Black Rebellion | Page 7

assured him of the entire impossibility of recruiting a single Spaniard
for English service. Finally, however, he gave permission and passports
for six chasseurs. Under cover of this, the commissioner lost no time in
enlisting forty; he got them safe to Batabano; but at the last moment,
learning the state of affairs, they refused to embark on such very
irregular authority. When he had persuaded them, at length, the officer
of the fort interposed objections. This was not to be borne, so Don
Guillermo bribed him and silenced him; a dragoon was, however, sent
to report to the governor; Don Guillermo sent a messenger after him,
and bribed him too; and thus at length, after myriad rebuffs, and after

being obliged to spend the last evening at a puppet-show in which the
principal figure was a burlesque on his own personal peculiarities, the
weary Don Guillermo, with his crew of renegadoes, and his forty
chasseurs and their one hundred and four muzzled dogs, set sail for
Jamaica.
These new allies were certainly something formidable, if we may trust
the pictures and descriptions in Dallas's History. The chasseur was a
tall, meagre, swarthy Spaniard or mulatto, lightly clad in cotton shirt
and drawers, with broad straw hat, and moccasins of raw-hide; his belt
sustaining his long, straight, flat sword or machete, like an iron bar
sharpened at one end; and he wore by the same belt three cotton leashes
for his three dogs, sometimes held also by chains. The dogs were a
fierce breed, crossed between hound and mastiff, never unmuzzled but
for attack, and accompanied by smaller dogs called finders. It is no
wonder, when these wild and powerful creatures were landed at
Montego Bay, that terror ran through the town, doors were everywhere
closed, and windows crowded; not a negro dared to stir; and the
muzzled dogs, infuriated by confinement on shipboard, filled the silent
streets with their noisy barking and the rattling of their chains.
How much would have come of all this in actual conflict, does not
appear. The Maroons had already been persuaded to make peace upon
certain conditions and guaranties,--a decision probably accelerated by
the terrible rumors of the bloodhounds, though they never saw them. It
was the declared opinion of the Assembly, confirmed by that of Gen.
Walpole, that "nothing could be clearer than that, if they had been off
the island, the rebels could not have been induced to surrender."
Nevertheless, a treaty was at last made, without the direct intervention
of the quadrupeds. Again commissioners went up among the mountains
to treat with negotiators at first invisible; again were hats and jackets
interchanged, not without coy reluctance on the part of the well-dressed
Englishmen; and a solemn agreement was effected. The most essential
part of the bargain was a guaranty of continued independence,
demanded by the suspicious Maroons. Gen. Walpole, however,
promptly pledged himself that no such unfair advantage should be
taken of them as had occurred with the hostages previously surrendered,
who were placed in irons; nor should any attempt be made to remove
them from the island. It is painful to add, that this promise was

outrageously violated by the Colonial Government, to the lasting grief
of Gen. Walpole, on the ground that the Maroons had violated the
treaty by a slight want of punctuality in complying with its terms, and
by remissness in restoring the fugitive slaves who had taken refuge
among them. As many of the tribe as surrendered, therefore, were at
once placed in confinement, and ultimately shipped from Port Royal to
Halifax, to the number of six hundred, on the 6th of June, 1796. For the
credit of English honor, we rejoice to know that Gen. Walpole not
merely protested against this utter breach of faith, but indignantly
declined the sword of honor which the Assembly had voted him, in its
gratitude, and then retired from military service forever.
The remaining career of this portion of the Maroons is easily told. They
were first dreaded by the inhabitants of Halifax, then welcomed when
seen, and promptly set to work on the citadel, then in process of
reconstruction, where the "Maroon Bastion" still remains,--their only
visible memorial. Two commissioners had charge of them, one being
the redoubtable Col. Quarrell; and twenty-five thousand pounds were
appropriated for their temporary support. Of course they did not
prosper; pensioned colonists never do, for they are not compelled into
habits of industry. After their delicious life in the mountains of Jamaica,
it seemed rather monotonous to dwell upon that barren soil,--for theirs
was such that two previous colonies had deserted it,--and in a climate
where winter lasts seven months in the year. They had a schoolmaster,
and he was also a preacher; but they did not seem to appreciate that
luxury of civilization,