The overseer was calling over the names of the whole from a little book,
and the first name I heard was that of my companion--Lydia. As she did
not answer, I said, "Master, the woman that carries her baby on her back
will be here in a minute." He paid no attention to what I said, but went
on with his call. As the people answered to their names, they passed off
to the cabins, except three, two women and a man; who, when their names
were called, were ordered to go into the yard, in front of the
overseer's house. My name was the last on the list, and when it was
called I was ordered into the yard with the three others. Just as we had
entered, Lydia came up out of breath, with the child in her arms; and
following us into the yard, dropped on her knees before the overseer,
and begged him to forgive her. "Where have you been?" said he. Poor
Lydia now burst into tears, and said, "I only stopped to talk awhile to
this man," pointing to me; "but indeed, master overseer, I will never do
so again." "Lie down," was his reply. Lydia immediately fell prostrate
upon the ground; and in this position he compelled her to remove her old
tow linen shift, the only garment she wore, so as to expose her hips,
when he gave her ten lashes, with his long whip, every touch of which
brought blood, and a shriek from the sufferer. He then ordered her to go
and get her supper, with an injunction never to stay behind again.--The
other three culprits were then put upon their trial.
The first was a middle aged woman, who had, as her overseer said, left
several hills of cotton in the course of the day, without cleaning and
hilling them in a proper manner. She received twelve lashes. The other
two were charged in general terms, with having been lazy, and of having
neglected their work that day. Each of these received twelve lashes.
These people all received punishment in the same manner that it had been
inflicted upon Lydia, and when they were all gone the overseer turned to
me and said--"Boy, you are a stranger here yet, but I called you in to
let you see how things are done here, and to give you a little advice.
When I get a new negro under my command, I never whip at first; I always
give him a few days to learn his duty, unless he is an outrageous
villain, in which case I anoint him a little at the beginning. I call
over the names of all the hands twice every week, on Wednesday and
Saturday evenings, and settle with them according to their general
conduct for the last three days. I call the names of my captains every
morning, and it is their business to see that they have all their hands
in their proper places. You ought not to have staid behind to-night with
Lyd; but as this is your first offence, I shall overlook it, and you may
go and get your supper." I made a low bow, and thanked master overseer
for his kindness to me, and left him. This night for supper we had corn
bread and cucumbers; but we had neither salt, vinegar, nor pepper with
the cucumbers.
I had never before seen people flogged in the way our overseer flogged
his people. This plan of making the person who is to be whipped lie down
upon the ground, was new to me, though it is much practiced in the
South; and I have since seen men, and women too, cut nearly in pieces by
this mode of punishment. It has one advantage over tying people up by
the hands, as it prevents all accidents from sprains in the thumbs or
wrists.
On Monday morning I heard the sound of the horn at the usual hour, and
repairing to the front of the overseer's house, found that he had
already gone to the corn crib, for the purpose of distributing corn
among the people, for the bread of the week; or rather for the week's
subsistence, for this corn was all the provision that our master, or his
overseer, usually made for us; I say usually, for whatever was given to
us beyond the corn, which we received on Sunday evening, was considered
in the light of a bounty bestowed upon us, over and beyond what we were
entitled to, or had a right to expect to receive.
When I arrived at the crib, the door was unlocked and open, and the
distribution had already commenced. Each person was entitled to half a
bushel of ears of corn, which was measured out by several of the men who
were in the crib. Every child above six months old drew this weekly
allowance of corn; and in this way, women who had several small
children, had more corn than they could consume, and sometimes bartered
small quantities with the other people for such things as they needed,
and were not able to procure.
The people received their corn in baskets, old bags, or any thing with
which they could most conveniently provide themselves. I had not been
able, since I came here, to procure a basket, or any thing else to put
my corn in, and desired the man with whom I lived to take my portion in
his basket, with that of his family. This he readily agreed to do, and
as soon as we had received our share we left the crib.
The overseer attended in person to the measuring of this corn; and it is
only justice to him to say that he was careful to see that justice was
done us. The men who measured the corn always heaped the measure as
long as an ear would lie on; and he never restrained their generosity to
their fellow-slaves.
In addition to this allowance of corn, we received a weekly allowance of
salt, amounting in general to about half a gill to each person; but this
article was not furnished regularly, and sometimes we received none for
two or three weeks.
The reader must not suppose, that, on this plantation, we had nothing to
eat beyond the corn and salt. This was far from the case. I have already
described the gardens, or patches, cultivated by the people, and the
practice which they universally followed of working on Sunday, for
wages. In addition to all these, an industrious, managing slave would
contrive to gather up a great deal to eat.
I have observed, that the planters are careful of the health of their
slaves, and in pursuance of this rule, they seldom expose them to rainy
weather, especially in the sickly seasons of the year, if it can be
avoided.
In the spring and early parts of the summer, the rains are frequently so
violent, and the ground becomes so wet, that it is injurious to the
cotton to work it, at least whilst it rains. In the course of the year
there are many of these rainy days, in which the people cannot go to
work with safety; and it often happens that there is nothing for them to
do in the house. At such time they make baskets, brooms, horse collars,
and other things, which they are able to sell amongst the planters.
The baskets are made of wooden splits, and the brooms of young white oak
or hickory trees. The mats are sometimes made of splits, but more
frequently of flags, as they are called--a kind of tall rush, which
grows in swampy ground. The horse or mule collars are made of husks of
corn, though sometimes of rushes, but the latter are not very durable.
The money procured by these, and various other means, which I shall
explain hereafter, is laid out by the slaves in purchasing such little
articles of necessity or luxury, as it enables them to procure. A part
is disbursed in payment for sugar, molasses, and sometimes a few pounds
of coffee, for the use of the family; another part is laid out for
clothes for winter; and no inconsiderable portion of his pittance is
squandered away by the misguided slave for tobacco, and an occasional
bottle of rum. Tobacco is deemed so indispensable to comfort, nay to
existence, that hunger and nakedness are patiently endured, to enable
the slave to indulge in this highest of enjoyments.
There being few towns in the cotton country, the shops, or stores, are
frequently kept at some cross road, or other public place, in or
adjacent to a rich district of plantations. To these shops the slaves
resort, sometimes with, and at other times without, the consent of the
overseer, for the purpose of laying out the little money they get.
Notwithstanding all the vigilance that is exercised by the planters, the
slaves, who are no less vigilant than their masters, often leave the
plantation after the overseer has retired to his bed, and go to the
store.
The store-keepers are always ready to accommodate the slaves, who are
frequently better customers than many white people; because the former
always pay cash, whilst the latter almost always require credit. In
dealing with the slave, the shop-keeper knows he can demand whatever
price he pleases for his goods, without danger of being charged with
extortion; and he is ready to rise at any time of the night to oblige
friends, who are of so much value to him.
It is held highly disgraceful, on the part of store-keepers, to deal
with the slaves for any thing but money, or the coarse fabrics that it
is known are the usual products of the ingenuity and industry of the
negroes; but, notwithstanding this, a considerable traffic is carried on
between the shop-keepers and slaves, in which the latter make their
payments by barter. The utmost caution and severity of masters and
overseers, are sometimes insufficient to repress the cunning
contrivances of the slaves.
After we had received our corn, we deposited it in our several houses,
and immediately followed the overseer to the same cotton field, in
which we had been at work on Sunday. Our breakfast this morning was
bread, to which was added a large basket of apples, from the orchard of
our master. These apples served us for a relish with our bread, both for
breakfast and dinner, and when I returned to the quarter in the evening,
Dinah (the name of the woman who was at the head of our family) produced
at supper, a black jug, containing molasses, and gave me some of the
molasses for my supper.
I felt grateful to Dinah for this act of kindness, as I well knew that
her children regarded molasses as the greatest of human luxuries, and
that she was depriving them of their highest enjoyment to afford me the
means of making a gourd full of molasses and water. I therefore proposed
to her and her husband, whose name was Nero, that whilst I should remain
a member of the family, I would contribute as much towards its support
as Nero himself; or, at least, that I would bring all my earnings into
the family stock, provided I might be treated as one of its members, and
be allowed a portion of the proceeds of their patch of garden. This
offer was very readily accepted, and from this time we constituted one
community, as long as I remained among the field hands on this
plantation. After supper was over, we had to grind our corn; but as we
had to wait for our turn at the mill, we did not get through this
indispensable operation before one o'clock in the morning. We did not
sit up all night to wait for our turn at the mill, but as our several
turns were assigned us by lot, the person who had the first turn, when
done with the mill, gave notice to the one entitled to the second, and
so on. By this means nobody lost more than half an hour's sleep, and in
the morning every one's grinding was done.
We worked very hard this week. We were now laying by the cotton, as it
is termed; that is, we were giving the last weeding and hilling to the
crop, of which there was, on this plantation, about five hundred acres,
which looked well, and promised to yield a fine picking.
In addition to the cotton, there was on this plantation one hundred
acres of corn, about ten acres of indigo, ten or twelve acres in sweet
potatoes, and a rice swamp of about fifty acres. The potatoes and indigo
had been laid by, (that is, the season of working in them was past,)
before I came upon the estate; and we were driven hard by the overseer
to get done with the cotton, to be ready to give the corn another
harrowing and hoeing, before the season should be too far advanced. Most
of the corn in this part of the country, was already laid by, but the
crop here had been planted late, and yet required to be worked.
We were supplied with an abundance of bread, for a peck of corn is as
much as a man can consume in a week, if he has other vegetables with it;
but we were obliged to provide ourselves with the other articles,
necessary for our subsistence. Nero had corn in his patch, which was now
hard enough to be fit for boiling, and my friend Lydia had beans in her
garden. We exchanged corn for beans, and had a good supply of both; but
these delicacies we were obliged to reserve for supper. We took our
breakfast in the field, from the cart, which seldom afforded us any
thing better than bread, and some raw vegetables from the garden.
Nothing of moment occurred amongst us, in this first week of my
residence here. On Wednesday evening, called settlement-night, two men
and a woman were whipped; but circumstances of this kind were so common,
that I shall, in future, not mention them, unless something
extraordinary attended them.
I could make wooden bowls and ladles, and went to work with a man who
was clearing some new land about two miles off--on the second Sunday of
my sojourn here--and applied the money I earned in purchasing the tools
necessary to enable me to carry on my trade. I occupied all my leisure
hours, for several months after this, in making wooden trays, and such
other wooden vessels as were most in demand. These I traded off, in
part, to a store-keeper, who lived about five miles from the plantation;
and for some of my work I obtained money. Before Christmas, I had sold
more than thirty dollars worth of my manufactures; but the merchant with
whom I traded, charged such high prices for his goods, that I was poorly
compensated for my Sunday toils, and nightly labors; nevertheless, by
these means, I was able to keep our family supplied with molasses, and
some other luxuries, and at the approach of winter, I purchased three
coarse blankets, to which Nero added as many, and we had all these made
up into blanket-coats for Dinah, ourselves, and the children.
About ten days after my arrival, we had a great feast at the quarter.
One night, after we had returned from the field, the overseer sent for
me by his little son, and when I came to his house, he asked me if I
understood the trade of a butcher--I told him I was not a butcher by
trade, but that I had often assisted my master and others to kill hogs
and cattle, and that I could dress a hog, or a bullock, as well as most
people. He then told me he was going to have a beef killed in the
morning at the great house, and I must do it--that he would not spare
any of the hands to go with me, but he would get one of the house-boys
to help me.
When the morning came, I went, according to orders, to butcher the beef,
which I expected to find in some enclosure on the plantation; but the
overseer told me I must take a boy named Toney from the house, whose
business it was to take care of the cattle, and go to the woods and look
for the beef. Toney and I set out sometime before sunrise, and went to a
cow-pen, about a mile from the house, where he said he had seen the
young cattle only a day or two before. At this cow-pen, we saw several
cows waiting to be milked, I suppose, for their calves were in an
adjoining field, and separated from them only by a fence. Toney then
said, we should have to go to the long savanna, where the dry cattle
generally ranged, and thither we set off.--This long savanna lay at the
distance of three miles from the cow-pen, and when we reached it, I
found it to be literally what it was called, a long savanna. It was a
piece of low, swampy ground, several miles in extent, with an open space
in the interior part of it, about a mile long, and perhaps a quarter of
a mile in width. It was manifest that this open space was covered with
water through the greater part of the year, which prevented the growth
of timber in this place; though at the time it was dry, except a pond
near one end, which covered, perhaps, an acre of ground. In this natural
meadow every kind of wild grass, common to such places in the southern
country, abounded.
Here I first saw the scrub and saw grasses--the first of which is so
hard and rough, that it is gathered to scrub coarse wooden furniture, or
even pewter; and the last is provided with edges, somewhat like saw
teeth, so hard and sharp that it would soon tear the skin off the legs
of any one who should venture to walk through it with bare limbs.
As we entered this savanna, we were enveloped in clouds of musquitos,
and swarms of galinippers, that threatened to devour us. As we advanced
through the grass, they rose up until the air was thick, and actually
darkened with them. They rushed upon us with the fury of yellow-jackets,
whose hive has been broken in upon, and covered every part of our
persons. The clothes I had on, which were nothing but a shirt and
trowsers of tow linen, afforded no protection even against the
musquitos, which were much larger than those found along the Chesapeake
Bay; and nothing short of a covering of leather could have defended me
against the galinippers.
I was pierced by a thousand stings at a time, and verily believe I could
not have lived beyond a few hours in this place. Toney ran into the
pond, and rolled himself in the water to get rid of his persecutors; but
he had not been long there before he came running out, as fast as he had
gone in, hallooing and clamoring in a manner wholly unintelligible to
me. He was terribly frightened; but I could not imagine what could be
the cause of his alarm, until he reached the shore, when he turned round
with his face to the water, and called out--"the biggest alligator in
the whole world--did not you see him?" I told him I had not seen
anything but himself in the water; but he insisted that he had been
chased in the pond by an alligator, which had followed him until he was
close in the shore. We waited a few minutes for the alligator to rise to
the surface, but were soon compelled by the musquitos, to quit this
place.
Toney said, we need not look for the cattle here; no cattle could live
amongst these musquitos, and I thought he was right in his judgment. We
then proceeded into the woods and thickets, and after wandering about
for an hour or more, we found the cattle, and after much difficulty
succeeded in driving a part of them back to the cow-pen, and enclosing
them in it. I here selected the one that appeared to me to be the
fattest, and securing it with ropes, we drove the animal to the place of
slaughter.
This beef was intended as a feast for the slaves, at the laying by of
the corn and cotton; and when I had it hung up, and had taken the hide
off, my young master, whom I had seen on the day of my arrival, came out
to me, and ordered me to cut off the head, neck, legs, and tail, and lay
them, together with the empty stomach and the harslet, in a basket. This
basket was sent home, to the kitchen of the great house, by a woman and
a boy, who attended for that purpose. I think there was at least one
hundred and twenty or thirty pounds of this offal. The residue of the
carcass I cut into four quarters, and we carried it to the cellar of the
great house. Here one of the hind quarters was salted in a tub, for the
use of the family, and the other was sent, as a present, to a planter,
who lived about four miles distant. The two fore-quarters were cut into
very small pieces, and salted by themselves.--These, I was told, would
be cooked for our dinner on the next day (Sunday) when there was to be a
general rejoicing among all the slaves of the plantation.
After the beef was salted down, I received some bread and milk for my
breakfast, and went to join the hands in the corn field, where they were
now harrowing and hoeing the crop for the last time. The overseer had
promised us that we should have holiday after the completion of this
work, and by great exertion, we finished it about five o'clock in the
afternoon.
On our return to the quarter, the overseer, at roll-call--which he
performed this day before night--told us that every family must send a
bowl to the great house, to get our dinners of meat. This intelligence
diffused as much joy amongst us, as if each one had drawn a prize in a
lottery. At the assurance of a meat dinner, the old people smiled and
showed their teeth, and returned thanks to master overseer; but many of
the younger ones shouted, clapped their hands, leaped, and ran about
with delight.
Each family, or mess, now sent its deputy, with a large wooden bowl in
his hand, to receive the dinner at the great kitchen. I went on the part
of our family, and found that the meat dinner of this day was made up of
the basket of tripe, and other offal, that I had prepared in the
morning. The whole had been boiled in four great iron kettles, until the
flesh had disappeared from the bones, which were broken in small
pieces--a flitch of bacon, some green corn, squashes, tomatos, and
onions had been added, together with other condiments, and the whole
converted into about a hundred gallons of soup, of which I received in
my bowl, for the use of our family, more than two gallons. We had plenty
of bread, and a supply of black-eyed peas, gathered from our garden,
some of which Dinah had boiled in our kettle, whilst I was gone for the
soup, of which there was as much as we could consume, and I believe that
every one in the quarter had enough.
I doubt if there was in the world a happier assemblage than ours, on
this Saturday evening. We had finished one of the grand divisions of the
labors of a cotton plantation, and were supplied with a dinner, which to
the most of my fellow slaves appeared to be a great luxury, and most
liberal donation on the part of our master, whom they regarded with
sentiments of gratitude for this manifestation of his bounty.
In addition to present gratification, they looked forward to the
enjoyments of the next day, when they were to spend a whole Sunday in
rest and banqueting; for it was known that the two fore-quarters of the
bullock were to be dressed for Sunday's dinner, and I had told them that
each of these quarters weighed at least one hundred pounds.
Our quarter knew but little quiet this night; singing, playing on the
banjo, and dancing, occupied nearly the whole community, until the break
of day. Those who were too old to take any part in our active pleasures,
beat time with their hands, or recited stories of former times. Most of
these stories referred to affairs that had been transacted in Africa,
and were sufficiently fraught with demons, miracles, and murders, to fix
the attention of many hearers.
To add to our happiness, the early peaches were now ripe, and the
overseer permitted us to send, on Sunday morning, to the orchard, and
gather at least ten bushels of very fine fruit.
In South Carolina they have very good summer apples, but they fall from
the trees, and rot immediately after they are ripe; Indeed, very often
they speck-rot on the trees, before they become ripe. This "speck-rot,"
as it is termed, appears to be a kind of epidemic disease amongst
apples; for in some seasons whole orchards are subject to it, and the
fruit is totally worthless, whilst in other years, the fruit in the
same orchard continues sound and good, until it is ripe. The climate of
Carolina is, however, not favorable to the apple, and this fruit of so
much value in the north, is in the cotton region only of a few weeks
continuance--winter apples being unknown. Every climate is congenial to
the growth of some kind of fruit tree; and in Carolina and Georgia, the
peach arrives at its utmost perfection; the fig also ripens well, and is
a delicious fruit.
None of our people went out to work for wages, to-day. Some few devoted
a part of the morning to such work as they deemed necessary in or about
their patches, and some went to the woods, or the swamps, to collect
sticks for brooms, and splits, or to gather flags for mats; but far the
greater number remained at the quarter, occupied in some small work, or
quietly awaiting the hour of dinner, which we had been informed, by one
of the house-servants, would be at one o'clock. Every family made ready
some preparation of vegetables, from their own garden, to enlarge the
quantity, if not to heighten the flavor of the dinner of this day.
One o'clock at length arrived, but not before it had been long desired;
and we proceeded with our bowls a second time, to the great kitchen. I
acted, as I had done yesterday, the part of commissary for our family;
but when we were already at the place where we were to receive our soup
and meat into our bowls, (for it was understood that we were, with the
soup, to have an allowance of both beef and bacon to-day,) we were told
that puddings had been boiled for us, and that we must bring dishes to
receive them in. This occasioned some delay, until we obtained vessels
from the quarter. In addition to at least two gallons of soup, about a
pound of beef, and a small piece of bacon, I obtained nearly two pounds
of pudding, made of corn meal, mixed with lard, and boiled in large
bags. This pudding, with the molasses that we had at home, formed a very
palatable second course to our bread, soup, and vegetables.
On Sunday afternoon, we had a meeting, at which many of our party
attended. A man named Jacob, who had come from Virginia, sang and
prayed; but a great many of the people went out about the plantation, in
search of fruits; for there were many peach and some fig trees, standing
along the fences, on various parts of the estate. With us, this was a
day of uninterrupted happiness.
A man cannot well be miserable when he sees every one about him immersed
in pleasure; and though our fare of to-day was not of a quality to yield
me much gratification, yet such was the impulse given to my feelings, by
the universal hilarity and contentment which prevailed amongst my
fellows, that I forgot for the time all the subjects of grief that were
stored in my memory, all the acts of wrong that had been perpetrated
against me, and entered with the most sincere and earnest sentiments in
the participation of the felicity of our community.