longer than six weeks. He also said that the
people were very indifferent as to the necessity of schoolhouses and
churches. Quite a few who cleared a little money the previous year had
spent it all in buying whisky, in gambling, in buying cheap jewelry, and
for other useless articles. After spending two hours in such talk I
retired for the evening. Thus ended the first day of my search for
first-hand information.

We had a fine night's rest. Mr. Jones was up at early dawn to feed his
horses and cattle, and before the sun was up he was out on his farm.
Mrs. Jones and one of the daughters were left to prepare breakfast, and
soon they, too, were ready to join the others on the farm. We took
advantage of this early rising and were soon off on our journey.

Instead of going farther northward, we turned our course westward for
the town of Tilden, which is only eight miles west of Snow Hill. The
road from Carlowville to Tilden is somewhat hilly, but a very pleasant
one, and for miles the large oak-trees formed an almost perfect arch.

On reaching Tilden we learned that there would be a union meeting of two
of the churches that night. I decided that this would give me an
opportunity to study the religious life of these people for myself. The
members of churches No. 1 and No. 2 assembled at their respective places
at eight o'clock. The members of church No. 2 had a short
praise-service, and formed a line of procession to march to church No.
1. All the women of the congregation had their heads bound in pieces of
white cloth, and they sang their peculiar songs as they marched. When
the members of church No. 2 were within a few hundred yards of church
No. 1, the singing then alternated, and finally, when the members of
church No. 2 came to church No. 1, they marched around this church three
times before entering it. After entering, six sermons were preached to
the two congregations by six different ministers, and at least three of
these could not read a word in the Bible. Each minister occupied at
least one hour. Their texts were as often taken from Webster's blue-back
speller as from the Bible, and sometimes this would be held upside down.
It was about two o'clock in the morning when the services were
concluded.

Here, again, we found no schoolhouses, and the three months' school had
been taught in one of the little churches.

The next day we started for Camden, a distance of sixteen miles. This
section between Tilden and Ca