
verse of a macadamized viaduct, winds down a
range of heights, under which is situated the
college. The edifice itself stands on an emi
nence, or table-land elevated some eighty or
one hundred feet, more or less, above the level
of the sea, of which, including Conset's Bay,
with its little schooner looking most smuggler
like from its solitariness, and the nature of the
harbour, it commands a view. A long avenue
of tall and majestic cabbage-trees brings one in
front of the building — a plain, but stately and

TALES OF BARBADOS. 243
monastic-looking pile; its arched portico, stone
walls darkened by time, and a student or two
in their caps and gowns lingering about the en
trance to it, forcibly reminding you, despite its
wild and retired site, and the differing character
of the scenery around, that you are approaching
a school of learning, similar, in many respects,
to the venerable institutions of the mother
country. We paused for some moments before
it ; and it is impossible to describe the feelings
which the sight of this structure awakened.
Perhaps it may have been the solemn stillness
(a strong incentive to reflection) which then
reigned, and was only broken by the rippling
stream of water that flows in front of the college
through the rows of cork-trees and weeping
willows growing on its banks, as well as the
memory of college-days, that contributed to
excite the impressions which irresistibly stole
upon me. These were of a melancholy cast,
but not devoid of a ray of hope to brighten the
vision, — that here in this remote spot, raising its
unassuming front, like a martyr of old, stands
a bulwark to Protestantism : here, when its pure
tenets are assailed on the land which once
nursed and fostered them, may be taught and
r 2

244

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

cherished that faith, for which our forefathers
bled and died; but which, the doctrines of
soi-disant churchmen of the present day, scho
lars and inmates of our own universities, are
doing much to defile with the errors of Roman
ism, and to wrap in the pristine darkness of
popery ! — here, perhaps, may be bred, many a
champion to the cause of our faith, to vindicate
and defend its holy doctrines ; —
" Love in their hearts, persuasion on their tongue,
With words of peace shall charm the list'ning throng ;
Draw the dread veil that wraps the eternal throne,
And launch our souls into the bright unknown."
Om- meditations were interrupted by the ad
vance of a student, known to Seagrave ; and
who politely proffered to shew us the college.
We entered, and were conducted throughout the
building. The interior disappointed me, and
by no means coincides with its appearance and
promise outwardly ; the chapel wanted repair
sadly ; the walls of the hall looked bare and
desolate ; and the whole suite of apartments
possessed anything but an air of comfort : even
the library, that might have reconciled the stu
dent to the sense of loneliness, which the place,
as it now is, is calculated to inspire, seemed to

TALES OF BARBADOS. 245
be furnished with a paucity of books, and these
not of an order to afford general information,
but consisting chiefly of the musty and pon
derous tomes ofthe older writers.
The college owes its foundation to General
Sir Christopher Codrington, who in a will made
in 1702, left his two plantations in Barbados,
namely, Codrington and Consets, containing
between 700 and 800 acres of land, and buildings
attached, with a part of the island of Barbados
to "The Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts." The main object of
the bequest was the erection of a college for the
education of youth, to be maintained by the
labour of slaves, whose number was limited to
three hundred : the donor of this munificent
gift directing that provision should be made for
the maintenance of a convenient number of
professors and scholars ; and particularizing
physic, surgery, and divinity as the studies to
be taught. The society experienced at first
some difficulty in obtaining the Barbados pro
perty; Lieut.-Colonel Codrington, the brother
of the deceased, having laid claim to the grow
ing crop, and all moveables on the estates in
question ; but on counsel being retained, and

246

DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

proper application made to her Majesty, pos
session, on certain stipulated conditions, was
given to them in February 22, 1710 — nearly a
year after the demise of the General, who died
April 7, 1709. Great interest appears to have
been exerted at home for carrying into effect
the provisions of General Codrington's will,
for the erection of a college ; and among the
contributors and benefactors to so laudable a
design, are enumerated her Majesty, Archbishop
Tennison, Bishops of London, Sodor and Man,
Colonels Codrington, Lilly, and others. In
1716 the foundations of the college were laid,
the main walls of which are six feet thick,
reduced to three by proper set-off: the stone
(sandstone) with which they are built being
taken from a neighbouring hill to the south
east of the structure. In 1724, the shell ofthe
college was completed ; but its further progress
was greatly retarded by severe gales of wind on
the 13th and 14th of August, 1730, which did
considerable injury. The society having ar
ranged their plan for conducting the school,
appointed the Rev. Thos. Rotheram, M.A., of
Queen's College, Oxford, as master, with an
usher and catechist, to teach gratuitously twenty

TALES OF BARBADOS. 247
youths, sons of such persons as might be in
competent to afford their children a liberal
education. A professor of surgery, and one of
mathematics and philosophy were also ap
pointed ; and in 1744 the college was opened.
The great hurricane of 1780 did great injury to
the buildings, and they were not repaired until
1791. The school, in the meantime, and for
some years after, underwent many reverses and
alterations ; and although re-established at the
college, in consequence of losses from hurri
canes, law-suits, and other expenses, it was
not maintained and continued under such fa
vourable circumstances as attended its first for
mation. In 1828, certain proposed changes
in the system of education were passed by the
society in England : these were to render the
college available for a sound theological insti
tution ; and in order to accomplish this end,
a principal and a tutor were to be appointed
for the preparation of the students for holy
orders. Twelve exhibitioners, eligible from the
British West India possessions, to be main
tained free of all charges, and a seminary to be
opened in connection with, and in subordination
to the college, wherein a certain number of

248 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
youths should be gratuitously educated, agree
ably to their parents' wishes, for admission to
the higher department. A medical professor
was also to be appointed. These resolutions
have since been carried into effect, and their
recognition forms the present constitution of the
college. A professor of mathematics and che
mistry is likewise attached to the institution.
Burnt Hill, rising from near the wash of the
waters, the sea laving its base during rough
weather, lies to the north-east of the college,
and presents every appearance of having under
gone the action of fire. From this circum
stance the hill derives its name ; and to explain
the burnt and fused aspect of its fragments
when these are broken away from the general
mass, which is of a friable nature, many
persons suppose it to be the remains of some
volcanic eruption. Hughes, however, relates
that the hill was set on fire by a slave while
roasting potatoes on it, and that it burnt unin
terruptedly during the space of five years !
Another tradition informs us that the hill was
fired by a ship of war having discharged com
bustible matters at it, which ignited, and
caused it to hum for seven years ! Whether

TALES OF BARBADOS. 249
or not our belief adopt either ofthe latter modes
of accounting for the combustion of the hill,
this seems more likely to have been produced
from contact with fire, than that the hill itself
should have been the result of volcanic phe
nomena ; because petroleum, or Barbados tar, is
to be found at the base of the hill, and renders
the conjecture not improbable, that springs of
this bitumen may have existed here, and that
the hill may have been highly impregnated with
this inflammable matter, which, when ignited,
would, no doubt, burn for a long period, or
till it was exhausted. Instances of coal mines
accidentally taking fire, and continuing to burn
for many years, are well known.

250 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND

CHAPTER X.
Return to Bridge-town — The labouring population — Various
observations concerning them — Sir Evan MacGregor — The
subject of the labourer resumed, in connexion with emi
gration — A permanent impression is made by my visit to
Barbados — The end.
Here we are at Bridge-town, after a delightful
ramble over almost every part of this small but
fine island, in which there is much to amuse
and to instruct, little to regret in having visited,
and less that I am disposed to find fault with :
faults it has beyond a doubt ; but they are the
faults of the Mother Country : and an English
man to criticise and decry them, would be a
just illustration of the text — he would literally
be pulling " the moat out of his brother's eye,
without considering the beam that is in his
own eye." " Little England," as Barbados has
been called by strangers, as well as by its own
inhabitants, and not unjustly, — for, save the
Negroes and the sun — the latter identifying
himself with the God, the pride, and the mild

TALES OF BARBADOS. 251
reproof of the Persian* to the importunate
Londoner, who when he asked the worshipper
of the bright luminary why he prayed to the
sun, received for answer, " Ah ! you would
worship him too, if you saw him!" — there is
much to remind one of "home," an epithet not
unfrequently in the mouth of the Barbadian
himself when alluding to England.
In all our rambles, I have refrained from
speaking of the labouring population. It is
true, that in the commencement of this book, I
have given the opinions of a fellow-traveller on
their present condition and future prospects,
and expressed that, from what I afterwards saw,
I fully concurred in the good man's sentiments.
And I should now content myself with merely
reiterating my former assertion, — if I were not
induced to believe that, in these times, when
every one is a philanthropist, and the Liberated
Negro, — the Free Labourer of the West Indies,
— are terms in nine-tenths of the mouths of the
tea-sipping folks of this realm, some of whom
in the height of their wisdom and knowledge of
West Indian affairs, firmly believe, that all the
white people there were once black, or rather
* Hadji Baba in England.

252 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
are the offsprings of the black, — that the
planters, come of a race of cannibals, think
nothing of eating a negro, — that the mountains
are composed of sugar, and the hills run rum, —
and other such genuine and incontrovertible
facts — a few brief remarks on the labouring
class at the close of the work, will not be
deemed irrelevant to the nature and purpose of
this work.
The Negroes, — whether or not their creature-
comforts have benefited with the change from
Slavery to Freedom, is indeed a question, — are
notwithstanding, as cheerful a people as one will
meet with in the course of travel, let that be in
any land whatsoever; and far happier and better
supported than thousands of a similar class in
England or Wales ; and to assimilate the
labourer of Barbados with the priest-ridden,
starving peasant of distracted Ireland, would be
wronging the former by the comparison. The
Negro, in moral improvement, is now another
creature, even since his apprenticeship, which
intermediate state between bondage and liberty,
he probably disliked almost as much as slavery
itself. It gave him terrible annoyance ; he
couldn't understand it, and it was the cause of

TALES OF BARBADOS. 253
much tribulation, refractory conduct, and con
sequent punishment. His progress in settling
down to the necessary obligations of a free and
civilized state of society, cannot better be shewn,
and contrasted with his previous condition as
an apprentice, than by the following extract
taken from an official document.

Barbados.
Comparative Table, exhibiting the number of
complaints preferred against the Apprenticed
Population of this Colony, in the months of
August, September, and to the 15th of
October, 1837 ; together with the complaints
charged against the Free Labourers of the
same Colony during the months of August,
September, and to the 15th of October, 1838.
Apprenticeship, 1837, during the administration
ofthe law by the Stipendiary Magistrates: —
Total of Complaints v. Apprentices . 3746
Total of Punishments  3490
Total compromised, admonished, and
dismissed  256

254 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
Freedom, 1838, during the administration ofthe
law by the Local, or Police Magistracy : —
Total of Complaints v. Labourers . 1 07 1
Total of Punishments  657
Total compromised, admonished, and
dismissed  414
Surplus of complaints during Ap
prenticeship  2675
Ditto of Punishments, ditto . . 2833
Deficiency of compromised cases
during Apprenticeship, as com
pared with Freedom-  158
This speaks volumes, and exhibits a result as
creditable to the country as it is to the Negro
population. Indeed, Quashy has become a
person of considerable importance ; he knows
that the sympathies of nations are roused in his
behalf — that millions of money have been ex
pended to liberate him — that the Queen her
self, God bless her ! has directed his chains to
be for ever cast away, — that, in fact, he is a
free man, — who dare deny it? And so far, has
this self-importance identified itself with the
consummation of all his hopes and wishes, and
sprung up within him from the very knowledge

TALES OF BARBADOS. 255
of the universal sympathy and interest which
attended the great measure of his freedom, that
he is thoroughly impressed with the idea that
no one is better than himself — that he is on a
footing of equality with all the world ; and,
moreover, is highly incensed if he be not con
sidered every inch a gentleman !
I one day witnessed an instance of this latter
conceit, while walking down the milk-market,
Bridge-town, with my friends Seagrave and X.
A field negro, without shoes or stockings, and
in his ordinary working dress, was going along
with a basket of yams on his head. "You
gentleman with the yams!" bawled a slip-shod
dirty cook wench from a street-door, " are yer
yams for sale ?"
"Yes, my lady," replied the vender of the
vegetables. Seagrave and myself burst into an immode
rate and uncontrollable fit of laughter, while
X's face actually glowed with passion ; which
was by no means appeased, when the cook
wench, divining the cause of our mirth, sung
out with the most contemptuous emphasis : —
" Kigh — what them white people laugh at — we
no ladies and gentlemen, eh? I knows dat !"

256 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
This consciousness of his own importance in
the scale of society, manifesting itself in nume
rous ways, such as " I'm free — I'm as good as
you — dare to strike me — the law is as good for
me now as it is for you," implies that he knows
his rights as a freeman, — that these are neither
to be interfered with nor violated with impunity,
and makes him tenacious of the privileges he
has so lately acquired. Perhaps too, it is pro
ductive of other beneficial effects ; it excites
emulation and stimulates his ambition to be
come a respectable and good member of the
community. So far this is well ; but the over estimate of
himself, which self-importance is apt to engen
der in his present comparatively unenlightened
condition, is attended with many evils : I am
sure I have traced all these to this source, — it
causes him to be indifferent to the part of his
duty toward his neighbour, as taught in his
catechism, " to order himself lowly and reve
rently to his betters," thus making him hke the
" American helps," often a bad and disrespectful
domestic ; it renders him querulous with others,
and with his employers, and therefore extremely
prone to be litigious, — excites such a jealousy of

TALES OF BARBADOS. 257
his rights, as subjects him to constant disquietude
about them ; and if he be credulous, as is too
often the case, renders him liable to be imposed
upon by the designing, — " the conductors,"
according to Edmund Burke, " and fomenters
of the petty war of village vexation," of which
class of persons there are, unfortunately, not
a few in Barbados. Some of these, indeed,
claim consanguinity with the Negro, and, no
doubt, like Aaron, would have
"Their souls as black as their faces.''
Quashy has, however, a firm, impartial, and
true friend in the present Governor, who has
done much to allay his feverish excitement, and
the groundless fears of his liberty being en
croached upon; and who continues to do every
thing in his power to render the labouring po
pulation a happy and prosperous peasantry.
This allusion to Sir Evan MacGregor calls
for a digression here, that I may echo the meed
of praise which all ranks and classes of the
Islanders allow his Excellency, to be justly en
titled to, for the tact and judgment he has
displayed in carrying out the great measure of
emancipation. In reconciling the new relations
of society, and composing the jarring interests

258 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
consequent on the transition from slavery to
freedom, Sir Evan has exhibited the rare talent
of giving satisfaction to all parties ; for while he
has won for himself the respect and affection
of all hearts in this community, by the uniform
urbanity and impartiality that distinguishes
the administration of his government, he has
never failed to adhere strictly to the principles
and policy of the Parent State.
Perhaps nothing can better illustrate the
kind and respectful feelings of the Barbadians
to their governor than the very affectionate
address of the House of Assembly to his Ex
cellency, on the occasion of his recovery from a
dangerous and severe illness. The address,
expressing the sentiments of all classes, and
the reply thereto, I copy from an island paper.
" Barbados.
"To his Excellency, Major-General Sir Evan
John Murray MacGregor, Baronet, Governor,
&c, &c, &c.
" May it please your Excellency,
" The House of Assembly with sincere plea
sure beg to offer their congratulations to your
Excellency on the recovery of your health. We
trust that it is sufficiently restored to enable

TALES OF BARBADOS. 259
you, without danger, to resume the labours of a
government, which you have hitherto*so honour
ably and successfully administered; your Ex
cellency has never hesitated between the sacri
fice of yourself and the duties of your office.
We have known you, Sir, as the faithful repre
sentative of a Sovereign, to whom we are most
loyally attached, as the earnest friend of the
colonies over which you have been selected to
preside, and as the strict and impartial dispenser
of justice to all classes of the community ; our
due appreciation of your Excellency's merit
has found an echo in the Mother Country, and
the consentient voice of all parties in the
Imperial Parliament has borne testimony to the
suavity of your Excellency's manner in bring
ing forward the measures of the British ministry,
while we ourselves willingly acknowledge the
rectitude and candour of your conduct on all
occasions. Your Excellency has been mainly
instrumental here and elsewhere in inducing the
colonial legislatures to anticipate the proposed
termination of slavery. A year has now elapsed
since the Assembly set an important example,
and we attribute in a great degree the com
parative prosperity of our island to your Ex-
s2

260 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
cellency's presence among us, and the equable
prudence of your policy. That your Excel
lency, by the straight-forward exercise of your
power as chief magistrate, should have incurred
misrepresentation was to be expected ; but the
enemies of order and good government are as
powerless and contemptible as they are boastful
and ambitious. We feel assured that the day
has passed when zealots could gain political
importance, or speculators earn their daily
bread, by an organized system of falsehood and
detraction against proprietors in the West
Indies, and against all those in authority who
refuse to lend themselves to such calumny.
"That your Excellency may long live to
enjoy the confidence and regard of the colo
nists, together with the approbation and respect
of the English public (expressed of late in so
distinguished a manner), is the fervent prayer
of the representatives of the people of Bar
bados." " His Excellency the Governor,
" To his Honour the Speaker, and House of
Assembly.
" Amongst many testimonials of regard from

TALES OF BARBADOS. 261
various legislatures, and bodies of inhabitants,
of all classes in the Leeward and Windward
Islands, tendered during the existence of
slavery and apprenticeship, as well as since the
establishment of freedom, none has been re
ceived by the Governor more highly valuable
or pleasing than the affectionate address in
which the House of Assembly of Barbados
have thought fit with equal courtesy and kind
ness to greet him, on the occasion of his recovery
from recent illness.
" Should it be the will of Providence to con
firm his convalescence, the generous confidence
evinced by the Honourable House, in the recti
tude of his intentions, will powerfully tend to
induce a participation by the Governor, in the
flattering impression they are pleased to enter
tain of a*favourable issue to an administration,
the successful progress of which the support of
the Assembly is so eminently calculated to
promote. " The Governor requests their acceptance of
his sincere and cordial thanks for the com
pliment so feelingly conferred upon him, by the
Assembly in this instance, and in common with
the Honourable House, indulges the grateful

262 DESULTORY SKETCHES, AND
anticipation that by the blessing of the Al
mighty, this favoured colony will continue, under
the auspices of the constitutional represen
tatives of its loyal and happy people, pros
perously to flourish, long after the already
subsiding misconstructions of the day shall have
sunk into oblivion.
" E. J. Murray MacGregor,
" Governor."
But to resume our subject : the missionary,
when speaking of emigration as connected with
the emancipated population, was not altogether
wrong in the premises, although his inference
has since turned out to be incorrect. The negro
is attached to his native soil, and generally
seems loath to quit it, but the good man never
for a moment contemplated, among the evils
that might lead to emigration, a system of kid
napping, which was to lure by insidious means
the Barbadian labourer from his country; he
did not foresee that by working upon his igno
rance and credulity by false representations of
the great advantages to be derived from mi
gration, he could be induced, in spite of himself
and his prepossession in favour of his own home,

TALES OF BARBADOS. 263
to quit his native country, and to go and die,
probably friendless and unpitied, in another
land — a land, too, totally unsuited to his physical
constitution, and his ordinary habits of labour.
Yet this has been the case ; and there are those
in British Guiana, who are not ashamed to
employ for such a purpose emissaries of doubtful
character, and needy adventurers, and to pay
these hirelings, by the head, for each individual
they abstract, never mind by what means, from
his home and country ! And what are the means
employed by such agents ? — what can be ex
pected, otherwise than falsehood, detraction,
and extravagant promises never to be com
plied with ? And so — the Negro, the extreme
jealousy of his privilege to go anywhere he
likes, admitting of no monitor of his own
country because he suspects him, becomes the
dupe. In God's name ! let not the free labourer of
any country or clime be restricted in his right
to seek employment where he can find the most
profitable market for his labour ; but I cannot
see either the justice or the policy of one colony
obtaining its labour at tbe expense of another,
when the emigrant becomes the dupe of in-

264 DESULTORY SKETCHES OF BARBADOS.
terested and dishonest agents, and the victim
of illusory statements.

Three weeks have elapsed since I parted from
my kind and hospitable friends, Seagrave and
X ; and I now speed on the dark blue waters
of the Atlantic to the shores of England ; but
neither the fond endearments that await me at
home, nor the joys and pleasures I anticipate
on my arrival in my native land, will erase the
remembrance of the happy days I have spent in
Barbados.

THE END.

PRINTED BT STEWART AND MURRAY, OLD BAILEY.