meat wuz fried sometimes, but mos' of de time it wuz biled wid de
greens. All de somethin' t'eat wuz cooked in de fireplace. Dey didn't
know what stoves wuz in dem days. Yes Ma'am, us went 'possum huntin' at
night, an' us had plenty 'possums too. Dey put sweet 'tatoes an' fat
meat roun' 'em, an' baked 'em in a oven what had eyes on each side of it
to put hooks in to take it off de fire wid.

"No Ma'am, us didn't go fishin', or rabbit huntin' nuther. Us had to wuk
an' warn't no Nigger 'lowed to do no frolickin' lak dat in daytime. De
white folkses done all de fishin' an' daytime huntin'. I don't 'member
lakin' no sartin' somethin'. I wuz jus' too glad to git anythin'. Slaves
didn't have no gyardens of dey own. Old Marster had one big gyarden what
all de slaves et out of.

"Tell you 'bout our clo'es: us wore home-made clo'es, pants an' shirts
made out of cotton in summer an' in de winter dey give us mo' home-made
clo'es only dey wuz made of wool. All de clawf wuz made on de loom right
dar on de plantation. Us wore de same things on Sunday what us did in de
week, no diffunt. Our shoes wuz jus' common brogans what dey made at
home. I ain't seed no socks 'til long atter de War. Co'se some folkses
mought a had 'em, but us didn't have none.

"Marster Berry Bostwick an' Mist'ess Mary Bostwick, had a passel of
chillun, I don't 'member none 'cept young Marse John. De others drifted
off an' didn't come back, but young Marse John stayed on wid Old Marster
an' Old Mist'ess 'til dey died. Old Marster, he warn't good. Truth is de
light, an' he wuz one mean white man. Old Mist'ess wuz heaps better dan
him. Dar wuz 'bout 150 mens an' 75 'omans. I couldn't keep up wid de
chilluns. Dere wuz too many for me.