18 
dust Besides several solitary houses and plantations, we en¬ 
countered two little hamlets here, called towns, Warrenton and 
Powelton, this last lies upon Great Ogechee river, over which 
passes a wooden bridge. We stopped at Warrenton. The court 
of justice is in the only brick house of the place: close by it stands 
the prison, or county goal, a building composed of strong planks 
and beams nailed together. Between Warrenton and Powelton, 
we had a drunken Irishman for our driver, who placed us more 
than once in great danger. This race of beings, who have spread 
themselves like a pestilence over the United States, are here also, 
and despised even by the Georgians. We travelled again all 
night; it was, however, not so cold as the nights previous. To¬ 
wards midnight, we reached a trifling place called Sparta. We 
were obliged to stop here some time, as the stage and horses 
were to be changed. We seated ourselves at the fire-place in the 
tavern. All of a sudden there stood betwixt us, like an evil ge¬ 
nius, a stout fellow, with an abominable visage, who appeared to 
be intoxicated, and crowded himself in behind Mr. Bowdoin. I 
addressed this gentleman to be on guard for his pockets. The 
ruffian made a movement, and a dirk fell from his sleeve, which he 
clutched up, and made off. They told me that he was an Irish¬ 
man, who, abandoned to liquor, as most of his countrymen were, 
had no means of subsistence, and often slunk about at night to 
sleep in houses that happened to be open. Most probably he had 
intended to steal. We then obtained another driver, whom, from 
his half drunkenness and imprecations, I judged to be a son of 
Hibernia, and was not deceived. 
On the 24th December, we left this unlucky Sparta at one 
o’clock in the morning. The driver wished very much to put a 
passenger in the stage with us, which we prevented. Vexed by 
this, he drove us so tediously, that we spent full eight hours going 
twenty-two miles to Milledgeville, and did not therefore reach 
there until nine in the morning. Immediately after leaving Nor¬ 
folk, and travelling in the woods where there was little accom¬ 
modation for travellers, we had every night seen bivouacs of wa¬ 
goners or emigrants, moving to the western states—the back- 
woods. The horses of such a caravan are tied to the side of the 
wagon, and stand feeding at their trough; near the wagon is a 
large fire lighted up, of fallen or cut timber. At this fire the 
people sleep in good weather, in bad, they lay themselves in or 
under the wagon. After leaving Augusta we encountered several 
of these bivouacs, which consist partly of numerous families with 
harnessed wagons. They intended to go to Alabama, the district 
of country lately sold by the United States, and there to set 
themselves down and fall to hewing and building. I saw three 
families sitting on a long fallen tree, to which they had set fire 
