68 



would be to build for myself a cottage among these 

 mountains, in which I might pass the sultry months, 



<c E bruna-si; ma il bruno il bel non toglie." 



January 5. 



As I was returning this morning from Mon- 

 tego Bay, about a mile from my own estate, a 

 figure presented itself before me, I really think 

 the most picturesque that I ever beheld : it was 

 a mulatto girl, born upon Cornwall, but whom the 

 overseer of a neighbouring estate had obtained 

 my permission to exchange for another slave, as 

 well as two little children, whom she had borne to 

 him ; but, as yet, he has been unable to procure a 

 substitute, owing to the difficulty of purchasing 

 single negroes, and Mary Wiggins is still my slave. 

 However, as she is considered as being manumitted, 

 she had not dared to present herself at Cornwall on 

 my arrival, lest she should have been considered as 

 an intruder; but she now threw herself in my way to 

 tell me how glad she was to see me, for that she 

 had always thought till now (which is the general 

 complaint) that " she had no massa and also to 

 obtain a regular invitation to my negro festival to- 

 morrow. By this universal complaint, it appears 

 that, while Mr. Wilberforce is lamenting their hard 

 fate in being subject to a master, their greatest fear 

 is the not having a master whom they know ; and 

 that to be told by the negroes of another estate 



