LIFE OF WILSON. 
XCl 
sakes, I am willing to believe they are all better than they 
seemed to be. 
“ Wilmington contains about three thousand souls; and yet 
there is not one cultivated field within several miles of it. The 
whole country, on this side of the river, is a mass of sand, into 
which you sink up to the ankles; and hardly a blade of grass is 
to be seen. All about is pine barrens. * * * 
“ From Wilmington I rode through solitary pine savannas, 
and cypress swamps, as before; sometimes thirty miles without 
seeing a hut, or human being. On arriving at the Wackamaw, 
Pedee, and Black river, I made long zigzags among the rich 
nabobs, who live on their rice plantations, amidst large villages 
of negro huts. One of these gentlemen told me that he had 
“ something better than six hundred head of blacks!” 
These excursions detained me greatly. The roads to the plan- 
tations were so long, so difficult to find, and so bad, and the 
hospitality of the planters was such, that I could scarcely get 
away again. I ought to have told you that the deep sands of 
South Carolina had so worn out my horse, that, with all my 
care, I found he would give up. Chance led me to the house 
of a planter, named V., about forty miles north of the river 
Wackamaw, where I proposed to bargain with him, and to 
give up my young blood horse for another in exchange; giving 
him at least as good a character as he deserved. He asked 
twenty dollars to boot, and I thirty. We parted, but I could 
perceive that he had taken a liking to my steed; so I went on. 
He followed me to the seabeach, about three miles, under pre- 
tence of pointing out to me the road; and there, on the sands, 
amidst the roar of the Atlantic, we finally bargained; and I 
found myself in possession of a large, well formed and elegant, 
sorrel horse, that ran off with me, at a canter, for fifteen miles 
along the sea shore; and travelled the same day forty-two 
miles, with nothing but a few mouthfuls of rice straw, which I 
got from a negro. If you have ever seen the rushes with 
which carpenters sometimes smooth their work, you may form 
some idea of the common fare of the South Carolina horses. I 
