depth with a few driven to 12 or 17 feet. A few have pumps, the rest
are open. At present there is no dispensary on the island but there are
a number of "blind tigers." The nearest physician is at Beaufort and the
cost of a single visit is from five to ten dollars. The distance from
the doctors is said not to be an unmixed evil as it saves much foolish
expenditure of money in fancied ills.

In slavery times there were 61 plantations on the island and their
names, as Fripps Corner, Oaks, still survive to designate localities.
There was in olden times little contact with the whites as Negro drivers
were common. Each plantation still has its "prayer house" at which
religious services are held. Meetings occur on different nights on the
various plantations to enable the people to get all the religion they
need. These meetings are often what are known as "shouts," when with
much shouting and wild rhythmic dancing the participants keep on till
exhausted. The suggestion of Africa is not vague. The Virginia Negro
views these gatherings with as much astonishment as does any white. Many
of the blacks speak a strange dialect hard to understand. "Shum," for
instance, being the equivalent for "see them."

The land is sandy and should have skillful handling to get the best
results. Yet the farming is very unscientific. The first plowing is
shallow and subsequent cultivation is done almost entirely with hoes.
When a Hampton graduate began some new methods last year the people came
for miles to see his big plow. It is said that there was more plowing
than usual as a result. The daily life of the farmer is about as
follows: Rising between four and five he goes directly to the field,
eating nothing until eight or nine, when he has some "grits," a sort of
fine hominy cooked like oat meal. Many eat nothing until they leave the
field at eleven for dinner, which also consists of grits with some crabs
in summer and fish in winter. Some have only these two meals a day. Corn
bread and molasses are almost unknown and when they have molasses it is
eaten with a spoon. Knives and forks are seldom used. One girl of
eighteen did not know how to handle a knife. There are numbers of cows
on the island, but milk is seldom served, the cattle being sold for
beef. The draft animals are usually small oxen or ponies, called "salt
marsh tackies," as they are left to pick their living from the marshes.
Some chickens and turkeys are raised, but no great dependen