those who could not take buttermilk, had a cup of coffee, made of browned corn, sweetened with molasses. I never saw meat of any kind given them while I was there.
One morning I was in the Orange grove, sitting close by the piazza, the young groom was on the piazza reading a paper; he suddenly laid his paper down, and said to his wife, "Annette what can be the matter with Julee, she looks very bad, she was quite fat when I brought her here, now she looks as if she was very sick." She said she did not know, but she would call her and ask. She did so, and Julee told her she had been there some two months, and had not tasted meat but twice in that time, and you know master, said Julee, I had been accustomed to have meat three times a day. He laid down his paper, and commenced, in his broken language, to scold; when his wife said, "Pierre, my dear, do you not know the Creoles do not give their servants as much to eat, or the same kind of meat as the Americans do, as we think they work the better not to be over-fed." He replied, "Zounds, madam, how can a man or woman work and not eat?" She said there were, sometimes, years during which their servants had nothing but milk, unless they might catch some wild game for themselves. He then said, to-morrow morning I shall send my servants home, which he did. I ran around a few days longer till they went into the city and took me home. I had been home but a day when there was a very wealthy creole gave a soiree, and as I was favored with an invitation, I went just to see how the affair would be conducted. On entering I was met by the hostess, who was a tall, fine looking
