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NOTES ON AMERICA. No. III. 



MALARIA OF SOUTH CAROLINA SLAVES AND SLAVE-OWNERS A FARMER AND 



HIS FAMILY SOUTHERN STATES CURIOUS EXAMPLES OF THE STATE OF 



MORALS SPECIMEN OF AN EMIGRATING PARTY NIGGER CONVERSATION, &C. 



THE low country of South Carolina is infested during the summer 

 and autumn by a malaria of the most dreadful and poisonous description. 

 It is said to arise from the clearing away of the woods, and from insuf- 

 ficient draining. The district in the vicinity of Charleston was formerly 

 well wooded, and under the " Old Dominion/' many very handsome and 

 lordly mansions reared their heads in the midst of the pine forests. 

 Some of these still remain, but present a deserted and melancholy 

 appearance. A few negroes and a squalid overseer are often their only 

 occupants ; as even during the winter months, when a residence in the 

 low districts would be unattended with danger, the income of the pro- 

 prietors is, in general, too limited to admit of a country as well as a town 

 establishment. The vast avenues of oak, elm, and sycamore- trees are 

 choaked up by dirt and brambles. The leaves are all shrivelled like 

 faded lavender, and are gathered in large quantities to be used for 

 stuffing mattrasses, sofas, &c. Unlike the Roman malaria, the thick and 

 watery atmosphere of this country, instead of stimulating appears to 

 deaden vegetation. The magnolia alone grows to a great size, and with 

 unrivalled beauty offering a striking and delicious contrast to the heart- 

 sickening desolation around. 



The withered and blighted appearance of the trees, which has just 

 been mentioned, is a sure indication of the prevalence of an atmosphere 

 deleterious in the extreme ; and the stranger who should venture to pass 

 the night within the range of its influence would scarcely survive to tell 

 the story of his travels. I am unable to give a medical description of 

 this country fever, by which name it is distinguished from the other 

 scourge of the Southern States, the yellow pestilence ; but, I believe it 

 may be termed a fever and ague of the most appalling kind, accom- 

 panied by sickness and vomiting. The few who struggle through its 

 attacks are miserably decrepid for the remnant of their days ; and in 

 personal appearance, resemble the eight or ten favoured individuals who 

 have been lucky enough to return from Fernando Po. 



In these low districts the slaves are not unfrequently treated with 

 great inhumanity. Degraded as the condition of their brethren in the 

 cities may be, yet it is in many respects very superior to that of the 

 wretched field negroes. The greatest misfortune, perhaps, that can befal 

 a human being, is to become the property of a small planter or shopkeeper 

 in the interior of the Southern States, and at some distance from a town of 

 any size. The master is generally lazy, ignorant, and tyrannical, and 

 his slaves suffer accordingly. It is asserted on the other hand, that the 

 slaves are stupid, insolent, and incorrigibly slothful, and this cannot be 

 denied ; for how, in the name of all that is merciful, can a willing and 

 cheerful obedience be expected from a poor suffering wretch who " must 

 envy every sparrow that he sees ?" I recollect one night that a negro 

 was summoned to hold a torch-light of dried pine in the stable, whilst 

 the driver of the coach was employed in harnessing the horses. Though 

 M. M. No. 80. L 



