to throw myself into the water, and my clothes into the fire, which last would be expensive.  I do not suppose that these hateful consequences of dirt and disorder are worse here than among the poor and neglected human creatures who swarm in the lower parts of European cities; but my call to visit them has never been such as that which constrains me to go daily among these poor people, and although on one or two occasions I have penetrated into fearfully foul and filthy abodes of misery in London, I have never rendered the same personal services to their inhabitants that I do to Mr. ——­’s slaves, and so have not incurred the same amount of entomological inconvenience.

After leaving the mill, I prolonged my walk, and came, for the first time, upon one of the ‘gangs,’ as they are called, in full field work.  Upon my appearance and approach there was a momentary suspension of labour, and the usual chorus of screams and ejaculations of welcome, affection, and infinite desires for infinite small indulgences.  I was afraid to stop their work, not feeling at all sure that urging a conversation with me would be accepted as any excuse for an uncompleted task, or avert the fatal infliction of the usual award of stripes; so I hurried off and left them to their hoeing.

On my way home I was encountered by London, our Methodist preacher, who accosted me with a request for a prayer-book and Bible, and expressed his regret at hearing that we were so soon going to St. Simon’s.  I promised him his holy books, and asked him how he had learned to read, but found it impossible to get him to tell me.  I wonder if he thought he should be putting his teacher, whoever he was, in danger of the penalty of the law against instructing the slaves, if he told me who he was; it was impossible to make him do so, so that, besides his other good qualities, he appears to have that most unusual one of all in an uneducated person—­discretion.  He certainly is a most remarkable man.

After parting with him, I was assailed by a small gang of children, clamouring for the indulgence of some meat, which they besought me to give them.  Animal food is only allowed to certain of the harder working men, hedgers and ditchers, and to them only occasionally, and in very moderate rations.  My small cannibals clamoured round me for flesh, as if I had had a butcher’s cart in my pocket, till I began to laugh and then to run, and away they came, like a pack of little black wolves, at my heels, shrieking, ‘Missis, you gib me piece meat, missis, you gib me meat,’ till I got home.  At the door I found another petitioner, a young woman named Maria, who brought a fine child in her arms, and demanded a present of a piece of flannel.  Upon my asking her who her husband was, she replied, without much hesitation, that she did not possess any such appendage.  I gave another look at her bonny baby, and went into the house to get the flannel for her.  I afterwards heard from Mr. ——­ that she and two other girls of her age, about seventeen, were the only instances on the island of women with illegitimate children.