from home, and four or five from the nearest plantation, in the camp of
runaway slaves, and quite at their mercy. My eyes involuntarily followed
their motions, but as I thought I perceived in them a strong desire to
make me their confidant and friend, I gradually relinquished all suspicion.
The venison and potatoes looked quite tempting, and by this time I was
in a condition to relish much less savoury fare; so, on being humbly asked
to divide the viands before us, I partook of as hearty a meal as I had
ever done in my life.
Supper over, the fire was completely extinguished, and a small lighted
pine-knot placed in a hollowed calabash. Seeing that both the husband
and wife were desirous of communicating something to me, I at once and
fearlessly desired them to unburden their minds; when the Runaway told
me a tale of which the following is the substance.
About eighteen months before, a planter residing not very far off,
having met with some losses, was obliged to expose his slaves at a public
sale. The value of his negroes was well known, and on the appointed
day, the auctioneer laid them out in small lots, or offered them singly, in
the manner which he judged most advantageous to their owner. The
Runaway, who was well known as being the most valuable next to his wife,
was put up by himself for sale, and brought an immoderate price. For
his wife, who came next, and alone, eight hundred dollars were bidden
and paid down. Then the children were exposed, and, on account of their
breed, brought high prices. The rest of the slaves went off at rates corresponding
to their qualifications.
The Runaway chanced to be purchased by the overseer of the plantation
; the wife was bought by an individual residing about a hundred
miles off, and the children went to different places along the river. The
heart of the husband and father failed him under this dire calamity. For
a while he pined in deep sorrow under his new master; but having marked
down in his memory the names of the different persons who had purchased
each dear portion of his family, he feigned illness, if indeed he
whose affections had been so grievously blasted could be said to feign it,
refrained from food for several days, and was little regarded by the overseer,
who felt himself disappointed in what he had considered a bargain.
On a stormy night, when the elements raged with all the fury of a
hurricane, the poor negro made his escape, and, being well acquainted
with all the neighbouring swamps, at once made directly for the cane
brake, in the centre of which I found his camp. A few nights afterwards
he gained the abode of his wife, and the very next after their meeting he
led her away. The children one after another he succeeded in stealing,
until at last the whole objects of his love were under his care.
To provide for five individuals was no easy task in those wilds, which,
after the first notice was given of the wonderful disappearance of this extraordinary
family, were daily ransacked by armed planters. Necessity,
it is said, will bring the wolf from the forest. The Runaway seems to
have well understood the maxim, for under night he approached his first
master's plantation, where he had ever been treated with the greatest
kindness. The house servants knew him too well not to aid him to the
best of their power, and at the approach of each morning he returned to
his camp with an ample supply of provisions. One day, while in search
of wild fruits, he found a bear dead before the muzzle of a gun that had
been set for the purpose. Both articles he carried to his home. His
friends at the plantation managed to supply him with some ammunition,
and in damp and cloudy days he first ventured to hunt around his camp.
Possessed of courage and activity, he gradually became more careless, and
rambled farther in search of game. It was on one of his excursions that
I met him, and he assured me that the noise which I made in passing the
bayou had caused him to lose the chance of killing a fine deer, although,
said he, " my old musket misses fire sadly too often.'"
The runaways, after disclosing their secret to me, both rose from their
seat, with eyes full of tears. " Good master, for God's sake, do something
for us and our children,'" they sobbed forth with one accord. Their
little ones lay sound asleep in the fearlessness of their innocence. Who
could have heard such a tale without emotion ? I promised them my most
cordial assistance. They both sat up that night to watch my repose, and
I slept close to their urchins, as if on a bed of the softest down.
Day broke so fair, so pure, and so gladdening, that I told them such
heavenly appearances were ominous of good, and that I scarcely doubted
of obtaining their full pardon. I desired them to take their children with
them, and promised to accompany them to the plantation of their first
master. They gladly obeyed. My Ibises were hung around their camp,
and, as a memento of my having been there, I notched several trees, after
which I bade adieu, perhaps for the last time, to that cane brake. We
soon reached the plantation, the owner of which, with whom I was well