old that the same black families which now
occupy many of the small wooden houses, or "cabins," which I see, are
the same families who occupied them before the abolition of slavery.
Although many slaves suffered cruelties through enforced separations and
hard treatment, yet very many had most comfortable homes, considerate
masters, and light work. I sat much during this day on the platform at
the end of the end car, observing the country. At one station some
little black urchins came to gaze, and I said to one boy, apparently
seven years old, "What is your name?" He said, "Willie Matthews." I
said, "How old are you? " He said, "I ain't old enough to know how old I
are." And his genuine simplicity delighted me.

We are now passing through cultivated lands, farms, and estates, and
these continue right on to New York. At Greers was a very large
collection of cotton. At Spartanville are large cotton mills, such as
one sees in Lancashire. The next day (December 24th), we notice ice on
the ponds. We cross the Potomac River, and near Washington, sight the
Capitol--or, as we should say in England, the Houses of Parliament.
Washington City is the political capital of the United States. Its size
is about 4-1/2 miles by 2-1/2 miles. The Capitol is described by the
Americans as the most magnificent public edifice in the world. It is 352
feet long and 121 feet deep, with two wings each 238 by 140 feet. Its
entire length is 751 feet 4 inches, and it covers an area of more than
3-1/2 acres. It is of costly construction, and stands in grounds of
about 50 acres.

We proceed, and stop at Baltimore, cross the Bush and Gunpowder Rivers,
again come near the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, various smaller
rivers, and run on until we reach New York. On arrival, I immediately
went to the Cunard office and secured my berth in the "Servia." The next
morning (Christmas Day), it was very cold, and snowing. I had a fire lit
in my bed-room, and there wrote the article which appeared in the
January _Land Roll_. In the afternoon I walked in the Central Park, but
it was so bitterly cold, I was satisfied with less than two hours of
exercise, and returned to the hotel to dinner, and finished up the day
writing in my bed-room till midnight. The Central Park, in genial
weather, would be an attractive resort. I observed large natural rocks,
lawns, wide promenades, seats, lakes, menageries, swings, and various
such like attractions for juveniles, overgroun