228 
LETTEES EEOM ALABAMA. 
or material; short cotton socks, and stout half- 
boots, of domestic manufacture. Such is the cos- 
tume of our “ king of men,” and all the rest of us 
approach as near to it as we may. 
But who are the rest of us V ” Why, the two 
strapping youths, who call the planter uncle, 
Zachariah and Bill, each emulous of his patron’s 
stature and accomplishments ; Jones, the overseer, 
a wiry fellow, originally from the far east (Con- 
necticut, I believe), but grown a southerner by a 
dozen years’ experience in negro-driving ; and the 
humble individual who pens these lines, who begins 
at length to be known by his proper name, instead 
of the stranger.” We five were mounted on 
very capital steeds, and behind and around us 
marched on foot our sable ministers. 
It was a lovely night. The sky, almost cloud- 
less, had a depth of tint that was rather purple 
than blue ; and the moon, near the full, was already 
approaching the zenith. A gentle breeze, warm and 
balmy, breathed in the summits of the trees, and 
wafted to us the delicate perfumes from leaf, flower, 
and fruit, from gum and balsam, with which the 
night air is commonly loaded. Bright as was the 
night, however, it was thought requisite to have 
artificial light, especially as we should have to ex- 
plore some tall woods, whose gloomy recesses the 
moon’s beams were quite insufficient to illuminate. 
The knots of the pitch-pine answer admirably for 
torches, being full of resin, and maintaining a bril- 
liant flame for an hour or more. The glare of 
broad red light which these flambeaux cast on 
the leafy walls along which we rode, and the beau- 
tiful effect produced on the surrounding shrubs and 
intervening trees, when the torchbearers passed 
