Twelve Years a Slave
possession, Edwin Epps was fond of the bottle, his "sprees" sometimes
extending over the space of two whole weeks. Latterly, however,
he had reformed his habits, and when I left him, was as strict a
specimen of temperance as could be found on Bayou Boeuf. When "in his
cups," Master Epps was a roystering, blustering, noisy fellow, whose
chief delight was in dancing with his "niggers," or lashing them
about the yard with his long whip, just for the pleasure of hearing
them screech and scream, as the great welts were planted on their
backs. When sober, he was silent, reserved and cunning, not beating
us indiscriminately, as in his drunken moments, but sending the end
of his rawhide to some tender spot of a lagging slave, with a sly
dexterity peculiar to himself.
He had been a driver and overseer in his younger years, but at this
time was in possession of a plantation on Bayou Huff Power, two and
a half miles from Holmesville, eighteen from Marksville, and twelve
from Cheneyville. It belonged to Joseph B. Roberts, his wife's uncle,
and was leased by Epps. His principal business was raising cotton,
and inasmuch as some may read this book who have never seen a cotton
field, a description of the manner of its culture may not be out of
place.
The ground is prepared by throwing up beds or ridges, with the
plough--back-furrowing, it is called. Oxen and mules, the latter
almost exclusively, are used in ploughing. The women as frequently
as the men perform this labor, feeding, currying, and taking care of
their teams, and in all respects doing the field and stable work,
precisely as do the ploughboys of the North.
The beds, or ridges, are six feet wide, that is, from water furrow
to water furrow. A plough drawn by one mule is then run along the
top of the ridge or center of the bed, making the drill, into which
a girl usually drops the seed, which she carries in a bag hung round
her neck. Behind her comes a mule and harrow, covering up the seed,
so that two mules, three slaves, a plough and harrow, are employed
in planting a row of cotton. This is done in the months of March and
April. Corn is planted in February. When there are no cold rains,
the cotton usually makes its appearance in a week. In the course of
eight or ten days afterwards the first hoeing is commenced. This is
performed in part, also, by the aid of the plough and mule. The plough
passes as near as possible to the cotton on both sides, throwing the
furrow from it. Slaves follow with their hoes, cutting up the grass
and cotton, leaving hills two feet and a half apart. This is called
scraping cotton. In two weeks more commences the second hoeing. This
time the furrow is thrown towards the cotton. Only one stalk, the
largest, is now left standing in each hill. In another fortnight it
is hoed the third time, throwing the furrow towards the cotton in the
same manner as before, and killing all the grass between the rows.
About the first of July, when it is a foot high or thereabouts, it is
hoed the fourth and last time. Now the whole space between the rows
is ploughed, leaving a deep water furrow in the center. During all
these hoeings the overseer or driver follows the slaves on horseback
with a whip, such as has been described. The fastest hoer takes the
lead row. He is usually about a rod in advance of his companions. If
one of them passes him, he is whipped. If one falls behind or is a
moment idle, he is whipped. In fact, the lash is flying from morning
until night, the whole day long. The hoeing season thus continues from
April until July, a field having no sooner been finished once, than it
is commenced again.
In the latter part of August begins the cotton picking season. At
this time each slave is presented with a sack. A strap is fastened to
it, which goes over the neck, holding the mouth of the sack breast
high, while the bottom reaches nearly to the ground. Each one is also
presented with a large basket that will hold about two barrels. This
is to put the cotton in when the sack is filled. The baskets are
carried to the field and placed at the beginning of the rows.
When a new hand, one unaccustomed to the business, is sent for the
first time into the field, he is whipped up smartly, and made for that
day to pick as fast as he can possibly. At night it is weighed, so
that his capability in cotton picking is known. He must bring in the
same weight each night following. If it falls short, it is considered
evidence that he has been laggard, and a greater or less number of
lashes is the penalty.
An ordinary day's work is two hundred pounds. A slave who is
accustomed to picking, is punished, if he or she brings in a less
quantity than that. There is a great difference among them as regards
this kind of labor. Some of them seem to have a natural knack, or
quickness, which enables them to pick with great celerity, and with
both hands, while others, with whatever practice or industry, are
utterly unable to come up to the ordinary standard. Such hands are
taken from the cotton field and employed in other business. Patsey,
of whom I shall have more to say, was known as the most remarkable
cotton picker on Bayou Boeuf. She picked with both hands and with such
surprising rapidity, that five hundred pounds a day was not unusual
for her.
Each one is tasked, therefore, according to his picking abilities,
none, however, to come short of two hundred weight. I, being
unskillful always in that business, would have satisfied my master by
bringing in the latter quantity, while on the other hand, Patsey would
surely have been beaten if she failed to produce twice as much.
The cotton grows from five to seven feet high, each stalk having a
great many branches, shooting out in all directions, and lapping each
other above the water furrow.
There are few sights more pleasant to the eye, than a wide cotton
field when it is in the bloom. It presents an appearance of purity,
like an immaculate expanse of light, new-fallen snow.
Sometimes the slave picks down one side of a row, and back upon the
other, but more usually, there is one on either side, gathering all
that has blossomed, leaving the unopened bolls for a succeeding
picking. When the sack is filled, it is emptied into the basket and
trodden down. It is necessary to be extremely careful the first time
going through the field, in order not to break the branches off the
stalks. The cotton will not bloom upon a broken branch. Epps never
failed to inflict the severest chastisement on the unlucky servant
who, either carelessly or unavoidably, was guilty in the least degree
in this respect.
The hands are required to be in the cotton field as soon as it is
light in the morning, and, with the exception of ten or fifteen
minutes, which is given them at noon to swallow their allowance of
cold bacon, they are not permitted to be a moment idle until it is too
dark to see, and when the moon is full, they often times labor till
the middle of the night. They do not dare to stop even at dinner time,
nor return to the quarters, however late it be, until the order to
halt is given by the driver.
The day's work over in the field, the baskets are "toted," or in other
words, carried to the gin-house, where the cotton is weighed. No
matter how fatigued and weary he may be--no matter how much he longs
for sleep and rest--a slave never approaches the gin-house with his
basket of cotton but with fear. If it falls short in weight--if he
has not performed the full task appointed him, he knows that he must
suffer. And if he has exceeded it by ten or twenty pounds, in all
probability his master will measure the next day's task accordingly.
So, whether he has too little or too much, his approach to the
gin-house is always with, fear and trembling. Most frequently they
have too little, and therefore it is they are not anxious to leave
the field. After weighing, follow the whippings; and then the baskets
are carried to the cotton house, and their contents stored away like
hay, all hands being sent in to tramp it down. If the cotton is not
dry, instead of taking it to the gin-house at once, it is laid upon
platforms, two feet high, and some three times as wide, covered with
boards or plank, with narrow walks running between them.
This done, the labor of the day is not yet ended, by any means. Each
one must then attend to his respective chores. One feeds the mules,
another the swine--another cuts the wood, and so forth; besides, the
packing is all done by candle light. Finally, at a late hour, they
reach the quarters, sleepy and overcome with the long day's toil. Then
a fire must be kindled in the cabin, the corn ground in the small
hand-mill, and supper, and dinner for the next day in the field,
prepared. All that is allowed them is corn and bacon, which is given
out at the corncrib and smoke-house every Sunday morning. Each one
receives, as his weekly, allowance, three and a half pounds of bacon,
and corn enough to make a peck of meal. That is all--no tea, coffee,
sugar, and with the exception of a very scanty sprinkling now and
then, no salt. I can say, from a ten years' residence with Master
Epps, that no slave of his is ever likely to suffer from the gout,
superinduced by excessive high living. Master Epps' hogs were fed on
_shelled_ corn--it was thrown out to his "niggers" in the ear. The
former, he thought, would fatten faster by shelling, and soaking it in
the water--the latter, perhaps, if treated in the same manner, might
grow too fat to labor. Master Epps was a shrewd calculator, and knew
how to manage his own animals, drunk or sober.
The corn mill stands in the yard beneath a shelter. It is like a
common coffee mill, the hopper holding about six quarts. There was
one privilege which Master Epps granted freely to every slave he had.
They might grind their corn nightly, in such small quantities as their
daily wants required, or they might grind the whole week's allowance
at one time, on Sundays, just as they preferred. A very generous man
was Master Epps!
I kept my corn in a small wooden box, the meal in a gourd; and, by the
way, the gourd is one of the most convenient and necessary utensils on
a plantation. Besides supplying the place of all kinds of crockery in
a slave cabin, it is used for carrying water to the fields. Another,
also, contains the dinner. It dispenses with the necessity of pails,
dippers, basins, and such tin and wooden superfluities altogether.
When the corn is ground, and fire is made, the bacon is taken down
from the nail on which it hangs, a slice cut off and thrown upon the
coals to broil. The majority of slaves have no knife, much less a
fork. They cut their bacon with the axe at the wood-pile. The corn
meal is mixed with a little water, placed in the fire, and baked. When
it is "done brown," the ashes are scraped off, and being placed upon a
chip, which answers for a table, the tenant of the slave hut is ready
to sit down upon the ground to supper. By this time it is usually
midnight. The same fear of punishment with which they approach the
gin-house, possesses them again on lying down to get a snatch of rest.
It is the fear of oversleeping in the morning. Such an offence would
certainly be attended with not less than twenty lashes. With a prayer
that he may be on his feet and wide awake at the first sound of the
horn, he sinks to his slumbers nightly.
The softest couches in the world are not to be found in the log
mansion of the slave. The one whereon I reclined year after year, was
a plank twelve inches wide and ten feet long. My pillow was a stick of
wood. The bedding was a coarse blanket, and not a rag or shred beside.
Moss might be used, were it not that it directly breeds a swarm of
fleas.
The cabin is constructed of logs, without floor or window. The latter