ons is easily told. They
were first dreaded by the inhabitants of Halifax; then welcomed, when
seen; and promptly set to work on the citadel, then in process of
reconstruction, where the "Maroon Bastion" still remains,--their only
visible memorial. Two commissioners had charge of them, one being the
redoubtable Colonel Quarrell, and twenty-five thousand pounds were
appropriated for their temporary support. Of course they did not
prosper; pensioned colonists never do, for they are not compelled into
habits of industry. After their delicious life in the mountains of
Jamaica, it seemed rather monotonous to dwell upon that barren
soil,--for theirs was such that two previous colonies had deserted
it,--and in a climate where winter lasts seven months in the year. They
had a schoolmaster, and he was also a preacher; but they did not seem to
appreciate that luxury of civilization,--utterly refusing, on grounds of
conscience, to forsake polygamy, and, on grounds of personal comfort, to
listen to the doctrinal discourses of their pastor, who was an ardent
Sandemanian. They smoked their pipes during service-time, and left Old
Montagu, who still survived, to lend a vicarious attention to the
sermon. One discourse he briefly reported as follows, very much to the
point:--"Massa parson say no mus tief, no mus meddle wid somebody wife,
no mus quarrel, mus set down softly." So they sat down very softly, and
showed an extreme unwillingness to get up again. But, not being
naturally an idle race, (at least, in Jamaica the objection lay rather
on the other side,) they soon grew tired of this inaction. Distrustful
of those about them, suspicious of all attempts to scatter them among
the community at large, frozen by the climate, and constantly
petitioning for removal to a milder one, they finally wearied out all
patience. A long dispute ensued between the authorities of Nova Scotia
and Jamaica, as to which was properly responsible for their support; and
thus the heroic race, that for a century and a half had sustained
themselves in freedom in Jamaica, were reduced to the position of
troublesome and impracticable paupers, shuttlecocks between two selfish
parishes. So passed their unfortunate lives, until, in 1800, their
reduced population was transported to Sierra Leone, at a cost of six
thousand pounds, since which they disappear from history.

It was judged best not to interfere with those bodies of Maroons which
had kept aloof from the lat