236 GOUGING SLEEPING ACCOMMODATION. 



I met in America. I soon discovered he was slightly intoxi 

 cated, and a most profligate character. Being anxious to 

 shun conversation with him, I w r as annoyed at his placing his 

 chair beside mine ; and as there was neither another house 

 nor apartment to retire to, I endeavoured to make the most of 

 my situation. Having replied to his enquiry what country 

 man I was, by asking him to guess, he successively said, 

 Dutchman, German, Englishman, and Irishman, and fearing 

 he might lose patience, I at last told him a Scotchman. He 

 had never heard of Scotchmen before, and insisted I must be 

 one of the Scotch-Irish, which I afterwards learnt means, in 

 this part of the world, the inhabitants of the north of Ireland. 

 The discussion about Scotch-Irish suggested the proudest 

 feat of his life. He said Jim Partridge was an Irishman, able 

 to whip any man in America, and who must have been heard 

 of in my country. He had a whipping-match with Jim, who 

 fell, and was in act of being gouged, when the bystanders 

 lifted him oif Jim, who, seizing a stick, cut his head with it 

 in a dreadful manner. Gouging is performed by twisting the 

 fingers into the hair of the victim, and with the thumb forcing 

 the eye out of its socket. This savage act has long been 

 known in Kentucky and some of the western states, and was 

 often resorted to when parties quarrelled. It is now, however, 

 confined to the lowest blackguards, and of rare occurrence. 

 The eyes of the wretch sparkled with delight when relating 

 the prostrate situation of Jim, and the prospect of gouging 

 him, and he explained his brutal attempt by placing his 

 fingers in my hair and on my face, when I could scarcely 

 trust his intentions. He also insisted that I should feel the 

 indention made by Jim s stick, and I thought his skull must 

 have been as hard as his heart to have withstood such a blow. 

 The house was in all respects a mean one, containing little 

 furniture, and two beds, from one of which rose an ema 

 ciated person, labouring under aberration of mind, and to 

 whom the house and lands adjoining belonged. I began to 

 feel uneasy about the sleeping accommodation, as both beds 

 would be required for the family, and there was no garret 

 apartment. The landlord at length drew forth from the 

 corner of the room a dirty tick and covering, which were 



