13 
laws for my signature; under them were here and there crosses 
only. Several of the usual toasts were given out; my health be¬ 
ing drank, I returned my thanks in the German language. There 
was also singing. • The melody was guided by an old Mr. Eck- 
hardt, a Hessian that had come to America with the Hessian troops, 
as a musician, and remained here. He is now organist of one of 
the churches, and three of his sons. occupy the same station in 
other churches. The German society possesses, moreover, a li¬ 
brary, which owes its origin to donations. In the school-room 
there was a planetarium, very neatly finished, set in motion by 
clock-work. 
• ( 
CHAPTER XVI. 
Journey from Charleston , through Augusta , Milledgeville , 
Macon , and the country of the Creek Indians , to Mont¬ 
gomery ., in the State of Alabama . 
MY design had been, to travel from Charleston to Savannah. 
I understood, however, that the stage to Savannah was very bad ; 
that the steam-boat went very irregularly ; that Savannah had lost 
its importance as a place of trade, and on the whole, contained 
nothing worthy of observation. As this tour would cost me 
many days, and a circuitous route, I resolved to relinquish the 
visit to Savannah, and betake myself the nearest way to Augusta, 
one hundred and twenty-nine miles distant; thence by Milledge¬ 
ville through the Creek Indians, to go into the state of Alabama. 
Colonel Wool liked my plan, as also did Mr. Temple Bowdoin, 
an Anglo-American, a very polished man, who had travelled, 
and who in his younger days served in the British army. We 
had engaged the mail stage for ourselves alone, and in it left 
Charleston on the 20th of December. 
We passed Ashley river at the same place, and in the same 
team-boat, as I did eight days back. It was at low ebb, and 
many oyster banks were exposed dry. This was a novel specta¬ 
cle to me. The oysters stood straight up, close together, and 
had somewhat the appearance of a brush. Several negroes were 
employed in taking them out of the mud, in baskets. Even on 
the piers of the bridge, many oysters were sticking fast. On the 
opposite shore the road ran through a country generally woody, 
but partly ornamented with plantations. Several of these planta- 
