A Fragment of Berbice History. 



By C. G. Young, M.A., M.D. 



iROM the first introduction of slaves, the pre- 

 servation of the internal tranquillity of the 

 colony was a matter of great anxiety to the 

 colonists and the government of the day — an anxiety 

 which increased with the population. With the 

 exception of a handful of soldiers at Fort Nassau, far 

 up the Berbice River, and at Fort St. Andries (now part 

 of the Lunatic Asylum lands), at the mouth of the 

 Canje Creek — kept there more to prevent foreign inva- 

 sion and to look after the shipping — there was no 

 regular force to keep down disturbances on the 

 estates or oppose the attacks of the " runaways," 

 until the Burgher Regulation was passed by the Governor 

 and Court of Government of the Colony of Berbice, on 

 the gth January, 1768, and the Burgher Militia of Ber- 

 bice raised. Peace depended on the mutual efforts of 

 the residents on the estates. Under this regulation the 

 residents were called on to obey the order of the 

 burgher officers when they, pursuant to superior orders, 

 and for the benefit and security of the colony in general 

 and of each inhabitant in particular, were under the 

 necessity of directing that an expedition into the woods 

 be made against runaway negroes. 

 This regulation stipulated that : — 

 1. — All inhabitants, in conformity to their oath to the 

 Governor and Council, shall obey and respect the burgher 

 officers, and complv with their orders in all matters res- 



