at the same time with the band, who
were rowed up to Beaufort as we went across the river. They played
"Sweet Home," and the music sounded delightfully, but made Mr.
Williams exclaim, "Now that's too bad, when a fellow is going to an
old South Carolina whitewashed house, with a broken table and chair in
it!" Nevertheless, he was very merry, and we had a fine row. The
sunset was perfectly clear, the sky retained its brightness for a long
time, and the moon was so bright that it did not grow dark. Our delay
made us against tide for the second hour, so the negroes turned out of
the main creek into the narrow creeks among the grass, which at high
tide are deep enough, though very narrow. Our oars were often in the
"mash" on one side, but the men knew their way and brought us safely
through. They grew very much excited as they rowed and sung, shouting
with all their might, and singing song after song the whole way home.
The singing while they row always sounds differently from [that] at
any other time to me, though they always sing the same, religious
songs.

In the following letter Mr. Philbrick begins by defending
himself against the charge of rashness in proposing to buy
land of which the legal title was so insecure as to make it
a most unsafe investment, and the geographical situation
such as to make it unfit for habitation by Northerners. The
point of view of his critic is amusingly different from that
of the good people who subsequently accused him of buying
with the expectation of making large profits.

FROM E. S. P.

_Jan. 2._ As to the title, the right of redemption expires at the end
of two years in all cases, and fifteen per cent. interest must be paid
by the redeemer before he can take possession. Now I never thought of
paying more for these lands than the net value of two good crops, and
don't undertake it for the sake of making money at all, but for the
sake of carrying out to a more satisfactory issue the present
short-lived and unfairly judged experiment of free labor, and for the
sake of keeping the people out of the hands of bad men. You will of
course admit that such an enterprise is worthy of my assistance and
worthy of the time of such men as are now engaged in it. The health of
every white man who has lived on the seaward side of St. Helena, from
Coffin's Point to Land's End, has been perfectly good, and that is
where I intend to buy, if at all, including perhaps th