bush-fighting was unique. Having always more men than weapons, they
arranged their warriors in threes,--one to use the musket, another to
take his place if wounded or slain, and a third to drag away the body.
They had Indian stealthiness and swiftness, with more than Indian
discipline; discharged their fire with some approach to regularity, in
three successive lines, the signals being given by the captain's horn.
They were full of ingenuity: marked their movements for each other by
scattered leaves and blazed trees; ran zigzag, to dodge bullets; gave
wooden guns to their unarmed men, to frighten the plantation negroes on
their guerrilla expeditions; and borrowed the red caps of the black
rangers whom they slew, to bewilder the aim of the others. One of them,
finding himself close to the muzzle of a ranger's gun, threw up his hand
hastily. "What!" he exclaimed, "will you fire on one of your own party?"
"God forbid!" cried the ranger, dropping his piece, and was instantly
shot through the body by the Maroon, who the next instant had disappeared
in the woods.

These rebels were no saints: their worship was obi-worship; the women had
not far outgrown the plantation standard of chastity, and the men drank
"kill-devil" like their betters. Stedman was struck with the difference
between the meaning of the word "good" in rebellious circles and in
reputable. "It must, however, be observed, that what we Europeans call a
good character was by the Africans looked upon as detestable, especially
by those born in the woods, whose only crime consisted in avenging the
wrongs done to their forefathers." But if martial virtues be virtues,
such were theirs. Not a rebel ever turned traitor or informer, ever
flinched in battle or under torture, ever violated a treaty or even a
private promise. But it was their power of endurance which was especially
astounding; Stedman is never weary of paying tribute to this, or of
illustrating it in sickening detail; indeed, the records of the world