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guns, but many are without shirts or hats. I saw the president, who is a mulatto, drilling his soldiers one Sunday. He came riding with his whole staff, very elegant and grand. He had on a three-cornered hat, blue and gold embroidered coat, white trousers and short boots. But between the knee breeches and the boots there was a naked space, so his bare black legs stuck out. There are many monasteries and churches here from the time of the French.
We left St. Domingo in the beginning of December, and arrived at Wilmington on Christmas day. We all left the ship, but we had some trouble about our pay. The owners did not want to give us more than fifteen dollars a month, and the sailors wanted eighteen dollars. All who would not go for less than eighteen dollars walked about with a blue ribbon on their hat or in their buttonhole. After a good deal of trouble the owners were obliged to give up and pay the expected wages. Some of the sailors got into severe trouble. They went out to a ship whose captain had whipped some of his men. They tied a rope around his neck, pulled him out of the cabin, and then were crazy enough to pull him through the streets until the police came and nabbed them all. Well it was for me that I did not go as I had intended, for they all had to go to prison for three months.
I took again hire in the brig "Rising	States",	which	was	going to
Demerara. The captain made out that he was very holy, but when we got to sea he got bravely over it. It was an old, rotten ship, but, as it had just been repaired, I did not think it was so bad. But we found out mighty soon when we got out to sea that it was impossible to keep it pumped dry. Moreover the rats were so bad they gnawed holes everywhere. If the weather had been bad we would surely have gone to the bottom. We reached Demerara all right. The land is extremely flat and used to be very unhealthy. But now it is cut through with many canals and the climate is better and more healthy. It is very fertile. Everything looks fresh and green - not scorched like West Indian colonies. It used to belong	to Holland,	and	there are many yet from	that nation. Slavery is
here done away	with as in	all	the English colonies.	But now they have,	in a
way, begun a slave trade with whites. They	send agents	to Germany,	Ireland;
and other places,	to persuade poor people to go there,	promising them	gold	in
plenty. They have to sign a contract to stay five, six,	or	ten years.
Now when the poor deluded people come, they cannot stand the climate or the work on the sugar plantations, and they die like flies. The ship I was on brought eighty men from the Azores Islands; when we came back two and a half months after, only twenty-eight were left. Some of those still living who came on board our ship complained bitterly that they were not even allowed to write home. I suppose the agents	are afraid they will	scare other people	from
coming. Hardly	will any of	them see their native land	again, as they are	bound
for six years. Several tried to desert, but were caught and punished on the treadmill.
Going up the Demerara River you see no homes. I don't believe anybody lives on the island except at the mouth of the river. We could get no cargo to take back to the	United States, so the captain would	go	to a German	colony
somewhat south of	Demerara. But our contract was to go	to	Demerara and	back	to
the States. We were afraid the ship could not pay our wages and we did not know who the owner was, so we refused to go, demanded our pay right now, and quit. The captain begged us to stay, as there was no crew to be had, and promised faithfully to pay us as soon as	we	arrived	in the States. We
consented, although we were very much afraid,	as	the ship	was so	poor	it could
it could not pay us even if we had seized it.
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