11. A Slave Auction
BY EDWARD ALBERT POLLARD (1858) The Romance of the Civil War | ||
11. A Slave Auction
BY EDWARD ALBERT POLLARD (1858)
I ATTENDED a slave auction here the other day. The negroes were called up in succession on the steps of the court-house, where the crier stood. Naturally most of them appeared anxious as the bidding was going on, turning their eyes from one bidder to the other; while the scene would be occasionally enlivened by some jest in depreciation of the negro on the stand, which would be received with especial merriment by his fellow negroes, who awaited their turn, and looked on from a large wagon in which they were placed. As I came up, a second-rate plantation hand of the name Of Noah, but whom the crier persisted in calling "Noey,"was being offered. Noey,
As the bidders call over each other, Noey becomes more excited. "Drive on, Mass'r John,"he exclaims, laughing with excitement. The bidding is very slow. Mass'r John evidently hesitates at the last call, $ 1085, as too large a price for the slave, though anxious to bid the poor fellow in ; but Noey is shouting to him, amid the incitements of the crowd, to "Drive on "; and, after a pause, he says in a firm tone, eleven hundred dollars. The crier calls out the round numbers with a decided emphasis. He looks at the first bidder, who is evidently making up his mind whether to go higher, while Noey is regarding him, too, with a look of the keenest suspense. The man shakes his head at last, the hammer falls, and Noey, with an exulting whoop, dashes down the steps to his master.
11. A Slave Auction
BY EDWARD ALBERT POLLARD (1858) The Romance of the Civil War | ||