sustaining his long, straight, flat sword or _machete_, like an iron bar
sharpened at one end; and he wore by the same belt three cotton leashes
for his three dogs, sometimes held also by chains. The dogs were a fierce
breed, crossed between hound and mastiff, never unmuzzled but for attack,
and accompanied by smaller dogs called _finders_. It is no wonder, when
these wild and powerful creatures were landed at Montego Bay, that terror
ran through the town, doors were everywhere closed, and windows crowded;
not a negro dared to stir; and the muzzled dogs, infuriated by
confinement on shipboard, filled the silent streets with their noisy
barking and the rattling of their chains.

How much would have come of all this in actual conflict, does not appear.
The Maroons had already been persuaded to make peace upon certain
conditions and guaranties,--a decision probably accelerated by the
terrible rumors of the bloodhounds, though they never saw them. It was
the declared opinion of the Assembly, confirmed by that of Gen. Walpole,
that "nothing could be clearer than that, if they had been off the
island, the rebels could not have been induced to surrender."
Nevertheless, a treaty was at last made, without the direct intervention
of the quadrupeds. Again commissioners went up among the mountains to
treat with negotiators at first invisible; again were hats and jackets
interchanged, not without coy reluctance on the part of the well-dressed
Englishmen; and a solemn agreement was effected. The most essential part
of the bargain was a guaranty of continued independence, demanded by the
suspicious Maroons. Gen. Walpole, however, promptly pledged himself that
no such unfair advantage should be taken of them as had occurred with the
hostages previously surrendered, who were placed in irons; nor should any
attempt be made to remove them from the island. It is painful to add,
that this promise was outrageously violated by the Colonial Government,
to the lasting grief of Gen. Walpole, on the ground that the Maroons had