arrived, which induced him to send a fast-sailing boat to
bring them back. Fortunately this was successfully accomplished, and at
once confidence drove out the fear of murders, fires, and plundering
which had alarmed the inhabitants. The slaves were correspondingly
disheartened and left the maroons to fight alone.
But even the maroons themselves became divided in opinion on the return
of the military and naval force. The Governor taking advantage of this,
issued a proclamation calling upon them to submit, but only thirty-eight
old men came forward, the others being determined to fight. They set
fire to their own town and commenced hostilities by attacking the
outposts. This led to a pursuit in which the whites fell into an
ambuscade, many being killed, without as far as was known doing any harm
whatever to the enemy. Now commenced a series of raids on the
plantations, in which even infants at the breast were massacred.
[Illustration: PACIFICATION OF THE MAROONS.
(_From Edwards' "West Indies."_)]
The matter becoming serious, the General Assembly resolved to hunt the
rebels with dogs, as had been intended before the treaty. They
accordingly sent over to Cuba for huntsmen with their powerful
blood-hounds, the descendants of those which had once worried the poor
Indians, and afterwards assisted the buccaneers. Times had changed
however, and a feeling grew up that hunting men with savage beasts was
not quite the thing. This led to some expressions of opinion adverse to
the action of the executive, but they excused themselves on the ground
that the safety of the island demanded extreme measures. If war was
justifiable at all, any and every means, they said, was allowable; in
fact, "all was fair in war."
Meanwhile the maroons had been driven to their strongholds in the
mountains, where they had little to eat, and were virtually compelled to
ravage the plantations for food. On the arrival of forty _chasseurs_
with their hundred dogs, however, they became alarmed, and began to sue
for mercy. It does not appear that there was any real necessity for
using the animals, their presence being enough for the purpose. They
were led _behind_ the troops, and on their appearance the maroons
surrendered in great numbers, this putting an end to the insurrection.
Now came the question of what was to be done with them. It was argued
that no country could suffer people to live in it unless they could be
controlled by law, and that o
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