BY EDWARD DOUBLEDAY. 293 



Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, and thence to Cheraw, 

 just within the state of South Carolina. The soil appears 

 principally to consist of white sand, on which grow pines 5 

 from these turpentine is obtained, by cutting a notch in the 

 bark, and scraping it off as it exudes. Here and there 

 are swampy places, where grow Magnolia:, Lauri, Smilaces, 

 with their blue, scarlet, and black berries, Sarracemce, with 

 their pitcher-shaped leaves, &c. In the pine barrens there are, 

 besides pines, several species of oak, Styracifiua Uquidam- 

 har, &;c. Among the plants Yucca filamentosa is the finest 

 that I saw. 



We stayed to rest at Cheraw, at a tolerable inn, kept by an 

 old man, who is a cripple, hand and foot, from the gout, and 

 possessed of a most irritable temper. When in a passion he 

 storms at his slaves and all around him, but when calm is 

 a pleasant man, and full of information. For five years he 

 has been confined to his chair. It amused me to see him fed. 

 A negress put a napkin under his chin, and then put the 

 morsels of meat or bread into the old man's mouth, and held 

 him the cup to drink from. When he was being fed I thought 

 of Gil Bias' master, whom Dr. Sangrado got rid of so quickly, 

 and who left him so valuable a legacy. The old man had a son 

 about fifteen years old, who reminded me of " Young Dropsy," 

 as Sam Weller calls him. 



Near the -river at Cheraw is a strip of rich land, but else- 

 where there is nothing but pine-barrens. From the appearance 

 of what remains of the crop, I judge that this good land pro- 

 duces GOO to 1000 lbs. of cotton per acre with the seeds, or 

 200 to 330 lbs. when cleared. 1000 lbs. is here reckoned 

 a good crop, but in Alabama they get 1700 to 1800 lbs. 

 The fields there look as if covered with snow ; those at Cheraw 

 look very pretty, with the white bunches of cotton hanging 

 from the expanded pods. There is a great difference in the 

 aspect of vegetation here, and the leaves are not all fallen. 

 From Cheraw to Colombia is a continuation of pine-barrens : 

 towns are scarce : we got our meals by the wayside ; once at 

 a coloured mans, who gave us a very good dinner. We had 

 meals at very irregular times ; one morning we breakfasted at 

 four, and another at ten. The entire country was the worst I 

 ever saw, nothing but pine-barrens and swamps. Mella azi- 

 dirac/i and Bignonia catalpa are common in the cleared lands, 



