Notes on the West Indies
Written during the Expedition under the Command of the Late General Sir Ralph Abercromby

An army surgeon's detailed account of the West Indies in 1796–1797, first published in 1806.

George Pinckard (Author)

9781108024266, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 December 2010

498 pages
21.6 x 2.8 x 14 cm, 0.63 kg

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. Having been separated by bad weather from the fleet and arriving long before his regiment, he had plenty of time to explore Barbados, which he describes in detail in Volume 2. He is critical of the treatment of some slaves which he witnesses, but seldom questions slavery itself, and considers that, under a good owner, slaves were better off than they would have been in Africa; however, he found that elderly slaves who could no longer work were badly neglected. As a doctor, he is interested in illnesses suffered on the island, such as elephantiasis and yellow fever, and he also describes an expedition to Dutch Guiana.

1. Author and his friends wait for General Whyte, and the Cork convoy
2. Author apprehensive of fatiguing his friend with tales of delay and disappointment
3. A common signal of alarm converted into an ensign of joy
4. Creole languor from heat of climate
5. A surgical operation performed with great dexterity by a negro
6. General remarks concerning Barbadoes
7. Further hope, and further disappointment
8. Author separated from his long associated comrades
9. Destination of the expedition
10. Author again upon terra firma
11. A detachment of the expedition proceeds to Berbische
12. Barbadoes the metropolis of the West Indies
13. Terms of capitulation of the colonies of the coast of Guiana
14. The author is left in the colonies of Guiana, instead of proceeding to St. Domingo
15. Bush Negroes in the woods of Guiana
16. Description of house and furniture occupied by the medical staff at La Bourgade
17. Author's duties lead him to the colony of Berbische
18. Author embarks on board a commissariat sloop to proceed from Demarara to Berbische
19. Situation of Fort St. Andrew
20. A Dutch 'vendue' of slaves
21. Politeness and hospitality of Governor Van Battenburg towards the author
22. News reaches Berbische of the capture of the island of St. Lucia
23. Indolence and visionary difficulties often the bane of our gratification.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH]