5l>o 



A View of the Past and Present Slate of Jamaica. 



out ill <hc parish of St. Mary, and soon 

 spread into otiicr districts of the island. 

 It appeared that the whole of that 

 tribe throughout the island were acces- 

 sary to that rebellion. A dreadful 

 massacre of the defenceless whites, in 

 various parts of the interior, ensued. 

 The ohject of the insur^cnls was of 

 course the lota! cxterminatiun of the 

 whites. Happily, however, lliey were 

 at length subdued, and sumo terrible 

 exam|)lcs v\erc made of Ihc most active 

 of tljeir leaders. Nolv.ithslandinj; this 

 severity, another insuriection was at- 

 tempted ill St. i\Iaiy's only five years 

 sifter, which, however, was discoiiccited 

 through the precipitation of the ring- 

 leaders. Happily, for the whites, the 

 insurgents wanted the skill and pru- 

 dence to plan, combine, and direct, 

 their movements ; they possessed a 

 fearful odils of phjsiral and nnmerical 

 strength, but they knew not how to 

 wield it. 



Prior to the first insurrection, bodif s 

 of slaves had at diiferent times abscond- 

 ed from their masters, and cstnblislicd 

 themselves in (lie fastnessf^s of the 

 woods; these became rallying jjoints 

 to other fugitive slaves:' at length 

 they became so numerous and daring as 

 to make incursions on the whites, 

 carrying iiavoc and dismay wherever 

 they went. This is the first origin of 

 the Maroons. Under a bold and des- 

 perate leader, called Cudjoe, they at 

 lengtii bade defiance to (he governmeni, 

 and carrietl on a regular warfare agaiast 

 it. Parties of whites were sent in 

 pursuit of this banditti, and skirmishes 

 often took place between them, will) 

 various success, but most commimly in 

 favour of the Maroons, from their being 

 more aecustomed to traverse the moun- 

 tainous woods, and better acquainted 

 with the fastnesses and retreats they 

 afforded. \^ hen hard pressed, and 

 likely to be discomfiled, they retired 

 into these fastnesses; from which they 

 again issued, burning, and plundering, 

 and massHcreing, with remorseless fury, 

 wlK'iever they diiecled their march. 



Tiio while inhabitants being at length 

 wearied and harassed by this savage 

 warfare, and in continual danger from 

 their barbarous enemies, and the go- 

 vernment seeing no likelihood of being 

 able to drive tliem from (heir haunts 

 and compel thern to surrender, a treaty 



* Tliere were also at this time fugitive 

 negroes bclougii\gto the Spaniards lurking 

 iu ttic wuods. 



was concluded with them by Gover.ior 

 Trelawny, by which they were declaretl 

 free, and certain tracts of land were 

 assigned to them. Tliey were to be 

 entirely subject to the laws and govern- 

 ment of the whiles; only, in petty cases, 

 they might decide their own difl'crences, 

 subject, however, to the control of a 

 A\hi(c superintendent. It was also 

 stipulated, that they should assist the 

 whites in pursuing and reclaiming all 

 runaway slaves, who migiit have fled 

 into the woods, for each of whom, 

 when brought in, they were to receive 

 a stipulated reward. And, shocking 

 (o relate, the instructions not nnfre- 

 ()uen(ly were to bring in the fugitive 

 slaves, dead 07' alive ; so tha( it was iia 

 nnusual thing for a party of Maroons 

 to take the least troublesome method 

 of earning their reward ; namely, bring- 

 ing in (he head, instead of the living 

 body, of (he nnfortunate delinquent, 

 'i'hc Maroons were also to assist the 

 whites in all contests either wi(h foreign 

 or domestic enemies. 



Tlie Maroons continued peaceable 

 until 1795, when an unfortunate event 

 oecmred which kindled an alarming 

 and destructive rebellion. 'l"wo Tre- 

 lawny Town Maroons (the most nume- 

 rous and formidable (ribc, or township, 

 in the island,) were convicted by the 

 magistrates of the parish of St. James 

 of stealing a hog from a white settler, 

 and were sentenced for this crime to 

 be publicly whij)pcd by the workhouse 

 driver. Tlieir townsmen were indignant 

 at this ignominious sentence: they said, 

 that if t'le wiiitc people iiad |)nt their 

 companions lo death, they would not 

 have complained ; but to disgrace and 

 degrade them by a punishment inUic(cd 

 only on slaves, was such an injury and 

 insult to the whole tribe as could only 

 be atoned for by a rctrihulive ven- 

 geance. 



The first signal of war was the disas- 

 trous overthrow of Colonel Sandford's 

 corps of light dragoons (the 20th regi- 

 ment), reinforced by a paity of mounted 

 militia, in all about four hiimircd men, 

 by an ambuscade of the Muroons, in a 

 defile belwcen (he old and new Maroon 

 towns. This officer unfortunately push- 

 ed on farther than his orders directed, 

 and, throngh his temerity and impru- 

 dence, perished, with thirty of his party, 

 by a close and deadly fire from an un- 

 seen enemy. The affair was but of a 

 few minutes, and, had the courage of 

 the insurgents been equal to their 

 activity and skill as maiksmen, it is 

 probable 



