ractice of sitting up all night with the dying, H. W.
justly enough condemns as "heathenish:" "The houses cannot
hold them all, of course, and they sit round out-of-doors in
the street, the younger ones often falling asleep on the
ground, and then they 'hab fever.'" But of course it was
useless to expostulate with them; to their minds the
omission of the watch would be a mark of the greatest
disrespect.

The next two extracts furnish further comments on the
mismanagement preliminary to the land-sales.

FROM W. C. G.

_Feb. 22._ Did you know we had long ceased to be philanthropists or
even Gideonites? We are nothing now but speculators, and the righteous
rail against us. A great crowd of our brethren have just come down to
be present at the late sales. Mr. Philbrick and the purchasers of last
spring paid about $1.00 or $1.25 per acre; now prices run from $5.00
to $27.00 per acre.[154] There has been the most disgraceful
squabbling among the tax-commissioners, General Saxton, Rev. Mr.
French, and other authorities. The people are the victims. At first
most of the lands were to be sold at auction in large lots; that
brought in white settlers--and only a little was for negro sales. Then
one commissioner sends up to Washington, gets orders for a Western
preemption system, and with a grand hurrah the negroes were told to go
and grab the lands. The other commissioners then throw all possible
obstacles in the way till they can get dispatches up to Washington
too, and the answer comes back,--Preemptions don't count, sell by
auction.--And so!--This is a precious Department of ours.

_March 14._ The past two months have been full of unpleasant
work,--the people were unsettled, discontented, and grumbling. I hope
their growling is nearly over, and look for quieter times soon. The
disputes among the tax-commissioners have been very unintelligible and
prejudicial to them. On some places I understand that the negroes
refuse to have anything to do with the new proprietors. On others they
have agreed to work, and the year as a whole will probably witness
much more industry than either of the last two.

At about this time an appraisal was at last made of the
"chattel property" which had been found on the plantations,
with a view to selling it at auction. Of course Mr.
Philbrick and his superintendents, who had been using these
things ever since they came into possession, de