han the manner of the dealer.
I am glad he is not to be their master. Mr.---- spoke kindly to them.
They were fully dressed; and no examination was made except by the eye;
and no exhibitions of strength or agility were required, and none of
those offensive examinations of which we read so much. What examination
had been made or was to be made by the broker, out of my presence, I do
not know. The "lot" consisted of about fifty, of both sexes and of all
ages, some being old, and some very young. They were not a valuable lot,
and Mr.---- refused to purchase them all. The dealer offered to separate
them. Mr.---- selected about half of them, and they were set apart. I
watched the countenances of all--the taken and the left. It was hard to
decipher the character of their emotions. A kind of fixed hopelessness
marked the faces of some, listlessness that of others, and others seemed
anxious or disappointed, but whether because taken or rejected, it was
hard to say. When the separation was made, and they knew its purpose,
still no complaint was made and no suggestion ventured by the slaves
that a tie of nature or affection was broken. I asked Mr.---- if some of
them might not be related. He said he should attend to that, as he never
separated families. He spoke to each of those he had chosen, separately,
and asked if they had parent or child, husband or wife, or brother or
sister among those who were rejected. A few pointed out their relations,
and Mr.---- took them into his lot. One was an aged mother, one a wife,
and another a little daughter. I am satisfied that no separations were
made in this case, and equally satisfied that neither the dealer nor the
broker would have asked the question.

I asked Mr.---- on what principle he made his selection, as he did not
seem to me always to take the strongest. "On the principle of race,"
said he. He told me that these Negroes were probably natives of Africa,
bozales, except the youngest, and that the signs of the races were known
to all planters. A certain race he named as having always more
intelligence and ambition than any other; as more difficult to manage,
but far superior when well managed. All of this race in the company, he
took at once, whatever their age or strength. I think the preferred
tribe was the Lucumi, but am not certain.

From this place, I made a short visit to the almacen de azucar, in the
Regla, the great storehouses of sugar. These are a range of one-story,
sto