wife of the planter extended her hand to me, as she said, "No, sir, you
will not go back to the wet landing to camp. This is our home, and
though marauding armies during the late war have taken from us our
wealth, you must share with us the little we have left." This lady with
her two daughters, who inherited her beauty and grace of manner, did
all in their power to make me comfortable.

Sunday was the coldest day of the season; but the family, whose
hospitality I enjoyed, rode seven miles through the woods, some on
horseback, some in the carriage, to the little church in a heavy pine
forest. The next day proved stormy, and the driving sleet froze upon the
trees and bound their limbs and boughs together with an icy veneer. My
host, Mr. McMillan, kindly urged me to tarry. During my stay with him I
ascertained that he devoted his attention to raising ground-peas, or
peanuts. Along the coast of this part of North Carolina this nut is the
chief product, and is raised in immense quantities. The latter state
alone raises annually over one hundred thousand bushels; while Virginia
and Tennessee produce, some years, a crop of seven hundred thousand
bushels.

Wednesday opened with partially clearing weather, and the icy covering
of the trees yielded to the softening influences of a southern wind. The
family went to the landing to see me off, and the kind ladies stowed
many delicacies, made with their own hands, in the bow of the boat.
After rowing a half-mile, I took a lingering look at the shore, where
those who four days ago were strangers, now waved an adieu as friends.
They had been stript of their wealth, though the kind old planter had
never raised his hand against the government of his fathers. This
family, like thousands of people in the south, had suffered for the rash
deeds of others. While the political views of this gentleman differed
from those of the stranger from Massachusetts, it formed no barrier to
their social intercourse, and did not make him forget to exhibit the
warm feelings of hospitality which so largely influence the Southerner.
I went to him, as a traveller in search of truth, upon an honest errand.
Under such circumstances a Northerner does not require a letter of
introduction to nine out of ten of the citizens of the fifteen ex-slave
states, which cover an area of eight hundred and eighty thousand square
miles, and where fourteen millions of people desire to be permitted to
enjoy the same privilege