him, that is, fasten his feet
together, draw up his knees to his chin, tie his hands together, draw
them down over the knees, and put a stick under the latter and over the
arms. In either of these ways the slave was entirely at the mercy of his
tormentors, and the whipping could proceed at their pleasure. After
these whippings the slave was often left helpless and bleeding upon the
ground, until the master, or overseer, saw fit to let him up. The most
common method of punishment was to have the servants form a ring, called
the "bull ring," into which the one to be punished was led naked. The
slaves were then each given a switch, rawhide, strap or whip, and each
one was compelled to cut at the poor victim as he ran around the ring.
The ring was composed of men, women and children; and, as they numbered
from forty to fifty, each circuit of the ring would result in that
number of lashes, and by the time the victim had made two or three
rounds his condition can be readily imagined. The overseer was always
one of the ring, vigorously using the whip, and seeing that all the
slaves did the same. Some of the victims fainted before they had passed
once around the ring. Women slaves were punished in the same manner as
the men. The salt water bath was given after each punishment. Runaway
slaves were usually caught by means of hounds, trained for the purpose
by men who made it a business and a source of revenue, notwithstanding
its brutal features and degrading influence.

* * * * *

FOURTH OF JULY BARBECUE.

Barbecue originally meant to dress and roast a hog whole, but has come
to mean the cooking of a food animal in this manner for the feeding of a
great company. A feast of this kind was always given to us, by Boss, on
the 4th of July. The anticipation of it acted as a stimulant through
the entire year. Each one looked forward to this great day of recreation
with pleasure. Even the older slaves would join in the discussion of the
coming event. It mattered not what trouble or hardship the year had
brought, this feast and its attendant pleasure would dissipate all
gloom. Some, probably, would be punished on the morning of the 4th, but
this did not matter; the men thought of the good things in store for
them, and that made them forget that they had been punished. All the
week previous to the great day, the slaves were in high spirits, the
young girls and boys, each evening, congregating, in front of