was at
liberty to begin anew.

To widows and orphans the agents of the Government displayed a
commendable liberality. Nearly all of these persons were allowed to
retain control of their plantations, leasing them as they saw fit, and
enjoying the income. Some were required to subscribe to the oath of
allegiance, and promise to show no more sympathy for the crumbling
Confederacy. In many cases no pledge of any kind was exacted.

I knew one widow whose disloyalty was of the most violent character.
On a visit to New Orleans she was required to take the oath of
allegiance before she could leave the steamboat at the levee. She
signed the printed oath under protest. A month later, she brought this
document forward to prove her loyalty and secure the control of her
plantation.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

OH THE PLANTATION.

Military Protection.--Promises.--Another Widow.--Securing
a Plantation.--Its Locality and Appearance.--Gardening in
Louisiana.--How Cotton is Picked.--"The Tell-Tale."--A Southerner's
Opinion of the Negro Character.--Causes and Consequences.

Parties who proposed to lease and cultivate abandoned plantations were
anxious to know what protection would be afforded them. General Thomas
and his agents assured them that proper military posts would soon be
established at points within easy distance of each other along the
river, so that all plantations in certain limits would be amply
protected. This would be done, not as a courtesy to the lessees, but
as a part of the policy of providing for the care of the negroes.
If the lessees would undertake to feed and clothe several thousand
negroes, besides paying them for their labor, they would relieve
the Government authorities of a great responsibility. They would
demonstrate the feasibility of employing the negroes as free laborers.
The cotton which they would throw into market would serve to reduce
the prices of that staple, and be a partial supply to the Northern
factories. All these things considered, the Government was anxious to
foster the enterprise, and would give it every proper assistance. The
agents were profuse in their promises of protection, and assured us it
would be speedily forthcoming.

There was a military post at Vidalia, opposite Natchez, which afforded
protection to the plantations in which General Thomas's family and
friends were interested. Another was promised at Waterproof, twenty
miles above, with a stockade midway between the two pla