Slave Life in Georgia - African American History

Slave Life in Georgia 66
he struck a bargain for me, and I was sold to him for twelve hundred dollars.
My new master bought a good many others, besides myself, who were at once
chained and handcuffed. Freeman guaranteed me, so I was not served so; and
when I learnt that he and my new master placed confidence in me, I made it a
point of honour not to try and get away, so long as we were in the city, though
had I been so minded, there was no lack of opportunities. Bob and I were
charged with the conducting of the drove to the quay. We shipped on board the
steamer Occola, when Bob and I parted company. We were soon off, and at
about four in the afternoon of the second day, we reached a landing, within a
stone's throw of Jepsey James' house, just below the Shirt-tail bend in the
Mississippi.
Page 127
24.03.2006
CHAPTER XIV.
HOW I GOT AWAY FROM JEPSEY JAMES'.
My new master's place was distant about a hundred and fifty yards from the
landing. He and his family dwelt in a dirty log hut, which formed the principal
building in a group of about thirty negro picket cabins, the whole enclosed
within a large "yard," about four acres in extent. These cabins were made of
four crotches set upright in the ground, with cypress slabs across. The floor was
of plank laid on the bare earth. It was an uncomfortable, prison-looking sort of a
place, and the sight of it did not cheer me much. His wife was a small, fiery
woman, and as good a "man of business" as himself. They were both rich, and
had about a hundred and fifty slaves. The farm was a cotton farm. James grew
nothing else.
After we reached our quarters, we got supper and turned in to rest. At four next
morning we were roused up by the "nigger bell." It hung upon a post in the yard,
twenty feet high, and
Page 128
was rung by a rope. It was, I think, the month of February, for it was towards
the close of cotton-picking time, and we all went out into the field to pick cotton
from the bole, the children from ten years of age going out with us. We picked
until twelve o'clock, when the cotton was weighed by a negro driver named Jeff,