204 MEMOIR 01 DR. HARVEY. 



their shade. Such trees contrast well with the glossy magnolia, 

 and when you add to these the strikingly beautiful Pinus 

 palustris and the swamp cedars, with a host of others now out 

 of leaf; and then clothe the ground with spring flowers, you 

 fancy that the Savannah woods, a little later in the year, must 

 be something paradisaical. 



Driving out into the country we encountered a two-storied 

 house moving down the road (perhaps to enjoy the cool of the 

 evening). They had it raised on logs, and were canting it along 

 with handspikes. On our return homeward they had got it 

 fixed up where it was intended to be. Of course it was a wooden 

 house. 



The harbour at present is full of idle ships waiting for freight. 

 Every fresh steamer from England brings the report of a further 

 rise in the cotton-market, consequently the holders of wool 

 continue to hold, so the poor vessel must wait with an empty 

 hold. I saw the bales of cotton pressed — which is a simple, 

 quiet operation — a large bale being put between two enormous 

 iron jaws, which are then closed upon it, and, while thus com- 

 pressed, the ropes are tied round it. I also saw a rice-mill 

 hulling the grain which was put into boxes, into which an 

 iron cylinder attached to a long arm was pushed in, or let fall, 

 and then drawn out, these hullers keeping up a rattle like 'a 

 beetling-engine. It appeared a wasteful process, a great deal of 

 the rice being broken. This broken rice, they told me, sold for 

 very little, as it is not pretty to look at, but they say it is very 

 nourishing, and in fact consists usually of the best part of the 

 grain. 



There is a custom all through America which strikes a stranger 

 — that of drinking drams at the public bar of the inns and hotels. 

 Here, every hotel, even the largest, has a J * bar," which is a 

 place like the counter of a whisky-shop, where liquors are sold 

 by the glass. In the North you only see " loafers " (or snobs) 

 drinking at such places, but here in Savannah I observe the 

 first merchants of the place, men who are worth thousands, and 

 who live in houses that cost 25,000 dollars or more, lounging 

 about the bar, drinking with whoever of their .acquaintance 

 come in. It is a sort of slight if you refuse when they ask you. 

 This custom, at least, is better kept in the breach than the 

 observance. 



