Two nights ago some men ran away towards the river. Some came back this morning with the patrollers. They have metal necklaces like the one I wore and they bleed a lot. One man hasn't come back yet. Maybe he got to the river and found a boat. Maybe I could do the same.
An 18th-century Caribbean newspaper advert, looking for news of Jacob, a runaway slave. N1994.0182, S2003-00131
Patrollers were white people employed to prevent slave uprisings and to catch escaped slaves.
Heavy metal neck shackles (often with sharp hooks) were just one form of punishment for slaves. These included:
These tortures were used to punish the smallest faults.
Escapees were punished to dissuade other slaves. A slave who successfully escaped gave the other slaves hope, and made plantation owners even more afraid of rebellion.