798 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



brought from the coast of Africa, 

 and though they cannot be com- 

 pared to a beauty of a fair com- 

 plexion, yet if a statue of a fine fi- 

 gured nymph, executed in black 

 marble, can please you, then some 

 of these sable females might like- 

 wise engage your admiration. 

 There are here also some Indian 

 slaves, but they are only allowed 

 to be purchased when those Indian 

 nations, who live on the territory 

 of the colony, have been at war 

 with some distant tribes, and have 

 taken prisoners from them ; the 

 inhabitants of the colony who buy 

 them, employ them only as hunts- 

 men, or servants, as they are never 

 used for tilling the ground ; for 

 though they are very active, yet 

 they do not possess any remarkable 

 bodily strength ; and besides, they 

 are in their disposition rather of a 

 melancholy turn. They sometimes 

 feel an unusual eagerness to return 

 to their own nation, but will not 

 venture the passage, for fear they 

 might fall into the hands of Indians, 

 who do not belong to their own 

 tribe, and thus become their slaves 

 again, therefore they rather prefer 

 to stay with their European mas- 

 ters; but then tbey soon fall into a 

 decline; grief and stupor end their 

 lives. 



Arrwwouhe Indians of Surinam. 

 [^From the same.^ 



The Indians who are mentioned 

 in this letter all belong to the Ar- 

 rawoukes nation, vho are in every 

 respect the best among the diflFer- 

 ent tribes that have settled in this 



part of Guiana. The Arrawoukes 

 were never known to be guilty of 

 the horrid custom of killing their 

 prisoners and devouring them, as 

 is related of the Caribs, with whom 

 they were often in hostilities ; and 

 gentlemen who have had the best 

 opportunities of getting informa- 

 tion of the disposition and habits 

 of these people, have assured me 

 that they are not addicted to a 

 crime which the abbe Raynal has 

 charged upon all the Indian na- 

 tions, without any exception ; the 

 Arrawoukes cannot, without injus- 

 tice, even be suspected of this, as 

 they are far from a state of brutal 

 savageness, and still further from 

 a degenerated stage of civilization ; 

 they therefore are not so abomina- 

 ble as to be addicted to the most 

 disgusting of all vices. 



The greatest fault of the Arra- 

 woukes seems to be an inordinate 

 fondness for strong liquors, though 

 they generally drink water, and 

 use spirits only at public festivals; 

 but when they come to Parama- 

 ribo, the greatest part of what they 

 sell is exchanged for rum, in which 

 they then indulge themselves, so 

 far as to become completely in- 

 toxicated; but even then it hap- 

 pens that some among them are 

 quite sober, and take charge of 

 their inebriated brethren ; so that 

 it seems either there are some 

 of them who never fall into this 

 excess, or that they get drunk by 

 turns. Notwithstanding the too 

 great inclination for strong liquors, 

 which the Arrawoukes have in 

 common with all the other Indian 

 nations, j'et in other respects the 

 comparison is much in their favour, 

 as they possess more talents, and 

 it is to be wished that more pains 



were 



