The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1872-03-09
Negro Slavery in Cuba in 1872.
[From the Baltimore Americana

From the Baltimore American.
Reaching the plantation after such
feasts of beauty, the visitor sees many
things soon enough which call his
mind back from the enchanted region,
Mans inhumanity to man is practical
ly illustrated before his eyes, and, if
American, he sees at once the great
difference OF slavery as it existed be-
fore the war in the South and here.
You miss at once the nicely white
washed little houses, with their ver-
andas in front, standing in rows close
to the masters dwelling; you miss
the gay laughter and innocent merri-
ment of those little black urehins
tumbling about in the dust, looking
at you with laughing eyes, very often
intermingling in close intimacy with
the masters children and when you
inquire here where the negro quarters
are, they point out to You an uncov-
cred space fenced in similar to the
baracoons | have seen negroes con-
fined in on the coast of Africa pre-
vious to their shipment to the West
Indies or Brazil. When the hours of
labor ofslaves are past they are driven
into these Enclosures like so many cat
tie, the gates are closed on them and
they are not allowed to pass out with
out special permission-watched du-
ring the night by armed white men
and their savage bloodhounds. AS
for the children being allowed to
play in idleness, your Spanish plan
ter knows better. They are all put
to work. If too young and weak to
carry sugar cane, they must carry
bagaso-ground cane, which is used
for fuel hereto the sugar-house; and
if too young even to do this, they are
employed turning the bagasO over
while it is spread out to dry in the
sun.
If ever l felt like committing mur-
der, it was when, stopping one of the
little curly headed blacks to.speak to
him and to give him dime, the over
seer came along and gave him saw
age cut with a whip, telling him at the
same time to go on with his work.
Though thR poor little fellow received
the blow, I saw in the savage express
sion of the brute's face who commit
ted the outrage that it was me he in
tended to hurt through the body of
that poor negro boy. When showing
us everything about the plantation,
the proprietor, a wealthy Spaniard,
stopped before the place his blood
hounds were kept in and pointed out
perfect specimen of its kind-large,
powerful and tiger-like in his slow
movements. He told us that to him
that dog was worth more than his
weight in gold; that once upon the
trail of a negro, nothing but utter ex-
haustion or death could stop him !;
gifted with an instinct above common
animals, and endowed with acute,
keen senses, he invariably was sue
cessful in his search, no matter what
devices the negroes took to hide or
destroy their trail. The people are
very hospitable, and do their utmost
to make your stay pleasant and agree
able, and simply do not understand
you when you express your sorrow for
the hard life of the field hands. They
are so accustomed to consider the ne
gro but as some inferior animal that
they think it nonsensical to express
regret for his condition, and, indeed,
the life the latter leads day after
day soon causes everything that is hu-
man about him to disappear. Even
the Chinese, with whose clean and
neat appearance you are much pleased
when you meet with him as servant
in the city, and who shows intelligence
and brightness there, when sent on a
plantation as a field hand, toiling day
after day in hot sun, under the cruel
whip of savage overseer, deterior-
ates rapidly, and in the course of a
few years is no better than an animal,
showing very often no more intelli-
gence than a horse or a dog, caring
only to get food and drink enough to
appease his hunger and thirst; and
sleep to recruit his exhausted body.