ST. cumstance, and he went accordingly. Generally speaking, during Mr. Mulhall's CHRISTOPHER. and Mr. Fazakerley's time, the negroes appeared more healthy generally than of late years. In Mr. Fazakerley's time there were a great many deaths, but the number kept up either by birth or purchase, which has not been the case latterly. Generally I have observed, in the fall of the year, when there has been much rain, and a quantity of ground provisions, bowel complaints are more prevalent. I believe in Mr. Mulhall's time negroes were purchased. I cannot account for the numbers being kept up during Mr. Fazakerley's time, and not now. I am inclined to think that Mr. Walley turned out some negroes before they were perfectly cured, but do not remember it having caused their return. Alex. Fanley. : (signed) Dr. Cairnes sworn. I attended Stapleton's estate in 1822 and 1823; Mr. Mulhall was the manager, and was succeeded by Mr. Fazakerley; the gang during these years was very sickly there were three prevalent complaints during this time, fever, dysentery, and enfluenza; there were a great many chronic complaints and broken constitutions; a great many infected with mal-de-stomach, which we call dirt-eaters; there were many women obstructed, for among chronic complaints that is frequently the case; a great many miscarriages; the miscarriages on the estate were frequently occasioned by the misconduct of the slaves themselves; there were more deaths during the two years I attended the estate than any other estate I attended; they were a very sickly gang; I think we lost four from enfluenza, to the best of my recollection, and several from dysentery; during this period provisions were very scarce, and I have known the negroes six weeks without provisions, except what they themselves got from the ground; the attendance of the sick-house was not good, but Mr. Mulhall sent his servants to assist the person in charge of it, and animal food and wine were always provided whenever I directed it. I think ground provisions cause dysentery, and more frequently relapses. I think constant feeding on ground provisions disorders the stomach, and induces dirt-eating and its consequent debility, for this reason there is more dirt-eating in the new colonies. Ат Ar a meeting of the Magistrates, held in Charlestown, this 16th day of January 1830; present, The Worshipful William Pemberton, Esq. Chairman; George Bucke, Lujer, a slave belonging to Lady Stapleton's estate, sworn. I have been sick nurse people ST. People generally had yams and mackerel for their breakfast, pigeon-peas for dinner, and gruel occasionally, and this in addition to their weekly allowance; Mr. Walley CHRISTOPHER. only missed giving this sometimes, but not very often; the weekly allowance is good. I do not know any thing of the treatment of Elsey; Elsey is now in the sick-house; I know that Dr. Mills removed a tumour from the shoulder; the shoulder is very much swollen. Daphney is a runaway, and when she comes home she is locked up in the stocks till she consents to go to work; I recollect the longest time she was kept in the stocks was two weeks, day and night constantly; her legs were never cut by the stocks; she had only one leg in at a time; she refused to work all the fortnight, and consented to work when she was let out; I never recollect any persons leg being cut in the stocks, except Frances. Last Monday a woman named Frances complained of being locked up in the stocks; she was in three days and nights; the first day both legs were in the stocks; she cried all day; Mr. Walley at night ordered me to release one leg; I took out the crooked one; the mark the magistrates saw was in consequence of her being put in the stocks; she was never out of the stocks during the three days and nights; there was a tub by her when nature required it; I do not know what the woman was put in the stocks for; she came in and said she was sick that morning, and said she could not work; said she had fever; did not feel her pulse; went to massa, and he gave orders to put her into the stocks; when I put her into the stocks felt her foot, and it did not feel hot; thought she looked sick; she is generally impudent and tonguey, but was not so that morning; during the whole time of her confinement she continued to refuse to work, saying she was sick; she consented at the end of three days to go to work; she went to work, and said she was better; she did not come in a week afterwards, but I cannot say about a fortnight; Mr. Walley, during her confinement, gave her a dose of sea-water; when I put the woman's leg in the stocks, I did not observe that the hole was too small; she did not complain at first, about an hour after I heard her cry her leg was cut; I could not go and see whether it was cut, unless I had orders; my master was all the time in a situation to hear her crying; he told me to take out one leg out of the stocks that night; I did not say any thing about it; massa heard her; I saw that her leg was cut when I took it out; I did not tell Mr. Walley of it, nor did he know it until the woman went into the sick-house afterwards; Frances often came into the sick-house; she is a sickly negro, and voids blood with her urine, and has been considered a sickly negro a long time; this woman is working in the small gang in consequence of her disease; every now and then subject to it; during her confinement in the stocks she never showed me any blood in her urine; always comes in when this is the case; is still working in the small gang; Mr. Walley never refused to let the woman come into the sick-house when she told her she had this complaint on her; she never worked in the Holing gang during last 14 months. I miscarried the other day; the doctor desired me to keep myself quiet; I saw the work neglected, and I came out of my own accord; no one compelled me; I remember Time and Bolam being sent out of the sick-house to their work, contrary to the doctor's orders; Time had a bowel complaint and Bolam a sore leg; Time was obliged to return a week after to the sick-house with the same complaint; she remained till the doctor gave orders for her to go out; Bolam's leg was nearly well when he went out; I do not know how long it was before he returned; it was more than four or five weeks; it was much worse when he returned than when he came in the first time; the flesh was all off the bone; he had the sore leg for years. I have not concealed any thing of Mr. Walley's conduct in consequence of any threat; I have told all I recollect; nobody has induced me to say any thing that is not true; I have stated all that my conscience dictates. Elizabeth England attends the sick-house when I have been ill, and assists occasionally. Elizabeth England sworn. I am in the habit of going into the sick-house at Stapleton's estate very often by Mr. Walley's request; I have been in the habit of doing this almost ever since Mr. Walley has been living there: I visit the sick-house' every day since I have been at Stapleton's; I have been at Stapleton's since May 1828. The sick nurse Lujer neglected her business, and Mr. Walley asked me to see to it for him; she used to fret Mr. Walley very much; she did not pay due attention to the sick; she has left people sick in the sick-house, and gone off the estate: I do not know how often, but she has been absent when Mr. Walley has been from home. I had the giving out of nourishment to the sick; Mr. Walley always desired that nourishment should be given out; it was always given out before the doctor ordered it, and when the doctor ordered it. I recollect William Noble ST. in the sick-house; he was in constantly from the time I went to the estate, and did CHRISTOPHER. no work, without it was going with messages about the estate. I recollect Lynch and Nelly in the sick-house; never heard that the doctor ever complained that Lynch and Nelly wanted nourishment; Nelly was at first up in the yard, and was afterwards moved down to Maddens by the doctor's orders. Lynch was also down at Maddens. Lujer, as sick-nurse, attended the sick at Maddens; if the doctor ever complained to Lujer, the sick-nurse, that Lynch or Nelly, or any person wanted nourishment, it was her business to come to me, as I gave it out. I have seen Mr. Walley give Lujer money to buy chickens; I have often seen Lujer come to him for money; Lujer never came to me for nourishment for Lynch or Nelly without having it. Lujer never came to me for nourishment for any sick person without having it. I was in the habit of seeing the nourishment dressed, and was sure the sick always had it. Whenever any thing was sent from Mr. Walley's table no person was allowed to take it to the sick-house but myself, and he sent it most days. If by chance Lujer neglected to call upon me later than nine o'clock for nourishment for the sick, and Mr. Walley found it out, he scolded very much about it. Mr. Walley threatened to put her into the field for not paying more attention to the sick. I regularly called Lujer every morning to give her the nourishment for the sick. I did not always go into the sick-house to see the sick people take the nourishment, but did so sometimes: those that were able came down before me when I have been in the sick-house the sick have complained to me that Lujer divided the nourishment, and did not give them the whole, but kept part for herself. On rainy days Mr. Walley sent duke or hot toddy to the sick-house; commonly he allowed the sick-house wine and porter. Mr. Walley ordered me to have chocolate, sago, pap and barley for the sick. I have often had disputes with Lujer about her business, and have told her about this very thing, if ever there should be a charge about the sick being neglected. Lujer was the sick nurse, and Mr. Walley gave her money to pay for fowls, and whatever was wanted from the store I gave out; but I do not mean that I bought fowls always, but sometimes, if a person was very weak, Mr. Walley gave me money to buy them, and I had them dressed but every day I gave out the things from the store. I recollect Elsey run away from the field; Mr. Walley was absent the day she was brought home; I do not exactly know the time; I do not think it was three months since; I did not tell Mr. Walley that evening, but told him the next morning that Elsey was brought in. Mr. Walley desired she should be taken from where she was locked up: I asked Elsey why she ran away; she said she was sick, she had a fever and pain in her shoulder, and could not work; she did not tell me that Mr. Walley had struck her; Elsey told me her shoulder hurt her. I replied, why you always run away without your clothes, and that is the reason why your shoulder hurts you. She is a bad negro, for her mother is obliged to sow for her and her child. Elsey's mother and Lujer told me she would not plant a pea, she was so lazy. At the time that Elsey was complaining of her shoulder it was bare, and I said, your shoulder bare and you complaining of it; I looked upon the shoulder and never saw any mark or scratch upon it. Dr. Mills was not there; it was sometime after the doctor saw it. After that she went out of the sick-house to her work and came in again; when she came in the second time she was still complaining of her shoulder; she never said that any person ever beat her; when she was out she was in the habit of carrying pap and other things to the gang. I was not present when the doctor took the tumour out of Elsey's shoulder. Knows that Daphney is a most notorious character, a runaway thief and liar; has seen her twice in the stocks, not more, for running away; never knew her as much as two weeks on the stocks. [Adjourned.] ; At a meeting of the Magistrates, held in Charlestown, this 19th day of January 1830: present, The Worshipful William Pemberton, Esq. Chairman; George Bucke, Elizabeth England sworn: I asked her (Elsey) one day, how she came to say Mr. Walley struck her on her shoulder; she made no answer. I have known Bolam a long time; he was in the sick-house with a sore leg: Bolam told me he wanted to get out of the sick-house, for it was no use for him to stay in the sickhouse, as his leg would never get better. I have often heard Mr. Walley ask the sick ST. sick nurse if there were any persons in the sick-house fit to go out to their work, and the sick nurse was always directed to send out such as were able to go to work. CHRISTOPHER. She has sent out people without Mr. Walley's orders that were fit to go out. Never heard Mr. Walley give any directions about Bolam's going out. I never heard that Bolam was turned out contrary to the doctor's orders. I never heard until this business that the doctor had the ordering out who were to go out and who were to remain in. I never heard that Dr. Mills had given any orders about Bolam's going out or not. Lujer was the responsible person about the sick-house when the doctor was absent: Lujer was the person who weighed out the medicine for the sick, and sometimes I did it; it was not my business to weigh out the medicines, but to see it done. When Mr. Walley was going off the estate, he told Lujer what was to be done, and told me to see that it was done. Calomel, jalap and rhubarb were such medicines as Lujer used to make up, such as the doctor ordered. I generally asked Lujer in the morning what sick people were sent out, or were to be sent out the negroes were never sent out in the middle of the day. The day when Bolam went out of the sick-house I asked where he was; Lujer said he had gone to his watch; she said it was no use to keep him in the sick-house any longer. I have never known Bolam put on the stocks. The last time Bolam came in he was in the sick-house about two months, to the best of my recollection. I recollect Time coming home from the Camp estate; I believe it was cramp in her bowels; she was very ill, and Mr. Walley sent Lujer in the carriage to bring her home; she was in the sick-house two months; she was walking about the yard, and Mr. Walley met her going to the oven, and said, Time, you must go down to the mill and tie up ground canes. The mill was close to the yard. Lujer was in the pantry, and I suppose she must have heard the orders; I was at the chamber window and heard Mr. Walley give the same orders. I never heard Lujer tell Mr. Walley that Dr. Mills had ordered Time not to go out. I think Time was quite fit to go out; she did not return to the sick-house for some time after. Mr. Walley was fond of her, and said she was a good working negro, and he wished to indulge her: when she came in afterwards, she said she came in to get a purge, as she was afraid her bowels were going to attack her again; she went out again the same night. Lujer never told me that Time was sent out contrary to the doctor's orders. During the two months that she was in the sick-house, and walking about the yard, she had a relapse for two or three days; she had not been out previously to cause the relapse. I know Haga, she works in the old gang; she was removed from there, and put to mind thirteen calves. One evening she left out one calf till after eight o'clock; the usual time for putting them up was about five o'clock. The overseer was sick, and I went to reckon the calves, and they all looked very sick. I asked what was the matter with them, and she said they would not eat. I told Mr. Walley he had better change her and give them to a boy she complained of being with the calves; she said she did not like the work; one died immediately after they were taken from her. Mr. Walley that night ordered her to be locked up in the sickhouse, and the next morning sent out to the big gang to dig potatoe holes: she was not fit to go into the great gang. Mr. Walley picked up at that time all he could, and sent them to the great gang to get the work done. They went out on the Monday and were done on the Thursday. After that piece of land was finished, she was returned to the old gang; she was locked up only two nights, and she was never near the room where the stocks are; I know this, as I was the person who carried her to be locked up in the sick-house. C. C. Souch, sworn :-I went to Stapleton's estate as overseer in May 1826, and left it in March 1829: while on the estate, I lived about two years on the upper estate, and the remainder of the time at Maddens. The usual time for turning out the gang at morning was at half-past five o'clock; the negroes went off every evening at sun-set; the negroes were in the habit of bringing each day two bundles of grass or bush: half-hour was allowed for breakfast, two hours for dinner; they always had this time; they never worked all breakfast or dinner time, except once, and then Mr. Walley sent them breakfast in addition to their usual allowance. The usual mode of punishment was locking up for two weeks when they ran away; he has flogged them as other people usually flog them. I do not think while I was on the estate that the negroes were over worked; they did not work harder than other negroes. When Mr. Walley went to the estate there were six pints of allowance, and four herrings, given out weekly; afterwards he gave them a quart of allowance ST. and two herrings in addition, and ginger tea of a morning before they went to work. CHRISTOPHER. There were a great many deaths on the estate while I lived there; most of them died from old age, and some from dirt-eating, and other complaints. I went to live on the estate two weeks after Mr. Walley. There were two coroner's inquests while I lived there; one on a man named Davis, and one on a man named Suis Barcus, both notorious runaways. I remember a man belonging to the estate named Enis, he always had a complaint in his chest, and great shortness of breath; he was a distiller; he was in the sick-house two or three weeks before he died, and he died in the sick-house; he was attended by the doctor; I was living at Maddens when he died. (signed) C. C. Souch. William Huggins, overseer, sworn :--Went to live at Stapleton's estate on the 1st of March last as overseer, and remained there until 16th October; was not particular as to the number of negroes at first; was particular in adding up the number of negroes some time in June or July, in consequence of Mr. Wood (who had been in employment on the estate) saying that Mr. Walley had returned more negroes on the parish list than were on the estate. Does not know of his own knowledge how many Mr. Walley returned, but found there were 199 negroes on the list. Heard there were two negroes belonging to the estate who were not on the list; was told a man named Scipio, and a woman named Sally Brown, were the two Scipio was not on the list because he had run away for years; does not know why Sally Brown was not, but have heard she is free. The gang turned out as soon in the morning as they could see to work; knocked off their work in the evening at sun-set, to go for bush or grass for the cattle stakes; each negro threw a turn of grass at noon, and another at night. A quarter of an hour or twenty minutes was the time allowed at breakfast time, but think they had the same time as is allowed on other estates; I never timed them, but think they had sufficient time; two hours were allowed at noon: sometimes when the work was pushing, they never had breakfast or noon time on the same day; this was not frequent; when this was the case, the gang had sent to them for breakfast a ball of mussau and a herring, or a piece of pork, and at noon time, potatoes boiled for them, or tannias, all of which were in addition to their allowance; stopped working while they eat what was sent to them. In crop time they had frequently hot liquor sent to them; the gang worked at breakfast and noon time both in and out of crop occasionally, but not very often; on these occasions (in crop time) they always had hot liquor; have heard the negroes complain at working at their breakfast and noon, time; out of crop time always had beverage, sometimes four times a day. Negroes worked very hard while I was on the estate; thinks some of them were worked beyond their strength, as those who were most able kept down their rows, and the others were pushed to keep up with them. I succeeded Mr. Souch. Has seen some of the gang exhausted from fatigue; sometimes in the morning almost half the gang have gone up to Mr. Walley complaining of being sick, when he selected and sent back to the field those he thought able to work, and when they came there, they worked as usual; saw no difference in their work; these were the weak ones who generally complained: some have gone to the field, and were returned to the sickhouse upon their saying they were not able to work. Mr. Walley did not flog much himself; the driver flogged nine in the field; this was not done by Mr. Walley's orders; Mr. Wallay has often ordered me to flog a negro, when (from my not con-. sidering the offence great) I did not do so. Never saw the driver strike a negro with a stick, or the handle of the cat; never saw Mr. Walley strike a negro with a stick; never saw him strike a negro but with a small switch which he rode with. Have seen Mr. Walley cat the negroes in the field over their clothes; never saw him flog one with his own hands otherwise. Driver would sometimes give three up to a dozen; never saw thirty-nine stripes given; never a severe flogging. Mr. Walley has directed to give thirty-nine, but I never did so. Thinks the driver was in the field unnecessarily severe; never mentioned this to Mr. Walley; Mr. Walley never gave this order, but would sometimes find fault with the driver for not having had a sufficient quantity of work done, when he would push the negroes. There were nine deaths on the estate during the time I lived there; considered that a great number; people were generally swelled. Some of them eat dirt; did not know the cause; were a great many little ones, and good-sized ones too, who eat dirt; there were a great many dirt-eaters on the estate; the negroes generally were addicted to it. Two of the nine deaths did not take place in sick house; |