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Updated: June 17, 2025
Accompanied by some reliable old 'gins' and ever so many piccaninnies, I used to take long walks through the 'bush. How interesting those blacks made my bush walks for me! Every ridge, plain, and bend had its name and probably legend; each bird a past, every excrescence of nature a reason for its being. Those walks certainly at least modified my conceit.
We were distant from the beach about three miles, and could see clearly the smoke of several fires; while with binocular glasses we could make out the figures of the blacks fishing, and of the piccaninnies and gins romping in the sand.
Chatz had one silly weakness which, though he tried hard to overcome it, would occasionally crop up. He was dreadfully superstitious, and believed in ghosts, which failing he laid to his having associated with piccaninnies when a youngster, and in some way imbibing their belief in the supernatural. Yes, Chatz at one time had even carried a rabbit's foot for luck, and to ward off evil spirits.
"Ah, very good Abraham," rejoined the native; "you give me copper, me call you gentleman." "Them you piccaninnies?" asked one of the women, pointing to Hubert and Frank. "No," said Mr Oliphant; "there there are some coppers for you; you must do me some work for them when you come to my sit-down." "Gammon," cried the black addressed; "me plenty lazy."
Perfectly unconscious of the dastard trick played upon him, Wylo continued for several days to flirt and fight. He had a glorious time, and so, too, had the piccaninnies, for Yan-coo, for reputation's sake, dared not model debils-debils merely to have their horrible heads knocked off with irreverent grass darts.
The beautiful, full voice of the "darkey" is so attractive so soothing, and they are so deft and gentle. Some of the women are beautiful, and all the young appeared to me to be well-formed. As for the babies! I washed two or three little piccaninnies when I was in the South, and the way they rolled their gorgeous eyes at me was "too cute," which means, in British-English, "fascinating."
We were staying at that place we went to this morning; they called it Happy Valley, and we drove over to this place where there was a store. It was only a month or two before the time May Day, I think. I remember my children playing hide-and-seek here with the piccaninnies; yes, playing other games too. Her lips quivered, but she went on quite steadily.
These poor women went into ecstasies over the little white piccaninnies, and were loud and profuse in their expressions of gratitude to massa for getting married and having children, a matter of thankfulness which, though it always makes me laugh very much, is a most serious one to them; for the continuance of the family keeps the estate and slaves from the hammer, and the poor wretches, besides seeing in every new child born to their owners a security against their own banishment from the only home they know, and separation from all ties of kindred and habit, and dispersion to distant plantations, not unnaturally look for a milder rule from masters who are the children of their fathers' masters.
I was very partial to the old man, and chummy with him, and used to slip away from the homestead whenever I could, and squat by the campfire along with the other piccaninnies, and think, and yarn socially with Black Jimmie by the hour. I would give something to remember those conversations now.
We never noticed her, for although we often played with the little black piccaninnies, the yellow child of a freed slave was another matter. One day I think she had watched us for about a week she came half-way across the bridge. We stared at each other, but took no notice of her. The next day she walked straight across and up to us, and asked us very nicely if she might play with us.
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