Depicts a group of enslaved people planting sugar cane on an estate in Antigua. The slaves - men, women and children, are working in the field together. They would have worked from 6 in the morning until 6 in the evening, with just a short break for lunch. This was arduous work and they were watched by a master or overseer, seen here wearing a black hat and holding a whip. The whip would have been used to drive them to work harder.
Enslaved people harvesting the ripe sugar canes. The canes took about 12 months to mature and grew to a height of 9 or 10 feet. They were harvested using very sharp double-edged knives which could be used on the upstroke as well as the down. This scene was drawn on a sugar estate and a sugar mill can be seen in the background on the right of the painting.
Blocks of sugar were packed into large wooden barrels known as hogsheads. Each hogshead would weigh between 800 and 1500 pounds. There were no wharves on the island at this time so boats were rowed to the shore where the hogsheads would be rolled onto them down a ramp. A brick built hut can be seen to the left of the picture. This would have served as a storehouse for plantations that were some distance from the coast.