ten o'clock
A cruel lash across the face from the Spaniard 's whip -- a lash which tore away the skin and left a livid bloody weal on both cheeks -- only maddened him the more ; seeing which , the negro who , with the Spaniard , was in charge of the party , sprang upon him , and , gripping him by the throat , hurled him to the ground with such brutal force that the poor fellow lay there , for a time stunned . At about nine o'clock the square gradually began to fill , a large number of Spanish gentlemen arriving upon the scene ; some on horseback , and others in gigs drawn by a pair of horses driven tandem-fashion . They all smoked incessantly , and nearly all of them , on reaching the square , proceeded at once to the shed , and , walking up and down its entire length , examined with the utmost minuteness every individual beneath its roof , frequently stopping to make some inquiry of those who had the poor wretches in charge . At ten o'clock a small shrivelled-up specimen of a Spaniard , dressed entirely in white , made his appearance in the square , followed by four negroes bearing a couple of chairs and a lightly-constructed rostrum , and accompanied by a sallow cadaverous-looking individual , with a large book under his arm , a pen behind his ear , and a silver-mounted ink-horn at his button-hole . Selecting a suitable spot for the purpose , the negroes placed the rostrum on the ground , with one chair in and the other in front of it ; the shrivelled-up Spaniard mounted into position , his clerk seated himself in front , a negro perambulated the square , ringing a large hand-bell , and the sale began . The blacks were offered first , and of these a large proportion had evidently been landed very recently from a slaver . For the most part they were a tall , fine-looking set of men and women ; that is to say , they _ had _ been ; but disease and privation had done almost their worst upon them ; and as they took their places upon the block , one by one , their forms showed gaunt and spare as so many skeletons .