Part 4 (2/2)
I could make wooden bowls and ladles, and went to ith asome new land about two miles off--on the second Sunday ofthe tools necessary to enable me to carry on my trade I occupied allwooden 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 ed such high prices for his goods, that I was poorly cohtly 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 ht, 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 s and cattle, and that I could dress a hog, or a bullock, as well asto have a beef killed in the reat house, and I o with et one of the house-boys to helpto 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 acattle only a day or two before At this cow-pen,several coaiting to befield, and separated froo 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 e reached it, I found it to be literally what it was called, a long savanna It was a piece of loaround, several miles in extent, with an open space in the interior part of it, about a , and perhaps a quarter of a mile in width It was h the greater part of the year, which prevented the growth of tih at the time it was dry, except a pond near one end, which covered, perhaps, an acre of ground In this natural rass, 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, ere enveloped in clouds of alinippers, 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 shi+rt and trowsers of tow linen, afforded no protection even against thethe Chesapeake Bay; and nothing short of a covering of leather could have defended alinippers
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 hiet rid of his persecutors; but he had not been long there before he ca and claible to ine 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 hi 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 ator 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 ament We then proceeded into the woods and thickets, and after wandering about for an hour or more, we found the cattle, and aftera part of the them in it I here selected the one that appeared toit with ropes, we drove the anihter
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,master, whom I had seen on the day of my arrival, cas, and tail, and lay theether with the empty stomach and the harslet, in a basket This basket was sent horeat 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 a 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 coreat exertion, we finished it about five o'clock in the afternoon
On our return to the quarter, the overseer, at roll-call--which he perforht--told us that every faet our dinners of st 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 er ones shouted, clapped their hands, leaped, and ran about with delight
Each fae 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 reat iron kettles, until the flesh had disappeared from the bones, which were broken in sreen corn, squashes, toether with other condiallons of soup, of which I received in allons We had plenty of bread, and a supply of black-eyed peas, gathered froarden, soone for the soup, of which there was as much as we could consuh
I doubt if there was in the world a happier asse We had finished one of the grand divisions of the labors of a cotton plantation, and were supplied with a dinner, which to the reat luxury, and arded with sentiratitude for this ratification, 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 thehed 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 ere 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 perather 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 terst 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 saood, until it is ripe The climate of Carolina is, however, not favorable to the apple, and this fruit of so ion only of a feeeks continuance--winter apples being unknown Every clirowth of soia, the peach arrives at its ut also ripens well, and is a delicious fruit
None of our people went out to work for wages, to-day So to such work as they deemed necessary in or about their patches, and some went to the woods, or the swaather flags for reater number remained at the quarter, occupied in so the hour of dinner, which we had been informed, by one of the house-servants, would be at one o'clock Every faetables, frohten 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 tireat kitchen I acted, as I had done yesterday, the part of commissary for our family; but ere already at the place where ere to receive our soup and meat into our bowls, (for it was understood that ere, with the soup, to have an allowance of both beef and bacon to-day,) ere told that puddings had been boiled for us, and that wedishes to receive them in This occasioned some delay, until we obtained vessels froallons of soup, about a pound of beef, and a s, s This pudding, with the molasses that we had at home, foretables
On Sunday afternoon, we had a , at which many of our party attended Aand prayed; but a great many of the people went out about the plantation, in search of fruits; for there werethe 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 hih our fare of to-day was not of a quality to yield iven to s, by the universal hilarity and contentot for the tirief that were stored in ainst me, and entered with the most sincere and earnest sentiments in the participation of the felicity of our community