little rice one night after he came in from work, and cooked it for his
supper. But his master soon discovered the theft; locked him up all night;
and kept him without food till one o'clock the next day. He then hung Ben
up by his hands, and beat him from time to time till the slaves came in at
night. We found the poor creature hung up when we came home; with a pool
of blood beneath him, and our master still licking him. But this was not
the worst. My master's son was in the habit of stealing the rice and rum.
Ben had seen him do this, and thought he might do the same, and when
master found out that Ben had stolen the rice and swore to punish him, he
tried to excuse himself by saying that Master Dickey did the same thing
every night. The lad denied it to his father, and was so angry with Ben
for informing against him, that out of revenge he ran and got a bayonet,
and whilst the poor wretch was suspended by his hands and writhing under
his wounds, he run it quite through his foot. I was not by when he did it,
but I saw the wound when I came home, and heard Ben tell the manner in
which it was done.

I must say something more about this cruel son of a cruel father.--He had
no heart--no fear of God; he had been brought up by a bad father in a bad
path, and he delighted to follow in the same steps. There was a little old
woman among the slaves called Sarah, who was nearly past work; and, Master
Dickey being the overseer of the slaves just then, this poor creature, who
was subject to several bodily infirmities, and was not quite right in her
head, did not wheel the barrow fast enough to please him. He threw her
down on the ground, and after beating her severely, he took her up in his
arms and flung her among the prickly-pear bushes, which are all covered
over with sharp venomous prickles. By this her naked flesh was so
grievously wounded, that her body swelled and festered all over, and she
died a few days after. In telling my own sorrows, I cannot pass by those
of my fellow-slaves--for when I think of my own griefs, I remember theirs.