à scene of universal desolation. The order of nature appears, for a season, to have been reversed. Even inanimate nature seems to complain. The rational and brute creation, being equally sufferers, mix their complaints. The cow, with many a wishful look, lows mournfully, but in vain, inviting the calf, which had been snatched from her side, to return; the ewe often tenderly bleats, recalling her innocent lamb, which by the merciless hand of the tempest, had been torn from her sight, and doomed to destruction; the affectionate Negress, tearing her woolly hair, and smiting her sable breast, franticly calls on her infant once more to breathe, and again to gladden an indulgent parent with smiles; while the ruined planter, mo. . tionless and dumb with despair, in silent, but expressive anguish, yields despondingly to his fate.

The feathered tribe, timorous and defenceless, having unresistingly yielded to the fury of the hurricane, now lye scattered among the ruins, awful monuments of its fury; while the fish, having been driven from the waters, of which they had been the peaceful inhabitants, are now left to perish miserably on the earth. New streams have now arisen, and extensive lakes are spread, where rills had scarcely been observed to trickle; and ferry-boats are obliged to ply, where, but the day before, carriages used to travel in safety and convenience. The roads in the mountains become, for a long time, literally impassable; the low-lands are overflowed; whole flocks of cattle are carried away by the impetuosity of the torrents, while the boundaries of the different plantations are sunk beneath the accumulated stores of the inundation.

In the towns, the desolation is no less complete. Churches, houses, wharves, store-houses and sheds for the shelter of goods, are either overturned by the impetuous hurricane, or swept away by the roaring billows of the ocean.-This faint

description, instead of being a fictitious narrative, is only an imperfect sketch of the disasters, to which the inhabitants of the new world are subject, when they are afflicted with these awful visitations. It would be difficult to conceive, and impossible to express, the distress occasioned in the colony, by this tremendous hurricane. Such was the sense of the members of assembly of the horrors attending it, that they immediately met, and resolved, that the 28th day of August should be, for ever after, solemnly set apart, as a day of fasting and humiliation.

To Sir Nicholas Lawes, succeeded his Grace the Duke of Portland, who, arriving in Jamaica in the year 1725, was received with all imaginable splendour. It was during his administration, that the compromise between the crown of England, and the house of assembly, formerly mentioned, took place; an event, which has been productive of the most important consequences to the interests of the colonists. The duke, falling a victim to the climate, was succeeded by General Hunter, who dying in the year 1734, was succeeded by the Honourable John Ascough.

CHAPTER VI.

Incursions of the Maroon Negroes.-Cudjoe appointed their Leader. -Joined by the Cottawoods and Madagascars.-Peace concluded with Cudjoe.

A NEW species of misfortune now menaced the happiness of the colonists. The Negroes, who, on the conquest of the island by the English, either refused to embark with their Spanish masters, or were left in order to annoy the conquerors, had retired to the mountainous and uncultivated parts of the island. Here they cultivated a few vegetables, necessary to the preservation of their existence; constructed huts to shelter themselves from the inclemencies of the weather, and wandering through the woods, lived almost in a state of nature. Their females, living in a climate congenial to their constitutions, and from the richness of the soil, and the fewness of their wants, being exempted from hard labour, were remarkably prolific. Being from time to time joined by run-away slaves, they soon became numerous, and consequently, formidable. Conscious of their strength, and emboldened by a long state of security, they often descended from their haunts, and laid waste the neighbouring plantations. Planters were afraid to settle in their neighbourhood, and those who had the hardihood to attempt it, were frequently ruined, and sometimes destroyed. These Negroes were called Maroons, or Hog-hunters, and lived chiefly on those mountains in the north-east quarter of the island, called the Blue Mountains.

Here they built, in a situation strongly fortified by nature, a town, called Nanny-town. From hence they frequently descended to the plains, and became at length so formidable, that the government was necessitated to take measures, for the defence of the peaceable and industrious inhabitants.

But a separate body of Negroes, unconnected with the Maroons, had after the rebellion already mentioned, which took place in the year 1690, retired to the fastnesses of the parish of Clarendon. Their depredations had, for a considerable time, been carried on by small, wandering parties, and were chiefly confined to the destruction, and the stealing, of cattle; but their excesses had now risen to such a height, that it was necessary effectually to repress them. An armed force was provided by the government, in order to penetrate the woods, and, if possible, to discover the places of their retreat. By some parties, they were, at first, surprised, dispersed, and many of them destroyed. Before this period, they had no chief, and had wandered in gangs, under the direction of different leaders; but finding, that the colonists were determined no longer to be annoyed by them, and that parties were sent out to attack them, wherever they could be found, they concentered their force, and elected a chief, whose name was Cudjoe;-a bold, skilful, and enterprising man, who, on assuming the command, appointed his brothers, Accompong and Johnny, to be leaders under him, and Cuffee and Quao to be subordinate captains. While these rebels in Clarendon were carrying on their depredations on the south side of the island, the Maroons in the east were pursuing a similar conduct, and for many years, rendered every attempt to settle near them impracticable. Great, but ineffectual efforts were made to destroy them; and, though they suffered severely in some well-projected attacks, yet they remained a rallying point for

all those Negroes who were harshly treated, or disposed to idleness.

Dissentions arising among the Maroons, a party of them, previous to the year 1735, had separated from the rest. These were distinguished by the name of Cottawoods. On hearing that a considerable number of slaves had quitted the upper settlements in Clarendon, and were carrying on war against the white inhabitants, under the guidance of an enterprizing chief, the Cottawoods, men, women, and children, left the eastern parts of the island, and making forced marches through a wild and unexplored country, they joined the Clarendon slaves, and placed themselves under the command of their leader. Cudjoe's force was also increased, though at what period, is not certainly known, by another tribe of Negroes, distinct from the rest in many respects; their figure, character, language, and country, being different from those of their sable companions. Their skin was of a deeper jet than that of any other Negro; their features more nearly resembled those of Europeans; their hair was of a loose and soft texture, like that of a Mulatto or Quadroon; their form was more delicate, and their stature rather lower than those of the people they joined; to a European they seemed handsomer, but did not appear to have originally possessed such hardiness of character, or so much physical strength, as the other slaves under the command of Cudjoe; and although they had probably lived with the latter seventy or eighty years, their original character could still be observed in their descendants. They were called Madagascars, and related, that they ran away from some settlements about Lacovia, in the parish of St. Elizabeth, soon after the planters had bought them. Though not originally numerous, they were very prolific, and added considerably to the strength of their leader, who had now become seriously formidable.

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