icent
plumage gleaming in the sun, and tongues fine as needles, yet hollow,
with which they suck the juices from flowers.

We did not, on account of the heat, recommence our journey till the
afternoon. The planter accompanied us. I heard him and the captain
talking about the outbreaks of the fugitive negroes in former days.
"They are a little inclined to be saucy just now," I heard him remark.
"But we taught them a lesson which they will not easily forget. Those
we caught we punished in every way we could think of. Hanging was too
mild for them. Some we burned before slow fires; others were tied up by
the heels; and others were lashed to stakes, their bodies covered over
with molasses to attract the flies, and then allowed to starve to death.
Oh, we know how to punish rebels in this country."

I listened to what the planter was saying. I could scarcely believe the
testimony of my ears. Was it really a man professing to be a Christian
thus talking, thus boasting of the most horrible cruelties which even
the fiercest savages could not surpass?

The captain replied, that he supposed they deserved what they got,
though, for his part, he thought if a man was deserving of death, he
should be hung or shot outright, but that he did not approve of killing
people by inches.

From what I heard I was not surprised to find that there were large
numbers of these revolted negroes, under the name of Maroons, living
among the mountain-fastnesses in the interior of the island, where they
could not be reached; that their numbers were continually augmented by
runaway slaves; and that they declined to submit to the clemency of the
whites. It was quite dark before we reached the house of the planter,
where the captain proposed to spend a few days. It stood on the side of
a hill covered with trees, and had a considerable slope below it. It
was a rough wooden edifice, of one storey, though of considerable size,
and had a veranda running round it. Besides the owner, there were the
overseer, and two or three white assistants; and an attorney, a
gentleman who manages the law business of an estate; and two English
friends. Altogether, there was a large party in the house. During
dinner the company began to talk about pirates, and I saw the captain's
colour change. The attorney said that several piracies had been
committed lately in the very neighbourhood of Jamaica; and that unarmed
vessels, in different parts of the West Indies,