ted, treeless and
grassless sand-hills, blown into shape by the winds, arose in the
background, and cut off a view of the ocean, which, judging from the
low, melancholy moaning coming over the dunes, was in a sad mood.

The canoe was hauled into the bushes and tied securely for fear a
deceptive tide might bear it away. The provisions, blankets, &c., were
moved into the grass hut, which needed repairing. The holes in the south
wall were soon thatched, and a bed easily prepared from the rushes of
the marsh. It mattered not that they were wet, for a piece of painted
canvas was spread over them, and the inviting couch finished.

As fresh water can usually be obtained on all these low beaches by
digging two or three feet into the sand, I looked for a large
clam-shell, and my search being rewarded, I was soon engaged in digging
a well near the cabin.

Upon looking up from my work a curious sight met my gaze. In some
mysterious way every sharp-pointed sand-hill had been covered by a black
object, which swayed about and nodded up and down in a strange manner.
As I watched the development of this startling phenomenon, the nodding,
black objects grew in size until the head, body, and four legs of a
horse were clearly cut against the sky. A little later every crest was
surmounted by the comical figure of a marsh-tacky. Then a few sheep came
out of the hollows among the hills and browsed on the coarse grass near
the cabin, as though they felt the loneliness of their situation so far
removed from mankind. With the marsh-ponies, the sheep, the wild-fowls
of the sound, and the sighing sea for companions, the night passed away.

The bright moonlight roused me at five o'clock in the morning, and I
pushed off again in shoal water on an ebb-tide, experiencing much
difficulty in dragging the canoe over shallow places until deep water
was entered, when the row to Ocracoke became an agreeable one. The
landing-place at Ocracoke, not far from the light-house, was reached at
noon, and the people gathered to see the paper boat, having been
notified of my proximity by fishermen.

The women here can pull a pretty good stroke, and frequently assist
their husbands in the fisheries. These old dames ridiculed the idea of
having a boat so small and light as the canoe. One old lady laid aside
her pipe and snuff-paddle (snuff-rubbing is a time-honored institution
in the south), and roughly grasping the bow of the craft, lifted it high
in the air, th