76 TlMEHRL 
and its remedy. This disease had lately appeared in 
Essequebo and on the west coast of Demerara, and in 
presence of the fa6l that plantains were the principal food 
of the slaves, it naturally caused great alarm. At the 
same time a gold medal, value five guineas, was offered 
for the best essay on the manufacture of sugar and rum. 
How long these Societies lasted is uncertain. The 
members were very enthusiastic at first, but their ardour 
soon cooled, and after two or three years, all interest was 
lost, or quarrels took place which led to dissolution. The 
meetings were often kept up until the small hours of the 
morning, by which time many of the members were 
lying down under or over the table, or ready to pick 
quarrels with each other or dispute and bet on matters of 
little importance. In December 181 7, SAMUEL Phippen 
publicly offered three debts of honour for sale at fifty per 
cent discount. They were due to him from H. M. Bun- 
BURY and consisted of seventy-five joes on two bets and 
eight lost at the Whist Club. The advertiser stated 
that being about to leave for England and having applied 
manyc times without any result, his debtor telling him he 
might do what he liked, he took that method, although 
he did not expect it to produce cash payment. 
The state of society in 181 8, is well-described in the 
Gazette with a touch of satire, by " Reprobator" and 
" Primitive" "(CHARLES WATERTON ?). The former said 
the colony was credited with an hospitality that failed 
not, a readiness to subscribe at the calls of charity, 
utility, or compliment, a certain squareness in mercan- 
tile transactions, as well as literary attainments and pub- 
lic epistolary capabilities of which they had seen many 
most creditable specimens. On the other side, however, 
