Four Old Letters from Demerara. 327 



Dear Girls (to) whom tell as good a story as you can, — 

 Believe me, yours most sincerely, 



Wm. Parkinson. 



Rio Demerary, the 17th Augt., 1795. 

 Dear Greene, — I wrote you the 28th ulto., by a 

 vessel going to New York, which if it reaches you will 

 not convey the pleasantest Intelligence, as it painted 

 our situation to have been a short time previous to ye 

 date of it really dreadful!, and altho' then not relieved of 

 anxiety still we were much easyer than before. The 

 Bush Negroes I mentioned had burnt three Estates on 

 the West Coast and had been joined by many fresh 

 Deserters, particularly ye greatest part of Rotterdam 

 Negroes, which Estate was one of those burnt, and some 

 of Harlem^ but since that time (say ye 21st ulto) they 

 have not done any a6ls of violence. Three days after I 

 wrote you, the different Partys of Indians, Volunteers 

 and black Corps, entered the woods by the signal of the 

 fire of Cannon from the Fort, in hve or six different 

 Divisions at half past five a.m. Some of the Partys 

 came out the same day without success, that under Mr. 

 Koppiers, which included the black Corps and some 

 Volunteers, entered at ye Hague back Dam, and from a 

 Diagonal course towards ye river and canal fell in in ye 

 afternoon at 4 o'clock w". a Town (of) from Forty to 50 

 Houses, they found only 2 Negroes in them, one a woman 

 who had died not long previous to their getting there, 

 the other a man who had been wounded ; from what they 

 could learn the Houses had been evacuated that morning ; 

 they halted there for the night and left it next morning 

 after destroying all the Buildings, they come out at St. 



XT 2 



