ng,
ditching, and, when the swamps were full, the floating out of timber,
were all carried on with great diligence. At Christmas, when all the
clothing, shoes, and Kilmarnock caps had been given out to the
ditchers, high waterproof boots were distributed. It was the custom
to allow to every man who desired it a bit of land, upon which, in his
spare time, to cultivate a small crop, for which he was paid the
market price. Christmas was the usual day chosen for settling these
accounts, and the broad piazza was full of happy, grinning black faces
gathered around the table at which the master sat, with his
account-book and bags of specie. A deep obeisance and a scrape of the
foot accompanied each payment, and many a giggle was given to the lazy
one whose small payment testified to his indolence. What a contrast
between those happy, sleek, laughing faces and the sullen, careworn,
ill-fed ones of now! In the early springtime, what was known as the
"trash-gang," that is, boys and girls who had never worked, were set
to clearing up fences, knocking down cotton stalks, and burning small
trash piles.

I pause here to say that, the woodlands being a long distance from the
quarters, the supply of fuel was a serious question, and when there
was a threat of snow or increasing cold, every man would be employed
in cutting or hauling a supply of fuel to the houses.

Planting time began with the middle of March. In August the crops were
"laid by." The three days' holiday began with the slaughter of pigs
and beeves, in preparation for the annual dinner upon every
plantation. After holiday came the fodder-pulling, a job hated by all,
especially by overseer and master, as the drenching dews and the hot
sun combined to make much sickness. This work was never begun until
late in the morning, but even after the sun had shone upon the fields,
the people would be drenched in dew to their waists. Next, the
whitening fields told that cotton-picking must begin, and, later on, a
killing frost upon the already browning shucks sent the great wagons
to the fields, where the corn-gatherers, with sharp needles tied to
their wrists, ripped open the tough shucks and let loose the
well-hardened ears of grain. As each field became stripped, stock
would be turned in to feast upon the peas and pumpkins.

With winter came that period of bliss to the soul of Cuffee, namely,
the hog-killing, when even the smallest urchin might revel in grease
and fresh meat.