184 CAMP-MEETING. 



The cleared ground may extend to about 200 acres, and is 

 partly clay and partly sand. The fences and general appear 

 ance of the place seem to mark the Colonel as an indifferent 

 manager, both with regard to neatness and profit. 



On the creek there is a site of a mill, which was burnt down 

 by the Yankees during the war, and which remains unrepaired. 

 The colonel is said to have narrowly escaped being captured 

 at this time, by a party of Americans, who came intentionally 

 to take him prisoner. The colonel, at the time of their arri 

 val, happened, it is said, to be occupied in milking cows in 

 the fields, and thereby escaped detection till he reached the 

 woods. 



It was my intention at one time to have introduced myself 

 to the colonel, w r ho was observed standing at his door, when 

 we were only a few hundred yards distant ; but the accounts re 

 ceived in the neighbourhood induced me to think there was 

 very little chance of our interview being attended with plea 

 sure, and I withdrew without making his acquaintance. 



We returned to St Thomas, which w T e left at half-past four, 

 in a waggon, for the camp-meeting, and on our w r ay met mul 

 titudes of people on their return home. It now became evi 

 dent we had been too late in visiting the meeting, to see the 

 greatest assemblage, but consoled ourselves that the most fer 

 vent worshippers would be more readily distinguished. Our 

 waggon was left within a mile of the meeting, and w r e pro 

 ceeded on foot through the forest. The ground in the midst 

 of the forest had been prepared for the occasion, having had 

 the brush or underwood removed, and trees laid in parallel 

 rows, by way of seats, for five or six hundred people. On 

 entering a square, formed by tents, in which the people reside 

 for four or five days together, I was disappointed at the small- 

 ness of the assemblage, which did not exceed three hundred 

 souls. Many people were walking up and down, engaged in 

 mirthful conversation, and five or six small groups were stand 

 ing in different parts, singing hymns in a low tone. At this 

 moment I observed a comely young woman in front of a tent, 

 laughing and nodding familiarly to a numerous acquaintance, 

 which induced me to think she might be engaged in attending 

 a tent for entertaining the company. She bore a striking 



