Page:Letters on the condition of the African race in the United States.djvu/15

Rh For one drum fish, "which is very large, and the negroes are very successful in catching them, they could obtain a dollar or perhaps more in the neighboring villages. They raised hogs, poultry, vegetables, fruits, groundnuts, bennie, and anything, indeed, they chose to plant on their patch of ground. They were given certain days in the year to work their own fields; but this did not seem very necessary, as every day of their lives they had some time that was exclusively theirs. My father owned large twelve-oared boats, in which we made frequent trips to the towns of Beaufort and Savannah. His negroes would load the said boats with their own produce, that they were carrying to sell, until I used to feel fearful lest the weight of the cargo would sink the boat. The most delightful music I ever listened to was the wild songs of these athletic boatmen, at night, on the water; and should there chance to pass us a "rival yacht," our men would ply their oars with renewed energy, and challenge their neighbors to a race. If the master, or any other planter, bought a hog, a horse, or poultry, or anything else from a negro, and did not pay him, such a man was scorned by public opinion as a low-lived, dishonest wretch, who could be so degraded as to cheat a poor African slave.

The master and his people are so identified, that if a white man molests your slave, you are instantly insulted; and you frequently quarrel with and even fight him, as quickly as you would resent a wrong done to your child; and any master, who is known to be cruel or unkind, is perfectly despised by public opinion. You know all the negroes in the South are allowed three or four days every Christmas, for a jubilee, and I so vividly remember the patriarchal benevolence my father's countenance exhibited, when out of his abundant larder he contributed everything necessary to these jovial feastings among his slaves. Some of them spent the holydays in playing on the violin, and other instruments, for their young friends to dance by; others went from place to place, to visit their neighbors, and others held prayer-meetings, where most of the night, even, was spent in singing psalms, in religious exhortations, and in prayer. In sickness, my father almost always administered their medicines with his own hands, and personally saw that their nurses attended to all their wants. One of my slaves had an infant child two months old who was attacked with an affection of the windpipe. I never saw such extreme suffering; it was one continual spasm and struggle for breath. The physician visited it several times every day, but could give no relief. The poor little sufferer seemed as if it would