Nat for short -- the last of
our hopeful free American
lads of African descent took
a notion of leaving today
and accordingly bundled
up, and sparing us the pain
and attendant weeping which
a leave-taking would surely
have inflicted left, a la
Francais -- not however for-
getting to take his traps with
him. We are consedquently
dans domestiques, and in a
very helpless way -- Our
kind little hostess, Mrs
Richeson, has assumed the
honor and dignity of chief
Cook and tried to prepare
the meals for our small
family. I am her chief
asst and I tell you we
put things up in style --
we couldn't however suc-
ceed so well today with
the pea soup, which was
very obstinate and would
not get done; and ex-
hausted entirely our pa-
tience -- leading us to the
conclusion that we were
not born to be cooks; and
though 'twas a very scien-
tific and intellectual pur-
suit, requiring fine judgment
& discrimination, and
therefore calculated to
attract ambitious minds,
it was too far beyond our
reach for us ever to hop
to be proficient in
so high a calling.
The enemy is paroling
our men very slowly --
their excuse is that they
cannot prepare the blanks
more rapidly -- this de-
tention among them is
very galling and I can
now realize what it is
to be a prisoner and have
no doubt that six months
confinement in their
hands would turn my hair
gray or send me to "that
bourne"
preumably meant "That bourne whence no traveller returns," a common 19th century reference to death.
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