CHAP. XXIV.] DRUNKENNESS IN ALABAMA. 6&amp;lt; 



indifferent to the scene around him, while the 

 auctioneer began to describe him as a fine griff (which 

 means three parts black), twenty -four years old, and 

 having many superior qualities, on which he enlarged 

 in detail. There was a sharp bidding, which lasted 

 only a few minutes, when he was sold for 675 dollars. 

 Mr. Pickett immediately asked him to get ready our 

 horse, and, as he came away with us, began to joke 

 with him, and told him &quot; they have bid a hundred 

 dollars more for you than I would have given ; &quot; to 

 which he replied, very complacently, &quot; My master, 

 who has had the hire of me for three years, knew 

 better than to let any one outbid him.&quot; I discovered, 

 in short, that he had gone to the sale with a full con 

 viction that the person whom he had been serving 

 was determined to buy him in, so that his mind was 

 quite at ease, and the price offered for him had made 

 him feel well satisfied with himself. 



I witnessed no mal-treatment of slaves in this State, 

 but drunkenness prevails to such a degree among their 

 owners, that I cannot doubt that the power they exer 

 cise must often be fearfully abused. In the morning the 

 proprietor of the house where I lodged was intoxicated, 

 yet taking fresh drams when I left him, and evidently 

 thinking me somewhat unpolite when I declined to 

 join him. In the afternoon, when I inquired at the 

 house of a German settler, whether I could see some 

 fossil bones discovered on his plantation, I was told 

 that he was not at home ; in fact, that he had not re 

 turned the night before, and was supposed to be lying 

 somewhere drunk in the woods, his wife having set 

 out in search of him in one direction, and his sister 



