_Pine Grove, St. Helena, April 21._ H.[18] and Miss Towne[19] carried
the letters to the post-office, Caroline, Mr. Forbes's chamber-girl,
following to show them the way there, take them to the schools and
into some negro quarters. They were derided by the soldiers, they
said, who called after them, "See the Southern Aristocracy with their
nigger behind them!" which amused Caroline very much.
Mr. Forbes took me in his open wagon, a tumble-down affair he has from
a negro to avoid the annoyance of always having to make a requisition
upon Government, the only owner in these regions of anything, and
drove me down the river to a plantation[20] we had noticed as we came
up on the boat, and where there was a cotton-gin Mr. Forbes wanted me
to see. The greater part of the way our road was shaded by woods on
the water-side, live-oaks with their ornamental moss, gum-trees and
pines with quantities of cat-brier and trumpet honeysuckle in full
bloom. The cotton-fields were unshaded, of course, and very large,
containing from one to three hundred acres. We passed some freshly
planted, but most of them were covered with the old bushes, dry and
dead, at which I was much surprised until I found that it was the
habit to leave the fields as they are after the cotton is picked, for
a year, planting on the same land only every other year. It makes
dreary, desolate-looking fields, for though a few weeds spring up, no
grass grows in this region, and they are brown instead of green all
summer. The Smith Plantation is about five miles from town, the house
in the centre of a live-oak grove, beautiful and beyond description,
open underneath, and so hanging with moss that you can scarcely see
any leaves as you look up. A little chapel on the place I got out to
look at, made very roughly of boards whitewashed, inside an earth
floor covered with straw, rough wooden benches, the pulpit and altar
made in the same way, but covered entirely with the grey moss, as we
trim for Christmas. The house looked rough and ordinary to us, as they
all do, except a few in the town; we did not go in. I believe there
are cotton-agents there attending to the ginning, which process we saw
in a little house by itself, where a steam gin worked four stands
tended by one hand each. The funny thing was to see them pack the
bales. There was a round hole in the second-story floor and a bag was
fastened to the edges, into which a man gets and stamps the cotton
down. I saw it swinging downstairs, but did not know what it was till,
on going up, I found a black head just above the floor, which grinned
from ear to ear with pleasure at the sight of a white lady, and ducked
and bobbed in most convulsive fashion.
We drove through the negro quarters, or "nigger-house," as they
themselves call the whole settlement, and they flocked to the doors to
look at us, bowing and smiling as we went by. There were eight or ten
separate houses just raised from the ground so that the air could pass
underneath, and, as we looked in at the doors, apparently with very
little furniture, though in some we saw chairs which were evidently
Massa's. Dirty and ragged they all were, but certainly no more so than
poor Irish, and it seemed to me not so dirty.
I saw palmetto-trees for the first time on this drive near enough to
know what they really looked like. They stand alone in the
cotton-fields like our elms in a meadow, though there are fewer of
them, and they are stiff and straight. The Spanish dagger, looking
like a miniature palmetto, was planted for hedges round the garden and
fish-pond. Mistletoe I saw for the first time.
Mr. Hooper came over in the morning [of the next day] and told us he
should come for us at 12.30, but it was five before we got into the
boat.[21] The negroes sang to us in their wild way as they rowed us
across--I cannot give you the least idea of it. Indeed, I can't give
you the least idea of anything, and you must not expect it. The town
looked very pretty from the boat, some of the houses are large and
quite imposing in appearance. We found Mr. Pierce and his carriage
waiting for us, having been there without any dinner since one
o'clock. (This is the land of waiting, we have discovered--patience is
a virtue our Northern people will have to learn here.) We drove at
once to Pope's plantation, passing Mr. Eustis on the way at his
overseer's house, bedaubed from head to foot with molasses, which he
had been selling all day to the negroes, a pint to a hand. Here Mr.
Philbrick was waiting with his sulky (a two-wheeled jockey-cart), an
ox-team for the baggage, and a dump-cart in which he and H. were to
drive, while I drove the sulky alone in my glory. But it was too late
for us to think of driving ten miles farther, so we laid our beds down
and prepared for another halt. The next morning Mr. Pierce sent us
home in his carriage.
We reached here not long before two, and went to work to try and
muster up some dinner. I had a cup and saucer, tumbler and three
knives and forks, and the rennet, which soon supplied one dish; the
negroes brought china in limited quantities; we opened a box of
sardines, and coffee, and, with the army bread we brought from
Beaufort, fried eggs, and hominy, made a most excellent meal; a
tablecloth, napkins, and silver spoons forming some of the
appointments. Joe, the carpenter, young and handy, made a very good
waiter, but when he went out and cut a bough of sycamore and began to
brush the flies as we ate, it was almost more than I could stand. Then
we went to work to put what things we had to rights, H. got her
servant, and moreover we had to receive and shake hands with any
number of negroes, who came flocking round us at once, following the
carriage as we drove up in true Southern style, and coming into the
house to satisfy their curiosity.
W. G---- was here and aided us with a will, and about five o'clock I
went with him to the praise-house,[22] where he has his school. The
children were all assembled by Cuffy, and he was teaching them when we
went in. Mr. G---- read in the Bible, substituting words that they
could understand, made a very simple prayer, all kneeling, and then
heard them their letters and words for an hour, with a great deal of
tact and ability--strange words, you may think, to use in such a
connection, but you have little idea how much it needs of both. We
are not used to these people--it is even very difficult to understand
what they say. They have been born and brought up just here, in the
most isolated way, for generations, with no chance of improvement, and
there is not a single mulatto[23] on the place--they are black as the
blackest, and perfect children--docile, and with "faith enough to live
by," W---- G---- says. I find I have no shrinking from them, and hope
I shall be able to do my part. I take this school off his hands--he
has two other plantations to teach on and has been working like a
beaver. I made my first attempt this afternoon and got along
comfortably. Flora, the house-servant (that is, ours,--she is a field
hand), took me on my way to see the old mammas, and I went into
several of the cabins and came home with a present of nine eggs!
These houses are all built of hard pine, which is handsome on the
floors, but the rest of the woodwork is painted, in this house an ugly
green, which is not pretty or cheerful. The walls are always left
white. Clapboards are unknown, but hard-pine boards, a foot or more
broad, are put on in the same way, and everything outside is
whitewashed. The place is very attractive-looking, grapevines and
honeysuckles and pine woods near.
_April 25._ The house is raised high from the ground, as all are here,
and boarded in loosely underneath. There is a circle of orange-trees
round the house, and roses in abundance, but no grass, which is
dreary. The quarters are a quarter of a mile off, and the
praise-house is near them, where I have school twice a day. It is very
interesting, and I enjoy it much, though of course there is nothing to
teach but the alphabet and little words. They sing their letters very
nicely now. They are much better-mannered than the Irish, and I have
had no trouble as yet.
Perhaps when I get to understanding things better I shall be able to
tell you some things they say. They were uneasy till they discovered
our first names, and were pleased that mine was that of the "old
Missus." They have brought me presents of eggs two or three times.