Iviii 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
put my late proclamation at defiance ?" "General," 
said I, " you have judged rightly ; and I throw my- 
self on your well-known generosity. I had eaten 
the fugitive's bread of hospitality, when fortune 
smiled upon him ; and I could not find in my heart 
to refuse him help in his hour of need. Pity to the 
unfortunate prevailed over obedience to your edict ; 
and had General Carmichael himself stood in the 
shoes of the deserted outlaw, I would have stepped 
forward in his defence, and have dealt many a 
sturdy blow around me, before foreign bloodhounds 
should have fixed their crooked fangs in the British 
uniform." " That 's brave/' said he ; and then he 
advanced to me, and shook me by the hand. 
1 stayed with him about a couple of hours, and 
told him of my intended expedition, through the 
forests, to the Portuguese settlements on the Rio 
Branco; adding that I had already observed the 
necessary formalities required by law from those 
who are about to leave the colony. He gave me 
permission to range through the whole of ci-devant 
Dutch Guiana for any length of time, and ordered 
my passport to be made out immediately. It bears 
his signature, and date of April 16. 1812. 
General Carmichael had not been long in his 
government, before he saw the necessity of striking 
at the root of numberless corruptions which existed 
in the different departments, and which his prede- 
cessor had not been able to remove, both from want 
of time and health. Wherefore he set to work in 
good earnest; and he got the nickname of Old 
Hercules^ in allusion to that hero's labours in the 
filthy stable of King Augeus. 
