es wants de goberment to make tings
_stashionary_. Make de storekeeper gib black man one dollar and quarter
fur de bushel of corn, and make him sell de poor nigger de bag hominy
fur much less dan tree dollars. Make all tings _stashionary_. Den dar's
one ting more. Tell de goberment to do fur poor darky 'nodder
ting,--make de ole massa say to me, 'You's been good slave in ole
times,--_berry_ good slave; now I gib you one, two, tree, _five_ acres
of land for yoursef.' Den ole nigger be happy, and massa be happy too;
den bof of um bees happy. Hab you a leetle bacca fur dis ole man?"

From the Styles mansion it was but three miles to Ossabaw Sound. Little
Don Island and Raccoon Key are in the mouth of the Vernon. Between the
two flat islands is a deep passage through which the tides rush with
great force; it is called Hell Gate. On the south side of Raccoon Key
the Great Ogeechee River pours its strong volume of water into Ossabaw
Sound.

I entered the Great Ogeechee through the Don Island passage, and saw
sturgeon-fishermen at work with their nets along the shores of Ossabaw,
one of the sea islands. Ossabaw Island lies between Ossabaw and St.
Catherine's sounds, and is eight miles long and six miles wide. The side
towards the sea is firm upland, diversified with glades, while the
western portion is principally marshes cut up by numerous creeks. All
the sea islands produce the long staple cotton known as sea-island
cotton, and before the war a very valuable variety. A few negroes occupy
the places abandoned by the proprietor, and eke out a scanty livelihood.

There are many deer in the forests of Ossabaw Island. One of its late
proprietors informed me that there must be at least ten thousand wild
hogs there, as they have been multiplying for many years, and but few
were shot by the negroes. The domestic hog becomes a very shy animal if
left to himself for two or three years. The hunter may search for him
without a dog almost in vain, though the woods may contain large numbers
of these creatures.

The weather was now delightful, and had I possessed a light tent I
would not have sought shelter at night in a human habitation anywhere
along the route. The malaria which arises from fresh-water sinks in many
of the sea islands during the summer months, did not now make
camping-out dangerous to the health. Crossing the Great Ogeechee above
Middle Marsh Island, I followed the river to the creek called Florida
Passage, through w