132 Timehri. 



Baron von Sack's " Narrative of a Voyage to Surinam," 1810, is 

 interesting as a picture of Surinam under British rule and of the dangers 

 from privateers ; here is part of his account of a capture, it may be noted 

 that some courtesy was shown : — 



" The Jason had been firing for near half-an-hour when one of the 

 privateers came close to our windward side and the crew called out a la 

 bord ! They could board easily by the cabin windows, which were not suffi- 

 ciently defended, I went therefore on deck to speak to the captain about 

 this circumstance ; I found him still commanding, but the crew were re- 

 treating from their guns, whilst the musket balls were whistling over 

 their heads. The privateer had a great number of men, who seemed all 

 prepared for boarding the Jason. I had only time to go down and get 

 my passport, and put my luggage in order, when Captain M. called 

 to me that he had been obliged to surrender ; he was followed by two 

 officers of the privateer, to whom I delivered my passport, with 

 the declaration, that all which I had with me were not mercantile goods 

 but only for my own private use : they assured me that as I belonged to 

 a neutral nation J should enjoy the greatest favour. Captain M. now 

 saw the cargo of his ship taken possession of, and all his trunks carefully 

 examined, and with tears in his eyes he said to me, "There you see now, 

 sir, how the hard-earned labour of we masters of ships goes ; this is the 

 sixth time I have been taken by privateers, and all my endeavours to 

 gain something for my advanced age, and for the comfort of my family, is 

 in vain ! " 



A century ago there were several men who took much interest in the 

 welfare of the colony though they did not write any important books. 

 Drs. Hancock and Fraser with Mr. Hilhouse formed a trio who collectively 

 knew as much of the interior as any one to-day. Hancock wrote some 

 " Observations " in favour of British Guiana as a field for colonization in 

 which he thus speaks of the absence of phthisis : — 



" I have long been of opinion that the exemption from phthisis 

 on the coast of Guiana is partly owing to the gaseous emanations from 

 the soil ; but I have reason to believe that the main cause is referable to 

 the free perspiration experienced here, together with the almost total 

 absence of those chilling blasts which are common in other tropical 

 regions." 



It was probably true that consumption was unkuown here about 

 fifty years ago, but we have to dismiss Dr. Hancock's reasons for its 

 absence, and deplore the fact that it has arrived in spite of gases ami per- 

 spiration ! In another place Hancock says : — 



" The climate, I may say, is not only prophylactic, but curative of 

 this disorder (pulmonary consumption) of which 1 have known various 

 instances : and one of the most remarkable and desperate cases occurred 

 so long ago as 1806, in the harbour of Demerara, in the person of a Swede, 

 who arrived iu a vessel from Portsmouth." 



