Iviii AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



put my late proclamation at defiance ?" "General," 

 said I, " you have judged rightly ; and I throw my- 

 self on your well-known generosity. I had eaten 

 the fugitive's bread of hospitality, when fortune 

 smiled upon him ; and I could not find in my heart 

 to refuse him help in his hour of need. Pity to the 

 unfortunate prevailed over obedience to your edict ; 

 and had General Carmichael himself stood in the 

 shoes of the deserted outlaw, I would have stepped 

 forward in his defence, and have dealt many a 

 sturdy blow around me, before foreign bloodhounds 

 should have fixed their crooked fangs in the British 

 uniform." " That 's brave/' said he ; and then he 

 advanced to me, and shook me by the hand. 



I stayed with him about a couple of hours, and 

 told him of my intended expedition, through *the 

 forests, to the Portuguese settlements on the Rio 

 Branco; adding that I had already observed the 

 necessary formalities required by law from those 

 who are about to leave the colony. He gave me 

 permission to range through the whole of ci-devant 

 Dutch Guiana for any length of time, and ordered 

 my passport to be made out immediately. It bears 

 his signature, and date of April 16. 1812. 



General Carmichael had not been long in his 

 government, before he saw the necessity of striking 

 at the root of numberless corruptions which existed 

 in the different departments, and which his prede- 

 cessor had not been able to remove, both from want 

 of time and health. Wherefore he set to work in 

 good earnest; and he got the nickname of Old 

 Hercules, in allusion to that hero's labours in the 

 filthy stable of King Augeus. 



