This morning, a little before I sat out, I saw a Mr. d’Halbergh terribly bitten by a large iguana or lizard, at the very moment he was pressing me and my companions to stay a few days, to be present at the celebration of what he called his Silver-feast, being the twenty-fifth anniversary of his marriage; but after condoling with him upon account of the accident, we embarked in a tent-barge, and arrived that evening at the Sporksgift estate in Matapica. Here we were entertained two days by Captain Mac Neal, with the greatest hospitality. I was however nearly suffocated by the steam of some green coffee, which was spread on the floor of the lodge where I had slung my hammock.
Late on the evening of the 29th, we arrived at the Gold-mine plantation, where we found a negro boy and girl, suspended by each others side from a high beam, by a rope fastened to their thumbs, which were tied behind [[217]]their backs, this almost dislocated their shoulders, and must have occasioned the most agonizing tortures. Thus I cut the miserable victims down, without leave or ceremony, and swore that instant to demolish the tyrannical overseer who had inflicted this new mode of punishment, unless he promised immediately to forgive them; which he miraculously did in my presence.
On the 30th, a little before we landed at the Hope, I discovered that all my sugar, with the greatest part of my rum, was gone; and detected the thief by the following laughable stratagem (though not my own invention)—I told the negroes, six in number, that a parrot’s feather was to grow within six minutes upon the tip of his nose who was most guilty; at the same time pronouncing a few incoherent words, and making two or three circles with my sabre, I shut myself within the tilt: here, peeping through the key-hole, and observing the rowers with great attention, without their perceiving me, I soon saw one of them, at every stroke of the oar, put up his hand, and feel the tip of his nose; upon which I instantly ran up to him, and cried, “I see the parrot’s feather! Thou art the thief, thou rascal!” To which the poor superstitious fellow instantly answered, “Yaw, me massera!” then kneeling to the sorcerer for mercy, and the others also intreating me to spare him, I pardoned the credulous thief and his accomplices, who by their candid confession obtained a piece of salt beef for their dinner, and a gourd full of good grog in the bargain. [[218]]
Immediately on my arrival I took the command of the whole river, and now was once more the Prince of Comewina. I also built an elevated palace, in imitation of Prince Bonny’s at Boosy-Cry, on twelve strong stakes; which aerial habitation I found very necessary, the whole post being almost under water by the inundations, and by neglect become a perfect mire-pool, while of my former cottage not a vestige was to be seen. Here I found the marines in perfect misery, being almost naked, and having sold their very shoes for a mouthful of fresh provisions. These grievances, however, by my labour and intercession with Colonel Fourgeoud, whose favourite I now became more and more, were speedily redressed, and the Hope, in a little time, appeared like a paradise, when compared with its former state.
Shooting was now, as formerly, my favourite diversion; and on the 4th I brought home a kind of plover, a couple of red-breasts, and near a dozen grass-sparrows.
The plover of Guiana is the size of a pigeon, its colour a dark-brown and white, with transverse bars. The wet savannahs are full of them, and they are delicate eating. The red-breast is a kind of large bull-finch, with the upper part of its body a deep chesnut; and all the rest a blood-colour: this is reckoned as good as an ortolan, and abounds on all the plantations. The grass-sparrow, which I think is by some called the anaca, is a beautiful little creature, like a paroquet; these birds are perfectly green, with a white bill and red eyes. They do [[219]]much damage amongst the rice and Indian corn, flying in prodigious flocks upon the plantations.
At the Hope the trochulus, or humming-birds, were so thick among the tamarind-trees, that they resembled a swarm of bees; a Lieutenant Swildens daily fetching down several of them, by blowing small peas or Indian corn through a hollow reed.
Of all the tropical birds, this little creature is particularly worth attention, not only on account of its beauty, but for its diminutive size, being smaller than the first joint of a man’s finger; and when deprived of its feathers not larger than a blue-bottle fly. However, there are several species, and some twice as large. These birds vary much in their colour: in the shade they appear generally of a deep shining green; which, by the reflection of the sun, produces a splendid purple brown and azure. The head is crested with a small tuft of feathers, green, black, and gold; the tail and wings are a glossy black; the bill is not much thicker than a pin, it is long, black, and crooked at the end; the tongue is forked, and resembles a red silk thread; with this they sip the nectar or honey from the flowers, during which time they are stationary, exactly like bees, and this juice seems to be the only nourishment of these little creatures. They often make their nest on the leaf of a wild pine-apple, or dwarf aloe, which is constructed mostly of cotton, and not larger than the husk of a walnut; their eggs are about the size of peas, and only two in number. Madam Merian says, that the humming-bird [[220]]sits on four eggs; which, for my part, I never saw or heard of during my residence in Guiana.
In the annexed plate I have endeavoured to represent them and their little habitation in natural size; though I found it impossible to make the drawing more perfect, their motion upon the wing being so very quick, that the feathers are hardly perceptible; and this motion occasions that humming noise, from which this delicate little creature derives its name.
Here were also immense flocks of monkies: I have seen above two hundred of them in a field of sugar-canes, where they make great devastation. These wary animals place sentinels all round the field to give the alarm; and I myself have been a witness with what sagacity and fidelity they perform this duty, when the whole company hop into the forest, each with his plunder in his paw.