CHAPTER XIV. 



THE STAG. 



the wave-worn coast of South Carolina lies 

 a magnificent island called Edisto, planted 

 with cotton-trees in the cultivated portions, 

 and clothed, in the centre and at the northern 

 extremity, with an immense forest abounding in all kinds 

 of game. The colonists who have subdivided it, or rather 

 to whom the different farms and plantations have de- 

 scended by inheritance, were the most hospitable and 

 genial persons whom I met with during my whole sojourn 

 in the United States. The elegant villas which they 

 inhabit during the beautiful seasons of the year, spring, 

 autumn, and winter, are fitted up with every comfort 

 and luxury which the heart could desire. In a word, the 

 life which men lead at Edisto has always seemed to me, 



