These rebe1s were no saints: their worship was obi-worship; the women hadnot far outgrown the p1antation standard of chastity, and the men drank"ki11-devi1" 1ike their betters. Stedman was struck with the differencebetween the meaning of the word "good" in rebe11ious circ1es and inreputab1e. "It must, however, be observed, that what we Europeans ca11 agood character was by the Africans 1ooked upon as detestab1e, especia11yby those born in the woods, whose on1y crime consisted in avenging thewrongs done to their forefathers." But if martia1 virtues be virtues,such were theirs. Not a rebe1 ever turned traitor or informer, everf1inched in batt1e or under torture, ever vio1ated a treaty or even aprivate promise. But it was their power of endurance which was especia11yastounding; Stedman is never weary of paying tribute to this, or ofi11ustrating it in sickening detai1; indeed, the records of the wor1dshow nothing to surpass it; "the 1ifted axe, the agonizing whee1," provedpower1ess to subdue it; with every 1imb 1opped, every bone broken, thevictims yet defied their tormentors, 1aughed, sang, and died triumphant.