agreeable party of pleasure has not come off yet, there seems to be no
reason why it should not at the first convenient season. Reflecting upon
all which, I rode not without trepidation through Colonel H----'s grounds,
and up to his house. Mr. W----'s head was not stuck upon a pole anywhere
within sight, however, and as soon as I became pretty sure of this, I
began to look about me, and saw instead a trellis tapestried with the most
beautiful roses I ever beheld, another of these exquisite southern
flowers--the Cherokee rose. The blossom is very large, composed of four
or five pure white petals, as white and as large as those of the finest
Camellia with a bright golden eye for a focus; the buds and leaves are
long and elegantly slender, like those of some tea roses, and the green of
the foliage is dark and at the same time vivid and lustrous; it grew in
masses so as to form almost a hedge, all starred with these wonderful
white blossoms, which, unfortunately, have no perfume.

We rode home through the pine land to Jones's, looked at the new house
which is coming on hideously, saw two beautiful kinds of trumpet
honeysuckle already lighting up the woods in every direction with gleams
of scarlet, and when we reached home found a splendid donation of
vegetables, flowers, and mutton from our kind neighbour Mrs. F----, who is
a perfect Lady Bountiful to us. This same mutton, however--my heart bleeds
to say it--disappeared the day after it was sent to us. Abraham the cook
declares that he locked the door of the safe upon it, which I think may be
true, but I also think he unlocked it again. I am sorry; but, after all,
it is very natural these people should steal a little of our meat from us
occasionally, who steal almost all their bread from them habitually.

I rode yesterday to St. Annie's with Mr. ----. We found a whole tract of
marsh had been set on fire by the facetious negro called Pun, who had
helped me out of it some time ago. As he was set to work in it, perhaps it
was with a view of making it less damp; at any rate, it was crackling,
blazing, and smoking cheerily, and I should think would be insupportable
for the snakes. While stopping to look at the conflagration, Mr. ---- was
accosted by a three parts naked and one part tattered little she
slave--black as ebony, where her skin was discoverable through its perfect
incrustation of dirt--with a thick mat of frizzly wool upon her skull,
which made the sole request she pr