PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF EPPS--EPPS, DRUNK AND SOBER--A GLIMPSE
OF HIS HISTORY--COTTON GROWING--THE MODE OF PLOUGHING AND
PREPARING GROUND--OF PLANTING--OF HOEING, OF PICKING, OF
TREATING RAW HANDS--THE DIFFERENCE IN COTTON PICKERS--PATSEY
A REMARKABLE ONE--TASKED ACCORDING TO ABILITY--BEAUTY OF A
COTTON FIELD--THE SLAVE'S LABORS--FEAR ON APPROACHING THE
GIN-HOUSE--WEIGHING--"CHORES"--CABIN LIFE--THE CORN MILL--THE USES
OF THE GOURD--FEAR OF OVERSLEEPING--FEAR CONTINUALLY--MODE OF
CULTIVATING CORN--SWEET POTATOES--FERTILITY OF THE SOIL--FATTENING
HOGS--PRESERVING BACON--RAISING CATTLE--SHOOTING-MATCHES--GARDEN
PRODUCTS--FLOWERS AND VERDURE.
Edwin Epps, of whom much will be said during the remainder of this
history, is a large, portly, heavy-bodied man with light hair, high
cheek bones, and a Roman nose of extraordinary dimensions. He has
blue eyes, a fair complexion, and is, as I should say, full six feet
high. He has the sharp, inquisitive expression of a jockey. His
manners are repulsive and coarse, and his language gives speedy and
unequivocal evidence that he has never enjoyed the advantages of an
education. He has the faculty of saying most provoking things, in that
respect even excelling old Peter Tanner. At the time I came into his
possession, Edwin Epps was fond of the bottle, his "sprees" sometimes
extending over the space of two whole weeks. Latterly, however,
he had reformed his habits, and when I left him, was as strict a
specimen of temperance as could be found on Bayou Boeuf. When "in his
cups," Master Epps was a roystering, blustering, noisy fellow, whose
chief delight was in dancing with his "niggers," or lashing them
about the yard with his long whip, just for the pleasure of hearing
them screech and scream, as the great welts were planted on their
backs. When sober, he was silent, reserved and cunning, not beating
us indiscriminately, as in his drunken moments, but sending the end
of his rawhide to some tender spot of a lagging slave, with a sly
dexterity peculiar to himself.
He had been a driver and overseer in his younger years, but at this
time was in possession of a plantation on Bayou Huff Power, two and
a half miles from Holmesville, eighteen from Marksville, and twelve
from Cheneyville. It belonged to Joseph B. Roberts, his wife's uncle,
and was leased by Epps. His principal business was raising cotton,
and inasmuch as some may read this book who have never seen a cotton
field, a description of the manner of its culture may not be out of
place.
The ground is prepared by throwing up beds or ridges, with the
plough--back-furrowing, it is called. Oxen and mules, the latter
almost exclusively, are used in ploughing. The women as frequently
as the men perform this labor, feeding, currying, and taking care of
their teams, and in all respects doing the field and stable work,
precisely as do the ploughboys of the North.
The beds, or ridges, are six feet wide, that is, from water furrow
to water furrow. A plough drawn by one mule is then run along the
top of the ridge or center of the bed, making the drill, into which
a girl usually drops the seed, which she carries in a bag hung round
her neck. Behind her comes a mule and harrow, covering up the seed,
so that two mules, three slaves, a plough and harrow, are employed
in planting a row of cotton. This is done in the months of March and
April. Corn is planted in February. When there are no cold rains,
the cotton usually makes its appearance in a week. In the course of
eight or ten days afterwards the first hoeing is commenced. This is
performed in part, also, by the aid of the plough and mule. The plough
passes as near as possible to the cotton on both sides, throwing the
furrow from it. Slaves follow with their hoes, cutting up the grass
and cotton, leaving hills two feet and a half apart. This is called
scraping cotton. In two weeks more commences the second hoeing. This
time the furrow is thrown towards the cotton. Only one stalk, the
largest, is now left standing in each hill. In another fortnight it
is hoed the third time, throwing the furrow towards the cotton in the
same manner as before, and killing all the grass between the rows.
About the first of July, when it is a foot high or thereabouts, it is
hoed the fourth and last time. Now the whole space between the rows
is ploughed, leaving a deep water furrow in the center. During all
these hoeings the overseer or driver follows the slaves on horseback
with a whip, such as has been described. The fastest hoer takes the
lead row. He is usually about a rod in advance of his companions. If
one of them passes him, he is whipped. If one falls behind or is a
moment idle, he is whipped. In fact, the lash is flying from morning
until night, the whole day long. The hoeing season thus continues from
April until July, a field having no sooner been finished once, than it
is commenced again.
In the latter part of August begins the cotton picking season. At
this time each slave is presented with a sack. A strap is fastened to
it, which goes over the neck, holding the mouth of the sack breast
high, while the bottom reaches nearly to the ground. Each one is also
presented with a large basket that will hold about two barrels. This
is to put the cotton in when the sack is filled. The baskets are
carried to the field and placed at the beginning of the rows.
When a new hand, one unaccustomed to the business, is sent for the
first time into the field, he is whipped up smartly, and made for that
day to pick as fast as he can possibly. At night it is weighed, so
that his capability in cotton picking is known. He must bring in the
same weight each night following. If it falls short, it is considered
evidence that he has been laggard, and a greater or less number of
lashes is the penalty.
An ordinary day's work is two hundred pounds. A slave who is
accustomed to picking, is punished, if he or she brings in a less
quantity than that. There is a great difference among them as regards
this kind of labor. Some of them seem to have a natural knack, or
quickness, which enables them to pick with great celerity, and with
both hands, while others, with whatever practice or industry, are
utterly unable to come up to the ordinary standard. Such hands are
taken from the cotton field and employed in other business. Patsey,
of whom I shall have more to say, was known as the most remarkable
cotton picker on Bayou Boeuf. She picked with both hands and with such
surprising rapidity, that five hundred pounds a day was not unusual
for her.
Each one is tasked, therefore, according to his picking abilities,
none, however, to come short of two hundred weight. I, being
unskillful always in that business, would have satisfied my master by
bringing in the latter quantity, while on the other hand, Patsey would
surely have been beaten if she failed to produce twice as much.
The cotton grows from five to seven feet high, each stalk having a
great many branches, shooting out in all directions, and lapping each
other above the water furrow.
There are few sights more pleasant to the eye, than a wide cotton
field when it is in the bloom. It presents an appearance of purity,
like an immaculate expanse of light, new-fallen snow.
Sometimes the slave picks down one side of a row, and back upon the
other, but more usually, there is one on either side, gathering all
that has blossomed, leaving the unopened bolls for a succeeding
picking. When the sack is filled, it is emptied into the basket and
trodden down. It is necessary to be extremely careful the first time
going through the field, in order not to break the branches off the
stalks. The cotton will not bloom upon a broken branch. Epps never
failed to inflict the severest chastisement on the unlucky servant
who, either carelessly or unavoidably, was guilty in the least degree
in this respect.
The hands are required to be in the cotton field as soon as it is
light in the morning, and, with the exception of ten or fifteen
minutes, which is given them at noon to swallow their allowance of
cold bacon, they are not permitted to be a moment idle until it is too
dark to see, and when the moon is full, they often times labor till
the middle of the night. They do not dare to stop even at dinner time,
nor return to the quarters, however late it be, until the order to
halt is given by the driver.
The day's work over in the field, the baskets are "toted," or in other
words, carried to the gin-house, where the cotton is weighed. No
matter how fatigued and weary he may be--no matter how much he longs
for sleep and rest--a slave never approaches the gin-house with his
basket of cotton but with fear. If it falls short in weight--if he
has not performed the full task appointed him, he knows that he must
suffer. And if he has exceeded it by ten or twenty pounds, in all
probability his master will measure the next day's task accordingly.
So, whether he has too little or too much, his approach to the
gin-house is always with, fear and trembling. Most frequently they
have too little, and therefore it is they are not anxious to leave
the field. After weighing, follow the whippings; and then the baskets
are carried to the cotton house, and their contents stored away like
hay, all hands being sent in to tramp it down. If the cotton is not
dry, instead of taking it to the gin-house at once, it is laid upon
platforms, two feet high, and some three times as wide, covered with
boards or plank, with narrow walks running between them.
This done, the labor of the day is not yet ended, by any means. Each
one must then attend to his respective chores. One feeds the mules,
another the swine--another cuts the wood, and so forth; besides, the
packing is all done by candle light. Finally, at a late hour, they
reach the quarters, sleepy and overcome with the long day's toil. Then
a fire must be kindled in the cabin, the corn ground in the small
hand-mill, and supper, and dinner for the next day in the field,
prepared. All that is allowed them is corn and bacon, which is given
out at the corncrib and smoke-house every Sunday morning. Each one
receives, as his weekly, allowance, three and a half pounds of bacon,
and corn enough to make a peck of meal. That is all--no tea, coffee,
sugar, and with the exception of a very scanty sprinkling now and
then, no salt. I can say, from a ten years' residence with Master
Epps, that no slave of his is ever likely to suffer from the gout,
superinduced by excessive high living. Master Epps' hogs were fed on
_shelled_ corn--it was thrown out to his "niggers" in the ear. The
former, he thought, would fatten faster by shelling, and soaking it in
the water--the latter, perhaps, if treated in the same manner, might
grow too fat to labor. Master Epps was a shrewd calculator, and knew
how to manage his own animals, drunk or sober.
The corn mill stands in the yard beneath a shelter. It is like a
common coffee mill, the hopper holding about six quarts. There was
one privilege which Master Epps granted freely to every slave he had.
They might grind their corn nightly, in such small quantities as their
daily wants required, or they might grind the whole week's allowance
at one time, on Sundays, just as they preferred. A very generous man
was Master Epps!
I kept my corn in a small wooden box, the meal in a gourd; and, by the
way, the gourd is one of the most convenient and necessary utensils on
a plantation. Besides supplying the place of all kinds of crockery in
a slave cabin, it is used for carrying water to the fields. Another,
also, contains the dinner. It dispenses with the necessity of pails,
dippers, basins, and such tin and wooden superfluities altogether.
When the corn is ground, and fire is made, the bacon is taken down
from the nail on which it hangs, a slice cut off and thrown upon the
coals to broil. The majority of slaves have no knife, much less a
fork. They cut their bacon with the axe at the wood-pile. The corn
meal is mixed with a little water, placed in the fire, and baked. When
it is "done brown," the ashes are scraped off, and being placed upon a
chip, which answers for a table, the tenant of the slave hut is ready
to sit down upon the ground to supper. By this time it is usually
midnight. The same fear of punishment with which they approach the
gin-house, possesses them again on lying down to get a snatch of rest.
It is the fear of oversleeping in the morning. Such an offence would
certainly be attended with not less than twenty lashes. With a prayer
that he may be on his feet and wide awake at the first sound of the
horn, he sinks to his slumbers nightly.
The softest couches in the world are not to be found in the log
mansion of the slave. The one whereon I reclined year after year, was
a plank twelve inches wide and ten feet long. My pillow was a stick of
wood. The bedding was a coarse blanket, and not a rag or shred beside.
Moss might be used, were it not that it directly breeds a swarm of
fleas.
The cabin is constructed of logs, without floor or window. The latter
is altogether unnecessary, the crevices between the logs admitting
sufficient light. In stormy weather the rain drives through them,
rendering it comfortless and extremely disagreeable. The rude door
hangs on great wooden hinges. In one end is constructed an awkward
fire-place.
An hour before day light the horn is blown. Then the slaves arouse,
prepare their breakfast, fill a gourd with water, in another deposit
their dinner of cold bacon and corn cake, and hurry to the field
again. It is an offence invariably followed by a flogging, to be found
at the quarters after daybreak. Then the fears and labors of another
day begin; and until its close there is no such thing as rest. He
fears he will be caught lagging through the day; he fears to approach
the gin-house with his basket-load of cotton at night; he fears, when
he lies down, that he will oversleep himself in the morning. Such is a
true, faithful, unexaggerated picture and description of the slave's
daily life, during the time of cotton-picking, on the shores of Bayou
Boeuf.
In the month of January, generally, the fourth and last picking is
completed. Then commences the harvesting of corn. This is considered
a secondary crop, and receives far less attention than the cotton. It
is planted, as already mentioned, in February. Corn is grown in that
region for the purpose of fattening hogs and feeding slaves; very
little, if any, being sent to market. It is the white variety, the
ear of great size, and the stalk growing to the height of eight, and
often times ten feet. In August the leaves are stripped off, dried in
the sun, bound in small bundles, and stored away as provender for the
mules and oxen. After this the slaves go through the field, turning
down the ear, for the purpose of keeping the rains from penetrating to
the grain. It is left in this condition until after cotton-picking is
over, whether earlier or later. Then the ears are separated from the
stalks, and deposited in the corncrib with the husks on; otherwise,
stripped of the husks, the weevil would destroy it. The stalks are
left standing in the field.
The Carolina, or sweet potato, is also grown in that region to
some extent. They are not fed, however, to hogs or cattle, and are
considered but of small importance. They are preserved by placing them
upon the surface of the ground, with a slight covering of earth or
cornstalks. There is not a cellar on Bayou Boeuf. The ground is so low
it would fill with water. Potatoes are worth from two to three "bits,"
or shillings a barrel; corn, except when there is an unusual scarcity,
can be purchased at the same rate.
As soon as the cotton and corn crops are secured, the stalks are
pulled up, thrown into piles and burned. The ploughs are started at
the same time, throwing up the beds again, preparatory to another
planting. The soil, in the parishes of Rapides and Avoyelles, and
throughout the whole country, so far as my observation extended, is
of exceeding richness and fertility. It is a kind of marl, of a brown
or reddish color. It does not require those invigorating composts
necessary to more barren lands, and on the same field the same crop is
grown for many successive years.
Ploughing, planting, picking cotton, gathering the corn, and pulling
and burning stalks, occupies the whole of the four seasons of the
year. Drawing and cutting wood, pressing cotton, fattening and killing
hogs, are but incidental labors.
In the month of September or October, the hogs are run out of the
swamps by dogs, and confined in pens. On a cold morning, generally
about New Year's day, they are slaughtered. Each carcass is cut into
six parts, and piled one above the other in salt, upon large tables
in the smoke-house. In this condition it remains a fortnight, when it
is hung up, and a fire built, and continued more than half the time
during the remainder of the year. This thorough smoking is necessary
to prevent the bacon from becoming infested with worms. In so warm a
climate it is difficult to preserve it, and very many times myself and
my companions have received our weekly allowance of three pounds and a
half, when it was full of these disgusting vermin.
Although the swamps are overrun with cattle, they are never made
the source of profit, to any considerable extent. The planter
cuts his mark upon the ear, or brands his initials upon the side,
and turns them into the swamps, to roam unrestricted within their
almost limitless confines. They are the Spanish breed, small and
spike-horned. I have known of droves being taken from Bayou Boeuf, but
it is of very rare occurrence. The value of the best cows is about
five dollars each. Two quarts at one milking, would be considered
an unusual large quantity. They furnish little tallow, and that of
a soft, inferior quality. Notwithstanding the great number of cows
that throng the swamps, the planters are indebted to the North for
their cheese and butter, which is purchased in the New-Orleans market.
Salted beef is not an article of food either in the great house, or in
the cabin.
Master Epps was accustomed to attend shooting matches for the purpose
of obtaining what fresh beef he required. These sports occurred
weekly at the neighboring village of Holmesville. Fat beeves are
driven thither and shot at, a stipulated price being demanded for the
privilege. The lucky marksman divides the flesh among his fellows, and
in this manner the attending planters are supplied.
The great number of tame and untamed cattle which swarm the woods and
swamps of Bayou Boeuf, most probably suggested that appellation to the
French, inasmuch as the term, translated, signifies the creek or river
of the wild ox.
Garden products, such as cabbages, turnips and the like, are
cultivated for the use of the master and his family. They have greens
and vegetables at all times and seasons of the year. "The grass
withereth and the flower fadeth" before the desolating winds of autumn
in the chill northern latitudes, but perpetual verdure overspreads the
hot lowlands, and flowers bloom in the heart of winter, in the region
of Bayou Boeuf.
There are no meadows appropriated to the cultivation of the grasses.
The leaves of the corn supply a sufficiency of food for the laboring
cattle, while the rest provide for themselves all the year in the
ever-growing pasture.
There are many other peculiarities of climate, habit, custom, and of
the manner of living and laboring at the South, but the foregoing, it
is supposed, will give the reader an insight and general idea of life
on a cotton plantation in Louisiana. The mode of cultivating cane,
and the process of sugar manufacturing, will be mentioned in another
place.