It was his policy to give them every comfort that he possibly could.

Mr.K.made the same declaration, which has been so often repeated in the course of this narrative, i.e., that if any of the estates were abandoned, it would be owing to the harsh treatment of the people.

He knew many overseers and book-keepers who were cruel driving men, and he should not be surprised if _they_ lost a part, or all, of their laborers.

He made one remark which we had not heard before.

There were some estates, he said, which would probably be abandoned, for the same reason that they ought never to have been cultivated, because they require _almost double labor_;--such are the mountainous estates and barren, worn-out properties, which nothing but a system of forced labor could possibly retain in cultivation.