The very presence of this man Gore was{95} painful, and I shunned him as I would have shunned a rattlesnake.

His piercing, black eyes, and sharp, shrill voice, ever awakened sensations of terror among the slaves.

For so young a man (I describe him as he was, twenty-five or thirty years ago) Mr.Gore was singularly reserved and grave in the presence of slaves.

He indulged in no jokes, said no funny things, and kept his own counsels.

Other overseers, how brutal soever they might be, were, at times, inclined to gain favor with the slaves, by indulging a little pleasantry; but Gore was never known to be guilty of any such weakness.