On the 19th, we again left our encampment, and after keeping a little S. marched E. till ten o’clock, when we were overtaken and joined by a party of one hundred rangers, with their conductor, Mr. Vinsack, to my great satisfaction. At this period we mustered three hundred men; and however little Colonel Fourgeoud affected, at other times, to value these black soldiers, he was now not at all displeased with their company, upon our near approach to an enemy with whom the rangers were well acquainted, and knew how to engage much better than the marines: while it will ever be my opinion, that one of these free negroes is preferable to half a dozen white men in the forest of Guiana; it indeed seems their natural element, whilst it is the bane of the Europeans. [[96]]
Colonel Fourgeoud now issued orders for our little army to march in three lines or columns, his own regiment in the centre, the Society troops on the right, the rangers or black soldiers on the left, all within hearing of each other, with a few flankers or riflemen outside the whole: thus formed we advanced till about noon, when we changed our course from E. to N. E. and continued our march over a biree-biree swamp, or quagmire: these are very common and dangerous in this country, being a deep soft miry bog, covered over with a thin crust of verdure, sufficient in most places to bear the weight of a man, and quaking when walked over; but should this crust give way, whoever breaks it is swallowed up in the chasm, where he must inevitably perish if not immediately extricated; thus it has frequently happened that men have been seen to sink, and have never more been heard of.
Quicksands are quite different, as they overwhelm by a gradual suction, whereas the effects of a quagmire are instantaneous. To avoid accidents, we opened our files as much as possible, which occasioned a very long rear; but even with this precaution several men sunk through it, as if the ice had broken under their feet, and some in my presence up to the arm-pits, but were fortunately, though with much difficulty, extricated.
In the afternoon we passed through two old cassava fields, which indicated our near approach to the rebel settlement; we afterwards fell in with Captain Meyland’s [[97]]path, which we knew by the marks cut upon the trees, as before explained. The evening being too far advanced to attack the enemy, we once more encamped a few miles from the swamp in which Captain Meyland and his party had been defeated.
Having had a long march, and the men being much fatigued, Colonel Fourgeoud allowed, during this night, both huts and fires; which surprized me greatly, being so near the rebels, though he had forbidden these comforts when we were at a very considerable distance from them. I however availed myself of his bounty, and having got some pigeon-peas from my serjeant, which he had picked up in the old cassava grounds, and laid hold of one of the kettles, I invited him, and a captain of the black corps called Hannibal, to a share; who having thrown their salt-beef and rusk-biscuit into the mess with mine, and stirred it round with a bayonet, we made a very excellent supper, though in a sad dreary night and heavy rain.
The pigeon or Angola peas grow on a shrub about eight or ten feet high; five or six of these peas are contained in a pod; they are flat like lentils, and of a reddish-brown colour: the negroes are extremely fond of them, and cultivate them in their gardens without any expence or much trouble.
Hannibal now observing that we should certainly see the enemy to-morrow, asked me if I knew in what manner negro engaged against negro? Having answered in the negative, he gave me the following relation, while [[98]]smoking his pipe under my hammock.—“Massera,” said he, “both parties are divided in small companies of eight or ten men, commanded by a captain, with a horn, such as this (shewing me his) by which they do every thing, and fight or run away. When they fight they separate immediately, lie down on the ground, and fire at the flash of each other’s pans through the trees; while each warrior is supported by two negroes unarmed, the one to take his place if he is killed, and the other to carry away the dead body, to prevent its falling into the hands of their adversaries[1].”
From this discourse I perfectly understood his meaning, which I have since seen put in practice; and for the clearer conception of the reader, I have illustrated it with the following plan, where the whole engagement is exhibited at one view.
Manner of Bush-fighting by the African Negroes.