Waterton and his Demerara Friend. 21 



repeated proofs he had given of his readiness to 

 sacrifice his health and expose his life for the preserva- 

 tion of the inhabitants of this colony, gave him a just 

 claim to the Court's consideration. After deliberation 

 it was resolved to forward to Captain Edmonstone the 

 thanks of the Court, and as a further token of their 

 sense of his services to procure a silver vase of the value 

 of a hundred guineas, with a proper inscription, to be 

 presented to him when it should arrive from England. 



The expedition in question had been arranged in such 

 a manner that by one party under Capt. Gravesande 

 proceeding up the Mahaica Creek and the other under 

 Edmonstone up the Madewinie, the bush negroes 

 would be easily surrounded. The expenses amounted to 

 /i3,i05'2 (about ;^i,ioo); among the items being one 

 of /825 to Love Ann Jordan for attending John 

 Hadfield who had received a wound in the expedition, 

 and another ofyi,ioo to Dr. Lloyd for medicine and 

 attendance for the same person. Five of the officers 

 who had been reported as having merited the thanks of 

 the Court, were each to be presented with a gold medal 

 of the value of twenty guineas. 



Perhaps the most important of these expeditions was 

 that of 1 809. About September of that year the planters 

 of the West Coast of Berbice were considerably 

 alarmed at the number of desertions continually taking 

 place, and on enquiry found that a camp of Bush 

 Negroes were settled on a sand reef up the Abary 

 creek, whence they visited the estate and enticed the 

 negroes to run away. As this was such a serious matter, 

 and the runaways were located on Demerara territory, 

 the Berbice authorities represented the case to the sister 



