Meantime, the captain’s wound had been bound up, and the Indian had withdrawn. The Sambos had retreated the instant I had interposed against the violence of the trader.
The occasion of this brutal assault was simply this. The Sambos, living on the coast, effectually cut off the Indians from the sea, and, availing themselves of their position, and the advantage of firearms, make exactions of various kinds from them. Thus, if the Indians go off to the cays for turtles, they require from them a certain proportion of the shells, which is called the “king’s portion.” But as the Jamaica traders always keep the king and chiefs in debt to them, the shells thus collected go directly into their hands. In fact, it is only through the means which they afford, and often by their direct interference, that the nominal authority of the so-called king is kept up. It was alleged that the Indian whom the captain had abused, and who was a very expert fisherman, had not made a fair return; and his want of “proper respect for the king,” it turned out, consisted in not having a sufficient quantity of shells to satisfy the cupidity of the trader!
After this occurrence at General Slam’s house, I did not find it agreeable to stay there longer, and, accordingly, strolled off in the village. The festival had now become uproarious. Around the mishla canoe was a motley assemblage of men, women, and children; some with red caps and frocks, others strutting about with half a shirt, and others entirely naked. A number of men with pipes and drums kept up an incessant noise, while others, with muskets, which they filled with powder almost to the muzzle, fired occasional volleys, when all joined in a general hurrah, “English fashion.”
At a little distance was built up a rude fence of palm-branches and pine-boughs, behind which there was a crowd of men laughing and shouting in a most convulsive manner. I walked forward, and saw that only males were admitted behind the screen of boughs. Here, in the midst of a large circle of spectators, were two men, dressed in an extraordinary manner, and performing the most absurd antics. Around their necks each had a sort of wooden collar, whence depended a fringe of palm-leaves, hanging nearly to their feet. Their headdresses terminated in a tall, thin strip of wood, painted in imitation of the beak of a saw-fish, while their faces were daubed with various colors, so as completely to change the expression of the features. In each hand they had a gourd containing pebbles, with which they marked time in their dances. These were entirely peculiar, and certainly very comical. First they approached each other, and bent down their tall head-pieces with the utmost gravity, by way of salute; then sidled off like crabs, singing a couplet which had both rhythm and rhyme, but, so far as I could discover, no sense. As interpreted to me, afterward, by Mr. H——, it ran thus:—
“Shovel-nosed shark,
Grandmother, grandmother!
Shovel-nosed shark,
Grandmother!”
When the performers got tired, their places were taken by others, who exhausted their ingenuity in devising grotesque and ludicrous variations.
When evening came, fires of pine wood were lighted in all directions, and the drinking and dancing went on, growing noisier and more outrageous as the night advanced. Many got dead drunk, and were carried off by the women. Others quarreled, but the women, with wise foresight, had carried off and hidden all their weapons, and thus obliged them to settle their disputes with their fists, “English fashion.” To me, these boxing bouts were exceedingly amusing. Instead of parrying each others’ strokes, they literally exchanged them. First one would deliver his blow, and then stand still and take that of his opponent, blow for blow, until both became satisfied. Then they would take a drink of mishla together, “English fashion,” and become friends again.