A Narrative of a Voyage to Surinam: Of a Residence There During 1805, 1806, and 1807, and of the Author's Return to Europe by the Way of North America |
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A Narrative of a Voyage to Surinam: Of a Residence There During 1805, 1806 ... Albert Von Sack No preview available - 2017 |
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Africa amongst animal appearance arrived attack banana Barbadoes beak become bird brown colour bush negroes called cameleon canal captain cassava climate coast colony considerable cotton cultivated dark brown different species esteemed Europe European feathers feet female fish forest frog fruit gray colour green colour ground grow Guadaloupe Guiana half head houses inches long Indians inhabitants insects island Jason labour land leaves legs letter light likewise live manner maribo Martinico mulatto nature never nocturnal animal observed orange colour Paramaribo parrot particularly persons plantations planted planters pleasant possess present principal quadrupeds remarkable reptile resembles river Surinam sail sapadilla Saramacca river season seems serpents shaded shape shew ship situation skin slaves sloth snakes sometimes soon South America spots sugar sugar canes tail tamarind taste tion town tree Tropics venomous venomous snakes vessel voyage walk whilst wings wood yellow young
Popular passages
Page 110 - After this, he occasionally returns to business until two o'clock, when he goes to a club, of which there are two principal ones. Here he learns the news of the day, takes some refreshment or cordials, and returns home at three to dinner, which is often in the society of his friends. Some have the same custom here, as prevails in the south of Europe, of indulging themselves with a nap in the afternoon, but others prefer a walk.
Page 171 - ... animal to take any nourishment. The ants with which I tried it were the large white termites, upon which fowls are fed here. " As the natural history of this pretty little animal is not much known, I thought of trying if they would breed in a cage ; but when I returned from my excursion into the country, I found them both dead, perhaps occasioned by the trouble given to procure the wasps...
Page 248 - The Quata," says this author, " is of a very docile disposition, and capable of being quite domesticated. I have seen a pair of them at a gentleman's house at Paramaribo which were left quite at liberty. When the female negroes were employed at their needlework, they used to come and sit amongst them, and play with a piece of paper, and afterwards go out to gambol upon the trees, but never went over to the neighbouring gardens ; and they knew well the usual hour of dinner at their master's, when...
Page 171 - I can give no further description of them than that they slept all the day long curled together, and fastened by their prehensile tails to one of the perches of the cage. When touched they erected themselves on their hind-legs, and struck with the fore-paws at the object which disturbed them, like the hammer of a clock striking the bell, with both paws at the same time, and with a great deal of strength. They never attempted to run away, but were always ready for defence, when attacked. As soon as...
Page 168 - ... spot between the shoulders, and lies close to the tree ; it looks then exactly like a piece of branch where the rest has been broken off, by which the hunters are often deceived.
Page 23 - The introduction of these reptiles into the islands of Martinique and St. Lucie, is accounted for in the following ingenious manner : ' The original natives of these two islands used to attack the Indians of the coast of South America, and plunder their habitations : the people of the continent, by way of retaliation, caught many venomous snakes in baskets, and carried them over to the islands, where they turned them loose, not only as an act of revenge upon the living, but to continue as a plague...
Page 47 - ... chaunts its sweet notes without fear of molestation. Such are his enjoyments at home. After the great heats of the day are over, he strolls into a beautiful Savannah, which leads into a wilderness, the commencement of that interminable forest, which spreads over the uninhabited part of Guiana : ' Of the many alleys, that are formed here, one, which I frequent the most, winds along a serpentine river, where a number of beautiful butterflies are often hovering over the flowing mirror, and seem...
Page 109 - He rises at six o'clock, and, to enjoy the pleasantness of the morning, takes his breakfast under his piazza, at which he is attended by a number of female negroes, and a boy who presents him with a segar-pipe ; during this time he orders the...
Page 107 - I confess that the result of my observations has greatly diminished tlie prejudice which I brought with me from Europe with respect to the situation of the negroes in the colonies. It must, indeed, be acknowledged, that the fate of the negro depends entirely on the temper and disposition of the master : for while I have found the negroes happy on some plantations, I have at times, in my rural walks, seen, and heard still more of the severe correction of others.
Page iv - ... respect to the healthiness of the colony. We rather suspect that the principal object of the publication of these letters, may be gathered from the following passages : ' The abolition of the Slave Trade has been determined upon by the Parliament of Great Britain: if it should hereafter be found, upon a fair trial, that the Africans themselves do not reap such advantages from it, as. were at first expected, and if at the same time experience should shew, that the colonies are not yet come to...