away, and the water at high tide is now within six feet of the house
itself; or rather, there are only six feet of distance between the
building and the brink of the bank on which it stands, which is
considerably above the river.

The house has been uninhabited for a great many years, and is, of
course, ruinously out of repair. It contains one very good room, and
might be made a decently comfortable dwelling; but it has been ordered
to be pulled down, because, if it is not, the materials will soon be
swept away in the rapid demolition of the bank by the water. The house
we resided in was the overseer's dwelling, situated on the point also,
but further from the water, and having the extent of grass-land and
trees in front of it, together with a beautiful water prospect; in fact,
in a better situation than the other. As for the house itself, it would
have done very well for our short residence if it had been either
finished or furnished. The rooms were fairly well-sized, and there were
five of them in all, besides two or three little closets. But although
the primitive simplicity of whitewashed walls in our drawing and
dining-room did not affect my happiness, the wainscoting and even the
crevices of the floor admitted perfect gusts of air that rather did. The
windows and doors, even when professing to be shut, could never be
called closed; and on one or two gusty evenings, the carpet in the room
where I was sitting heaved and undulated by means of a stream of air
from under the door, like a theatrical representation of the ocean in
extreme agitation. The staircase was of the roughest description, such
as you would not find in the poorest English farm-house, covered only by
the inside of the roof, rough shingles--that is, wooden tiles--and all
the beams, rafters, etc., etc., of the roofing, admitting little starry
twinklings of sun or moonlight, perfectly apparent to the naked eye of
whoever ascended or descended. Such was my residence on the estate of
Hampton on great St. Simon's Island; and it was infinitely superior in
size, comfort, and everything else to my abode on Butler's Island, which
was indeed a very miserable hole.

The St. Simon's house being sufficiently roomy, I presently set about
making it as far as possible convenient and comfortable. I had a fine
large table, such as might have become some august board of business
men, made of plain white pine and covered in with sober-looking dark
green merino. I next