SOLON ROBINSON, 1845 449 



trees are leaving, and peach buds are just ready to burst 

 into blossom. Much land shows that there has been a 

 good deal of a kind of work done that people really seem 

 to be in sober earnest when they call it "plowing." The 

 weather is more like May than February. Birds and 

 frogs making meloby — grass growing — flowers blooming 

 — gardens making, etc. 



From here to Holly Springs, the county seat of Mar- 

 shall co., and a flourishing fine town, the land grows hilly 

 and sandy, and bottom lands more swampy. The upland 

 timber mostly black oak, interspersed with white oak and 

 hickory, and much of it uncultivated. Some fine farms — 

 horses good — cattle poor and sheep poorer. In the course 

 of the day after passing Holly Springs, I met with the 

 first stone that I have seen since leaving the mountains 

 of Missouri. It is a kind of redish sand and iron stone, 

 and has the appearance of being of volcanic origin. 

 Passed Oxford, the county seat of Lafayette co., and 

 crossed the Tallahatchie river, (I like these Indian 

 names,) which is also another high water steamboat 

 stream, with wide bottom uncultivated beech land, upon 

 which grass instead of trees ought to be growing. Saw 

 mills through all this region being scarce, and lumber 

 from $1.50 to $2.50 per hundred, nearly all the houses 

 are built of logs. Near the south line of Lafayette, 

 crossed the "Yokenatuffa," (a very pretty name when you 

 get used to it,) across a beech bottom, with a liberal 

 sprinkle of the beautiful holly. 



On the 12th day of Feb., in Yallabusha county, I saw 

 peach and plum trees in full bloom, and garden peas and 

 potatoes up, and oats sowing. And here in one field I 

 saw 20 one horse, or one mule plows, skinning the sur- 

 face of this light, loose, fine, sandy soil, and sending it 

 on a voyage of discovery to the gulf of Mexico. And as 

 in this country I am going to initiate my readers into the 

 arcana of a cotton plantation, I will here part company 

 with them, under the assurance that the country we are 

 yet to ramble over will afford an abundance of incidents 



