head was not stuck upon a pole anywhere within sight, however, and as soon as I became pretty sure of this, I began to look about me, and saw instead a trellis tapestried with the most beautiful roses I ever beheld, another of these exquisite southern flowers—­the Cherokee rose.  The blossom is very large, composed of four or five pure white petals, as white and as large as those of the finest Camellia with a bright golden eye for a focus; the buds and leaves are long and elegantly slender, like those of some tea roses, and the green of the foliage is dark and at the same time vivid and lustrous; it grew in masses so as to form almost a hedge, all starred with these wonderful white blossoms, which, unfortunately, have no perfume.

We rode home through the pine land to Jones’s, looked at the new house which is coming on hideously, saw two beautiful kinds of trumpet honeysuckle already lighting up the woods in every direction with gleams of scarlet, and when we reached home found a splendid donation of vegetables, flowers, and mutton from our kind neighbour Mrs. F——­, who is a perfect Lady Bountiful to us.  This same mutton, however—­my heart bleeds to say it—­disappeared the day after it was sent to us.  Abraham the cook declares that he locked the door of the safe upon it, which I think may be true, but I also think he unlocked it again.  I am sorry; but, after all, it is very natural these people should steal a little of our meat from us occasionally, who steal almost all their bread from them habitually.

I rode yesterday to St. Annie’s with Mr. ——.  We found a whole tract of marsh had been set on fire by the facetious negro called Pun, who had helped me out of it some time ago.  As he was set to work in it, perhaps it was with a view of making it less damp; at any rate, it was crackling, blazing, and smoking cheerily, and I should think would be insupportable for the snakes.  While stopping to look at the conflagration, Mr. ——­ was accosted by a three parts naked and one part tattered little she slave—­black as ebony, where her skin was discoverable through its perfect incrustation of dirt—­with a thick mat of frizzly wool upon her skull, which made the sole request she preferred to him irresistibly ludicrous:—­’Massa, massa, you please to buy me a comb to tick in my head?’ Mr. ——­ promised her this necessary of life, and I promised myself to give her the luxury of one whole garment.  Mrs. ——­ has sent me the best possible consolation for the lost mutton, some lovely flowers, and these will not be stolen.

* * * * *

Saturday, the 13th.—­Dear E——­, I rode to-day through all my woodpaths for the last time with Jack, and I think I should have felt quite melancholy at taking leave of them and him, but for the apparition of a large black snake, which filled me with disgust and nipped my other sentiments in the bud.  Not a day passes now that I do not encounter one or more of these hateful reptiles; it is curious