Halifax 
Thither came the fugitive negroes from the 
cotton States of the South, and thither were 
sent the insurgent Maroons from the island 
of Jamaica. The history of the Maroons is 
not the least romantic episode connected with 
the history of Halifax. 
It seems that upon the conquest of Jamaica 
by the English in 1655 the Spaniards pos- 
sessed a large number of African slaves. 
These people, called Maroons, refused to sub- 
mit to English rule, but fled to the mountains, 
where they exercised their ingenuity in harass- 
ing the English. After a long-continued and 
desperate resistance they were finally subdued, 
and some six hundred of them sent to Halifax. 
His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, then 
commander-in-chief at Halifax, being g ;atly 
impressed with the orderly and handsome 
appearance of these people, set them to work 
at the fortifications on Citadel Hill, paying 
them the same amount that other labourers 
were paid. We were told that the " Maroon 
bastion " remains as a monument of their 
industry. 
All went well until cold weather came and 
the negroes were removed to Preston — a few 
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