The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-05
A RELIC OF SPANISH RULE.
THE JAMAICA MARooNSA AND THEIR
SING ULAR BIsTORH.

Tssir Uniaus Position as military Tenants
or the British Crown-Conlecturcs ms to
the origin or the Name Parts They
Have Played In the IsiaBd's nIstor,.
The Spanish settlers who occupied the island
OF Jamaica for more than a century and n half
left behind them very few traces wnon a band
Of English adventures drove them out in the
year 1895. Half q dozen or 30 OF names on the
map of Jamaica are obviously Spanish, and one.
bog Walk" which looks and sounds like q
wantonly unpoeticnl name for one of the most
gorgeous bits of nature in the tropics.
10 In reality n corruption of "Boca d'Agua."
There Is TO this day a peculiarly cxclu-
sive and proud group of jewish families
in the island who boast themselves "SephRr-
dim" and trace their descent to Spanish and
Portuguese Jews permitted by the Catholic
kings Of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen.
turtles to settle in Jamaica. When tho English
seized the island they drove out tho "Papist"
Spaniards without exception, but suffered the
Spanish jews to remain. But, on the whole, the
most interesting relics of Spanish occupation in
that island are the Maroons.
Some say that the name has reference to the
chestnut color of these semi-savages; the name
has also been traced TO the Spanish word
"simarNn." meaning ape, and again TO "cimar-
ron," as meaning the people OF tho "cimns." or
~ - AhoAS bAobHbAS OAAHA WI
meets the Spanish word anglicized maroon"
with a word meaning pig. But whatever may
have been tho origin of tho name, the people
themselves are the descendants of negro slaves
who escaped from their Spanish masters. At
the time OF the conquest In 1885 the Span
ish inhabitants of the island were doing
very little in the way of agriculture, and had
few slaves. 1t Is estimated that the number
was about 1900. When their owners got the
.-.. - ~. -. a. ~
wooded hills that cover the interior oil tho
island, where no doubt they found a certain
remnant of the Carib aborigines with n sprink-
ling of negroes, whose progcnitors had escaped
slavery in preceding generations. In those days
there was plenty of wild pig in the mountains
OF jamaica, and this wild, mixed race OF fugi-
tives became hunters of wild pig by occupation.
1t was not long before tho " hog hunters," as
the new white settlers called them, began to
make themselves d terror to the isolated settle
ments. They stole and murdered 30 frequently
that the legislative assembly of the island
was kept busy passing acts for their suppression
through two whole generations at the end of
the seventeenth and the beginning Of the
eighteenth century. In 1880 the famous
Maroon chief Cudjoe began to make himself
felt. His name still lives In tho legends
of Jamaica and in the repertoire of
Jamaica nurses. who find 1t expodient
to frighten children. An enormous cotton
tree not far from Kingston, the hollow
trunk Of which would hold at least q dozen men.
used to be pointed out as the tree in which
Cudjoe held councils Of war with his ~lieuten.
ants. For about eight years Cudjoe kept the
Government busy with his guerrilla war. and
then two commissioners, representing his Maj.
esty George H., made a solemn pact with him
and his followers. The Articles OF Pacihca-
ton" are as curious a document as can DO found
In the historical archives of any colonial Gov
eminent. They recite the names OF " Captain
Cudjoe. Captain Accompong. Captain Johnny,
Captain Cuffee, Captain Quaco, and several
other Negroes" and their provisions place the
Jamaica Maroons In the legal status of military
tenants under the British crown.
By these Articles Of 1888 the Maroons sub
ject to the Aforesaid Captain" received u large
tract of land, for themselves and their heirs for
over, free Of taxes. They on their part prom,
ised ito, kill. suppress. or destroy all rebels
who might arise in that island, as well as to as
1ist in repelling invasion should the necessity
arise. In this way a horde. of savages. part ne.
gro. part CArib. assumed = feudal position which
all English-spsakinE America,
This treaty. however. did not end all the
Maroons. What is known in the history OF
Jamaica as the Maroon war broke out in 1898.
A Maroon was caught hunting a domesticated
pig which belonged to one of the white settlers.
was tried and WAS punished with a whipping
in the jail Of T%relawney. Whipping was the
In, those days and would have been adj
ministered To any other offender. black or
white. But the jailer was so inconsiderate
of Maroon pride and prejudlces as to have the
punishment inflicted by a negro warder and in
Maroons with whom the Government afterward
entered into negotiations explained that it was
not the legal penalty they objected to. but the
degradation OF a Maroon In the sight OF common
negroes. In the course OF this Maroon war a
large number OF whites, both soldiers and civil
killed. and many buildings were destroyed by
fire. Three regiments OF British cavalry, the
Dragons. and one OF British infantry took part
IN the lighting at various times, but the revolted
Mar9ons sheltered themselves in inaccessible
island in a condition of terror by their incursions
for the greater part Of the year. 1t was then
Assembly of ante-Cudjoe days which had or
dered a pack Of hounds to DO kept at every gar;
by the ohnrchwardens Of the respeGtiy e par
ishes" for the hunting of Maroons. This law
hint was enough, and Lord Balcarres, the Gov
ernoT, sent to Cuba for. SpGniards and Cuban
5loodhognds. It was %poetical justice, that, AS the
their English conquerors. Spaniards should
b be applied to for an sntidots in the shape
made themselves very unpleasant by refusing
to hunt his Britannia Malssty's feudatories for
we'll paid for their services and. besides. found
the occupation congenial. There WAS very lit
TIC actual puIllnR down or the tW0-leREed
game. The mere report that Spanish blood
hounds were after them sutiiCed 10 scare the
Maroon insurgents into submission. Tho Ma
rooms OF the eastern settlements had taken no
part in the revolt. Those OF TrelRwney. to the
number Of 800, were packed off to Nova Scotia.
where their descendants are to-day with the
other colored inhabitants of that colony,
This deportation OF tho Maroon rebels left a
large majority of the race, free from the stain Of
disloyalty. still at the disposal of the Govern
ment to kill, suppress. or destroy all rebels"
although they seem to have had no share in thu
suppression of their brethren in Trelawney.
Forty yenrs after tho Spanish hounds had
brought tho Maroon rebels to terms MaroOns
were called upon to discharge their feudal ser
vice in the slave rebellion, which shortly
preceded the act OF emancipation of Will
linn ". They had methods OF warfare of
their own. Anbuscades were their forte.
The insnrgent slave who had taken refuge
in the bush might at any moment be sur
priscd by the sudden discharged of a musket from
what he had taken TO be n mere mass of fallen
underground. Maroon sentinels would drop
silently from the branches of forest trees upon
stray f~uRitiyes who might he passing below.
The insurRent negroes were afraid to face their
white masters in the open and still more afraid
to enter the bush, where the Maroons. concealed
by %iestoons OF crecpers and we'd foliage,
might DO watching for them at every turn.
Tho memory of that slave rising and It's results
was still efeTtiyely fresh in the minda Of the