Surinam
Stedman first arrived in Surinam on 2 February 1772. He landed at the Amsterdam fortress and was quickly overcome with the sights and sounds of Surinam. According to Stedman, the land abounded with delicious smells – lemon, orange, and shaddocks. The natives, dressed in loincloths, were somewhat shocking to Stedman at first, and he described them as "bargemen as naked as when they were born." Stedman described Surinam as a generally fertile area.
According to the Narrative, parts of Surinam are mountainous, dry, and barren, but much of the land is ripe and fertile. It enjoys a year-long growing season, with rains and a warm climate. In some parts the land is low and marshy, and crops are grown with a "flooding" method of irrigation similar to that used in ancient Egypt. Surinam is also riddled with uncultivated areas; there are immense forests, mountains (some with valuable minerals), deep marsh, swamps, and even large savanna areas. Some areas of the coast are inaccessible, tainted with rocks, riverbanks, quicksand, and bogs.
Two rivers are central to the colonies: the Orinoco and the Amazon. At the time of Stedman's visit, the Portuguese lived along the river Amazon and the Spanish along the river Orinoco. Dutch colonists were spread along the seaside and the French lived in a small settlement known as Cayenne.
Surinam was first colonized by the governor of Barbados in the 1650s, then captured by the Dutch soon after, who quickly began to cultivate sugar. In 1683 Surinam came under control of the Dutch West India Company. The colony developed an agricultural economy highly dependent on African slavery. The Dutch abolished slavery in 1863, but used indentured laborers from the British Indian colonies to stabilize sugar production. Surinam was granted internal self-governance in 1954, and finally achieved full independence in 1975.
Read more about this topic: John Gabriel Stedman