The manager or overseer on a plantation seldom interfered in the domestic arrangements of the slaves. Their religious and moral instruction was neglected. The marriage tie was not regarded as an indissoluble knot, but as a slender thread, to be broken by either party at will. It is therefore not remarkable that the habits and conduct of these children of bondage were not of the most exemplary character. Each family, who wished it, had a small lot of ground set apart as a garden in some district bordering upon the mountains, where those who were frugal and industrious cultivated yams, cassava, plantains, and other varieties of vegetables or fruit, which were sold to managers of estates, or carried to the nearest town on a Sunday and sold in the market place. In this way some of the most thrifty could supply all reasonable wants, and even indulge in luxuries, which made them the envy of their neighbors; for even in the lowly negro houses of those plantations, as in every other assemblage of human beings, without regard to CASTE or color, were exhibited all the passions, virtues, and weaknesses incident to human nature. Sunday in the island was generally regarded as a holiday. The slaves on the plantations on that day passed hours in cultivating their gardens, as well as in disposing of their produce and attending to their other concerns. The planters visited each other on the Sabbath, gave dinner parties, made excursions to the neighboring towns to supply their wants at the stores, attended militia musters and shooting matches, indulged in games of quoits and other sports. But religious services and religious instruction were almost entirely unknown. Young men often came to the island who were educated in the strictest Presbyterian faith; lineal descendants of the old Scottish Covenanters; they were scandalized at the little attention given to religious duties and the habitual and open violation of the Sabbath. A few months, however, of familiarity with the customs of the island produced a striking change in their ideas and acts; and their consciences, which were troublesome at first, were soon in a state of quiescence. A small amount of salted provisions, ling, stock fish, or salt fish was served out every week to the slaves on the plantations as a relish for their vegetables; and a limited, indeed scanty, supply of coarse clothing was annually distributed among them. For other articles of food and clothing, the slaves were compelled to rely on their own industry and management, excepting in "crop time," when the sugar works were in operation, and every person was allowed an unlimited amount of sirup, which is highly nutritious and wholesome.