New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-06-20
The SoUtherners at Home ...NO. Ill.
From the Journal Of Northern Traveller on Horseback
WESTERN MIssIssIPPI-CoxrrSUED

AT supper. Mr.. s.. looking at the daughter Of our
what pretty girl that is! Ny dear, do you
end any schools Ia 90 10 out here-ehl | reckon
not This is MT the country for schools Therell
not be a school IN Mississippi fore long, reckon;
nothing but Institutes, Ell la ha! ha lnsti-
tutes, humph Don't believe there's school De-
tween this and Natchez, is there -
mo, Sir"
"Of course there is n't."'
"What sort of a country Is il between here and
Eatchez ?" ] asked. - should suppose II would
DO well settled"
orig plantations Sir nothing elsc-aristscrats;
sw.II9hEADs | call them, Stretching but swell
bcads and YOU can't get IA nights lodging, Sir Be
yend the ferry, III be bound man might die on
the read fore he'd get u lodging with one OF them,
oh MIR. n. So isn't ltf Take a stranger ln and
mi clear YOU out That's the rule. That's what
they tell their sverseers ehl Yes, Sir; just so IN
bospitabe as that-swELL-HEADs swell-heads, Sir,
every pantation-cant get meal OF yictuais or
nights lodging from one of them, don't suppose,
not il your life depended on it. Can you, Mr.. n. =
"Wel, believe Mr.. -, his place is right On
the road, and it's half way to the ferry, and be-
heye he tells bis Overseer if man and wants
something to eat be must give it to him, but he must
not take any pay for it, because strangers must
have something to eat They start out OF Nalchez'
thinking it's as It's III other cOuntrles tlat lhers
houses along where they can get meal and 50 lhey
don't provide for themselves, and when they get
along about there, they are sometimes desperate
hungry. Had TO be something done.
''Do the planters not live themselves on their
plantations 7"
Why, good many Of them has two or three
plantations but they don't often live on any OF
them
Unjust have ice for their wine, yOu see, said Mr.
s., "or they'd die; and so they have to live In
Natcbez or New Orleans; good many of them live
in New Orleans"
And in Summer, they 60 up into Kentucky, do
they not I've seen country houses there which
were said to belong TO cOttOn-panters from Msils-
sPP." O.. .,., .ouou.vor, and N.w
port, and Saratoga and Cape May, and Senen
Lake-somewhere that they can display themselves
worse than they do here; Kentucky is no place for
that. That's the sort of people, Sir, all the way
from here TO Natehez, and all round Natchez, too,
and in all this section Of country where there's good
hand. Good God ! wouldn't have my children
educated, Sir, among them, not to have them as
rich as Doctor -, eny one OF them. You can
know their children as fur of as you can see them
young swell-heads. You'll take note Of 'em in
Natcbez, poor, weak dandes. Why, you can tell
them by their walk; l noticed it yesterday at the
Mansion House They sort o throw out their egs
if they hadn't got strength enough to lit EN- and
put them down i'll any particular place. They do
want so bad tO look as if they wern't made OF the
Iasked how wealthy the sort of men were of whom
he spoke. ..o,oo
"Why Sir, from 500, 600 to 100000"
"DO you mean that between here and Natchez
there are none worth less than 100000"
"NO, Sir; not beyond the Ferry Why, any
sort of plantation is worth $lOO,OOO the niggers
alone cost that"
"How many negroes are there on these planta
tOns 7"
"FrOm fifty to hundred"
"Never over one hundred"
ono; when they've increased TO hundred, they
always divide them; stock another plantation.
There are sometimes three or four plantations ad-
Joining one another, with an Overseer Tor each be-
longing 10 the same man."
"HOw many acres will hand tend here 7"
"About ffteen-ten of cotton aud five Of corn;
some pretend to make them tend twenty"
"And what is the usual crOpl"
"A bale and half to the acre on fresh land and
in the bottom; from four to eight bales to hand
they generally get" .,n uou
much on old ."
"Wel you can't tell-depends on how much it's
worn and what the season liz, 50 much Old land,
after a while is MT worth bothering with"
"DO most of these large planters, who live so ).
freely anticipate their crops as the Sugar planters
are said to-spend the money l mean' before the
crop is sold"
.'Yes, Sir, and three and four crops ahead gem
orally
care most of them the SONS of rich men, are
they old estatesl"
mo- Sir, many of them were oyerseerS them
selves once"
"Well, have you noticed whether it is a fact that
these large properties seldom continue long in the
same family Do the grandsOns OF wealthy planters
often become poor meni"
Generally the sons dO almost always their sons
are fools and soon go through with IT.
eff they don't kill themselves before their fathers
die" said the other. So,
"Yes, and that they very often do; they drink
hard and gamble, and Of course that brings em into
fights"
The was while they were smoking on the gallery
after supper walked to the stable to see how my
horse was provided for; when l returned they were
talking of negroes who had died of yellow fever
while confined in the jail at Natchez. Two OF them
were spoken of as having been thus happily released,
being under sentence of death, and unJustly So IN
their opinion. In one case it was for rape OF
white woman. They had no doubt the woman had
invited the oilense; "But Court never allows any
thing for that in case OF Niger, 1t was observed.
RUNAwAYs.
A man living in this vicinity had taken runaway
while the fever was raging in the jail; physician
advised him not to send him there. He did not, and
the negro escaped; was sometime afterWard recap
tred. and the owner learned from him that he had
been once taken and allowed to escape. tie made
a Journey to inquire into the matter, aud was very
angry. He said, Whenever you catch niger
again you send him to Jail, no matter what's to be
feared. If he dies in the Jail, you are not response
be- You've done your duty, and you can leave the
rest to Providence
THAT was right, too" said Mr.. F. eyes, he
ought 10 a minded the law; thenh he'd died III jail,
he'd know 'twasnt his fault"
Next morning.. near the ferry house noticed