CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 13I 



When the month of June found all the villagers 

 assembled for the summer, their feelings were some- 

 what analogous to those of persons who m.eet to- 

 gether on board of a ship for the purpose of making 

 a long voyage. All commerce with the external 

 world seemed Interdicted. Entertalnlne an Indefin- 

 able distrust of the climate of the country, they re- 

 garded their village with a sort of superstitious 

 affection, and viewed as a calamity any accident 

 which might make it necessary to spend a single 

 nlo^ht elsewhere. The air was not to be changed. 

 Whether for better or for worse, he who commenced 

 the season by breathing the air of Pineville, must 

 continue to do so ; or, if he left It, he should not 

 return before autumn. It is not strange, therefore, 

 that the sense of mutual dependence was Intense. 



And sweet and balmy Is that Pineville air ; in- 

 viting repose, tranquillizing the troubled frame, and 

 filling the mind with sweet and hopeful thoughts. 

 When the lungs, vexed and harassed by the dust of 

 the metropolis and the cruel east winds of the coast, 

 inhale the soft and fragrant breath of the pines, how 

 voluptuous is the sensation of rest, of perfect re- 

 pose ! How great a blessing to suffering humanity 

 has God thus deposited in the most gloomy and 

 desolate-looking portion of his creation ! 



The habits of every house were alike. At sun- 

 rise breakfast was served, and the planters went out 

 to visit their plantations. Those who owned estates 



