future; it is cool and pleasant, saves me a walk which
will be warm by and by, and also from the fleas of the praise-house.
Louisa came up to give me two eggs, carefully wrapped in her apron.
This makes over a dozen I have had brought to me by my grateful
pupils.

_May 6._ In the afternoon Flora brought me a letter to read to her,
which proved to be from her husband, who is cook to some officers at
Bay Point. I am quite curious to see him--she is so fine and the
children are among the brightest here. Some soldier had written it for
him, and she was too pleased for anything at her first letter. It was
signed "York polite," which she told me was his title. I can't make
out whether they give each other surnames, and this is his, or whether
it is really a title, as she says, like "Philip the Fair."[30] She
told me what to say, and I wrote an answer for her.

_May 8._ A Baptist minister, who came out with us and has been
appointed the pastor of the island, came to lunch, went to the other
plantations with Mr. Philbrick, and has come back to spend the night.
He had been up to the praise-meeting by Uncle Peter's invitation. He
is very much puzzled what to do about the religious feeling of these
people and their habits and customs. I hope he will let them alone.

_May 9._ Went up to the praise-house for school in the morning; it is
so hard to get the little things together and then, like as not, they
have _half_ of them to be sent back to wash their faces and hands.
Asked the little children questions, such as "What are your eyes for?"
"For see'long." "Teeth?" "For chaw'long," etc.

_Sunday, May 11._ In the morning a number of the women had come up to
the house to see us. It seems they have always been in the habit of
coming into the yard on Sundays. Tira, Sim's wife, brought me three
little fish fried. The women said that all the people here were born
on the place, and no new hands had ever been bought, only one sold,
and his master allowed him that privilege because his wife belonged in
Charleston and he wanted to belong to the same man.

Flora said at lunch, as she brushed off the flies, that her husband
York was at work on the "main" (land), she did not know where, on a
house, with five of their carpenters, when the war broke out, or
rather, before the Fort here was "taken away," as they say, and that
then the white people had not food enough to feed the blacks, and she
is quite sure all her brothers and sisters who we