I could not believe it possible that the white people whom I had just
left, would give information of the route I had taken; but as it was
possible that all who dwelt on this plantation might not be so pure of
heart as were they who possessed it, I thought it prudent to travel some
distance in the woods, before I stopped for the day, notwithstanding the
risk of moving about in the open light. For the purpose of precluding
the possibility of being betrayed, I now determined to quit this road,
and travel altogether in the woods or through open fields, for two or
three nights, guiding my march by the stars. In pursuance of this
resolution, I bore away to the left of the high road, and traveled five
or six miles before I stopped, going round all the fields that I saw in
my way, and keeping them at a good distance from me.
In the afternoon of this day it rained, and I had no other shelter than
the boughs and leaves of a large magnolia tree; but this kept me
tolerably dry, and as it cleared away in the evening, I was able to
continue my journey by starlight. I have no definite idea of the
distance that I traveled in the course of this and the two succeeding
nights, as I had no road to guide me, and was much perplexed by the
plantations and houses, the latter of which I most carefully eschewed;
but on the third night after this I encountered a danger, which was very
nearly fatal to me.
At the time of which I now speak, the moon having changed lately, shone
until about eleven o'clock. I had been on my way two or three hours this
evening, and all the world seemed to be quiet, when I entered a
plantation that lay quite across my way. In passing through these
fields, I at last saw the houses, and other improvements, and about a
hundred yards from the house, a peach orchard, which I could distinguish
by the faint light of the moon. This orchard was but little out of my
way, and a quarter of a mile, as nearly as I could judge, from the
woods. I resolved to examine these peach trees, and see what fruit was
on them. Coming amongst them, I found the fruit of the kind called
Indian peaches in Georgia.
These Indian peaches are much the largest and finest peaches that I have
ever seen, one of them oftentimes being as large as a common quince. I
had filled all my pockets, and was filling my handkerchief with this
delicious fruit, which is of deep red, when I heard the loud growl of a
dog toward the house, the roof of which I could see. I stood as still as
a stone, but yet the dog growled on, and at length barked out. I presume
he smelled me, for he could not hear me. In a short time I found that
the dog was coming towards me, and I then started and ran as fast as I
could for the woods. He now barked louder, and was followed by another
dog, both making a terrible noise. I was then pretty light of foot, and
was already close by the woods when the first dog overtook me. I carried
a good stick in my hand, and with this I kept the dogs at bay, until I
gained the fence and escaped into the woods; but now I heard the shouts
of men encouraging the dogs, both of which were now up with me, and the
men were coming as fast as they could. The dogs would not permit me to
run, and unless I could make free use of my heels, it was clear that I
must be taken in a few minutes. I now thought of my master's sword,
which I had not removed from its quilted scabbard, in my great coat,
since I commenced my journey. I snatched it from its sheath, and at a
single cut laid open the head of the largest and fiercest of the dogs,
from his neck to his nose. He gave a loud yell and fell dead on the
ground. The other dog, seeing the fate of his companion, leaped the
fence, and escaped into the field, where he stopped, and like a cowardly
cur, set up a clamorous barking at the enemy he was afraid to look in
the face. I thought this no time to wait to ascertain what the men would
say when they came to their dead dog, but made the best of my way
through the woods, and did not stop to look behind me for more than an
hour. In my battle with the dogs, I lost all my peaches, except a few
that remained in my pockets; and in running through the woods I tore my
clothes very badly, a disaster not easily repaired in my situation; but
I had proved the solidity of my own judgment in putting up my sword as a
part of my traveling equipage.
I now considered it necessary to travel as fast as possible, and get as
far as I could before day from the late battle-ground, and certainly I
lost no time; but from the occurrences of the next day, I am of opinion
that I had not continued in a straight line all night, but that I must
have traveled in a circular or zigzag route. When a man is greatly
alarmed, and in a strange country, he is not able to note courses, or
calculate distances very accurately.
Daylight made its appearance, when I was moving to the South, for the
daybreak was on my left hand; but I immediately stopped, went into a
thicket of low white oak bushes, and lay down to rest myself, for I was
very weary, and soon fell asleep, and did not awake until it was ten or
eleven o'clock. Before I fell asleep, I noted the course of the rising
sun, from the place where I lay, in pursuance of a rule that I had
established; for by this means I could tell the time of day at any hour,
within a short period of time, by taking the bearing of the sun in the
heavens, from where I lay, and then comparing it with the place of his
rising.
When I awoke to-day, I felt hungry and after eating my breakfast, again
lay down, but felt an unusual sense of disquietude and alarm. It seemed
to me that this was not a safe place to lie in, although it looked as
well as any other spot that I could see. I rose and looked for a more
secure retreat, but not seeing any, lay down again--still I was uneasy,
and could not lie still. Finally I determined to get up, and remove to
the side of a large and long black log, that lay at the distance of
seventy or eighty yards from me. I went to the log and lay down by it,
placing my bundle under my head, with the intention of going to sleep
again, if I could; but I had not been here more than fifteen or twenty
minutes, when I heard the noise of men's voices, and soon after the
tramping of horses on the ground. I lay with my back to the log in such
a position, that I could see the place where I had been in the bushes. I
saw two dogs go into this little thicket, and three horsemen rode over
the very spot where I had lain when asleep in the morning and
immediately horses and voices were at my back around me, and over me.
Two horses jumped over the log by the side of which I lay, one about ten
feet from my feet, and the other within two yards from my head. The
horses both saw me, took fright, and started to run; but fortunately
their riders, who were probably looking for me in the tops of the trees,
or expecting to see me start before them in the woods, and run for my
life, did not see me, and attributed the alarm of their horses to the
black appearance of the log, for I heard one of them say--"Our horses
are afraid of black logs: I wonder how they would stand the sight of the
negro if we should meet him."
There must have been in the troop at least twenty horsemen, and the
number of dogs was greater than I could count as they ran in the woods.
I knew that all these men and dogs were in search of me, and that if
they could find me I should be hunted down like a wild beast. The dogs
that had gone into the thicket where I had been, fortunately for me had
not been trained to hunt negroes in the woods, and were probably brought
out for the purpose of being trained.--Doubtless if some of the kept
dogs, as they are called of which there were certainly several in this
large pack had happened to go into that thicket, instead of those that
did go there, my race would soon have been run.
I lay still by the side of the log for a long time after the horses,
dogs and men had ceased to trouble the woods with their noise; if it
can be said that a man lies still who is trembling in every joint, nerve
and muscle, like a dog lying upon a cake of ice; and when I arose and
turned round, I found myself so completely bereft of understanding, that
I could not tell South from North, nor East from West. I could not even
distinguish the thicket of bushes, from which I had removed to come to
this place, from the other bushes of the woods. I remained here all day,
and at night it appeared to me that the sun set in the south-east. After
sundown, the moon appeared to my distempered judgment to stand due North
from me, and all the stars were out of their places. Fortunately I had
sense enough remaining to know that it would not be safe for me to
attempt to travel, until my brain had been restored to its ordinary
stability; which did not take place until the third morning after my
fright. The three days that I passed in this place I reckon the most
unhappy of my life; for surely it is the height of human misery to be
oppressed with alienation of mind, and to be conscious of the
affliction.
Distracted as I was, I had determined never to quit this wood, and
voluntarily return to slavery; and the joy I felt on the third morning,
when I saw the sun rise in his proper place in the heavens; the black
log, the thicket of bushes, and all other things resume the positions in
which I found them, may be imagined by those who have been saved from
apparently hopeless shipwreck on a barren rock in the midst of the
ocean, but cannot be described by any but a poetic pen.
I spent this day in making short excursions through the woods, for the
purpose of ascertaining whether any road was near to me or not; and in
the afternoon I came to one, about a mile from my camp, which was broad,
and had the appearance of being much traveled. It appeared to me to lead
to the North.
Awhile before sundown, I brought my bundle to this road, and lay down
quietly to await the approach of night. When it was quite dark, except
the light of the moon, which was now brilliant, I took to this road, and
traveled all night without hearing or seeing any person, and on the
succeeding night, about two o'clock in the morning, I came to the margin
of a river, so wide that I could not see across it; but the fog was so
dense at this time that I could not have seen across a river of very
moderate width. I procured a long pole, and sounded the depth of the
water, which I found not very deep; but as I could not see the opposite
shore, was afraid to attempt to ford the stream.
In this dilemma, I turned back from the river, and went more than a mile
to gain the covert of a small wood, where I might pass the day in
safety, and wait a favorable moment for obtaining a view of the river,
preparatory to crossing it. I lay all day in full view of the high
road, and saw, at least, a hundred people pass; from which I inferred,
that the country was populous about me. In the evening, as soon as it
was dark, I left my retreat, and returned to the river side. The
atmosphere was now clear, and the river seemed to be at least a quarter
of a mile in width; and whilst I was divesting myself of my clothes,
preparatory to entering the water, happening to look down the shore I
saw a canoe, with its head drawn high on the beach. On reaching the
canoe, I found that it was secured to the trunk of a tree by a lock and
chain; but after many efforts, I broke the lock and launched the canoe
into the river. The paddles had been removed, but with the aid of my
sounding-pole, I managed to conduct the canoe across the water.
I was now once more in South Carolina, where I knew it was necessary for
me to be even more watchful than I had been in Georgia. I do not know
where I crossed the Savannah river, but I think it must have been only a
few miles above the town of Augusta.
After gaining the Carolina shore, I took an observation of the rising
moon and of such stars as I was acquainted with, and hastened to get
away from the river, from which I knew that heavy fogs rose every night,
at this season of the year, obscuring the heavens for many miles on
either side. I traveled this night at least twenty miles, and provided
myself with a supply of corn, which was now hard, from a field at the
side of the road. At daybreak I turned into the woods, and went to the
top of a hill on my left, where the ground was overgrown by the species
of pine-tree called spruce in the South. I here kindled a fire, and
parched corn for my breakfast.
In the afternoon of this day the weather became cloudy, and before dark
the rain fell copiously, and continued through the night, with the wind
high. I took shelter under a large stooping tree that was decayed and
hollow on the lower side, and kept me dry until morning. When daylight
appeared, I could see that the country around me was well inhabited, and
that the forest in which I lay was surrounded by plantations, at the
distance of one or two miles from me. I did not consider this a safe
position, and waited anxiously for night, to enable me to change my
quarters. The weather was foul throughout the day; and when night
returned, it was so dark that I could not see a large tree three feet
before me. Waiting until the moon rose, I made my way back to the road,
but had not proceeded more than two or three miles on my way, when I
came to a place where the road forked, and the two roads led away almost
at right angles from each other. It was so cloudy that I could not see
the place of the moon in the heavens, and I knew not which of these
roads to take. To go wrong was worse than to stand still, and I
therefore determined to look out for some spot in which I could hide
myself, and remain in this neighborhood until the clearing up of the
weather. Taking the right hand road, I followed its course until I saw
at the distance, as I computed it in the night, of two miles from me a
large forest which covered elevated ground. I gained it by the shortest
route across some cotton fields. Going several hundred yards into this
wood, I attempted to kindle a fire, in which I failed, every combustible
substance being wet. This compelled me to pass the night as well as I
could amongst the damp bushes and trees that overhung me. When day came,
I went farther into the woods, and on the top of the highest ground that
I could see, established my camp, by cutting bushes with my knife, and
erecting a sort of rude booth.
It was now, by my computation, about the twenty-fifth of August, and I
remained here eleven days without seeing one clear night; and in all
this time the sun never shone for half a day at once. I procured my
subsistence while here from a field of corn which I discovered at the
distance of a mile and a half from my camp. This was the first time that
I was weather-bound, and my patience had been worn out and renewed
repeatedly before the return of the clear weather; but one afternoon I
perceived the trees to be much agitated by the wind, the clouds
appeared high, and were driven with velocity over my head. I saw the
clear sky appear in all its beauty in the north-west. Before sundown the
wind was high, the sun shone in full splendor, and a few fleecy clouds,
careering high in the upper vault of heaven, gave assurance that the
rains were over and gone.
At nightfall I returned to the forks of the road, and after much
observation, finally concluded to follow the right hand road, in which I
am satisfied that I committed a great error. Nothing worthy of notice
occurred for several days after this. As I was now in a thickly-peopled
country, I never moved until long after night, and was cautious never to
permit daylight to find me on the road; but I observed that the
north-star was always on my left hand. My object was to reach the
neighborhood of Columbia, and get upon the road which I had traveled and
seen years before in coming to the South; but the road I was now on must
have been the great Charleston road, leading down the country, and not
across the courses of the rivers. So many people traveled this road, as
well by night as by day, that my progress was very slow; and in some of
the nights I did not travel more than eight miles. At the end of a week,
after leaving the forks, I found myself in a flat, sandy, poor country;
and as I had not met with any river on this road, I now concluded that
I was on the way to the sea-board instead of Columbia. In my perplexity,
I resolved to try to get information concerning the country I was in, by
placing myself in some obscure place in the side of the road, and
listening to the conversation of travelers as they passed me. For this
purpose I chose the corner of a cotton field, around which the road
turned, and led along the fence for some distance. Passing the day in
the woods among the pine-trees, I came to this corner in the evening,
and lying down within the field, waited patiently the coming of
travelers, that I might hear their conversation, and endeavor to learn
from that which they said, the name at least of some place in this
neighborhood. On the first and second evenings that I lay here, I
gleaned nothing from the passengers that I thought could be of service
to me; but on the third night, about ten o'clock, several wagons drawn
by mules passed me, and I heard one of the drivers call to another and
tell him that it was sixty miles to Charleston; and that they should be
able to reach the river to-morrow. I could not at first imagine what
river this could be; but another of the wagoners inquired how far it was
to the Edisto, to which it was replied by some one that it was near
thirty miles. I now perceived that I had mistaken my course, and was as
completely lost as a wild goose in cloudy weather.
Not knowing what to do, I retraced the road that had led me to this
place for several nights, hoping that something would happen from which
I might learn the route to Columbia; but I gained no information that
could avail me anything. At length I determined to quit this road
altogether, travel by the north-star for two or three weeks, and after
that to trust to Providence to guide me to some road that might lead me
back to Maryland. Having turned my face due North, I made my way pretty
well for the first night; but on the second, the fog was so dense that
no stars could be seen. This compelled me to remain in my camp, which I
had pitched in a swamp. In this place I remained more than a week,
waiting for clear nights; but now the equinoctial storm came on, and
raged with a fury which I had never before witnessed in this annual
gale; at least it had never before appeared so violent to me, because,
perhaps, I had never been exposed to its blasts, without the shelter of
a house of some kind. This storm continued four days; and no wolf ever
lay closer in his lair, or moved out with more stealthy caution than I
did during this time. My subsistence was drawn from a small corn-field
at the edge of the swamp in which I lay.
After the storm was over, the weather became calm and clear, and I fell
into a road which appeared to run nearly north-west. Following the
course of this road by short marches, because I was obliged to start
late at night and stop before day, I came on the first day, or rather
night, of October, by my calendar, to a broad and well-frequented road
that crossed mine at nearly right angles. These roads crossed in the
middle of a plantation, and I took to the right hand along this great
road, and pursued it in the same cautious and slow manner that I had
traveled for the last month.
When the day came I took refuge in the woods as usual, choosing the
highest piece of ground that I could find in the neighborhood. No part
of this country was very high, but I thought people who visited these
woods, would be less inclined to walk to the tops of the hills, than to
keep their course along the low grounds.
I had lately crossed many small streams; but on the second night of my
journey on this road, came to a narrow but deep river, and after the
most careful search, no boat or craft of any kind could be found on my
side. A large flat, with two or three canoes, lay on the opposite side,
but they were as much out of my reach as if they had never been made.
There was no alternative but swimming this stream, and I made the
transit in less than three minutes, carrying my packages on my back.
I had as yet fallen in with no considerable towns, and whenever I had
seen a house near the road, or one of the small hamlets of the South in
my way, I had gone round by the woods or fields, so as to avoid the
inhabitants; but on the fourth night after swimming the small river, I
came in sight of a considerable village, with lights burning and shining
through many of the windows. I knew the danger of passing a town, on
account of the patrols with which all southern towns are provided, and
making a long circuit to the right, so as totally to avoid this village,
I came to the banks of a broad river, which, upon further examination, I
found flowing past the village, and near its border. This compelled me
to go back, and attempt to turn the village on the left, which was
performed by wandering a long time in swamps and pine woods.
It was break of day when I regained the road beyond the village, and
returning to the swamps from which I had first issued, I passed the day
under their cover. On the following night, after regaining the road, I
soon found myself in a country almost entirely clear of timber, and
abounding in fields of cotton and corn.
The houses were numerous, and the barking of dogs was incessant. I felt
that I was in the midst of dangers, and that I was entering a region
very different from those tracts of country through which I had lately
passed, where the gloom of the wilderness was only broken by solitary
plantations or lonely huts. I had no doubt that I was in the
neighborhood of some town, but of its name, and the part of the country
in which it was located, I was ignorant. I at length found that I was
receding from the woods altogether, and entering a champaign country, in
the midst of which I now perceived a town of considerable magnitude, the
inhabitants of which were entirely silent, and the town itself presented
the appearance of total solitude. The country around was so open, that I
despaired of turning so large a place as this was, and again finding the
road I traveled, I therefore determined to risk all consequences, and
attempt to pass this town under cover of darkness.
Keeping straight forward, I came unexpectedly to a broad river, which I
now saw running between me and the town. I took it for granted that
there must be a ferry at this place, and on examining the shore, found
several small boats fastened only with ropes to a large scow. One of
these boats I seized, and was quickly on the opposite shore of the
river. I entered the village and proceeded to its centre, without seeing
so much as a rat in motion. Finding myself in an open space, I stopped
to examine the streets, and upon looking at the houses around me, I at
once recognized the jail of Columbia, and the tavern in which I had
lodged on the night after I was sold.
This discovery made me feel almost at home, with my wife and children.
I remembered the streets by which I had come from the country to the
jail, and was quickly at the extremity of the town, marching towards the
residence of the paltry planter, at whose house I had lodged on my way
South. It was late at night, when I left Columbia, and it was necessary
for me to make all speed, and get as far as possible from that place
before day. I ran rather than walked, until the appearance of dawn, when
I left the road and took shelter in the pine woods, with which this part
of the country abounds.
I had now been traveling almost two months, and was still so near the
place from which I first departed that I could easily have walked to it
in a week, by daylight; but I hoped, that as I was now on a road with
which I was acquainted, and in a country through which I had traveled
before, that my future progress would be more rapid, and that I should
be able to surmount, without difficulty, many of the obstacles that had
hitherto embarrassed me so greatly.
It was now in my power to avail myself of the knowledge I had formerly
acquired of the customs of South Carolina. The patrol are very rigid in
the execution of the authority with which they are invested; but I never
had much difficulty with these officers anywhere. From dark until ten or
eleven o'clock at night, the patrol are watchful, and always traversing
the country in quest of negroes, but towards midnight these gentlemen
grow cold, or sleepy, or weary, and generally betake themselves to some
house, where they can procure a comfortable fire.
I now established, as a rule of my future conduct, to remain in my
hiding place until after ten o'clock, according to my computation of
time; and this night I did not come to the road until I supposed it to
be within an hour of midnight, and it was well for me that I practiced
so much caution, for when within two or three hundred yards of the road,
I heard people conversing. After standing some minutes in the woods, and
listening to the voices at the road, the people separated, and a party
took each end of the road, and galloped away upon their horses. These
people were certainly a band of patrollers, who were watching this road,
and had just separated to return home for the night. After the horsemen
were quite out of hearing, I came to the road, and walked as fast as I
could for hours, and again came into the lane leading to the house,
where I had first remained a few days, in Carolina. Turning away from
the road I passed through this plantation, near the old cotton-gin house
in which I had formerly lodged, and perceived that every thing on this
plantation was nearly as it was when I left it. Two or three miles from
this place I again left the road, and sought a place of concealment, and
from this time until I reached Maryland, I never remained in the road
until daylight but once, and I paid dearly then for my temerity.
I was now in an open, thickly-peopled country, in comparison with many
other tracts through which I had passed; and this circumstance compelled
me to observe the greater caution. As nearly as possible, I confined my
traveling within the hours of midnight and three o'clock in the morning.
Parties of patrollers were heard by me almost every morning before day.
These people sometimes moved directly along the roads, but more
frequently lay in wait near the side of the road, ready to pounce upon
any runaway slave that might chance to pass; but I knew by former
experience that they never lay out all night, except in times of
apprehended danger; and the country appearing at this time to be quiet,
I felt but little apprehension of falling in with these policemen,
within my traveling hours.
There was now plenty of corn in the fields, and sweet potatoes had not
yet been dug. There was no scarcity of provisions with me, and my health
was good, and my strength unimpaired. For more than two weeks I pursued
the road that had led me from Columbia, believing I was on my way to
Camden.--Many small streams crossed my way, but none of them were large
enough to oblige me to swim in crossing them.