FOOTNOTES:
[41] Bryan Edwards.
[42] Published in London in 1816.
CHAPTER XV.
THE DEMERARA REBELLION, 1823.
On the 25th of October, 1821, the establishment of the 1st West India Regiment was reduced from ten to eight companies, which were thus distributed:
Head-quarters and 3 Companies at Barbados.
1 Company at Demerara.
1 " " St. Lucia.
1 " " Dominica.
1 " " Antigua.
1 " " Tobago.
—
8
No change took place in this distribution until 1823, when the light company rejoined the head-quarters at Barbados, from Tobago.
In August, 1823, an alarming insurrection broke out among the slaves in the district of Mahaica, on the east coast of Demerara. The first notice of the impending rising was communicated, on the morning of the 18th of August, by a mulatto servant, to Mr. Simpson, of Plantation Reduit (now Plantation Ogle), a place distant some six miles from Georgetown. The servant stated that all the negroes on the coast plantations would rise that night; and Mr. Simpson at once proceeded with the intelligence to Georgetown, warning the various planters at their habitations en route. The Governor appeared to doubt the reliability of the information, but called out a troop of burgher horse, and proceeded with a portion of it to Plantation Reduit. There a considerable body of negroes, armed with cutlasses, sticks, and a few muskets, was met; and, after a short parley with them, which led to no result, the Governor returned at once to Georgetown, and called upon the officer commanding the troops for assistance.