People of a dozen latitudes swarmed in
the cabins of a single negro-quarter. Even the small planter could not
stock his habitation with a single kind of negro: the competition at
each trade-sale of slaves prevented it. So did a practice of selling
them by the scramble. This was to shut two or three hundred of them into
a large court-yard, where they were all marked at the same price, and
the gates thrown open to purchasers. A greedy crowd rushed in, with
yells and fighting, each man struggling to procure a quota, by striking
them with his fists, tying handkerchiefs or pieces of string to them,
fastening tags around their necks, regardless of tribe, family, or
condition. The negroes, not yet recovered from their melancholy voyage,
were amazed and panic-stricken at this horrible onslaught of avaricious
men; they frequently scaled the walls, and ran frantically up and down
the town.
As soon as the slaves were procured, by sale on shipboard, by auction,
or by scramble, they received the private marks of their owners. Each
planter had a silver plate, perforated with his letter, figure, or
cipher, which he used to designate his own slaves by branding. If two
planters happened to be using the same mark, the brand was placed upon
different spots of the body. The heated plate, with an interposing piece
of oiled or waxed paper, was touched lightly to the body; the flesh
swelled, and the form of the brand could never be obliterated.
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