ee what I never saw in Scotland,
and led my wife upstairs. Opening the door I found myself in a backshed,
with Bambray rubbing ointment on a negro's arm. The man was a runaway
slave and had arrived that morning on a schooner from Oswego. Bambray
had washed him and dressed him in clean overalls. He bade the negro pull
off his shirt so that I might see the marks of the welts made by a
whipping he had got with a blacksnake whip and his master's brand, made
with a hot iron, on his right arm. The left arm had got injured in his
flight and had an unhealed wound. The poor fellow said he came from
Maryland and had known no trouble until his wife had been taken from him
and sold. His master ordered him to pick on another woman, but he loved
his wife and ran away to find her; had been caught and whipped to within
an inch of his life. Hearing slaves were free in Canada, he took the
first chance to slip away. He hid during the day, and at night, guided
by the plow in the sky, kept northwards. He got some food by visiting
negro huts, and at one of these he was told how a band of white people
helped negroes seeking their liberty. Finding a house he was directed to
call at, he found it was true. The man fed him and ferried him across a
river and gave him the landmarks of the next house he was to call at for
help, and from one to another he was passed along until he got to
Oswego, where he was hid in the hold of a schooner whose captain was an
Englishman. It had taken him a long time to make the journey, he could
not tell me how long, for he did not know the days of the week much less
the months. On getting to Toronto he was guided by a sailor boy to
Bambray's house, which was one of several where runaways were sure of
help. Asked Bambray what he would do with the man. When fit for work he
would be given an ax, saw, and sawhorse and was sure of earning a
living. 'Me strong,' said the man, standing up, 'and me free.' Left
Bambray's late in the afternoon and got home before sunset.

Aug. 27--A week of steady work chopping. We must get clearances big
enough to raise crops for next year's living no matter how hot the days
are.

Aug. 28--The Simmins family spent the day with us. They leave for the
lake Simcoe country. All three like the free life of fishing, trapping,
and hunting, and spoke as if they were going on a holiday. If they did
well and got a big pack of furs, they intend in the spring to try
Illinois, so we may not meet again. T