244 SCENERY ON ALTAMAHA. [CHAP. XVIII. 



tenance of the pilot made his appeal irresistible. The bed at our 

 humble inn was clean, but next morning we were annoyed by 

 having to sit down to breakfast with a poor white family, to 

 whom the same compliment could not be paid a man and his 

 wife and four children, belonging to the class called &quot; crackers&quot; 

 in Georgia. The etymology of this word is rather uncertain, 

 some deriving it from the long whips used by the wagoners. 

 They are a class of small proprietors, who seem to acquire slov 

 enly habits from dependence on slaves, of whom they can main 

 tain but few. 



The next morning, while we were standing on the river s 

 bank, we were joined by Mr. Hamilton Couper, with whom I 

 had corresponded on geological matters, and whom I have already 

 mentioned as the donor of a splendid collection of fossil remains 

 to the museum at Washington, and, I may add, of other like 

 treasures to that of Philadelphia. He came down the river to 

 meet us in a long canoe, hollowed out of the trunk of a single 

 cypress, and rowed by six negroes, who were singing loudly, and 

 keeping time to the stroke of their oars. He brought us a packet 

 of letters from England, which had been sent to his house, a 

 welcome New Year s gift ; and when we had glanced over their 

 contents, we entered the boat and began to ascend the Alta- 

 maha. 



The river was fringed on both sides with tall canes and with 

 the cypress (Cupressus disticha), and many other trees, still 

 leafless, which, being hung with gray moss, gave a somber tone 

 to the scenery at this season, in spite of the green leaves of sev 

 eral species of laurel, myrtle, and magnolia. But wherever there 

 was a break in the fringe of trees, which flourished luxuriantly 

 in the swamps bordering the river, a forest of evergreen pines 

 was seen in the back ground. For many a mile we saw no 

 habitations, and the solitude was profound ; but our black oars 

 men made the woods echo to their song. One of them taking 

 the lead, first improvised a verse, paying compliments to his mas 

 ter s family, and to a celebrated black beauty of the neighbor 

 hood, who was compared to the red bird.&quot; The other five 

 then joined in chorus, always repeating the same words Occa- 



