The weekly Anglo-African. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1859-1861, 1860-05-12

lessly into the black and bottomless depths
below. In another direction there was
solid bottom, but inconveniently covered
by three or four feet of water, through
which the troops waded breast-deep, hold
ing their muskets high in the air, unable
to reload them when once discharged, and
liable to be picked off by rebel scouts, who
ingeniously posted themselves in the tops
of palm-trees.
Through this delectable region Colonel
Fougeaud and his followers slowly ad-
vanced, drawing near the fatal shore where
Captain Mayland's detachment had just
been defeated, and where their mangled
remains still polluted the beach. Passing
this point of danger without attack, they
suddenly met small party of rebels, each
bearing on his back beautifully.woven
hamper of snow-white rice: these loads
they threw down, and disappeared. Next
appeared an armed body from the same
direction, who fired upon them once and
swiftly retreated; and in a few moments
the soldiers came upon a large field of
standing rice, beyond which lay, like an
amphitheatre, the rebel village. But be-
tween the village and the field had been
piled successive defences oflogs and branch
es, behind which simple redoubts the Ma
rooms lay concealed. A fight ensued, last
ing forty minutes, during which nearly
every soldier and ranger was wounded, but
to their great amazement, not one was kill
ed. This was an enigma to them until af-
ter the skirmish, when the surgeon found
that most of them had been struck, not by
bullets, but by various substitutes, such as
pebbles, contributions, and bits of silver
coin, which had penetrated skin-deep.
"We also observed that several of the poor
rebel negroes, who had been shot, had on
ly the shards of Spa-water cans, instead of
fints, which could seldom do execution;
and it was certainly owing to these circum-
stances that we came off SO we'll"
The rebels at length retreated, first set
ting fire to their village; a hundred or
more lightly built houses, some of them
two stories high, were soon in flames; and
as this conhagration occupied the only neck
of land between two impossible morasses,
the troops were unable to follow, and the
Maroons had left nothing but rice-felds to
be pillaged. That night the military
force was encamped in the woods; their
ammunition was almost gone; SO they
were ordered to lie fiat on the ground,
even in case of attack; they could not so
much as build fire. Before midnight an
attack was made on them, partly with bull
lets and partly with words; the Maroons
were all around them in the forest, but
their object was puzzle; they spent most
of the night in bandying compliments with
the black rangers, whom they alternately
denounced, ridiculed, and challenged to
single combat. At last Fougeaud and
Stedman joined in the conversation, and
endeavored to make this midnight volley
of talk the occasion for a treaty. This
was received with inextinguishable laugh
ter, which echoed through the woods like
a concert of screech- owls, ending in cha
riUa91 of horns and hallooing. The Col
onel, persisting, offered them "life, liberty,
victuals, drink, and all they wanted" in
return, they ridiculed him numerically:
he was halfstarved Frenchman; who had
run away fronLhis own country, and would
soon run away from theirs; they profound
ly pitied him and his soldiers; they would
scorn to spend powder on such scarecrows:
they would rather feed and clothe them, as
being poor white slaves, hired to be shot at
and starved for four-pence day. But as
for the planters, overseers, and rangers,
they should die, every one of them, and
Bonny should be governor Of the colony.
"After this, they tinkled their billhooks,
fired volley, and fgave three cheers;
which being answered by the rangers, the
clamor ended, and the rebels dispersed
with the rising SUM-"
Very aimless nonsense it certainly ap-
peared. But the next day put new as
pect on it; for it was found, that, under
cover of all this noise, the Maroons had
been busily occupied all night, men, wo-
men, and children, in preparing and fill
ing great hampers of the finest rice, yams,
and cassava, from the adjacent provision
grounds, to be used for subsistence during
their escape, leaving only chaf and refuse
for the hungry soldiers. "This was GER
tainly such mastery trait OF generalship
in savage people, whom we effected to
despise, as would have done honor to any
European commander"
From this time the Maroons fulfilled
their threats. Shooting down without mer-
cy every black ranger who came within
their reach-one of these rangers being,
in Stedman's estimate, worth six white sol
diers-they left Colonel Fougeaud and his
regulars to die of starvation and fatigue.
The enraged Colonel, finding himself thus
foiled by naked negro, swore he would
pursue Bonny to the worlds end" But
he never got any nearer than to Bonny's
kitchen-gardens. He put the troops on
halfallowance, sent back for provisions
and ammunition-and within ten days
changed his mind, and retreated to the set
Elements in despair. = Soon after, this very
body of rebels, under Bonny's leadership,
plundered two plantations in the vicinity,
and nearly captured powder-magazine,
which was however, successfully defended
by some armed slaves.
For year longer these expeditions con-
tinued. The troops never gained victory,
and they lost twenty men for every rebel