The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-27

found hanged with all hi: possessions tied to
his body. The slaves had. got an idea that,
BY dying In that manner. they. could get back
e 4si africa msn and take o all shS Sy t an1psct NTH III them m:
ono oi them to bring wood. Tor a funeral pyre
feed tho hre. This stopped tho trouble,
sides. who would not kneel to receive tho sac-
rainent, but ate the Lords supper sitting at
d dfSsss; me- 1 II me s'F tSe sisS 3. 81 siH q sro was n maSS
taking Off his hat and going down on his knees
to ask me for my cigar stub. which was ready
l could hardly resist tie tenn tntion of slap
ping him In tho face. for as long as I lived
that the two-leRged creatures were men and
women, and to see such u respectable man MS
mayoral or bull driver used to stir my temper
i saw ciylllty carried 70 excess on tho
EnSiish.speaEiins. maa Ind T'Sei been before.
The custom tho-e WIS whom a slave addressed
or handed ANYTHING to a white. man he frit
deposited his hat upon the ground about ten feet
off and fell on his knees. shuflinR along on
them till no got near enough. 1t seemed very
brought TO an engineer who was in a hurry by
n man on his knees. and TO have a gang Of men
to take OF their hats because a Yankee swore
at them. lt was n long time. before we could
,sspr h them !, TO , keep on Pnndtdhse Their feet; and to to i keep
work. The owner came down one day and saw
the men servo us In this impoli. % manner. and
We could hardly prevent hin, from whipping
the whole gang, but he finally compounded
the matter by making them carry their hats
outside some feet from the building.
But this was only carving out the idea of
Spanish politeness. for the Spaniards ara tho
most formal of men. never addressing. a
man without removing the hat and snlutinR
every one they meet on the road, be no friend
or stranger, The formula OF asking for and
giving II LIGHT Is accurately defined. and IL on
receiving hack yonr cigar you should neglect
TO put It to your lips again and throw it away,
man IN company should send for fire. witch IL
always brought in n silver vessel made for the
purpose, he must not pass the conl, but must
hand his lighted cigar to his neiChbor.
Slaves were not allowed to resist or ward Off
q blow, and being threatened with ,ooae must
drop, their hands to their sides, Tor IL n negro
should raise his hand rs high as his breast
you were perfectly justified in shooting him
striking n slave with the hand, but wee told
always to use a whip or pick I'D u stick for
trn-mayoral to do the whipping. for striking
with the hand was n compliment to tho man.
self. You should never use the pronoun you
In addressing them. hut always use thou"
You should do nothing yourself that a negro
AT first all negroes looked alike TO me. and
NIL appeared of the same age. but in u short
time | could distinguish the various tribes
from each other. for there is more difference
between, the African races than there is be
tween the whites. n LuCilne being more diff
ifrrent from n Congo than u Yankee from II
Spaniarl.
Don Juan was always Dragging about how
faithful his negroes were and how much
all that kind:of trash. But one night when he
was awakened by his wife. who was
there on a visit. She was in q terrible fright,
and / saw four Others laid ont in
her room. She said that there was a revolt
n,non nsa 'N SrS sIeyes, om ana Ii s9o "& W. co mG 70 hs get
loud talking, and the sound OF blows across
the plaza: l told her I would 70 out and see
what ems II. Sn ElA ntta TIM inn w h n 80 |
door and | went out and found the row was at
the maHOral's house, where the white men on
and parted them and went To he'd. The wo-
man was IN an awful state OF fear. and soon
did not wonder at her frigh.. for running
II plantation seemed to mo like living In n
powder magazines you were completely at the
bered the reliable whites n hundred to one. and
what they did, in -. Domingo migat be re-
peated any night. They had countless wrongs
to avenGc, any one OF which would drive men
10 commit murder, and no race but negroes
would be safe to live with "A day under the
same clrcumst Inces: hut thoy were kept down
by thc terror OF the lash. and having no knowl-
which theS lived. they could not combine ne i,h
Others who wGr" around them;
When l bad seen Don Juan's arsenal of wea-
DO 8 ] had y, text against him. and chaffed
for fear OF whom hc needed SO many loaded
safe a moment. that in case OF an insurrect.on
he should shoot the faithful Enrique, the first
man,. ana lihl II ne COnll get riQ or MIN
and half l. dozen other old Lucimi. men and
women. he should feel safe to alta * all the
rest with TO weapon but u whip, for only in
teil!Gcnt slaves were dangerous. He told me
that after the last rising OF the slaves he found
that the forty negroes who committed suicide
near lis place spent tho ,ast night Of their lives
in his own engine house and were hnrhOred
and fed by Enrique and his other aithful.slAves
There was always a chain gang on a planta-
ion. for punishment was inflicted for many Of
fences. and always on runaways. The shackles
we're crude and heavy. consisting NJ rims
riveted around the ankles and connected by
loag links to IA single small ring usually fast
ened TO the belt: this was worn day and night,
and the slaves had to labor with the rest of
the gang With that obstruction. Only strong
men could wear them and do much work.
Women were seldom ironed, though l saw
some in chains.
The roll OF nm estate was a ways called four
times a daY. and in tho grinding season five
I mes. IL II negro was missing the b,oodhnunds
were nut unon his track, and usually they
plantations Kept their own dogs. but there
were many low whites who made n business
OF hunting runaway slaves. These dogs were
fine, large, handsome animals. mostly blaok
or hriudle, though l have seen a few of the
color OF n maltese cate The rnayoral OF q
neighboring estate gave Me u pup that grew
to he n large DrindIe doc: he came we'll rec
commended as of n good breed. for his former
owner assured me that his mother mad killed
take him north with me. for such Is the nature
of the brute that while perfectly dOcile with
white men he would fly Mt any negro he met.
T. w. BARTLETT.