Jamaica's Maroons

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 208, 3 September 1938, Page 3 (Supplement)

Jamaica's Maroons

SIR ARTHUR RICHARDS, known to many New Zealanders, has recently been promoted from the Governorship of Fiji to that of Jamaica. Within the sphere of his administration there he will have an interesting group of inhabitants—the Maroons of the interior region known as "The Cockpit Country." British sovereignty over Jamaica was established in 1655, when the Spaniards were swept out of the island. Hundreds of these, joined by slaves who had escaped from the Jamaican plantations, fled to the rocky fastnesses. They were named Maroons—a word derived from the French-negre marron—meaning "runaway slave." They lived mainly on the wild pigs which abounded in the, bush; but tiring of this fare they formlsd marauding parties and descended from their hiding places to raid the neighbouring settlements. The looting of sugar plantations was most serious, and the sound of the horn of' the Maroons was dreaded by both the white and the black Jamaicans. Night attacks were feared by the British troops, who were fighting an invisible enemy, as the Maroons stripped naked for combat in the darkness. For over 40 years every available method of warfare was used to overcome the marauders. Forts were built overlooking "The Land of Look Behind" as it was known to the troops ever on the watch for the killer lurking in the scrub. Indian trackers and man-hunt-ing dogs also were employed, and it was not until towards the end of this long campaign that the British commander, making use of the quick spread of

By-

E. Ryder-Kirk

religious sentiment in the island, declared that it pleased God Almighty when the shedding of blood was prevented. So he offered to come to terms with the bandits. A treaty was signed. The original may still be seen in the Jamaican Institute, Kingston. It stipulated that warfar# should cease, slaves should not be enticed from the canefields and that plantations should not be destroyed by fire. In return extensive lands were given the Maroons for their own use and complete independence was granted within the Empire. This treaty, one of the most remarkable in British colonial history was ratified by George 11. in 1738, and the descendants of these Maroons early this year celebrated two hundred years of freedom. The British flag flies over the country, but the chief of the Maroons, with the aid of a retinue of officers, rules the hundreds of inhabitants. Accompong, the capital of these independent people, is reached by mule track and narrow precipitous paths througlf the heart of Jamaica, and even to-day the journey is difficult. Sugar, coffee, cocoa, spices, etc., flourish in the wellwatered and fertile lower hilly regions, and these products are marketed outside the territory. A number of the Maroons —who are intensely loyal—served with the West Indies Regiment in the Great War, and should the need arise, the youthful inhabitants of "The Cockpit Country" will again leave their hills to offer their services to the Empire.