wyer, is not this your hand-writing?' He replied, 'Mistress
said, the last word when I came away, I was not to sell him, but send
him home again.' Captain Minner said, 'Mind, gentlemen, I do not want
him for a slave; I want to buy him for freedom. He will repay me the
money, and I shall not charge him a cent of interest for it. I would
not have a colored person, to drag me down to hell, for all the money
in the world.' A gentleman who was by said it was a shame I should be
so treated; I had bought myself so often that Mr. Sawyer ought to let
me go. The very worst man as an overseer over the persons employed in
digging the canal, Mr. Wiley M'Pherson, was there; he was never known
to speak in favor of a colored person; even he said that Mr. Sawyer
ought to let me go, as I had been sold so often. At length, Mr. Sawyer
consented I should go for $650, and would take no less. I wished
Captain Minner to give the extra $50, and not stand about it. I
believe it was what M'Pherson said that induced my master to let me
go; for he was well known for his great severity to colored people; so
that after even he had said so, master could not stand out. The Lord
must have opened M'Pherson's heart to say it.

I have said this M'Pherson was an overseer where slaves were employed
in cutting canals. The labor there is very severe. The ground is often
very boggy; the negroes are up to the middle, or much deeper, in mud
and water, cutting away roots and baling out mud; if they can keep
their heads above water, they work on. They lodge in huts, or, as they
are called, camps, made of shingles or boards. They lie down in the
mud which has adhered to them, making a great fire to dry themselves,
and keep off the cold. No bedding whatever is allowed them; it is only
by work done over his task that any of them can get a blanket. They
are paid nothing, except for this overwork. Their masters come once a
month to receive the money for their labor; then, perhaps, some few
very good masters will give them $2 each, some others $1, some a pound
of tobacco, and some nothing at all. The food is more abundant than
that of field slaves: indeed, it is the best allowance in America--it
consists of a peck of meal and six pounds of pork per week; the pork
is commonly not good; it is damaged, and is bought, as cheap as
possible, at auctions.

M'Pherson gave the same task to each slave; of course, the weak ones
often failed to do it. I have often seen him tie up p