TRAVELS,&c.----CHAPTER XV.Journey to Charleston, and Residence in that City—from the 11th to the 19th of December, 1825.Onthe 11th of December, we were prepared before five o’clock to travel in the mail stage from Columbia to Charleston, one hundred and twenty miles distant. Unfortunately, our coachman had, the evening before, involved himself in a quarrel with a watchman, who attempted to arrest his sable Dulcinea, and given him a stab with a knife. It was feared that the watchman, who was the father of a family, would die. The coachman was immediately taken into custody. We were, consequently, obliged to remain till seven o’clock, since the contractor of the mail stage was unable to find another white driver sooner, and according to law, no negro could convey the United States’ mail.Our company was very pleasant; I especially remarked a Mr. Bacott, from Charleston, and young Mr. Ramsay, as being well-informed men. Three miles below Columbia, we crossed the Congaree in a wretched boat, and on the right bank of the river, passed through a little place called Granby, which formerly had been a German settlement, called Saxe-Gotha. The road was, without exception, sandy, swampy, and at times hilly. The stage travelled very slowly, and for the greater part of the way, I left it behind, being on foot. It was nearly a continued forest, composed mostly of pine and oak trees, from which the Spanish moss hung in such quantities, that the appearance was far from agreeable. The number of the magnolia, kalmia, and gardenia trees increased, and also of theyucca gloriosa, which until now were situated principally in the neighbourhood of the dwellings. We also saw more live oaks here, of which the timber is uncommonly excellent for ship-building, because it does not rot, and cannon-shot in striking it produce no splinters. Towards evening, we passed the village of Orangeburg, with wooden houses. We supped in a solitary house, and at the same time met the mail stage coming from Charleston, in which we took seats. It had been built for General La Fayette, and was named the La Fayette stage. We proceeded through the whole night: the day had beenpleasant, the night, however, was extremely cold: I suffered considerably, as I sat upon the coach-box, where I always took my seat, for the advantage of free air and prospect.We travelled during the forenoon of the 12th of December, constantly through a forest. The number of live oaks increased, and they were really beautiful. The solitary fan-like macaw trees, which we took notice of, were small. The yuccas multiplied every moment. The last place before reaching Charleston, was Dorchester. We then passed by an old church, nearly in ruins, called St. Andrews, which has survived since the time of the English government. It stands in the midst of a venerable church-yard, under lofty live oaks and hickories, with palmettoes and macaw trees growing between the graves. The whole had a picturesque aspect. The plantations succeeded each other more frequently, presented a more agreeable appearance, and every thing showed marks of the proximity of a large city. At length, in the afternoon, we left the continued forest, and entered upon an open swampy district. Charleston extended before us. The city, distinguished as a seaport, lies upon a tongue of land, formed by the rivers Ashley and Cooper: we crossed the Ashley to reach the city. A causeway, constructed of fascines, passes through the swamp to the ferry. The river is three-quarters of a mile broad; we crossed it in an eight-horse team-boat. A wooden bridge, which formerly crossed the river here, was destroyed by a severe storm, and never again rebuilt. Upon the right bank, in the vicinity of Charleston, an entirely novel spectacle expanded itself to my view. The houses of the suburb, were, for the most part, surrounded by gardens, in which orange trees, with most splendid ripe fruit, monthly roses in full bloom, and a variety of other flourishing plants displayed themselves. The greater part of the habitations have piazzas and spacious balconies. Upon the walls and columns run creeping vines, we took notice of a great number of passion flowers. I felt delighted with this southern climate.Charleston has a population of forty thousand inhabitants, about twenty-five thousand of these are free. The city is regularly built, the streets cross each other at right angles. The smallest streets are paved, all have brick side-walks. The paving-stone is imported from the northern states, on this account it is an expensive article, and the paving of the streets can only be gradually effected. In the suburb we passed through a street which was a log causeway. The principal part of the houses are, it is true, built of wood, and all are, as I am told, covered with shingles, on account of the frequent prevalence of severe tempests; the more recent are, however, of brick, and in very good taste. I took up my abode in Jones’s Hotel, a well supported and finely situated house, whose host was a mulatto. I had the pleasureto meet here with Colonel Wool, inspector-general of the army, with whom I became acquainted in Washington. I moreover made acquaintance with Mr. Bee, an elderly gentleman who had travelled much, to whom I had letters; also the late governor of the state, Mr. Wilson, with his young and accomplished lady, from New York, who, besides her native language, spoke French, German, Spanish, and Italian, and understood Latin and Greek; lastly, Major Massias, army paymaster.A severe catarrh obliged me to remain at home a whole day. The weather was also unpleasant and stormy; Fahrenheit’s thermometer had fallen to twenty degrees, which degree of cold is here extremely uncommon. In the meantime, I received visits from a number of the distinguished inhabitants: from Dr. Tidyman, whom I had known in Philadelphia; from Mr. Lowndes, to whom I had introductory letters; from Dr. Johnson, mayor of the city; from Messrs. Pitray and Viel, French merchants; from the Marquis De Fougères, French consul; from Mr. Bacott, with whom I had arrived yesterday, and from Major Massias. Some extremely interesting strangers were also in the hotel, so that I did not lack entertainment. The following was related to me:—Some years previous, the negroes of the country engaged in a conspiracy to murder all the white males, and spare none but the females. This design was found out, and it was discovered that the original projectors were free negroes out of the limits of the state, who travelled in the northern section of the union, and in part were become Methodist preachers. They had returned home and preached freedom to the slave population. Since that period the legislature of this state has adopted very severe precautionary laws against free negroes and mulattoes. One of them is, that no individual of this description, if he have once left the state, shall be permitted to return. The wife of our host, Jones, found herself in this predicament. She had undertaken a voyage to New York, her native city, and now dared not to attempt a return. On this account, I was informed, had I brought a free black servant with me, he would have been taken from me, and put in custody till I should have left the state, or I must deposit a considerable security for him.I made my first excursion abroad in company with Colonel Wool and Major Massias, in a boat to Fort Moultrie, where the Colonel had to inspect two companies of the third regiment of artillery, lying there in garrison. This fort is situated at the entrance of Charleston Bay, upon a peninsula, Sullivan’s Island, which is connected with the continent by a marshy strip of land. The vessels running into the bay are compelled to pass within reach of the cannon of this fort. It is four miles distant from thecity, and lies about half way from each extremity of the peninsula. Opposite is the coast battery, with a stone parapet. This battery can receive fifty pieces of cannon. There will be no further disbursements for the maintenance of this fort, since new works, after plans of General Bernard, are to be placed at the entrance of the passage, to guard against too close a blockade of the bay, so that the ancient and more retired posts will be deprived of all their importance. Between the city and Sullivan’s Island, on a point of land to the left, stands a defensive work called Castle Pinckney, resembling Castle Garden in New York, on the right is situated Castle Johnson. Sullivan’s Island is exceedingly sandy, nothing but cabbage trees grow upon it, so that I seemed transported to India. Outside the fort there are a number of slight built wooden houses, which, during the heats of summer, and especially when the yellow fever prevails in Charleston, are occupied by the inhabitants of that city, for the peninsula has the reputation of being healthier, and much more temperate in climate. The trunk of the cabbage-tree affords a good porous timber, which is peculiarly valuable for building in salt water, since it is not injured by it. It is highly recommended for entrenchments, as the balls of the enemy cannot splinter it. On the same spot where Fort Moultrie now stands, a fortress of the same name stood in the revolutionary war, which was built in great haste from trunks of the cabbage-tree, and maintained itself with great glory. We had a boat, attached to the artillery, prepared for our passage, which was manned by the artillerists. These are exercised as oarsmen in all posts situated on the water, and this is certainly a good arrangement, if the officers do not abuse the privilege. Our boat’s crew had unfortunately made too spirituous a breakfast, the oars of course moved as Providence guided them, and the colonel was so irritated, that he dispatched the whole six on landing to the black hole. I remained during the parade of the two artillery companies in garrison. A company of this description is with matrosses and cannoneers, fifty-five strong; from these are subtracted, the sentinels, sick, and those under arrest, so that both corps had scarcely sixty men under arms. The privates had fire-arms and cartridge boxes, and the matrosses and corporals alone carried side-arms. The haversack consisted of a wooden box, covered with black waxed linen. They wore grey pantaloons, and boots, as our artillery; the officers alone had white cloth pantaloons. The coats were not well made, and did not fit; all the men had large shirt collars, which had a bad effect, and gloves of a different pattern, because each individual bought for himself. While the colonel was going through the inspection, I took a walk on the ramparts with Major Massias, and visited theofficer’s quarters. In the chamber of a lieutenant, in which we stopped, I found, besides the books belonging to service, a small library of English belles lettres, and classical poets.Charleston keeps in pay a company of police soldiers, who during the night occupy several posts. They have their guard house near Jones’s Hotel, and I was startled to hear the retreat and reveillé beat there. This corps owes its support to the fear of the negroes. At nine o’clock in the evening a bell is sounded; and after this no negro can venture without a written permission from his master, or he will immediately be thrown into prison, nor can his owner obtain his release till next day, by the payment of a fine. Should the master refuse to pay this fine, then the slave receives twenty-five lashes, and a receipt, with which he is sent back to his master!The market consists of five houses, in a long street ending upon the harbour, and resemble somewhat those of the Philadelphia market. The quantity of the most beautiful tropical fruit therein arranged, oranges from Florida, pistachios, and large excellent pine apples from Cuba, interested me much. These large and delicious fruit cost only twelve and a half cents each, of course a dollar for eight. There were nuts of various descriptions; many sorts of potatoes, cabbages, and white and red radishes. Fish were not presented in so great a variety as I expected. Of shell-fish, I saw oysters only, which are roasted in the shell at market, and consumed by the negroes with great avidity. Upon the roofs of the market houses sat a number of buzzards, who are supported by the offals. It is a species of vulture, black, with a naked head. Seen from a distance they resemble turkeys, for which reason they are denominated turkey-buzzards. They are not only suffered as very useful animals, but there is a fine of five dollars for the killing of one of these birds. A pair of these creatures were so tame that they crept about in the meat market among the feet of the buyers.Accompanied by Dr. Johnson, Mr. Lowndes, and Dr. Tidyman, I visited the public institutions of the city. The Court-house, in which the different courts of justice hold their sessions, contains nothing remarkable with the exception of the City Library in the upper story, established by subscription. I noticed in this a beautiful collection of copperplates from the Shakspeare Gallery, and a sketched plan of Charleston with the investment of it in the revolutionary war. Since this epoch the city has much extended itself. On the localities, which then were occupied by fortifications, houses are now standing. The morasses which covered the left wing of these works, are filled up level with earth, and no trace of them is perceivable.In the City Hall, the lower story is occupied by one largesaloon. It is appropriated to the sittings of the city police. Above it are arranged the meeting rooms of the magistracy and various separate offices. In one of these apartments I noticed an elegant new plan of the city, designed by an emigrant French engineer, Mr. Petitral.The Orphan-house is a brick building, three stories high, erected by voluntary contributions, and in it, one hundred and thirty-six children of both sexes are supported. I was surprized at the exceeding cleanliness pervading the whole establishment. The children sleep upon the floor, and the girls and sick only are allowed mattresses; the boys have a woollen coverlet, in which they wrap themselves. I was informed that this was done from fear of vermin. A very nourishing diet, and a truly maternal care, preserve the children healthy. At their twelfth year, they are provided for abroad to enable them to earn their own subsistence. Many of the boys enter into the United States navy, and it has been reported to me that two of the pupils of this institution have attained the rank of officers. Behind the house is a moderately large chapel, in the midst of the garden. The clergy of all Christian professions can hold divine service here every Sunday afternoon; in the mornings, the service in turn is taken charge of by a superintendent. In front of the building is a large open square. In it stands an ill-preserved statue of Lord Chatham, which was erected by the then colony of South Carolina, before the breaking out of the American revolution, in memory of that great man, in gratitude for the opposition he maintained against colonial taxation. An inscription on the statue mentions this. During the siege, it stood at the corner of the street, near the City Hall. There it lost an arm by one of the first English balls that struck the city.The state prison is a small building. The prisoners are too much crowded together, and have no employment. The atrocious criminals live in the upper story, and are immured two together in a cell, without ever being permitted to come into the open air. This is allowed only to those dwelling in the first story, consisting of debtors, and persons who are imprisoned for breaches of the peace. The walls within, as well as the flooring, are of strong oak wood. In each apartment is an iron ring in the floor, for the purpose of securing dangerous prisoners. In the upper story there is a negro confined, who, implicated in one of the late conspiracies, had not committed himself so far as to allow of his being hung; nevertheless, his presence appeared so dangerous to the public tranquillity, that he is detained in prison till his master can find some opportunity to ship him to the West Indies, and there sell him. In another room was a white prisoner, and it is not known whether he be an American or Scotchman,who involved himself by his writings deeply in the last negro conspiracy. The prisoners received their food while we were present: it consisted of very good soup, and three-quarters of a pound of beef. Upon the ground floor is the dwelling of the keeper, who was an Amsterdam Jew, and the state-rooms in which gentlemen, who are lodged here, receive accommodation for money and fair words. The cleanliness of the house was not very great; upon the whole it left an unfavourable impression upon me.I found the other prison, destined for the punishment of minor offences of the negro slaves, in a better condition. In it there were about forty individuals of both sexes. These slaves are either such as have been arrested during the night by the police, or such as have been sent here by their masters for punishment. The house displays throughout a remarkable neatness; black overseers go about every where armed with cow-hides. In the basement story there is an apparatus upon which the negroes, by order of the police, or at the request of their masters, are flogged. The latter can have nineteen lashes inflicted on them according to the existing law. The machine consists of a sort of crane, on which a cord with two nooses runs over pullies; the nooses are made fast to the hands of the slave and drawn up, while the feet are bound tight to a plank. The body is stretched out as much as possible, and thus the miserable creature receives the exact number of lashes as counted off! Within a year, flogging occurs less frequently: that is to say, a tread-mill has been erected in a back building of the prison, in which there are two tread-wheels in operation. Each employs twelve prisoners, who work a mill for grinding corn, and thereby contribute to the support of the prison. Six tread at once upon each wheel, while six rest upon a bench placed behind the wheel. Every half minute the left hand man steps off the tread-wheel, while the five others move to the left to fill up the vacant place; at the same time the right hand man sitting on the bench, steps on the wheel, and begins his movement, while the rest, sitting on the bench, uniformly recede. Thus, even three minutes sitting, allows the unhappy being no repose. The signal for changing is given by a small bell attached to the wheel. The prisoners are compelled to labour eight hours a day in this manner. Order is preserved by a person, who, armed with a cow-hide, stands by the wheel. Both sexes tread promiscuously upon the wheel. Since, however, only twenty-four prisoners find employment at once on both wheels, the idle are obliged in the interval to sit upon the floor in the upper chambers, and observe a strict silence. One who had eloped several times from a plantation, was fastened by a heavy iron ring, that passed over his leg to the floor. To provideagainst this state of idleness, there should be another pair of tread-wheels erected. The negroes entertain a strong fear of the tread-mills, and regard flogging as the lighter evil! Of about three hundred and sixty, who, since the erection of these tread-mills, have been employed upon them, only six have been sent back a second time.The poor-house, an old building raised by subscription, contains one hundred and sixty-six paupers. It will only admit such poor persons as are completely disabled. Those who can labour a little can obtain the employment they desire, and then receive good attendance and proper support. The sick were taken care of in a distinct infirmary, where each had a separate bed. The healthy slept upon the floor. I enquired why the sick were not provided with iron bedsteads in place of the wooden ones they occupied? and was informed that it was from apprehension of the prevailing severe thunder-storms.Connected with the Poor-house is a Magdalen Asylum, which provides shelter and care for thirty unfortunate beings. It struck me forcibly, as I saw under an open shed in the yard where the poor walked about, the dead cart, and close by it numbers of empty coffins piled up together, that the scene might be very well introduced in a monastery of the order of La Trappe.A medical school is to be built not far from the poor-house. Until the completion of this structure, the students, one hundred and twenty in number, receive their instruction in a wooden building, in which there are arranged an amphitheatre, and a chemical laboratory.Dr. Tidyman and Mr. Lowndes had the politeness to show me a rice mill established a few years ago. This mill is the property of Mr. Lucas, who has fixed a similar one in the neighbourhood of London. Rice is known as the staple article of produce of the lowlands in South Carolina, and yet there was no mill hitherto to free the rice from its husk, and to prepare it for use or export. This mill is situated near the river Ashley. The schooner that conveys the rice from the plantation, lies directly before it, a cart is taken on board the vessel filled with rice, and by means of an inclined plane drawn into the mill, where it is deposited. Hence the rice is drawn to the upper story, in which it is cleared of dust by a fan, and passed between two large mill-stones which frees the hull from the grain. It is then placed in a cylinder of bolting cloth. By this it is further cleaned from all the hull. Now it comes into the trough, where it is beaten by heavy hammers faced with tin, and by that means is completely cleaned. It is once more conveyed into a bolting cylinder, where, by another series of revolutions, it is freed from the slightest dust, and shook through a tube into the tierces placedfor packing. The tierces stand upon a trunnel, which whirls round while a hammer continually strikes upon it. Such a tierce in this way receives six hundred pounds of rice. The machinery is to be set in motion in future by a steam-machine of twenty-four horse-power. It is wonderful, however, that the best steam-engines must be made in England to supply a country that has numberedRobert Fultonamong her citizens!Dr. Tidyman honoured me with a dinner, at which I met several of the distinguished inhabitants of the place, as Mr. Lowndes, Major Garden, son of that Scotch physician to whose honour Linnæus has given the name of Gardenia to a class of plants; Mr. J. Allen Smith, who passed seventeen years of his life in Europe, principally in Russia, and enjoyed the especial favour of the Emperor Alexander; he was present at my brother’s marriage, and enquired after him in the most ardent manner. This extremely amiable and interesting man has lost the greater part of his property. Here also I met with the Marquis de Fougères, Mr. Viel, and the English Consul, Mr. Newman. After dinner was over, a numerous company of gentlemen and ladies assembled, who remained in society through the evening. We had music, some of which was very good.In one of my strolls through the city, I talked with a person from Erfurt, Mr. Siegling, who had established a music store here, and appeared to do very good business. I saw at his residence several handsome English harps and piano fortes; also several wind instruments of different kinds. He pricks the notes himself on tin, and has a press with which he prints them.In Charleston there exists among the Germans, and their descendants, who for the most part are tradesmen of small capital, but persons of great respectability, a Friendly German Society.On Sunday the 18th of December, two members of this Society, the militia Colonel Sass, a native Hessian, who had already passed fifty-two years in this country, and Mr. Strohhecker, came to take me to the Lutheran church. The Lutheran preacher, Mr. Bachman, a native of Troy, in the State of New York, administered divine service in the English language. The church has been built but a few years. It is simple within, but in very good taste. The organ is good, and was well played, and the hymns sung in unison by the congregation. Mr. Bachman delivered an excellent sermon upon the story of Cornelius, from the Acts of the Apostles. Afterwards he detailed a report of a journey of about eight hundred miles, which he had performed through the interior of this state, for the purpose of examining the condition of the various Lutheran congregations. The report upon churches and schools appeared very favourable. This service displayedso much benevolence, and real goodness, that I felt truly edified.Upon the following day I was accompanied by Mr. Bacott and his brother-in-law, to St. Michael’s episcopal church, to see the building, and particularly the steeple, one hundred and eighty-six feet high. We mounted two hundred and thirty-six steps, and enjoyed a very handsome prospect over the regular built city, the bay, and adjacent country. The bay, with its protecting forts, showed to great advantage; the surrounding district not so agreeably, it being very level and overgrown with wood. In the city several buildings reared their heads, among others, the churches, and there are here twenty-two churches belonging to various sects, then the orphan-house and custom-house. St. Michael’s church contains in itself nothing worthy of remark, if you except some simple funeral tablets. The churches, moreover, stand in the centre of burial grounds, and the custom still prevails, so injurious to health, of entombing the dead in the city.On the same day, the last of my stay in Charleston, I was present at a dinner which the German Friendly Society gave in compliment to me, having invited me by a deputation. The party met at half past three o’clock. The company was composed, with the exception of the mayor, Dr. Johnson, of more than sixty persons, for the most part Germans or of German origin. It was assembled in a house belonging to the society, in which, besides the large assembly room, was also a school for the children of the members, and the dwellings of the preceptors. The society was instituted in the year 1766, the principal founder was Captain Kalteisen, a native Wirtemburger, who had raised a volunteer corps of fusileers from the Germans then living there, with which he not only distinguished himself in the defence of Fort Moultrie against the English, but also personally, during the whole war, rendered the most important services as adjutant quarter-master-general in the staff of the southern army. The company of fusileers always preserved their connection with the German Society. Kalteisen himself died in the year 1807, as commandant of Fort Johnson; he was so attached to this German association, that he had himself buried in the yard of the building, the bricks of the pavement mark the form of his coffin over it, and a tablet of marble in the hall contains an inscription to the memory of the deceased. In the great hall, his portrait hangs next to that of Colonel Sass, who after him commanded the company, and of a Wormser, named Strobel, who was a joint founder of the society, and whose sons and nephew appeared at table. Two brothers, Messrs. Horlbeck, presided at the dinner, which was very well arranged. They had the politeness to nominate me an honorary member of the society, and to present me theirlaws for my signature; under them were here and there crosses only. Several of the usual toasts were given out; my health being drank, I returned my thanks in the German language. There was also singing. The melody was guided by an old Mr. Eckhardt, a Hessian that had come to America with the Hessian troops, as a musician, and remained here. He is now organist of one of the churches, and three of his sons occupy the same station in other churches. The German society possesses, moreover, a library, which owes its origin to donations. In the school-room there was a planetarium, very neatly finished, set in motion by clock-work.----CHAPTER XVI.Journey from Charleston, through Augusta, Milledgeville, Macon, and the country of the Creek Indians, to Montgomery, in the State of Alabama.Mydesign had been to travel from Charleston to Savannah. I understood, however, that the stage to Savannah was very bad; that the steam-boat went very irregularly; that Savannah had lost its importance as a place of trade, and on the whole, contained nothing worthy of observation. As this tour would cost me many days, and a circuitous route, I resolved to relinquish the visit to Savannah, and betake myself the nearest way to Augusta, one hundred and twenty-nine miles distant; thence by Milledgeville through the Creek Indians, to go into the state of Alabama. Colonel Wool liked my plan, as also did Mr. Temple Bowdoin, an Anglo-American, a very polished man, who had travelled, and who in his younger days served in the British army. We had engaged the mail stage for ourselves alone, and in it left Charleston on the 20th of December.We passed Ashley river at the same place, and in the same team-boat, as I did eight days back. It was at low ebb, and many oyster banks were exposed dry. This was a novel spectacle to me. The oysters stood straight up, close together, and had somewhat the appearance of a brush. Several negroes were employed in taking them out of the mud, in baskets. Even on the piers of the bridge, many oysters were sticking fast. On the opposite shore the road ran through a country generally woody, but partly ornamented with plantations. Several of these plantationsare pretty, commonly an avenue of ancient, well preserved live oaks, leads up to the mansion-house, at the entrance of which a grated gate is placed. Maize and cotton are planted here, and in some places also rice, which is the staple of the lower part of South Carolina. The rice fields must stand several months of the year under water. On this account they are situated in swampy districts, and surrounded by ditches of water. But in consequence of this, these places are so unhealthy, that hardly a white planter can remain during the summer on his plantation; he is obliged to resort to Charleston, or the northern states. The climate of Charleston is such, that whoever is there in the beginning of the hot season, dares not to sleep a single night during the continuance of it, upon a plantation, without exposing his life to imminent danger. The blacks are the only human beings on whom this deadly climate has no bad effect, and they are, therefore, indispensable for the cultivation of this district. The vegetation was again extremely beautiful, noble live oaks, laurel trees, magnolias, cabbage and macaw trees. The road ran upon light bridges over small rivers, on the banks of which negroes were busied in angling. We saw the family of a planter in an elegant boat, manned by six black oarsmen, rowing to their plantation. In a large inn, which was itself the mansion-house of a plantation, we found a particularly good dinner. In the evening we crossed the Edisto river in a narrow ferry-boat, for the arrival of which we were obliged to delay a long time. The soil was mostly very sandy, partly also marshy, and the jolting log causeways made us tired of our lives. On this side of the river we arrived at the village of Edisto. We travelled through the whole night, and I suffered much from the cold in my airy seat. Otherwise, it was a clear moonlight, and if it had been a little warmer would deserve the appellation of a fine night. We changed our stage during the night, but gained nothing.The succeeding morning exhibited all the ponds of water covered with a crust of ice. We passed the Salkechee and Cambahee rivers upon bridges, and noticed nothing worthy of observation. The vegetation was less beautiful than on the preceding day; the plantations were also less considerable. At a new plantation, at which we arrived about break of day, I spoke to the overseer of the negroes. The man’s employment I recognised from his whip, and from the use he made of it, in rousing up the negroes to make a fire. He told us that in the district, where the plantation was situated, and where maize and cotton were planted, but a little time before there was nothing but forest; his employer had commenced in 1816, with two negroes, and now he possessed one hundred and four, who were kept atwork in clearing the wood, and extending the plantation. The cotton crop was finished in most of the fields, and cattle were driven in, to consume the weeds and tops of the bushes. We passed several mill-ponds, and saw some saw-mills. Only pine trees appeared to flourish in this part of the country; upon the whole, it was hilly, and the progress was tedious through the deep sand. We passed the river Savannah three miles from Augusta, in a little ferry-boat. The left bank appeared here and there to be rocky, and pretty high; the right is sandy. When we crossed the river, we left the state of South Carolina, and entered that of Georgia, the most southern of the old thirteen United States, which in fifty years have grown to twenty-four in number. We reached Augusta in the evening at nine o’clock, on a very good road, a scattered built town of four thousand six hundred inhabitants, of both complexions. We took up our quarters in the Globe Hotel, a tolerable inn; during the whole day it was very clear, but cold weather, in the evening it froze hard. The old remark is a very just one, that one suffers no where so much from cold as in a warm climate, since the dwellings are well calculated to resist heat, but in nowise suited to repel cold.We were compelled to remain in Augusta during the 22d of December, as the mail stage for the first time went to Milledgeville on the following day, and Colonel Wool had to inspect the United States’ arsenal here, which contained about six thousand stand of arms for infantry. We understood that Mr. Crawford, formerly embassador of the United States, in Paris, afterwards secretary of state, and lastly, candidate for the office of president, was here at a friend’s house. We therefore paid him a visit. Mr. Crawford is a man of gigantic stature, and dignified appearance; he had a stroke of apoplexy about a year since, so that he was crippled on one side, and could not speak without difficulty. To my astonishment, he did not speak French, though he had been several years an envoy in Paris. They say, that Mr. Crawford’s predecessor in Paris, was chancellor Livingston, this gentleman was deaf; both Livingston and Crawford were introduced to the Emperor Napoleon at the same time; the emperor, who could carry on no conversation with either of them, expressed his surprise, that the United States had sent him a deaf and dumb embassy. I likewise reaped very little profit from Mr. Crawford’s conversation. As he was an old friend of Mr. Bowdoin, almost all the benefit of it fell to his share, and I addressed myself chiefly to his daughter, and one of her female friends, who were present. Much indeed was to be anticipated as the result of a conversation with the daughter of such a statesman. She had been educated in a school of the southern states. My conclusionwas, the farther south I advanced, so much the firmer am I convinced that the inhabitants of these states suffer in comparing their education with those of the north. To conclude, Mr. Crawford was the hero of the democratic party, and would, in all probability, have been chosen president in the spring of 1825, had not his apoplectic attack supervened. On account of his indisposition, General Jackson was pushed before him; and so much was brought forward against the individual character of this person in opposition, that the present incumbent, Adams, on that account, succeeded.The city of Augusta is very regularly built. The main street is about one hundred feet wide, it contains many brick houses, and good-looking stores. None of the streets are paved, but all have brick foot-paths. A wooden bridge, three hundred and fifty yards long, and thirty feet wide, crosses from the neighbourhood of the city, to the left bank of Savannah river, the city lies on the right bank. Along the bank is erected a quay in the manner of a terrace, which is one of the most suitable that I have seen; for it is accommodated to the swell of the river, which often rises above twenty feet. It has three terraces. The lower one has a margin of beams, mostly of cypress timber, at which, in the present uncommon low stage of the water, the vessels are loaded. From the second terrace, (which as well as the upper one, has a brick facing,) are wooden landings reaching to the edge of the under terrace, by which, at higher stages, the vessels may land there. The upper terrace is paved with large stones, which are quarried above the city. The quay, as well as the landings, belong to the State Bank of Georgia: the landings produce fifteen per cent. annually.Augusta is the depôt for the cotton, which is conveyed from the upper part of Georgia by land carriage, and here shipped either to Savannah or Charleston. We noticed a couple of vessels of a peculiar structure, employed in this trade. They are flat underneath, and look like large ferry-boats. Each vessel can carry a load of three hundred tons. The bales of cotton, each of which weighs about three hundred pounds, were piled upon one another to the height of eleven feet. Steam-boats are provided to tow these vessels up and down the stream, but on account of the present low state of the water, they cannot come up to Augusta. I was assured that year by year between fifteen and twenty thousand bales of cotton were sent down the river. The state of South Carolina, to which the left bank of the river belongs, was formerly compelled to make Augusta its depôt. To prevent this, Mr. Schulz, a man of enterprise, originally from Holstein, has founded a new town, called Hamburg, upon the left bank of the river, close by the bridge, supported, as is said, by the legislatureof South Carolina with an advance of fifty thousand dollars. This town was commenced in the year 1821, and numbers about four hundred inhabitants, who are collectively maintained by the forwarding business. It consists of one single row of wooden houses, streaked with white, which appear very well upon the dark back ground, formed by the high forest close behind the houses. Nearly every house contains a store, a single one, which comprised two stores, was rented for one thousand dollars. Several new houses were building, and population and comfort appear fast increasing. The row of houses which form the town, runs parallel with the river, and is removed back from it about one hundred and fifty paces. Upon this space stands a large warehouse, and a little wooden hut, looking quite snug, upon the whole, with the superscription “Bank.” A Hamburg bank in such a booth, was so tempting an object for me, that I could not refrain from gratifying my curiosity. I went in, and made acquaintance with Mr. Schulz, who was there. He appears to me to be a very public-spirited man, having been one of the most prominent undertakers of the landings and quay of Augusta. It is said, however, that he only accomplishes good objects for other people, and realizes nothing for himself. He has already several times possessed a respectable fortune, which he has always sunk again by too daring speculations. This Hamburg bank, moreover, has suspended its payments, and will not resume business till the first of next month. On this account, it was not possible for me to obtain its notes, which, for the curiosity of the thing, I would gladly have taken back with me to Germany.On the 23d December we left Augusta, about four o’clock, by moonlight, and the weather pretty cold, in the miserable mail stage, which we had engaged for ourselves. It went for Milledgeville, eighty-six miles distant from Augusta. The road was one of the most tedious that I had hitherto met with in the United States; hilly, nothing but sand, at times solitary pieces of rock, and eternal pine woods with very little foliage; none of the evergreen trees and the southern plants seen elsewhere, which, new as they were to my eye, had so pleasantly broke the monotony of the tiresome forests through which I had travelled from the beginning of December; even the houses were clap-board cabins. Every thing contributed to give me an unfavourable impression. The inhabitants of Georgia are regarded in the United States under the character of great barbarians, and this reputation appears really not unjustly conferred. We see unpleasant countenances even in Italy: but here all the faces are haggard, and bear the stamp of the sickly climate.To the cold weather which we had for several days, warm temperature succeeded to-day. We were considerably annoyed bydust. Besides several solitary houses and plantations, we encountered two little hamlets here, called towns, Warrenton and Powelton, this last lies upon Great Ogechee river, over which passes a wooden bridge. We stopped at Warrenton. The court of justice is in the only brick house of the place: close by it stands the prison, or countygaol, a building composed of strong planks and beams nailed together. Between Warrenton and Powelton, we had a drunken Irishman for our driver, who placed us more than once in great danger. This race of beings, who have spread themselves like a pestilence over the United States, are here also, and despised even by the Georgians. We travelled again all night; it was, however, not so cold as the nights previous. Towards midnight, we reached a trifling place called Sparta. We were obliged to stop here some time, as the stage and horses were to be changed. We seated ourselves at the fire-place in the tavern. All of a sudden there stood betwixt us, like an evil genius, a stout fellow, with an abominable visage, who appeared to be intoxicated, and crowded himself in behind Mr. Bowdoin. I addressed this gentleman to be on guard for his pockets. The ruffian made a movement, and a dirk fell from his sleeve, which he clutched up, and made off. They told me that he was an Irishman, who, abandoned to liquor, as most of his countrymen were, had no means of subsistence, and often slunk about at night to sleep in houses that happened to be open. Most probably he had intended to steal. We then obtained another driver, whom, from his half drunkenness and imprecations, I judged to be a son of Hibernia, and was not deceived.On the 24th December, we left this unlucky Sparta at one o’clock in the morning. The driver wished very much to put a passenger in the stage with us, which we prevented. Vexed by this, he drove us so tediously, that we spent full eight hours going twenty-two miles to Milledgeville, and did not therefore reach there until nine in the morning. Immediately after leaving Norfolk, and travelling in the woods where there was little accommodation for travellers, we had every night seen bivouacs of wagoners or emigrants, moving to the western states—the backwoods. The horses of such a caravan are tied to the side of the wagon, and stand feeding at their trough; near the wagon is a large fire lighted up, of fallen or cut timber. At this fire the people sleep in good weather, in bad, they lay themselves in or under the wagon. After leaving Augusta we encountered several of these bivouacs, which consist partly of numerous families with harnessed wagons. They intended to go to Alabama, the district of country lately sold by the United States, and there to set themselves down and fall to hewing and building. I saw three families sitting on a long fallen tree, to which they had set firein three places. These groups placed themselves in a very picturesque manner; but their way of acting is very dangerous. The night before we saw the woods on fire in three different directions, and the fire was without doubt occasioned by such emigrants as these. The lofty pine trees look very handsome while burning, when they are insulated, but the owner of the forest has all the trouble attending it to himself.The country which we passed through towards morning was hilly, the bottom constantly sandy, towards the last, mixed with clay and rock. The trees were nothing but long-leafed pines. Close by Milledgeville, we crossed the Oconee river on a bridge that had been finished but a few days, and which rested on wooden piles. Until now the river was passed by a ferry-boat. Both shores are very high and steep, so that going in and coming out were attended with great difficulty.Milledgeville lies upon elevated ground, the town is very regularly built, its broad streets are right-angled, they are, however, unpaved. It numbers about three thousand inhabitants of both complexions. It was established about twenty years ago, and increased very rapidly from its commencement, as it is the capital of the state of Georgia, and the seat of the legislature. Its increase is now calculated to be checked, since the story goes that the seat of government will be changed to the newly-founded town of Macon, or when the state has conquered congress in the cause yet depending before that body, and part of the Creek Indians territory is obtained, then it will be placed at Athens, where the university of the state is situated. We took up our residence at La Fayette Hall, a large tavern.Soon after our arrival, I took a walk through the town. It contains mostly wooden houses, but they were good and even elegantly built, good stores, also a bookseller’s shop, and several printing presses. There are published here four gazettes, which a little while since were exceedingly active on the sides of the two parties who oppose each other in the state. One party is that of Governor Troup, who, from his discussions with the United States concerning the Creek territory, and on account of his warmth in his official correspondence, has become noted; the other is the party of the former governor, General Clark, who is, in all appearance, a very mild man, and very much respected by sensible and well-disposed persons. At the last election of the governor, it was believed and hoped that General Clark would be chosen. He had the majority of the legislature in his favour, yet, as the governor in this state is chosen for two years by the people, and every man that pays half a dollar tax has a vote, it so happened that Governor Troup succeeded, by his popularity, in bearing off the palm.I examined the state-house, which is a simple, but well-finished brick building of two stories. In the ground floor are the offices, in the upper story two halls, one is for the senate, the other for the representatives. In each there is a seat, with a canopy, for the speaker. The senators have each a desk before them, in the hall of the representatives one desk serves two persons. All places are numbered, to prevent awkward encounters. In each hall there is a gallery for the public. The state-house is placed alone on a little eminence. In its neighbourhood stands the state arsenal. Another house belonging to the state, is appointed for the residence of the governor. Mr. Troup, notwithstanding, does not inhabit it; he has no family establishment, and has domesticated himself in a plain boarding-house. We intended to pay him our respects, he could not, however, receive us, as he lay dangerously ill of a pleurisy. Through two friends, Colonel Hamilton and Mr. Ringold, he tendered us his apologies, and these gentlemen, in his name, proffered us their services.We were then carried to the state prison, a large brick edifice, under the superintendence of Mr. Williams, and contained seventy-six prisoners. All these were white persons, for the black were punished by the whip, and not with imprisonment. No idleness was suffered among the prisoners. If one understood no mechanical trade, he was obliged to learn one. I found most of them employed in wagon and saddle-making; others laboured in a smithy; others as shoemakers or tailors. The greatest quiet and silence prevailed among the prisoners. Their dress is blue, with broad white stripes upon all the seams. The interior of the lodging-house did not please me as much as the workshops. Cleanliness, so indispensable to such an establishment, was wanting here; it was neither swept nor scrubbed, and in the cells of the prisoners, in which four or five slept upon the floor, the woollen coverlets and pillows lay confusedly together. There were also cells for solitary confinement, this was, however, used only as a means of house discipline. The eating room was equally disagreeable to me. A piece of cooked meat was laid on the table for each prisoner, without knives, forks, or plates. Bread did not appear to be furnished every day; at least the day we were there, none was to be seen. The prison is surrounded by a high wall, at each of its four corners stands a sentry-box for the watch, which they ascend from without, and from which the whole yard can be overlooked. This establishment is so well conducted, that it occasions no expense to the state, on the contrary, it produces a profit. Upon the principal building stands a turret, which commands an extensive view over the town and circumjacent country. The district around appears uneven and covered withwood, the monotony of the view is relieved by nothing. The woods begin at the edge of the town.Colonel Hamilton and Dr. Rogers accompanied us on Christmas day to the state-house. A travelling Unitarian clergyman from the northern states held divine service in the hall of representatives. The generality of people here are either Methodists or Baptists. As the Unitarian had found the churches here shut on this day, he had opened his temple in the state-house. His audience was composed of the beau monde, as a Unitarian was something new. He delivered a good discourse, in which he set forth pure morality, and received general approbation. After dinner he proposed to give a second service, for the purpose of expounding the doctrines of his belief, as founded on common sense.Colonel Hamilton, a particular friend of Governor Troup, was formerly secretary of state of Georgia. The appointment to this office belongs to the legislature. This was the cause that though Troup is again chosen governor by the people, Mr. Hamilton and all the friends of the governor have lost their places, which are occupied by persons attached to the Clark party. Dr. Rodgers was secretary of the state treasury, and has been deprived of his office from the same cause. We saw here several Indians of both sexes, from the Creek nation, who sold bows, arrows, and very neatly made baskets. These Indians had a much better appearance than those I saw in the western part of the state of New York and Canada. Afterwards several of the grandees of the country were presented to me by Colonel Hamilton. All these gentlemen had their own peculiar character. It was evident that they lived in a state separated from the civilized world.We were constrained to remain in Milledgeville on the day after Christmas, how unpleasant soever it might be. No stage goes from this place through the Indian territory to Montgomery on the Alabama river, whither we intended to bend our way. We therefore hired for this journey of one hundred andninety-eightmiles, a four-horse extra stage, for the price of two hundred and twenty-five dollars; this stage was at present under repair in the state prison, and could not be placed at our disposal before the 27th of December. It was necessary for us to have patience, and pass the time as well as possible, and the few gentlemen with whom we had formed acquaintance exerted themselves to amuse us.On the 27th of December we left Milledgeville at nine o’clock in the morning. It was a pretty cold day, and there was ice half an inch thick. We rode only thirty miles to Macon. In spite of the large sum of money which our carriage had cost us, it broke twice; the repairs consumed much time, and we left itseveral miles behind. The day was very clear, and towards midday moderately warm, in the evening there was again a strong frost. I was pleased with the dark blue of the sky, such as we hardly have in Germany in a midsummer’s day. We met with several families, emigrating with their property to Macon and the State of Alabama. One of these families, who had paid their wagoners beforehand, had been left by them under frivolous pretext in the middle of the woods, two miles from Milledgeville: we found these unfortunate persons, who had made a bivouac, after they had waited several days in vain for their runaway wagoner and his horses. Several lonely houses which we passed were grog-shops, in which the neighbours were celebrating the third day of the Christmas holy-days. Every thing as at home, thought I, and fancied that I was in a European country. We noticed a gentleman and lady on horseback, the horses were not loaded completely, a barefooted negro wench was obliged to run with a heavy sack of corn on her shoulders to feed the horses! Then I was convinced, and with pleasure, that I was not in Europe! The road was sandy, uneven, and passed through pine woods. This wood was here and there cleared, and a patch of cotton and Indian corn planted. Close by Macon we crossed the Oakmulgee river in a ferry-boat, and reached the town after sunset. We found tolerable accommodation in a new tavern.The country in which Macon is situated, was first purchased from the Creek Indians, in the year 1822, and the town began about two years ago. In the last war, the Indians had collected a number of their people here, and the United States built Fort Hawkins, on the left bank of the river, at present deserted.In Macon we received a visit from a Colonel Danah, who formerly served in the army, and was now settled here. He introduced to me several of the distinguished people of the place, who had come to see me. The town has only three streets, which crossed at right angles. At the point of intersection is a large square, there are houses only on three sides of it; on the fourth side it is contemplated to erect the capitol, if, as it has been proposed, the government should be removed here from Milledgeville. One street runs perpendicular to the line of the river, over which a bridge is intended to be built: the mason work for its support has been completed on both sides. The streets are about one hundred feet wide, the roots of the felled trees are visible in them, of which trees the houses are constructed throughout. The place contains about sixteen hundred inhabitants, white and black. The population are partly young people from Georgia, partly emigrants from the two Carolinas and the northern states, who have fixed themselves here from motives of speculation.Although the site of the new town is represented as extremely healthy, yet they have suffered during the preceding summer from bilious fever. The country around is little built upon, and the woods begin not far behind the houses.About nine o’clock in the morning, on the 28th December, we left Macon and rode thirty-one miles distance to the Indian agency, on the left bank of Flint river, called by the Indians, Thlo-no-teas-kah. The road was partly sandy, partly rocky, but extremely uneven. It was kept in very bad order. No pains had been taken to carry away or saw through trees, which had fallen more than a year back crosswise over the road; the carriage was obliged to make a considerable deviation through the woods to pass these fallen trees. The plantations by which we passed, are all new; the houses were completely log huts. The tiresome uniformity of the pine woods were, in the low and marshy places into which we often came, very pleasantly interrupted by evergreen cane, as well as by thorn oaks and laurel trees, we also saw several green-leaved trees, chiefly oaks, as formerly.Towards four o’clock in the afternoon we reached the agency, a group of twenty log houses, and some negro huts. It is appointed for the residence of the agent of the United States with the Creek Indians, (he, however, was absent at this time,) and is situated in a very handsome tract of land on the left side of the Flint river, which rushes over a rocky bed between pretty steep banks. The right bank belongs to the Creek nation, of about twenty-one thousand souls, and is inhabited by them. The contest between the state of Georgia and the United States is caused by this territory. The state of Georgia had concluded a treaty with one of the Creek chiefs, M‘Intosh, concerning the surrender of this district of land; the nation, discontented with the treaty, and is nowise willing to evacuate their country, insisted that they had been deceived, and killed M‘Intosh. The United States espoused the side of the Indians, and blamed the Georgia commissioners for scandalous impositions upon the Indians. Congress is now about to decide upon this matter. In one of the log-houses, with a Mr. Crowell, we took up our night’s lodging, and enjoyed some very well cooked venison. In a neighbouring grog-shop we found a collection of drunken Indians, and some negroes, who werefrolicingduring the Christmas holy-days. Several of them were well dressed; they wore mocassins and leggings of leather; broad knee-bands ornamented with white glass beads, a sort of coat of striped cotton, and upon the head a striped cotton cloth, almost like a turban. Several of them were very large. For a treat of whiskey, which I gave them, eight of them performed the war dance. They skipped here and there in a circle, movedthemselves right and left, sprung against each other, raised their hands on high, let them fall again, and bellowed horribly through the whole scene. Some old men who stood near, took it in dudgeon, that the young men should dance in such a way before white people. They called to them to stop. Mr. Crowell, however, brought them to silence easily, by whiskey.The colour of these Indians is a dusky brown. They have black straight hair. Several of them possess negroes, to whom it is very acceptable to live with them, since they are treated with more equality than by the whites. Some of these negroes were very well clothed in the Indian manner, they drank and jumped about with the Indians. One of them was of colossal stature, and appeared to be in great request among the Indians, to whom he served as interpreter. The constitution of these Indians is a mixture of aristocratical and republican form of government. The chiefs are chosen for life, and the dignity is not hereditary; for improper conduct they can be deposed. They cannot write their language. Their laws are of course very simple, and founded on traditionary usage.It had rained hard in the night, between the 28th and 29th of December, it rained also in the day, almost incessantly, yet this rain was mild and warm, nearly like a spring rain in Germany. There was a consultation, whether we should remain or go farther on, I determined on the latter. About nine o’clock we left our night quarters. In the vicinity thereof, the governor of the state of Georgia had built Fort Lawrence, which was evacuated, and given up at the peace. The houses, which belonged to the agency, were then built as magazines and hospitals for the troops, and arranged for a post of defence. Near the chimney, and the doors and windows, (the last without glass sashes,) were loop-holes pierced. Behind this post we passed the Flint river in an Indian ferry-boat, and found ourselves landed upon their territory. We rode twenty-eight miles farther to a lonely plantation, called Currel’s. The road ran through the worst part of the Indian lands, the woods consisted as before, of the long-leaved pine, and it was only in damp places we observed green leaves. In particular, there grew high and beautiful cane. The soil is for the most part dry sand, in strata, and particularly in the bottoms it is mixed with clay, and of a full yellow colour. The Indians have thrown bridges over two brooks with marshy shores, at each of them we paid, with great pleasure, half a dollar toll-money. The bridges are indeed not remarkably good, yet better than several in the christian state of Georgia, and even in many of the more northern states. We met but few of the Indian inhabitants; these were all wrapt up in woollen blankets. We only saw three wigwams,Indian houses, chiefly toll-houses of the bridges. They resemble the log-houses, neither are they so open as those which I saw last summer in the state of New York. The day was exceedingly uninteresting. Mr. Currel, with whom we passed the night, is a Virginian, who has settled here for the opportunity of speculating among the Indians, from whom he purchased his land at a rather cheap rate: to judge from his habits of intoxication, he has already adapted himself too much to their mode of life. His plantation buildings are, as all the rest, log huts: the wind blew to our heart’s content through the room; no lamp could burn, and we were forced to use a great hearth fire to give us light. There was no ceiling to our room, but a transparent roof of clap-boards directly over us. I was surprised to discover Shakspeare’s works in this place. In one of the out-houses there was a very good supper set before us, at which, especially, we had excellent venison.Upon the 30th of December, after we had passed a cold night in our clap-board hut, which allowed the storm free admission, and locked our few articles of property in our chamber, from fear of the Indians sneaking about, we started before break of day, and rode a distance of thirty-three miles to Fort Mitchel. The weather was cold the whole day through, and threatened rain. The country again very uninteresting, mostly pines, a sandy soil, here and there mingled with clay: at length wood with green leaves. Only in low situations, along the rivulets, of which we passed three, was the vegetation to be admired. The laurel bushes particularly looked well. It gave me real pleasure to be able to walk in a green thicket along a brook, which I could have accomplished with difficulty in summer, since these bushes are the favourite resort of a great number of rattlesnakes. In a solitary plantation we took our breakfast; it belonged to a Mr. Colfrey, a worthy old Virginian, who had lost a considerable property, and to better his circumstances, had determined on the hard alternative of settling among the Indians. We found his plantation in a very uncommon state of order and neatness, and we were delighted by an unexpected and most excellent breakfast. Mr. Bowdoin said to the owner of the place, that he appeared as if he had not always lived thus among the savages, and never can I forget how the old man, with tears in his eyes, turned away without making an answer.We met with several wigwams, and various temporary cabins of travelling Indians, also a number of bridges, at which we were obliged to pay the Indians toll. The country was very hilly till we came into a valley, a mile from our night quarters, through which the Chatahouchee flowed. This river empties itself into the Mexican gulf. The district, even to the left bankof the river, is rather marshy, grown up with willows, laurel, and cane. Not far from the river we beheld several buildings appointed for the popular assembly of the Indians, called the big talk. They are large and round, having a conical-formed roof, covered with tree-bark; they have walls of lime, and a covered low entrance also of lime. The Indians assemble in these buildings only in bad weather, or at night, and then a fire kindled in the middle of the house, gives light. In good weather they collect in a square place covered with sheds, under which the Indians sit down on planks protected from the sun’s heat. There is also another place for public games, and particularly for ball-playing. They appeared here also to have a species of masquerade, for we found some in a half gourd, cut through and made into a mask, with eyes and mouth cut in it, and the nose set on of a piece of wood. From the neck of the gourd, which was cut at half its length, they had made a pair of horns, and fasted them on the mask, and under this a long white beard.We passed the river Chatahouchee at one of the ferries belonging to the Indians, and kept in order by them. The right bank is somewhat steep, of red earth, which, from the violent rain, had become slippery. Half a mile from the ferry brought us to Fort Mitchel. It stood upon a height, and was situated to the right of us. We dismounted not far from this, between Indian wigwams at Crowell’s tavern. The host was a brother of the Indian agent. This house has also a plantation attached to it, as the one above-mentioned had. Colonel Wool and I were lodged in an airy out-house of clap-boards, without a ceiling, and windows without glass. We were accommodated with freer circulation than would have fallen to our lot in a German barn. Four companies of the fourth regiment of infantry, the staff of which was fixed at Pensacola, lay in garrison at the fort. The commandant, Major Donoho, and his officers had taken board at Crowell’s tavern; in the evening we made acquaintance with them. The most of these officers, pupils of the school at West Point, were men of information, and we passed the remainder of the evening much pleased with their society.We made the 31st of December a day of rest, as Colonel Wool had to inspect the garrison of the fort. The four companies here stationed form properly the garrison of Pensacola, and were only sent here last summer during the contest between Georgia and the United States, to protect the Creeks against the encroachments of that State. It openly wishes to take possession of the Indian territory to the Chatahouchee, to which river, agreeable to the charter, Georgia extends. The right bank of the river, on which we now found ourselves, is in the jurisdiction of the State of Alabama. The troops arriving, at firstencamped here, but immediately commenced building a new but smaller fort, on the spot where Fort Mitchell stands, so called in honour of the then governor of Georgia, which they now occupy. They hoped, however, that they should return to Pensacola as soon as the disagreements had been settled.After the inspection, we took a walk to a plantation lying near, which belonged to an Indian named M‘Intosh. He was absent at Washington as a delegate from his nation. He is the son of that M‘Intosh, who obtained from the State of Georgia the title of General, and who last spring, on account of the treaty with the state, had been shot by his countrymen and hewed in pieces. Polygamy prevails among the Indians. The young M‘Intosh had indeed only two wives, a white woman and an Indian. They say he had several wives whom he wished to keep: the white woman however had driven them with scolding and disgrace out of the house, as she would only submit to one Indian rival. We did not see the Indian wife. The white wife, however, received us quite politely. She is the daughter of a planter in Georgia, and tolerably pretty. She was attired in the European style, only according to the Indian fancy in dress, she carried a quantity of glass beads about her neck. She showed us her two children, completely white, and also the portrait of her father-in-law, as large as life, with the sword of honour given him by the United States. The family is in very good circumstances, and possesses seventy negroes.In the afternoon we went to a Methodist mission, one short mile distant. We found none but the women at home. The missionaries have established a school, which is frequented by thirty children. They have three Indian girls, boarders, who were extremely modest. The mission is situated in a handsome plantation, on which I saw tame deer. The deer here are evidently smaller than those in Europe.Sunday, the 1st of January, 1826, we were awakened by the drums and fifes, which announced the new year, by playing Hail Columbia and Yankee Doodle. With the break of day, between seven and eight o’clock, we left Fort Mitchel, and rode twenty-five miles to a plantation called Lewis’s, which is located on the spot, upon which, in the last war, Fort Bainbridge stood. The road ran through a very hilly country. At first the soil was sandy and poor, it bore nothing but pine trees. After we had passed over half the distance, the soil improved, it looked reddish-yellow, and the apparently everlasting pines gave place to handsome oaks and lofty hickories. On the other hand the carriage road became very bad, and in a narrow place we upset. The carriage fell slowly towards my side, I took the right moment, sprung from the box on which I sat, and fell upon myfeet. This was the eighth time I had been overturned, and never did I escape so cheap as on this occasion. As none of the other gentlemen were injured, we could happily laugh at our accident. The carriage was somewhat damaged, and since we were only four miles distant from Lewis’s, and had very fine weather, a true spring day, with clear dark-blue sky, we went the rest of the way on foot.We passed several wigwams and temporary Indian huts, in which the men lived with the hogs, and lay around the fire with them. A hut of this description is open in front, behind it is closed with pieces of wood and bark. The residents live on roasted venison and Indian corn. The hides of the deer, and even of cattle, they stretch out to dry in the sun, and then sell them. At one hut, covered with cane leaves, there was venison roasting, and bacon smoking. The venison is cut in pieces, and spitted on a cane stalk, many such stalks lie upon two blocks near each other. Under these the fire is kindled, and the stalk continually turned round, till the flesh is dried through. Upon this is laid a hurdle made of cane which rests on four posts. To this are all the large pieces suspended. The hams of bacon are laid upon the hurdle so that the smoke may draw through them.The grass in many parts of the woods was in a blaze, and many pine trees were burning. We crossed two small streams, the Great and Little Uchee, on tolerable wooden bridges. Between three and four o’clock in the afternoon we reached Lewis’s, a handsome house, the best that we had found in the Indian territory. We took here an excellent dinner. We ate daily of the best of venison. In Fort Mitchel we had eaten partridges, of which the officers in one day took fifty-seven in the morning, and forty-six in the evening, in their nets. For the singularity of the thing, I will notice our dinner of to-day, that the inquisitive reader may observe that one is in no danger of hunger on the lands of the Indians: soup of turnips, roast-beef, a roast-turkey, venison with a kind of sour sauce, roast-chickens, and pork with sweet potatoes.On the 2d of January we rode thirty-one miles to Walker’s, also a solitary plantation. The country hilly, the road bad to such a degree that we could only creep along in the most tedious manner, and were obliged to proceed on foot very often. The wood on the other hand grew better and better, and consisted, besides the pines, of handsome oaks, and various sorts of nut-bearing trees, mostly hickories: the soil, for the most part, of a reddish yellow. In several marshy places, and on the banks of rivulets, we saw again the evergreen trees and bushes, and in a swamp nearly a mile long, through which a causeway ran, some magnolia grandiflora which were at least sixty feet high. I alsosaw here again several trees, which first forming one trunk, four or five feet above the ground, divided themselves into two trunks, and then shot up into the air one hundred feet. In the north-western part of the state of New York, I have seen trees which ran up in five, six, and even seven trunks. Over a stream with marshy banks, a bridge was thrown, three hundred and eleven paces long: the view which I took from this bridge of the luxuriant exotic vegetation which surrounded me, exhibited, as I thought, the original of the sketches of the Brazilian forests in the travels of the Prince Nieuwied. The beautiful day, the cloudless dark-blue sky, also introduced by him, were recalled to me by this picture. But when I observed upon the trees the hateful Spanish moss, I was reminded that I was in the neighbourhood of Columbia and Charleston, and that it was a token of unwholesome air. In the swamps I noticed several plants which were known to me from hot-house cultivation, but unfortunately I cannot recall their names.The country is comparatively populously inhabited by Indians. They live partly in wigwams, partly in bark cabins. Before one of these huts, or cabins, hung a skinned otter, upon which they seemed preparing to make a meal. The Indians roast their maize on the naked coals, then they throw it into a cavity made in a trunk of a tree, and pound it with a stick of wood into a sort of coarse meal. I bought a species of nuts, which were roasted, ground-nuts, and amused myself with the propensity to thievery a young Indian displayed. As I was putting the nuts in my pocket, one or more would drop, instantly the young fellow would step forward, as if by accident, set his foot on the nut, take it between his toes, and move off. We passed through a tolerably cleared, fenced, and built district, in which several negro quarters of a decent appearance were scattered about. This plantation belonged to a chief, one of the principal of the Creeks, called the Big Warrior, who owns above three hundred negroes, whose wooden dwelling-house stands in the centre of his property. He is now at Washington, as one of the deputies of his nation. We came over another cleared spot, where the Indians were routed in the last war by the Georgia militia under General Floyd.Not far from this place, we noticed a number of Indians collected in the neighbourhood of a plantation. We left our carriage to inquire into the cause of it. There had been a horse race of middling unsightly horses: the festival was, however, ended, and the meeting was on the point of breaking up. A white planter who was there, conducted us to the son of the Big Warrior. He was himself a chief, and possessed a high reputation, as was said amongst those of the nation. He sat upon a felled tree between two inferior chiefs. His dress was a tunic of flowered,clear blue calico, a piece of the same stuff was wrapped round his head like a turban. He wore richly ornamented leather leggings set with glass beads, and mocassins, and had an equally ornamented hunting pouch hung around him. Moderately fat, and of a great stature, he appeared to be about thirty years old. He had mustaches like all his countrymen. I was introduced to him, and shook hands with him. The conversation was very trifling and short. It took place through an interpreter who appeared to be a dismissed soldier. This creature caused the chief to rise when we commenced speaking to him; when I begged him to remain sitting, he reseated himself mechanically. He directed no questions to me, and answered mine with yes and no. To the question, whether he knew any thing of the country of which I was a native, he answered by a shake of the head. He looked no more at me. Several Indians wore their hair in a singular style; it was shorn on both sides of the head, and the middle, from the neck over to the forehead, stood up like a cock’s comb. Seen from behind, they appeared as if they wore a helmet. Quite small boys practised themselves already in shooting with a little bow. I attempted to joke with a little fellow, three years old, but he took the jest in bad part, and threatened me with his bow.
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Journey to Charleston, and Residence in that City—from the 11th to the 19th of December, 1825.
Onthe 11th of December, we were prepared before five o’clock to travel in the mail stage from Columbia to Charleston, one hundred and twenty miles distant. Unfortunately, our coachman had, the evening before, involved himself in a quarrel with a watchman, who attempted to arrest his sable Dulcinea, and given him a stab with a knife. It was feared that the watchman, who was the father of a family, would die. The coachman was immediately taken into custody. We were, consequently, obliged to remain till seven o’clock, since the contractor of the mail stage was unable to find another white driver sooner, and according to law, no negro could convey the United States’ mail.
Our company was very pleasant; I especially remarked a Mr. Bacott, from Charleston, and young Mr. Ramsay, as being well-informed men. Three miles below Columbia, we crossed the Congaree in a wretched boat, and on the right bank of the river, passed through a little place called Granby, which formerly had been a German settlement, called Saxe-Gotha. The road was, without exception, sandy, swampy, and at times hilly. The stage travelled very slowly, and for the greater part of the way, I left it behind, being on foot. It was nearly a continued forest, composed mostly of pine and oak trees, from which the Spanish moss hung in such quantities, that the appearance was far from agreeable. The number of the magnolia, kalmia, and gardenia trees increased, and also of theyucca gloriosa, which until now were situated principally in the neighbourhood of the dwellings. We also saw more live oaks here, of which the timber is uncommonly excellent for ship-building, because it does not rot, and cannon-shot in striking it produce no splinters. Towards evening, we passed the village of Orangeburg, with wooden houses. We supped in a solitary house, and at the same time met the mail stage coming from Charleston, in which we took seats. It had been built for General La Fayette, and was named the La Fayette stage. We proceeded through the whole night: the day had beenpleasant, the night, however, was extremely cold: I suffered considerably, as I sat upon the coach-box, where I always took my seat, for the advantage of free air and prospect.
We travelled during the forenoon of the 12th of December, constantly through a forest. The number of live oaks increased, and they were really beautiful. The solitary fan-like macaw trees, which we took notice of, were small. The yuccas multiplied every moment. The last place before reaching Charleston, was Dorchester. We then passed by an old church, nearly in ruins, called St. Andrews, which has survived since the time of the English government. It stands in the midst of a venerable church-yard, under lofty live oaks and hickories, with palmettoes and macaw trees growing between the graves. The whole had a picturesque aspect. The plantations succeeded each other more frequently, presented a more agreeable appearance, and every thing showed marks of the proximity of a large city. At length, in the afternoon, we left the continued forest, and entered upon an open swampy district. Charleston extended before us. The city, distinguished as a seaport, lies upon a tongue of land, formed by the rivers Ashley and Cooper: we crossed the Ashley to reach the city. A causeway, constructed of fascines, passes through the swamp to the ferry. The river is three-quarters of a mile broad; we crossed it in an eight-horse team-boat. A wooden bridge, which formerly crossed the river here, was destroyed by a severe storm, and never again rebuilt. Upon the right bank, in the vicinity of Charleston, an entirely novel spectacle expanded itself to my view. The houses of the suburb, were, for the most part, surrounded by gardens, in which orange trees, with most splendid ripe fruit, monthly roses in full bloom, and a variety of other flourishing plants displayed themselves. The greater part of the habitations have piazzas and spacious balconies. Upon the walls and columns run creeping vines, we took notice of a great number of passion flowers. I felt delighted with this southern climate.
Charleston has a population of forty thousand inhabitants, about twenty-five thousand of these are free. The city is regularly built, the streets cross each other at right angles. The smallest streets are paved, all have brick side-walks. The paving-stone is imported from the northern states, on this account it is an expensive article, and the paving of the streets can only be gradually effected. In the suburb we passed through a street which was a log causeway. The principal part of the houses are, it is true, built of wood, and all are, as I am told, covered with shingles, on account of the frequent prevalence of severe tempests; the more recent are, however, of brick, and in very good taste. I took up my abode in Jones’s Hotel, a well supported and finely situated house, whose host was a mulatto. I had the pleasureto meet here with Colonel Wool, inspector-general of the army, with whom I became acquainted in Washington. I moreover made acquaintance with Mr. Bee, an elderly gentleman who had travelled much, to whom I had letters; also the late governor of the state, Mr. Wilson, with his young and accomplished lady, from New York, who, besides her native language, spoke French, German, Spanish, and Italian, and understood Latin and Greek; lastly, Major Massias, army paymaster.
A severe catarrh obliged me to remain at home a whole day. The weather was also unpleasant and stormy; Fahrenheit’s thermometer had fallen to twenty degrees, which degree of cold is here extremely uncommon. In the meantime, I received visits from a number of the distinguished inhabitants: from Dr. Tidyman, whom I had known in Philadelphia; from Mr. Lowndes, to whom I had introductory letters; from Dr. Johnson, mayor of the city; from Messrs. Pitray and Viel, French merchants; from the Marquis De Fougères, French consul; from Mr. Bacott, with whom I had arrived yesterday, and from Major Massias. Some extremely interesting strangers were also in the hotel, so that I did not lack entertainment. The following was related to me:—Some years previous, the negroes of the country engaged in a conspiracy to murder all the white males, and spare none but the females. This design was found out, and it was discovered that the original projectors were free negroes out of the limits of the state, who travelled in the northern section of the union, and in part were become Methodist preachers. They had returned home and preached freedom to the slave population. Since that period the legislature of this state has adopted very severe precautionary laws against free negroes and mulattoes. One of them is, that no individual of this description, if he have once left the state, shall be permitted to return. The wife of our host, Jones, found herself in this predicament. She had undertaken a voyage to New York, her native city, and now dared not to attempt a return. On this account, I was informed, had I brought a free black servant with me, he would have been taken from me, and put in custody till I should have left the state, or I must deposit a considerable security for him.
I made my first excursion abroad in company with Colonel Wool and Major Massias, in a boat to Fort Moultrie, where the Colonel had to inspect two companies of the third regiment of artillery, lying there in garrison. This fort is situated at the entrance of Charleston Bay, upon a peninsula, Sullivan’s Island, which is connected with the continent by a marshy strip of land. The vessels running into the bay are compelled to pass within reach of the cannon of this fort. It is four miles distant from thecity, and lies about half way from each extremity of the peninsula. Opposite is the coast battery, with a stone parapet. This battery can receive fifty pieces of cannon. There will be no further disbursements for the maintenance of this fort, since new works, after plans of General Bernard, are to be placed at the entrance of the passage, to guard against too close a blockade of the bay, so that the ancient and more retired posts will be deprived of all their importance. Between the city and Sullivan’s Island, on a point of land to the left, stands a defensive work called Castle Pinckney, resembling Castle Garden in New York, on the right is situated Castle Johnson. Sullivan’s Island is exceedingly sandy, nothing but cabbage trees grow upon it, so that I seemed transported to India. Outside the fort there are a number of slight built wooden houses, which, during the heats of summer, and especially when the yellow fever prevails in Charleston, are occupied by the inhabitants of that city, for the peninsula has the reputation of being healthier, and much more temperate in climate. The trunk of the cabbage-tree affords a good porous timber, which is peculiarly valuable for building in salt water, since it is not injured by it. It is highly recommended for entrenchments, as the balls of the enemy cannot splinter it. On the same spot where Fort Moultrie now stands, a fortress of the same name stood in the revolutionary war, which was built in great haste from trunks of the cabbage-tree, and maintained itself with great glory. We had a boat, attached to the artillery, prepared for our passage, which was manned by the artillerists. These are exercised as oarsmen in all posts situated on the water, and this is certainly a good arrangement, if the officers do not abuse the privilege. Our boat’s crew had unfortunately made too spirituous a breakfast, the oars of course moved as Providence guided them, and the colonel was so irritated, that he dispatched the whole six on landing to the black hole. I remained during the parade of the two artillery companies in garrison. A company of this description is with matrosses and cannoneers, fifty-five strong; from these are subtracted, the sentinels, sick, and those under arrest, so that both corps had scarcely sixty men under arms. The privates had fire-arms and cartridge boxes, and the matrosses and corporals alone carried side-arms. The haversack consisted of a wooden box, covered with black waxed linen. They wore grey pantaloons, and boots, as our artillery; the officers alone had white cloth pantaloons. The coats were not well made, and did not fit; all the men had large shirt collars, which had a bad effect, and gloves of a different pattern, because each individual bought for himself. While the colonel was going through the inspection, I took a walk on the ramparts with Major Massias, and visited theofficer’s quarters. In the chamber of a lieutenant, in which we stopped, I found, besides the books belonging to service, a small library of English belles lettres, and classical poets.
Charleston keeps in pay a company of police soldiers, who during the night occupy several posts. They have their guard house near Jones’s Hotel, and I was startled to hear the retreat and reveillé beat there. This corps owes its support to the fear of the negroes. At nine o’clock in the evening a bell is sounded; and after this no negro can venture without a written permission from his master, or he will immediately be thrown into prison, nor can his owner obtain his release till next day, by the payment of a fine. Should the master refuse to pay this fine, then the slave receives twenty-five lashes, and a receipt, with which he is sent back to his master!
The market consists of five houses, in a long street ending upon the harbour, and resemble somewhat those of the Philadelphia market. The quantity of the most beautiful tropical fruit therein arranged, oranges from Florida, pistachios, and large excellent pine apples from Cuba, interested me much. These large and delicious fruit cost only twelve and a half cents each, of course a dollar for eight. There were nuts of various descriptions; many sorts of potatoes, cabbages, and white and red radishes. Fish were not presented in so great a variety as I expected. Of shell-fish, I saw oysters only, which are roasted in the shell at market, and consumed by the negroes with great avidity. Upon the roofs of the market houses sat a number of buzzards, who are supported by the offals. It is a species of vulture, black, with a naked head. Seen from a distance they resemble turkeys, for which reason they are denominated turkey-buzzards. They are not only suffered as very useful animals, but there is a fine of five dollars for the killing of one of these birds. A pair of these creatures were so tame that they crept about in the meat market among the feet of the buyers.
Accompanied by Dr. Johnson, Mr. Lowndes, and Dr. Tidyman, I visited the public institutions of the city. The Court-house, in which the different courts of justice hold their sessions, contains nothing remarkable with the exception of the City Library in the upper story, established by subscription. I noticed in this a beautiful collection of copperplates from the Shakspeare Gallery, and a sketched plan of Charleston with the investment of it in the revolutionary war. Since this epoch the city has much extended itself. On the localities, which then were occupied by fortifications, houses are now standing. The morasses which covered the left wing of these works, are filled up level with earth, and no trace of them is perceivable.
In the City Hall, the lower story is occupied by one largesaloon. It is appropriated to the sittings of the city police. Above it are arranged the meeting rooms of the magistracy and various separate offices. In one of these apartments I noticed an elegant new plan of the city, designed by an emigrant French engineer, Mr. Petitral.
The Orphan-house is a brick building, three stories high, erected by voluntary contributions, and in it, one hundred and thirty-six children of both sexes are supported. I was surprized at the exceeding cleanliness pervading the whole establishment. The children sleep upon the floor, and the girls and sick only are allowed mattresses; the boys have a woollen coverlet, in which they wrap themselves. I was informed that this was done from fear of vermin. A very nourishing diet, and a truly maternal care, preserve the children healthy. At their twelfth year, they are provided for abroad to enable them to earn their own subsistence. Many of the boys enter into the United States navy, and it has been reported to me that two of the pupils of this institution have attained the rank of officers. Behind the house is a moderately large chapel, in the midst of the garden. The clergy of all Christian professions can hold divine service here every Sunday afternoon; in the mornings, the service in turn is taken charge of by a superintendent. In front of the building is a large open square. In it stands an ill-preserved statue of Lord Chatham, which was erected by the then colony of South Carolina, before the breaking out of the American revolution, in memory of that great man, in gratitude for the opposition he maintained against colonial taxation. An inscription on the statue mentions this. During the siege, it stood at the corner of the street, near the City Hall. There it lost an arm by one of the first English balls that struck the city.
The state prison is a small building. The prisoners are too much crowded together, and have no employment. The atrocious criminals live in the upper story, and are immured two together in a cell, without ever being permitted to come into the open air. This is allowed only to those dwelling in the first story, consisting of debtors, and persons who are imprisoned for breaches of the peace. The walls within, as well as the flooring, are of strong oak wood. In each apartment is an iron ring in the floor, for the purpose of securing dangerous prisoners. In the upper story there is a negro confined, who, implicated in one of the late conspiracies, had not committed himself so far as to allow of his being hung; nevertheless, his presence appeared so dangerous to the public tranquillity, that he is detained in prison till his master can find some opportunity to ship him to the West Indies, and there sell him. In another room was a white prisoner, and it is not known whether he be an American or Scotchman,who involved himself by his writings deeply in the last negro conspiracy. The prisoners received their food while we were present: it consisted of very good soup, and three-quarters of a pound of beef. Upon the ground floor is the dwelling of the keeper, who was an Amsterdam Jew, and the state-rooms in which gentlemen, who are lodged here, receive accommodation for money and fair words. The cleanliness of the house was not very great; upon the whole it left an unfavourable impression upon me.
I found the other prison, destined for the punishment of minor offences of the negro slaves, in a better condition. In it there were about forty individuals of both sexes. These slaves are either such as have been arrested during the night by the police, or such as have been sent here by their masters for punishment. The house displays throughout a remarkable neatness; black overseers go about every where armed with cow-hides. In the basement story there is an apparatus upon which the negroes, by order of the police, or at the request of their masters, are flogged. The latter can have nineteen lashes inflicted on them according to the existing law. The machine consists of a sort of crane, on which a cord with two nooses runs over pullies; the nooses are made fast to the hands of the slave and drawn up, while the feet are bound tight to a plank. The body is stretched out as much as possible, and thus the miserable creature receives the exact number of lashes as counted off! Within a year, flogging occurs less frequently: that is to say, a tread-mill has been erected in a back building of the prison, in which there are two tread-wheels in operation. Each employs twelve prisoners, who work a mill for grinding corn, and thereby contribute to the support of the prison. Six tread at once upon each wheel, while six rest upon a bench placed behind the wheel. Every half minute the left hand man steps off the tread-wheel, while the five others move to the left to fill up the vacant place; at the same time the right hand man sitting on the bench, steps on the wheel, and begins his movement, while the rest, sitting on the bench, uniformly recede. Thus, even three minutes sitting, allows the unhappy being no repose. The signal for changing is given by a small bell attached to the wheel. The prisoners are compelled to labour eight hours a day in this manner. Order is preserved by a person, who, armed with a cow-hide, stands by the wheel. Both sexes tread promiscuously upon the wheel. Since, however, only twenty-four prisoners find employment at once on both wheels, the idle are obliged in the interval to sit upon the floor in the upper chambers, and observe a strict silence. One who had eloped several times from a plantation, was fastened by a heavy iron ring, that passed over his leg to the floor. To provideagainst this state of idleness, there should be another pair of tread-wheels erected. The negroes entertain a strong fear of the tread-mills, and regard flogging as the lighter evil! Of about three hundred and sixty, who, since the erection of these tread-mills, have been employed upon them, only six have been sent back a second time.
The poor-house, an old building raised by subscription, contains one hundred and sixty-six paupers. It will only admit such poor persons as are completely disabled. Those who can labour a little can obtain the employment they desire, and then receive good attendance and proper support. The sick were taken care of in a distinct infirmary, where each had a separate bed. The healthy slept upon the floor. I enquired why the sick were not provided with iron bedsteads in place of the wooden ones they occupied? and was informed that it was from apprehension of the prevailing severe thunder-storms.
Connected with the Poor-house is a Magdalen Asylum, which provides shelter and care for thirty unfortunate beings. It struck me forcibly, as I saw under an open shed in the yard where the poor walked about, the dead cart, and close by it numbers of empty coffins piled up together, that the scene might be very well introduced in a monastery of the order of La Trappe.
A medical school is to be built not far from the poor-house. Until the completion of this structure, the students, one hundred and twenty in number, receive their instruction in a wooden building, in which there are arranged an amphitheatre, and a chemical laboratory.
Dr. Tidyman and Mr. Lowndes had the politeness to show me a rice mill established a few years ago. This mill is the property of Mr. Lucas, who has fixed a similar one in the neighbourhood of London. Rice is known as the staple article of produce of the lowlands in South Carolina, and yet there was no mill hitherto to free the rice from its husk, and to prepare it for use or export. This mill is situated near the river Ashley. The schooner that conveys the rice from the plantation, lies directly before it, a cart is taken on board the vessel filled with rice, and by means of an inclined plane drawn into the mill, where it is deposited. Hence the rice is drawn to the upper story, in which it is cleared of dust by a fan, and passed between two large mill-stones which frees the hull from the grain. It is then placed in a cylinder of bolting cloth. By this it is further cleaned from all the hull. Now it comes into the trough, where it is beaten by heavy hammers faced with tin, and by that means is completely cleaned. It is once more conveyed into a bolting cylinder, where, by another series of revolutions, it is freed from the slightest dust, and shook through a tube into the tierces placedfor packing. The tierces stand upon a trunnel, which whirls round while a hammer continually strikes upon it. Such a tierce in this way receives six hundred pounds of rice. The machinery is to be set in motion in future by a steam-machine of twenty-four horse-power. It is wonderful, however, that the best steam-engines must be made in England to supply a country that has numberedRobert Fultonamong her citizens!
Dr. Tidyman honoured me with a dinner, at which I met several of the distinguished inhabitants of the place, as Mr. Lowndes, Major Garden, son of that Scotch physician to whose honour Linnæus has given the name of Gardenia to a class of plants; Mr. J. Allen Smith, who passed seventeen years of his life in Europe, principally in Russia, and enjoyed the especial favour of the Emperor Alexander; he was present at my brother’s marriage, and enquired after him in the most ardent manner. This extremely amiable and interesting man has lost the greater part of his property. Here also I met with the Marquis de Fougères, Mr. Viel, and the English Consul, Mr. Newman. After dinner was over, a numerous company of gentlemen and ladies assembled, who remained in society through the evening. We had music, some of which was very good.
In one of my strolls through the city, I talked with a person from Erfurt, Mr. Siegling, who had established a music store here, and appeared to do very good business. I saw at his residence several handsome English harps and piano fortes; also several wind instruments of different kinds. He pricks the notes himself on tin, and has a press with which he prints them.
In Charleston there exists among the Germans, and their descendants, who for the most part are tradesmen of small capital, but persons of great respectability, a Friendly German Society.
On Sunday the 18th of December, two members of this Society, the militia Colonel Sass, a native Hessian, who had already passed fifty-two years in this country, and Mr. Strohhecker, came to take me to the Lutheran church. The Lutheran preacher, Mr. Bachman, a native of Troy, in the State of New York, administered divine service in the English language. The church has been built but a few years. It is simple within, but in very good taste. The organ is good, and was well played, and the hymns sung in unison by the congregation. Mr. Bachman delivered an excellent sermon upon the story of Cornelius, from the Acts of the Apostles. Afterwards he detailed a report of a journey of about eight hundred miles, which he had performed through the interior of this state, for the purpose of examining the condition of the various Lutheran congregations. The report upon churches and schools appeared very favourable. This service displayedso much benevolence, and real goodness, that I felt truly edified.
Upon the following day I was accompanied by Mr. Bacott and his brother-in-law, to St. Michael’s episcopal church, to see the building, and particularly the steeple, one hundred and eighty-six feet high. We mounted two hundred and thirty-six steps, and enjoyed a very handsome prospect over the regular built city, the bay, and adjacent country. The bay, with its protecting forts, showed to great advantage; the surrounding district not so agreeably, it being very level and overgrown with wood. In the city several buildings reared their heads, among others, the churches, and there are here twenty-two churches belonging to various sects, then the orphan-house and custom-house. St. Michael’s church contains in itself nothing worthy of remark, if you except some simple funeral tablets. The churches, moreover, stand in the centre of burial grounds, and the custom still prevails, so injurious to health, of entombing the dead in the city.
On the same day, the last of my stay in Charleston, I was present at a dinner which the German Friendly Society gave in compliment to me, having invited me by a deputation. The party met at half past three o’clock. The company was composed, with the exception of the mayor, Dr. Johnson, of more than sixty persons, for the most part Germans or of German origin. It was assembled in a house belonging to the society, in which, besides the large assembly room, was also a school for the children of the members, and the dwellings of the preceptors. The society was instituted in the year 1766, the principal founder was Captain Kalteisen, a native Wirtemburger, who had raised a volunteer corps of fusileers from the Germans then living there, with which he not only distinguished himself in the defence of Fort Moultrie against the English, but also personally, during the whole war, rendered the most important services as adjutant quarter-master-general in the staff of the southern army. The company of fusileers always preserved their connection with the German Society. Kalteisen himself died in the year 1807, as commandant of Fort Johnson; he was so attached to this German association, that he had himself buried in the yard of the building, the bricks of the pavement mark the form of his coffin over it, and a tablet of marble in the hall contains an inscription to the memory of the deceased. In the great hall, his portrait hangs next to that of Colonel Sass, who after him commanded the company, and of a Wormser, named Strobel, who was a joint founder of the society, and whose sons and nephew appeared at table. Two brothers, Messrs. Horlbeck, presided at the dinner, which was very well arranged. They had the politeness to nominate me an honorary member of the society, and to present me theirlaws for my signature; under them were here and there crosses only. Several of the usual toasts were given out; my health being drank, I returned my thanks in the German language. There was also singing. The melody was guided by an old Mr. Eckhardt, a Hessian that had come to America with the Hessian troops, as a musician, and remained here. He is now organist of one of the churches, and three of his sons occupy the same station in other churches. The German society possesses, moreover, a library, which owes its origin to donations. In the school-room there was a planetarium, very neatly finished, set in motion by clock-work.
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Journey from Charleston, through Augusta, Milledgeville, Macon, and the country of the Creek Indians, to Montgomery, in the State of Alabama.
Mydesign had been to travel from Charleston to Savannah. I understood, however, that the stage to Savannah was very bad; that the steam-boat went very irregularly; that Savannah had lost its importance as a place of trade, and on the whole, contained nothing worthy of observation. As this tour would cost me many days, and a circuitous route, I resolved to relinquish the visit to Savannah, and betake myself the nearest way to Augusta, one hundred and twenty-nine miles distant; thence by Milledgeville through the Creek Indians, to go into the state of Alabama. Colonel Wool liked my plan, as also did Mr. Temple Bowdoin, an Anglo-American, a very polished man, who had travelled, and who in his younger days served in the British army. We had engaged the mail stage for ourselves alone, and in it left Charleston on the 20th of December.
We passed Ashley river at the same place, and in the same team-boat, as I did eight days back. It was at low ebb, and many oyster banks were exposed dry. This was a novel spectacle to me. The oysters stood straight up, close together, and had somewhat the appearance of a brush. Several negroes were employed in taking them out of the mud, in baskets. Even on the piers of the bridge, many oysters were sticking fast. On the opposite shore the road ran through a country generally woody, but partly ornamented with plantations. Several of these plantationsare pretty, commonly an avenue of ancient, well preserved live oaks, leads up to the mansion-house, at the entrance of which a grated gate is placed. Maize and cotton are planted here, and in some places also rice, which is the staple of the lower part of South Carolina. The rice fields must stand several months of the year under water. On this account they are situated in swampy districts, and surrounded by ditches of water. But in consequence of this, these places are so unhealthy, that hardly a white planter can remain during the summer on his plantation; he is obliged to resort to Charleston, or the northern states. The climate of Charleston is such, that whoever is there in the beginning of the hot season, dares not to sleep a single night during the continuance of it, upon a plantation, without exposing his life to imminent danger. The blacks are the only human beings on whom this deadly climate has no bad effect, and they are, therefore, indispensable for the cultivation of this district. The vegetation was again extremely beautiful, noble live oaks, laurel trees, magnolias, cabbage and macaw trees. The road ran upon light bridges over small rivers, on the banks of which negroes were busied in angling. We saw the family of a planter in an elegant boat, manned by six black oarsmen, rowing to their plantation. In a large inn, which was itself the mansion-house of a plantation, we found a particularly good dinner. In the evening we crossed the Edisto river in a narrow ferry-boat, for the arrival of which we were obliged to delay a long time. The soil was mostly very sandy, partly also marshy, and the jolting log causeways made us tired of our lives. On this side of the river we arrived at the village of Edisto. We travelled through the whole night, and I suffered much from the cold in my airy seat. Otherwise, it was a clear moonlight, and if it had been a little warmer would deserve the appellation of a fine night. We changed our stage during the night, but gained nothing.
The succeeding morning exhibited all the ponds of water covered with a crust of ice. We passed the Salkechee and Cambahee rivers upon bridges, and noticed nothing worthy of observation. The vegetation was less beautiful than on the preceding day; the plantations were also less considerable. At a new plantation, at which we arrived about break of day, I spoke to the overseer of the negroes. The man’s employment I recognised from his whip, and from the use he made of it, in rousing up the negroes to make a fire. He told us that in the district, where the plantation was situated, and where maize and cotton were planted, but a little time before there was nothing but forest; his employer had commenced in 1816, with two negroes, and now he possessed one hundred and four, who were kept atwork in clearing the wood, and extending the plantation. The cotton crop was finished in most of the fields, and cattle were driven in, to consume the weeds and tops of the bushes. We passed several mill-ponds, and saw some saw-mills. Only pine trees appeared to flourish in this part of the country; upon the whole, it was hilly, and the progress was tedious through the deep sand. We passed the river Savannah three miles from Augusta, in a little ferry-boat. The left bank appeared here and there to be rocky, and pretty high; the right is sandy. When we crossed the river, we left the state of South Carolina, and entered that of Georgia, the most southern of the old thirteen United States, which in fifty years have grown to twenty-four in number. We reached Augusta in the evening at nine o’clock, on a very good road, a scattered built town of four thousand six hundred inhabitants, of both complexions. We took up our quarters in the Globe Hotel, a tolerable inn; during the whole day it was very clear, but cold weather, in the evening it froze hard. The old remark is a very just one, that one suffers no where so much from cold as in a warm climate, since the dwellings are well calculated to resist heat, but in nowise suited to repel cold.
We were compelled to remain in Augusta during the 22d of December, as the mail stage for the first time went to Milledgeville on the following day, and Colonel Wool had to inspect the United States’ arsenal here, which contained about six thousand stand of arms for infantry. We understood that Mr. Crawford, formerly embassador of the United States, in Paris, afterwards secretary of state, and lastly, candidate for the office of president, was here at a friend’s house. We therefore paid him a visit. Mr. Crawford is a man of gigantic stature, and dignified appearance; he had a stroke of apoplexy about a year since, so that he was crippled on one side, and could not speak without difficulty. To my astonishment, he did not speak French, though he had been several years an envoy in Paris. They say, that Mr. Crawford’s predecessor in Paris, was chancellor Livingston, this gentleman was deaf; both Livingston and Crawford were introduced to the Emperor Napoleon at the same time; the emperor, who could carry on no conversation with either of them, expressed his surprise, that the United States had sent him a deaf and dumb embassy. I likewise reaped very little profit from Mr. Crawford’s conversation. As he was an old friend of Mr. Bowdoin, almost all the benefit of it fell to his share, and I addressed myself chiefly to his daughter, and one of her female friends, who were present. Much indeed was to be anticipated as the result of a conversation with the daughter of such a statesman. She had been educated in a school of the southern states. My conclusionwas, the farther south I advanced, so much the firmer am I convinced that the inhabitants of these states suffer in comparing their education with those of the north. To conclude, Mr. Crawford was the hero of the democratic party, and would, in all probability, have been chosen president in the spring of 1825, had not his apoplectic attack supervened. On account of his indisposition, General Jackson was pushed before him; and so much was brought forward against the individual character of this person in opposition, that the present incumbent, Adams, on that account, succeeded.
The city of Augusta is very regularly built. The main street is about one hundred feet wide, it contains many brick houses, and good-looking stores. None of the streets are paved, but all have brick foot-paths. A wooden bridge, three hundred and fifty yards long, and thirty feet wide, crosses from the neighbourhood of the city, to the left bank of Savannah river, the city lies on the right bank. Along the bank is erected a quay in the manner of a terrace, which is one of the most suitable that I have seen; for it is accommodated to the swell of the river, which often rises above twenty feet. It has three terraces. The lower one has a margin of beams, mostly of cypress timber, at which, in the present uncommon low stage of the water, the vessels are loaded. From the second terrace, (which as well as the upper one, has a brick facing,) are wooden landings reaching to the edge of the under terrace, by which, at higher stages, the vessels may land there. The upper terrace is paved with large stones, which are quarried above the city. The quay, as well as the landings, belong to the State Bank of Georgia: the landings produce fifteen per cent. annually.
Augusta is the depôt for the cotton, which is conveyed from the upper part of Georgia by land carriage, and here shipped either to Savannah or Charleston. We noticed a couple of vessels of a peculiar structure, employed in this trade. They are flat underneath, and look like large ferry-boats. Each vessel can carry a load of three hundred tons. The bales of cotton, each of which weighs about three hundred pounds, were piled upon one another to the height of eleven feet. Steam-boats are provided to tow these vessels up and down the stream, but on account of the present low state of the water, they cannot come up to Augusta. I was assured that year by year between fifteen and twenty thousand bales of cotton were sent down the river. The state of South Carolina, to which the left bank of the river belongs, was formerly compelled to make Augusta its depôt. To prevent this, Mr. Schulz, a man of enterprise, originally from Holstein, has founded a new town, called Hamburg, upon the left bank of the river, close by the bridge, supported, as is said, by the legislatureof South Carolina with an advance of fifty thousand dollars. This town was commenced in the year 1821, and numbers about four hundred inhabitants, who are collectively maintained by the forwarding business. It consists of one single row of wooden houses, streaked with white, which appear very well upon the dark back ground, formed by the high forest close behind the houses. Nearly every house contains a store, a single one, which comprised two stores, was rented for one thousand dollars. Several new houses were building, and population and comfort appear fast increasing. The row of houses which form the town, runs parallel with the river, and is removed back from it about one hundred and fifty paces. Upon this space stands a large warehouse, and a little wooden hut, looking quite snug, upon the whole, with the superscription “Bank.” A Hamburg bank in such a booth, was so tempting an object for me, that I could not refrain from gratifying my curiosity. I went in, and made acquaintance with Mr. Schulz, who was there. He appears to me to be a very public-spirited man, having been one of the most prominent undertakers of the landings and quay of Augusta. It is said, however, that he only accomplishes good objects for other people, and realizes nothing for himself. He has already several times possessed a respectable fortune, which he has always sunk again by too daring speculations. This Hamburg bank, moreover, has suspended its payments, and will not resume business till the first of next month. On this account, it was not possible for me to obtain its notes, which, for the curiosity of the thing, I would gladly have taken back with me to Germany.
On the 23d December we left Augusta, about four o’clock, by moonlight, and the weather pretty cold, in the miserable mail stage, which we had engaged for ourselves. It went for Milledgeville, eighty-six miles distant from Augusta. The road was one of the most tedious that I had hitherto met with in the United States; hilly, nothing but sand, at times solitary pieces of rock, and eternal pine woods with very little foliage; none of the evergreen trees and the southern plants seen elsewhere, which, new as they were to my eye, had so pleasantly broke the monotony of the tiresome forests through which I had travelled from the beginning of December; even the houses were clap-board cabins. Every thing contributed to give me an unfavourable impression. The inhabitants of Georgia are regarded in the United States under the character of great barbarians, and this reputation appears really not unjustly conferred. We see unpleasant countenances even in Italy: but here all the faces are haggard, and bear the stamp of the sickly climate.
To the cold weather which we had for several days, warm temperature succeeded to-day. We were considerably annoyed bydust. Besides several solitary houses and plantations, we encountered two little hamlets here, called towns, Warrenton and Powelton, this last lies upon Great Ogechee river, over which passes a wooden bridge. We stopped at Warrenton. The court of justice is in the only brick house of the place: close by it stands the prison, or countygaol, a building composed of strong planks and beams nailed together. Between Warrenton and Powelton, we had a drunken Irishman for our driver, who placed us more than once in great danger. This race of beings, who have spread themselves like a pestilence over the United States, are here also, and despised even by the Georgians. We travelled again all night; it was, however, not so cold as the nights previous. Towards midnight, we reached a trifling place called Sparta. We were obliged to stop here some time, as the stage and horses were to be changed. We seated ourselves at the fire-place in the tavern. All of a sudden there stood betwixt us, like an evil genius, a stout fellow, with an abominable visage, who appeared to be intoxicated, and crowded himself in behind Mr. Bowdoin. I addressed this gentleman to be on guard for his pockets. The ruffian made a movement, and a dirk fell from his sleeve, which he clutched up, and made off. They told me that he was an Irishman, who, abandoned to liquor, as most of his countrymen were, had no means of subsistence, and often slunk about at night to sleep in houses that happened to be open. Most probably he had intended to steal. We then obtained another driver, whom, from his half drunkenness and imprecations, I judged to be a son of Hibernia, and was not deceived.
On the 24th December, we left this unlucky Sparta at one o’clock in the morning. The driver wished very much to put a passenger in the stage with us, which we prevented. Vexed by this, he drove us so tediously, that we spent full eight hours going twenty-two miles to Milledgeville, and did not therefore reach there until nine in the morning. Immediately after leaving Norfolk, and travelling in the woods where there was little accommodation for travellers, we had every night seen bivouacs of wagoners or emigrants, moving to the western states—the backwoods. The horses of such a caravan are tied to the side of the wagon, and stand feeding at their trough; near the wagon is a large fire lighted up, of fallen or cut timber. At this fire the people sleep in good weather, in bad, they lay themselves in or under the wagon. After leaving Augusta we encountered several of these bivouacs, which consist partly of numerous families with harnessed wagons. They intended to go to Alabama, the district of country lately sold by the United States, and there to set themselves down and fall to hewing and building. I saw three families sitting on a long fallen tree, to which they had set firein three places. These groups placed themselves in a very picturesque manner; but their way of acting is very dangerous. The night before we saw the woods on fire in three different directions, and the fire was without doubt occasioned by such emigrants as these. The lofty pine trees look very handsome while burning, when they are insulated, but the owner of the forest has all the trouble attending it to himself.
The country which we passed through towards morning was hilly, the bottom constantly sandy, towards the last, mixed with clay and rock. The trees were nothing but long-leafed pines. Close by Milledgeville, we crossed the Oconee river on a bridge that had been finished but a few days, and which rested on wooden piles. Until now the river was passed by a ferry-boat. Both shores are very high and steep, so that going in and coming out were attended with great difficulty.
Milledgeville lies upon elevated ground, the town is very regularly built, its broad streets are right-angled, they are, however, unpaved. It numbers about three thousand inhabitants of both complexions. It was established about twenty years ago, and increased very rapidly from its commencement, as it is the capital of the state of Georgia, and the seat of the legislature. Its increase is now calculated to be checked, since the story goes that the seat of government will be changed to the newly-founded town of Macon, or when the state has conquered congress in the cause yet depending before that body, and part of the Creek Indians territory is obtained, then it will be placed at Athens, where the university of the state is situated. We took up our residence at La Fayette Hall, a large tavern.
Soon after our arrival, I took a walk through the town. It contains mostly wooden houses, but they were good and even elegantly built, good stores, also a bookseller’s shop, and several printing presses. There are published here four gazettes, which a little while since were exceedingly active on the sides of the two parties who oppose each other in the state. One party is that of Governor Troup, who, from his discussions with the United States concerning the Creek territory, and on account of his warmth in his official correspondence, has become noted; the other is the party of the former governor, General Clark, who is, in all appearance, a very mild man, and very much respected by sensible and well-disposed persons. At the last election of the governor, it was believed and hoped that General Clark would be chosen. He had the majority of the legislature in his favour, yet, as the governor in this state is chosen for two years by the people, and every man that pays half a dollar tax has a vote, it so happened that Governor Troup succeeded, by his popularity, in bearing off the palm.
I examined the state-house, which is a simple, but well-finished brick building of two stories. In the ground floor are the offices, in the upper story two halls, one is for the senate, the other for the representatives. In each there is a seat, with a canopy, for the speaker. The senators have each a desk before them, in the hall of the representatives one desk serves two persons. All places are numbered, to prevent awkward encounters. In each hall there is a gallery for the public. The state-house is placed alone on a little eminence. In its neighbourhood stands the state arsenal. Another house belonging to the state, is appointed for the residence of the governor. Mr. Troup, notwithstanding, does not inhabit it; he has no family establishment, and has domesticated himself in a plain boarding-house. We intended to pay him our respects, he could not, however, receive us, as he lay dangerously ill of a pleurisy. Through two friends, Colonel Hamilton and Mr. Ringold, he tendered us his apologies, and these gentlemen, in his name, proffered us their services.
We were then carried to the state prison, a large brick edifice, under the superintendence of Mr. Williams, and contained seventy-six prisoners. All these were white persons, for the black were punished by the whip, and not with imprisonment. No idleness was suffered among the prisoners. If one understood no mechanical trade, he was obliged to learn one. I found most of them employed in wagon and saddle-making; others laboured in a smithy; others as shoemakers or tailors. The greatest quiet and silence prevailed among the prisoners. Their dress is blue, with broad white stripes upon all the seams. The interior of the lodging-house did not please me as much as the workshops. Cleanliness, so indispensable to such an establishment, was wanting here; it was neither swept nor scrubbed, and in the cells of the prisoners, in which four or five slept upon the floor, the woollen coverlets and pillows lay confusedly together. There were also cells for solitary confinement, this was, however, used only as a means of house discipline. The eating room was equally disagreeable to me. A piece of cooked meat was laid on the table for each prisoner, without knives, forks, or plates. Bread did not appear to be furnished every day; at least the day we were there, none was to be seen. The prison is surrounded by a high wall, at each of its four corners stands a sentry-box for the watch, which they ascend from without, and from which the whole yard can be overlooked. This establishment is so well conducted, that it occasions no expense to the state, on the contrary, it produces a profit. Upon the principal building stands a turret, which commands an extensive view over the town and circumjacent country. The district around appears uneven and covered withwood, the monotony of the view is relieved by nothing. The woods begin at the edge of the town.
Colonel Hamilton and Dr. Rogers accompanied us on Christmas day to the state-house. A travelling Unitarian clergyman from the northern states held divine service in the hall of representatives. The generality of people here are either Methodists or Baptists. As the Unitarian had found the churches here shut on this day, he had opened his temple in the state-house. His audience was composed of the beau monde, as a Unitarian was something new. He delivered a good discourse, in which he set forth pure morality, and received general approbation. After dinner he proposed to give a second service, for the purpose of expounding the doctrines of his belief, as founded on common sense.
Colonel Hamilton, a particular friend of Governor Troup, was formerly secretary of state of Georgia. The appointment to this office belongs to the legislature. This was the cause that though Troup is again chosen governor by the people, Mr. Hamilton and all the friends of the governor have lost their places, which are occupied by persons attached to the Clark party. Dr. Rodgers was secretary of the state treasury, and has been deprived of his office from the same cause. We saw here several Indians of both sexes, from the Creek nation, who sold bows, arrows, and very neatly made baskets. These Indians had a much better appearance than those I saw in the western part of the state of New York and Canada. Afterwards several of the grandees of the country were presented to me by Colonel Hamilton. All these gentlemen had their own peculiar character. It was evident that they lived in a state separated from the civilized world.
We were constrained to remain in Milledgeville on the day after Christmas, how unpleasant soever it might be. No stage goes from this place through the Indian territory to Montgomery on the Alabama river, whither we intended to bend our way. We therefore hired for this journey of one hundred andninety-eightmiles, a four-horse extra stage, for the price of two hundred and twenty-five dollars; this stage was at present under repair in the state prison, and could not be placed at our disposal before the 27th of December. It was necessary for us to have patience, and pass the time as well as possible, and the few gentlemen with whom we had formed acquaintance exerted themselves to amuse us.
On the 27th of December we left Milledgeville at nine o’clock in the morning. It was a pretty cold day, and there was ice half an inch thick. We rode only thirty miles to Macon. In spite of the large sum of money which our carriage had cost us, it broke twice; the repairs consumed much time, and we left itseveral miles behind. The day was very clear, and towards midday moderately warm, in the evening there was again a strong frost. I was pleased with the dark blue of the sky, such as we hardly have in Germany in a midsummer’s day. We met with several families, emigrating with their property to Macon and the State of Alabama. One of these families, who had paid their wagoners beforehand, had been left by them under frivolous pretext in the middle of the woods, two miles from Milledgeville: we found these unfortunate persons, who had made a bivouac, after they had waited several days in vain for their runaway wagoner and his horses. Several lonely houses which we passed were grog-shops, in which the neighbours were celebrating the third day of the Christmas holy-days. Every thing as at home, thought I, and fancied that I was in a European country. We noticed a gentleman and lady on horseback, the horses were not loaded completely, a barefooted negro wench was obliged to run with a heavy sack of corn on her shoulders to feed the horses! Then I was convinced, and with pleasure, that I was not in Europe! The road was sandy, uneven, and passed through pine woods. This wood was here and there cleared, and a patch of cotton and Indian corn planted. Close by Macon we crossed the Oakmulgee river in a ferry-boat, and reached the town after sunset. We found tolerable accommodation in a new tavern.
The country in which Macon is situated, was first purchased from the Creek Indians, in the year 1822, and the town began about two years ago. In the last war, the Indians had collected a number of their people here, and the United States built Fort Hawkins, on the left bank of the river, at present deserted.
In Macon we received a visit from a Colonel Danah, who formerly served in the army, and was now settled here. He introduced to me several of the distinguished people of the place, who had come to see me. The town has only three streets, which crossed at right angles. At the point of intersection is a large square, there are houses only on three sides of it; on the fourth side it is contemplated to erect the capitol, if, as it has been proposed, the government should be removed here from Milledgeville. One street runs perpendicular to the line of the river, over which a bridge is intended to be built: the mason work for its support has been completed on both sides. The streets are about one hundred feet wide, the roots of the felled trees are visible in them, of which trees the houses are constructed throughout. The place contains about sixteen hundred inhabitants, white and black. The population are partly young people from Georgia, partly emigrants from the two Carolinas and the northern states, who have fixed themselves here from motives of speculation.Although the site of the new town is represented as extremely healthy, yet they have suffered during the preceding summer from bilious fever. The country around is little built upon, and the woods begin not far behind the houses.
About nine o’clock in the morning, on the 28th December, we left Macon and rode thirty-one miles distance to the Indian agency, on the left bank of Flint river, called by the Indians, Thlo-no-teas-kah. The road was partly sandy, partly rocky, but extremely uneven. It was kept in very bad order. No pains had been taken to carry away or saw through trees, which had fallen more than a year back crosswise over the road; the carriage was obliged to make a considerable deviation through the woods to pass these fallen trees. The plantations by which we passed, are all new; the houses were completely log huts. The tiresome uniformity of the pine woods were, in the low and marshy places into which we often came, very pleasantly interrupted by evergreen cane, as well as by thorn oaks and laurel trees, we also saw several green-leaved trees, chiefly oaks, as formerly.
Towards four o’clock in the afternoon we reached the agency, a group of twenty log houses, and some negro huts. It is appointed for the residence of the agent of the United States with the Creek Indians, (he, however, was absent at this time,) and is situated in a very handsome tract of land on the left side of the Flint river, which rushes over a rocky bed between pretty steep banks. The right bank belongs to the Creek nation, of about twenty-one thousand souls, and is inhabited by them. The contest between the state of Georgia and the United States is caused by this territory. The state of Georgia had concluded a treaty with one of the Creek chiefs, M‘Intosh, concerning the surrender of this district of land; the nation, discontented with the treaty, and is nowise willing to evacuate their country, insisted that they had been deceived, and killed M‘Intosh. The United States espoused the side of the Indians, and blamed the Georgia commissioners for scandalous impositions upon the Indians. Congress is now about to decide upon this matter. In one of the log-houses, with a Mr. Crowell, we took up our night’s lodging, and enjoyed some very well cooked venison. In a neighbouring grog-shop we found a collection of drunken Indians, and some negroes, who werefrolicingduring the Christmas holy-days. Several of them were well dressed; they wore mocassins and leggings of leather; broad knee-bands ornamented with white glass beads, a sort of coat of striped cotton, and upon the head a striped cotton cloth, almost like a turban. Several of them were very large. For a treat of whiskey, which I gave them, eight of them performed the war dance. They skipped here and there in a circle, movedthemselves right and left, sprung against each other, raised their hands on high, let them fall again, and bellowed horribly through the whole scene. Some old men who stood near, took it in dudgeon, that the young men should dance in such a way before white people. They called to them to stop. Mr. Crowell, however, brought them to silence easily, by whiskey.
The colour of these Indians is a dusky brown. They have black straight hair. Several of them possess negroes, to whom it is very acceptable to live with them, since they are treated with more equality than by the whites. Some of these negroes were very well clothed in the Indian manner, they drank and jumped about with the Indians. One of them was of colossal stature, and appeared to be in great request among the Indians, to whom he served as interpreter. The constitution of these Indians is a mixture of aristocratical and republican form of government. The chiefs are chosen for life, and the dignity is not hereditary; for improper conduct they can be deposed. They cannot write their language. Their laws are of course very simple, and founded on traditionary usage.
It had rained hard in the night, between the 28th and 29th of December, it rained also in the day, almost incessantly, yet this rain was mild and warm, nearly like a spring rain in Germany. There was a consultation, whether we should remain or go farther on, I determined on the latter. About nine o’clock we left our night quarters. In the vicinity thereof, the governor of the state of Georgia had built Fort Lawrence, which was evacuated, and given up at the peace. The houses, which belonged to the agency, were then built as magazines and hospitals for the troops, and arranged for a post of defence. Near the chimney, and the doors and windows, (the last without glass sashes,) were loop-holes pierced. Behind this post we passed the Flint river in an Indian ferry-boat, and found ourselves landed upon their territory. We rode twenty-eight miles farther to a lonely plantation, called Currel’s. The road ran through the worst part of the Indian lands, the woods consisted as before, of the long-leaved pine, and it was only in damp places we observed green leaves. In particular, there grew high and beautiful cane. The soil is for the most part dry sand, in strata, and particularly in the bottoms it is mixed with clay, and of a full yellow colour. The Indians have thrown bridges over two brooks with marshy shores, at each of them we paid, with great pleasure, half a dollar toll-money. The bridges are indeed not remarkably good, yet better than several in the christian state of Georgia, and even in many of the more northern states. We met but few of the Indian inhabitants; these were all wrapt up in woollen blankets. We only saw three wigwams,Indian houses, chiefly toll-houses of the bridges. They resemble the log-houses, neither are they so open as those which I saw last summer in the state of New York. The day was exceedingly uninteresting. Mr. Currel, with whom we passed the night, is a Virginian, who has settled here for the opportunity of speculating among the Indians, from whom he purchased his land at a rather cheap rate: to judge from his habits of intoxication, he has already adapted himself too much to their mode of life. His plantation buildings are, as all the rest, log huts: the wind blew to our heart’s content through the room; no lamp could burn, and we were forced to use a great hearth fire to give us light. There was no ceiling to our room, but a transparent roof of clap-boards directly over us. I was surprised to discover Shakspeare’s works in this place. In one of the out-houses there was a very good supper set before us, at which, especially, we had excellent venison.
Upon the 30th of December, after we had passed a cold night in our clap-board hut, which allowed the storm free admission, and locked our few articles of property in our chamber, from fear of the Indians sneaking about, we started before break of day, and rode a distance of thirty-three miles to Fort Mitchel. The weather was cold the whole day through, and threatened rain. The country again very uninteresting, mostly pines, a sandy soil, here and there mingled with clay: at length wood with green leaves. Only in low situations, along the rivulets, of which we passed three, was the vegetation to be admired. The laurel bushes particularly looked well. It gave me real pleasure to be able to walk in a green thicket along a brook, which I could have accomplished with difficulty in summer, since these bushes are the favourite resort of a great number of rattlesnakes. In a solitary plantation we took our breakfast; it belonged to a Mr. Colfrey, a worthy old Virginian, who had lost a considerable property, and to better his circumstances, had determined on the hard alternative of settling among the Indians. We found his plantation in a very uncommon state of order and neatness, and we were delighted by an unexpected and most excellent breakfast. Mr. Bowdoin said to the owner of the place, that he appeared as if he had not always lived thus among the savages, and never can I forget how the old man, with tears in his eyes, turned away without making an answer.
We met with several wigwams, and various temporary cabins of travelling Indians, also a number of bridges, at which we were obliged to pay the Indians toll. The country was very hilly till we came into a valley, a mile from our night quarters, through which the Chatahouchee flowed. This river empties itself into the Mexican gulf. The district, even to the left bankof the river, is rather marshy, grown up with willows, laurel, and cane. Not far from the river we beheld several buildings appointed for the popular assembly of the Indians, called the big talk. They are large and round, having a conical-formed roof, covered with tree-bark; they have walls of lime, and a covered low entrance also of lime. The Indians assemble in these buildings only in bad weather, or at night, and then a fire kindled in the middle of the house, gives light. In good weather they collect in a square place covered with sheds, under which the Indians sit down on planks protected from the sun’s heat. There is also another place for public games, and particularly for ball-playing. They appeared here also to have a species of masquerade, for we found some in a half gourd, cut through and made into a mask, with eyes and mouth cut in it, and the nose set on of a piece of wood. From the neck of the gourd, which was cut at half its length, they had made a pair of horns, and fasted them on the mask, and under this a long white beard.
We passed the river Chatahouchee at one of the ferries belonging to the Indians, and kept in order by them. The right bank is somewhat steep, of red earth, which, from the violent rain, had become slippery. Half a mile from the ferry brought us to Fort Mitchel. It stood upon a height, and was situated to the right of us. We dismounted not far from this, between Indian wigwams at Crowell’s tavern. The host was a brother of the Indian agent. This house has also a plantation attached to it, as the one above-mentioned had. Colonel Wool and I were lodged in an airy out-house of clap-boards, without a ceiling, and windows without glass. We were accommodated with freer circulation than would have fallen to our lot in a German barn. Four companies of the fourth regiment of infantry, the staff of which was fixed at Pensacola, lay in garrison at the fort. The commandant, Major Donoho, and his officers had taken board at Crowell’s tavern; in the evening we made acquaintance with them. The most of these officers, pupils of the school at West Point, were men of information, and we passed the remainder of the evening much pleased with their society.
We made the 31st of December a day of rest, as Colonel Wool had to inspect the garrison of the fort. The four companies here stationed form properly the garrison of Pensacola, and were only sent here last summer during the contest between Georgia and the United States, to protect the Creeks against the encroachments of that State. It openly wishes to take possession of the Indian territory to the Chatahouchee, to which river, agreeable to the charter, Georgia extends. The right bank of the river, on which we now found ourselves, is in the jurisdiction of the State of Alabama. The troops arriving, at firstencamped here, but immediately commenced building a new but smaller fort, on the spot where Fort Mitchell stands, so called in honour of the then governor of Georgia, which they now occupy. They hoped, however, that they should return to Pensacola as soon as the disagreements had been settled.
After the inspection, we took a walk to a plantation lying near, which belonged to an Indian named M‘Intosh. He was absent at Washington as a delegate from his nation. He is the son of that M‘Intosh, who obtained from the State of Georgia the title of General, and who last spring, on account of the treaty with the state, had been shot by his countrymen and hewed in pieces. Polygamy prevails among the Indians. The young M‘Intosh had indeed only two wives, a white woman and an Indian. They say he had several wives whom he wished to keep: the white woman however had driven them with scolding and disgrace out of the house, as she would only submit to one Indian rival. We did not see the Indian wife. The white wife, however, received us quite politely. She is the daughter of a planter in Georgia, and tolerably pretty. She was attired in the European style, only according to the Indian fancy in dress, she carried a quantity of glass beads about her neck. She showed us her two children, completely white, and also the portrait of her father-in-law, as large as life, with the sword of honour given him by the United States. The family is in very good circumstances, and possesses seventy negroes.
In the afternoon we went to a Methodist mission, one short mile distant. We found none but the women at home. The missionaries have established a school, which is frequented by thirty children. They have three Indian girls, boarders, who were extremely modest. The mission is situated in a handsome plantation, on which I saw tame deer. The deer here are evidently smaller than those in Europe.
Sunday, the 1st of January, 1826, we were awakened by the drums and fifes, which announced the new year, by playing Hail Columbia and Yankee Doodle. With the break of day, between seven and eight o’clock, we left Fort Mitchel, and rode twenty-five miles to a plantation called Lewis’s, which is located on the spot, upon which, in the last war, Fort Bainbridge stood. The road ran through a very hilly country. At first the soil was sandy and poor, it bore nothing but pine trees. After we had passed over half the distance, the soil improved, it looked reddish-yellow, and the apparently everlasting pines gave place to handsome oaks and lofty hickories. On the other hand the carriage road became very bad, and in a narrow place we upset. The carriage fell slowly towards my side, I took the right moment, sprung from the box on which I sat, and fell upon myfeet. This was the eighth time I had been overturned, and never did I escape so cheap as on this occasion. As none of the other gentlemen were injured, we could happily laugh at our accident. The carriage was somewhat damaged, and since we were only four miles distant from Lewis’s, and had very fine weather, a true spring day, with clear dark-blue sky, we went the rest of the way on foot.
We passed several wigwams and temporary Indian huts, in which the men lived with the hogs, and lay around the fire with them. A hut of this description is open in front, behind it is closed with pieces of wood and bark. The residents live on roasted venison and Indian corn. The hides of the deer, and even of cattle, they stretch out to dry in the sun, and then sell them. At one hut, covered with cane leaves, there was venison roasting, and bacon smoking. The venison is cut in pieces, and spitted on a cane stalk, many such stalks lie upon two blocks near each other. Under these the fire is kindled, and the stalk continually turned round, till the flesh is dried through. Upon this is laid a hurdle made of cane which rests on four posts. To this are all the large pieces suspended. The hams of bacon are laid upon the hurdle so that the smoke may draw through them.
The grass in many parts of the woods was in a blaze, and many pine trees were burning. We crossed two small streams, the Great and Little Uchee, on tolerable wooden bridges. Between three and four o’clock in the afternoon we reached Lewis’s, a handsome house, the best that we had found in the Indian territory. We took here an excellent dinner. We ate daily of the best of venison. In Fort Mitchel we had eaten partridges, of which the officers in one day took fifty-seven in the morning, and forty-six in the evening, in their nets. For the singularity of the thing, I will notice our dinner of to-day, that the inquisitive reader may observe that one is in no danger of hunger on the lands of the Indians: soup of turnips, roast-beef, a roast-turkey, venison with a kind of sour sauce, roast-chickens, and pork with sweet potatoes.
On the 2d of January we rode thirty-one miles to Walker’s, also a solitary plantation. The country hilly, the road bad to such a degree that we could only creep along in the most tedious manner, and were obliged to proceed on foot very often. The wood on the other hand grew better and better, and consisted, besides the pines, of handsome oaks, and various sorts of nut-bearing trees, mostly hickories: the soil, for the most part, of a reddish yellow. In several marshy places, and on the banks of rivulets, we saw again the evergreen trees and bushes, and in a swamp nearly a mile long, through which a causeway ran, some magnolia grandiflora which were at least sixty feet high. I alsosaw here again several trees, which first forming one trunk, four or five feet above the ground, divided themselves into two trunks, and then shot up into the air one hundred feet. In the north-western part of the state of New York, I have seen trees which ran up in five, six, and even seven trunks. Over a stream with marshy banks, a bridge was thrown, three hundred and eleven paces long: the view which I took from this bridge of the luxuriant exotic vegetation which surrounded me, exhibited, as I thought, the original of the sketches of the Brazilian forests in the travels of the Prince Nieuwied. The beautiful day, the cloudless dark-blue sky, also introduced by him, were recalled to me by this picture. But when I observed upon the trees the hateful Spanish moss, I was reminded that I was in the neighbourhood of Columbia and Charleston, and that it was a token of unwholesome air. In the swamps I noticed several plants which were known to me from hot-house cultivation, but unfortunately I cannot recall their names.
The country is comparatively populously inhabited by Indians. They live partly in wigwams, partly in bark cabins. Before one of these huts, or cabins, hung a skinned otter, upon which they seemed preparing to make a meal. The Indians roast their maize on the naked coals, then they throw it into a cavity made in a trunk of a tree, and pound it with a stick of wood into a sort of coarse meal. I bought a species of nuts, which were roasted, ground-nuts, and amused myself with the propensity to thievery a young Indian displayed. As I was putting the nuts in my pocket, one or more would drop, instantly the young fellow would step forward, as if by accident, set his foot on the nut, take it between his toes, and move off. We passed through a tolerably cleared, fenced, and built district, in which several negro quarters of a decent appearance were scattered about. This plantation belonged to a chief, one of the principal of the Creeks, called the Big Warrior, who owns above three hundred negroes, whose wooden dwelling-house stands in the centre of his property. He is now at Washington, as one of the deputies of his nation. We came over another cleared spot, where the Indians were routed in the last war by the Georgia militia under General Floyd.
Not far from this place, we noticed a number of Indians collected in the neighbourhood of a plantation. We left our carriage to inquire into the cause of it. There had been a horse race of middling unsightly horses: the festival was, however, ended, and the meeting was on the point of breaking up. A white planter who was there, conducted us to the son of the Big Warrior. He was himself a chief, and possessed a high reputation, as was said amongst those of the nation. He sat upon a felled tree between two inferior chiefs. His dress was a tunic of flowered,clear blue calico, a piece of the same stuff was wrapped round his head like a turban. He wore richly ornamented leather leggings set with glass beads, and mocassins, and had an equally ornamented hunting pouch hung around him. Moderately fat, and of a great stature, he appeared to be about thirty years old. He had mustaches like all his countrymen. I was introduced to him, and shook hands with him. The conversation was very trifling and short. It took place through an interpreter who appeared to be a dismissed soldier. This creature caused the chief to rise when we commenced speaking to him; when I begged him to remain sitting, he reseated himself mechanically. He directed no questions to me, and answered mine with yes and no. To the question, whether he knew any thing of the country of which I was a native, he answered by a shake of the head. He looked no more at me. Several Indians wore their hair in a singular style; it was shorn on both sides of the head, and the middle, from the neck over to the forehead, stood up like a cock’s comb. Seen from behind, they appeared as if they wore a helmet. Quite small boys practised themselves already in shooting with a little bow. I attempted to joke with a little fellow, three years old, but he took the jest in bad part, and threatened me with his bow.