ce from the camp, by the river
side, may be seen the remains of an old Spanish fort, built of oyster
shells, and said to have been erected in the year 1637.

To one accustomed to notice the sanitary appearance of camps, the
neatness observable both in the streets and tents of 'Camp Saxton' was
an agreeable surprise. Few camps in any department of the army are
better policed, or present to the visitor such a general air of order
and cleanliness as this first encampment of Colonel Higginson's
regiment. As we enter one of the streets a company inspection of arms is
going on, which displays to good advantage the proficiency of the
colored soldier in the minutiae of his work. Soon after, we are summoned
to witness a battalion drill, and my companion, who has been both an
army officer and a 'Democrat,' is extravagant in his praise of the
movements and evolutions of the troops. Before leaving the camp we visit
the snug and comfortable hospital into which Yankee ingenuity has
metamorphosed the upper story of an old ginhouse. The surgeon informs us
that the most common disease in the regiment is _pneumonia_, and that,
in order to guard as far as possible against this, he has the middle
board of the tent floor taken up just at night, and a fire built on the
ground, to remove the dampness.

We are careful to make our exit at the proper place, as negro soldiers
on guard observe unwonted strictness, and we hear of their having
threatened to shoot the commanding general himself for attempting to
pass out at some other than the regular passage way.

I have seen the soldiers of Colonel Higginson's regiment on several
other occasions than the one above described, and have always found them
displaying the same soldierly qualities. Their picketing of Port Royal
island has not been surpassed by any white regiment for the rigor and
watchfulness with which it was enforced. 'Will they fight?' is a
question which the events of the war are fast answering in the
affirmative. The South Carolina volunteers have not as yet met the
rebels in close conflict; but, in holding captured places against large
numbers of the enemy, in passing rebel batteries on the Florida rivers,
and in hazardous excursions into the heart of the enemy's country, where
they have been constantly exposed to the fire of sharp-shooters and
guerillas, they have behaved as bravely as any other regiments in the
service; while they have united to their ready obedience and prompt