32 



TiMEHRI. 



ever discovered by a negro sentry, who pointed a gun 

 at one of the Indians, telling him to come on, for they 

 were quite ready. This precipitated matters ; the sentry 

 was killed and a free fight ensued, in the course of 

 which two more of the runaways were killed, several 

 wounded, and seven captured. The others managed to 

 escape, and the forest was scoured in every dire6lion 

 without success. However, after the return of the party, 

 EdmonsTONE sent one of the prisoners with a pro- 

 clamation of pardon if they surrendered, and this iC- 

 sulted in the return of nineteen runaways. 



These expeditions, with others organised in Essequebo, 

 gave the death-blow to most of the Maroon settlements 

 in the colony. EDMONSTONE had scoured the country 

 from the upper Boerasirie to the Abary, and now special 

 precautions were taken against future desertions. The 

 planters were required to keep their negroes from the 

 bush, not even allowing them to fish or cut troolies, for 

 which purpose it was advised to employ Indians. The 

 Hoobabo Creek was visited continually, especially on 

 Sundays, when every negro or coloured person was 

 required to give an account of himself. By these 

 measures and stri6l attention on the part of the Boera- 

 sirie Post-holder, the great lurking place for the runaways 

 was rendered unsafe. When it is considered what hor- 

 rible crimes resulted from the congregation of Maroons 

 in Surinam and Jamaica, we cannot but feel that the 

 leader of these expeditions is deserving of remembrance 

 in the colony. 



In all his aftions he showed a kindly spirit towards 

 the prisoners, while his behaviour to the Indians was 

 stri6lly honourable. On the last occasion, in writing to 



