Caryl Phillips - Cambridge

There is little more I can recount of our dinner with reference to conversation, for this man's ignorance knew no boundaries. I asked after Mr Wilson, which elicited mocking laughter. He announced that once I had rested he would speak with me of the affairs of the estate. I chose not to press him, having already made up my mind that immediately I could obtain ink and paper I would insist to Father that this arrogant man must go. My peace of mind was further disturbed by the sudden intrusion of a negro woman whom it would appear had station above Stella. She momentarily took a seat at the table and whispered into the ear of this Mr Brown. Then' she smirked and took off again without so much as a 'Good evening, ma'am' to myself, or a 'By your leave' to anybody present. Stella appeared to tolerate the insubordination of this black wench, but I had already determined upon a meal of inner contemplation dignified by an outward display of stern resolution.

Of the meal itself mere was little with which I could find fault, except perhaps its extravagance. The table is clearly one of wasteful plenty, in violation of all rules of domestic propriety. I have never seen such rich and heavily seasoned food: land- and sea-turtles, quails, snipes and pigeons, doves and plover. Excellent port, pepperpot, and men heavy vegetables which bore some resemblance to potatoes and cabbage, but were only near-cousin to these familiar staples of my diet. Dishes of tea, coffee, bumpers of claret, Madeira, sangaree, were all to be followed with citrus fruits and tarts of pineapple. I did enquire of Mr Brown if such a banquet were usual, to which he nodded as he pushed another stewed fish into his mouth. I could only imagine that he eats but once a day. For my part I must confess I found such excesses vulgar.

The service provided by the blacks was decidedly tardy and bore little relation to the luxury of the food. Stella's charges seemed to find it convenient to set the dishes on the table in a careless and crooked fashion. Silver flagons kept company with cheap earthenware, and many of these servants and assistants (there appeared to be one for every dish upon the table) wore nothing upon their feet and salivated as they observed us eating. The busiest among them were those who drove away swarms of hungry flies with the slow, rhythmical swaying of the great palm leaves. For the rest this was an opportunity to cast greedy eyes on what they would no doubt later wolf. I regarded their teeming presence with great distaste and vowed that in the morning I would bring up this surplus with Mr Brown.

It is indeed sad that my first day should have ended so unpleasantly. Perhaps it is too much to expect an immediate adjustment to the ways of the tropics, but surely good manners rise above dime and conditions. Outside, in the darkness, I can hear unfamiliar noises. The sawing of the mosquitoes I am already accustomed to, as I am too with the grunting and squawking of poultry and pigs beneath my chamber. But the distant braying of what I imagine to be negroes, and the ghostly silence of the house about me, leads me to wonder where exactly Mr Brown's quarters are, should there be aught to trouble me. O how I miss my Isabella. Should I encounter difficulty in sleeping mere is nobody to whom I might turn.

These past three to four weeks have been the most difficult I can recall. To be more accurate, the most difficult I cannot recall, for my memory of them has been clouded by fever. Although still far from being hearty, I am so much improved, I imagine that if anyone who saw me a week ago were to look upon me now they would not believe me to be the same person. As to the origins of my illness, at first I thought it some slabbery thing that had caused my stomach to stand up. After all, the table on my first night was brimming with fowl, fish and vegetables with which I was unfamiliar. But my stomach stood up and lay back down again, and still the fever had me in her grip. It was at this juncture that I succumbed to a real fear that I might have contracted the same distemper which carried off Isabella. Stella summoned the doctor, who worried that I might fall a rapid sacrifice to this climate. Accordingly, he redoubled his attentiveness to me. It was shortly after the arrival of the doctor that I lost all recollection of what was taking place about my person. Now I am improved and instructed to take great care of what I put to my mouth. I must, in addition, observe a strict diet of short walks to help rebuild my strength.

Since recovering my senses I have had the opportunity to speak with the physician, Mr McDonald, a Scotchman, who has the good fortune to practise one of the two professions, the other being the law, which offer great opportunities for those who would seek to amass a fortune in this remaining part of our American empire. An intelligent and humane man, he held my interest with his account of the qualities of tropical life, and the characteristics of both the slaves and the whites, as he had observed and experienced them. He informed me that an important branch of his duties involves caring for the blacks of various estates. There is upon every estate a hospital (or sick-house as the negroes sometimes term it) for the treatment of ailing blacks. The most common diseases of the negro are slight in comparison with those that daily threaten the unseasoned white population. Disorders of the stomach are often caused by the consumption of unripe cane which, though full of sweet juice and palatable enough, is not to be relished by those who must of necessity retain their power to stand. The negro child is easy prey for the disorders of the small-pox, measles, and whooping cough. The earlier a child takes these disorders after it is weaned, then the sooner it can grow tall and straight having passed the principal diseases attendant to its youth. Perhaps the most disturbing of all the diseases related to me by Mr McDonald was that occasioned by the discomforting attentions of a small insect known as a chegoe, or jigger as the negroes express it. This creature buries itself in their feet, and if not extracted in time nests and breeds in the flesh. Some indolent beings allow these insects to attain such a size that it is impossible for them to be taken out. They feed upon the flesh, sometimes with mortal consequences. The more fortunate are obliged to suffer amputation, often as far as the knee.

Mr McDonald is required to visit each estate once a week, for which he receives an annual stipend depending upon the number of blacks in his charge. Should he have to perform additional services, such as amputation, then he is free to make extra charges. Naturally, he serves several proprietors, so that many hundreds of blacks are under his stewardship. And, of course, he will make heavier charges for the servicing of whites, which demands closer attention. Unfortunately, the greater part of a tropical doctor's life is squandered on the bizarre imaginary diseases with which the negro claims to be suffering. Monday morning is a great time for the lazy or ill-disposed negroes to gather together at the sick-house, with heads tied up, groaning as though in terminal agony, eyes barely open, one leg dragging after the other. 'Massa, me bones do hurt me bad — me eyes turning in me head so.' Such sentiments are terminated by a long and mournful howl, as the black strives to effect his lazy deceitful purpose, which is to lie at ease in the sick-house. Most will happily irritate and keep alive old sores, inflict fresh ones, take nostrums of their own making, anything to excuse idleness. The most foolish cure to prescribe is the offer of castor oil, for most blacks so enjoy its texture and taste that they will happily fry fish and plantains in it. Mr McDonald sighed with exasperation as he recalled the woes of his profession, for it appears that far from being a sickly race, the negroes are in general muscular and robust, never fearful of the heat (although a chilly day renders them miserable and much desirous of a glass of massa's rum). Erect and well-formed, their quality is attributed by Mr McDonald directly to their lack of tight clothing, which in infancy and childhood can lead to deformities among white and civilized people.