e years of age,
and was still a beautiful and evidently a light-hearted woman.

Our host was a man of about forty--a tall, well formed man, with light
ruddy complexion, and hair that had been fair and curling, but was now
somewhat grey. He had neither beard nor whiskers; but, on the contrary,
his chin bore evidence that he had freshly shaved himself that very day;
and his whole appearance was that of a man who regularly attended to the
duties of the toilet. There was also about him a gentlemanlike bearing;
and his address and conversation soon convinced all of us that we were
in the company of an educated man.

The dress of the whole family was peculiar. The man himself wore a
hunting-shirt and leggings of tanned deerskin, and not unlike that of
our own hunters. The boys were similarly attired, but we could see that
they had a sort of homespun linen garment underneath. The female part
of the family were dressed in clothes, part of which were of the same
homespun, and part of a fine skin, that of the fawn, dressed to the
softness of a glove. Several hats were lying about; and we noticed that
they were curiously fabricated from the leaves of the palmetto.

While we were eating, the negro appeared at the door, and, looking in,
eyed us with glances of extreme curiosity. He was a short, stout man,
black as jet, and apparently about forty years old. His head was
covered with a thick crop of small curls, that appeared to form an even
surface, making the outline of the skull as round as a ball. His teeth
were very large and white, and anything but fierce--as he showed them
only when he smiled, and that he did almost continually. There was
something very pleasing in the expression of his rich black eyes, which
were never at rest, but kept always rolling on both sides of his flat
and expanded nose.

"Cudjo! drive out these animals," said the woman--or rather lady, we
should call her--for she was evidently entitled to be so styled. Her
command, or more properly request--for she had made it in that tone--was
obeyed with alacrity. Cudjo leaped into the floor, and, after a short
while, succeeded in turning out the wolf-dogs, and panthers, and other
strange animals, that up to this time had been snarling at each other,
among our feet, to the no small terror of several of our party.

All these things were so strange, that we watched them with interest and
curiosity. At length our meal was ended; and as we were most anx