In the matter of service their lot was a fortunate one. There seems to be no doubt that they were treated much more kindly than the negroes in the West Indies, and that they were far happier than the slaves in the lower South. It is said that they were not obliged to labor more than white people, and, although this may hardly have been so, and although, indeed, there is occasional evidence that they were worked hard, yet for the most part it is clear that they were not overworked.[118] The advertisements of negroes for sale show, as might be expected, that most of the slaves were either house-servants or farm-hands.[119] Nevertheless the others were engaged in a surprisingly large number of different occupations. Among them were bakers, blacksmiths, brick-layers, brush-makers, carpenters, coopers, curriers, distillers, hammermen, refiners, sail-makers, sailors, shoe-makers, tailors, and tanners.[120] The negroes employed at the iron-furnaces received special mention.[121] The women cooked, sewed, did house-work, and at times were employed as nurses.[122] When the service of negroes was needed they were often hired from their masters, but as a rule they were bought.[123] They were frequently trusted and treated almost like members of the family.[124] When the day's work was over the negroes of Pennsylvania seem to have had time of their own which they were not too tired to enjoy. Some no doubt found recreation in their masters' homes, gossipping, singing, and playing on rude instruments.[125] Many sought each other's company and congregated together after nightfall. In Philadelphia, at any rate, during the whole colonial period, crowds of negroes infesting the streets after dark behaved with such rough and boisterous merriment that they were a nuisance to the whole community.[126] At times negroes were given days of their own. They were allowed to go from one place to another, and were often permitted to visit members of their families in other households.[127] Moreover, holidays were not grudged them. It is said that in Philadelphia at the time of fairs, the blacks to the number of a thousand of both sexes used to go to "Potter's Field," and there amuse themselves, dancing, singing, and rejoicing, in native barbaric fashion.[128] If, now, from material comfort we turn to the matter of the moral and intellectual well-being of the slaves, we find that considering the time, surprising efforts were made to help them. In Pennsylvania there seems never to have been opposition to improving them. Not much was done, it is true, and perhaps most of the negroes were not reached by the efforts made. It must be remembered, however, what violent hostility mere efforts aroused in some other places.[129]