CHAP. XXIV.] MOVERS TO TEXAS. 61 



perishing, bought it of the children for some sugar 

 plums, and it soon revived in our room, and flew out of 

 the window. In the evening we enjoyed a sight of 

 one of those glorious sunsets, the beauty of which in 

 these latitudes is so striking, when the clouds and 

 sky are lighted up with streaks of brilliant red, 

 yellow, and green, which, if a painter should repre 

 sent faithfully, might seem as exaggerated and gaudy 

 as would the colours of an American forest in 

 autumn, when compared with European woods. 



The movers, who were going to Texas, had come 

 down 200 miles from the upper country of Alabama, 

 and were waiting for some others of their kindred 

 who were to follow with their heavy waggons. One 

 of these families is carrying away no less than forty 

 negroes, and the cheerfulness with which these slaves 

 are going they know not where with their owners, 

 notwithstanding their usual dislike to quit the place 

 they have been brought up in, shows a strong bond 

 of union between the master and &quot;his people.&quot; In 

 the last fifteen months, 1300 whites, and twice that 

 number of slaves, have quitted Alabama for Texas 

 and Arkansas, and they tell me that Monroe county 

 has lost 1 500 inhabitants. &quot; Much capital,&quot; said one 

 of my informants, &quot; is leaving this State, and no won 

 der ; for if we remain here, we are reduced to the 

 alternative of high taxes to pay the interest of money 

 so improvidently borrowed from England, or to suffer 

 the disgrace of repudiation, which would be doubly 

 shameful, because the money was received in hard cash, 

 and lent out, often rashly, by the State, to farmers for 

 agricultural improvements. Besides,&quot; he added, &quot; all 



