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.In the main it was under cane, for the crop was nearly ripe, and it was simple to identify the tall, waving, slender green stalks which provided the wealth of an entire nation.But farther off, and towards the centre of the valley, clustering around the town which lay there, the canefields ended, and there was a large area under corn, and an enormous orchard of fruit trees, while beyond them there was an even larger cleared area, dotted with grazing horses, with a perimeter of deep green grass surrounded by a white railing, and beyond, a tiered stand.'My family is fond of racing their horses,' Matt said, and urged his mount forward.'And so have created their own race-course?' Coke asked in wonder, and speaking half to himself.'But where is the hilltop which gives the place its name?'For they were descending the side of the hill now; the road led through the centre of the canefields themselves.'Why, there isn't one,' Matt said.'My cousin Robert's father, who founded this place, first saw it and determined to have it, from the hill we have just descended.But he built his house in the centre of the valley itself, where it is never exposed to even the strongest of hurricane winds.You will see it soon enough.'Coke removed his hat to scratch his head, and hastily restored it again; the sun seemed to pounce on his scalp like a physical force, and now that they were sheltered from what breeze there was by the mountains surrounding the amphitheatre, it was remarkable how still it was.He could hear a sound of singing, and a moment later discovered he was indeed in the presence of other humans, as they rounded a bend and came upon a gang of men, forty strong, wearing nothing but cotton drawers and wielding sharpened machetes, long knives lacking points but with their cutting edges sharpened to a razor-like perfection, weeding the road, and chanting together with a most delightful cadence.The Negroes stopped, to look at the two white men, and then to stand, and touch their foreheads as the horses approached.Coke sidled closer to Matt.'Is there no overseer?'‘I imagine there is.But he is probably sleeping in some piece of shade.''But.' Coke licked his lips.'Those cutlasses would soon settle a man.''Indeed,' Matt agreed."Then what is to stop them absconding?' Coke asked, speaking more freely as the horses drew clear of the work gang, and the song started up again behind them, the rhythm keeping perfect time with the clatter of the blades.'The fear of retribution when they are retaken,' Matt said.'You have come to the West Indies to preach freedom for the blacks.Dr.Coke, so surely you cannot also be afraid of them? If they are worthy of freedom, then they are worthy of your trust.'Coke decided to ignore the sarcasm.'I was considering the matter from your point of view.It is an opinion held by some authorities on crime that fear of punishment is no deterrent to the average man.Jamaica is a large island.Surely there is somewhere they could hope to gain, where they could live free?''Oh, indeed there is,' Matt agreed.'Some distance away to the north is what is known as the Cockpit Country, a desolate place of low hills and gullies, ravines and morasses, impenetrable to an organized force, where is situated the kingdom of the Maroons, a nation composed entirely of runaways.But these are slaves who in the main escaped from their Spanish masters, better than a century ago.They do welcome certain new arrivals, but they have to be assured that they are not spies, and life in the Cockpit is extremely hard.And then there is the business of reaching there, with all the resources of the government and the plantocracy, dogs and mounted men, on their heels.And if they are retaken, why they are hanged, and at that are fortunate, as until quite recently it was their fate to be burned alive.''What a sombre picture you do paint, to be sure, Mr.Hilton,' Coke observed.'Yet I would hear more about these Maroons.Can the government tolerate such an armed force, for I assume they carry weapons, in the midst of their island?''They can do very little about them, save they undertake a full-scale war.''But do they not fear that the Maroons may undertake a full-scale war against them, a war in which no doubt the majority of your slaves would join?'.'They are uneasy neighbours, to be sure, to those who are unwise enough to plant in their vicinity,' Matt agreed.'But their leaders are as aware of our strength as we are of theirs.They know that, should the provocation be great enough, then we would certainly undertake the expense and toil of an expedition to destroy them, and they have sufficient sense to prefer to remain in isolation, and indeed, to subscribe to a Treaty of Peace between their king and our governor.''My word,' Coke said.Then you do allow that the Negro is capable of good sense, and therefore intelligence.' 'Have I ever denied it?''No,' Coke agreed.'No, I suppose you have not.I wonder if it would be possible for me to visit these people?''Indeed, sir, you would take your life in your hands were you to do so,' Matt observed.'They care little for white skins.And I had thought your business was to do with those who still suffer the lash.' He touched his horse with his heels, to increase its speed, and to signify he no longer wished to continue the conversation.Whatever his problems, Coke decided, he was a Hilton to his backbone, in his natural arrogance, his complete confidence in the way of life to which he had been educated, his almost regal bearing.He sighed, and urged his own mount onwards.Now they were passing more slave gangs, some composed of women as well as men, who squatted by the roadside, their white skirts tucked up around their thighs, and flicked their cutlasses at the creeping weeds with careless accuracy
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