Part 4 (1/2)
She had been brought up a lady's-maid, and knew little of hardshi+p until she was sold South by a dissipated ed to marry a man she did not like, and was often severely whipped because she could not do as much work as the rest I was affected by her story, and the overseer's horn interrupted our conversation, at hearing which she exclaimed, ”We are too late, let us run, or we shall be whipped,” and setting off as fast as she could run, she left me alone I quickened my pace, and arrived in the crowd a moment before her
CHAPTER VII
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, tomen and a o 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 ca us into the yard, dropped on her knees before the overseer, and begged hiive her ”Where have you been?” said he Poor Lydia now burst into tears, and said, ”I only stopped to talk awhile to thisto ain” ”Lie doas his reply Lydia iround; and in this position he coarave her ten lashes, with his long whip, every touch of which brought blood, and a shriek froet her supper, with an injunction never to stay behind again--The other three culprits were then put upon their trial
The first was a ed 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 ed in general terlected 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 er 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 ive hieous villain, in which case I anoint hi I call over the names of all the hands twice every week, on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, and settle with theeneral conduct for the last three days I call the na, 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 et your supper” I made a lo, and thanked ht for supper we had corn bread and cucuar, nor pepper with the cucued in the way our overseer flogged his people This plan of round, was new to h it is much practiced in the South; and I have since seen men, and women too, cut nearly in pieces by thispeople up by the hands, as it prevents all accidents fro 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 a 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 iven 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 ere 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 ere in the crib Every child above six months old drew this weekly allowance of corn; and in this omen who had several small children, had more corn than they could consume, and sometimes bartered ss as they needed, and were not able to procure
The people received their corn in baskets, old bags, or any thing hich they could most conveniently provide themselves I had not been able, since I ca else to put my corn in, and desired the man hom I lived to take my portion in his basket, with that of his fareed to do, and as soon as we had received our share we left the crib
The overseer attended in person to theof this corn; and it is only justice to him to say that he was careful to see that justice was done us Theas 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, aill to each person; but this article was not furnished regularly, and sometimes we received none for two or three weeks
The readerto eat beyond the corn and salt This was far froardens, 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, reat 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 suround 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 o to ith safety; and it often happens that there is nothing for them to do in the house At such tis, which they are able to sell ast the planters
The baskets arewhite oak or hickory trees The s, as they are called--a kind of tall rush, which grows in swaround The horse or h 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 thear, 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 uided slave for tobacco, and an occasional bottle of rum Tobacco is deeer and nakedness are patiently endured, to enable the slave to indulge in this highest of enjoy fens 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 ilance 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 al with the slave, the shop-keeper knows he can deer of being charged with extortion; and he is ready to rise at any tie friends, who are of so raceful, 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 so 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 e 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 as at the head of our fa ave rateful to Dinah for this act of kindness, as I well knew that her children regarded reatest of huhest enjoyourd 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 his into the faht 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 fro as I re 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 h this indispensable operation before one o'clock in the ht to wait for our turn at the ned us by lot, the person who had the first turn, when done with the ave notice to the one entitled to the second, and so on By this means nobody lostevery one's grinding was done
We worked very hard this week We were now laying by the cotton, as it is ter to the crop, of which there was, on this plantation, about five hundred acres, which looked well, and pro
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 swao had been laid by, (that is, the season of working in them was past,) before I came upon the estate; and ere 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 etables with it; but ere 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 ed corn for beans, and had a good supply of both; but these delicacies ere obliged to reserve for supper We took our breakfast in the field, fro better than bread, and so of st us, in this first week of ht, two men and a woman hipped; but circumstances of this kind were so common, that I shall, in future, notextraordinary attended them