72 THE GAXADIAN liOUTIUULTLTJST. 



t^assing tlirougli the Smithsonian orounds on the way to the 

 institute, one couhl not lielp being impressed with the beauty and 

 majesty of many of the trees and larger shrubs, which time, supple- 

 mented by care, has developed into the most ample proportions. 



Leaving Washington in the morning, journeying southward, the 

 country is very fiat and uninteresting to the eye; but associated as it 

 is with so many stirring incidents during the late war, a peculiar in- 

 terest is attached to it. We soon crossed the Rappahannock, and 

 after a time passed through Fredericksburgh, where there was some 

 very severe fighting; in one burial ground visible from the cars there 

 are interred the bodies of ten thousand of the Union soldiers. There 

 seems to be but little improvement in this section of the country ; the 

 proportion of land under crop is very small, the untilled acreage must 

 be something wonderful ; and it is a rare thing to see a new house 

 anywhere along the road. 



Richmond, the city of seven hills, was reached about noon. The 

 view from the high bridge crossing the James River is very beautiful; 

 the city itself is prettily situated, with the advantage of an immense 

 amount of water power adjacent, and seems to be in a thriving con- 

 dition. But our train hurries on, and passing rapidly through the 

 southern part of Virginia to Danville, the State of North Carolina was 

 entered and the town of Greensboro' reached about 8 p. m., where we 

 lodged for the night. 



Early next morning we took train for Atlanta. The portions of 

 North Carolina and South Carolina through which we passed were 

 rather flat, most of the land poor, the soil being of a reddish color, 

 arid covered with scrubby undergrowth or small trees. There is a 

 very small proportion of the land under cultivation, and well cultivated 

 farms are " few and far between." The rude log cabins of tlie negroes 

 ai^e everywhere seen, but there is not much evidence of industry or 

 thrift. Approaching the borders of Georgia, cotton fields were fre- 

 quently passed, with the negroes here and there engaged in gathering 

 in the third and final picking. The unpicked fields presented a very 

 novel appearance, every plant being decorated with many pure white 

 masses of cotton, which, contrasting with the dark back-ground of the 

 soil, looked as if a snow storm had swept over it, leaving the snow in 

 countless patches. The cotton plant grows from one and a half to 

 two feet or more in height ; the seed is planted in roAvs, tlie young 



