“tis cotch lots of ‘possuras, but mighty few of ‘ein us Niggers ever got a chance to eat, or rabbits neither, Dey made Niggers go out and hunt ‘em and de white folks et ‘em. Our mouths would water for some of dat ‘possum but it warn‘t often dey let us have none. I don‘t know nothin‘ ‘bout no fishin‘ bein‘ done dem days. Yessuin, slaves had deir own gyardens, and dey better wuk ‘em good if dey wanted any ~yarden sass to eat. Cookin‘ was done in dem big open fireplaces, mostly in pots and thick iron skillets what had lids on tm.

	.	“Boys wore long blue striped shirts in summer and nothiL‘ else a t‘all. Dein shirts was made jus‘ lak mother hubbards. Us wore de same thing in winter only dem shirts was made new for winter. By summer dey had done wore thin. When de weather got too cold, Marster give us Old coats, what grown folks had done most wore out ‚ and us warn‘t none too warm den wid de wind a~aailin‘ under our little old shirt tails. Our shoes was rough old brogans what was hard as rocks, and us had to put rags inside ‘em to keep ‘em from rubbin‘ de skin off our foots. Us didn‘t know what socks and stockin‘s was deri~.

	“Marse Earl Strickland owned us. Miss Sarah was his old ‘omen and dey was silo‘ mighty good to deir slaves. White folks was heap better folks den dan dey is now anyhow. N~ow-a-~days dey will knock you up right now, and won‘t be long ‘bout it. I can‘t git up no ricollections ‘bout ‘em havin‘ no chillun a t‘all. Seems lak I know for sho‘ dey dIdn‘t have none. Dey never had no fine house neither; jus‘ a plain common house wid a chirnbly at both ends.