pecting the state of social life and morals among the slave population employed in domestic servitude, which, as it came to us in the most authentic shape, is worth noticing, as a specimen of what we were assured was of very common occurrence. A female slave, born in Georgia, had been brought up in the house of her white master, and had given birth to a child, of whom one of the white master's visiting friends was the father. When the child grew up, it was thought desirable, for the father's sake, to send both the mother and child away to some other State, and as both were the property of the white master, (for offspring in this country follow the fate of their mothers, so that the coloured child of a white father becomes the property of the master to whom the slave-mother belongs,) it was proposed to send them both into Alabama for sale. As all the slaves have a great horror of being sent to the south or the west, -for the farther they go in either of these directions, the harder they are worked, and the worse they are used-great objection was made to this, and the mother declared she would "sulk," so that nobody should buy her, and she would rather kill her brown boy than let him go to Alabama. As either of these steps would lessen the value of the master's property, and as the negroes have often resolution enough to put such threats into execution, the master began to hesitate, and the matter was compromised, by the mother being sold into the western part of the same State, and removed from Augusta to Columbia, while the child was sent farther east, to Charleston in South Carolina, and there is very little probability of their ever seeing each other again.

SEPARATION OF SLAVE-MOTHER AND CHILD.

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Such separations as these are quite common, and appear to be no more thought of, by those who enforce them, than the separation of a calf from its brute parent, or a colt from its dam. As the mother was an excellent house-servant, so large a sum as 1200 dollars, or nearly £250 sterling, was given for her by her present owner; and he hired her to the master of the hotel, for a fixed sum in monthly wages, the amount of which was 20 dollars, giving the owner, therefore, an interest of 20 per cent. on his investment; out of which he had no deduction to make for her maintenance, as the person hiring her undertook to feed and clothe her. For the latter, however, she was entirely dependent on any little presents received from travellers visiting the hotel; though this was very trifling, as it is not the custom to give fees to the servants in America: indeed, the charges are generally so high, as to indispose persons to add gratuities to the attendants. The condition of a large race of unfortunate dependents, among whom such instances as these are common, may therefore be better imagined than described.

CHAP. XIV.

Leave Georgia for Alabama-Contrast of scenery and condition -Wildness and solitude of the forest-Reach Tuskeegea— Story of the landlady-Rising village-Excellent school in the woods-Halt for the night at a log-hut- Vindictive spirit of the Indians and their breed-Cubahatchee-Improved aspect of the country-Fine houses-Large and productive plantations -Corduroy roads-Break-down of the coach-Negro-repairs -Village of Mount Meigs-Second breakdown-Wretched appearance of the plantation slaves-Express mail from New York to New Orleans-Arrival at Montgomery.

We felt so much fatigued by our rough journeys from Augusta to Macon, and Macon to Columbus, that we were unwilling to encounter another night's travelling in the same way; and as the regular stages all pass through here at night, there was no way of escaping the evil we desired to avoid, but by taking an extra coach for our exclusive use, and giving two days to the journey of little more than ninety miles. After considerable negotiation, we were enabled to effect this, but at the extravagant charge of 120 dollars, or about £25 sterling.

In this coach we left Columbus at eight o'clock on the morning of Wednesday the 13th of March; and crossing the river Chathahooche a little below the falls, by the wooden bridge described, we entered on the state of Alabama, the river being the dividing line or boundary between the two.

The change of aspect in scenery and condition was very striking. The woods, into which we were entering, scemed more wild, the road being a mere

FORESTS AND LOG-HUTS.

251

pathway through and around standing trees, the tops of which touched our heads in many places; the land was poorer in quality, but being more undulated in surface, the swamps in the bottoms were more abundant; the brooks ran with greater impetuosity, and the bridges over them were more rude than any we had yet seen. Rough corduroy roads occurred for many hundred yards at a time, and loose planks laid across horizontal beams, supported on single pillars, but neither nailed nor fastened, served for bridges; while frequently the coach would have to go through water deep enough to come close up to the coach-door, and threaten us, by the slightest false step, with immersion. The stations, where we changed horses, were mere log-huts, used as stables: and all the way, for miles in succession, we saw neither a human being, a fence, a rood of cleared land, nor anything indeed that could indicate the presence of man, or the trace of civilization, so that we felt the solitude of the woods in all its fulness.

This description applies to all the tract of land for many miles beyond the river Chathahoochee; and it was said that whoever came as far as that towards Georgia, were more disposed to go on and fix their settlement in that State, than in Alabama, which seems to have a bad name even among those who reside in it. Beyond this belt, signs of settlement began gradually to appear, but even these were of the rudest A blacksmith's shop, a few log-huts, and a "confectionary," with the ever-ready poison of strong drink, constituted a village; and for forty miles of our road we saw only one instance of a store where any other goods could be procured; this being

kind.

a log-house recently devoted to the purpose of a general drapery and grocery warehouse.

It was five o'clock, or nine hours after our setting out from Columbus, when we reached the little village of Tuskeegea, forty-five miles from Columbus; and here we should have halted for the night, but that there were yet two good hours of daylight, and we were desirous of making the second day's journey as short as practicable. The inn, at which we changed horses, was one of the neatest and cleanest we had seen in the South; and though very humble in its appearance and furniture, there was such an air of neatness, cleanliness, and order about it, that it excited our warm commendation. The landlady, having her sympathies touched by our praise of her management and arrangement, entered voluntarily into conversation with us, and told us the outline of her history.

She said that her husband and herself had both been brought up without having been taught the proper value of money, so that they had not been long married before they had run through all they possessed. In this extremity they had only a choice between two evils, one of which was to go to Texas, where people who were unfortunate had land given to them, and could get on fast, by industry and care; the other was to purchase a small piece of land in some rising village nearer home, and, by a little harder labour and more rigid economy, get on quite as well, though not quite so fast, as in Texas. They preferred the last, and came here about three years ago; it was then that the first tree was cut down to form the village of Tuskecgca, where some