Juan Lubolo (Juan de Bolas)

'Juan Lubolo's palenque of one hundred and fifty was stationed...on the south side of the island in the Clarendon mountains....The British had, from very early, made overtures to this group....Exactly when Lubolo agreed to the British overture is imprecise. The formal proclamation announcing the rapprochement was not issued until February 1662/3. But there is evidence to show that Lubolo had been working with the British against the Spaniards and apparently against even against other Maroons in the hills, at least since 1660....The degree to which the Spaniards depended on the blacks not only symbolically but also inn terms of their security is demonstrated in Ysassi's reaction to what he considered Lubolo's defection. The council of war was specifically called to determine what should be done in view of his action. Here they decided to leave the island not out of fear of the British so much as fear of the Maroons - the "rebellious blacks." They argued that the "Negroes" were "so experienced and acquainted with the mountains" that they could not hope to succeed against them....The Spanish governor then issued an order commanding the remnants of his army to remove from the spot quickly, pointing out that the blacks were bound to disclose to the British their rendezvous. Three days after leaving, as the governor predicted, their settlement was reached and routed by the enemy, accompanied by Lubolo and his men....The charter acknowledged the fidelity and affection of Lubolo to the British, in return for which he and his people were to receive their freedom, with thirty acres of land to those eighteen years of age and over. Lubolo's title of Governor of the Negroes was terminated, and instead he was "honoured with the title of Coll. of the Black Regiment" in the island's militia....Apparently the other bannds of black guerrillas in the hills did not view Lubolo's new alliance with satisfaction; they rather saw him as a renegade who sullied their image by capitulating to the enemy. And perhaps, as if to demonstrate their disapproval of the rapprochement, various attacks on the plantations were soon reported to the authorities....The governor therefore sent Lubolo, now the official bloodhound of the British, or Colonel of the Black militia, whether to treat with or to fight against his black brethren is not clear...Whatever the nature of the mission, Maroons apparently felt that this was their chance to wreak vengeance on the black general. Unlike Lubolo's victories over the Spaniards, in this instance he was up against more than his match. He fell into an ingenious Karmahaly ambuscade and was slain. It is reported that he was "cut into pieces," and this is not difficult to understand considering the supreme contempt they must have had for Lubolo's defection to the enemy. According to Dallas, after Lubolo's death his group decreased in number and morale and thus "sought quiet and protection in the vicinity of towns and settlements; nor were any of them ever known to return to their former haunts in the mountains of Clarendon," where evidently a new cluster of Maroons was being formed.' Mavis Campbell, "The Maroons Jamaica 1655-1796", pp. 20-5.