(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION--EARLY AMERICAS.) Serinhaim (Surinam). Engraving by John Ogilvy after Arnold Montanus, 11 1/8 x 14 1/4 inches; vertical strip of early paper on reverse, where this was possibly attached to a stub in a book; paper evenly toned; faint stamp on reverse stating "historical map collection," with no further identification. [London, 1671]
Dutch planters in Surinam relied heavily on African slaves to cultivate the coffee, cocoa, sugar cane and cotton plantations along the rivers. Treatment of the slaves was notoriously bad, and many slaves escaped the plantations. With the help of the native South Americans living in the adjoining rain forests, these runaway slaves established a new and unique culture that was highly successful in its own right. Known collectively in English as the Maroons, and in Dutch as "Bosnegers," (literally meaning "Bush Negroes"), they established several independent tribes.
