SLAVERY. 



24.' 



can vouch ; I have known and have heard of 

 many instances in which punishments and other 

 dangers have been braved to visit a chosen one ; 

 in which journies by night have been made after 

 a day of fatigue ; in which great constancy has 

 been shown, and a determination that the feel- 

 ings of the heart shall not be controlled. * 



The great proportion of men upon many of 

 the estates, produces, of necessity, most mis- 

 chievous consequences. A supply is requisite 

 to keep up the number of labourers. The 

 women are more liable to misconduct t, and the 



* The following circumstances occurred within my own ob- 

 servation. A negro woman applied to a planter to be pur- 

 chased, for which purpose she had brought a note from her 

 master. She was accepted, and a bargain was concluded 

 between the two persons ; however, the day after she had 

 taken up her abode upon the estate of her new master, she 

 came to him, and falling down upon her knees, said that she 

 had had a fellow-slave who wished likewise to serve him, 

 /tnd she begged him to purchase her companion. The new 

 master spoke to the owner of the slave in question on the 

 subject, but he refused to sell him, and the matter rested in 

 this manner ; but on the third day, he received a visit from 

 the owner, ottering the slave for sale, adding that the man 

 had refused to work, and had threatened to hang himself ; 

 .md as he was a Gabam negro, he much feared that lie 

 might put his threat in execution. The price was soon 

 fixed, and on the following morning the man made his ap- 

 pearance. He proved to be a most excellent slave. 



f The following occurrences took place upon the estate 

 of a weathy planter to the south of Recife, and the anecdote 

 was related by the owner of the plantation himself. A negro 

 complained to his master of the infidelity of his wife ; she 



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