Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. II.djvu/457

Rh also, inasmuch as he abuses his own head for being badly furnished, whilst he is possessed of a very excellent, acute, and sound intellect. How it may be with regard to his acquired knowledge I cannot say, but this I know, that these strong practical characters, when they are united to a warm heart and a noble disposition, are to me, at the same time both a repose and a refreshment. A man who from his own acquired property, purchases and furnishes a house for his father and sister, is one whom I should like to have for a brother; but not for the sake of the house.

The animals which are both below and above us, amuse me also, all except the pigs, which I would were all of them drowned together in the Mississippi, because they send such repulsive odours up to our piazza every now and then. Their various voices are not at all unpleasing to hear at a distance, and they all look in such good condition, and are so well off, that I generally once a-day make a round of salutation among them. The oxen are so fat that they can hardly get up when they have laid themselves down; and they are obliged to be roused to that every morning, by the keen caresses of the whip.

I must now tell you about some new acquaintance whom I have made on board. First two young sisters from Vermont, real rose-buds in their exterior, and with souls of the purest crystal; genuine daughters of New England, even in this, that though they might live in ease in their own home, they prefer as teachers to earn their own bread, and thus obtain an independent life for themselves. You would be as much fascinated with them as I am. The eldest sister is twenty-five, and is now on her way to undertake the management of a ladies' seminary in the state of Mississippi. The younger is only seventeen, and is going as a pupil in the school where her sister is teacher. Both are most charming girls, and both have