When set free they went home in a
fury, and told a pitiful tale of the disgrace they had suffered, being
whipped by the black driver of the workhouse in the presence of felon
slaves. The story roused the blood of all their fellows, who felt that
they had been outraged by this insult to two of their kindred, and a
revolt broke out that spread rapidly throughout the mountains.
The whites were in a quandary. To attempt to put down the rebels by force
of arms might lead to the sanguinary results of sixty years before. But it
was remembered that in the former war the use of dogs had proved very
advantageous, so agents were now sent to Cuba to purchase a pack of
bloodhounds. Thus the methods employed by the Spaniards against the
Indians two centuries before were once more brought into use. One hundred
hounds were bought and with them came forty Cuban huntsmen, mostly
mulattoes. As it proved, the very news of the coming of the hounds had the
desired effect, the Maroons being apparently much more afraid of these
ferocious dogs than of trained soldiers. At any rate, they immediately
sued for peace, and, as an old historian tells us, "It is pleasing to
observe that not a drop of blood was spilt after the dogs arrived in the
island.
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