96 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 



watchmen, who were appointed and stationed every night 

 by the overseer in different directions, to prevent theft. — 

 " All's well," was echoed from one to another, every half 

 hour, till the sound was indistinctly heard issuing from the 

 remote plaintain-walk and provision-grounds, where its rever- 

 beration at times seemed to die away. The door of the 

 dwelling-house is always left open during the night, whicli 

 leaves to the negroes a free ingress and egress to any of the 

 apartments. The watchmen are responsible for every thing; 

 and such is their attention and perseverance in their duty, 

 that it rarely happens any thing is lost. The negroes de- 

 light in a low schoolboy sort of drollery, of which an instance 

 may be borne — it bears some analogy to Foote's praise of 

 Calais — there the very children in petticoats can talk French. 

 I one evening left the portico to light my segar at daddy 

 Cudjo's lire, and to see how he was situated. I found him 

 smoaking his pipe, and roasting some salted cod-fish and 

 plaintains for his supper ; he had in one hand a calabash of 

 toddy, which he told me was given him by ** dat buckra 

 overseer." Upon my asking what toddy was, he uttered an 

 ejaculation, " Kie ! massa, you no sabbe what dat be ? 

 " Buckra been say neger fool because he no hab sense," 

 (meaning that they could neither write nor read) ** and you 

 " here so, one buckra, ask me, poor neger, who no hab 

 " sense, what toddy be — why, massa, he no more than rum 

 " and sugar mixed together with water." This tuition of a 



