feet, unrelieved by
vines or branches, with a disproportionately small cap of leaves at the
summit, the most ungainly of trees, albeit it gives a name and
coat-of-arms to the State. Besides these, are the pine, the red and
white oak, the cedar, the bay, the gum, the maple, and the ash. The soil
is luxuriant with an undergrowth of impenetrable vines. These
interlacing the trees, supported also by shrubs, of which the cassena is
the most distinguished variety, and faced with ditches, make the
prevailing fences of the plantations. The hedges are adorned in March
and April with the yellow jessamine, (_jelseminum_,)--the cross-vine
(_bignonia_,) with its mass of rich red blossoms,--the Cherokee rose,
(_loevigata_,) spreading out in long waving wreaths of white,--and, two
months later, the palmetto royal, (_yucca gloriosa_,) which protects the
fence with its prickly leaves, and delights the eyes with its
pyramid-like clusters of white flowers. Some of these trees and shrubs
serve a utilitarian end in art and medicine. The live-oak is famous in
shipbuilding. The palmetto, or cabbage-palmetto, as it is called,
resists destruction by worms, and is used for facing wharves. It was
employed to protect Fort Moultrie in 1776, when bombarded by the British
fleet; and the cannon-balls were buried in its spongy substance. The
moss (_tillandsia usneoides_) served to calk the rude vessel of the
first French colonists, longing for home. It may be used for bedding
after its life has been killed by boiling water, and for the subsistence
of cattle when destitute of other food. The cassena is a powerful
diuretic.

The game and fish, which are both abundant and of desirable kinds, and
to the pursuit of which the planters were much addicted, are described
in Eliot's book. Russell's "Diary" may also be consulted in relation to
fishing for devil and drum.

The best dwellings in Beaufort are capacious, with a piazza on the first
and second stories, through each of which runs a large hall to admit a
free circulation of air. Only one, however, appeared to have been built
under the supervision of a professional architect. Those on the
plantations, designed for the planters or overseers, were, with a few
exceptions, of a very mean character, and a thriving mechanic in New
England would turn his back on them as unfit to live in. Their yards are
without turf, having as their best feature a neighboring grove of
orange-trees. One or two dwellings only a