Such indeed is the superior longevity of the fair females of Surinam, compared to that of the males (owing chiefly, as I said, to their excesses of all sorts) that I have frequently known wives who have buried four husbands, but never met a man in this country who had survived two wives.
John Gabriel Stedman (1796). “Narrative of a Five Years' Expedition, Against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam: In Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South America; from the Year 1772, to 1777: Elucidating the History of that Country, and Describing Its Productions ... with an Account of the Indians of Guiana, & Negroes of Guinea. By Captn. J. G. Stedman ... ...”, p.28