In the case
both of the woman and of the two boys, their sale to the dealer had been
caused by the bankruptcy of the owner. The woman had a husband, but
having a different master, he retained his place, and his master
promised that when his wife got a new home he would send him to join
her.
No doubt this separation of families is a crying evil, and perhaps the
greatest practical one, as respects hardship, to which the system is
necessarily subject; but certainly, from what we have seen and heard
to-day, it does not seem to be harshly done, and pains are taken to
avoid it: the woman said she had been always kindly treated, and there
was not the slightest difficulty made by the dark duenna to our
conversing with the slaves as freely as we liked, and she left us with
the whole group. The woman took us to see her baby, and we found it in a
large and well ventilated room, and she said they had always as much and
as good food as they could wish. She said she was forty-five years old,
and had ten children living, but the four eldest were grown up. The
eldest of those she had with her was a little girl of about thirteen;
she said, in answer to a question from papa, that the children had made
a great piece of work at parting with their father, but the woman
herself seemed quite cheerful and satisfied with her prospects.
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