In the course of eight or nine weeks Mr. Walker had his cargo of human flesh made up.  There was in this lot a number of old men and women, some of them with gray locks.  We left St. Louis in the steamboat Carlton, Captain Swan, bound for New Orleans.  On our way down, and before we reached Rodney, the place where we made our first stop, I had to prepare the old slaves for market.  I was ordered to have the old men’s whiskers shaved off, and the grey hairs plucked out, where they were not too numerous, in which case he had a preparation of blacking to color it, and with a blacking-brush we would put it on.  This was new business to me, and was performed in a room where the passengers could not see us.  These slaves were also taught how old they were by Mr. Walker, and after going through the blacking process, they looked ten or fifteen years younger; and I am sure that some of those who purchased slaves of Mr. Walker, were dreadfully cheated, especially in the ages of the slaves which they bought.

We landed at Rodney, and the slaves were driven to the pen in the back part of the village.  Several were sold at this place, during our stay of four or five days, when we proceeded to Natchez.  There we landed at night, and the gang were put in the warehouse until morning, when they were driven to the pen.  As soon as the slaves are put in these pens, swarms of planters may be seen in and about them.  They knew when Walker was expected, as he always had the time advertised beforehand when he would be in Rodney, Natchez, and New Orleans.  These were the principal places where he offered his slaves for sale.

When at Natchez the second time, I saw a slave very cruelly whipped.  He belonged to a Mr. Broadwell, a merchant who kept a store on the wharf.  The slave’s name was Lewis.  I had known him several years, as he was formerly from St. Louis.  We were expecting a steamboat down the river, in which we were to take passage for New Orleans.  Mr. Walker sent me to the landing to watch for the boat, ordering me to inform him on its arrival.  While there, I went into the store to see Lewis.  I saw a slave in the store, and asked him where Lewis was.  Said he, “They have got Lewis hanging between the heavens and the earth.”  I asked him what he meant by that.  He told me to go into the warehouse and see.  I went in, and found Lewis there.  He was tied up to a beam, with his toes just touching the floor.  As there was no one in the warehouse but himself, I inquired the reason of his being in that situation.  He said Mr. Broadwell had sold his wife to a planter six miles from the city, and that he had been to visit her,—­that he went in the night, expecting to return before daylight, and went without his master’s permission.  The patrol had taken him up before he reached his wife.  He was put in jail, and his master had to pay for his catching and keeping, and that was what he was tied up for.