not a slave ship-LIKE a slave ship, a simile. A slave or other southerner at the time would/could see a barn as such. I think it's about a slave or other vagabond who committed a murder. I doubt it would be a slave. It seems the protagonist is floating down the ohio river to the Mississippi, then (hopefully) to the gulf of mexico; I think a slave would be better off going North, although they could go to New Orleans, maybe from there to Carribbean/Africa/West?
not a slave ship-LIKE a slave ship, a simile. A slave or other southerner at the time would/could see a barn as such. I think it's about a slave or other vagabond who committed a murder. I doubt it would be a slave. It seems the protagonist is floating down the ohio river to the Mississippi, then (hopefully) to the gulf of mexico; I think a slave would be better off going North, although they could go to New Orleans, maybe from there to Carribbean/Africa/West?