Part 13

Thus they crawl onward from day to day, for weeks or months, until they have reached that portion of the forest, or cane-brake, fixed upon for the plantation: and here the enterprising settler has to encounter new toil, and a long series of privations, cheered however by the hope, seldom a delusive one, of ultimate wealth accumulating to the survivors of the party; for, unhappily, health is the sacrifice, I believe, generally paid for the possession of the fat soil lying along these sluggish rivers.

Along the whole line of our route from Augusta in Georgia to the banks of the Alabama, we found the road covered by parties of this description; and, according to the opinions of well-informed residents, with whom I conversed on this subject, not fewer than ten thousand families have quitted the two Carolinas and Georgia during the course of this season.

Amongst these families journeying to the land of promise, inspired by hopes for the future and cheered by the presence of those on whom they relied for their fulfilment, we now and then met little parties of broken-men retracing their sad steps toward the homes they had consigned to strangers: of these, one family, which we encountered camping near the banks of a swollen river whose bridge we were compelled to repair before we could cross it, excited deep commiseration. The establishment consisted of a single covered waggon, a small open cart, and half-a-dozen slaves, principally women: its conductress was a widow, not exceeding thirty years of age, having by her side five children, one an infant.

Within a year after the location of his family on the banks of the Black-warrior, her husband, we learned, had died; and the widow was thus far on her way back to Virginia, accompanied by such of her household as remained to her; this was the 22nd of December, and there yet remained five hundred miles of her journey unperformed. I know my heart was sore as I contemplated her forlorn condition, and thought upon the toilsome way yet dividing her from the changed home she sought.

Between Millidgeville and Macon the route became all but impassable: at each mile we anticipated a stand-still; the rain was incessant; the creeks were flooded, and the bridges in an indescribable condition. We were frequently compelled to alight and walk, being in momentary expectation of an overturn: and so we journeyed on, our numbers reduced to six, in order that a lighter vehicle might be adopted. The way in which this drafting was effected was on principles perfectly fair, and submitted to without a murmur: at Sparta, the agent informed us that only six passengers could be taken on; and that, unless we arranged otherwise, he should strike off the last three names entered in the way-bill, as being the juniors in this hard service: luckily for me, I had just the magic three under my name,--a piece of good fortune that rescued me from a sojourn at Sparta, which, with all due deference to its venerable name, I could not contemplate without a shudder.

Six hardier or better-humoured men, if I may venture to include myself in the number, never roughed it through Georgia in company. At one pass, through a swamp lying a few miles north of Macon, we were turned out, at a hut where large pieces of light-wood, as the pitch-pine is called, were procured for the party; from this point we were instructed to make a cut through the forest, whilst the lightened coach followed the road. We struck into the line pointed out, guided by one of the party who had journeyed this road before; and six merrier men, having less cause for mirth, might not have been found within this fair state.

After floundering along for an hour or so, we saw the torches of the stage, and heard the halloo of the driver: hence, without mischance, we reached Macon before daylight; and here one of our company knocked up through cold and over-weariness; a vacant place was thus afforded for the judge of the district-court, in whom we found a well-informed and most intelligent companion.

Nullification was the subject for the morning, and much was advanced pro and con.; its opponents being two New York men who had been my fellow-passengers from Augusta. On this occasion, as I have always observed amongst Southern men, the right of separation from the Union was vehemently insisted upon, even whilst the policy of such a movement was deprecated; the principle, in fact, of nullification was maintained by those who were against the practice of such an experiment.

The condition of justice upon these wild frontiers was next freely canvassed, and was on all hands admitted to be weak and short-armed enough: very few, in truth, seem in criminal cases to seek for or approve of its interference, except in some so monstrously atrocious that no sympathy can be felt for the criminal; and even in such cases his flight, if he condescends to such a movement, is a matter of small difficulty.

Most of the many murders committed are the result of quarrels or personal rancour. Jealousy of a favoured rival, a gambling or a political dispute ends in a defiance, mutual and deadly, the ever-ready dirk affords present means; or, if the interposition of the bystanders prevents this, one of the party shoots down the other on the road or at his own door; when, if the slain man has friends, the feud is adopted by them, and the first homicide is revenged by another, or several, as may be. These affrays are by convention termed duels; and, in fact, as on our borders a century back, each man rights with his own hand his wrongs "wherever given," in street or forest, in the court of justice or within the house of prayer.

In the mean time, notwithstanding all this, the frontiers flourish; trade yearly increases; and, as well as I can learn, civilization and security also slowly but steadily march onward; but, from the very nature of the country, it must be long before the wild spirits congregated here can be subjected to the wholesome rule of well-administered laws.

At Talboton we found six passengers, the freight of the stage preceding us, which had been upset in the swamp the night previous; one of them had a couple of ribs broken, and all were badly bruised. One young man begged to be taken on the seat of our coach, which was readily permitted, with cautions against his venturing on such an experiment. The additional mail-bags were also to be carried forward; and the largest were accordingly stowed into the coach, in the space usually considered by passengers as designed for their legs; complaint, however, was quite useless; those who did not like the conveyance being at full liberty to wait on any part of the road they might select, until one better adapted to comfort chanced to come by.

We quitted this place, six men, with just space enough left for us to crawl in, and we sat, bent almost double, with our legs stretched out before us. I consoled myself by concluding that we now had reached the extremity of our inconveniences; but I knew mighty little about the matter. It would have been impossible, for any length of time, to have borne the position we were now compressed into; but luckily this was not expected, since constant occasions were afforded us of stretching our legs, and getting cool under as heavy rain as the lover of a shower-bath could desire.

COLUMBUS.

At the hour of two A.M. we reached the city of Columbus, on the Chattahoochee, the river dividing Alabama from Georgia.

Here we halted for a day and a night; and this time I employed, in company with my two New York fellow-travellers, in paying a visit to the Choctaw tribe of Indians, who possess a reserve lying west of the river.

We procured three stout nags, and early in the morning crossed the very fine bridge which spans this rapid stream close to the falls. On the Alabama side we found ourselves within a wild-looking village, scattered through the edge of the forest, bearing the unattractive name of Sodom; few of its denizens were yet stirring; they are composed chiefly of "minions o' the moon," outlaws from the neighbouring States. Gamblers, and other desperate men, here find security from their numbers, and from the vicinity of a thinly inhabited Indian country, whose people hold them in terror, yet dare not refuse them a hiding-place. These bold outlaws, I was informed, occasionally assemble to enjoy an evening's frolic in Columbus, on which occasions they cross the dividing bridge in force, all armed to the teeth: the warrants in the hands of the U. S. Marshal are at such times necessarily suspended, since to execute a caption would require a muster greater than any within his command. If unmolested, the party usually proceed to the nearest hotel, drink deeply, make what purchases they require for the ladies of their colony, pay promptly, and, gathering the stragglers together, retire peaceably into the territory, wherein their present rule is by report absolute. The condition of this near community, and the crimes perpetrated by its members, were alluded to within the town with a mingled sentiment of detestation and fear.

A short way within the forest we overtook a man riding a rough pony, of whom I inquired the best route to be pursued for falling in with the Indian settlements; the man immediately volunteered to ride with us for a few hours; adding, that he saw we were strangers from the North; that he was "a Vermont man himself, and had nothing particular to do just then."

This was a lucky rencontre: the volunteer guide we thus secured appeared perfectly familiar with every turn of the numberless narrow footpaths leading from one location to another; and, under his guidance, we visited several.

The condition of the majority of these poor people seemed wretched in the extreme: most of the families were living in wigwams, built of bark or green boughs, of the frailest and least comfortable construction; not an article of furniture, except a kettle, was in the possession of this class. A few, however, were here who had erected log-houses, cleared a little land, and were also in the possession of a stove or two; we halted at a group of four of these little dwellings, where, under a shed, a fine negro wench was occupied frying bacon and making cakes of wheaten flour for her master's supper, who, she informed us, was absent on a hunting expedition. Within the log-huts sat the squaws of the party, all busily employed sewing beads on moccasins, or ornamenting deer-skin pouches, after the fashion of the dames of old in the absence of their true knights; our guide addressed these ladies roughly enough; but without eliciting any reply more encouraging than a sort of "Ugh! ugh!" unaccompanied by a single look. The negro girl, however, had not adopted the taciturnity of the tribe, but readily chatted with us, explaining, amongst other matters, the nature of the contents of the boiler, whose savoury smell greatly attracted our attention. She said it was composed of Indian corn, boiled a great deal and slowly, with only a little salt for seasoning; affirming, that the Indians preferred this simple dish to all other dainties. For myself, I gave a decided vote in favour of the fried rashers, and the nice little cakes baked in the ashes: of these we partook freely, at the solicitation of the good-humoured cook, who, with right Indian hospitality, assured us there was plenty more.

Returning, we encountered several members of this tribe who had been passing the day in Columbus; some were on foot, others riding, but all more or less elevated; a few of the women were good-looking, and, to their credit, all of them sober.

As we repassed Sodom, the sound of revelry proclaimed the orgies resumed. The rain, which had hitherto held up, once more began to descend with a determination of purpose that boded us no good: we spurred over the covered bridge, and were soon after housed again in Georgia.

At our hotel I encountered a gentleman who, a few weeks before, had been a fellow-passenger with me from New York to Charleston; but his advance had been less prosperous than mine: indeed, a brief relation of what he had endured sufficed to reconcile me to any little fatigue that fell to my lot. It appeared that, three weeks previous to this meeting of ours, he had quitted Columbus in a steamer going down to Appalachicola: they had proceeded some three hundred miles on their way, when, in the night, the passengers were roused from sleep by the alarm of "fire!" The boat was, in fact, a mass of flame by the time the first persons reached the deck. My informant, with many others, immediately jumped overboard: the steamer was run on the bank; and, with the exception of two persons drowned, the rest of her passengers and crew were landed in the forest; most of them with nothing in the shape of covering excepting their night-clothes. Luckily, there were only two ladies of the party; and their condition may be imagined, living for four days in the forest swamp without other than temporary huts for shelter, and in all other respects most scantily provided for, as the suddenness of the fire prevented any saving of stores or provisions.

At the end of four days the up-river steamer was hailed on its passing, and, getting on board of this, they were in a few days after landed where I found my informant waiting for the next boat. It appeared that the fire was attributed to a slave who had been the day before flogged for mutiny, and who, according to the evidence of his fellows, had threatened some such revenge.

During the afternoon I walked about this thriving frontier town, despite a smart shower: the stores were well supplied, the warehouses filled with cotton, and in all quarters were groups of the neighbouring planters busied in looking after the sale of their produce, and making such purchases as their families required.

Numerous parties of Indians,--Creeks and Choctaws,--roamed about from place to place, mostly drunk, or seeking to become so as quickly as possible: with each party of the natives I observed a negro-man, the slave of some one present, but commonly well dressed in the European manner, having an air of superior intelligence to his masters, and evidently exercising over them the power and influence derived from superior knowledge: the negroes, in fact, appeared the masters, and the red-men the slaves.

Along the river-front of the town, a situation wildly beautiful, I observed several dwellings of mansion-like proportions, and others of a similar character in progress. I should say, that nowhere in this South country have I yet seen a place which promises more of the prosperity increasing wealth can bestow than this; or one that, from all I learned, is more wanting in all that men usually consider most worth possessing,--personal security, reasonable comfort, and well-executed law. In place of these, affrays ending in blood are said to be frequent, apprehensions few, acquittal next to certain even in the event of trial, and the execution of a white man a thing unknown.

In the midst of all this, be it understood, I do not consider that a traveller runs the least risk; robbery, or murder for the sake of mere plunder, never occurs; and to a stranger the rudest of these frontier spirits are usually exceedingly civil; but idleness, hot blood, and frequent stimulants make gambling or politics ready subjects for quarrels, and, as the parties always go armed, an affray is commonly fatal to some of those concerned.