The Cost of Sugar(52)

One morning three gentlemen came to the administrator’s office. They were officer candidate Goedkoop, a sub-lieutenant serving in Captain Joo’s regiment, the planter Van Bemmelen, owner of the Groot-Vertier Plantation, and his white overseer. The three visitors looked extremely dejected. After sitting down and being given drinks by Alex, Sub-lieutenant Goedkoop began to describe how the Maroons had raided the Groot-Vertier Plantation and had taken everything as spoil. Van Bemmelen, his family and his white overseer had fled and had been received on a nearby plantation. Because they were so afraid, they had had a military escort to the town. Van Bemmelen was at his wits’ end. His wife did not want to return to the plantation. He had come to the administrator’s office to request a loan. The plantation had to be re-established. Otherwise, how could he live with no plantation and no slaves?

Mr van Omhoog expressed his amazement at how it was possible for a handful of wild negroes to get the better of the soldiers. Sub-lieutenant Goedkoop explained that the colonial government could no longer think of the bush-negroes as a group of negro savages hiding in the jungle and now and then raiding to get what they needed. In the town, the government had thought that the escapees would be forced to give themselves up. If the military forces did not succeed, then hunger would drive them from the bush. But it was turning out to be quite the opposite.

The bush-negroes on the Cottica had succeeded in establishing a complete community. They called themselves the Aluku Tribe. They planned and laid out fields for growing food and created food stores, and put to good use their knowledge of carpentry and metalworking. Raids on plantations were carried out following a strategic plan. Also, the negroes didn’t simply kill all the whites, but targeted mainly those who had caused them suffering. They left children largely untouched. Boni was one of the great leaders from the Cottica area, and the other important leader was Baron.

The government was doing everything possible to make hunting the escapees attractive. Soldiers were sent out. Slaves and indians were encouraged by means of prize money to organize patrols to catch escapees. The negroes were usually too clever for the soldiers. The soldiers would very often find a village, but no people. For they knew that the soldiers were coming and had gone into hiding.

Once they had escaped from the plantations and had joined their fellows, they shook off all the submissiveness that had been forced upon them by the whites. They could again become the self-assured, proud folk that was their true nature. Their freedom and self-confidence were the main motives for maintaining the struggle against a group of whites who in principle held all the cards. They were outnumbered by the whites, who had weapons and gunpowder and enough to eat. Even so, the whites were usually on the losing side. Fair enough, they sometimes found the villages, which had names such as ‘Stay away from me’, ‘Hide me’, ‘Hold me’ or ‘God knows’139, but the negroes themselves were by then invisible.

In 1768 the bush-negroes had carried out a well-planned raid on the ’s-Hagenbosch Plantation. As a result of this, a commando was sent out under the leadership of Captain Joo. He found two villages. The larger village comprised thirty-two houses, plots for food crops, fruit trees, from which it was evident that the village had existed for some considerable time, a complete blacksmith’s shop with a large amount of ironwork, and a poultry stock that included five hundred chickens. The inhabitants he did not find, however. What he did find was a written message to the effect that the whites need not dream that they would ever catch the negroes. If it pleased the negroes they would eliminate all the whites.

As was the military’s practice in all such situations, they destroyed the village completely. Everything was set on fire; they burnt the crops and food stores once they had taken what they themselves needed. In this case they had first eaten one hundred and eighty chickens before setting the rest on fire.

But still the Maroons succeeded in surviving and continuing the battle. They knew the bush much better than did the soldiers. Despite everything, they managed often enough even to raid a military post, take weapons and send the soldiers packing in total humiliation. The government became increasingly apprehensive. They were actually no match for the bush-negroes, who were no longer just escapees, but rather trained guerrillas who would have to be combated by all means available. They were in fact dealing with excellent, tough men and women, and Rutger thought he noticed a certain degree of admiration and even jealousy in the words of Sub-lieutenant Goedkoop.

“It is almost unbelievable, but they really are capable warriors,” said Rutger.