endence.

One of the pleasantest spots in the neighborhood of Augusta is Somerville,
a sandy eminence, covered with woods, the shade of which is carefully
cherished, and in the midst of which are numerous cottages and country
seats, closely embowered in trees, with pleasant paths leading to them
from the highway. Here the evenings in summer are not so oppressively hot
as in the town below, and dense as the shade is, the air is dry and
elastic. Hither many families retire during the hot season, and many
reside here the year round. We drove through it as the sun was setting,
and called at the dwellings of several of the hospitable inhabitants. The
next morning the railway train brought us to Barnwell District, in South
Carolina, where I write this.

I intended to send you some notes of the agricultural changes which I
have observed in this part of South Carolina since I was last here, but I
have hardly time to do it. The culture of wheat has been introduced, many
planters now raising enough for their own consumption. The sugar cane is
also planted, and quantities of sugar and molasses are often made
sufficient to supply the plantations on which it is cultivated.
Spinning-wheels and looms have come into use, and a strong and durable
cotton cloth is woven by the negro women for the wear of the slaves. All
this shows a desire to make the most of the recources of the country, and
to protect the planter against the embarrassments which often arise from
the fluctuating prices of the great staple of the south--cotton. But I
have no time to dwell upon this subject. To-morrow I sail for Cuba.

Letter XLV.

The Florida Coast.--Key West.

Havana, _April_ 7, 1849.

It was a most agreeable voyage which I made in the steamer Isabel, to this
port, the wind in our favor the whole distance, fine bright weather, the
temperature passing gradually from what we have it in New York at the end
of May, to what it is in the middle of June. The Isabel is a noble
sea-boat, of great strength, not so well ventilated as the Tennessee, in
which we came to Savannah, with spacious and comfortable cabins, and, I am
sorry to say, rather dirty state-rooms.

We stopped off Savannah near the close of the first day of our voyage, to
leave some of our passengers and take in others; and on the second, which
was also the second of the month, we were running rapidly down the Florida
coast, with the trade-wind fresh on our beam, sweeping before i