ALABAMA. 137 



"the ground on foot. It was a large field, entirely 

 " covered with melons, the long stems of which trailed 

 " over the soft earth, concealing it with the coarse foliage 

 " and the great yellow flowers of the plant ; while the 

 " fruit, of all sizes, lay about in boundless profusion, from 

 " the berry just formed, to the fully matured and already 

 " rotten-ripe melon, as large as a butter firkin. Abundant 

 " evidences were visible of the depredations of our game, 

 " for numbers of fine ripe melons lay about with large 

 "cavities scooped out of them, some showing by their 

 " freshness and cleanness that they had been only just 

 " attacked, while others were partially dried and dis- 

 " coloured by the burning sun. Moths of various species 

 "were collected around the wounded fruit, some of them 

 " (which I should have prized for my cabinet, if I had 

 " had time and means to capture and bring them home) 

 " inert and bloated with the juices which they had been 

 " sucking ; others fluttering by scores around, or attracted 

 "by the light to dance round the torches. 



" The party had dispersed. I accompanied the planter 

 " to the edge of a wood at one side of the patch, while 

 "the young men took up similar stations at some 

 "distance. The object was to intercept the vermin in 

 " their retreat, as, on being alarmed from their repast, 

 " they at once make for their fastnesses in the lofty trees. 

 " A negro, with his pine-knot, stood at each station, 

 " illuminating the hoary trunks of the great trees. 



" Meanwhile the other servants were scouring the field 

 "with the dogs, shouting and making as much noise as 

 " possible. Again the twinkling lights looked beautiful, 

 "and the sound of the negroes' sonorous voices, raised 

 "in prolonged shouts with musical cadences, and now 

 "and then a snatch of a rattling song, the favourite 

 " burden being how a ' big racoon ' was seen — 



