Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. I.djvu/424

Rh and where all succeeds excellently; and all this have I been invited to see by this noble man. May he live for ever!

The coasts, both of Georgia and Carolina, abound in islands, which I understand are beautiful as paradise, and rich in vegetation. The finest cotton grows on them. Cotton is cultivated on the hills and on the islands of Georgia and Carolina; rice upon the lowlands. Even Carolina has hills and mountains abounding in metals, and fresh, clear mountain streams, which do not assume their chocolate hue till they are far on their course.

I intended to have made my journey northwards through the highlands of Carolina, and thence through Tennesee and Virginia,—because I must of necessity see “the Old Dominion,” one of the oldest parent-states, and the native land of Washington; but to travel through Tennesee would have been too fatiguing where the roads are bad, and the inns are bad—for that portion of the State is yet in its infancy—so that I did not dare to undertake the journey in the great heat; but instead shall return by the sea, beautifully and quietly as I came. On the 15th inst. therefore, I shall go on board the steamer to Philadelphia, and thence to Washington. Until then I remain quietly here, and only make little excursions in the city and its neighbourhood.

I am quite well, my little Heart, thank God and homœopathy, and unremitting care as regards diet, and my beloved bananas! Besides this, I have availed myself of sea-bathing here, and though I bathe in a swamp and under cover, I feel that it is good for me. The Misses A., two wealthy unmarried sisters, of middle age, have had the kindness to lend me their carriage and horses to take me to the baths. The youngest of these ladies generally accompanies me. The coachman and the horses are faithful old servants of the family, and we are obliged to be driven as they will, and that is not