It was with a distinct sense of relief that Jeremiah set out northward to Arcadia. The summer was drawing to a close, and Jeremiah still had two plantations to visit.

The manor house and estate of Arcadia were a Greco-Roman fantasy, with a dash of Andrea Palladio thrown in for good measure.

The manor itself was a Palladian villa. The grounds were dotted with pergolas, reduced copies of Greco-Roman temples, gazebos, formal gardens. and ponds with fountains . The grounds also were littered with naked, adolescent, Negro boys, many of them in couples, embracing, kissing, or indulging in acts of astonishing perversity.

None of them spared the visitor on horseback a second glance. so wrapped-up were they in the adoration of each other's bodies.

Rows of Lombardy poplars shielded this perverse paradise from the realities of plantation life. The fields were quite invisible from both the villa and the grounds.

Jeremiah rode up to the door of the villa and alighted. A young slave tied his horse to a post and he went up to the door and twisted the key of the doorbell. The bell jungled inside and the door was opened immediately by a tall graceful Negro man

dressed only in a very brief, white, cotton kilt.

Jeremiah handed the servant his letter of introduction and said,"Please take this to your master."

"Yes, sir. Please come in. " replied the servant. Jeremiah entered the rotunda in the center of which stood a twice-life-size statue of a handsome ithyphallic young man. He had been warned that he would find much about Arcadia shocking, especially given his conservative Boston upbringing. And, surely, so far, Arcadia had lived up to the warning.

The servant returned and said "Signor Piccolo-Finocchio requests that you join him in the solarium. Please be so kind as to follow me, Sir. "

Jeremiah was impressed by the servant's excellent diction, quite different from the "slave-English" which he been accustomed to hear. He followed the household slave who had taken his carpet bag with him. He wondered if this "house nigger" was a eunuch. Considering that there were said to be no women in Signor Piccolo-Finocchio's domestic establishment, it would seem unnecessary.

The solarium looked like part of the Crystal Palace. The entire roof was skylight, the panes mounted in copper and supported by cast-iron arches. The sunlight flooded onto an orgy. Divans and overstuffed cushions were scattered about and on them as well as on the rug between them were sprawled naked Negro boys ranging from 12 to 15 years in age. Most of them were engaged in sucking each other's virile members or masturbating each other.

On a large divan in the center of the room lay Signor Piccolo-Finocchio being serviced in like fashion by an ithyphallic lad of perhaps 14 years. When Jeremiah entered the room, he whispered to the boy who withdrew, and drew a sheet over himself.

"Welcome, Dr. Thornbush " he called out as he rose, wrapping the sheet about himself in the manner of a toga. "I remember Dr. Boose well. How is he these days ?"

"He is well, thank you, still teaching and interested in medical research. As his letter indicates, he is especially curious about the effects of masturbation upon the Negro male, and has asked me to gather data for him."

"Well, I can tell you that these boys seldom masturbate because they have at their command such a vast repertoire of sources of sexual pleasure. It may be otherwise with the field niggers, though they all prefer other males and may also have little need to indulge in the 'solitary vice'.

Some of the men may feel guilt about what they do with each other, having been corrupted by contact with sententious and judgemental religions. I hope not. These boys have been protected from the notion that they ought to feel guilty about enjoying their own and others' bodies.

I suppose that, when you entered this solarium, you thought for a moment that you had been transported magically to Sodom or Gomorrah. I suppose that you are aware that there is not a shred of evidence that either of these cities ever existed. The account of their wickedness in the Old Testament is so vaguely worded that it is impossible to determine just what the sin of Sodom is supposed to have been .

Anyhow, the Old Testament was written by Jews and for Jews. Let them have it.

The Jew is never happy unless he is tormented by guilt about something. I would not deny them this, but it is not for us. We Italians inherited a strain of hedonism from the Romans. What we need least is a burdensome religion making us feel miserable about enjoying ourselves.

I realise , of course, that your strait-laced New England upbringing makes you uncomfortable when confronted with such license as you see here. But, ask yourself whom does it harm ? Why should God concern himself with how we enjoy ourselves ? There are plenty of breeders in the world, why should not those who choose not to breed enjoy their own and others' bodies ? "

"A boy cannot forever remain twelve to fifteen years old. What becomes of them once they become men ?"

" At the first appearence of facial hair, they are humanely castrated by a surgeon. Those who have been primarily catamites are little affected by this operation . Even those who have taken the active role are so well-developed and experienced that, usually, they do not become impotent. Some of the handsomest of the boys are retained here as servants. Maurizio, who answered the door when you arrived, is one such. The others are eventually sold as house niggers. Under most masters, the life of a eunuch household slave is an easy one."

"You mentioned that your field hands are pathics also. Are any of them eunuchs ?"

"No. A field laborer needs to have the full strength of a man. Tomorrow, I shall take you to the field niggers' quarters to see how they live. Like Mr. Flannigan's eunuchs, they are quartered in barracks. You know, he needs twice as many slaves to do the same work as my intact males do.

You are welcome, of course, to question them about masturbation, but I suspect that you'll find that few of them practise it, and those very seldom.

Now, then, I am sure that you will wish to rest after your journey. Maurizio, please take Dr. Thornbush to the first guest room. Should you want or need anything, just pull the bell cord beside the bed and one of the household slaves will come."

Jeremiah rested but slept only fitfully until dinner time. At that time, a household slave came unbidden to wake him for dinner and guide him to the dining room.

Counting Dr. Thornbush, there were only three at the table for dinner. Signor Piccolo-Finocchio introduced Jeremiah to the plantation's physician, Dr. Fred Saunders. This was the only plantation on which Jeremiah had encountered a full-time resident physician who was retained to treat, not only the master, but his slaves.

Jeremiah commented on this to Signor Piccolo-Finocchio who responded "It is only common sense. A healthy slave is a much better worker than an unhealthy one."

Dr. Saunders was a middle-aged man, perhaps in his forties, around Signor Piccolo-Finocchio's age. The host told Dr. Saunders that Jeremiah had studied under Dr. Boose. "How wonderful, what a coincidence, then, we all know him. I was his colleague in the Army Medical Corps in the Mexican War and he removed a musket ball from Adriano's right leg. He was an excellent surgeon, a bit fussy, but that's better than being careless. Is he still practising surgery ?"

"Only as the practical aspect of his teaching." responded Jeremiah.

"Well, I learned one thing from him in the Army which had never been brought to my attention before . I complimented him on the neatness of his incisions and he pointed out to me that if the edges of an incision are straight and smooth, they can be far more effectively and completely appressed than if they are crooked and ragged. Therefore, healing will be quicker and there will be less inflammation.

He was also fanatical about cleanliness and told me that , for whatever reason, if the surgical site and the region about it are kept scrupulously clean, there is less inflammation and little or no fever. I definitely observed this to be true of his patients."

"Well," said master Adriano, "I am certain that I would have lost my right leg had anyone else than he essayed to remove that musket ball from my thigh. Do you realise how big a 12-gauge musket ball is ?" he asked, obviously of Jeremiah who had not been in the Army. Jeremiah shook his head. "It's nearly 3/4 of an inch thick, 0.735 inch, to be exact. Imagine what a soft lead ball of that size would do in tearing through the muscles of the thigh.

I don't know exactly how Dr. Boose removed the thing , He wouldn't let me watch, telling me that the sight would distress me. That's another thing about him. He's one of the most considerate people I've ever met. "

"Yes," said Jeremiah, "That's why he discouraged me from practising surgery. He had watched me wincing and flinching in sympathy with the patient, and, when a patient I had been treating died despite my best efforts, I was devastated and he took note of that.

One day he called me aside and asked me 'Mr. Thornbush, are you SURE that you want to practise surgery ?'

I answered 'No sir, I'm not at all sure of that'

Dr. Boose replied 'Well, I don't think you should. You're too sensitive. That is not at all to your discredit as a human being, but it would make the practise of surgery distressing, even harrowing for you. Why do that to yourself ?

I know that you are intensely curious about the etiology of diseases and the response of to the body to the disease and to our efforts to cure it. I think that the relatively new field of medical research would be ideal for you.'

That is why I am here, at his request, collecting information on the frequency of indulgence in and effects of masturbation on the Negro male. "

The dinner was typically Italian, a salad served with grated cheese and an olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing , followed by manzo alla moda,( beef cooked in red wine) accompanied by linguini (a kind of narrow noodle) served with a tomato-based sauce topped with grated cheese. The dessert was a frothy confection, a kind of almond-flavored meringue called zabaglione. The dinner was accompanied by a very dry red wine, dessert by a sweet white wine.

Throughout the meal, the diners were served by handsome young eunuchs attired as was Maurizio, the doorman, only in a very brief, white, cotton kilt.

After dinner, Signor Piccolo-Finocchio took Jeremiah down to the slave quarters to see how they lived. The barracks were of typical Army design, similar to those on Connemara, though not quite so clean. The slaves did not look discontented and evinced considerable mutual affection, walking hand-in-hand or, if seated, stroking each other'shair or even kissing.

"What are their working hours ?" asked Jeremiah.

"They rise at sunrise, take a light breakfast, and about 3/4 of an hour after dawn report to the fields. From 2:00 to 3:00, they take a siesta and a luncheon, mostly salad, and then work until sunset. Dinner follows shortly afterward. Then it is time for love."

"When may I question them about masturbation ?" asked Jeremiah.

"During the siesta," replied master Adriano. "They will be quite candid in their replies, for I have taught them not to be ashamed of what they do."

The following day, at 2:00 PM, Jeremiah was seated under an improvised shelter shielded from the sun interviewing Adriano Piccolo-Finocchio's field hands about masturbation.

It was a frustrating session. In an hour, Jeremiah had questioned twelve slaves, none of who admitted masturbating at all. They all reported that they were able to satisfy their sexual needs by anal and occasional oral sexual activity with other slaves and felt no need to masturbate.

Dr. Saunders visited Jeremiah at the end of the session and inquired how it had gone. "This is what I had expected." he remarked. "I don't think you'll do any better with the boys either. It's obvious to the most casual observer that they're getting all the sexual activity they could desire.

So, what do you think of Arcadia ?"

"Sometimes, feel as if I had gone back in time to the Roman Empire at about the time of the reign of Heliogabalus."

"Oh, I hope not. Heliogabalus was often monstrously cruel. You can't say that of Adriano. "

"I can't say that I consider that castrating boys when they start to show facial hair

is kindness."

"You can't deny that it qualifies them for an easy life as household servants rather than an arduous one as hard-working field hands.

Besides, the catamites have lost nothing they needed and can still enjoy submission to sodomy as much as ever. Even many of the others, apparently owing to their extensive sexual experience do not become impotent. You should ask some of Adriano's eunuch servants how they feel about it."

The next day, Jeremiah met Mr. Colombe, the overseer. He was the first smiling overseer Jeremiah had ever met and the smile was not malicious or cruel, but friendly, even benevolent. A rather stout bespectacled man, he looked more like a country parson than an overseer.

Jeremiah asked him what means he employed to discipline the slaves. "Well, " he replied, "I am glad to be able to say that few of them ever require it. They are, on the whole, very well behaved and contented with their lot. If I must chastise one of them, I explain to him why he must be punished, then I bend him over my knee and spank him on his bare bottom with the palm of my hand, as if he were a bad boy caught raiding the cookie jar.

This is both painful and humiliating and is almost always effective in correcting the slave's behaviour. Should he prove to be incorrigible, all I need do is threaten him with sale to a less lenient and gentle master. This has never actually had to be done."

It had quickly become evident that no useful information concerning Negro masturbation was to be obtained from Mr. Piccolo-Finocchio's slaves as they had no need of it. Therefore, Jeremiah cut his visit short. Before leaving for the next and last plantation on his list, Matapunxett, owned by George Francis, Jeremiah asked Signor Adriano what he thought of the place and its owner.

"Matapunxett is only a slave-breeding establishment. The farm workers are engaged exclusively in raising produce and pigs to feed the master and his slaves. The only adult male permitted in the slave breeding area is George Francis.

All of the slaves he sells are his own half-breed offspring. He begets bastards on nigger slave women whom he has purchased and on HIS OWN DAUGHTERS . About half of his half-breed sons are sold as eunuchs, having been castrated at birth by the midwife who squeezes and kneads their little testicles until they soften and their contents are liquefied.

He has tried to sell me some of his little eunuchs, but I want nothing to do with him or his wretched offspring. The man is a monster, devoid of even a shred of decency. I am not being hypocritical when I say that , were I interested in women, I would NEVER behave as he has. Whatever you may think of me, when you have become acquainted with George Francis, I am sure that you will be willing to concede that, compared to him, I am a paragon of virtue.

I understand that he comes from your home state of Massachusetts. As you may have noticed, the name Matapunxett is not a southern Indian name. It is northern in origin, probably from Mohican or Mohawk. He does your state no credit.

His farm workers are not permitted to have women, lest they breed slaves in competition with the owner. He is permitted to be the only breeder. Therefore, I have no doubt that you can obtain all of the information you could desire about masturbation among niggers from his farm workers who have only that and each other's bodies to relieve their passion and dispose of their sperm.

Be very tactful, discrete, and diplomatic in dealing with him. He is a violent short-tempered man, given to challenging men to duels or settling scores with his fists. He is a brutal dirty fighter. Mark my words: He will not die a natural death. Some day, someone will murder him."

"I have pistols with me," remarked Jeremiah, "but I hope not to use them. On the other hand, I will not allow him to abuse me. I shall not criticise him, whatever I may think, but merely content myself with recording his misdeeds. "

"You have your work cut out for you." replied Mr. Piccolo-Finocchio with a laugh. "However, you have been so very tactful in dealing with me, and I am certain that

you disapprove thoroughly of the life I need. Yet, not by a word of criticism nor a frown of disapproval have you revealed this. So, I wish you luck in dealing with George Francis."