394 



which was obfcurely feen a multitude of 

 naked black beings ; either at reft or {kipping 

 about from place to place, without our being 

 able to diftinguifti what they were doing or 

 how employed. As we approached nearer 

 to them, we found them to be a gang of ne- 

 groes, old and young, robuft and feeble, male 

 and female, all bufily and varioufly occupied 

 in preparing cotton, by the aid of one faint 

 light, fufpended in the centre of what feemed 

 an interminable darknefs. Some were fitting 

 on the floor ; fome" at the ginning wheels; 

 fome were crouched upon their haunches ; 

 others ftanding, and many moving about, 

 each according to the varied employment of 

 ginning, of beating and pulling, of fetching 

 and carrying, or of packing the cotton. Still 

 we faw none diftin&Iy, not even thofe im- 

 mediately near to us ; and the unufual noife 5 

 the various movements of the negroes, the 

 general confufion of the fcene, and the fa- 

 thomlefs darknefs of the place, fo powerfully 

 called to mind the difmal regions of queen 

 Proferpine and her grim lord, that we could 

 not diveft ourfelves of the impreffion : amidft 

 fome faint rays of light, impenetrable obfcu- 



