ny never omitted night and morning, where water can be procured);
"How excessively ridiculous!" Which same worthy lady, on leaving the
boat at Savannah, exclaimed, as she huddled on her cloak, that she never
had felt so "_mean_ in her life!" and, considering that she had gone to
bed two nights with the greater part of her day clothes on her, and had
abstained from any "ridiculous" ablutions, her _mean_ sensations did
not, I confess, much surprise me.

When the boat stopped at Savannah, it poured with rain; and in a perfect
deluge, we drove up to the Pulaski House, thankful to escape from the
tedious confinement of a _slow_ steamboat,--an intolerable nuisance and
anomaly in the nature of things. The hotel was, comparatively speaking,
very comfortable; infinitely superior to the one where we had lodged at
Charleston, as far as bed accommodations went. Here, too, we obtained
the inestimable luxury of a warm bath; and the only disagreeable thing
we had to encounter was that all but universal pest in this crowd-loving
country, a public table. This is always a trial of the first water to
me; and that day particularly I was fatigued, and out of spirits, and
the din and confusion of a long _table d'hote_ was perfectly
intolerable, in spite of the assiduous attentions of a tiresome worthy
old gentleman, who sat by me and persisted in endeavoring to make me
talk. Finding me impracticable, however, he turned, at length, in
despair, to the hostess, who sat at the head of her table, and inquired
in a most audible voice if it were true, as he had understood, that Mr.
and Mrs. Butler were in the hotel? This, of course, occasioned some
little amusement; and the good old gentleman being informed that I was
sitting at his elbow, went off into perfect convulsions of apologies,
and renewed his exertions to make me discourse, with more zeal than
ever, asking me, among other things, when he had ascertained that I had
never before been to the South, "How I liked the appearance of 'our
blackies' (the negroes)?--no want of cheerfulness, no despondency, or
misery in their appearance, eh, madam?" As I thought this was rather
begging the question, I did not trouble the gentleman with my
impressions. He was a Scotchman, and his adoption of "our blackies" was,
by his own account, rather recent, to be so perfectly satisfactory; at
least, so it seems to me, who have some small prejudices in favor of
freedom and justice yet to overcome, before I can ent