weigh
about seventy-five to a hundred pounds, but us chillen put our pickin's
in some growed slave's basket. De growed slaves was jes' like a mule. He
work for grub and clothes, and some of dem didn't have as easier a time
as a mule, for mules was fed good and slaves was sometimes half
starved. But Massa Cole was a smart man and a good man with it. He had
'spect for the slaves' feelin's and didn't treat dem like dumb brutes,
and 'lowed dem more privileges dan any other slaveholder round dere. He
was one of de best men I ever knows in my whole life and his wife was
jes' like him. Dey had a big, four-room log house with a big hall down
the center up and down. De logs was all peeled and de chinkin' a
diff'rent color from de logs and covered with beads. De kitchen am a
one-room house behin' de big house with de big chimney to cook on. Dat
where all de meals cooked and carry to de house.

"In winter massa allus kill from three to four hundred hawgs, de two
killin's he done in November and January. Some kill and stick, some
scald and scrape, and some dress dem and cut dem up and render de lard.
Dey haul plenty hick'ry wood to de smokehouse and de men works in shifts
to keep de smoke fire goin' sev'ral days, den hangs de meat in de
meathouse. First us eat all de chitlin's, den massa begin issuin'
cut-back bones to each fam'ly, and den 'long come de spareribs, den de
middlin' or a shoulder, and by dat time he kill de second time and dis
was to go all over 'gain. Each fam'ly git de same kind of meat each
week. Iffen one git a ham, dey all git a ham. All de ears and feet was
pickle and we eats dem, too. If de meat run out 'fore killin' time, us
git wild turkeys or kill a beef or a goat, or git a deer.

"Massa let us plant pumpkins and have a acre or two for watermelons,
iffen us work dem on Saturday evenin's. Dere a orchard of 'bout five or
six acres peaches and apples and he 'low us to have biscuits once a
week. Yes, we had good eatin' and plenty of it den.

"Massa had one big, stout, healthy lookin' slave 'bout six foot, four
inches tall, what he pay $3,000 for. He bought six slaves I knows of and
give from $400 up for dem. He never sold a slave 'less he git onruly.

"Massa allus give us cotton clothes for summer and wool for winter,
'cause he raised cotton and sheep. Den each fam'ly have some chickens
and sell dem and de eggs and maybe go huntin' and sell de hides and git
some money. Den us buy what am Sunday clothes with