He was seated in the doorway of a low groggery. I waspassing， in a drove of slaves， through St. Mary’s parish. Edwin Epps， of whom much will be said during theremainder of this history， is a large， portly， heavybodiedman with light hair， high cheek bones， and a Romannose of extraordinary dimensions. He has blue eyes，a fair complexion， and is， as I should say， full six feethigh. He has the sharp， inquisitive expression of ajockey. His manners are repulsive and coarse， and hislanguage gives speedy and unequivocal evidence that hehas never enjoyed the advantages of an education. Hehas the faculty of saying most provoking things， in thatrespect even excelling old Peter Tanner. At the time Icame into his possession， Edwin Epps was fond of thebottle， his “sprees” sometimes extending over the spaceof two whole weeks. Latterly， however， he had reformedhis habits， and when I left him， was as strict a specimenof temperance as could be found on Bayou Boeuf. When“in his Cups，” Master Epps was a roystering， blustering，noisy fellow， whose chief delight was in dancing with his“niggers，” or lashing them about the yard with his longwhip， just for the pleasure of hearing them screech andscream， as the great welts were planted on their backs.
When sober， he was silent， reserved and cunning， notbeating us indiscriminately， as in his drunken moments，but sending the end of his rawhide to some tender spot ofa lagging slave， with a sly dexterity peculiar to himself.
He had been a driver and overseer in his youngeryears， but at this time was in possession of a plantationon Bayou Huff Power， two and a half miles fromHolmesville， eighteen from Marksville， and twelve fromCheneyville. It belonged to Joseph B. Roberts， his wife’suncle， and was leased by Epps. His principal businesswas raising cotton， and inasmuch as some may read thisbook who have never seen a cotton field， a deion ofthe manner of its culture may not be out of place.
The ground is prepared by throwing up beds or ridges，with the plough—back-furrowing， it is called. Oxenand mules， the latter almost exclusively， are used inploughing. The women as frequently as the men performthis labor， feeding， currying， and taking care of theirteams， and in all respects doing the field and stable work，precisely as do the ploughboys of the North.
The beds， or ridges， are six feet wide， that is， fromwater furrow to water furrow. A plough drawn by onemule is then run along the top of the ridge or center ofthe bed， making the drill， into which a girl usually dropsthe seed， which she carries in a bag hung round herneck. Behind her comes a mule and harrow， coveringup the seed， so that two mules three slaves， a ploughand harrow， are employed in planting a row of cotton.
This is done in the months of March and April. Corn isplanted in February. When there are no cold rains， thecotton usually makes its appearance in a week. In thecourse of eight or ten days afterwards the first hoeing iscommenced. This is performed in part， also， by the aidof the plough and mule. The plough passes as near aspossible to the cotton on both sides， throwing the furrowfrom it. Slaves follow with their hoes， cutting up the grassand cotton， leaving hills two feet and a half apart. This iscalled scraping cotton. In two weeks more commencesthe second hoeing. This time the furrow is throwntowards the cotton. Only one stalk， the largest， is now leftstanding in each hill. In another fortnight it is hoed thethird time， throwing the furrow towards the cotton in thesame manner as before， and killing all the grass betweenthe rows. About the first of July， when it is a foot high orthereabouts， it is hoed the fourth and last time. Now thewhole space between the rows is ploughed， leaving a deepwater furrow in the center. During all these hoeings theoverseer or driver follows the slaves on horseback with awhip， such as has been described. The fastest hoer takesthe lead row. He is usually about a rod in advance of hiscompanions. If one of them passes him， he is whipped.
If one falls behind or is a moment idle， he is whipped. Infact， the lash is flying from morning until night， the wholeday long. The hoeing season thus continues from Apriluntil July， a field having no sooner been finished once，than it is commenced again.
In the latter part of August begins the cotton pickingseason. At this time each slave is presented with a sack.
A strap is fastened to it， which goes over the neck， holdingthe mouth of the sack breast high， while the bottomreaches nearly to the ground. Each one is also presentedwith a large basket that will hold about two barrels. This isto put the cotton in when the sack is filled. The baskets arecarried to the field and placed at the beginning of the rows.
When a new hand， one unaccustomed to the business，is sent for the first time into the field， he is whipped upsmartly， and made for that day to pick as fast as he canpossibly. At night it is weighed， so that his capabilityin cotton picking is known. He must bring in thesame weight each night following. If it falls short， it isconsidered evidence that he has been laggard， and agreater or less number of lashes is the penalty.
An ordinary day’s work is two hundred pounds. Aslave who is accustomed to picking， is punished， if he orshe brings in a less quantity than that. There is a greatdifference among them as regards this kind of labor.
Some of them seem to have a natural knack， or quickness，which enables them to pick with great celerity， and withboth hands， while others， with whatever practice orindustry， are utterly unable to come up to the ordinarystandard. Such hands are taken from the cotton field andemployed in other business. Patsey， of whom I shall havemore to say， was known as the most remarkable cottonpicker on Bayou Boeuf. She picked with both hands andwith such surprising rapidity， that five hundred pounds aday was not unusual for her.
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