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)

9781108024273, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 December 2010

482 pages
21.6 x 2.7 x 14 cm, 0.61 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. 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).

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.

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