EXPEDITION TO SURINAM. 



little acquainted ; as a fpecimen, however, I will infert a 

 few fentences of that called the Coromantyn, upon the 

 credit of my boy Quaco, who belonged to that nation, to- 

 gether with a tranflation in Englifh ; and only obferve, 

 that they break off their words very fhort, in a kind of 

 guttural inanner, which I cannot ealily defcribe : — For in- 

 ftance — " Co fa cinfyo^ na baramon bra^ Go to the 



river, and bring me fome water." — " Mee yeree, nacO" 



** meda mee, My wife, I want fome food." So much 



for the Coromantyn language, as fpoken by the negroes 

 on the coaft of Guinea. 



But as to that fpoken by the black people in Suri- 

 nam, I conlider myfelf a perfe6l mafter, it being a com- 

 pound of Dutch, French, Spanilh, Portuguefe, and Eng- 

 lifh. The latter they like beft, and confequently ufe the 

 moft. It has been already obferved, that the Englifh 

 were the firft Europeans who polTefTed this colony, hence 

 probably the predilection for that language, which they 

 have flill retained. In this mixed dialedt, for which I 

 have feen a printed grammar, the words end moflly with 

 a vowel, like the Indian and Italian, and it is fo fweet, fo 

 fonorous and foft, that the genteelefl Europeans in Su- 

 rinam fpeak little elfe ; it is alfo wonderfully expreflive 

 and fentimental, fuch as, Good eating, fweety-muffo^ — 

 " Gun-powder, jnan JannyP — I will love you, with all 



my heart, fo long as I live, Mee faloby you, langa alia 

 " mee batty, fo langa me leeby:'-^^^ A pleafing tale, ananajjy 



Vol. IL LI , « tory:' 



