Hal is correct that the proper name Nigger Jim has received extensive discussion in previous Forum posts and that the name does not appear as such in Twain's writings. However, contemporary newspaper reports from 1884 have quoted Twain using it during the Cable-Twain lecture tour when Twain was reading passages from _Huckleberry Finn_. Whether or not Twain actually used the phrase as a name in his speeches during that tour or whether or not his manager Major Pond provided advance newspaper material with such usage and quotes is another question not yet answered. The fact remains that newspapers from 1884 quoted Twain as using it. Barb