American Scenes, and Christian Slavery - Ebenezer Davies
Four o'clock in the afternoon found us safely on board the
"Anglo-Saxon," a fine new steam-boat, bound for Pittsburgh in
Pennsylvania. We booked ourselves for Cincinnati in Ohio, a distance of
1,550 miles. The fare was 12 dollars each; and the captain said we
should be from six to ten days in getting to our destination. (We were,
however, twelve days.) Twelve dollars, or about 2_l._ 10_s._, for the
occupation of splendid apartments, sitting down at a well-furnished
table, and being conveyed 1,550 miles! Scarcely believing that there
was not some mistake, I asked a fellow-passenger if the 12 dollars
really did include board, and was told that most certainly it did,--it
was the regular fare. Travelling at this rate was literally cheaper
than staying at home. It was just one dollar a day each for food,
lodgings, and locomotion! This "Anglo-Saxon"--forge below and palace
above, as all these boats appear to be--is a noble vessel. The
dimensions, as given me by the "clerk" or purser, are--length of keel
182 feet, breadth of beam 26 feet, depth of hull 6 feet, length of
cabin 140 feet; two engines 6-1/2 feet stroke; two cylinders 18-1/2
inches in diameter; height between decks 9-1/2 feet; having a
fire-engine and hose; berth accommodation for 73 cabin-passengers, but
often has more. Unexpectedly, we had got on board the only temperance
vessel on the river--the only one that kept no "bar." It belonged
chiefly to Quakers. The captain and the clerk, both part-proprietors,
had married sisters. The engineer also was connected with them by
marriage. These circumstances encouraged the hope that we had fallen
into good steady hands, who would do all in their power to avoid
explosion.
The number of steam-boats which puff, and groan, and paddle up and down
the Mississippi, is amazing,--probably not fewer than 1,200. Only in
the year 1812 was the _first_ seen on these western waters! The view of
a long range of these splendid vessels lying against the landing-place
is magnificent. Though not very substantial, they are extremely showy.
Lightness of construction and elegance of accommodation are chiefly
studied. The "Anglo-Saxon" is not by any means one of the largest
class. These vessels are doubtless well adapted for their purpose as
_river_ boats; in the sea, they could do nothing but capsize and sink.
In no portion of the globe should the invention of steam-boats be more
highly appreciated than in the valley of the Mississippi; for nowhere
else has the triumph of art over the obstacles of nature been more
complete. But for this gigantic application of the power of steam,
thousands of boatmen would have been slowly and laboriously _warping_,
and rowing, and _poling_, and _cordelling_ their boats, in a three
months' trip up this mighty stream, which (thanks to Watt) is now
ascended in ten days. This "go-a-head" country advances more in five
years with steam-boats, than it could have done in fifty without them.
The principal points in the Ohio and the Mississippi, which nature had
separated by distances and other obstacles more formidable than attend
the crossing of the Atlantic, art has brought into practical
juxtaposition.
On embarking on the "Anglo-Saxon," we found that we could not get off
that night, and therefore made ourselves comfortable on board till
morning.
February 9.--This morning, while the boat was being got ready, hawkers
of light literature flocked on board. Baskets full of trashy novels
were continually offered to us. Why should not the same facilities be
afforded for obtaining better publications? Truly, "the children of
this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light."
This reproach is not peculiar to Americans. Why should there not be in
England the same facilities for obtaining publications of real value
and utility, as for obtaining works of mere amusement, if not something
worse?
At noon our engine began to puff, and our paddles to move. The
"crescent city" soon vanished in the distance, not, however, till we
had enjoyed a striking view of it, and especially of the harbour. An
area of many acres, covered with a grotesque variety of flat boats,
keel boats, and water craft of every description, that had floated down
from the valley above, lined the upper part of the shore. Steam-boats,
rounding to, or (like our own) sweeping away, cast long horizontal
streams of smoke behind them; while barques and brigs, schooners and
sloops, ranged below each other in order of size, and showing a forest of
masts, occupied the wharfs. These and a thousand other objects, seen as
they were under a brilliant sun, presented a picture of surpassing
splendour; but the curse and blight of slavery were upon it!
Being now fairly under weigh, let me glance at a New Orleans paper of
this morning, which I bought from one of the hawkers. How consoling the
following paragraph!
"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--Captain Duncan, of the 'Swan,' reports that the
tow-boat, 'Daniel Webster,' burst her larboard boiler on the 6th
instant, while towing in a vessel over the South-west Bar. Mr. William
Taylor, one of the Balize pilots, and one of the firemen were instantly
killed. The rest of the crew of the 'Daniel Webster' were slightly
scalded."
These explosions are of daily occurrence; and though we had a fresh
boat, and good steady men to manage it, our feeling of security was
very small.
The six following advertisements I found in succession in the same
paper, besides many more of a like character interspersed throughout
the sheet. How _manly_ and how _mysterious_ is the first!
"To PLANTERS--For Sale, a splendid Virginia woman-servant, thirty years
old, who has been in this country twenty-four years; speaks French and
English; good cook, washer, and ironer, and has kept store. She is of a
strong constitution; has never been sick, and never had a child. She is
for sale for no fault, but on account of domestic trouble. _She is not for
sale for any one in this city. No one but a planter need apply_. For
particulars apply at No. 189, Common-street.
"F 9--t."
"MECHANICS AT PRIVATE SALE.--We have for sale 3 good Carpenters, 1 good
Plasterer, 1 Plantation Blacksmith, 1 excellent Tailor, 1 superior
Cabinetmaker. The above slaves are well recommended, and can be sent on
trial at their respective trades.
"BEARD, CALHOUN & CO.,
"8, Bank's Arcade."
"F 3--10t."
"NEGROES FOR SALE.--A young Negro man, first-rate field hand, 19 or 20
years old; also a very likely girl, good house-servant and tolerable
seamstress. Apply to
"McMAHON & PEARSALL,
"29, Natchez-street."
"F4--6t."
"TEN DOLLARS REWARD.--Left the steam-boat 'Little Rock,' on Monday
morning, the 1st instant, a Mulatto _boy_, named Bob Malane, _about_ 40
_years of age_, 5 feet 4 or 5 inches high. Any information respecting
_said boy_ will be thankfully received at the office of Williams,
Phillips & Co., No. 62, Gravier-street.
"WILLIAM ARNOLD."
"F7--3t."
"FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from Mrs. Shall's, in Canal-street, on
the 6th instant, at 3 o'clock, P.M., the Negro-girl Eliza, aged 16
years, rather small size, very black, with a handsome face. Had on when
she left a dark-coloured calico dress, low quartered shoes, and
stockings; took no other clothing. It is believed she was decoyed away
by a free coloured man, well known on several steam-boats, now in the
city. Captains of vessels going to St. Louis are cautioned not to
receive the girl on board. The above reward will be given for the
apprehension of said slave, if found in the possession of any white or
free coloured person, under circumstances that would lead to a
conviction at law; or 30 dollars if delivered at 28, Canal-street, New
Orleans, with any reasonable expenses incurred in so doing.
"RICHARD KING."
"F 7--2t."
"ONE DOLLAR REWARD.--Will be given for the apprehension of the
Negro-woman Sarah, aged 31 years, 5 feet 2 inches high, stout built;
has good teeth; no scars or blemishes about her face, or marks upon her
person. Speaks French, English, and Spanish.
"JOSE ANTONIO LANONDO,
"Corner St. Thomas and Basins Streets."
"F2--6t."
Against the powerful current of the "father of waters" we advanced at
the rate of more than 200 miles a day! It was consequently dark when we
passed Baton Rouge, 140 miles from New Orleans. Baton Rouge, now the
capital of Louisiana, is situated on the first "bluff," or elevation,
to be met with in ascending the river. The United States' Barracks
there are built, I am told, in a very fine style.
February 10.--We began to feel the cold very keenly: the thermometer
was down at 46. In the middle of the day, we had to stop at an estate
to take in a large quantity of sugar and molasses. The upper parts of
the valley send down flour and provisions, getting from the lower sugar
and molasses in return. This stoppage affording an opportunity of going
ashore, I went to see the estate buildings; and though such buildings
as existing in Guiana were quite familiar to me, I was interested in
observing the difference. Those of Guiana are incomparably superior;
but _these_ are the result of a better policy. Ours are too large and
too expensive; these are rude, simple, and cheap, and yet answer the
purpose. Seeing slaves at work, I addressed several questions to one of
them relative to the cultivation and manufacture of sugar, and received
very sensible and even _polite_ answers.
By this time we had received an impression of the character of our
fellow-passengers. The mass of the "gentlemen" were rude and filthy
beyond expression. The promenade or gallery outside, which might be
very pleasant, was bespattered all over with vile expectoration. No
lady could venture there with safety. The men will persist in spitting
on the floor, when it would be quite as convenient to spit into the
water. Many of the names of places on the route ending in _ville_,--as
Donaldsonville, Francisville, Iberville, Nashville, &c.,--I could not
help asking if we had not many passengers from _Spitville_. But this
was not the worst feature in the character of our fellow-travellers,
who comprised gamblers, fighters, swearers, drunkards, "soul drivers,"
and everything base and bad. Of these, we had about fifty as cabin
passengers; but there were upwards of a hundred deck passengers
below--not above,--and they were ten times worse. Among men so much
resembling demons I had never before been. However, my wife being with
me, I had the _entree_ of the ladies' cabin. This was the abode of
quiet and decency, there being but three other ladies besides. Of
these, one had her husband with her, a respectable farmer from
Pennsylvania, who shipped all his last year's produce in a flat boat,
came down in it with his wife, sold his cargo in New Orleans, bought
there what he might want during the year, and was now on his way home
again by steam. Another lady, who was from Philadelphia, had come all
the way to New Orleans in the hope of having a last glance of her
husband before he was ordered off to Mexico,--was just too late,--and
was returning home alone, with a heavy heart and an anxious mind. The
third lady was a German girl from Baden, who had lived in New Orleans
for three years, and was now on her way to Cincinnati to see her
brother. We had also the boat's washer-woman, an old lady from New
England, who sat in the ladies' cabin with as much composure as if she
thought herself quite as good as any of the rest. Such is American
society! So terribly afraid are they of anything that looks like
aristocracy, except towards the coloured people!
I found on board a Baptist minister from the State of Maine, in New
England, a thorough anti-slavery man. His testimony against the South
on this subject was strong. He had lately been on a visit to a brother
minister of his own denomination in North Carolina. At first, whenever
the New Englander desired to go into the yard, it was necessary for his
reverend brother to accompany him, and introduce him to a number of
large dogs; otherwise they would have worried him.
These animals were kept to prevent his reverence's slaves from running
away, and to hunt them if they did. And yet, as my travelling companion
assured me, this reverend slave-holder gravely and pathetically
complained of the reluctance of the slaves to attend family worship!
LETTER XII.
Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--"Patriarchal" Establishments--The
Red River--Elder Wright--Lynch-Law administered by a Preacher--Natchez
--Story of Mary Brown--The Flat Boats of the Mississippi.
On the 10th of February we passed a great many sugar estates on both
sides of the river, which would be agreeable objects but for the curse
of slavery. For who can look with pleasure upon the foul abodes of
lust, oppression, and cruelty? At the outer gate, in front of one of
these "patriarchal" establishments, was a small octagonal building
about 6 or 8 feet in mean diameter. The basement was of brick, pierced
by small air holes, barred with iron, at the height of about 8 feet
from the ground; and the upper part was of wood, terminating in a
pigeon-house. Making a short stay there to take in fire-wood, we
inquired into the use of the building; but all the answer we could get
was, that it was a "pigeon-house." The Baptist minister from Maine
asked a negro, who was helping to bring wood on board; and from him he
learned the real truth,--that it was a place of punishment and torture
for the oppressed slave. We have since ascertained that such buildings
are very common, and generally pass under the euphemistic name of
"pigeon-houses."
On the 11th of February--a fine frosty day--we came to Red River,
branching on our left in the direction of Texas, with which country it
forms an important means of communication. This river, even where it
pours its waters into the Mississippi, is not more than from 300 to 500
feet wide, and yet is navigable by steamers for about 1,200 miles. My
Baptist friend had recently been on a visit to Elder Wright, a planter
and a slave-holder on that river. This Wright was a New-England man,
had graduated at Yale College, and boasted that he was "a Northern man
with Southern feelings." He was called Elder Wright because he was a
preacher,--the Baptists here calling all preachers "elders." Now, this
Elder Wright told my friend that a few years ago there was great fear
in his district of the slaves rising up against their masters. To this
they were supposed to be instigated by the presence and influence of
some strangers. Under this apprehension, a secret committee was formed
to seize and try every suspected stranger, and, if he could not clear
himself to their satisfaction, to "hang him up quietly." Of this secret
and murderous committee Elder Wright--an _alumnus_ of Yale College, a
professor of religion, and a preacher of the gospel--was chosen
chairman; and the statement I have just made came in the way described
from his own lips! It is notorious that in the South they think nothing
of taking away a man's life, if he be even suspected of sympathy with
the slave; and a country so thinly inhabited affords abundant
opportunities of doing it as "quietly" as can be desired. America is
indeed a land of "liberty!"
At night we came to Natchez, a town beautifully situated on the top of
a hill, about 300 feet above the level of the river, and for this
reason called "Natchez-on-the-Hill." Its population is about 5,000; and
it is the largest town in the State of Mississippi. Its distance from
New Orleans is 300 miles. Darkness had set in when we approached it;
yet the numerous lights on shore, rising row above row to a great
elevation, gave it a lively and interesting appearance. But, alas!
Natchez also is a great slave market; and I can never think of it
without remembering the sufferings of poor Mary Brown. Let me narrate
her painful story. It may waken in some breast a feeling of sympathy
for the American slave.
Mary Brown, a coloured girl, was the daughter of _free_ parents in
Washington city--the capital of the freest nation under heaven! She
lived with her parents till the death of her mother. One day, when she
was near the Potomac Bridge, the sheriff overtook her, and told her
that she must go with him. She inquired what for? He made no reply, but
told her to come along, and took her immediately to a slave-auction.
Mary told him she was free; but he contradicted her, and the sale
proceeded. The auctioneer soon sold her for 350 dollars to a
Mississippi trader. She was first taken to jail; and after a few hours
was handcuffed, chained to a _man-slave_, and started in a drove of
about forty for New Orleans. Her handcuffs made her wrists swell so
much that at night they were obliged to take them off, and put fetters
round her ankles. In the morning the handcuffs were again put on. Thus
they travelled for two weeks, wading rivers, whipped up all day, and
beaten at night if they had not performed the prescribed distance. She
frequently waded rivers in her chains, with water up to her waist. The
month was October, and the air cold and frosty. After she had travelled
thus twelve or fifteen days, her arms and ankles had become so swollen
that she felt as if she could go no further. They had no beds, usually
sleeping in barns, sometimes out on the naked ground; and such were her
misery and pain that she could only lie and cry all night. Still she
was driven on for another week; and every time the trader caught her
crying he beat her, uttering fearful curses. If he caught her praying,
he said, he would "give her _hell_." Mary was a member of the Methodist
Church in Washington. There were several pious people in the company;
and at night, when the driver found them melancholy and disposed to
pray, he had a fiddle brought, and made them dance in their chains,
whipping them till they complied. Mary at length became so weak that
she really could travel on foot no further. Her feeble frame was
exhausted, and sank beneath accumulated sufferings. She was seized with
a burning fever; and the diabolical trader--not moved with pity, but
only fearing he should lose her--placed her for the remainder of the
way in a waggon. Arriving at Natchez, they were all offered for sale.
Mary, being still sick, begged she might be sold to a kind master.
Sometimes she made this request in the hearing of purchasers, but was
always insulted for it, and afterwards punished by her cruel master for
her presumption. On one occasion he tied her up by the hands so that
she could barely touch the floor with her toes. He kept her thus
suspended a whole day, whipping her at intervals. In any other country
this inhuman beast would have been tried for the greatest crime, short
of murder, that man can commit against woman, and transported for life.
Poor Mary Brown was at length sold, at 450 dollars, as a house-servant
to a wealthy man of Vicksburgh, who compelled her to cohabit with him,
and had children by her,--most probably filling up the measure of his
iniquity by selling his own flesh. Wrongs like these must have inspired
our poet when he exclaimed,--
"To think that man--them just and gentle God--Should stand before
Thee with a tyrant's rod O'er creatures like himself, with souls from
Thee, Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty! Away! away! I 'd rather
hold my neck In doubtful tenure from a sultan's beck, In climes where
Liberty has scarce been named, Nor any right but that of ruling
claimed, Than thus to live where bastard Freedom waves Her fustian flag
in mockery over slaves!"
As we advanced, we continually met with flat boats, laden with produce,
and floating sluggishly down. In the vernacular phrase, these boats are
called "Kentucky flats," or "broad-horns." They are curiously
constructed. At a distance, they appear like large chests or trunks
afloat. They are from 50 to 100 feet long, and generally about 15 or 20
feet wide. The timbers of the bottom are massive beams. The sides are
boarded up square to the height of 6 feet above the water; the roof
being slightly curved, like a trunk lid, to throw off rain. They are
adapted to carry from 200 to 400 barrels. Great numbers of cattle,
hogs, and horses are conveyed to market in them. Coals, too, are thus
brought down from the upper parts of the valley. Some of these barges
have apartments fitted up for the accommodation of a family, with a
stove, beds, tables, &c. You may sometimes see in them ladies,
servants, cows, horses, sheep, dogs, and poultry,--all floating on the
same bottom. It was precisely in this fashion that the Pennsylvanian
farmer and his wife had reached New Orleans. Indeed, most of our
fellow-passengers had come as captains or crews of flat boats. Of
course, no attempt is made to get these unwieldy boats back against the
current. It would be impracticable. The flat boat makes but one trip
during its individual existence. Arrived at New Orleans, it is sold for
"lumber," and taken to pieces. In short, by this arrangement timber and
produce are brought to market at the same time, the "stuff" of which
the float is composed being but little injured. One cannot look at
these temporary structures without being impressed with the vast
importance of those water-powers which the Americans, with a wonderful
tact, bring to bear in the way of saw-mills on the exhaustless
resources of the forest. The very first thing looked for in settling a
new district is water-power.
These flats, though destined for but a single voyage, sometimes do not
reach their port,--seldom without more or less of danger,--and never
without infinite toil' They usually carry but three or four hands.
Their form and gravity render them very unmanageable. Lying flat and
dead in the water, with square timbers below their bottom planks, they
often run on a sandbank with a strong head-way, and bury their timbers
in the soil. To get them afloat again is a great labour. Sometimes they
run upon a "snag," and are instantly swallowed up with all their crew
and all their cargo. Sometimes a steamer runs into one of them, and
produces a catastrophe equally fatal to both. But all the toils, and
dangers, and exposures connected with the long and perilous voyage of a
flat boat, do not appear to the passer-by. As you cut along by the
power of steam, the flat boat seems anything but a place of toil or
care. One of the hands scrapes a violin, while the others dance.
Affectionate greetings, or rude defiances, or trials of wit, or
proffers of love to the girls on shore, or saucy messages pass between
them and the spectators along the bank, or on the steam-boat. Yet,
knowing the dangers to which they were really exposed, the sight of
them often brought to my remembrance an appropriate verse of Dr.
Watts:--
"Your streams were floating me along
Down to the gulf of black despair;
And, whilst I listened to your song,
Your streams had e'en conveyed me there."
These boats, however, do not venture to travel by night; consequently,
at any good landing-place on the Mississippi, you may see towards
evening a large number of them assembled. They have come from regions
thousands of miles apart. They have never met before,--they will
probably never meet again. The fleet of flats covers, perhaps, a
surface of several acres. "Fowls are fluttering over the roofs as
invariable appendages. The piercing note of the chanticleer is heard.
The cattle low. The horses trample as in their stables. The swine
scream, and fight with each other. The turkeys jobble. The dogs of a
hundred regions become acquainted. The boatmen travel about from boat
to boat, to make inquiries and form acquaintances." It is a world in
miniature.
LETTER XIII.
Voyage up the Mississippi (continued)--Grand Gulph and Big Black
River--Snags--"I belong to myself, Sir"--Vicksburg and Lynch Law--A Man
Overboard--"Drove of Horses, Mules, and Niggers"--Character of
Fellow-Passengers--The Sabbath--Disobedience to Conscience.
We came on the 12th of February to the Grand Gulph and "Big Black
River." The former is situated at the base of a bold and solitary
"bluff." Here, a few years ago, "a negro man was condemned by the _mob_
to be _burned alive over a slow fire_, which was put into execution,
for murdering a black woman and her master Mr. Green, a respectable
citizen of that place, who attempted to save her from the clutches of
this monster." Such is the newspaper version of the affair. Had the
real truth been stated, it would have appeared that this Green was the
"_monster_," who had seduced the wretched negro's wife!
The "Big Black River" is not so very "big" after all. It is extremely
narrow, although navigable for some hundreds of miles.
Besides the danger of explosion--which, I apprehend, arises from
"racing" and carelessness more than from any other cause--steam-boats
on the "father of waters" are exposed to "snags." These snags are
trunks of large trees that have become fastened in the bed of the
river, and are often found lying against the stream at angles of from
30 to 40 degrees. As the river varies much with regard to the quantity
of water in its channel,--frequently rising or falling from 6 to 12
feet in a few hours,--these snags are sometimes so deep in the water
that they can be passed over with safety; at other times, however, they
are but just covered. If a boat coming--especially down the
stream--with high pressure and at full speed, making between twenty and
thirty miles an hour, runs against one of these firmly-fixed,
immoveable snags, it sustains a fearful shock. Not unfrequently a large
hole is thus made in the bottom; and boat, cargo, crew, passengers, and
all, sink in an instant. The danger is greatly increased by fogs, often
so dense that the helmsman, though situated on the hurricane-deck and
over the fore part of the vessel, can see nothing before him. In such a
case, wise and cautious men "lie to," and wait till the mist has
cleared off.