CHAPTER XXVII.

THE CHARAIB WAR.

"This Island was troubled during a long period with all the horrors of a civil war."

I DARE say that my readers are beginning to discover that I love variety,-that I am fond of novelty and change; that my chapters are short; and that one or two, which treat on sugar and molasses, are "short and sweet;" moreover, that I cannot bear to dwell for any length of time on one and the same subject. Men, if they can help it, seldom do that which is contrary to their inclinations: now it is quite contrary to my inclinations to continue a long and prosy description of the Island of St. Vincent, talking about its mountains, and its valleys, and its streets, and its garden, and its ugly church, and every thing else that is ugly or beautiful therein contained; therefore, as there are many amusing and interesting circumstances connected with the island, that border less on the descriptive, I shall drop for a time the aforementioned subjects, and commence a narrative of the insurrection that took place in the year 1795.-I say commence, for I do not promise to continue my narrative beyond a cer

tain length; and though the reader shall have the whole account before the conclusion of the Memoirs, yet it will be only in fragments scattered here and there; for when I am tired of the insurrection, I shall fly to the Governor's balls; and from the Governor's balls, to the Soufrière; and from the Soufrière to Kingstown; and when I am tired of Kingstown, I will fly back again to the insurrection.

All the insurrections that have occurred in the West Indies have been attended with melancholy and interesting occurrences; but the public are little acquainted with the horrors and atrocities that marked the progress of the rebels in these revolts; of which the most important was what is called the Charaib war, and commenced in the Island of St. Vincent in the month of March, 1795.

On the 5th of this month, an alarm was fired in the island, by order of the Governor, and the forces of the militia were placed under arms. This motion of his Excellency's, seconded by the advice of the privy council, was only by way of precaution, in consequence of intelligence having arrived from the Island of Grenada, stating that an insurrection had been commenced by the slaves and free colored inhabitants in the town and neighbourhood of Gouyave.

An insurrection seldom breaks out in a single Island; and the inhabitants of one colony have always reason to be on their guard when they hear of a revolt in another. Correspondence is generally carried on between the leaders of the rebellions in the several colonies: for when the slaves in two

or three contiguous islands are prepared to rise, policy demands that their operations should commence at the same time, in order to prevent the possibility of one rendering assistance to the other.

The immediate employment and distribution of the militia force in the Island of St. Vincent was, therefore, a prudent precaution on the part of Government. One half of this force was divided into small detachments and distributed throughout the Island to guard the various estates. As the Chatteaubelair and Charlotte parishes formed the northeast and north-west limits of the British territory in the colony, one company was stationed in each of these places, and the remainder were ordered to occupy and defend the fort at Berkshire Hill, which the inhabitants were endeavouring to render stronger and more tenable, by carrying up ammunition for the fort, and stores and provisions for the forces.

On the following day, suspicions were greatly strengthened by the information of a person from Calliaqua, who stated that a Charaib, residing in the vicinity of his property, had visited him with a friendly warning of danger, and besought him to leave the colony "tout de suite;" giving as a reason, that the Charaibs had determined on a general massacre of all the white inhabitants in the island which would commence in less than three days.

On receiving this information, messengers were dispatched by his Excellency to summon the two Charaib chiefs, Chatouay and Du Valle, to Kingstown, while one of the aides-de-camp went to confer with

the Charaibs residing in the quarter of Massarica on the subject of the insurrection suspected; and by them to forward a summons to the chiefs at Grand Sable, desiring their presence in town at the convening of the council, which was to take place on the following Tuesday.

These precautions, prudent as they were, were not likely to lead a people so crafty as the Charaibs to betray their plans and intentions, and their secret was not to be wrested by these summary proceedings; their conduct was wily and discreet, and such as would tend to set suspicion on the wrong scent. They gave the aid-de-camp a cordial reception; and when the subject was opened upon, they displayed the greatest surprise that the slightest suspicion should have been directed against them.

Bad men, in the execution of bad purposes, generally produce most plausible arguments in their favour; but the more politic sinner resorts to a "ruse de guerre," and urges the strongest and most forcible reasons for not doing what he is about to do, in order that no suspicion may be thrown upon his undertaking. The wily character of the Charaibs was well marked by their reasonable and energetic appeals to the very ties of gratitude and friendship, which they were about to violate and abuse.

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"Why," said they, "should we be suspected?we whom ye have restored to our privileges; for"given for our past revolts, and treated in the most "lenient and benevolent manner? You have pro"tected us from our foes in another quarter of the

"island; you have given us habitations on your

estates, and land for our nourishment. If we rebel, "what are we to gain ?—If we rebel and fail, what "shall we not lose? We will not answer for the Cha"raibs in Grand Sable, they are our enemies; they "may be plotting a revolt; but we are ignorant of "their designs. If they make war, we will not be so "foolish on the contrary, we request the protection "of the English for ourselves and our families! "We are poor and defenceless; we owe all we have "to the English: why should we revolt?"

These Charaibs who thus assured the English of their quiet and peaceable intentions, had been residing on the estates and properties in that quarter, during the last nine or ten years, and had derived their support chiefly from the more wealthy inhabitants of that part of the island. They, therefore, deserved less mercy for their treachery, in first expressing their obligations and gratitude, and a few days after making a violent and furious attack, in conjunction with the other rebels, on the same properties.

On the Sunday before hostilities commenced, a measure was taken by the Charaibs of Rebacca and Grand Sable, which I suppose was intended to avert suspicion. A party of men and women came to Kingstown, bringing with them a quantity of fruit and vegetables, which they disposed of in the market-place, and, with every sign of peace, returned unmolested to their own abodes. On the same evening, however, intelligence arrived, stating that the Charaibs and French inhabitants of Mariaqua had