Part 3 (1/2)

I re until the termination of the festival, in honor of liberty and equality; when , to some of his friends, that they had celebrated the day in a handsoentle with otten ed in conversation, on various political subjects, a full hour after he rose froth, however, I heard hi--I wonder where he is” Rising i seated, I presented myself before hio to the kitchen of the inn, and go to sleep; but said nothing to me about supper--I retired to the kitchen, where I found a large nu theentleusta; and who, they told , and take theirls had been sold out of our co in the tavern kitchen since that tinance to setting out the nextfor their master's plantation They were of that order of people who never look beyond the present day; and so long as they had plenty of victuals, in this kitchen, they did not trouble themselves with reflections upon the cotton field

One of the servants gave me some cold meat and a piece of wheaten bread, which was the first I had tasted since I left Maryland, and indeed, it was the last that I tasted until I reached Maryland again

I here ht up in the Northern Neck of Virginia, on the banks of the Potomac, and within a few miles of my native place We soon forht He was the chief hostler in the stable of this tavern, and toldto escape, and return to Virginia He said he had little doubt of being able to reach the Potoe of the country beyond that river, he was afraid that he should not be able to arded as the only place in which he could be safe fro, and ue and undefined I, however, told him, that I had heard, that if a black man could reach any part of Pennsylvania, he would be beyond the reach of his pursuers He said he could not justly complain of want of food; but the services required of him were so unreasonable, and the punishment frequently inflicted upon him, so severe, that he was determined to set out for the North, as soon as the corn was so far ripe as to be fit to be roasted He felt confident, that by lying in the woods and unfrequented places all day, and traveling only by night, he could escape the vigilance of all pursuit; and gain the Northern Neck, before the corn would be gathered fro food, as he could live well on roasting ears, as long as the corn was in the rain remained in the field I advised hi the State of Pennsylvania, but was not able to give him any very definite instructions

Thisbeen five years in Carolina, ell acquainted with the country He gave s of the slaves, on the cotton and indigo plantations--of whoarded ht From the resolute manner in which he spoke of his intended elopeularity hich he had connected the various combinations of the enterprise, I have no doubt that he undertook that which he intended to perform Whether he was successful or not in the enterprise, I cannot say, as I never saw hi

This man certainly communicated to me the outlines of the plan, which I afterwards put in execution, and by which I gained s, which none can appreciate, except those who have borne all that the stoutest huer, toil and pain The conversation of this slave aroused in my breast so many recollections of the past, and fears of the future, that I did not lie down, but sat on an old chair until daylight

Froain received some cold victuals for my breakfast, but I did not see mycausing hiave -room, whither I repaired without anear the , s handle--I believe th

He asked no questions, but addressing o with the hostler of the inn, and get his horse and chaise ready As soon as this order could be executed, I informed him that his chaise was at the door, and we immediately commenced our journey to the plantation of my master, which, he told me, lay at the distance of twenty miles from Columbia He said I must keep up with him, and, as he drove at the rate of five or six ed to run nearly half the ti, and could easily travel fifty or sixty reat anxiety that I looked for the place, which was in future to besuch observations upon the state of the country through which we traveled, as the rapidity of our inally been one vast wilderness of pine forest, except the low grounds and river bottoms, here called swamps, in which all the varieties of trees, shrubs, vines, and plants peculiar to such places, in southern latitudes, vegetated in unrestrained luxuriance Nor is pine the only tirows on the uplands, in this part of Carolina, although it is the predominant tree, and in some places prevails to the exclusion of every other--oak, hickory, sassafras, and roves of the reat Southern Magnolia, or Green Bay No adequate conception can be fornificent tree, by any one who has not seen it or scented the air when scented by the perfuht of seventy or eighty feet; the stem is of a delicate taper forles with itself; the extreround, and become shorter and shorter in the ascent, until at the apex of the tree they are scarcely a foot in length, whilst below they areThe immense cones formed by these trees are as perfect as those diminutive forms which nature exhibits in the bur of the pine tree The leaf of the Magnolia is sth, and half as broad Its color is the deepest and purest green The foliage of the Bay tree is as impervious as a brick wall to the rays of the sun, and its refreshi+ng coolness, in the heat of a sureatest luxuries of a cotton plantation It blooreat numbers of broad, expanded white flowers, the odor of which is exceedingly grateful, and so abundant, that I have no doubt that a grove of these trees in full bloom, may be smelled at a distance of fifteen or twenty miles I have heard it asserted in the South, that their scent has been perceived by persons fifty or sixty miles from them

This tree is one of nature's most splendid, and in the clireeable productions It is peculiar to the southern teors of a northern winter; though I have heard that groves of the Bay are found on Fishi+ng Creek, in Western Virginia, not far fro, and near the Ohio river Could this tree be naturalized in Pennsylvania, it would form an ornament to her towns, cities and country seats, at once the most tasteful and the most delicious A forest of these trees, in the month of May, resembles a wood, enveloped in an unti in the rays of a h cotton-fields and pine woods, alternately; but the scene was sometimes enlivened by the appearance of lots of corn and sweet potatoes, which, I observed, were generally planted near the houses I afterwards learned that this custo the corn and potatoes near the house of the planter, is generally all over Carolina

The object is to prevent the slaves fro more food than, by the laws of the plantation, they are entitled to

In passing through a lane, I this day saw a field which appeared to me to contain about fifty acres, in which people were at ith hoes, ast a sort of plants that I had never seen before I asked o I shall have occasion to say th arrived at the residence ofate, proceeded to the house across a long court yard In a few entleate, near which I ith the horse One of the ladies said, they had coht ho boy; and this co the first kind words that had been addressed to entleman asked me if I could run fast, and if I had ever picked cotton His manner did not impress me so much in his favor, as the address of his sister had done for her These three young persons were the son and daughters ofmaster (for so I must now call hiive him water at a hich was near, and coiven o to work this first day of my abode inht rest myself or walk out and see the plantation, but that I

CHAPTER VI

By the laws of the United States I aht even yet be dee as far as ht of dominion over my person and life, knehere to find me

For these reasons I have been advised, by those whom I believe to be my friends, not to disclose the true names of any of those faia, lest this narrative should meet their eyes, and in some way lead them to a discovery of my retreat

I was now the slave of one of the most wealthy planters in Carolina, who planted cotton, rice, indigo, corn, and potatoes; and was the master of two hundred and sixty slaves

The description of one great cotton plantation will give a correct idea of all others; and I shall here present an outline of that of aree river, which bordered his estate on one side, and in the swamps of which were his rice fields The country hereabout is very flat, the banks of the river are low, and in wet seasons large tracts of country are flooded by the super-abundant water of the river There are no springs, and the onlywater on the plantations is froeneral about twenty feet deep, before a constant supply of water can be obtained My master had two of these wells on his plantation--one at the mansion house, and one at the quarter

My master's house was of brick, (brick houses are by no enerally built of frame work, weather boarded with pine boards, and covered with shi+ngles of the white cedar or juniper cypress,) and contained two large parlors, and a spacious hall or entry on the ground floor The h, and attached to this was a se rooenerally took breakfast, with a kitchen at the farther extrearden behind the house, containing, I believe, about five acres, well cultivated, and handsoetables; some of which I have never seen in the market of Philadelphia It contained a profusion of flowers, three different shrubberies, a vast number of ornamental and slass roofs There was a head gardener, who did nothing but attend to this garden through the year; and during the suenerally had two men and two boys to assist hiarden was one of the sweetest and most pleasant places that I ever was in At one end of thewas a small house, called the library, in which my master kept his books and papers, and where he spent much of his tieon-house, and near the kitchen was a large wooden building, called the kitchen quarter, in which the house servants slept, and where they generally took theirof the fah or unpleasant work of the kitchen depart up pork, &c, was assigned to this place

There was no barn on this plantation, according to the acceptation of the word _barn_ in Pennsylvania; but there was a wooden building, about forty feet long, called the coach-house, in one end of which the fae and the chaise in which my e enough to contain a dozen horses In one end the corn intended for the horses was kept, and the whole of one loft was occupied by the blades and tops of the corn About a quarter of ahouse were the huts or cabins of the plantation slaves, standing in rows There were thirty-eight of theenerally about sixteen feet square, and provided with pine floors In these cabins were two hundred and fifty people, of all ages, sexes and sizes