68 REMINISCENCES OF 



bitter feelings generated by the war gradually soft- 

 ened down ; hostile families were reconciled, and the 

 intermarriage of their children formed a bond of 

 friendship. 



After nearly ten years of unrequited labor, the 

 Santee Canal was projected, and constructed within 

 their neighborhood. Every one availed himself to 

 a greater or less extent of this opportunity of hiring 

 their negroes ; for men they received thirty and for 

 women twenty pounds sterling per annum, besides 

 their food. At times a thousand laborers were em- 

 ployed on this work, which was seven years in being 

 completed. This enterprise, which was disastrous 

 to those who had embarked in it, rescued a large 

 number of planters from ruin. It was commenced 

 in 1792, and finished in 1800. Two or three years 

 after it had been commenced, a few planters in the 

 neighborhood tried the cultivation of cotton on a 

 small scale, but the progress of this enterprise was 

 slow and irresolute, in consequence of the difficulty 

 of preparing it for market. With the improvement 

 of the gins, the cotton culture increased and was ex- 

 tended, until 1 799, when Capt. James Sinkler planted 

 three hundred acres at his plantation Belvidere, on 

 Eutaw Creek, and reaped from each acre two hun- 

 dred and sixteen pounds, which he sold for from fifty 

 to seventy-five cents per pound. Since that period 

 no other agricultural staple has stood in the way of 

 its cultivation. 



