cowskin

• “The cowskin is a kind of whip seldom seen in the northern states.”

  My Bondage and My Freedom. By Frederick Douglass. With and Introduction. By James M`Cune Smith.

• “For the information of my readers, I must observe that a cowskin is a large whip, made like a riding whip, out of the hide of the hippopotamus, or sea-cow, and is proverbial for the severity of punishment it is capable of inflicting.”

  Frank Mildmay Or, The Naval Officer

• “The phrase itself expresses this antipathy; and when applied by a negro to a white man is regarded by the latter as a dire insult, and usually procures for the imprudent black a scoring with the "cowskin," or a slight "rubbing down" with the "oil of hickory.”

  The Quadroon Adventures in the Far West

• “There was the regular "negro-trader," a tall lathy fellow, with harsh horse-dealer features, careless dress, loose coat, slouching broad-brimmed hat, coarse boots, and painted quirt of raw hide, -- the "cowskin," -- fit emblem of his calling.”

  The Quadroon Adventures in the Far West

• “In answering the proposed inquiries, I will say first, that although there are various other modes resorted to, whipping with the cowskin is the usual mode of inflicting punishment on the poor slave.”

  American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses

• “A worn cowskin jacket was draped over his skinny shoulders.”

  Simon & Schuster: LUCKY

• “AN HOUR later, Kim was sitting on the cowskin couch.”

  Simon & Schuster: Vicious Grace

• “Also on display are items used in colonial times for sugar cane processing and flavoring, including presses, a cowskin receptacle and the weighty wooden molds required to make individual portions.”

  Loreto and San Javier: From Sun, Sand and Snorkeling to Museums, Missions and Mountains.

• “If a stray black in Georgia could not show a pass or “free papers” the patrol might “correct” him on the spot, “by whipping with a switch, whip, or cowskin, not exceeding twenty lashes.””

  Simon & Schuster: A History of American Law

• ““In the great cowskin trunk, Gumbo,” George says, gravely.”

  The Virginians

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