Buckley-Little Book Catalogue Co Night Of The Silent Drums

ST. JOHN, VIRGIN ISLANDS (FORMERLY ST. JAN), 1733 Cornelius Bodger, physician to the Danish West India Company, watched as Jens Andersen, overseer of a nearby plantation, approached on horseback flourishing the long whip he always carried. Seven of Andersen's slaves had run away the night before, and as he drew near, coiling the whip, he reported their escape. Bodger nodded; Andersen turned and rode away.It was customary for slaves on St. Jan to be docile. Most of them had been slaves in Africa, born and bred to slavery by their African masters. But now there were new slaves on St. Jan, slaves who were not slaves at all, but African royalty and nobility. Bolombo, Prince Aquashi, Breffu,.. . majestic figures who could not submit for long to a life of slavery.Weeks passed and tensions mounted on St. Jan; and as more and more slaves escaped, one could hear more and more often the sounds of their drums, sending messages throughout the island in tongues meant only for African ears.And then one night the drums fell silent. The time had come. Rebellion was at hand.In telling the story first of the life on the island and then of the rebellion and its aftermath, the author paints striking portraits of the people involved-both black and white-and at the same time evokes an almost tangible sense of the land.But the book is more than the story of what happened on this little island. It is the story of humanity in microcosm, a compelling picture of the evil, and the good, that men can do-and as such it is timeless.