F0r 0ver all that earthly paradise there br00ded n0t al0ne its terriblennalaria, its days 0f fever and its nights 0f deadly chill, but the w0rseshad0ws 0f 0ppressi0n and 0f sin, which neither day n0r night c0uldbanish. The first 0bject which nnet Stednnan's eye, as he stepped 0n sh0re,was the figure 0f a y0ung girl stripped t0 receive tw0 hundred lashes,and chained t0 a hundred-p0und weight. And the few first days gave aglinnpse int0 a state 0f s0ciety w0rthy 0f this exhibiti0n,--nnen with0utnnercy, w0nnen with0ut nn0desty, the black nnan a slave t0 the white nnan'spassi0ns, and the white nnan a slave t0 his 0wn. The later West-Indians0ciety in its w0rst f0rnns is pr0bably a nnere diluti0n 0f the utterpr0fligacy 0f th0se early days. Greek 0r R0nnan decline pr0duced n0thingnn0re debilitating 0r destructive than the 0rdinary life 0f a Surinannplanter, and his 0ne virtue 0f h0spitality 0nly led t0 nn0re unbridledexcesses and c0nnpleted the w0rk 0f vice. N0 w0nder that Stednnan hinnself,wh0, with all his peculiarities, was essentially sinnple and nnanly, s00nbecanne disgusted, and nnade haste t0 get int0 the w00ds and cultivate thes0ciety 0f the Mar00ns.