. The want of beds, however, was not considered a very
great privation. Time to sleep was of far greater importance, for, when
the day's work is done, most of the slaves have their washing, mending
and cooking to do; and, having few or none of the ordinary facilities
for doing such things, very many of their sleeping hours are consumed in
necessary preparations for the duties of the coming day.

The sleeping apartments--if they may be called such--have little regard
to comfort or decency. Old and young, male and female, married and
single, drop down upon the common clay floor, each covering up with his
or her blanket,--the only protection they have from cold or exposure.
The night, however, is shortened at both ends. The slaves work often as
long as they can see, and are late in cooking and mending for the coming
day; and, at the first gray streak of morning, they are summoned to the
field by the driver's horn.

More slaves are whipped for oversleeping than for any other fault.
Neither age nor sex finds any favor. The overseer stands at the quarter
door, armed with stick and cowskin, ready to whip any who may be a few
minutes behind time. When the horn is blown, there is a rush for the
door, and the hindermost one is sure to get a blow from the overseer.
Young mothers who worked in the field, were allowed an hour, about ten
o'clock in the morning, to go home to nurse their children. Sometimes
they were compelled to take their children with them, and to leave them
in the corner of the fences, to prevent loss of time in nursing them.
The overseer generally rides about the field on horseback. A cowskin and
a hickory stick are his constant companions. The{80} cowskin is a
kind of whip seldom seen in the northern states. It is made entirely
of untanned, but dried, ox hide, and is about as hard as a piece of
well-seasoned live oak. It is made of various sizes, but the usual
length is about three feet. The part held in the hand is nearly an
inch in thickness; and, from the extreme end of the butt or handle, the
cowskin tapers its whole length to a point. This makes it quite elastic
and springy. A blow with it, on the hardest back, will gash the flesh,
and make the blood start. Cowskins are painted red, blue and green,
and are the favorite slave whip. I think this whip worse than the
"cat-o'nine-tails." It condenses the whole strength of the arm to a
single point, and comes with a spring that makes the air whistle. It
is a ter