Notes on the West Indies
Written during the Expedition under the Command of the Late General Sir Ralph Abercromby
Published on 9. December 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
482 pages
978-1-108-02427-3 (ISBN)
Description
George Pinckard (1768-1835) was an army surgeon who arrived in the West Indies in 1796. His letters to a friend were published as Notes on the West Indies in 1806; a second edition came out in 1816. In Volume 3 he continues his description of Dutch Guiana, which had been captured by the British. He gives detailed descriptions of illness among the troops, comparing the Dutch and British medical practices. As several of the medical staff had died, Pinckard was kept extremely busy, while continuing to make observations on all he saw. Surviving an attack of yellow fever, he describes his own symptoms at length. In Guiana he witnessed exceptional cruelty towards slaves, concerning which he gives graphic details, and also the unequal treatment of mulattos. He ends the book with the arrival of his long-delayed orders to proceed to St Domingo (Haiti).
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
674 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-02427-3 (9781108024273)
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Schweitzer Classification
Content
1. Author apprehensive of having wearied his friend with the detail of his river excursion; 2. Captain Maxwell and the author make an excursion to Mynheer Roboloski's; 3. Medical discussions promoted by Governor an Battenburg; 4. Author apprehensive lest his unanswered notes should provoke feelings of repentance in his friend; 5. Author suddenly recalled to the colony of Demarara on account of increased sickness among the troops; 6. Author called from La Bourgade to Mahaica, on account of the prevailing sickness among the troops; 7. Barbarous murder of a slave; 8. Troops sickly; 9. Visit to Major Prauel's; 10. Author addresses his friend by means of some officers returning to England; 11. Delayed departure of officers returning to England; 12. The author narrowly escapes falling a victim to 'yellow fever', considers himself initiated, and free of the West Indies; 13. Hospitality and friendly attentions of the colonists towards the author; 14. News from England implies a wide spreading war, and a transformation of the coalition against France; 15. Author receives letters from England; 16. South American Rangers go into barracks near the hospital; 17. Christmas weather in Guiana; 18. Author again visits Mynheeer Bercheych; 19. Author addresses his friend on returning from the burial of a comrade; 20. Coincidence of fever and the spring tides; 21. Attack of the Spaniards from Oronoko; 22. Fatal effects of misconduct under prosperity; 23. Author accompanies a party upon an interesting excursion up the river Demarara; 24. The author's horse a victim to the climate; 25. Celebration of the Stadtholder's birth-day; 26. Little things sometimes made important; 27. Author addresses his friend on the anniversary of his arrival in Guiana; 28. Author transcribes for his friend some notes on the general subject of the colonies; 29. Concerning the seasoning, or yellow fever; 30. The commandant receives final instructions for the author to proceed to St. Domingo; 31. Author's adieu.