Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 9).djvu/284

 *ical management, so that there can be no great error in supposing that he acts gratuitously. The present presiding judge is a man who has distinguished himself in Indian warfare.[135] Whatever opinion you may form of the bench here, you may be assured that it is occupied as a post of honour.

Amongst the business of the court, the trial of a man who had stolen two horses excited much interest. On his being sentenced to suffer thirty stripes, he was immediately led from the bar to the whipping-post. Every twitch of the cow-hide, (a weapon formerly described,) drew a red line across his back. This was the second infliction of the kind that had been sanctioned by {253} court in the State, since my coming into it. I do not notice the infrequency of punishments as wishing to occasion a belief that misdemeanours are seldom committed. Indeed, were it not for the absolute impunity obtained in most cases, we might soon see the partial development of a new system of physiognomy, one not founded on the features of the face, but on the striped lineaments of the back. Never, till now, did I so much value the usage of Scotland, where the inhabitant, on removing from one parish to another, carries with him the testimonial of the church.

The surface of the land in the neighbourhood of Charlestown is beautifully diversified, varying between gently undulated and steep of broken ground. The soil