After Capt.  Helm had rested a few days at Sodus, he went six miles up the bay and purchased a large tract of land lying on both sides of that beautiful sheet of water, and put his slaves on to clear and cultivate it.  Then came the “tug of war.”  Neither the overseer nor the slaves had the least knowledge of clearing land, and that was the first thing to be done.  It was useless to consult the Captain, for he knew still less about matters of that kind.  To obviate this difficulty, our master bought out a Mr. Cummings, who had some cleared land on the west side of the bay.  On this he put the overseer and a part of the slaves, and then hired a Mr. Herrington to take charge of the remainder.  Herrington and his gang of slaves was sent to the east side to chop down the heavy timber and clear the land for cultivation, all of which had first to be learned, for we knew nothing of felling trees, and the poor slaves had rather a hard time of it.

Provisions were scarce and could not be procured for cash in that section.  There was no corn to be had, and we had but little left.  We had no neighbors to assist us in this trying time, and we came near starvation.  True, the wild, romantic region in which we were located abounded in game,—­elk, deer, bear, panther, and wolves, roamed abroad through the dense forest, in great abundance, but the business of the slaves was not hunting or fishing, but clearing the land, preparatory to raising crops of grain the coming season.

At last Capt.  Helm chartered a boat, and manned it to go to the mouth of the Genesee River to buy corn.  They embarked under favorable auspices, but soon there came on such a tremendous storm, that the boat could no longer be managed, and the crew in despair threw themselves on the bottom of the boat to await their inevitable destruction, when one of their number, a colored man named Dunbar, sprang to the helm, and with great difficulty succeeded in running her safely into a Canadian port, where they were obliged to part with every thing in their possession to obtain the means to return to their families in Sodus, who had given them up as lost.  But, to the great joy of all, they came back at last with their lives, but with nothing for the famishing slaves.  Before another boat could be sent for our relief, we were reduced to the last extremity.  We became so weak we could not work, and it was difficult to drag ourselves about, as we were now obliged to do, to gather up all the old bones we could find, break them up fine and then boil them; which made a sort of broth sufficient barely to sustain life.  This we drank, and merely existed, until at last, the long looked for boat returned, loaded with provision, which saved us from starvation and gave us strength to pursue our labor.

CHAPTER V.

INCIDENTS AT SODUS BAY.