158 THE MAKOONS, 



in a manner that, however bad the Maroons might have been, 

 shocks every sentiment of humanity. It makes an English- 

 man feel ashamed to learn that, not much more than a 

 hundred years ago, bloodhounds were brought from Cuba to 

 Jamaica for the express purpose of hunting the Maroons to 

 their strongholds. Small blockhouse garrisons were esta- 

 blished, at frequent intervals, on the margin of the Maroon 

 retreats. Thence, skirmishing expeditions were dispatched 

 under guidance of European officers. The actual combatants 

 were bloodhounds, as already stated, and also certain warrior 

 Indians specially imported from Central America. 



Reprehensible though the system of warfare was, it never- 

 theless had the effect of giving such a blow to the Maroon 

 community, that they sued for peace. They were far from 

 being utterly broken, nevertheless ; in testimony of which, 

 the convention entered into between them and the British 

 government, the opening clauses of which were given at the 

 beginning of this sketch, stands in proof. As regards the 

 mutual amity promised, the friendship that, between English 

 and Maroon, was to last for ever, if such particular vow of 

 eternal friendship has not been rigorously kept, why even 

 then the Maroons cannot be upbraided with greater violation 

 of a treaty-pledge than the government of many a European 

 nation that, for the sake of politeness, one had better not 

 name, though it would not be so very hard. Upon the 

 whole, the Maroons have got on very well with their colo- 

 nial neighbours since the ktter end of the last century, when 

 there occurred a rather serious passage at arms. They have 

 become somewhat civilised now, though still not much to 

 boast of. How terribly savage they were about a hundred 

 years ago, let the following anecdote, resting on good author- 

 ity, make known* 



Soon after the execution of the treaty noticed in the 

 beginning of this sketch, an important Jamaica colonialist 

 desired to test the amount of confidence that might be re- 



