I have felt for them will certainly never come near them
again.

I was too unhappy to write any more, my dear friend, and you have been
spared the rest of my paroxysm, which hereabouts culminated in the blessed
refuge of abundant tears. God will provide. He has not forgotten, nor will
He forsake these His poor children; and if I may no longer minister to
them, they yet are in His hand, who cares for them more and better than I
can.

Towards the afternoon yesterday, I rowed up the river to the rice-island,
by way of refreshment to my spirits, and came back to-day, Wednesday the
27th, through rather a severe storm. Before going to bed last night I
finished Mr. Clay's speech, and ground my teeth over it. Before starting
this morning I received from head-man Frank a lesson on the various
qualities of the various sorts of rice, and should be (at any rate till I
forget all he told me, which I 'feel in my bones' will be soon) a
competent judge and expert saleswoman. The dead white speck, which shows
itself sometimes in rice as it does in teeth, is in the former, as in the
latter, a sign of decay; the finest quality of rice is what may be called
flinty, clear and unclouded, and a pretty clean sparkling-looking thing it
is.

I will tell you something curious and pleasant about my row back. The wind
was so high and the river so rough when I left the rice-island, that just
as I was about to get into the boat I thought it might not be amiss to
carry my life-preserver with me, and ran back to the house to fetch it.
Having taken that much care for my life, I jumped into the boat, and we
pushed off. The fifteen miles' row with a furious wind, and part of the
time the tide against us, and the huge broad turbid river broken into a
foaming sea of angry waves, was a pretty severe task for the men. They
pulled with a will, however, but I had to forego the usual accompaniment
of their voices, for the labour was tremendous, especially towards the end
of our voyage, where, of course, the nearness of the sea increased the
roughness of the water terribly. The men were in great spirits, however
(there were eight of them rowing, and one behind was steering); one of
them said something which elicited an exclamation of general assent, and I
asked what it was; the steerer said they were pleased because there was
not another planter's lady in all Georgia who would have gone through the
storm all alone with them in a boat; i.e. without the protectin