150 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA : 
The number of the slaves increases most ra¬ 
pidly, so that there is scarcely any estate but 
what is overstocked. This is a circumstance 
complained of by every planter, as the main¬ 
tenance of more than are requisite for the cul¬ 
ture of the estate is attended with great ex¬ 
pence. Motives of humanity deter them from 
selling the poor creatures, or turning them 
adrift from the spot where they have been born 
and brought up, in the midst of friends and re¬ 
lations. 
What I have here said respecting the condi¬ 
tion and treatment of slaves, appertains, it 
must be remembered, to those only who are 
upon the large plantations in Virginia; the lot 
of such as are unfortunate enough to fall into 
the hands of the lower class of white people, 
and of hard task-masters in the towns, is 
very different. In the Carolioas and Georgia 
again, slavery presents itself in very different 
colours, from what it does even in its worst 
form in Virginia. I am told, that it is no 
uncommon thing there, to see gangs of ne¬ 
groes staked at a horse race, and to see these 
unfortunate beings bandied about from one set 
of drunken gamblers to another, for days to¬ 
gether. How much to be deprecated are 
the laws which suffer such abuses to exist ! yet 
these are the laws enacted by people, who 
boast of their love of liberty and indepen* 
