BV EDWARD DOUBLEDAY. 295 



cotton-planting naljobs of cotton merchants, and dealers in 

 rice, of carrion crows,^ and Turkey buzzards ; here am I, on the 

 4th of December, walking about in a horse-hair cap and green 

 spectacles, to save my eyes from the glare of the sun ; the 

 thermoineter 72 degrees in the shade, 102 degrees in the sun, 

 quite away from any reflected heat ; it is no doubt much higher 

 in the streets, for on merely closing the case, so as to throw 

 the reflection of the white satin lining on the bulb, it instantly 

 rose two degrees. The power of the sun is intense, and much 

 exposure to it brings on lassitude, in any one unaccustomed to 

 it. The intensity -of light is wonderful : yesterday, fifteen 

 minutes after sun- set, I very distinctly saw the dark part of 

 the moon. Twilight is very short here ; whilst it lasts there 

 are abundance of bats flying about. But I must attempt to 

 describe this city, a task which I like not ; I prefer the works 

 of nature — 



" God made the countiy, and man made the town." 



Charleston stands on a narrow point of land, in a deep bay : 

 when the tide is down, the accumulation of mud from the 

 rivers, &c. smells most dreadfully. As you walk about the 

 city, the first thing that strikes you is its total unlikeness to 

 any American city in the north, especially in its private houses ; 

 these are mostly turned endwise to the street, are built of 

 wood, grievously in want of paint, and have a garden in front. 

 By this interesting arrangement the front of one house looks 

 directly on the back of another. There are some good brick 

 houses, but good men are as scarce as in the time of Juvenal. 

 On the chimneys you see some half dozen Turkey buzzards 

 digesting their dinners ; others, with a few carrion crows who 

 have not yet dined, on the look-out for a meal. The streets 

 are narrow and irregular; the houses old ; the pavements bad, 

 but improving. The streets abound with negroes, mostly 

 slaves, here called " servants " or " boys." I have heard a 

 quarrel between two negresses, in which one told the other, in 

 a tone of ineffable contempt, she did not care what black people 

 said. The lady so speaking boasted of a slight admixture of 

 white blood, not above a quarter, but of this the negroes are' 



' The carrion crow of America is the J'ultur alralus, Wilson ; the Turkey 

 buzzard is the Vuliur aura, Wilson. 



