wards his own for a moment-and then turning to me, said, 'Did you leave any children at home?' The scene before me-the question propounded-and the manner of this poor man and his child, caused my heart to swell until my breast seemed too small to contain it. My soul fled back upon the wings of fancy to my wife's lowly dwelling in Maryland-where I had been so often met on a Saturday evening, when I had paid them my weekly visit, by my own little ones, who clung to my knees for protection and support, even as the poor little wretch now before me seized upon the weary limb of its hapless and destitute father, hoping that, naked as he was, (for he, too was naked, save only the tattered remains of a pair of old trousers,) he would bring with his return at evening its customary scanty supper. I was unable to reply, but stood motionless, leaning against the walls of the cabin. My children seemed to flit by the door in the dusky twilight; and the twittering of a swallow, which that moment fluttered over my head, sounded in my ear as the infantile tittering of my own little boy; but on a moments reflection, I knew that we were separated without the hope of ever again meetingthat they no more heard the welcome tread of my feet, and could never again receive the little gifts with which, poor as I was, I was accustomed to present them. I was far from the place of my nativity, in a land of strangers, with no one to care for me beyond the care that a master bestows upon his ox-with all my future life one long, waste, barren desert, of cheerless, hopeless slavery, to be varied only by the pangs of hunger, and the stings of the lash.

A slave mother.

As we went out in the morning, I observed several women, who carried their young children in their arms to the field. These mothers laid their children at the side of the fence, or under the shade of the cotton plants, whilst they were at work; and when the rest of us went to get water, they would go to give suck to their children, requesting some one to bring them water in gourds, which they were careful to carry to the field with them. One young woman did not, like the others, leave her

1

child at the end of the row, but had contrived a sort of rude knapsack, made of a piece of coarse linen cloth, in which she fastened her child, which was very young, upon her back-and in this way carried it all day, and performed her task at the hoe with the other people.

I pitied this woman; and as we were going home at night, I came near her, and spoke to her. Perceiving as soon as she spoke, that she had not been brought up amongst the slaves of this plantation-for her language was different from theirs-I asked her why she did not do as the other women did, and leave her child at the end of the row in the shade. 'Indeed,' said she, 'I cannot leave my child in the weeds amongst the snakes. What would be my feelings if I should leave it there, and a scorpion were to bite it? Besides, my child cries so piteously when I leave it alone in the field, that I cannot bear to hear it. Poor thing! I wish we were both in the grave, where all sorrow is forgotten.'

I asked this woman, who did not appear to be more than twenty years old, how long she had been here, and where she came from. 'I have been here,' said she, 'almost two years-and came from the Eastern Shore. I once lived as well as any lady in Maryland. I was born a slave in the family of a gentleman whose name was Le Compt. My master was a man of property-lived on his estate, and entertained much company. My mistress, who was very kind to me, made me her nurse, when I was about ten years old, and put me to live with her own children. I grew up amongst her daughters, not as their equal and companion, but as a favored and indulged servant. I was always well dressed, and received a portion of all the delicacies of their table. I wanted nothing, and had not the trouble of providing even for myself. I believe there was not a happier being in the world than I was. At present, none can be more wretched.'

After giving an account of previous hardships and perils, and how she was finally kidnapped and carried off, she thus concludes her story:

When we commenced our journey for the South, we were about sixty in number. The men were chained together, but the women were all left quite at liberty.

At the end of three weeks, we reached Savannah river, opposite the town of Augusta, where we were sold out by our owner. Our present master was there, and purchased me and another woman, who has been at work in the field to-day.

Soon after I was brought home, the overseer compelled me to be married to a man I did not like. He is a native of Africa, and still retains the manners and religion of his country. He has not been with us to-day, as he is sick, and under the care of the doctor. I must hasten home to get my supper, and go to rest-and glad I should be, if I were never to rise again.

Í have several times been whipped unmercifully, because I was not strong enough to do as much work with the hoe as the other women who have lived all their lives on this plantation, and have been accustomed from their infancy to work in the field.

For a long time after I was brought here, I thought it would be impossible for me to live on the coarse and scanty food with which we are supplied. When I contrast my former happiness with my present misery, I pray for death to deliver me from my sufferings.'

The narrative gives an account of the death of this poor woman, which took place soon after the conversation above described.

Flogging.

Two slaves had been convicted and hanged for murder: the following punishment was dealt out to one who happened to be in the house at the time the murder was committed :

I had often seen black men whipped, and had always, when the lash was applied with great severity, heard the sufferer cry out and beg for mercy-but in this case, the pain inflicted by the double blows of the hickory was so intense, that Billy never uttered so much as a groan; and I do not believe he breathed for the space of two minutes after he received the first strokes. He shrank his body close to the trunk of the tree, around

which his arms and legs were lashed, drew his shoulders up to his head, like a dying man, and trembled, or rather shivered, in all his members. The blood flowed from the commencement, and in a few minutes lay in small puddles at the root of the tree. I saw flakes of flesh as long as my finger, fall out of the gashes in his back; and I believe he was insensible during all the time that he was receiving the last two hundred lashes. When the whole five hundred lashes had been counted by the person appointed to perform this duty, the half dead body was unbound, and laid in the shade of the tree upon which I sat. The gentlemen who had done the whipping, eight or ten in number, being joined by their friends, then came under the tree, and drank punch until their dinner was made ready, under a booth of green boughs, at a short distance.

Cat-hawling.

A whole gang of slaves had been flogged to make one of them confess that he had stolen a hog. Finally, one was fixed upon as the culprit, and the following method taken for his punishment :—

A boy was then ordered to get up, run to the house, and bring a cat, which was soon produced. The cat, which was a large grey tom-cat, was then taken by the well-dressed gentleman, and placed upon the bare back of the prostrate black man, near the shoulders, and forcibly dragged by the tail down the back, and along the bare thighs of the sufferer. The cat sunk his nails into the flesh, and tore off pieces of the skin with his teeth. The man roared with the pain of this punishment, and would have rolled along the ground, had he not have been held in his place by the force of four other slaves, I each one of whom confined a hand or a foot. As soon as the cat was drawn from him, the man said he would tell who stole the hog, and confessed that he and several others, three of whom were then holding, had stolen the hog-killed, dressed, and eaten it. In return for this confession, the overseer said he should have another touch of the cat, which was again drawn along his back, not as before, from the head downwards, but from below

the hips to the head. The man was then permitted to rise, and each of those who had been named by him as a participator in stealing the hog, was compelled to lie down, and have the cat twice drawn along his backfirst downwards, and then upwards. After the termination of this punishment, each of the sufferers was washed with salt water by a black woman, and they were then all dismissed.

This was the most excruciating punishment that I ever saw inflicted on black people-and, in my opinion, it is very dangerous, for the claws of the cat are poisonous, and wounds made by them are very subject to inflammation.

Method of capturing runaways.

Occasionally, armed parties of whites go in pursuit of them, who make no secret of their determination to shoot down all that refuse to surrender-which they sometimes do. In one instance a negro who was closely pursued, instead of heeding the order to surrender, waded into a shallow pond beyond the reach of his pursuers; refusing still to yield, he was shot through the heart by one of the party. This occurred near Natchez, but no notice was taken of it by the civil authorities; but in this they were consistent, for the city patrols or night watch are allowed to do the same thing with impunity, though it is authorized by no law.

Another mode of capturing runaways is by bloodhounds; this I hope is rarely done. An instance was related to me in Clairborne Co., Miss. A runaway was heard about the house in the night. The hound was put upon his track, and in the morning was found watching the dead body of the negro. The dogs are trained to this service while young. A negro is directed to go into the woods, and secure himself upon a tree. When sufficient time has elapsed for doing this, the hound is put upon his track. The blacks also are compelled to worry them till they make them their implacable enemies; and it is common to meet with dogs, which will take no notice of whites, though entire strangers, but will suffer no black beside the house servants to enter the yard. Captured runaways are confined in jail till claimed by