SETTLEMENTS ON THE DEMERARY, &C. 67 



with the power of levying fines and committing to prison ; 

 he is similar in one point of view to the attorney-general of 

 England, as being advocate for the crown. Appeals can of 

 course be made from his award, to the court, and from the 

 court (if a cause of sufficient consequence) to the king in 

 council. The fiscal has under him, as officers of justice, the 

 drossart and dienaars ; the former, as we before observed, acts 

 as sheriff or head jailer, and the latter as constables or watch- 

 men, who have charge of the jail and police. 



We had the honor of paying our respects to the fiscal, 

 with whom we left a list of the crew and passengers, with 

 an account of their age and place of nativity, A fine of one 

 thousand guilders being inflicted on the captains of vessels for 

 every person they land without giving in his name and de- 

 scription, and the like fine being levied for every such per- 

 son who is taken from the colony in any ship or vessel with- 

 out a passport, this law is very necessary to be known. The 

 consignee of every vessel is obliged to enter into a bond at the 

 secretary's office, for the full performance of these stipula- 

 tions on the part of the captain. 



I cannot leave the fiscal's office without relating a ridicu- 

 lous anecdote of Mynheer Van den V , when that gentle- 

 man filled the employment, A planter one day meeting him on 

 the public road between Stabroek and Mahaica, who had a pri- 



K 2 



