Stedman relates a fact which proves what has been above said of the indefinite consequences of these punishments. Speaking of a Frenchman, named Destrades, who had introduced the culture of Indigo into Surinam, and who, during many years, had enjoyed general esteem in that colony. He states, that being at the house of one of his friends in Demerara, he became ill of an abscess, which formed in his shoulder. He would not suffer it to be examined: it became dangerously worse, but his resistance remained still the same: at last, not hoping for a cure, he put an end to his life with a pistol-ball, when the secret was revealed, it was found that his shoulder was marked with a letter V, or Voleur.---Narrative of an Expedition against the Renolted Negroes of Surinam, by Major Stedman, chap. xxvii.

RP Book 2 Chapter 2 Section 4