Being at a loss to account for it, we inquired of Mr.K.afterwards, who told us that it was occasioned by our expressions of sympathy and regard.

They were so unaccustomed to hear such language from the lips of white people, that it fell upon them like rain upon the parched earth.

The idea that one who was a stranger and a foreigner should feel an interest in their welfare, was to them, in such circumstances, peculiarly affecting, and stirred the deep fountains of their hearts.
After the services, the missionary, anxious to further our objects, proposed that we should hold an interview with a number of the apprentices; and he accordingly invited fifteen of them into his study, and introduced them to us by name, stating also the estates to which they severally belonged.

We had thus an opportunity of seeing the _representatives of twelve different estates_, men of trust on their respective estates, mostly constables and head boilers.

For nearly two hours we conversed with these men, making inquiries on all points connected with slavery, the apprenticeship, and the expected emancipation.
From no interview, during our stay in the colonies, did we derive so much information respecting the real workings of the apprenticeship; from none did we gain such an insight into the character and disposition of the negroes.