The principal productions of Pointe Coupée are cotton, Indian Corn, and sugar-cane. The gardens are filled with oranges, figs, peaches, and pomegranates, with quantities of all the most beautiful flowers. One great plague of the planters, in some parts of the settlement, for it does not extend everywhere, is the coco-grass, somewhat similar to our couch-grass. The roots extend from twelve to fifteen feet in the ground, as may be seen when the river tears away a part of the bank. Where it has once taken hold, it is very difficult to extirpate; it grows so fast that, when cut down at night, it is again about an inch high in the morning. It is not very good for cattle, though pigs are extremely fond of the pods, which have a strong smell and taste of camphor.
Most of the planters are French Creoles; but as several Americans live here also, the law proceedings are carried on both in French and English. The jailer is a poor wretched German shoemaker, and any prisoner that has a mind gives him a cudgelling, and takes his leave. Several cases of the kind occurred last year.
The system of slavery makes a very disagreeable impression upon those who are unaccustomed to it; and although I had long dwelt in slave States, and witnessed the oppressed condition and ill-treatment of the poor blacks, yet the horrors of the system were never so evident as when I first attended an auction, where slaves were sold like cattle to the highest bidder, and the poor creatures stood trembling, following the bidders with anxious eyes, in order to judge in advance whether they were to belong to a kind or severe master. It does not happen so often now as formerly that families are separated, at least mothers and children, so long as the latter are very young. In large auctions, the law has the humanity to decree that families are only to be sold together; but individuals are often sold, and then the most sacred ties are torn asunder for the sake of a few hundred dollars.
I have witnessed most heart-breaking scenes on such occasions. At the same time, I must admit that the treatment of slaves is generally better than it is represented by the Abolitionists and missionaries. It is to the advantage of the owner to keep his slaves healthy and fit for work, and not to overtax their strength, as he is bound to support them in their old age. Their food generally is not worse than that of the poor man in other lands. Though there are instances of rich planters treating their slaves most shamefully, there are others where they are treated as part of the family. In our hotel, we had a cook, chambermaid, and porter, all slaves, who never had occasion to complain of ill-treatment. A negro, or descendant of a negro, is not allowed to quit the place of his abode without a pass from his master, while the free negro must always have his papers about him. If a slave is found without a pass, he is imprisoned until his master claims him, and pays the expenses. Fugitive slaves frequently take refuge in the forests; and I remember how, in Tennessee, large parties used to go out to surround them, and recover possession of them. Although the law speaks in strong language against the importation of fresh negroes, yet I saw several slaves who had been brought over from Africa, and who were called Guinea negroes, to distinguish them from those born in America. The education of the poor blacks is strictly forbidden, for fear they should write their own passes, and thus escape. They are kept for use and increase like domestic animals; and yet these United States have this sentence in their declaration of independence: “that all men are free and equal!”