Page:Fifty Years in Chains, or the Life of an American Slave.djvu/361

Rh wrap straps of hickory bark about my feet to keep the leather from separating, and falling to pieces.

It was now, by my computation, the month of November, and I was yet in the State of South Carolina, I began to consider with myself, whether I had gained or lost, by attempting to travel on the roads; and, after revolving in my mind ail the disasters that had befallen me, determined to abandon the roads altogether, for two reasons: the first of which was, that on the highways I was constantly liable to meet persons, or to be overtaken by them; and a second, no less powerful, was, that as I did not know what roads to pursue, I was oftener traveling on the wrong route than on the right one.

Setting my face once more for the north-star, I advanced with a steady, though slow pace, for four or five nights, when I was again delayed by dark weather, and forced to remain in idleness nearly two weeks; and when the weather again became clear, I was arrested on the second night by a broad and rapid river, that appeared so formidable that I did not dare to attempt its passage until after examining it in daylight. On the succeeding night, however, I crossed it by swimming — resting at some large rocks near the middle. After gaining the north side of this river, which I believed to be the Catawba, I considered myself in North Carolina, and again steered towards the North.