(^ 
 
<fe 
 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED 
 By D.H.Strother. 
 
 Harper's 
 March- Aug. 18 57. 
 
Library of 
 The University of North Carolina 
 
 COLLECTION OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 ENDOWED BY 
 
 JOHN SPRUNT HILL 
 
 of the Class of 1889 
 
 r> 
 
 -p9i7.S 9Z^ 
 
 This book must not 
 be taken from the 
 Library building. 
 
 Form No. 471 
 
HARPEE'S 
 
 NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 No, LXXXII -MARCH, 1857 -Vol XIV, 
 
 60ENEEY ON THE CHOWAH. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 I.— THE FISHERIES. 
 Yet more ; the difference is as great between 
 The optics seeing, as the objects seen. 
 All manners take a tincture from our own, 
 Or come discolored, through our passions shown ; 
 Or Fancy's beam enlarges, multiplies, 
 Contracts, inverts, and gives ten thousand dyes. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 ON a pleasant morning in the month of April 
 we find our adventurous traveler, Porte 
 Crayon, standing on the promenade deck of the 
 steamer Stag, which is just backing out from 
 the Blackwater Station, on the Sea-beard and 
 Roanoke Railroad. 
 
 On approaching this station, about twenty 
 miles distant from the town of Suffolk, one 
 looks in vain for the promised steamboat that is 
 to convey him to Edenton. His search for the 
 navigable river whose waters are to float the 
 boat is equally fruitless ; and not without many 
 misgivings does he see the train go off, leaving 
 him standing agape beside his baggage, in the 
 midst of an apparently interminable cypress 
 swamp. 
 
 Anon, a blowing and fizzing draws his atten- 
 tion to the swamp on the left. He starts, sup- 
 posing it to be the noise of an enormous alliga- 
 tor, but is relieved on perceiving a white column 
 of steam rising from the midst of the forest, and 
 a black smoke-pipe peering above the dense un- 
 dergrowth. At the same moment, a negro ap- 
 proaches and shoulders his baggage. 
 
 ' ' Gwine aboard, Massa r " 
 
 The traveler cheerfully follows him down a 
 narrow path, and presently is surprised to find 
 himself aboard of a very promising steamboat. 
 Then, for the first time, looking over her stern, 
 he sees the Blackwater River, a narrow, black 
 ditch, embanked with tangled bushes and cy- 
 press-knees, and overarched completely with 
 trees clothed in vines and hanging moss. The- 
 stream being barely wide enough to float the 
 boat, she is obliged to crab her way along for a 
 considerable distance, her alternate sides but- 
 ting the cypress-knees, and her wheel-houses 
 raked by the overhanging boughs. 
 
 At length the river begins to grow wider, and. 
 taking advantage of a sudden bend, the boat 
 turns round and pursues her course headfore- 
 most. One of the passengers openly expressed 
 his satisfaction at this change, for he said it al- 
 ways made him sick to ride backward. 
 
 As his fellow-travelers were not numerous, 
 and showed no disposition to be talkative at this 
 stage of the journey, our hero had ample oppor- 
 tunity to sit apart and amuse himself by indulg- 
 ing in such fancies as the scene suggested. 
 
 The tortuous stream lay motionless, like a 
 dead serpent, under the dismal shadow of the 
 never-ending forest. When the prow of the ad- 
 vancing boat disturbed its glassy surface, the 
 waves heaved up as if they might have been 
 uncouth, lazy reptiles, hastening to get out of 
 her way, and flinging themselves over the skel- 
 
 <k 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857. 
 Met Court for the Southern District of New York. 
 Vol. XIV.— No. 82— E e 
 
 by Harper and Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the Dis» 
 
434 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 eton-Hke cypress roots, disappeared, tumbling 
 and wallowing among the reeds. Although the 
 genius of Moore has given immortal pre-emi- 
 nence to the Great Dismal that surrounds Lake 
 Drummond, all the swamps bordering the south- 
 em tide-water present the same characteristics, 
 becoming more striking, and, if possible, more 
 dismal, as the traveler advances southward. 
 
 At the confluence of the Blackwater and Not- 
 toway rivers we enter North Carolina. There 
 is a stout rope stretched across the river here, 
 which the passenger with the weak stomach took 
 for the State line. On inquiring of the captain, 
 however, he was informed that it was a rope fer- 
 ry, of which he was presently satisfied by seeing 
 a flat-boat pulled across. 
 
 William Byrd, of Westover, one of the com- 
 missioners who located this dividing line in 
 1 727, says, ' ' The borderers laid it to heart if 
 their land was taken in Virginia ; they chose 
 
 much rather to belong to Carolina, where they 
 pay no tribute to God or to Ccesar." 
 
 As the day advanced the thoroughfare grad- 
 ually widened into a broad and noble river, 
 the view became more extended and more ani- 
 mated, but could scarcely be characterized as 
 interesting. However, the announcement that, 
 he had entered a new State aroused Porte 
 Crayon from his reveries, and induced him to 
 look about with more alertness. The bordering 
 swamps were still the same, and there was no 
 perceptible change in land or water. Buzzards 
 sailed in lazy majesty athwart the blue sky, and 
 mud-colored terrapins basked luxuriously upon 
 convenient drift logs, motionless as stones, un- 
 til the waves from the passing boat rolled them 
 over and unceremoniously plumped them into 
 the water. But this paradise seemed as yet 
 untenanted by the human race. 
 
 Porte Crayon. listlessly whittled his pencil — 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 435 
 
 WATCHING AND PKETING. 
 
 ah, there's a living wight at last ! a native Caro- 
 linian under his own beaming sun, lying in a 
 canoe watching his fish-trap after the Southern 
 fashion, while the sagacious eagle, with con- 
 temptuous audacity, settles down and carries off 
 the prey. 
 
 To the inquiring mind there might be some- 
 thing suggestive in this picture. "We, however, 
 prefer to let eveiy one draw his own inferences 
 and make his own comments thereon. While 
 our stanch little steamer paddles industriously 
 on her way, we may be permitted to relieve the 
 tedium of the journey by extracting some inter- 
 esting historical notices of the early settlement 
 of North Carolina. 
 
 In April, 1684, Sir "Walter Raleigh sent out 
 two ships, under Amidas and Barlow, on a voy- 
 age of discovery to the New "World. In July 
 the same year they landed on the coast of what 
 is now North Carolina, thanked God, and took 
 possession after the fashion of those days. They 
 made explorations and had some intercourse with 
 the natives, by whom they were received with 
 ' ' Arcadian hospitality. ' ' On their return to En- 
 gland they gave such glowing accounts of the 
 new country that the public imagination was 
 fired, and a company of adventurers was easi- 
 ly formed to colonize a land that promised so 
 much. 
 
 Hackluyt says, " It is the goodliest soil under 
 the cope of heaven, the most pleasing territory 
 of the world. The continent is of a huge and 
 unknown greatness, and very well peopled and 
 towned, but savagely. If Virginia had but 
 horses and kine, no realm in Christendom would 
 be comparable to it." He thus characterizes the 
 natives: "They are a people gentle, loving, 
 faithful, void of guile, cruel, bloody, destroying 
 whole tribes in their domestic feuds ; using base 
 stratagems against their enemies, whom they in- 
 vited to feasts and killed." 
 
 Some might be disposed to consider this old 
 writer a wag, but his description was doubtless 
 a correct one, as it seems to be a very good gen- 
 
 eral description of human nature in all countries, 
 and in all ages. 
 
 In the preface of a book printed in London, 
 anno 1626, entitled " Purchas his Pilgrimage 
 or Relations of the World," the author breaks out 
 into the following : "Leaving New France, let 
 us draw neerer the sunne to New Britaine, 
 whose virgin soyle not yet polluted with Span- 
 iards lust, by our late Virgin Mother was justly 
 called Virginia, whether shall I here begin with 
 elogies or elegies ? whether shall I warble sweet 
 carols in praise of thy lovely face thou fairest 
 of virgins which from our other Britaine world 
 hath won thee wooers and sntors, not such as 
 Leander whose loves the Poets have blazed for 
 swimming over the straits betwixt Sestos and 
 Abydus to his louely Hero, but which for thy 
 sake have forsaken their mother earth, encount- 
 ered the most tempestuous forces of the aire and 
 so often ploughed vp Neptune's Plaines, furrow- 
 ing the angry ocean, and that to make thee of a 
 ruder virgin, not a wanton minion but an hon- 
 est and Christian wife." 
 
 And so the worthy Pilgrim continues for sev- 
 eral pages without a stop ; but we would as lief 
 drink a quart of beer without taking breath as 
 undertake to read it all. In the narrative he 
 goes on to say, " In the river of Tamescot they 
 found oysters nine inches long, and were told that 
 on the other side there were twice as great. 
 Moreover, the peple told our men of cannibals 
 neere Sagadahoc with teeth three inches long, 
 but they saw them not." 
 
 At this point the annotator was interrupted by 
 a remark from a green-looking passenger, in a 
 blue coat with brass buttons. 
 
 " Stranger," quoth he, "you appear to take 
 great diversion in that book you're a-reading. " 
 
 In reply, Crayon read the last quoted para- 
 graph aloud. The listenef opened his eyes, 
 puckered his mouth, and wound up with a long 
 whistle. 
 
 "Oh, Chowan! Three inches long ? "Well, 
 that's what I call a Gatesville story." 
 
43G 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 "My friend, " said Crayon, with severe gravity, 
 "there is frequently as much rashness exhibit- 
 ed in the rejection as in the assertion of a belief. 
 For example, we must all admit that nothing 
 has been created in vain. It is equally suscep- 
 tible of demonstration that the oysterwas created 
 expressly to be swallowed whole. Now we 
 must either be prepared to allow that oysters 
 eighteen inches long (which we have seen) exist 
 contrary to a fixed law of nature — a false note 
 in the universal harmony — or we must believe 
 that there are men big enough to swallow them 
 properly." 
 
 " Stranger, I've a suspicion that you're from 
 the North." 
 
 "Why so, my friend?" 
 
 "Because the people up there are so book- 
 ish and lamed that they'll believe almost any 
 thing." 
 
 Brass Buttons walked away, and our travel- 
 er returned to his notes. 
 
 After several abortive attempts to establish 
 a colony on Boanoke Island, the coast of Caro- 
 lina was abandoned, and it was not until 1653, 
 forty-six years after the settlement of James- 
 town, that a colony from Virginia settled per- 
 manently on the Boanoke and the south side 
 of Chowan. Ten years afterward, the Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia appointed William Drummond 
 to take charge of the young colony, and the Lake 
 of the Dismal Swamp still preserves the name 
 of the first governor of North Carolina. At a 
 later date one of the appointees of the British 
 Crown thus characterizes his subjects: "The 
 people of North Carolina are not to be outwit- 
 ted nor cajoled. Whenever a governor attempts 
 to effect any thing by these means he will lose 
 
 his labor and show his ignorance They are 
 
 ?iot industrious, but subtle and craft}' — always 
 
 behaved insolently to their governors ; some 
 they have imprisoned, others they have drove 
 out of the country, and at other times set up a 
 governor of their own choice, supported by men 
 under arms." 
 
 In fact, their whole colonial history is a nar- 
 rative of turbulence and high-handed resistance 
 to their British rulers, up to the commencement 
 of the Bevolutionary War ; and in summing up 
 her history, it appears that upon the soil of 
 North Carolina the first colony of Englishmen 
 was planted; the first child born of English pa- 
 rents in the New World. She may also claim, 
 with propriety, to have shed the first blood, and 
 to have spoken the first word, in the cause of our 
 national independence — at the Battle of Alle- 
 mance, fought in May, 1771, and through the 
 Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, put 
 forth in May, 1775. The fact that so unruly 
 and impracticable a colony should, when left to 
 herself, have become so exemplary and conserva- 
 tive a State, is, in itself, a noble monument to 
 the spirit, patriotism, and wisdom of her people. 
 
 The mid-day breeze now curls the broad bo- 
 som of the Chowan, and its shores are teeming 
 with life and activity. Numerous bald-eagles 
 sail overhead, while the surface of the water is 
 dotted with boats of every description, from the 
 cypress canoe, paddled by a lonely sallow-faced 
 angler, to the ten-oared barges that carry out the 
 cumbrous seines. White smoke curls up from 
 groups of cottages on shore, where busy crowds, 
 composed of whites, blacks, and mules, wage- 
 unceasing war upon the shad and herring- Cole- 
 rain is at length reached and passed, and now 
 the vessel's prow is turned eastward. Behind 
 her the sun sets in a haze of golden glory. A 
 long, low wooded point is turned at last, and at 
 the head of a handsome bay sits Edenton — 
 
 suorf: or aixkmaei.e sound. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 437 
 
 queen-like, one might say, but in a small way, 
 and the view is all the prettier for not being in 
 any way interrupted by those forests of shipping 
 which usually mar the appearance of sea-port 
 towns. 
 
 The landing of this steamer is the great event 
 of the day for the Edentonians, and our hero 
 had no difficulty in finding his way to the prin- 
 cipal hotel of the place. Here he got a comfort- 
 able supper, at which fish of all kinds figured 
 largely. Not so easy was it to secure a bed, for 
 the County Court was in session, and the house 
 was full. Now, in regard to county courts, 
 they are much the same all over the Anglo- 
 Saxon world, and the only notable peculiarity 
 of the county courts in this region is the un- 
 heard-of number of buggies and stick-gigs that 
 are collected about the court-house taverns on 
 the occasion. 
 
 The glimpse that our traveler had obtained 
 of the fisheries in coming down the Chowan had 
 so excited his imagination on the subject, that 
 he deferred his intended exploration of the 
 town of Edenton next morning, and shoulder- 
 ing his knapsack, started on foot in quest of a 
 fishing-beach, of which he had received informa- 
 tion from his landlord. 
 
 Pursuing the beaten road for some distance, 
 he at length turned into a by-way, which seemed 
 to lead toward the point which had been indi- 
 cated to him. Like all the by-ways treated of in 
 moral allegories, this soon led our pilgrim into 
 serious difficulties. Too perverse to turn back, 
 and, in truth, being rather attracted by the 
 gloomy grandeur of the swamp forest, he pushed 
 boldly into a wilderness of reeds, tangled green 
 briar, and cypress-knees. After half an hour of 
 plunging and tearing, he was at length brought 
 
438 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 up on the shore of the Albemarle Sound. The 
 scene which here presented itself was unique 
 and beautiful, one peculiarly Southern in its 
 features, and more easily pictured than de- 
 scribed. In fact, Porte Crayon was decidedly 
 blown, and here was an opportunity of resting 
 for half an hour, without acknowledging his 
 condition even to himself. When he had com- 
 pleted the sketch to his satisfaction, he re-com- 
 menced his walk, skirting the Sound for the dis- 
 tance of a mile or more, and, issuing from the 
 swamp, at length gladly found himself on terra 
 firma, in full view of the Belvidere Fishery. 
 
 Eatigue, hunger, and mud were all forgotten 
 in the animated scene which here met his eye. 
 In the foreground was the landward boat moored 
 
 to the beach, while her swarthy crew were act- 
 ively engaged in piling up the seine as it was 
 drawn in by the exertions of four lively mules 
 at the windlass hard by. In the centre, upon a 
 bank a little elevated above the water, rose a 
 group of sheds and buildings, alive with active 
 preparation. Beyond these the seaward boat 
 appeared, while upon the surface of the water, 
 inclosing the whole beach in a grand semicircle, 
 swept the dotted cork line of the seine. To 
 complete this scene of bustle and animation on 
 land and water, the air furnished its legions of 
 fierce and eager participants. Numerous white 
 gulls, fish-hawks, and eagles hovered or sailed 
 in rapid circles over the narrowing cordon of the 
 seine, at times uttering screams of hungry im- 
 
 W ,-•/' 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 439 
 
 A NIGHT HAUL. 
 
 patience, then darting like lightning to the wa- 
 ter and bearing away a struggling prize in beak 
 or talons. 
 
 It was wonderful to observe the brigand-like 
 audacity with which these birds followed up the 
 nets and snatched their share of the prey, some- 
 times almost within arm's-length of their human 
 fellow-fishermen and fellow-robbers. 
 
 Our hero hastily unslung his knapsack, whipped 
 out his pencil, and, seating himself upon the 
 outer windlass, made a note of this busy and 
 picturesque scene ; and having thereby partially 
 gratified his artistic yearnings, he lost no time in 
 introducing himself at head-quarters. Here he 
 was received with that frank hospitality which 
 characterizes the region, and ere long was seated 
 at the dinner-table, where boiled rock, stewed 
 cat-fish, white perch, and broiled shad disputed 
 the claim on his taste and attention. Unable 
 to decide by the eye, he tried them all twice 
 round, swearing with devout sincerity at each 
 dish that it was the most delicious morsel he 
 had ever tasted. About the close of the meal 
 a grizzled woolly head appeared at the door, and 
 its owner, flopping his greasy wide-awake upon 
 the sill, humbly craved audience with the man- 
 ager. 
 
 "Well, what is it, Uncle?" 
 
 "A little somethin', master, if you please." 
 
 A bottle of very superior whisky, which had 
 been set out in compliment to the stranger, was 
 at hand, and the manager, pouring out half a 
 tumblerful, gave it to the petitioner. 
 
 " Sarvant, master — sarvant, gent'men," and 
 as the precious liquor, in obedience to the laws 
 of gravity, went down, Uncle Sam rolled up his 
 eyes with an expression of devout thankfulness 
 that would have become a duck at a puddle. 
 
 "There now, you old reprobate, don't you call 
 that good whisky ?" 
 
 "Please God, masters," replied Uncle, with 
 a low bow and a bland smile, "I often hear you 
 gent'men talk about good whisky and bad whisky, 
 but I never seed any dat wasn't good, 'specially 
 ef ole nigger was dry. Ke ! he ! he ! sarvant, 
 gent'men." 
 
 But we must not tarry too long at table. The 
 approaching cries of the mule-drivers at the 
 windlasses warn us that the seine is gathering 
 in, and on sallying forth we perceive that the 
 dotted semicircle of cork line is narrowed to the 
 diameter of fifty paces. Both boats are at hand, 
 their platforms piled high with the enormous 
 masses of netting, like great stacks of clover 
 hay. The windlasses have done their part, and 
 the mules discharged from their labors, as they 
 are led away by their conductors, celebrate the 
 event with cheerful brayings. All hands now 
 leave the boats, and, at a signal from the chief, 
 dash into the water waist deep to man the 
 rope. A train of women, armed with knives 
 and bearing large tubs, is seen hastening down 
 the bank. Within the circuit of the net one 
 may already see a thousand back fins skimming 
 rapidly over the surface of the water. Every 
 eye is lighted with excitement. " Hard cork !" 
 shouts the captain. "Mind your leads thar !" 
 yells the lieutenant. "Hard cork ! mind lead ! 
 ay, ay, Sir !" roar the fifty black, dripping tritons 
 as they heave the heavy net upon the beach. 
 Behind the cork line where the seine bags the 
 water now is churned to foam by the struggling 
 prey, and the silvery sides of the fish may be 
 seen flashing through the strong meshes. The 
 eager gulls shriek at the sight, and sweep un- 
 heeded over the busy fishermen. One more 
 
440 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 hurrah, and the haul is landed, a line of wide 
 planks is staked up behind, the net withdrawn, 
 and the wriggling mass is rolled upon the beach — 
 ten or fifteen thousand voiceless wretches, whose 
 fluttering sounds like a strong rushing wind 
 among the leaves. 
 
 "To the boats! to the boats!" and away go 
 the men ; now the boys and women rush knee- 
 deep into the gasping heap. The shad are 
 picked out, counted, and carried away to the 
 packing-house. The rock are also sorted, and 
 then the half-savage viragoes seat themselves in 
 line, and begin their bloody work upon the her- 
 ring. With such unmerciful celerity they work, 
 that the unhappy fish has scarcely time to ap- 
 preciate the new element into which he has 
 been introduced ere he is beheaded, cleaned, 
 and salted away. 
 
 If you now raise your eyes to look for the 
 boats, you will see them already far on their 
 way out in the Sound, the voice of their captain 
 mingling with the cries of the disappointed gulls. 
 In the operations of the fisheries there are no 
 delays. Success is in proportion to the prompti- 
 tude and energy displayed in every department, 
 and from the beginning of the season to the end 
 they are driving day and night without inter- 
 mission. The powers of endurance are as heav- 
 ily taxed as in the life of a soldier campaigning 
 in an enemy's country. 
 
 After a delicious supper on various dishes of 
 fish, washed down with yeopon tea, our travel- 
 er retired to bed, blessing the man that invent- 
 ed sleep. 
 
 About midnight he was aroused by the hand 
 of the manager on his shoulder : "If you wish 
 to see a night haul, now is your time, Sir ; we 
 will land the seine in fifteen or twenty minutes." 
 
 Mr. Crayon sprung to his feet, and hastily don- 
 ning his vestments, repaired to the beach. Here 
 was a scene similar to that which he had wit- 
 nessed during the day, except that the pictur- 
 esque effect was greatly enhanced by the glare 
 of the fires that illuminated the landing. The 
 wild swart figures that hurried to and fro. carry- 
 ing pine torches, the red light flashing over the 
 troubled waters, the yelling and hallooing sug- 
 gested the idea that these might be Pluto's fish- 
 ermen dragging nets from the Styx, or maybe 
 a dance of demons and warlocks on a Walpurgis 
 Night. 
 
 But such half-drowsy fancies were contra- 
 dicted by the dark quiet background, where one 
 could see faint twinkling lights marking the spot 
 where some vessel rode at anchor, and the dim 
 unbroken line of the horizon, from whence 
 sprung, high over all, the vaulted arch of heav- 
 en studded with stars. How calmly and sol- 
 emnly they looked down upon this scene of 
 midnight turmoil ! 
 
 Oh, beautiful and benignant guardians of the 
 night, should not men sleep when you are watch- 
 ing ! Oh, radiant, dewy eyes of heaven, what 
 earth-born loveliness can vie with yours ! And 
 yet I do bethink me now of one whose eyes, 
 mayhap less bright, beam with a gentler light, 
 warmer and nearer. Oh, high and mighty 
 princes of the air, when the soul plumes her 
 flight toward your mystic and illimitable realms, 
 how groveling appear all human pursuits and 
 aspirations ! How the vaulting spirit sinks, reeli- 
 ing back — ■ 
 
 "Take care, master; you well-nigh fell into 
 the shad bar'l." 
 
 "Whew!" ejaculated Crayon, "I believe I 
 was asleep. Thank yon, Uncle, for the timely 
 
 GOING OUT. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 441 
 
 warning;" and so he staggered back to bed, and 
 tumbling down in his clothes, slept oblivious of 
 heaven and earth until he was called to break- 
 fast. 
 
 The product of these fisheries constitutes a 
 most important item in the wealth of this re- 
 gion, and during the fishing season (which be- 
 gins about the middle of March, and lasts until 
 the middle of May) their success is a subject of 
 as general conversation and all-absorbing inter- 
 est to the inhabitants as is the yearly overflow 
 of the Nile to the Egyptians. 
 
 There is scarcely an estate bordering on the 
 Sound furnishing a practicable beach where 
 there is not a fishery established. The num- 
 ber is limited, however, by the fact that these 
 natural advantages are less frequently afforded 
 than one might suppose. The water is often too 
 shallow, bordered by extensive tracts of swamp, 
 or filled with obstacles which prevent the proper 
 dragging of the nets. 
 
 To establish a first-class fishery requires from 
 five to ten thousand dollars of outlay, and al- 
 though enormous profits are sometimes realized, 
 the great and certain expense of carrying on the 
 business, and the uncertainty of its results, bring 
 it to a level with the ordinary industrial pursuits 
 of the country. As adventurous and uncertain 
 means of obtaining wealth are invariably more 
 seductive than those of a character more ordi- 
 nary and more certain, it has been supposed 
 that the fisheries have exercised an unfavorable 
 influence upon all other branches of industry in 
 their neighborhood ; but the numerous, extens- 
 ive, thoroughly cultivated, and elegantly im- 
 proved estates in the vicinity of Edenton would 
 not seem to justify this idea. 
 
 Now for a more practical account of the fisher- 
 ies. At the Belvidere, the seine used was twen- 
 ty-seven hundred yards in length, and twenty- 
 four feet in depth. This enormous length of 
 netting is packed upon platforms laid on the 
 sterns of two heavy ten-oared boats, which are 
 rowed out together to a point opposite the land- 
 
 ing beach, about a mile distant. Here the boats 
 separate, moving in opposite directions, and the 
 seine is payed out from the platforms as they row 
 slowly toward their destined points — the seaward 
 boat following a course down the stream and 
 parallel to the beach, the landward boat curv- 
 ing inward toward the shore at the upper end 
 of the fishery ; thus heading the shoals of fish as 
 they journey upward to their spawning grounds. 
 The top line of the seine is buoyed with numer- 
 ous corks, while the bottom, which is attached 
 to the lead line, sinks with its weight. When 
 the seine is all payed out, heavy ropes, made fast 
 to the staves at its ends, are carried in to the 
 great windlasses at either end of the fishing- 
 ground, at this place about eight hundred yards 
 apart. The aggregate length of the seine with 
 these ropes is not less than two miles and a half. 
 During the time they are winding in the rope 
 the oarsmen have a respite from their labors, 
 and are seen enjoying it, lying in groups on the 
 sand, and generally in the sun, like terrapins. 
 Here they may snore until the staff appears, 
 when they are 'called to their posts to take up 
 and pile the netting as it is drawn in. The 
 process of winding being now continued by lines 
 tied to the lead line of the seine, which, as they 
 successively appear, are attached to consecutive 
 windlasses nearing the centre. The boats fol- 
 low to receive the net until they arrive at the 
 innermost windlasses of one-mule power, which 
 are not more than sixty or eighty yards apart. 
 Here, as before described, the men handle the 
 rope themselves, land the haul, take up the in- 
 tervening net, and put out immediately to do it 
 all over again. The whole process takes from 
 five to seven hours, averaging four hauls per day 
 of twenty-four hours. 
 
 The shad and herring are the great staples 
 for packing. The miscellaneous fish are sold 
 on the beach, eaten by the fishermen and plant- 
 ation negroes, or are carted with the offal to 
 manure the adjoining lands. 
 
 The refuse fish commonly taken are sturgeon, 
 
442 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 rock-cats, trout, perch, mullet, gar, gizzard-shad 
 or ale-wife, hog-choke or flounder, lampreys, and 
 common eels. Other varieties are sometimes 
 taken, and among them the bug-fish, which, from 
 its singularity, merits a particular description. 
 In size and general appearance this fish resembles 
 the herring, although there are external marks 
 by which the practiced eye may easily distin- 
 guish them. The head of the bug-fish is more 
 rounded than that of the herring, and its back 
 and sides marked with irregular bars of a dark 
 lead color, but its characteristic peculiarity is 
 only discovered on opening the mouth, in which 
 it carries a sort of parasitical bug. This singu- 
 lar animal belongs to the aquatic crustacea, bear- 
 ing some resemblance to the shrimp or common 
 crayfish, but not enough to be confounded with 
 either, even by a casual observer. It is nearly 
 colorless, and semi-transparent, like the fish 
 found in subterranean waters which have never 
 been exposed to light. This bug, however, has 
 eyes which are black and prominent, and six 
 legs on a side, each terminating in a single sharp 
 hook, by which it retains its place in the fish's 
 mouth. When drawn from its native element 
 the bug-fish dies very soon, and is usually found 
 with its mouth closed so tight that it requires a 
 knife to force it open. The size of the occupant 
 is proportioned to its domicil, and this fact alone 
 proves conclusively that it is not an accidental 
 or temporary tenant, but a permanent dweller 
 in the fish's mouth. It is often found alive 
 some time after the death of its carrier, and 
 shows signs of life twenty-four hours after its 
 removal from the fish. It makes no attempt at 
 progressive motion either in the water or on 
 land, but simply moves its legs and tail as if it 
 had never been accustomed to a separate exist- 
 ence. The fishermen relate a number of curious 
 
 stories about the bug-fish and its parasite, but 
 as no opportunity offered to substantiate them 
 by actual experiment, the author forbears to re- 
 peat them. 
 
 Mr. Crayon has taken the pains thus particu- 
 larly to describe to us this queer fish, in the be- 
 lief that naturalists have heretofore overlooked 
 it. If this should prove to be the case, our trav- 
 eler claims the honor of having added a scrap 
 to ichthyological knowledge, and takes advant- 
 age of the privilege usually accorded, by naming 
 the fish the Harengus Porte Crayonensis. 
 
 A first-class fishery employs from sixty to 
 eighty persons, all negroes except the mana- 
 gers. These are for the most part free negroes, 
 who live about in Chowan and the adjoining 
 counties, and who, as the season approaches, 
 gather in to the finny harvest as to an annual 
 festival. 
 
 Although they depend almost entirely upon 
 this employment for a livelihood, it is doubtful 
 whether they could be induced to undergo the 
 tremendous labor it involves, were they not pas- 
 sionately fond of the sport and excitement. If 
 generally inferior in appearance to the sleek, 
 well-fed slaves of the neighboring gentry, there 
 are not wanting some fine-looking specimens 
 among them, both male and female. 
 
 For instance, there is Betsy Sweat, herring- 
 header at the Belvidere, who might serve some 
 sentimentalist as the heroine of a romance. In 
 her person lithe and graceful as a black panther, 
 an expressive eye, a mouth indicating refinement 
 and vigorous character uncommon in her race, 
 and whether with keen-edged knife and admir- 
 able skill she whipped the heads off the sil- 
 very herrings, or with flaming torch in hand she 
 rushed up the bank and stood waving it over the 
 busv beach, she did every thing with an air that 
 
 WASHING 6IIAD. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 443 
 
 BETSY SWEAT. 
 
 reminded one of the great tragedienne Rachel. 
 What though Betsy was an abominable slat- 
 tern, smoked a short-stemmed pipe almost in- 
 cessantly, and would drink numerous consec- 
 utive jiggers of raw whisky without winking? 
 The true romancer seizes the great and salient 
 points of character, overlooking trivial defects, 
 or noting them only as eccentricities of genius. 
 It is said that Guido Reni could take a vulgar 
 porter at the street corner, and from him draw 
 a magnificent head ; so may the skillful writer, 
 by the power of imagination, make heroes and 
 heroines of big negroes and beggars' brats. The 
 world admires and weeps, but unfortunately the 
 real blackamoor remains unwashed, and the poor 
 child's head uncombed, as before. 
 
 We might now take a walk through the ex- 
 tensive cooperage and packing-rooms, but these 
 subjects are too practical and smell rather fishy 
 for the journal of a picturesque and sentimental 
 tourist ; we must, therefore, look out for more 
 congenial subjects. Ah ! here is something 
 that promises better : a train of Gates County 
 buggies, conducted by natives from the interior, 
 come to buy fish. 
 
 The buggy, so called probably in derision, 
 
 is a cart covered with a white 
 cotton awning, drawn by a bony, 
 barefooted horse with one eye. 
 This is not a Cyclopean monster, 
 as one versed in the classics might 
 imagine, for the eye is not located 
 in the middle of the forehead, but 
 on one side, and the animal, on 
 an average, is rather below the 
 medium size. Nor were we able 
 to ascertain whether Gates Coun- 
 ty furnished a one-eyed breed of 
 horses, for our visitors from the 
 interior are not communicative, 
 their silence being apparently the 
 result of diffidence. But they 
 are acute observers, and sharp as 
 a mowing-scythe at a bargain. 
 
 ' ' That chap with the sorrel head 
 would make a rare sketch." 
 
 "Neighbor," said the mana- 
 ger, ' ' if you will sit for your por- 
 trait to this gentleman I'll make 
 you a present of that fine string 
 of rock-fish." 
 
 The native paused and looked 
 at Crayon, who was busy pointing 
 his pencils. 
 
 "I don't see," said he, tartly, 
 ' ' that I am any uglier than the 
 rest of 'em." 
 
 "Certainly not, my friend,'" 
 said Crayon, "you misapprehend 
 my motive entirely. I merely 
 desired your portrait as a remem- 
 brance, or rather a specimen — or 
 a — " Here our artist closed up, 
 and the manager snickered out- 
 right. 
 
 ' ' I'll tell you what, Mister, you 
 needn't think to make a fool of me ; if you'll 
 jest take a lookin' glass, and picter off what you 
 see in it, you'll have a very good specimen of a 
 bar." 
 
 "But, neighbor, don't go off at half-cock; 
 here's another superb rock I'll add to the bunch." 
 The indignant countryman hesitated, and 
 weighed the fish in his hand. " Well, you may 
 take me if you can catch me while I'm bobbin 
 around, but I can't stop for you." 
 
 Having spent several days at the Belvidere, a 
 hospitable invitation induced our traveler to 
 move his quarters to the Montpelier Mansion, 
 and his sketching operations to the fishing- 
 ground belonging to that estate. The Mont- 
 pelier beach is only about a mile distant from 
 the Belvidere, and has the advantage over all 
 others which he visited of being beautifully 
 shaded by a growth of lofty trees. 
 
 Henry Hofner, the master-fisherman at Mont- 
 pelier, is a model of his class, and a character 
 not to be passed over without a proper notice. 
 In physiognomy and manner he reminds one of 
 a " jimber-jawed" bull-dog — one of those fellows 
 who never let go. With an indomitable perse- 
 verance and sturdy honesty invaluable in an ex- 
 
444 
 
 HAEPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 ecutive officer, he is a shrewd, 
 skillful, and experienced officer 
 in his vocation. 
 
 No one knows better than he 
 how to interpret the signs sten- 
 ographed on sky and water, or 
 can more certainly foretell, 
 from wind and weather, the 
 probable results of a haul ; no 
 one readier than he to face an 
 unpropitious gale, or who can 
 more skillfully bring a seine to 
 land through a roaring surf. 
 
 Like all strong characters, 
 Hoffler has his instinctive aver- 
 sions, which have been indulged 
 in until they have acquired, 
 perhaps, an undue prominence. 
 Loungers about the fishery he 
 regards with inexpressible con- 
 tempt, and endeavors to express 
 it by calling them "Arabs" — a 
 term of opprobrium not very 
 clear in its meaning. His ha- 
 tred of eels is an exaggerated 
 sentiment, entirely dispropor- 
 tioned to the importance of its 
 unfortunate objects. He carries 
 a cane for the express purpose 
 of killing them, and no sooner 
 are the duties of landing a haul 
 attended to than he gives way to 
 his feelings, and falls to thrash- 
 ing them, right and left, with- 
 out mercy, swearing against them Mith the only 
 oath or exclamation he ever makes use of, "My 
 blessed ! I wish the seed of 'em was destroyed." 
 Hoffler talks but little, and what he says is to 
 the point ; doubly impressive by being delivered 
 
 A NATIVE. 
 
 in alternate squeaks and grunts — soprano and 
 basso by turns. Round a corner one might mis- 
 take him for two men. Like William of Delo- 
 
 raine, 
 
 .MY HLESSED ! 
 
 Though rude, and scant of courtesy," 
 
 there is a strong undercurrent 
 of good feeling in the old fish- 
 erman's character, and a kind- 
 ly twinkle in his eye, that fully 
 make amends for the rugged 
 surface. 
 
 As our hero approached the 
 beach, this redoubtable person- 
 age advanced to meet him, and 
 s~=s giving his hand an agonizing 
 '-— grip, thus saluted him : 
 
 " Good-mornin'; make your- 
 self at home ; look about." 
 . __ "Thank you," replied Cray- 
 on. " I perceive you have just 
 landed your nets, and have had 
 a good haul." 
 ~V>" Hoffler made no reply, but 
 
 f^j looked in his face for a moment, 
 and then ran off to head an eel 
 that was about escaping into 
 the water. Jimmy, the cooper, 
 who had laid down his adze to 
 stare at the new-comer, now 
 hurried out of the shed. 
 
 "Hoffler, I say — easy in 
 time — Hoffler, I've often heard 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 US 
 
 you talk about Arabs, but that's one of 'em, 
 sure enough." 
 
 "My blessed!" said HofHer, "did you hear 
 him? Whar did he come from? The man 
 don't know a net from a seine." 
 
 The seven or eight days that followed passed 
 pleasantly enough at the fishery. There was, 
 indeed, a sufficiency of the exciting and the pic- 
 turesque to have interested both sportsman and 
 artist for a much longer time. The visitor soon be- 
 gins to feel a personal interest in the game. The 
 hopes, the fears, the successes and disappoint- 
 ments of the fishery become his own. When the 
 seine is out of sight upon the Sound he may 
 sleep, sketch, or shoot gulls at pleasure ; but when 
 
 the back fins of the prey are seen playing about 
 within the narrowing circle, he must needs 
 throw down gun or pencil, and rush to the land- 
 ing. "When it happens that the seine is torn by 
 the passage of a vessel, and the fish escape, he 
 joins heartily in anathematizing the scoundrelly 
 captain whose inconsiderate keel has wrought 
 the damage, and concurs with facility in the gen- 
 eral opinion that but for the break this would 
 have been the greatest haul on record. 
 
 There is, too, sufficient variety in the inci- 
 dents of each day to prevent the interest from 
 flagging. Sometimes it happens that such im- 
 mense shoals of fish are inclosed that the great 
 seine can not be landed at once, and it becomes 
 
446 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 necessary to cast smaller nets within the large 
 one, to bring them ashore in detail. Sometimes 
 they bring in sturgeon or rock-fish so large that 
 there is reason to fear they may break the net 
 in their struggles. Then negroes are sent in 
 armed with spears and long-handed hooks to 
 kill them and bring them to land singly. The 
 most diverting incidents attend this part of the 
 sport. The wary black wades into the water 
 up to his waist, and, watching his opportunity, 
 strikes the hook into the back of a stout stur- 
 geon. The fish darts off, Cuffee holds on, and 
 a struggle commences for life on one side and 
 fame on the other. The fish leaps and floun- 
 ders, the black pants and pulls. The spectators 
 applaud one party or the other according to 
 their sympathies, rending the air with shouts 
 and laughter. The sturgeon makes a desperate 
 plunge and jerks the pole out of Cuffee' s hands — 
 overwhelmed with reproaches, he splashes along 
 in pursuit, and at length recovers his hold, but 
 as he grasps it, loses his balance and disap- 
 pears under the water. Presently he reappears, 
 still hanging on to the hook. Two or three fel- 
 
 lows rush in to his assistance, but the general 
 voice cries, " Stand back ! fair play !" By this 
 time the negro's blood is up, and disdaining 
 the advantage of a weapon, he leaps upon the 
 sturgeon's back, unmindful of his rough saddle. 
 The furious and bewildered fish darts away and 
 lands himself and rider upon the sandy shore. 
 Cuffee springs to his feet, and seizing his an- 
 tagonist as Hercules hugged Antaeus, bears him 
 out of reach of his native element and slams him 
 triumphantly upon the ground. 
 
 "Aha! got you now, you mizzible long- 
 winded cuss!" 
 
 The grinning victor is applauded, and re- 
 ceives an extra dram as his reward. 
 
 Without noticing Horner's especial enemies, 
 the Arabs, the society on the beach is varied 
 daily by the arrival of legitimate and character- 
 istic visitors. There is the Yankee sea-captain, 
 whose vessel rides in the offing, a shrewd, enter- 
 taining fellow, who can tell quaint stories of 
 sea-faring life, and quiz the provincials, who 
 come down with their buggies to get a thousand 
 herring and a few dozen pcarch or so. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 447 
 
 MONTPELIF/K BEACH. 
 
 Then there comes old Aunt Rose, with a 
 basket on her arm, to be filled with cat-fish or 
 "some o' dem red hosses," as she styles the 
 suckers. Aunt Rose is communicative enough 
 considering the amount she has to communi- 
 cate. You drop a dime into her basket and civ- 
 illy inquire her age. 
 
 "Lord bless you, honey, how does I know? 
 I was borned over on toder side of de Sound — 
 white folks over dar knows. Lemme see, when 
 ole miss's mother was married I was den a right 
 smart gal — dat makes me a risin' o' sixty, or 
 seventy, or maybe bout a hundred — any way, 
 white folks over de Sound knows." 
 
 When more exciting entertainment was want- 
 ing, one could help old HofSer to kill eels — not 
 in his absurd way by beating them with a blud- 
 geon, but more considerately by sticking a knife 
 through their tails, making a groove in the sand, 
 and laying them in it on their backs, or drop- 
 ping them alive into a barrel of pickle. 
 
 "Mr. Crayon, Mr. Crayon! could you have 
 so far forgotten personal dignity and the com- 
 mon sentiments of humanity ? This comes of 
 a man traveling off by himself without the ele- 
 vating and civilizing companionship of the soft- 
 er sex." 
 
 Porte Crayon looked at us fixedly for some 
 moments. 
 
 " I do think," he at length replied, " that if 
 entirely deprived of the society of women, men 
 would in a short time relapse into barbarism; 
 but I also think your sentimentality about the 
 eels extremely ridiculous." 
 
 If, at length, the sports on the beach grow 
 stale from custom, the sojourner may find some- 
 thing to interest him in the adjoining country. 
 Bordering on the Sound and around Edenton 
 are many handsome residences and well-im- 
 proved estates, whose names, Belvidere, Mont- 
 pelier, Mulberry Hill, etc., in a country almost 
 as level as the surface of the water, exhibit the 
 disposition of the human mind to cherish pleas- 
 ant illusions in the midst of adverse ciraim- 
 stances. 
 
 Here, on an April day, drinking in the per- 
 fumed air, the earth around him just bursting 
 into luxuriant bloom, making the simple con- 
 sciousness of existence a soul-filling delight, the 
 stranger first begins to realize his ideal of South- 
 ern life — a life that for the Northern world ex- 
 ists only in books and dreams. But to complete 
 our picture in a more satisfactory manner, let 
 us dwell upon it a little longer — let us live 
 through a day together. 
 
 Imagine yourself a guest in one of those hos- 
 pitable mansions. Shall we begin the day at 
 sunrise ? If so, then you must imagine your- 
 self in bed, the sun bidding you good-morning 
 through a screen of honey-suckles or rose bush- 
 es ; you lie half conscious of existence, recall- 
 ing a night of moonlight, mocking-birds, and 
 pleasant dreams. Presently, with noiseless step, 
 a servant glides into your room, and you hear 
 the fresh water gushing into your pitcher, sug- 
 gesting thoughts of Moorish fountains, and then 
 you catch a glimpse of the retreating shadow 
 carrying off your boots. Again you relapse into 
 
•148 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY JIAGAZLNE. 
 
 dreams. How long it matters not ; but the 
 blissful trance is at length broken by a soft 
 voice — "Breakfast is ready, Sir." The idea 
 of breakfast is a stimulant, and you start up. 
 A fresh-washed, bright-eyed boy of five years 
 old stands beside you, joyful messenger, hope- 
 ful scion of a gentle race, practicing the sweet 
 courtesies of social life ere his tongue has lost 
 the lisp of infancy. "Thank you, little mas- 
 ter ; I'll be there anon." 
 
 Now you may make your toilet without more 
 circumlocution. After coffee and hot cakes, 
 seasoned with broiled shad, ham and eggs, or 
 any other delicacy of the season that may have 
 been incidentally alluded to on the preceding 
 evening, you are ready to begin the day. A 
 visit to some of the neighboring fisheries is sug- 
 gested. It promises nothing new, but the trip 
 itself will be agreeable. The visit is consider- 
 ately determined upon. Then shall we go by 
 land or water? The buggy stands at the gate, 
 and the boat is anchored off the beach. The 
 roads are smooth, and the trotter paws the 
 ground impatiently. The breeze is freshening 
 over the Sound, and the yacht will carry us gal- 
 lantly. 
 
 "Let them put up the trotter. Ned! get the 
 boat ready." 
 
 A stout sailor-looking black draws up the 
 craft and rigs the mast in a trice. "Push off, 
 good-by!" and away we dart, like a white gull, 
 into the middle of the Sound. Our vessel moves 
 like a race-horse, tacking in and out, with a 
 spanking breeze on her quarter. Sometimes 
 leaving the fisheries on the northern shore al- 
 most out of sight, then bearing down upon them 
 so near that you might hail the foreman to ask, 
 "What luck?'' 
 
 horn ait 11 . 
 
 So we go down the Sound some eight or ten 
 miles, far enough to have a good run back before 
 the wind. But it would not be neighborly to re- 
 turn without calling in to pay our respects and 
 to inquire after the success of our friends. So 
 we run in to a landing, are warmly welcomed, 
 of course, invited up to the office, where we take 
 some refreshment, also, of course. [N.B. The 
 water in flat countries is considered unwhole- 
 some for strangers, and is not highly esteemed 
 by the natives themselves.] Then, in a cheerful, 
 friendly way, we begin to compare our fishing 
 experiences. How many shad and how many 
 herring we've averaged ; what they are doing at 
 Benbury's; what hauls Cheshire has made, and 
 how Wood is getting on. A week's visit is suf- 
 ficient to make one feel himself a full partner 
 in any of the fisheries, and the visitor always 
 
 e::AT OF JAilES C. J<.>I1NS0>, Esij 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 449 
 
 of our beach and our 
 hauls. Now it is time to go. 
 
 "But, gentlemen, you must 
 positively stay to dinner. We 
 can offer you no great tempta- 
 tion; only a fisherman's fare, 
 the best we have, and a hearty 
 welcome." 
 
 That might tempt a prince ; 
 but we've arranged to dine at 
 home, and so we take leave, and 
 are presently driving before the 
 wind at the rate of two-forty, or 
 thereabout — we can't be very 
 exact, as we have no thermome- 
 t3r. After dinner we may drive 
 to Edenton or not as we feel 
 disposed. Eor my part I prefer 
 lounging about the shore, taking 
 a siesta, perhaps, under an ar- 
 bor of wild vines. 
 
 Gorgeous in purple and gold 
 the sun sinks beneath the dis- 
 tant horizon. The breeze has 
 1 ailed, and the calm water re- 
 flects the violet-tinted sky like 
 a vast mirror. With a wild and pleasing melo- 
 dy the songs of the distant fishermen break the 
 stillness of the evening, and the eye may now 
 trace the whole circuit of the seine, dotted for 
 a mile or more on the glassy surface of the 
 Sound. 
 
 But mark that dead cedar, half clothed in a 
 gauzy robe of vines ; how entreatingly it seems 
 to stretch its skeleton arms over something at 
 its foot, like hopeless, half- frantic Niobe, shield- 
 ing the last of her children. Here, indeed, is a 
 little grass-grown space, respected by the plow- 
 man, and two old tombs almost hidden by the 
 overhanging vines. Push these away, and there 
 is still light enough to enable us to read the 
 quaint inscriptions. 
 
 HERE LYES INTERRED Y« BODY OF 
 
 HENDERSON WALKER, ESQ'., PRESIDENT OF 
 
 Y9 COUNCIL AND COMMANDER IN CIIEIF OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA, DURING WHOSE 
 
 ADMINISTRATION Y8 PROVINCE INJOYED 
 
 THAT TRANQUILITY WHICH IS TO BE WISHED 
 
 IT MAY NEVER WANT. HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE 
 
 APRIL Ye 14TU, 1T04. AGED 44 YEARS. 
 
 ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THIS TOMB LIES THE BODY 
 
 OF GEORGE LILLINGTON, SON OF MAJOR 
 
 ALEXANDER LILLINGTON, WHO DECd. IN Y8 15 YEAR Or 
 
 HIS AGE, ANNO 1T05. 
 
 HERE LY'ES THE BODY OF 
 
 ANNE MOSELY, 
 
 WIFE OF EDWARD MOSELY, ESQ., 
 
 SHE WAS DAUGHTER OF MAJOR ' 
 
 ALEXANDER LILLINGTON, ESQ., AND THE 
 
 WIDOW OF THE HOsWe. HENDERSON WALKER, 
 
 ESQ., LATE PRESIDENT OF HIS MAJESTY'S 
 
 COUNCIL OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 SHE DEPARTED THIS LIFE 
 
 NOVEMBER 19, ANNO DON y . 1732, 
 
 AGED 55 YEARS & 5 MONTHS. 
 
 The tombs are situated on a point of land, 
 not far from the water, and sufficiently elevated 
 above it to command an extensive prospect in 
 every direction. Altogether, we have seldom 
 seen a more romantic spot for a burial-place. 
 Vol. XIV.— No. 82.— F f 
 
 GOVERNOR WALKER S TOMB. 
 
 The unpretending tablets are still in good pres- 
 ervation, having been treated leniently by time, 
 and bearing no marks from the hand of that 
 wanton desecrator, man. Are our brethren of 
 North Carolina more elevated in moral civiliza- 
 tion than their neighbors, or have the voiceless 
 prayers of the old cedar prevailed ? 
 
 By a singular coincidence we happened here 
 on the 14th of April, the anniversary of the 
 Governor's death. A hundred and fifty-two 
 years had elapsed since he had made his honored 
 exit from the stage of life. Here was sugges- 
 tion enough for thought, but a man's reflections 
 while sitting on a tomb-stone will scarcely be ap- 
 preciated by one lounging on a cut-velvet sofa, 
 so we will discreetly pass them over. Nathless 
 we tarried there until the chill moon marked our 
 shadow upon the trunk of the blasted cedar, 
 and the mocking-bird, whose nest was in the 
 old grape-vine, began his evening song. 
 
 But in these listless wanderings we must not 
 overlook our central point, the old historic town 
 of Edenton. This place was established in the 
 year 1 71 6, and was originally called Queen Anne's 
 Creek, which name was afterward changed to 
 Edenton, in compliment to Charles Eden, the 
 royal governor of the province, appointed in 
 1720. The early records of the courts are said 
 to contain matter of great historic interest, but 
 these are now at Raleigh, the capital of the 
 State. Porte Crayon told us privately that he 
 was glad of it, and also intimated that he infi- 
 nitely preferred fresh shad to musty records.. 
 This, from a pretender to scholarship, is an au- 
 dacious admission ; but the good-natured pub- 
 lic will, perhaps, excuse him. 
 
 We will, however, on our own responsibili- 
 ty, venture to quote two suggestive items from 
 Wheeler's History : 
 
 " From an old custom-house book, now in possession of. 
 
450 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 J. M. Jones, Esq., of Edenton, it appears that in July, 
 176S, the ship Amelia cleared hence, with an assorted car- 
 go, among which were three bags of cotton." 
 
 " By some strange freak of circumstance, many years 
 ago, there was found at Gibraltar a beautiful picture, 
 done in a skillful style, enameled on glass, ' A Meeting of 
 the Ladies of Edenton Destroying the Tea, when Taxed 
 by the English Parliament.' This picture was procured 
 by some of the officers of our navy, and was sent to Eden- 
 ton, where I saw it, in 1S30." 
 
 It is to be regretted that Porte Crayon did not 
 get a sight of this painting, that the world might 
 have heard more of it, and that the patriotism 
 of the ladies of Edenton might have been blaz- 
 oned beside that of the men of Boston, which 
 has figured in so many bad wood-cuts. 
 
 The modern Edenton is a pleasant little place, 
 of some fifteen hundred inhabitants, who seem 
 to take the world very philosophically. It con- 
 tains a number of neat, old-fashioned residen- 
 ces, and several of more recent construction, 
 that would figure handsomely in the environs 
 of New York. 
 
 The court-house green, sloping down to the 
 water's edge, and shaded with fine old trees, is 
 one of the chief attractions of the village. The 
 ivy-mantled church, St. Paul's, was built about 
 1725, and is evidently the pet of the place. The 
 handsomely improved cemetery around it gives 
 ample evidence of the wealth and cultivated 
 taste of the community. 
 
 "To speak further," says Mr. Crayon, "of 
 those matters which were especially pleasing to 
 
 me — the quiet streets and deserted wharves — • 
 might be deemed superfluous by those who 
 think a town without commerce is dead and 
 half dishonored. But to one thoroughly dis- 
 gusted with the haste and hubbub of large cit- 
 ies, there is an air of blest repose, of good-hu- 
 mored languor hanging about these old towns 
 that is positively enchanting." But, like the 
 voyager on the stream of life, we are not per- 
 mitted long to linger on the green spots where 
 pleasant flowers bloom. We can but cull a bo- 
 qixet in passing, enjoy its evanescent bloom, re- 
 tain a few dried and colorless impressions in the 
 leaves of a book, and hasten on our way, hap- 
 py if the interval is short between the fading 
 twilight of regret and the fresh dawn of expec- 
 tation. 
 
 Porte Crayon had his knapsack packed and 
 buckled down, but as the steamer which was to 
 convey him to Plymouth was not expected un- 
 til late in the afternoon, he determined to take 
 a parting look at the fisheries, to shake honest 
 Hoffler by the hand, and once more bid adieu 
 to his kind and hospitable entertainers. 
 
 "Hoffler!" said Jimmy, the cooper, "easy 
 in time : I've found it out. That's none of your 
 Arabs ; that's the author of Harper's Maga- 
 zine /" 
 
 "Don't tell me, Jimmy ; Boss said he was a 
 man of mark — had traveled ; but, my blessed, 
 he don't know a net from a seine !" 
 
 BT. PAUL'S CUTOCU, EPKNTON. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 /tu i.' ts i 
 
 741 
 
 MAJOS BULBOUS. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 DY PORTE CRAYON. 
 II.— THE PINY WOODS. 
 
 Ye gods of quiet and of sleep profound, 
 
 Whose soft dominion o'er this country sways, 
 
 And all the widely silent places round. 
 Forgive me if my trembling pen displays 
 What never yet was sung in mortal lays. 
 
 Thomson-. 
 
 "VTEARLY the whole of the eastern part of 
 -L* North Carolina is covered with pine for- 
 ests, extending from the swampy country bor- 
 dering the sea-board as far back as Raleigh, the 
 capital of the State. This section is sparsely 
 populated, but little improved, and although it 
 furnishes the greater portion of all the resinous 
 matter used in ship-building in the L r nited 
 States, it has hitherto been little known. It is 
 called by the Carolinians "The Piny Woods," 
 and we must prepare to follow our persever- 
 ing traveler, Porte Crayon, in his wanderings 
 through this primitive and lonely region. 
 
 At Plymouth we find him seated on the 
 porch, at Enoch Jones's Hotel, looking as lazy 
 and listless as if he were a citizen of the place. 
 Plymouth, we believe, is the county town of 
 Washington, situated on the opposite side of 
 the Sound from Edenton, a short distance up 
 the Roanoke, and contains a thousand or twelve 
 hundred inhabitants. 
 
 It is the successful commercial rival of Eden- 
 ton, and plumes itself on its business activity, 
 Tiot without reason, for Crayon reports that its 
 wharves were crowded with six or seven sloops ; 
 and during the day he staid there, no less 
 than three vessels loaded with lumber hauled 
 up to take in grog and then passed on their 
 way. The shores of the Roanoke in the vicin- 
 ity are low and swampy, and although the vil- 
 lage is not unpleasing to the eye, it contains 
 
 nothing of sufficient interest to detain the trav- 
 eler long. How Porte Crayon came to remain 
 here for thirty-six hours, happened in this wise. 
 
 He had been extremely desirous to obtain a 
 passage to Roanoke Island, and having failed 
 to do so on the other side of the Sound, had 
 hopes of being able here to find a vessel out- 
 ward-bound. Accompanied by his obliging 
 landlord, he visited several taverns and dog- 
 geries near the river, and at length found the 
 commander of a lumber sloop, whose vessel 
 was to sail seaward at early dawn next morn- 
 ing. Crayon felicitated himself on this fortu- 
 nate rencontre, and the captain cheerfully 
 agreed to take a passenger, at the same time 
 dropping a modest hint about rough fare. A 
 Roanoke Islander, who was returning home by 
 the same vessel, also volunteered to attend at 
 the appointed hour with his canoe at the steam- 
 boat landing, to take our hero aboard the vessel, 
 which lay out in the stream. This was most 
 satisfactory. The agreement was forthwith 
 sealed with a glass of "something all round," 
 and Crayon returned to his quarters in a state 
 of pleasurable excitement. That night he 
 dreamed of taking a glass of grog with Cap- 
 tains Barlow and Amidas. Then the bronzed 
 and weather-beaten faces of these worthies 
 faded away, and still wandering in dreams, he 
 was in an extensive grove of live-oaks. 
 
 "I delight in dreams, " quoth Crayon. ' ' In 
 dreams only can the soul realize its full capac- 
 ity for feeling. When cold, tyrannical reason 
 sleeps, fancy may revel unchidden and un- 
 checked, like a joyous child when a captious, 
 repressing step-mother is away. What though 
 the dreamer's hunger is never satisfied, and his 
 thirst never quenched — -what though his bliss is 
 fleeting as the gilding of a morning cloud — tell 
 
742 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 me, ye that know, wherein our waking life is 
 better ? 
 
 "But to return to my dream : straying 
 through this grove of live-oaks for some dis- 
 tance, I at length came upon an open space 
 where stood an Indian encampment. All 
 seemed to be filled with life, yet all was si- 
 lence. As I passed along in the midst, appar- 
 ently unnoticed, I saw groups of grim-painted 
 warriors leaning on their bows and war-clubs ; 
 others reclined in front of their lodges, smok- 
 ing ; while others were employed in sharpening 
 their spears and feathering their bone-pointed 
 arrows. Copper-colored children rolled and 
 tumbled over the grass, and leather-faced 
 squaws were variously occupied in all the do- 
 mestic drudgeries of the camp. 
 
 "I paused at length before a lodge whose su- 
 perior size and decorations proclaimed the dwell- 
 
 ing of a chieftain. As I gazed in dreamy won- 
 der the grass-woven screen which served as a 
 doorwas pushed aside, and a maiden of exquisite 
 beauty came forth. As she stood for a time in 
 thoughtful silence, I had opportunity to consider 
 the matchless beauty of her face, and the faultless 
 symmetry of her form, which, if it could not be 
 improved, was but little marred by the barbaric 
 splendor of her costume. Her tunic was of 
 woven bark tissue, white as paper and liyht as 
 silk, curiously and beautifully wrought with 
 many-colored shells. Her dainty feet were 
 half hidden in embroidered moccasins, her 
 wrists and ankles clasped by bands of shining 
 gold. A richly-ornamented sash bound her 
 delicate waist, and a necklace of gold and white 
 coral hung about her neck. Though her attire 
 was that of an Indian princess, her skin was 
 of dazzling whiteness, and her dimpled cheek 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 743 
 
 flushed with the freshest rose. 
 Her round, wondering eyes were 
 of a tender blue, and the plumy 
 circlet on her head rested on a 
 luxuriant mass of flaxen hair, 
 that fell in wild ringlets over her 
 graceful shoulders, and down- 
 ward until it became entangled 
 with the shell-wrought fringe of 
 her girdle. 
 
 "At the appearance of this 
 bright vision there was a general 
 movement in the camp, and the 
 warriors approached her with 
 looks of mingled love and rev- 
 erence. More than one young 
 brave, of tall and goodly person, 
 gallantly betrophied with eagles' 
 feathers and bears' claws, ad- 
 vanced tremblingly as if to prof- 
 fer service, but a gentle wave of 
 her white hand sent them crest- 
 fallen and disappointed back. 
 
 "Then a more aged man 
 approached, who, by his dress, 
 might have been a priest or 
 prophet. He was profusely 
 decked with golden ornaments ; 
 a broad gold ring hung in his 
 nose, and in the wide slits in his 
 enormous ears were twined two 
 living green snakes, whose loath- 
 some beauty seemed fitly to dec- 
 orate the hideous head that bore 
 them. As he advanced with more 
 audacity than the rest, the maiden's childlike 
 face changed its expression of thoughtful dig- 
 nity to one of disgust, and half of terror. Yet, 
 as if unused to fear, she stamped her little foot 
 like an angered fawn, and waved him off with 
 quick and imperious gesture. - Sullen and venge- 
 ful was the scowl that darkened his face as he 
 retired ; but neither respect for the great brave, 
 nor awe of the mighty necromancer, could re- 
 press the gleam of satisfaction that lighted the 
 faces of the younger warriors at this discomfit- 
 ure. 
 
 " The beautiful princess went her way alone, 
 by a path which led to the forest shade. Un- 
 seen and unregarded as a spirit in the land of 
 the living, I followed her springing footsteps — 
 half wondering, half worshiping. When she 
 had gone a long way from the camp, and reach- 
 ed a secluded spot in the forest, she paused 
 and stood in an attitude of anxious expectation. 
 Her suspense was of short duration, for pres- 
 ently an arrow, bound with flowers, fell at her 
 feet. She started, a flush of pleasure overspread 
 her face, and ere she could stoop to take up the 
 messenger of joy, a princely youth came bound- 
 ing through the woodland and knelt at her feet. 
 With a look full of idolatrous love, he bowed 
 himself; but she raised him up, and ere long 
 her flaxen tresses were nestled lovingly upon 
 that manly breast. 
 
 "Then a thought flashed upon me like a 
 
 m I 
 
 VIRGINIA DAEE. 
 
 gleam of sunshine in a shady dell. ' It is, it is ! 
 it must be she ! she did not perish with the 
 rest ! She was saved — saved, sweet, exotic 
 flower ! to bloom so gloriously in the far wil- 
 derness amidst these savage weeds of humanity 
 — to reign a queen over these rude beasts — to be 
 worshiped, perhaps idolized ! Ah me ! with 
 such a divinity it would not be very hard to turn 
 idolator. Could I but speak now, to claim 
 kindred with her — first-born of English blood 
 upon this mighty continent — Virginia Dare — to 
 hear, mayhap, from her sweet lips, something of 
 the fate of that lost colony ; something to fill 
 that mournfulest blank in the pages of history.' 
 " Too late ; for suddenly a yell broke on my 
 ear, 
 
 ' As all the fiends from heaven that fell, 
 Had pealed the hanner-ery of hell.' 
 
 A hundred shadowy forms came rushing through 
 the forest, and foremost of all the ring-nosed 
 prophet, with snaky eyes bent on the youthful 
 lovers. 'Accursed juggler !' I cried, 'this is 
 your villainy. But your blasting eyes shall never 
 see their capture !' With superhuman energy 
 I leaped upon him, and as we fell he uttered a 
 frantic scream — which woke me. 
 
 " I found myself standing in the middle of 
 my room at Enoch Jones's, and became aware 
 that an obstreperous shanghai in a tree hard by 
 was crowing for day. If I could but have 
 spoken to her," continued Crayon, "I should 
 
744 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 have been content to die, and have been a hap- 
 pier man for the rest of my life." 
 
 Hurrying on his clothes, and slinging his 
 knapsack, our hero hastened to the place of 
 rendezvous on the banks of the river. He ar- 
 rived a little before the appointed hour, and 
 finding no one to meet him, shouted, called, and 
 signaled in vain, until the time was past. He 
 : lien visited the half dozen tenantless sloops ly- 
 ing at the wharves, thinking it possible that the 
 Empire might have changed her position during 
 the night ; and, finally, wearied with the fruitless 
 search, he lay down upon a bale of cotton and 
 slept. About sunrise the wharf-master came 
 down, and informed him that the faithless skip- 
 per had weighed anchor about midnight, and 
 by this time was jirobably far out on the Sound. 
 Sloth and philosophy are said to be near akin, 
 but it recmired the assistance of both to enable 
 Crayon to keep cool on the reception of this 
 intelligence. To his honor be it said, that he 
 succeeded in his efforts. He only shrugged his 
 shoulders, and mildly expressed a hope that the 
 sloop with her commander might sink to the 
 (wttom of the sea, and then, feeling amiable as 
 Uncle Toby, returned to the hotel. 
 
 The attempt to get oft' by this line having 
 proved a failure, Crayon ascertained that the 
 stage-coach for Washington started early on the 
 following morning. Here was a chance, but 
 what was he to do in the mean time. The 
 loungers on the tavern porch spent the morning 
 in discussing the merits of a dispute between 
 Williamston, a little place up the Roanoke, and 
 the proprietors of the steamboat line. The 
 Williamstonians desired the extension of the 
 line to their city. The boats thought it wouldn't 
 pay; hence the controversy. As there was not 
 much in the subject, it died out about the heat 
 
 of the day, and then followed a dead calm. 
 This was disturbed at intervals by a dog -fight ; 
 a negro brat tumbling down the steps ; and, final- 
 ly, about twelve o'clock, by a drunken fellow 
 who called for " licker." The request was neg- 
 atived. Boosey obsti-eperously insisted. The 
 landlord stood firm, and there was great hope 
 of a row. But just at the crisis of the dispute. 
 Boosey basely yielded and retired — so com- 
 pletely does drunkenness undermine a man's 
 high moral nature. 
 
 After dinner, Crayon repaired to the wharf 
 and sat upon the cotton bales again, from whence 
 he watched two boys fishing. They caught no- 
 thing, and our hero sunk to sleep. 
 
 Toward evening the tavern porch got more 
 lively. Some one had set a negro boy to try- 
 ing the speed of a trotter up and down the level 
 street, and this entertainment collected all the 
 available idlers and horse-fanciers in the vicin- 
 ity. 
 
 "That hoss," said the stage-driver, address- 
 ing himself to Mr. Crayon, ' ' that hoss reminds 
 me of a hoss that old Major Bulbous used to 
 drive in that old stick gig of his'n. I see him 
 
 once," continued the narrator, " atwixt G 
 
 and E , where I druv a coach for a while, 
 
 a-coming tip through the Piny Woods, in sich a 
 pickle as I never see a man before or sence. At 
 fust I thought it was one of these steam-engines 
 tearing along the road by itself, but as he come 
 alongside I see it was the Major in his gig. His 
 skin was pretty full, he was driving like thun- 
 der, and his gig all afire. 'Halloo, Major,' 
 says I, ' stop ! ' But he only cussed me black 
 and blue. Then one of the passengers cried 
 out, ' Halloo, old fellow, whar did you come 
 from?' 'From hell,' says he, giving his hoss 
 the whip. 'Well, I should have thought so 
 
 i :, ( Wt/1 Mi. .b 
 
 .Mill 
 
 
 ■>jk- m:f 
 
 - ill 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED 
 
 7tt 
 
 from appearances,' said the passenger. By 
 this time the Major was out of sight, leaving a 
 streak of smoke behind him, perhaps a quarter 
 of a mile long. No doubt the gig caught fire 
 from a cigar, for he was much in the habit of 
 smoking as he traveled." 
 
 " And what became of him ?" 
 "Why, they say, in passing through the 
 swamp near his house, the wheel struck a cy- 
 press-knee and flung him out into the water. 
 The horse run home with the gig in a blaze, 
 and made straight for the barn-yard. By good 
 luck the gate was shut, or he might have set 
 the whole premises on fire. They say the 
 Major didn't get drunk for well-nigh a month 
 arterward." 
 
 From Plymouth to "Washington the road is 
 generally good, and the coaches make very fair 
 speed. Nevertheless, the leisurely habits of the 
 people during the necessary stoppages for wa- 
 tering and changing teams, give ample time to 
 note the peculiarities of the country. Its feat- 
 ures are monotonous in the extreme, varied 
 only by alternate swamp and piny woods ; the 
 former bordering the water-courses, the latter 
 covering the sandy ridges between. 
 
 These forests are of the long-leafed pine, the 
 Pinus palustris of the Southern States. ■ From 
 them is gathered one of the great staples of 
 North Carolina — the turpentine. And al- 
 though this product and its derivatives are, in 
 our country, almost in as common use as bread 
 and meat, very little is known of the manner 
 of procuring them. We will therefore en- 
 deavor to describe it accurately, relying upon 
 such sketches and observations as Crayon was 
 enabled to make during his tour. 
 
 These trees at maturity are seventy or eighty 
 feet high, and their trunks eighteen or twen- 
 ty inches in diameter near the base. They 
 grow close together, very straight, and without 
 branches to two-thirds of their height. Over- 
 head, their interlocking crowns form a continu- 
 ous shady canopy ; while beneath, the ground 
 is covered with a thick, yellow matting of pine- 
 straw, clean, dry, level, and unbroken by under- 
 growth. The privilege of tapping the trees is 
 generally farmed out by the landowner, at a 
 stated price per thousand, say from twenty to 
 thirty dollars. Under this privilege the laborer 
 commences his operations. During the winter 
 he chops deep notches in the base of the tree, a 
 few inches from the ground, and slanting in- 
 ward. Above, to the height of two or three 
 feet, the surface is scarified by chipping off the 
 bark and outer wood. From this surface the 
 resinous sap begins to flow about the middle of 
 March, at first very slowly, but more rapidly 
 during the heat of summer, and slowly again as 
 winter approaches. The liquid turpentine runs 
 into the notches, or boxes, as they are techni- 
 cally called, each holding from a quart to half a 
 gallon. This, as it gathers, is dipped out with 
 a wooden spoon, barreled, and carried to market, 
 where it commands the highest price. That 
 which oozes out and hardens upon the scarified 
 
 6C3APLNG TUKPENTINE. 
 
 surface of the tree is scraped down with an iron 
 instrument into a sort of hod, and is sold at an 
 inferior price. Every year the process of scari- 
 fying is carried two or three feet higher up the 
 trunk, until it reaches the height of twelve or 
 fifteen feet — as high as a man can conveniently 
 reach with his long-handled cutter. When this 
 ceases to yield, the same process is commenced 
 on the opposite side of the trunk. An average 
 yield is about twenty-five barrels of turpentine 
 from a thousand trees, and it is estimated that 
 one man will dip ten thousand boxes. 
 
 The produce is carried to market on a sort 
 of dray or cart which holds but two barrels, 
 consequently the barrels are always seen setting 
 about in the woods in couples. The trees at 
 length die under these repeated operations. 
 They are then felled, split into small sticks, 
 and burned for tar. The dead trees are pre- 
 ferred for this purpose, because when life ceases 
 the resinous matter concentrates in the interior 
 layers of the wood. In building a tar-kiln a 
 small circular mound of earth is first raised, 
 declining from the circumference to the centre, 
 where a cavity is formed, communicating by a 
 conduit with a shallow ditch surrounding the 
 
746 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 mound. Upon this foundation the split sticks 
 are stacked to the height of ten or twelve 
 feet. 
 
 The stack is then covered with earth as in 
 making charcoal, and the fire applied through 
 an opening in the top. As this continues to 
 burn with a smouldering heat, the wood is 
 charred, and the tar flows into the cavity in 
 the centre, and thence by the conduit into the 
 ditch, or into vessels sunk to receive it. 
 
 In a country endowed by nature with such 
 unlimited plantations, yielding their valuable 
 products for so small an amount of labor, one 
 might expect to see some signs of wealth and 
 prosperity ; yet here all appearances seem to in- 
 dicate the reverse. Human habitations are few 
 and far between ; and when found, are but little 
 better in appearance than the huts of our West- 
 ern borderers. An accurate observer, however, 
 may see about the dwellings in the Piny Woods 
 many little peculiarities indicative of an older 
 civilization. They almost always have fruit 
 trees about them, and a trellis supporting an ex- 
 tensive scuppernong grape-vine. There are be- 
 sides four characteristic indispensables to every 
 cottage : a well-sweep with a cypress-knee 
 bucket, in shape and size like a slouched hat ; 
 a group of slim fodder-stacks, made of corn- 
 blades tied to high stakes ; three sweet potato 
 hills, carefully protected, and a tall pole hung 
 with empty gourds to entertain the martins. 
 This unfailing care to provide for the comfort 
 of these social chattering little sojourners im- 
 presses the stranger favorably in regard to the 
 inhabitants of this region, and if circumstances 
 
 should throw him upon their simple hospitality 
 he will not be disappointed. 
 
 After traveling some twelve miles by the coach 
 Crayon resolved to see more of the country than 
 could conveniently be viewed from his seat beside 
 the driver; consequently he shouldered his knap- 
 sack and thenceforth pursued his journey on foot. 
 Turning from the main road into the first by- 
 path that presented itself, he was soon wander- 
 ing ad libitum among the turpentine-trees. It 
 is impossible to resist the feeling of loneliness 
 that creeps over one on entering these silent 
 forests, or to repress a sentiment of superstitious 
 dread as you glance through the sombre many- 
 columned aisles, stretching away on even' side 
 in interminable perspective. Where the trees 
 have been recently blazed, the square-cut mark- 
 ings, white on the black trunks, strikingly re- 
 semble marble grave-stones, and the traveler may 
 imagine himself in a vast cemeterj-. In the old- 
 er workings, if he should pass near the hour of 
 twilight, he may see misty white, horned ghosts, 
 starting and staring from every tree — silence and 
 monotony, like two evil spirits following every 
 where, suggesting uncouth and dreary fancies. 
 
 Our hero at length came to an old milldam, 
 grown up with cypresses, presenting altogether 
 so unique a picture that he tamed to sketch it. 
 His drawing was nearly completed when he re- 
 marked the slanting rays of the sun upon the 
 trees, and not without some feeling of uneasiness 
 he hastily put up his work and resumed his jour- 
 ney. He had not walked more than a quarter 
 of a mile, however, before he had the pleasure of 
 seeing a clump of gourds towering over the trees. 
 
 TINY WOOl'S COTTAlifc. 
 
NOKTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 747 
 
 The hoase which our hero approached had a 
 lonely, dilapidated look, and even the gourds 
 on the martin pole appeared to be tenantless. 
 
 His doubt as to whether the place was in- 
 habited was soon resolved by the appearance of 
 a small man, who rushed from the front door 
 pursued by a tall virago with a broomstick in her 
 hand. The high-toned clatter of the woman's 
 tongue and the rapid thwacks of the stick, with 
 which she belabored him over the head and 
 shoulders, completely drowned the man's voice 
 in any prayers or remonstrances he might have 
 attempted. His principal defense, therefore, 
 was confined to dodging, at which he seemed 
 well practiced. 
 
 Porte Crayon, being naturally of a chivalrous 
 temper, was'on the point of rushing forward to 
 espouse the cause of the weaker party, but in 
 consideration of the general impropriety of min- 
 
 gling in domestic feuds, and the particular man- 
 ner in which the woman handled the broom- 
 stick, he restrained the generous impulse, and 
 withdrawing himself from sight behind a tree, 
 remained a quiet spectator of the scene. As the 
 couple made the circuit of the inclosure in front 
 of the house he was also enabled to understand 
 the cause of the difficulty. 
 
 It seemed that the man having got through 
 the proceeds of the last sale of turpentine, in- 
 stead of gathering more, as he was ordered, had 
 robbed two of madam's sitting hens and sold 
 the eggs, the proceeds whereof he had invested 
 in whisky. This last charge was denied at 
 first, and only admitted when a second tour of 
 the yard was nearly completed. The broom- 
 stick was then discontinued, and the Amazon re- 
 tired into the house, whence issued at intervals 
 a smothered blast from her vet unsatisfied tongue. 
 
748 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 The little man, with a dejected countenance, 
 seated himself upon a lame wood-horse, ap- 
 pearing upon the whole, however, as if he was 
 rather pleased that it was all over. Just then 
 a solitary martin perched himself upon the pole, 
 and after some consideration entered one of the 
 gourds. A moment after there was a furious 
 chattering that might have been heard a hun- 
 dred yards oft', and the gourd began to swing to 
 and fro. At length two birds, with a cloud of 
 dried twigs and feathers, tumbled out of the 
 opening and fell fluttering to the ground. So 
 fierce was the combat that they had nearly fallen 
 a prey to a hungry-looking gray cat that was 
 watching near. At this the little man began 
 to laugh, 'when the woman reappeared at the 
 door, and, in a loud voice, ordered him to go to 
 his work. Without looking up he rose, and en- 
 tering a log building hard by that looked like a 
 turkey pen, he commenced pegging away mer- 
 rily at a pair of shoes. 
 
 Erom motives of delicacy Porte Crayon did 
 not wisli to remain longer a witness to these 
 family differences, and as soon as he could do 
 so unperceived, made his escape. But where 
 was he to go? That was a serious question. 
 What he had just seen was rather calculated 
 to mar the prospect of a night's repose. But 
 Crayon was an old stager. " A calm," said he, 
 •'generally succeeds a storm; I will return to 
 the old milldam, finish my drawing, and then 
 come back to claim their hospitality. In the 
 course of half an hour the clouds will have rolled 
 away." Carrying out the resolve, he returned 
 to the gate a second time just as the sun was 
 setting. No sooner had the proprietor laid ej'es 
 on him than he threw down his lap-stone and 
 hurried to meet him, with a countenance beam- 
 ing with delight. 
 
 Scarcely allowing the traveler time to tell his 
 needs, he overwhelmed him with proffers of hos- 
 pitality. Pleased with the free cordiality of this 
 welcome, our hero still entertained some un- 
 
 happy forebodings, which the next moment suf- 
 ficiently justified. The heroine of the broom- 
 stick, armed this time with a large wooden spoon, 
 and wearing an awful scowl on her countenance, 
 came forward. 
 
 "No man can't stay here to-night," said she, 
 in a voice that rang like the shriek of a Pytho- 
 ness. " You nasty, good-for-nothing, sneaking 
 creeter, have you the drotted impudence to ask a 
 stranger to stay in your house when your own 
 family is starving ? You hain't had a mouthful 
 of meat for a week. Let the man go to Squire 
 Smith's, where he can get something to eat." 
 
 Crayon hesitated, and then humbly taking off 
 his cap, inquired how far it was to Squire Smith's. 
 "It don't make any difference how far it is, 
 you can't stay here." 
 
 "For God's sake, stranger, don't go," whis- 
 pered the cobbler. "It's good five mile, and 
 you'll git lost in the swamp sure as you're born." 
 Crayon winked at the cobbler. 
 "Madam," said he, respectfully, " if I am to 
 go on, will you have the goodness to give me a 
 drink of water?" 
 
 "Water's plenty, at least sich as it is," said 
 she, pointing to the bucket in which floated a 
 gourd. Crayon crossed the threshold, helped 
 himself to a drink, and then took his seat on a 
 three-legged stool. The matron cast a furious 
 look at him, and with three consecutive kicks 
 sent as many dogs howling out of the cabin. 
 
 Our hero rose — "Madam, I am a stranger in 
 this country, and don't know the paths. It is now 
 nearly dark, and I expect to lose myself in the 
 swamp ; but rather than put a lady to any in- 
 convenience, I will even run that risk. I bid 
 you good-evening." 
 
 Here he offered his hand, which was rather 
 reluctantly accepted, and, on withdrawing it, 
 managed to leave half a dollar sticking to the 
 lady's palm. The cobbler, Avho had stood aloof 
 during this scene, now ventured to put in a 
 propitiatory word. 
 
 "Perhaps," said he, "if the 
 gentleman must go, I might go 
 with him as far as the Squire's." 
 
 "Go mend them shoes, you 
 mean, sneaking brute. Didn't 
 you promise 'em for to-morrow 
 morning — you sorry onreliable 
 pretense of a man? If the gen- 
 tleman can't go without you to 
 show him the way he had better 
 stay, that's all ; and if he can 
 make up his mind to put up with 
 our poor entertainment, I reckon 
 it's rather late for him to go, any- 
 how." 
 
 During this speech Crayon un- 
 slung his knapsack, hung it on the 
 bed-post, and made himself gen- 
 erally at home. Several cotton- 
 headed urchins had now gathered 
 in, and stood staring at the new- 
 comer with all their eyes. Attract- 
 ed to the door by the sound of 
 
 iS§\ 
 
 ,r 
 
 V 
 
 - - ■:-- 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 749 
 
 horses' hoofs, our hero next saw 
 a strapping girl, about sixteen, 
 astride of a gray pony without 
 saddle or bridle, driving up a 
 couple of cows. A profusion of 
 coal-black hair hung in elf locks 
 about her neck and face, and 
 her great black eyes danced 
 like a rabbit's. In fact, she was 
 pretty — a softened image of her 
 mother without the broomstick. 
 
 "Sal! Sal! you abominable 
 hussy, git off that hoss. Don't 
 you see the strange gentleman ?" 
 
 Sal's countenance fell ; she 
 bounced from her seat, stuck 
 her finger in her mouth, and, 
 by a circuitouS path, gained the 
 back part of the house. 
 
 Presently Crayon observed 
 the cobbler very earnestly mak- 
 ing signs to him from his work- 
 shop ; he accordingly entered, 
 and took a seat opposite him on 
 a roll of sole leather. 
 
 "I am mighty glad, Sir, you've made up your 
 mind to pass the night with us. It goes agin 
 me to see a stranger turn from my door; but 
 Lord bless you, Sir, you know women — they 
 will talk." Here the speaker gave Mr. Crayon 
 a facetious and significant wink. " P'r'aps 
 there's no meat, but I'm goin' to town to-mor- 
 row to lay in a supply. The fact is, I'm 'mazin' 
 fond of talkin' when I meet a friendly, sociable 
 gentleman. I should judge you've been round 
 some ; 'pears you know a thing or two. So do 
 I. I've been in pretty nigh every State in this 
 Union. I traveled round when I was a jour' ; 
 then I served in the army a while. I was with 
 the volunteers in Mexico. I was in all them 
 battles, and entered the city of Mexico with 
 General Taylor." 
 
 " Scott, you mean," suggested Crayon. 
 
 " Scott it was. Sence Taylor was 'lected 
 President I got 'em mixed. And so, afterward, 
 I fou't at Buena Vista under Scott or Taylor, 
 one or t'other, but I disremember which. I 
 never was any great scollard, but I've smelt 
 powder in my time." 
 
 "I don't doubt it," said Crayon, dryly. 
 
 Just then there was a blast from the house — 
 a demand if he "was finishing them shoes," 
 preluded by the ordinary string of epithets. 
 Whack ! whack ! whack ! went the hammer, 
 spasmodically. 
 
 "Never mind — pretty nigh done !" he cried. 
 Then repeating his facetious wink, he contin- 
 ued, in a lower tone, "You know women, Sir. 
 Pshaw ! I never mind 'em ; they will talk, and 
 to stop 'em is onpossible. But I do like to talk 
 myself with a sociable, friendly man, when I 
 get a chance. But when I was with the army — 
 we was then before Rackinsack la Palma — the 
 Colonel says to me, says he, ' Squibs, I've got 
 great reliance on you, and there's a certain 
 [lung I want to have done — ' But maybe, 
 
 stranger, this here's gittin' dry. Wait a min- 
 ute." 
 
 Having reconnoitred the house, he slyly took 
 out a pint bottle which had been deftly hidden in 
 the leg of an old boot, and, drawing the corn- 
 cob stopper, handed the liquor to his guest. He 
 merely wet his mustaches, and returned it. 
 
 "Here's luck!" said the cobbler, as he threw 
 his head back, half closed his eyes, and stuck 
 the bottle neck into his mouth. With a spas- 
 modic jerk he suddenly withdrew it ; his eyes 
 stared horribly, the whisky gurgled in his throat 
 and trickled from the corners of his mouth. 
 The hand of the Amazon reached in and took 
 the bottle. Crayon expected to hear it crash 
 against the house, but he only heard a string 
 of some ten or fifteen disrespectful adjectives, 
 followed by the noun "Hog." The presence 
 of the stranger probably prevented any overt 
 breach of the peace and dignity of the house- 
 hold. As soon as she was gone, Squibs made 
 a ghastly effort at a wink. 
 
 "Hang the woman, she's got it! Mister, 
 you should have kept a better look-out, and give 
 me warnin'. Not that I mind her- — pshaw! I 
 don't care that ; but she has a prejudice against 
 licker, as if what little I drink would hurt a 
 man. But we don't care. They must have 
 their say, or they'll bust." 
 
 "Dad, come to supper," said a cottcn-head- 
 ed boy. 
 
 The supper of corn bread, sweet potatoes, 
 and yeopou tea was enlivened by a continuous 
 stream of animadversion upon the character 
 and conduct of the master of the house, setting 
 forth his nastiness, meanness, good-for-no- 
 thingness, and other similar qualities, in the 
 clearest light. His wife, who had been de- 
 ceived into marriage under the impression that 
 he was an industrious, thriving person, had 
 been cruelly awakened from her dream of 
 
750 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 felicity to find herself an abused, starved, and 
 barefooted mother of five barefooted children. 
 He would neither mend shoes for the neighbors 
 nor for his own family. He would scrape a 
 couple of barrels of turpentine now and then, 
 carry them to town, waste half the proceeds be- 
 fore he got back home with his scanty supply 
 of meat and groceries. As long as these lasted 
 he would never lift a hand to any thing. 
 
 The only defense made by Squibs was con- 
 fined to a few miserable winks at his guest. 
 He at length ventured to remark that turpen- 
 tine was veiy low now- — scarcely worth scraping. 
 
 " Low ! " said she, with flashing eyes. " Low ! 
 What's the price of eggs ?" 
 
 After the bursting of this shell there was 
 comparative quiet. The ample chimney blazed 
 with pine-knots. Pallets were laid in a dark 
 corner for Sal and the children ; another was 
 placed in front of the fire for the stranger, to 
 which, minus his coat and boots, he speedily 
 retired. The elders sat quietly in the chimney 
 corner smoking their pipes. The pine-knots 
 threw a cheerful light over the room, and a 
 cricket ventured from beneath the hearth-stone, 
 and tuned his tiny pipe for a song. 
 
 Squibs at length took up one of the trav- 
 eler's boots, and studying it with the air of a 
 connoisseur, remarked, "This here is a city- 
 made boot." 
 
 The matron gave a contemptuous recognition 
 of the remark ; and then glancing at the article 
 in question, observed, " Them boots is too long 
 for the gentleman" (pointing with her pipe to 
 a wrinkle in the leather) ; "his big toe only 
 comes to thar." 
 
 "No," said the cobbler, "you're mistaken, 
 mammy. His toe comes to this pint." 
 
 "No sich thing," replied she, positively; 
 "for it's plain to see whar the eend of his toe 
 humps up the leather." 
 
 Strong in the consciousness of truth and pro- 
 fessional knowledge, the cobbler sustained his 
 point. "Why, dad bum me, woman, have I 
 made shoes for twenty years not to know where 
 a man's foot comes to in his boot?" 
 
 The matron seized an iron-shod poker, and 
 sent forty thousand sparks roaring up the chim- 
 ney. ' ' And a mighty deal of good it has done 
 your family, hasn't it ? But come, I'll leave it 
 to the gentleman himself if I ain't right." 
 
 Thus appealed to, Crayon rose on his elbow, 
 feigned to examine the boot, and unhesitatingly 
 decided in favor of the lady. 
 
 "There, now — didn't I know it! A pretty 
 shoemr.ker you are, to be sure ! —an ignorant, 
 lazy vermin !" 
 
 Squibs winked, and heaved a deep sigh. "I 
 used to think once that I knowed something 
 about a boot," he faintly persisted. 
 
 ' ' And you've at last found out you know no- 
 thing," said she. ., 
 
 "The last tag is pizen," rejoined he, wink- 
 ing. 
 
 Her concluding snarl was lost as they retired 
 to the bed in the far corner. The cricket began 
 
 to sing again ; and Sleep spread his peaceful 
 mantle over the troubled world. 
 
 Crayon arose next morning refreshed and 
 strengthened. As he took leave of the family 
 his host proposed to accompany him for a short 
 distance to put him in the right road to Wash- 
 ington. When they were about to separate, 
 the traveler thanked him for his kind entertain- 
 ment, and delicately offered pecuniary remu- 
 neration. This the little shoemaker nobly de- 
 clined. 
 
 " Sir," said he, "I'm always proud to see a 
 gentleman at my house, and always give him 
 the best I've got ; and I do love a good talk." 
 
 "But, my friend," said Crayon, offering a 
 dollar, "I must insist that you take some- 
 thing." 
 
 " Stranger, it makes me feel bad to have 
 money forced on me this way." Crayon 
 dropped his hand. "But," continued his 
 host, "if you should force a trifle on me for 
 the women thar, I couldn't be so uncivil as to 
 refuse." 
 
 The dollar was transferred. Squibs eyed 
 the coin with satisfaction, and then cast a fore- 
 boding glance toward the house. " Sir," said 
 he, "couldn't you change this gold dollar into 
 two halves for me ?" 
 
 The request was complied with, and they 
 parted ; our traveler taking the road to Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 Washington, the county town of Beaufort, is 
 situated on the head of the Pamlico Sound, at 
 the mouth of the Tar River. It is a flourishing 
 place of four thousand inhabitants, and drives a 
 smart trade in the staples of the State — tur- 
 pentine, cotton, and lumber. It has several 
 extensive establishments for sawing and plan- 
 ing lumber, and for converting the brute tur- 
 pentine into its various derivatives. An ex- 
 terior view of the town presents nothing but a 
 few steeples, peering out from a thick grove of 
 trees, and the street views only continuous 
 archways of verdure. In fact, its modest 
 white wooden houses are completely buried in 
 trees ; and when the weather is hot the effect 
 is highly pleasing. The only sketchable object 
 here is a private residence, at the end of the 
 main street, with beautifully-improved grounds; 
 and at the principal hotel, the only item de- 
 serving particular commendation was John, the 
 head servant. Pope says, 
 
 " Honor and fame from no condition rise ; 
 Act well your part — there all the honor lies." 
 
 By this rule, John should have both fame and 
 honor. 
 
 Next morning early, our traveler embarked 
 in the steamer Governor Morefiead, a small 
 boat, of rather queer build, which navigates 
 the Tar River to Greenville, twenty-five miles 
 distant. There were but seven or eight passen- 
 gers on board. The morning was delightful, 
 and Captain Quinn gave Crayon a breakfast 
 that seems to have won his heart completely. 
 In fact, he never alludes to it without compli- 
 menting the Captain in the warmest terms. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 751 
 
 EESIDENCE CP J. G2IST, liSQ. 
 
 The Tar River, as far as they traveled, pre- 
 sented the dark-colored water, and low, swampy- 
 shores common to all the streams in the lower 
 country. But few traces of improvement or 
 population were visible in passing, and the evi- 
 dences of trade were confined to a few flats 
 loaded with lumber and cotton, and propelled 
 with poles. The river is narrow, crooked, 
 shoaly, and only navigable for flat-bottomed 
 boats. 
 
 At Greenville our traveler again took to the 
 road, on foot. In its general features this coun- 
 try resembles that over which Crayon had 
 passed. There are the same interminable pine 
 forests, boxed and scarified by the turpentine- 
 gatherers, with the barrels standing about in 
 couples among the trees, and frequent tar-kilns 
 in process of erection, or smoking and smoulder- 
 ing toward completion. 
 
 As you approach the line of railroad, running 
 from Weldon to Wilmington, across this portion 
 of the State, signs of life and improvement be- 
 gin to be manifest. The groups of fodder-stacks 
 about the barns are larger, the old dwellings are 
 in better repair, there are many new ones of a 
 more modern and more pleasing style of archi- 
 tecture, and one more frequently meets the na- 
 tive going to or from market, on his two-bar- 
 reled cart, drawn by the long-tailed, shoeless 
 horse. 
 
 Having arrived at a village about four o'clock 
 in the afternoon, our hero determined to tarry 
 for the night. As he lounged upon the tavern 
 porch his curiosity was excited by seeing a 
 crowd of shabby-looking white men and negroes 
 collected in an open space behind the stable. 
 He presently joined them, and soon perceived 
 there was a cock-fight on the tapis. Two of 
 
 the negroes, who carried meal-bags, had just 
 liberated a pair of cocks therefrom, which they 
 placed in the hands of the two gentlemen who 
 were to play a principal part in the affair. 
 Number One of the parties was remarkable for 
 his bad clothes and an indomitable shock of car- 
 roty hair. His appearance was rather improved 
 by taking off his coat, which he did preparatory 
 to handling his fowl. This was a large spangle 
 — a noisy, robustious fellow, whom it took two 
 to hold while the trimming was going on. 
 
 His proposed antagonist, a keen-looking black, 
 on the contrary, sat perfectly quiet upon the 
 hand of a sallow, long-nosed covey with sleek 
 black hair, and rather flashily dressed in a 
 green coat with brass buttons. As there is an 
 absurd prejudice existing at the present day 
 against this elegant sport, it is more than prob- 
 able that many are ignorant of the manner of 
 conducting it. "VVe may be pardoned, therefore, 
 for entering somewhat into detail in describing 
 the preliminaries. The cocks are generally 
 matched by weight. This being ascertained, 
 the pitter takes him in hand, and with a pair of 
 shears trims all the superfluous feathers from 
 his neck, tail, and back, thereby rendering him 
 lighter and more active, but effectually destroy- 
 ing his beauty. The spurs are sawed off near 
 the leg, and upon the stumps a pair of sharp- 
 pointed steel gaffs, about three inches long, are 
 carefully tied. To dispose these artificial spurs 
 so as more surely to strike the adversary and 
 to prevent self-inflicted wounds, is one of the 
 delicacies of the art only to be acquired by long 
 practice and profound study. It was delightful 
 to see the air of professional gravity with which 
 these worthies went through the business of 
 trimming and heeling, and the respectful ad- 
 
752 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 miration elicited by their skill from the assist- 
 ant by-standers, including negroes. 
 
 All preliminaries having been satisfactorily 
 adjusted, Green-coat called upon the specta- 
 tors to set their bets. This was accordingly 
 done, the amounts ranging from a dime to a 
 quarter, although several desperate characters 
 went as high as a dollar. 
 
 The pitters entered a circle formed of plank 
 staked up, the spectators ranged themselves 
 around outside. The cocks were held up to- 
 gether, to see if they were ready for the com- 
 bat ; they answered, "Ready!" by pecking 
 fiercely at each other's eyes. The seconds then 
 retired to opposite limits of the circle, and set 
 their principals upon the ground. These strut- 
 ted about for a moment ; eying each other as- 
 kance, and then, flapping their wings, poured 
 forth clarion notes of mutual defiance. This 
 was the signal for the onset ; they advanced, 
 
 squared themselves, and incontinently pitched 
 into each other. For a moment they struck rap- 
 idly, hitting and dodging like practiced boxers; 
 but becoming entangled, they presently tumbled 
 over together, the black above. " Hung!" ex- 
 claimed Woodpecker ; "handle 'em." "Stand 
 back!" shouted Green-coat, "he's in the feath- 
 ers." "You're inmy wing," persisted Woodpeck- 
 er, attempting to seize the combatants. He was 
 resolutely grappled by Green-coat; while the 
 black, taking advantage of the delay, was endeav- 
 oring to pick the spangle's eyes out. The excite- 
 ment at this moment was so intense that a hatless 
 lackey, who had a quarter on the spangle, broke 
 into the ring. He was jerked out in a trice, and 
 order restored. The combatants were separated, 
 and it was discovered that no damage had been 
 done ; but blood was rising, and before pitting a 
 second time, Woodpecker nodded fiercely across 
 the ring to his opponent, and said, in a voice 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 753 
 
 husky with suppressed passion, " I'll go ye an- 
 other dollar !" 
 
 "Done!" 
 
 There was no preliminary strutting this time. 
 As soon as they touched the ground the eager 
 duelists rushed to the combat. After some 
 smart rapping without apparent result, the cocks 
 seemed to be getting a little blown. The span- 
 file got his head under the black's wing, and 
 they both stood panting for some minutes in this 
 position. The spangle appeared to be seriously 
 revolving something in his mind, and it was 
 perceived that blood was dripping from his neck. 
 At the third round the result of the spangle's 
 Vol. XIV.— No 84.— 3 B 
 
 cogitations transpired. Instead of meeting the 
 black's advance, he took to his heels. The 
 black pursued him to the barrier, giving him a 
 rap behind which helped him over, and away 
 he went, pursued by half a dozen boys and ne- 
 groes, with mingled shouts of derision and 
 merriment. " Kill him ! " " Cut his head off ! " 
 "Dunghill!" "Used up!" were the expres- 
 sions which followed the ignominious bird. The 
 victor behaved much like a gentleman. Leap- 
 ing upon the barrier, he saw his recreant adver- 
 sary in full flight. Disdaining to pursue — for 
 the truly brave is never truculent — he hopped 
 back into the ; t, proclaimed his victory, as it 
 
754 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 was his bounden duty to do, and 
 then quietly suffered himself to 
 be taken and disarmed. 
 
 The loserswere eithervitupera- 
 tive or calmly philosophic under 
 their misfortunes, reasoning cu- 
 riously upon causes and effects. 
 The winners were loud and un- 
 confined in their joy. 
 
 Woodpecker stood for several 
 minutes lost in thought, then step- 
 ping up to his successful oppo- 
 nent, he drew out two ragged one- 
 dollar bills on the Bank of Cape 
 Fear and forked them over. Mak- 
 ing an effort to swallow the lump 
 in his throat, he said, 
 
 "Adam, I've been deceived. 
 That spangle winned his fight last 
 year at Gaston, when Jones fit 
 Faulcon — Virginia agin North 
 Carolina — a thousand on the odd. 
 True, he wasn't cut nary time, 
 and so I gin two dollars for him 
 arterward, and kep him on a walk 
 ever sence ; but I'll break every 
 darned egg, and kill every chick- 
 en of the breed, I will !" 
 
 Jack the horse-boy won a 
 quarter from that old dogmatical 
 despot, Uncle Jonas, the chief 
 waiter at the tavern. Jack 
 screamed and turned somersets 
 on the straw. So elated was he 
 that he forgot his condition, and 
 as Woodpecker passed, Jack hazarded a joke. 
 
 " I say, Massa, dat rooster of yourn run like 
 first dip." 
 
 The defeated rolled his eyes vengefully upon 
 the grinning ebony. "Look'ee here, boy, I've 
 ben deceived in that 'are chicken. ' I've lost mv 
 
 TRIMSirNG. 
 
 FP.AL'U AND FOKOK. 
 
 fight. But I'm not a-goin to be made game of 
 for all that, especially by a nigger." 
 Jack hastily took himself elsewhere. 
 We ventured, in a civil and somewhat covert 
 manner, to rebuke Crayon for having assisted at 
 so cruel and disreputable an amusement. 
 
 " I do not see," he replied, 
 "why it is considered more cruel 
 than angling or partridge-shoot- 
 ing; and the people one meets at 
 such places are, in all respects, the 
 same as those who, under our ad- 
 mirable system, play the most 
 prominent part in the government 
 of the country. For example, 
 would it not be difficult to tell 
 whether the originals of this sketch 
 were the heroes of a cock-pit or 
 an election day?" 
 
 Crayon arrived at Goldsborough 
 about midnight, and shortly after 
 1 \ took the Central Railroad for Ra- 
 leigh, about fifty miles distant. He 
 went to sleep when the train start- 
 ed, and when he awoke, about sun- 
 rise, was just entering the elegant 
 capital of North Carolina. A com- 
 fortable 'bus transferred him from 
 the depot to Guion's Hotel, where, 
 with a little warm water and an 
 alkali, he proceeded to wash his 
 
hands of tar, pitch, and turpentine. We will now 
 leave him to repose for a short time in the fa- 
 mous City of Oaks. 
 
/r&f. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 BT POETE CKATOK. 
 III.— GUILFORD. 
 
 " List his discourse of war, and you shall hear 
 A fearful battle rendered you in music." 
 
 Shakspeaee. 
 
 " rpHE capitol of North Carolina bears the ap- 
 J- propriate and beautiful name of Raleigh, 
 in honor of the accomplished and chivalrous ' Sir 
 Walter, the man of wit and the sword,' under 
 whose auspices the first colonies were planted 
 on our shores. The town is comparatively of 
 recent date, its site having been established by 
 a convention met at Hillsborough in 1788. In 
 1810, it contained only six hundred and seven- 
 ty inhabitants, but its permanent population at 
 present is estimated at between two and three 
 thousand. On a commanding but gently slop- 
 ing eminence, the young city sits embowered, in 
 a grove of stately oaks, like a rustic beauty, 
 whose ornaments are awkwardly worn and un- 
 skillfully put on. Incongruous, incomplete, but 
 nathless fair and pleasing. Thus appear her 
 broad tree planted, unpaved avenues. The su- 
 perb and costly capitol with its forms of Grecian 
 elegance, rising amidst a grove of forest oaks, in 
 an inclosure grown up with weeds and traversed 
 by narrow ungraveled paths, and its stately en- 
 trances encumbered with huge wood piles. 
 
 "Around this central point the town is built 
 upon several streets densely shaded with double 
 rows of trees. The private residences for die 
 most part resemble country houses, each stand- 
 
 ing isolated in the midst of its ornamented 
 grounds, profuse in shade-trees, shrubbery, and 
 flowers, reminding one more of a thickly settled 
 neighborhood than a town. The avenue lead- 
 ing from the capitol to the Governor's house is 
 more compactly built, and is the theatre of all 
 the commercial life the place affords. 
 
 "On an eminence near the town, imposing 
 from its extent and position, stands the State 
 Asylum for the Insane. A building worthy the 
 taste and public spirit of any State. 
 
 "By the burning of the old capitol in 183 1 
 Raleigh lost the statue of Washington by Cano- 
 va, a gem of art of which the Carolinians were 
 justly proud. The hero was represented in a 
 sitting posture, costumed as a Roman general, 
 holding tablets in one hand and a style in the 
 other, as if about to write ; we believe the in- 
 tention of the sculptor was, to represent him as 
 Washington the statesman and lawgiver, while 
 his recent military character was indicated by 
 the sheathed sword beside him. The concep- 
 tion was beautiful, the work skillfully and ele- 
 gantly wrought, but there was nothing in it es- 
 pecially to touch the American heart or under- 
 standing. The soft Italian, whose genius was 
 inspired by dreams of the Greek ideal commin- 
 gling with shapes of modern elegance, who 
 pined even in brilliant Paris for the balmy air 
 and sunshine of his native land, beneath whose 
 magic chisel the frigid marble warmed and 
 melted into forms of voluptuous beauty, had 
 neither the soul to conceive nor the hand to 
 carve the iron man of '76." 
 
 HOUDON 8 WASHING TON. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 155 
 
 8TATE CAPITOL, EALEIGI1. 
 
 As Porte Crayon warmed with his subject he 
 rose from his chair and paced about our writing- 
 table like a chained bear. "That task," con- 
 tinued he, "yet remains to be accomplished; 
 there is no statue of Washington existing, there 
 never has been one." 
 
 "You forget that which adorns the square in 
 front of our Federal Capitol," I mildly sug- 
 gested. 
 
 "Get out! it is scarcely worth criticism — a 
 pitiful heathen divinity set up to be scoffed at 
 by the children of the image-breakers — a half 
 naked Olympian shivering in a climate where 
 nudity is not, and never can be, respectable." 
 
 "But there is the statue in Richmond." 
 
 Crayon paused for a moment as if to cool off. 
 
 "Houdon," said he, "made an effort in the 
 proper direction, and the unaffected approbation 
 which his work has elicited proves it. That it 
 has been greatly overpraised, is not chargeable 
 to a want of taste in our people, but simply to 
 the fact that they have no means of comparison. 
 It is the best we have, and is estimated accord- 
 ingly. But although the costume and design 
 of the statue are good, there is nothing in that 
 affected pose to remind one of the most striking 
 characteristic of Washington's person, 
 
 1 The lofty port, the distant mien, 
 That seemed to shun the sight, yet awed if seen.' 
 
 "A French writer says: ' Malgre Vopind- 
 trete des homines a louer Vantique aux depens du 
 moderne, ilfaut avouer qu'en tout genre les pre- 
 miers essais sont toujour s grossiers.' The truth 
 and common sense of this assertion is applica- 
 
 ble, in a greater or less degree, to every subject 
 to which human effort has been directed. If it 
 seems not to have been sustained by the pro- 
 gress of the fine arts at all times, the exception 
 may be fairly referred to the fact, that the ge- 
 nius of certain peoples and periods, instead of 
 being devoted to the legitimate task of develop- 
 ing into beauty and grandeur the ideas of its 
 own times, perversely turns for inspiration to 
 antiquity, rejecting the healthful freshness of 
 the present to feed morbidly on the decay of 
 the past ; wasting its native vigor in feebly im- 
 itating, instead of aspiring to the nobler task of 
 creating. Why may not the ridicule that in 
 literature is attached to the faded imitations 
 of the ancient poets — the Yenuses, Cupids, 
 nymphs, and shepherdesses — be as fairly turned 
 against the wearisome and incongruous repro- 
 ductions in marble of gods, heroes, and sena- 
 tors, with modern names, and modern heads on 
 their shoulders?" 
 
 "Bravo! Porte Crayon turned lecturer! 
 You bid fair to rival Ruskin in the crusade 
 against the Greeks and Romans. You and he 
 are harder on them than were the Goths and 
 Vandals." 
 
 "But, my dear P , permit me to explain. 
 
 You have misunderstood the drift of my re- 
 marks — " 
 
 " Encore, Sir Critic. You administer the 
 chibouk like a very Fahladeen." 
 
 " Now pray be quiet, and I'll tell you an an- 
 ecdote appropriate to the subject: 
 
 "A provincial society of literati, somewhere 
 in France, wished to compliment Voltaire, and 
 
156 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE. 
 
 voted that his statue should decorate their hall. 
 A young artist of great merit, a native of the 
 province, was commissioned to execute the work. 
 The sage, who was never averse to flattery in 
 any shape, complacently sat for the bust, and an 
 
 TILE ARTIST. 
 
 excellent likeness was modeled. The artist was 
 now at a loss how to complete his work. The 
 antique/wrore was then at its height in France, 
 and Hogarth's caricature of a nobleman person- 
 ating Jupiter, with a big wig, ruffled shirt, and 
 a thunder-bolt in his hand, scarcely 
 surpassed in absurdity many of the se- 
 rious productions of that ridiculous 
 era. The artist was an honest fel- 
 low, and was at his wits' end in en- 
 deavoring to reconcile common sense 
 and the spirit of the times. Embroid- 
 ered cuffs, shirt ruffles, and knee 
 breeches, would not do in marble at 
 all. The wardrobe of antiquity was 
 ransacked, but nothing found to fit 
 Voltaire. Fortunately the severely 
 classic taste could dispense with all 
 costume, even the fig-leaf, so our artist 
 modeled his figure after the Antinous. 
 "But to see that lean, leering face, 
 that preposterous curled wig and scrag- 
 gy neck, set upon a round, graceful, 
 fully-developed figure, was inadmis- 
 sible ; the incongruity was too glar- 
 ing. The head, which had been pro- 
 nounced a perfect likeness, could not 
 be changed, so he went to work again, 
 and, with much labor, reduced the fig- 
 ure to the meagre standard of the face. 
 The completed statue resembled Vol- 
 taire, no doubt, but it also looked like 
 a chimpanzee, or the starved saint 
 done in stone in the Museum at Flor- 
 ence, or the wax-work figure of Calvin 
 Edson at Barnum's — a sculptured hor- 
 ror, a marble joke. The society was 
 outraged. The statue, instead of be- 
 ing inaugurated, was kicked into a eel- 
 
NOETH CAKOLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 157 
 
 THE SKETCH. 
 
 lar ; while the unhappy victim of classic taste 
 lost his labor and reputation together, nor is it 
 likely that posterity will ever repair the injus- 
 tice." 
 
 Having passed several days very pleasantly 
 looking at the outside of things in Ealeigh, our 
 
 FEMALE EDUCATION. 
 
 traveler continued his journey westward, by the 
 North Carolina Eailroad. This road traverses 
 the best portion of the State. The face of the 
 country is pleasantly diversified with hill and 
 dale. The sombre vesture of the pine woods is 
 changed for the rich and varied leafing of the 
 upland forest, while evidences 
 of agricultural improvement are 
 manifest on every side. Then, 
 as we pass along, we hear the old 
 familiar names of Eevolutionary 
 memory; names that make the 
 heart leap in recalling the wild, 
 romantic details of the South- 
 ern war, all the more thrilling 
 that they have escaped the var- 
 nish of spiritless limners, and 
 are not heard in the common 
 babblings of fame. But still, 
 in the humble cot and squirely 
 mansion, the memory of these 
 brave deeds and glorious names 
 is fondly cherished. 
 
 " Come hither, Curly-pate ; 
 what paper was that you showed 
 your mother just now that de- 
 lightedherso, and got your pock- 
 et filled with ginger-cakes ?" 
 
 "That, Sir, is a picture of 
 Colonel Washington chasing 
 Tarleton. Mother says I am a 
 great genius." 
 
 1 ' Why, Beverly, be quiet. I 
 said no such thing." 
 
 "Indeed, madam, this draw- 
 ing is an astonishing produc- 
 tion. The attitudes of his horses 
 are decidedly classic, and seem 
 to have been studied from the 
 Elgin marbles. The boy will 
 doubtless be a great painter 
 some day." 
 
158 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 THE PAETISAN LEADED. 
 
 "No, I won't. I'll be a soldier, and lead a 
 regiment of horse like Colonel Lee." 
 
 ' ' Get away, then ; take your tin sword, and 
 make war upon the mullin stalks." 
 
 Still rolling westward we pass Hillsborough, 
 the county town of Orange, then the Haw Riv- 
 er. At length we approach Greensborough, the 
 county town of Guilford. Here we must tarry 
 to visit the battle-field, which is but a few miles 
 distant. 
 
 The town of Greensborough contains about 
 two thousand inhabitants, and is a place of some 
 trade. Except two or three private residences 
 and two seminaries, its buildings, public and 
 
 private, are poor ; and, in short, there is no- 
 thing about its exterior either to prepossess or 
 interest the passing traveler. Its two semin- 
 aries for the education of young ladies are said 
 to be in a flourishing condition. In North Car- 
 olina there are a number of institutions, col- 
 leges, etc., for the education of ladies, all in 
 high repute and well attended. Indeed nowlierc 
 does this important subject seem to have received 
 more consideration than in this State. 
 
 On arriving at Greensborough our traveler 
 ascertained that the site of Martinsville, the old 
 Guilford Court House of Revolutionary tim?s ; 
 was five miles distant. As it was too late iu 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 159 
 
 the day to set out for a visit, he passed the 
 afternoon in sauntering about the village, 
 and the evening in poring over ' ' Lee's Me- 
 moirs." At an early hour next morning 
 he mounted a horse and trotted off toward 
 Martinsville. 
 
 While our hero is making his way through 
 muddy lanes toward this interesting locality, 
 we will compile, from the best authorities, a 
 sketch of one of the most important battles 
 that was fought during the war of the Rev- 
 olution. 
 
 The retreat of Greene across the Dan left 
 North Carolina virtually in the hands of the 
 British. Having been unable to bring his 
 adversary to battle, Cornwallis retired to 
 Hillsborough, from whence he issued pro- 
 clamations to every quarter, calculated to 
 induce the Tory population to rise and join 
 the royal standard. This was what Greene 
 most feared ; and the possibility that these 
 efforts might prove successful, kept him 
 uneasy amidst the safety and abundance 
 of his camp in Halifax. Scarcely did he 
 allow the troops time for repose after their 
 arduous retreat, before he detached a light corps, 
 under Pickens and Lee, across the Dan, to hang 
 on the skirts of the enemy, and, if possible, to 
 repress any attempt on the part of the loyalists 
 to embody. The terrible fate of Pyle and his 
 followers seemed effectually to have accom- 
 plished this result ; yet, so anxious was the 
 American commander on the subject, that he 
 would not wait for his expected reinforcements 
 and munitions, but recrossed the Dan, with 
 the main army, on the 23d of February. 
 
 This movement was followed by a series of 
 skillful manceuvres which lasted for ten days ; 
 the British Commander endeavoring to force, 
 and the American to avoid, a general action. 
 Greene, as usual, was successful ; while Corn- 
 wallis, foiled and tired of this unavailing pur- 
 suit, retired to a position on Deep River for the 
 purpose of giving repose to his wearied troops. 
 
 In the mean time the loyalist population, 
 warned by the slaughter of Pyle's command, 
 
 KATHAMF.l. GEKENE 
 
 LOED CORNWALLIS. 
 
 and awed by the unconquered attitude of the 
 American forces, preferred to remain quiescent 
 until victory had declared for one side or the 
 other. The expected reinforcements having at 
 length arrived, Greene determined to give his 
 enemy the long-sought-for opportunity of battle. 
 He advanced and, on the 14th of March, took 
 his position at Guilford Court House, within 
 twelve miles of the enemy. His prompt and 
 confident adversary accepted the challenge with- 
 out hesitation. Early on the morning of the 
 fifteenth he was in motion. 
 
 Tidings of his approach having been convey- 
 ed to the American commander at four o'clock 
 in the morning, he ordered his van to arms and 
 to breakfast with all soldierly haste, while Col- 
 onel Lee, with his cavalry, was sent forward to 
 reconnoitre. Having advanced two or three 
 miles, this officer met his scouts retiring before 
 the troops of Tarleton. Believing that the main 
 body of the British army was at hand, Lee or- 
 dered his column to retire by troops, taking dis- 
 tance for open evolution. The rear troop went 
 off at full gallop, followed by the centre. The 
 front troop, to gain the open order required, 
 necessarily kept their horses at a walk. The 
 enemy, mistaking the object of this movement, 
 and supposing it the prelude to flight, made a 
 dash at this troop, hoping thereby to hasten 
 their pace. Finding that their advance was 
 unnoticed, they fired their pistols, shouted, and 
 pushed upon them a second time until their 
 leading sections had nearly closed with the 
 Americans. Astonished that their noise and 
 bravadoes had in no way accelerated the pace 
 of the legionary horse, they drew up, not know- 
 ing what to make of the sullen impassiveness of 
 their enemy. At this moment Lee ordered the 
 charge. The troop wheeled suddenly, and their 
 pent up fury burst upon the foe like a thunder- 
 bolt. The columns met in a lane, and the En- 
 
160 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 COLONEL HENEY LEE. 
 
 glish were literally ridden down and trampled 
 under foot by the powerful horses of the legion- 
 ary troopers. About thirty were killed, and the 
 rest fled with all speed upon the main body. 
 The bodies of the overthrown men and horses 
 so encumbered the lane that direct pursuit was 
 impeded, and having attempted in vain to over- 
 take and cut off the flying corps by a circuitous 
 route, Lee continued his retreat, and took the 
 position assigned him on the left of the Amer- 
 ican army. 
 
 Greene's force was posted on a wooded hill, 
 drawn up in three lines, the two first composed 
 of militia, and the third of his Continentals, con- 
 sisting of four regiments from Virginia and Ma- 
 ryland. 
 
 Colonel William Washington's cavalry, with 
 some sharp-shooters, protected the right flank, 
 while Lee's legion, with the Virginia riflemen, 
 covered the left. Two pieces of artillery were 
 placed in the rear line with the Continentals, 
 while two six-pounders were so posted as to 
 command the road by which the enemy was 
 expected to advance. All told, the American 
 force numbered four thousand five hundred 
 men ; of these about seventeen hundred were 
 Continentals, the rest militia. Their position 
 was chosen with ability, the woodland affording 
 every advantage to the militia and riflemen, who 
 were accustomed to that kind of fighting. They 
 had too, a superior and effective cavalry, and in 
 artillery were equal to the enemy. To counter- 
 balance these advantages, however, it must be 
 considered that militia, whatever may be their 
 numerical superiority, have generally been found 
 valueless and unreliable when opposed to regu- 
 lar troops ; that a large portion even of the Con- 
 
 tinentals, were new levies, and that 
 the whole army was comparatively ill- 
 equipped and scantily provided with 
 ammunition. 
 
 The British force consisted — horse, 
 foot, and artillery — of about two thou- 
 sand men. But these were all veteran 
 troops, completely armed and equipped, 
 inured to war and accustomed to vic- 
 tory. 
 
 Cornwallis made his disposition for 
 the attack with an audacity which no- 
 thing but an entire confidence in his 
 troops and his previous successes could 
 have justified. From a letter, it ap. 
 pears that he supposed his adversary 
 to be about seven thousand strong ; 
 and this supposed force, strongly post- 
 ed, as he was aware, he hastens eagerly 
 to attack with but two thousand men, 
 as if he had been beforehand assured 
 of victory. 
 
 No sooner had the British column 
 deployed and commenced marching to 
 the attack than the militia forming the 
 left of the front line were seized with 
 a panic, and fled, before a man of 
 them had been either killed or wound- 
 ed. Many of them did not even dis- 
 charge their guns, but left them loaded, sticking 
 between the rails of the fence behind which they 
 were posted. In vain did their officers attempt 
 to rally this terror-stricken herd ; in vain did 
 Lee threaten to fall upon them with his dra- 
 goons, and cut them to pieces. The panic was 
 complete and final. The gap thus ignominious- 
 ly left was immediately seized by the enemy, 
 giving him a powerful advantage at the com- 
 mencement of the onset, and throwing the 
 flanking legion out of combination with the rest 
 of the army. But this auspicious beginning 
 did not give to the enemy the speedy triumph it 
 seemed to promise. The Virginia militia fought 
 
 COLONEL WILLIAM WASHINGTON. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 in 
 
 with extraordinary courage and obstinacy, and 
 did every thing that raw troops could do against 
 the highly-disciplined and indomitable valor of 
 their adversaries. 
 
 The first and second lines were at length 
 driven in, and the enemy became engaged with 
 the third line, composed of Continental troops. 
 
 At this period of the battle Greene had every 
 hope of obtaining a complete victory, and but for 
 a disaster similar to that which occurred in the 
 commencement of the battle, this hope would, 
 doubtless, have been realized. 
 
 The enemy under Lieutenant-Colonel Web- 
 ster had received a check from the first regi- 
 ment of Marylanders under Gunby. The sec- 
 ond regiment, however, when assailed by a 
 battalion of the English Guards, led by Colonel 
 Stuart, broke and fled, leaving two pieces of 
 artillery in the hands of the enemy. The at- 
 tempt of the Guards to pursue the flying regi- 
 ment was checked by the First Marylanders. 
 and at this point Washington fell upon them 
 with his cavalry. This charge of horse was 
 seconded by Colonel Howard with the bayonet. 
 The Guards were ridden down and cut to 
 pieces. Colonel Stuart fell by the sword of 
 Captain Smith of the Marylanders. 
 
 When Cornwallis saw the remnant of this 
 battalion flying before the advancing corps, he 
 directed the fire of his artillery upon the min- 
 gled mass of pursuers and pursued. Brigadier 
 O'Hara remonstrated, exclaiming that the fire 
 would destroy the Guards. Cornwallis replied, 
 "It is a necessary evil which we must endure, 
 to arrest impending destruction." 
 
 Cornwallis went in person to direct these 
 measures to stop the advance of the Americans, 
 and in so doing exposed himself to imminent 
 peril, as the following anecdote from Marshall's 
 Life of Washington will show : 
 
 ' ' After passing through the Guards into the 
 open ground, Washington, who always led the 
 van, perceived an officer surrounded by several 
 persons, appearing to be aids-de-camp. Be- 
 lieving this to be Lord Cornwallis, he rushed 
 
 COLONEL JOHN E HOWARD. 
 
 Vol. XV.— No. 86.— L 
 
 on with the hope of making him prisoner, when 
 he was arrested by an accident. His cap fell 
 from his head, and as he leaped to the ground 
 to recover it, the officer leading his column was 
 shot through the body and rendered incapable 
 of managing his horse. The animal wheeled 
 round with his rider and galloped off the field. 
 He was followed by all the cavalry, who sup- 
 posed the movement had been directed." 
 
 Howard, with the infantry, believing himself 
 to be out of support retired to his former posi- 
 tion. Lee's legion in the mean time had fought 
 its way back to the left of the main body of 
 Continentals, and it is probable, if Greene had 
 been informed of this, and aware of the condi- 
 
1G2 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 BATTLE-GROUND AT GUILFORD. 
 
 tion of his enemy, he would have persevered 
 and won the hattle. As it was, the greater part 
 of the militia had left the field, he had found it 
 impossible to rally the second Marylanders, and 
 supposing Lee's command to have been either 
 destroyed or cut off from the army, he determ- 
 
 PLAN OP BATTLE OF GUILFORD. 
 
 ined not to risk the annihilation of his force but 
 to draw off while he could. A Virginia regi- 
 ment which had not yet tasted battle was or- 
 dered to the rear to cover the retreat, which 
 was effected deliberately and without disturbance, 
 as the enemy were in no condition to pursue. 
 
 The American loss in this 
 battle, in killed,wounded, and 
 missing, was about four hun- 
 dred men ; that of the enemy 
 was little less than six hun- 
 dred, nearly one-third of the 
 force engaged. The victory 
 belonged to the British, but 
 Fox said truly in the House 
 of Commons, "Another such 
 victory would destroy the Brit- 
 
 \J x ish armv -" 
 
 A few days after saw the 
 victorious Cornwallis in full 
 retreat on "Wilmington and 
 the beaten Greene in hot pur- 
 suit, seeking battle and una- 
 ble to obtain it. With his vic- 
 tory the British commander 
 lost every thing for which he 
 had so skillfully and arduous- 
 ly contended. Although de- 
 feated, the sagacious Ameri- 
 can regained his ascendency 
 in North Carolina, and struck 
 terror into the hearts of the 
 loyalists over the whole South. 
 
 Such was the battle of Guil- 
 ford, and such its results. 
 
 Porte Crayon at length ar- 
 
 * The view of the Battle-ground of Guilford is copied 
 from Lossing's "Field Book of the Revolution." "This 
 view," says Mr. Lossing, "is from the eminence south- 
 west of the old Guilford (Jourt-House. The log-house, 
 partially clap-boarded, seen on the right, was uninhab- 
 ited. In the distance, near the centre, is seen Martins- 
 ville, and between it and the foreground is the rolling 
 vale, its undulations furrowed by many gulleys. In an 
 
 open field, on the left of the road, seen in the hollow to- 
 ward the left of the picture, was the fiercest part of the 
 battle, where Washington charged upon the Guards. Upon 
 the ridge extending to the right, through the centre of 
 the picture, the second line (Virginians) was posted. Tho 
 snow was falling very fast when I made this sketch. Our 
 point of view, at the old log-house, is the extreme west- 
 erly view of the field of controversy." 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 163 
 
 rived at Martinsville, and the results of his visit 
 we will give in his own words. 
 
 "It was," said he, "with a feeling of inde- 
 scribable interest, mingled with something of 
 awe, that I reined up my horse in the midst of 
 a group of ruined chimneys and decayed wood- 
 en houses, all, save one, silent and deserted. 
 There was no human being in sight of whom 
 to make inquiry, but I knew instinctively that 
 I was upon the field of Guilford. The face of 
 the country answered so well to the descriptions 
 which I had read, and there had been appar- 
 ently so little change since the day of the bat- 
 tle, that there was no difficulty in recognizing 
 the localities. Unmarred by monuments, un- 
 contaminated by improvements, the view of the 
 silent, lonely fields and woods brought the old 
 times back, so fresh, so real, so near. Come, 
 wizard fancy, with thy spell of grarnarye ! fling 
 me a picture of the fight ! 
 
 "The hills are again crowned with armed 
 battalions. The rolling of drums, the start- 
 ling bugle call, the voice of command, break the 
 silence of the budding forest. There, swarm- 
 ing in the thicket, near the edge of the wood 
 and behind the protecting fences, are the un- 
 skillful militia, valiant in pot houses but unre- 
 liable in the field, hearkening, with fainting 
 hearts, to the mingled threats and encourage- 
 ment of their leaders, ready to fire and run 
 away at the first burst of battle. 
 
 "Manoeuvring on either flank are the snort- 
 ing squadrons of Washington and Lee, whose 
 flashing sabres have already tasted blood. In 
 the distance are seen the serried lines of the 
 grim Continentals, men of reliable mettle, who 
 can hear the battle going on around them and 
 bide their time ; who, unmoved and scornful, 
 see the panic-stricken herds of friends fly past 
 
 them, and then rush gallantly to meet the bay- 
 onets of their enemies. 
 
 "The cannon are posted ; the ready artille- 
 rist holds the lighted match. Alternately anx- 
 ious and hopeful, the American commander re- 
 views his order of battle. It is all wisely con- 
 sidered and complete. For the result, 'Trust in 
 God, and fire low !' 
 
 ' ' The hour of impending battle is always ter- 
 rible. To the commoner mind the question of 
 life or death is presented with awful distinct- 
 ness, while the nobler soul is torn with more 
 complicated emotions: 'Shall victory or defeat 
 be ours ? honor or disgrace ? a liberated coun- 
 try or a despot's bloody sword?' 
 
 "Hark! the rolling of the English drums! 
 Like an electric shock it shakes the thousands 
 that stand expectant upon the embattled hill! 
 Now the coward's cheek blanches, as with im- 
 potent and trembling haste he fumbles his mus- 
 ket lock. Now the warm blood rushes to the 
 brow of the brave, and with fiercer eagerness 
 he grasps his sword hilt. The head of the ad- 
 vancing column is already in sight. The sun's 
 rays glance upon their burnished arms : 
 
 " ' And more. Behold how fair arrayed 
 
 They file from out the hawthorn shade, 
 And sweep so gallant by ! 
 
 St. George might waken from the dead 
 To see fair England's banners fly.' 
 
 ' ' As the column deploys in the open ground, 
 white wreaths of smoke rise from the wood, and 
 the thunder of cannon proclaims that the battle 
 is begun. Then, as the audacious Briton, in 
 long scarlet lines, advances steadily to the at- 
 tack, the crash of small arms is heard along the 
 American line. Soon the tree-tops are hidden 
 with the rolling smoke, and the volleying mus- 
 ketry of the English, mingling with the contin- 
 
 GCILFOED COUBT-HOH6E. 
 
164 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 "V 
 
 FINDING THE GUN-LOCK. 
 
 nous roar of the American fire, swells the terri- 
 ble anthem of battle. 
 
 "The American lines are broken, and the 
 tide of war rolls on until the intrepid assailants 
 meet, in the Continental line, foes more worthy 
 of their steel : 
 
 " ' The war which for a space did fail, 
 
 Now, trebly thundering, swelled the gale.' 
 
 "Then, then Virginia, it was a joy, that even 
 defeat and disaster can not blight, to see that 
 haughty battalion of Guards flying in wild dis- 
 order from the wood, while thy fiery horsemen, 
 with hoof and sabre, trampled them in the 
 dust! 
 
 "I rose in my stirrups, and gave a shout 
 that made old Guilford's echoes ring again, 
 and alarmed a plowman on a hill half a mile 
 off. 
 
 " So bidding adieu to fancy, I set off to see 
 the plowman, wishing to make some more par- 
 ticular inquiries about the localities. I found 
 him intelligent and disposed to be communi- 
 cative. He indicated the different points where 
 the hardest fighting had been, showed an old 
 tree which had been struck by a cannon-shot, 
 and said that in plowing, even at this day, he 
 frequently turned up bullets, bayonets, and por- 
 tions of arms and accoutrements that had with- 
 stood the tooth of time. 
 
 " ' One day,' said he, ' as I was plowing near 
 my house thar, my little daughter found in the 
 furrow a complete musket-lock, much rusted 
 and standing at full cock. That,' continued 
 the countryman, 'set me to thinking more than 
 any thing I have yet seen. It looked more like 
 fighting. The man that cocked that gun was 
 killed perhaps before he had time to pull the 
 trigger. 
 
 " ' Many a time, Sir, when I am idle, I take 
 that lock in my hand and look at it, until I feel 
 
 curious like, as though the bat- 
 tle that was fought so many 
 years ago was somehow brought 
 nearer to us.' 
 
 " This quaint talisman that 
 wrought so powerfully on the 
 imagination of the unlettered 
 plowman, might even set more 
 learned men to thinking. 
 
 "Taking a friendly leave of 
 the countryman, I returned to 
 Green sborough in time to dine 
 and meet the cars for Salis- 
 bury. 
 
 "While I was waiting for the 
 train, a raw-looking chap, about 
 three feet across the shoulders, 
 squared himself in front of me, 
 and treated himself to a long, 
 deliberate, and apparently very 
 satisfactory stare. Notwith- 
 standing the lofty themes which 
 had occupied my thoughts dur- 
 ing the morning, I permitted 
 my indignation to betray me 
 into an unjustifiable act, for I revenged myself 
 behind his back." 
 
 
 REVENGK. 
 
HARPER'S 
 
 NEW MOITHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 No. LXXXVIL-AUGUST, 1S57.— Vol. IV. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 BY PORTE CRAYON. 
 
 IV.— THE GOLD REGION. 
 
 " Earth, yield me roots ; 
 Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate 
 With thy most operant poison. What have we here ? 
 Gold, yellow, glittering, precious gold." 
 
 Shakspea.ee. 
 
 THE Gold Region of North Carolina lies west 
 of the Yadkin, and the most important mines 
 are found between that river and the Catawba, 
 in the counties of Rowan, Cabarras, and Meck- 
 lenburg. 
 
 The following account, furnished by Colonel 
 Barnhardt, is given in Wheeler's History of the 
 State : 
 
 ".4 Sketch of the Discovery and History of the Reed 
 Gold Mine, in Cabarras County, North Carolina, being 
 the first Gold Mine discovered in the United States." 
 " The first piece of gold found at this mine was in the 
 year 1T99, by Conrad Reed, a boy of about twelve years 
 old, a son of John Reed, the proprietor. The discovery 
 was made in an accidental manner. The boy above 
 named, in company with a sister and younger brother, 
 went to a small stream, called Meadow Creek, on Sab- 
 bath day, while their parents were at church, for the 
 purpose of shooting fish with bow and arrow ; and while 
 engaged along the bank of the creek, Conrad saw a yel- 
 low substance shin- 
 ing in the water. 
 He went in and 
 picked it up, and 
 found it to be some 
 kind of metal, and 
 carried it home. 
 Mr. Reed examined 
 it, but as gold was 
 unknown in this 
 part of the country 
 at that time, he did 
 not know what kind 
 of metal it was. 
 The piece was about 
 the size of a small 
 smoothing-iron. 
 
 " Mr. Reed car- 
 ried the piece of 
 metal to Concord, 
 and showed it to 
 William Atkinson, 
 a silversmith ; but 
 he, not thinking of 
 gold, was unable to 
 say what kind of 
 metal it was. 
 
 " Mr. Reed kept 
 the piece for sev- 
 eral years on his 
 house floor, to lay 
 against the door to 
 keep it from shut- 
 
 FINDIXU GOLl 
 
 ting. In the year 1802 he went to market to Fayetteville, 
 and carried the piece of metal with him, and on showing 
 it to a jeweler, the jeweler immediately told him it was 
 gold, and requested Mr. Reed to leave the metal with him, 
 and said he would flux it. Mr. Reed left it, and returned 
 in a short time, and on his return the jeweler showed him 
 a large bar of gold, six or eight inches long. The jeweler 
 then asked Mr. Reed what he would take for the bar. 
 Mr. Reed, not knowing the value of gold, thought he 
 would ask a big price ; and so he asked three dollars and 
 fifty cents. The jeweler paid him his price. 
 
 " After returning home, Mr. Reed examined and found 
 gold in the surface along the creek. He then associated 
 Frederick Kisor, James Love, and Martin Phifer with 
 himself, and in the year 1803 they found a piece of gold 
 in the branch that weighed twenty-eight (28) pounds. 
 Numerous pieces -n ere found at this mine weighing from 
 sixteen pounds down to the smallest particles. 
 
 " The whole surface along the creek for nearly a mi'.e 
 was very rich in gold. 
 
 " The veins of this mine were discovered in the year 
 1831. They yielded a large quantity of gold. The veins 
 are flint and quartz. 
 
 " I do certify that the foregoing is a true statement of 
 the discovery and history of this mine, as given by Johu 
 Reed and his son Conrad Reed, cow both dead. 
 
 " Geobge Babnhaedt. 
 " January, 1848." 
 
 At the present day the surface gold is very 
 scarce, and the precious ore is found principal- 
 ly in veins of quartz, bedded in the hardest 
 
 black slate. 
 I=lyjj§^sgs%^ v'TSi The mines are 
 
 located in what 
 has been from 
 very early times 
 an opulent and 
 well-peopled dis- 
 trict, the theatre 
 of many import- 
 ant political and 
 military events 
 before and dur- 
 ing our struggle 
 for national in- 
 dependence. 
 
 What effect 
 the discovery of 
 gold may have 
 had upon the 
 general prosper- 
 ity of the region 
 we do not know ; 
 but having heard 
 divers and con- 
 flicting opinions 
 on the subject, 
 we have dis- 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by Harper and Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the Dis- 
 trict Court for the Southern District of New York. 
 
 Vol. XV.— No. 87.— T 
 
290 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 creetly concluded to indulge in no speculations 
 thereon. We will, therefore, resume our nar- 
 rative of the observations and adventures of our 
 heroic traveler, Porte Crayon. 
 
 At Salisbury, the seat of justice of Rowan 
 County, he found comfortable quarters at the 
 Rowan House. The first object which attract- 
 ed his attention here was a spry, crockery-col- 
 ored lad, clothed in red linsey, and tipped off 
 with an extraordinary crop of red wool. This 
 youth has an uncommon talent for handing hot 
 cakes, and, according to his own account, is a 
 cross of the Indian and Red Fox. 
 
 THE BED FOX. 
 
 Salisbury contains about three thousand in- 
 habitants, and is a well-built, flourishing town. 
 Among other notable objects it contains the of- 
 fice where General Jackson studied law, and the 
 houses which, in earlier times, were respectively 
 the head-quarters of Greene and Cornwallis, as 
 pursued and pursuing they passed through on 
 the famous retreat across the Dan. In connec- 
 tion with this event, an interesting anecdote is 
 related of Mrs. Elizabeth Steele, one of the 
 strong-minded women of that day, at whose 
 house Greene was entertained the evening of 
 the first of February, 1781. 
 
 As he arrived, after a hard day's ride through 
 the rain, he said despondingly to Surgeon Reed 
 that he was fatigued, hungry, and penniless. 
 
 It was not long before the distinguished sol- 
 dier was seated at a well- spread table, near a 
 roaring fire, when his hostess entered, the blush 
 of modesty mantling her cheek, the fervor of pa- 
 triotism burning in her eye. " General," said 
 she, "I overheard what you said to Doctor 
 Reed ; take these, for you will want them, and 
 I can do without them." So saying, she drew 
 two small bags of specie, the savings of years, 
 from beneath her apron, and placed them beside 
 his plate. 
 
 In the lives of those high-mettled dames of 
 the olden time, the daughters, wives, and moth- 
 ers of men, the earnest inquirer might find much 
 to elucidate that befogged question of the pres- 
 ent day, " What are the rights of women?" 
 
 Even our modern statesmen and patriots 
 might with benefit peruse the proceedings and 
 resolutions of a simple, earnest people, who ex- 
 pected to stand up to what they Resolved, and 
 did not understand legislating for Buncombe, 
 that world-famous county not having been then 
 established. 
 
 In the proceedings of the Committee of Safe- 
 ty for Row r an County in 1 774, we find the fol- 
 lowing expressive clause : "Resolved, That the 
 cause of the town of Boston is the common 
 cause of the American Colonies." 
 
 From Salisbury Mr. Crayon took the coach 
 for Gold Hill, twenty miles distant. He was 
 accompanied on this journey by a young gentle- 
 man from Massachusetts, who, led by a common 
 curiosity, was desirous of visiting the most fa- 
 mous of the North Carolina gold mines. Their 
 road passed through a pleasantly diversified 
 country, budding and blooming under the soft 
 influences of spring. Here and there they re- 
 marked heaps of red earth, broken rocks, de- 
 caying windlasses, and roofless sheds, designat- 
 ing the spots where men had wasted time and 
 money in searching for "earth's most operant 
 poison." 
 
 As the terrapin in the fable won the race by 
 steady perseverance, so the vehicle that conveyed 
 Porte Crayon and his friend at length reached 
 Gold Hill. This famous village contains about 
 twelve hundred inhabitants, the population be- 
 ing altogether made up of persons interested in 
 and depending on the mines. There is cer- 
 tainly nothing in the appearance of the place or 
 its inhabitants to remind one of its auriferous 
 origin, but, on the contrary, a deal of dirt and 
 shabbiness. Our philosophic tourist, however, 
 is rarely satisfied with a superficial view of things 
 if he can find opportunity to dive deeper in 
 search of truth. If this retiring goddess is so 
 partial to the bottom of a well, possibly she may 
 lie in the bottom of a mine. 
 
 "But, Mr. Crayon, how can you say with 
 propriety that truth lies any where ?" 
 
 "Aroynt thee, Punster! P , you have 
 
 been reading Shakspeare." 
 
 LITTLE BEITON8. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 291 
 
 Having presented their credentials to the su- 
 perintendent of the works, the travelers were 
 politely received, and in due time arrangements 
 were made to enable them to visit the subter- 
 ranean streets of Gold Hill. The foreman of 
 the working gangs was sent for and our friends 
 placed under his charge, with instructions to 
 show them every thing. Matthew Moyle was 
 
 a Comish man, a handsome, manly specimen of 
 a Briton. With bluff courtesy he addressed our 
 adventurers : 
 
 "You wish to see every thing right, gentle- 
 men ?" 
 
 "We do." 
 
 "Then meet me at the store at eight o'clock 
 this evening, and all things shall be in readiness." 
 
292 
 
 HAEPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 MAT MOYLE AlvD NICKY TKEVETHAX. 
 
 Eight o'clock soon arrived, and all parties were 
 met at the place of rendezvous. Moyle and his 
 assistant, Bill Jenkins, looked brave in their 
 mining costume. This consisted of a coat with 
 short sleeves and tail, and overalls of white 
 duck. A round-topped wide-brimmed hat of 
 indurated felt, protected the head like a helmet. 
 In lieu of crest or plume each wore a lighted 
 candle in front, stuck upon the hat Avith a wad 
 of clay. Crayon and his companion donned 
 similar suits borrowed for their use, and thus 
 accoutred the party proceeded immediately to 
 the mouth of the ladder shaft. This was a square 
 opening lined with heavy timber, and partly oc- 
 
 cupied by an enormous pump used to clear the 
 mines of water and worked by steam. The 
 black throat of the shaft was first illuminated 
 by Moyle, who commenced descending a narrow 
 ladder that was nearly perpendicular. Porte 
 Crayon followed next, and then Boston. The 
 ladders were about twenty inches wide, with one 
 side set against the timber lining of the shaft, 
 so that the climber had to manage his elbows 
 to keep from throwing the weight of the body 
 on the other side. Every twenty feet or there- 
 about the ladders terminated on the platforms 
 of the- same width, and barely long enough to 
 enable one to turn about to set foot on the next 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 293 
 
 ladder. In addition, the rounds and platforms 
 were slippery with mnd and water. As they 
 reached the bottom of the third or fourth ladder 
 Crayon made a misstep which threw him slight- 
 ly off his balance, when he felt the iron grasp of 
 the foreman on his arm : 
 
 "Steady, man, steady!" 
 
 "Thank you, Sir. But, my friend, how much 
 of this road have we to travel ?" 
 
 "Four hundred and twenty-five feet, Sir, to 
 the bottom of the shaft." 
 
 "And those faint blue specks that I see 
 below, so deep deep down that they look like 
 stars reflected in the bosom of a calm lake, 
 what are they ?"' 
 
 DESCENDING THE LADDER-SIIAFT. 
 
 ' ' Lights in the miners' hats, who are work- 
 ing below, Sir." 
 
 Porte Crayon felt a numbness seize upon his 
 limbs. 
 
 "And are we, then, crawling like flies down 
 the sides of this open shaft, with no foothold but 
 these narrow slippery ladders, and nothing be- 
 tween us and the bottom but four hundred feet 
 of unsubstantial darkness ?" 
 
 "This is the road we miners travel daily," 
 replied the foreman ; " you, gentlemen, wished 
 to see all we had to show, and so I chose this 
 route. There is a safer and an easier way if 
 you prefer it." 
 
 Crayon looked in the Yankee's face, but there 
 was no flinching there. 
 
 " Not at all," replied he ; "I was only asking 
 questions to satisfy my curiosity. Lead on until 
 you reach China ; we'll follow." 
 
 Nevertheless after that did our hero remove 
 his slippery buckskin gloves and grip the mud- 
 dy rounds with naked hands for better security ; 
 and daintily enough he trod those narrow plat- 
 forms as if he were walking on eggs, and when 
 ever and anon some cheery jest broke out, who 
 knows but it was uttered to scare off an awful 
 consciousness that, returning again and again, 
 would creep numbingly over the senses during 
 the intervals of silence ? 
 
 But we can not say properly that they ever 
 moved in silence, for the dull sounds that ac- 
 companied their downward progress were even 
 worse. The voices of the workmen rose from 
 the depths like inarticulate hollow moanings, 
 and the measured strokes of the mighty pump 
 thumped like the awful pulsations of some earth- 
 born giant. 
 
 Heated and reeling with fatigue, they at 
 length halted at the two hundred and seventy 
 foot gallery. Here they reposed for a few min- 
 utes, and then leaving the shaft walked some 
 distance into the horizontal opening. At the 
 end they found a couple of negroes boring in 
 the rock with iron sledge and auger. Having 
 satisfied their curiosity here, they returned to 
 the shaft and descended until they reached the 
 three hundred and thirty foot gallery. Here 
 appeared a wild-looking group of miners, twenty 
 or more in number, who had crowded on a nar- 
 row gallery of plank that went round the shaft 
 until it seemed ready to break with their weight. 
 A number of negroes were huddled in the en- 
 trance of an opposite gallery, and among them 
 our friends preferred to bestow themselves for 
 better security. 
 
 The miners were congregated here, awaiting 
 the explosion of a number of blasts in the main 
 gallery. The expectancy was not of long dura- 
 tion, for presently our friends felt and heard a 
 stunning crash as if they had been fired out of 
 a Paixhan gun, then came another and another 
 in quick succession. They were soon enveloped 
 in an atmosphere of sulphurous smoke, and as 
 the explosions continued Boston remarked, that 
 in a few minutes he should imagine himself in 
 the trenches at Sebastopol. 
 
204 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 BOEING. 
 
 When the blasting was over the men returned 
 to their places, and Moyle, having requested his 
 visitors to remain where they were, went to give 
 some directions to the workmen. During his 
 absence, Boston, with the characteristic sharp- 
 ness of his people, commenced prying about 
 him. 
 
 "What the deuce," quoth he, "is in these 
 bags on which we are sitting ?" 
 
 " Oh, nothing !" replied Crayon, in a listless 
 tone. 
 
 "But the bags are full," persisted the Yan- 
 kee ; " and I guess there must be something in 
 them." 
 
 " Salt, perhaps." 
 
 " I guess they have no particular use for salt 
 down here." 
 
 "Gold dust, maybe," and Crayon yawned. 
 
 " I've a mind to see, just to satisfy my curi- 
 osity," said Boston, opening his penknife. 
 
 He quietly slit one of the canvas bags, and 
 taking out a handful of coarse black grains 
 handed them over to Crayon. 
 
 Our hero opened his eyes, and then put a 
 pinch of the substance into his mouth. He 
 sprang up suddenly as if he had been shot at. 
 
 " Mind your light ! Gunpowder, by Heaven ! 
 come, let us leave." 
 
 "Wait a minute," said Boston, "until I re- 
 turn the powder and close the bag securely." 
 
 And having done this with great sangfroid, 
 he followed Crayon's suggestion. 
 
 ^Yhcn the foreman returned, our friends de- 
 
 scended to the bottom of the mine with- 
 out further stoppages. Here they found 
 a number of men at work, with pick 
 and auger, knocking out the glittering 
 ore. The quartz veins are here seen 
 sparkling on every side with golden 
 sheen. At least so it appears ; but the 
 guide dispelled the delusion by inform- 
 ing them that this shining substance was 
 only a sulphuret of copper, the gold in 
 the ore being seldom discernible by the 
 naked eye, except in specimens of ex- 
 traordinary richness. Several of these 
 specimens he found and kindlypresent- 
 ed to the visitors. 
 
 Having, at length, satisfied their cu- 
 riosity, and beginning to feel chilled by 
 their long sojourn in these dripping 
 abodes, our fiiends intimated to their 
 guide that they were disposed to revisit 
 the earth's surface. 
 
 The question then arose whether they 
 should reascend the ladders, or go up in 
 the ore bucket. The ladders were more 
 fatiguing, the bucket more dangerous, 
 and several miners counseled against 
 attempting that mode. Moyle, how- 
 ever, encouraged them with the assur- 
 ance that they did not lose many men 
 that way. Crayon settled the question 
 by the following observation : 
 
 " Sometimes it is prudent to be rash. 
 I'm tired ; and, paying due respect to 
 the calves of my legs, I have concluded to try 
 the bucket." 
 
 The bucket is a strong copper vessel about 
 the size of a whisky barrel, used to carry the 
 ore to the surface. It is drawn up through the 
 shaft on a strong windlass worked by horse-pow- 
 er. The operation is double — an empty bucket 
 descending as the loaded one ascends. One of 
 the risks from ascending in this way is in pass- 
 ing this bucket. Crayon stuck his legs into the 
 brazen chariot, and held the rope above. Moyle 
 stood gallantly upon the brim, balancing him- 
 self lightly with one arm akimbo. The signal- 
 cord was jerked, and up they went. 
 
 Slowly and steadily they rose. Crayon talk- 
 ed and laughed, occasionally trusting himself 
 with a glance downward, hugging the rope 
 closer as he looked. Moyle steered clear of 
 the descending bucket, and in a short time our 
 hero found himself at the mouth of the shaft. 
 With much care and a little assistance he was 
 safely landed, and the foreman again descended 
 to bring up the Yankee. 
 
 As Moyle went down, Crayon, with due pre- 
 caution, looked down into the shaft to watch 
 the proceeding. He saw the star in the miner's 
 helmet gradually diminish until it became a 
 faint blue speck scarcely visible. Then other 
 tiny stars flitted around, and faint, confused 
 sounds rose from the awful depth. At the sig- 
 nal the attendant at the windlass reversed the 
 wheel, and the bucket, with the men, began to 
 ascend. 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 29S 
 
 Wliile Crayon watched the lights, now grow- 
 ing gradually on his sight, he was startled by a 
 stunning, crashing sound that rose from the 
 shaft. The first concussion might have been 
 mistaken for blasting, but the noise continued 
 with increasing violence. The signal-chains 
 rattled violently, and the windlass was imme- 
 diately stopped. Loud calls were heard from 
 the shaft, but it was impossible to distinguish 
 what was said amidst the confused roar. 
 
 " Stop the pump!" said Crayon to the ne- 
 gro. " I believe the machinery below has giv- 
 en way." 
 
 The negro pulled a signal-rope connected 
 with the engine-house, and presently the long 
 crank that worked the pump was stopped ; at 
 the same time the frightful sounds in the shaft 
 ceased. The adventurers in the bucket then 
 resumed their upward journey. When they 
 arrived at the mouth of the shaft Movie nimbly 
 skipped upon the platform. Boston, who was 
 in the bucket, was preparing to land with more 
 precaution ; but the horse, probably excited by 
 the late confusion, disregarding the order to 
 halt, kept on his round. The bucket was drawn 
 up ten or twelve feet above the landing, and its 
 
 ASCENDING BUCKET-8ITAFT 
 
 brim rested on the windlass. Boston, to save 
 his hands from being crushed, was obliged to 
 loose his hold on the rope, and throw his arms 
 over the turning beam. One moment more, 
 one step further, and the bucket, with its occu- 
 pant, would have been whirled over and precip- 
 itated into the yawning abyss from which thev 
 had just risen. Moyle looked aghast — the ne- 
 gro attendant yelled an oath of mighty power 
 and sprang toward the horse. The movement 
 would have been unavailing, for the horse was 
 on the further side of his beat ; but it appears 
 he understood Mumbo Jumbo, and, at the tal- 
 ismanic word, the brute stood still. Cuffee 
 seized his head and backed him until the bucket 
 descended to the level of the platform, and the 
 Yankee Mas rescued from his perilous position, 
 altogether less flurried and excited than any of 
 the witnesses. 
 
 Crayon then ascertained that his surmise in 
 regard to the hubbub in the shaft was correct. 
 At a point about a hundred and fifty feet from 
 the bottom some of the pump machinery was 
 accidentally diverted from its legitimate busi- 
 ness of lifting water, and got to working among 
 the planks and timbers that lined the shaft, 
 crushing through every thing, and sending a 
 shower of boards and splinters below. The 
 fracas was appalling, and, but for the prompt 
 stoppage of the machinery, serious damage and 
 loss of life might have been the result. 
 
 As they were about to leave Porte Crayon 
 approached the negro. 
 
 "Uncle," said he, speaking with evident em- 
 barrassment, "you have been at some trouble 
 on our account — got us safely out of the shaft. 
 I wish to thank you, and to offer you some re- 
 muneration in the shape of a present. If, in- 
 deed, you, who are continually up to your knees 
 in gold, would condescend to look upon a pitiful 
 piece of silver." 
 
 " Silber, Massa?" ejaculated Cuffee, opening 
 his eyes. 
 
 "Yes, I take the liberty," continued Crayon, 
 "of offering you a trifle," and, with a sheepish 
 air, he dropped half a dollar into the extended 
 palm. 
 
 " In a place where you habitually tread gold 
 under your feet, I am really ashamed to offer 
 you baser metal." 
 
 " Silber, Massa !" said Cuffee, grinning from 
 ear to ear, "why I ain't seed sich a sight sence 
 last Christmas ;" and he louted so low that his 
 ragged hat swept the ground. 
 
 As the strangers retired the voice was heard 
 still muttering : 
 
 "Think nothin' of silber, eh! I like dat — 
 dat's money. Dese yaller stones ain't no use 
 to us. Silber! ke, he — dem's gemplums sure 
 enough." 
 
 Before they parted Crayon formally returned 
 his thanks to the foreman, and delicately hinted 
 at remuneration. The offer met a polite but 
 decided refusal from the manly Englishman. 
 
 Altogether the visit to the mine occupied 
 about four hours, and the travelers were suffi- 
 
296 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 ciently fatigued to appreciate their 
 beds that night. 
 
 On the following morning they vis- 
 ited the works accompanied by the 
 superintendent, who explained to them 
 in a satisfactory manner the whole 
 process of getting gold. In the first 
 place, the ore taken from the mine 
 is broken with hammers to the size of 
 turnpike stone. It is then subjected 
 to a process of grinding in water, 
 passing through the crushing, drag- 
 ging, and stirring mills, until it is re- 
 duced to an impalpable powder, or, in 
 its wet condition, to a light gray mud, 
 which is washed down, and collects 
 in a large vat below the mills. From 
 this it is carried in wheel-barrows to 
 the cradles. The cradles are eighteen 
 or twenty feet long, formed from the 
 trunks of trees split in twain and 
 scooped out like canoes. They are 
 laid upon parallel timbers with a 
 slight inclination, and fastened to- 
 gether, so that a dozen or more may 
 be moved with the same power. They 
 are closed at the upper end, open at 
 the lower, and at intervals on the in- 
 side are cut with shallow grooves to 
 hold the liquid quicksilver. The 
 golden mud is distributed in the up- 
 
 AT MOUTH OP BUCKET SHAFT. 
 
 per end of these cradles, a small 
 stream of water turned upon it, and 
 the whole vigorously and continu- 
 ally rocked by machinery. The 
 ground ore is thus carried down 
 by the water, the particles of gold 
 taken up by the quicksilver, and 
 the dross washed out at the lower 
 end, where a blanket is ordinarily 
 kept to prevent the accidental loss 
 of the quicksilver. After each day's 
 performance the quicksilver is tak- 
 en out, squeezed in a clean blanket 
 or bag, and forms a solid lump 
 called the amalgam. This amal- 
 gam is baked in a retort, the quick- 
 silver sublimates and runs off into 
 another vessel, while the pure gold 
 remains in the retort. 
 
 Although this is the most ap- 
 proved mode yet known of sepa- 
 rating the gold from the ore, it is 
 so imperfect that, after the great 
 works have washed the dust three 
 -^ or four times over, private enter- 
 -<>?' prise pays for the privilege of wash- 
 -' ing the refuse, and several persons 
 make a good living at the business. 
 These private establishments are 
 less complicated and far more pic- 
 turesque in appearance than the 
 great ones. The only machines 
 necessary there are the cradles and 
 the motive power, half a dozen 
 lively little girls from twelve to 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 297 
 
 fifteen years of age. This power, if not so re- 
 liable and steady, is far more graceful and en- 
 tertaining than steam machinery. Although 
 the fastidious might find fault with their ap- 
 parel, yet the graceful activity of these bare- 
 footed lasses as they skip and dance over their 
 rolling stage, with elf-locks waving free, cheeks 
 rosy with exercise, and eyes bright with fun, is 
 far more pleasing to the eye of taste than the 
 strained, extravagant, and unnatural postur- 
 ings of your Ellslers and Taglionis that we 
 make such a fuss about, excelling them as the 
 wild rose of nature does the bewired and painted 
 artificial, or — ah ! — as the — Crayon suggests — 
 as freckles and dirt excel rouge and tinsel. 
 
 As our artist was amusing himself sketching 
 one of these establishments, he observed the 
 children at a neighboring shed apparently in 
 consultation. Presently the tallest one among 
 them approached him, and after hovering around 
 for some time, at length leaned over and ad- 
 dressed him in a whisper : 
 
 "I say, man, when you've done here, please 
 come up our way and give us a touch." 
 
 Gold Hill, we were informed, belongs to a 
 Northern company. The works are on a more 
 extensive scale than at any other point in 
 North Carolina. They give employment to 
 about three hundred persons, and seem to be in 
 a highly prosperous condition. The working 
 
 
298 
 
 HARPEK'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 BILL JENKINS. 
 
 of the mines is chiefly under the direction of 
 Englishmen from the mining districts of Corn- 
 wall, and negroes are found to be among the 
 most efficient laborers. All the machinery of 
 the different establishments is worked by steam 
 power except the windlasses for raising the ore, 
 where blind horses are used in preference. 
 
 Having stuffed his knapsack with specimens 
 of ore, and enriched his portfolio with several 
 portraits of the miners, Porte Crayon with his 
 companion took the stage and returned to Salis- 
 bury. 
 
 ' ' I pray, come crush a cup of wine, rest you 
 merry." What's this? An invitation to a 
 May-day picnic. The earth has already put 
 on her summer livery, wearing it daintily and 
 fresh like a bran-new gown. The southern 
 breeze blows balmily, all perfumed like a sweet 
 damsel just come from her toilet. The birds 
 sing like fifers, and the meads, bepranked with 
 flowers, vie in beauty with our fashionable hotel 
 carpets. Woods, breezes, birds, and flowers — 
 all nature joins in the invitation. 
 
 At an early hour on the third of May a nu- 
 merous and brilliant company took the cars at 
 the Salisbury de'pot in answer to the foregoing 
 invitation. There was broadcloth and beautv 
 
 in proper proportions, 
 and a profusion of flow- 
 ers, wit, and merriment. 
 The disembarkation at 
 Holtsburg developed 
 still further the inten- 
 tions and resources of 
 the party. Numerous 
 mysterioushampcrswere 
 transferred from thebag- 
 gage-car to the platform 
 of the station-house, and 
 a brace of Cuffees, bear- 
 ing instruments of mu- 
 sic, made themselves a 
 part of the company. 
 
 This couple remind- 
 ed one of Don Quixote 
 and his Squire done in 
 ebony. Alfred, the fid- 
 dler, was a lathy, long- 
 armed, knock - kneed 
 black, with a counte- 
 nance that vied in rue- 
 fulness with that of the 
 Knight of La Mancha ; 
 while Simon, the tam- 
 bour-major, was a short, 
 wiry, jolly-faced fellow, 
 who thumped his sheep- 
 s-kin with a will. Of 
 these, however, more 
 anon. 
 
 The idea of "dan- 
 cing on the green" is 
 eminently poetical, but 
 quite absurd in practice ; 
 the managers of the pic- 
 nic had therefore wisely 
 determined to take advantage of the springy 
 floor -of the Holtsburg station-house. This was 
 pleasantly situated near the silvery Yadkin, in 
 the midst of a beautiful woodland, and a more 
 fitting locality could not have been selected. 
 They were at first somewhat disconcerted at 
 finding the station-house entirely occupied with 
 bales of hay ; but this untoward circumstance 
 was so turned to account by the ingenuity and 
 energy of the gentlemen that it was afterward 
 esteemed a lucky hit. The bales were rolled 
 out on the platforms, arranged around the room, 
 and piled up at one end, where they served ad- 
 mirably for tables, scats, couches, galleries, and 
 added greatly to comfort and the appearance of 
 the scene. 
 
 The early part of the day passed most agree- 
 ably in rural walks, music, dancing, cards, and 
 conversation. Then the mid-day feast was 
 spread and eaten, of course. Every body pro- 
 nounced every thing delightful, every body was 
 pleased, and every body was quite right. The 
 bright Champagne foamed in o'erflowing bump- 
 ers. The corks flew about like shot in a sharp 
 skirmish. Much store of wit and mirth, which, 
 like the music in the bugle of Munchausen's 
 postillion, had remained congealed by the frost 
 
NORTH CAROLINA ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 200 
 
 of ceremony, now broke forth spontaneously, un- 
 der the melting influences of wine. The fid- 
 dler struck up a merrier tune, and even Alfred's 
 rueful visage seemed to catch a gleam of jollity. 
 The tambourine boomed and jangled with re- 
 doubled power as the excited Simon rapped the 
 sounding sheepskin consecutively with knuckles 
 kneepan, pate, and elbow. Alfred's legs and 
 arms worked like the cranks of a grasshopper 
 engine, going at thirty miles an hour. The 
 spirit of the dancers kept pace with the music 
 until the approach of evening warned them to 
 get ready for the train which would bear them 
 back to Salisbury. Things were packed up, 
 and the necks of several bottles of Champagne, 
 discovered among the stuff, were broken off to 
 pass away the time while they waited for the 
 train." 
 
 "What a delightful day we've had! How 
 charmingly every thing has passed off! not an 
 incident to mar the enjoyment!" 
 
 Just then Alfred appeared on the platform, 
 his trembling knees knocked together, his bosom 
 heaved like a blacksmith's bellows, his face was 
 ashy pale, and his eyes rolled upward with a 
 mingled expression of terror and despair. For 
 some moments he was dumb ; but his attitude 
 and accessories told his story — a grief too bi^ 
 for words. In one hand he held an empty bag, 
 and in the other his tuneful friend and com- 
 panion, the fiddle. But in what a case ! splint- 
 ered, smashed, mammocked, bridge and sound- 
 ing-post gone, the tail-piece swinging by the 
 idle strings. 
 
 Simon looked on aghast. 
 
 " Somebody done sot on her !" he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 Alfred at length spoke: "Da! dat fiddle is 
 done ruinged !" and again relapsed into dumb- 
 ness, while two big tears gathered in his eyes. 
 The hearts of the spectators were touched, and 
 they crowded round the unhappy negro. 
 
 "Why, Alfred," cried one, "it can be mend- 
 ed." 
 
 "Never, massa, she'll never sound agin.'" 
 
 ' ' Pass round your hat, Alfred. " 
 
 That was a woman's voice. God bless the 
 ladies ! May their kind hearts never know sor- 
 row ! 
 
 The hat circulated, and substantial sympathy 
 showered in it so freely that there was present- 
 ly enough to buy two fiddles. A glow of hap- 
 piness overspread the minstrel's face, and as he 
 acknowledged and pocketed the contents of the 
 hat, he glanced again at his mutilated instru- 
 ment. 
 
 "I specks I kin mend her up yit." 
 
 Now Simon was an interested spectator of 
 these proceedings, and when he saw the turn 
 things had taken he grew thoughtful and began 
 to scratch his head. Anon he disappeared, and 
 after a short time returned with tears in his 
 eyes, uttering groans and lamentations. 
 
 "Well, Simon, what has befallen you?" 
 
 "Oh, master," replied Simon, with a tragedy 
 countenance, "I wouldn't a had dis to happen 
 for five dollars; jis look at dis tambourine — 
 busted clean through." 
 
300 
 
 HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 "DAT FIDDLE DONE 11UINGED. ' 
 
 "How did this occur, Simon?" said the 
 gentleman, examining the broken instrument. 
 
 "Why, master, I don't know exactly how it 
 come ; but I specks somebody put dere foot in 
 it." 
 
 " I would not be surprised," returned the ex- 
 aminer, "if some one had put his foot in it. 
 Now, Simon, you perceive the frame of the 
 tambourine is perfectly sound, and the cracked 
 
 sheepskin can be easily replaced. Your esti- 
 mate of five dollars damages is excessive. In 
 my judgment, a judicious expenditure of ten 
 cents will put every thing in statu quo ante hel- 
 ium. Here is a dime, Simon." 
 
 During this discourse the tambour-major 
 looked very sheepish and restive, but habitual 
 deference for the opinions of the dominant race 
 induced him to accept the award without de- 
 murrer, only observing, as he joined in the gen- 
 eral laugh, 
 
 " I mought as well not a-broke it." 
 
 Meanwhile one of the company had got hold 
 of the broken tambourine-head, declaring that 
 the events of the day deserved to be written on 
 parchment. 
 
 A call was made upon the company for poet- 
 ical contributions, which was answered by a 
 shower of couplets. A committee appointed to 
 collect and arrange the proceeds reported the 
 following : 
 
 VEESES WRITTEN BY A PICNIC PARTY ON TirE nEAD OF 
 A BROKEN TAMBOURINE WITII A CORKSCREW. 
 
 " Of all the year, the time most dear 
 Is buxom, blooming, merry May ; 
 In woodland bowers we gather flowers 
 From morning fair to evening gray. 
 
 " Time we beguile with beauty's smile, 
 
 And sweetly while the hours away, 
 
 Champagne sipping, lightly tripping, 
 
 Like lambs skipping in their play. 
 
 "Music sounding, mirth abounding. 
 Old care drowning in the foam 
 Of sparkling bumper — fill a thumper 
 And we'll drink to friends at home. 
 
 " Pray mind your work and poj) the cork, 
 Just take a fork if corkscrews fail : 
 'Think'st thou, because thou'rt virtuous. 
 There shall be no more cakes and ale ?' 
 
 " To ladies eyes 'neath southern skies, 
 To those we prize on earth most dear, 
 Another brimming goblet fill — 
 
 But, hark ! the warning whistle near. 
 
 " Drink quick — 'tis time to close our rhyme — 
 To Holtsburg's halls a farewell — hie ; 
 To Yadkin's bowers and fragrant flowers — 
 Quick — tram-it gloria mundi — sick." 
 
/ 
 
' 
 
 00035464522 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
 Form No. A-368, Rev. 8/95 
 
)' 
 
 i . 
 
 tr / 
 
 "N