Yet even Egypt was sufficiently
enterprising to line its coast with windmills, while this state has
not yet arrived at a stage of civilization sufficiently advanced to
provide them. So, there being no water-power and no steam, every negro
grinds his peck of corn in a handmill as in the year one. We came to
anchor about one P. M. and have been waiting for the necessary passes
from the quartermaster to enable us to proceed up to Beaufort, the
only town in possession of our forces. Here we lie in the still
harbour under the splendid moon, surrounded by the regiments encamped
on the neighboring islands, with the prospect of another day afloat,
before we can begin to be distributed over our field of labor.

8 P. M. The acting Provost Marshal has just come aboard with our
passports viseed, enabling us to land here, but I don't care to do
that to-night, there being nothing but sand-banks to sleep on, while
we have tolerable berths aboard. To-morrow I may go, if there is time
before going upstream to Beaufort, though I imagine there is little to
see but sand and tents, which look quite as well at a distance.

_March 8._ We spent the greater part of the day transferring freight
and baggage to the _Cosmopolitan_, a white river-steamer. We got
started at last about three P. M. The distance to Beaufort can't be
more than fifteen miles, and we had already made half of it at a
tolerable rate of speed when we ran aground in the mud, about two
hours before ebb tide. We were in the middle of a creek called
Beaufort River, between Cat Island and Port Royal Island, whose flat
shores did not look very inviting. I fell to reading about
cotton-culture in my book, but some of our companions got a boat and
went ashore on St. Helena Island, bringing back their hands full of
beautiful flowers from some private garden, peach-blossoms,
orange-blossoms, hyacinths, fleur-de-lis, etc. We succeeded in getting
afloat about 9.30 P. M. and arrived at Beaufort about midnight, after
poking slowly along the crooked channel under the glorious moonlight.
On getting up in the morning, which we did betimes, we found the deck
slippery with hoarfrost, and are told that it is the coldest night of
this winter. Somebody has told me that Beaufort was on a bluff, and
that its environments were not so flat as the rest of the islands.

_Beaufort, Sunday, March 9._ But I can't find any place over ten feet
above tide-water, and no hill over six feet high. So things are