At the very best the prospects of a voyage to the West Indies a century ago could not have been pleasant; but the experience of these unfortunate detachments of dragoons seems to have been appalling. After a terrible passage, in which some ships were cast away, and all were seriously battered, a certain number of transports arrived in July at Jamaica, and among them those containing two troops of the Seventeenth. Jamaica not being their destination, they were told that their arrival was an unfortunate blunder, and packed off again to St. Domingo. Think of the feelings of those unhappy men at being bandied about in such a fashion. They had not sailed clear of the Jamaican coast, however, when they were hastily recalled. The Maroons had broken out into rebellion; and the “unfortunate blunder” which brought the Seventeenth to Jamaica was fated to prove a piece of great good luck to the island and a cause of distinction to the regiment. But something must first be said of the story of the Maroons themselves. CHAPTER VII THE MAROON WAR IN JAMAICA, 1795 [Sidenote: 1795.] The year 1795, as will presently be told when we speak of the services of the Seventeenth in Grenada, was marked by a simultaneous revolt of almost all the possessions of the British in the West Indies. Amid all this trouble the large and important island of Jamaica remained untouched. This was remarkable, for from its wealth it offered a tempting prey to the French, and, from its proximity to St. Domingo, it was easy of access to French agents of sedition and revolt, who could pass into it without suspicion among the hundreds of refugees that had fled from that unhappy island. Moreover, the garrison had been reduced to great weakness by the constant drain of reinforcements for St. Domingo. Still, in spite of some awkward symptoms, the Jamaica planters remained careless and supine; and no one but the governor, Lord Balcarres, a veteran of the American War, felt the slightest anxiety. Such was the state of affairs when the squadron of the Seventeenth arrived at Port Royal in July, and was sent on board ship again. Three days later the Maroons were up in rebellion.