Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

l.e wis iM. grist, Proprietor. J $nkj?cnhnf Jfamilj ftetospptr: .for % ^rcmctian of % $olrfital, Social, ^grirallnral anir Commercial f nitres of % Soat|. j TERMS?$3.00 i YEAR, IN ADVANCE. VOL. 24. YOEKVILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1878. ? NO. 30. i " ' 7 ~ 7 ~ JOHN C. CALHOUN. | by hon. w. w. holds*. "We have been told, sir, by more than one adventurous navigator, that it was worth ail the privations and perils of a protracted voyage beyond the line to obtain even a passing view , of the Southern Cross?that great constellation of the southern hemisphere. We can imagine, then, what would be the etno- j lions of those who have always enjoyed the light of that mag- j nificent luminary, and who have taken their daily and their nightly direction from its refulgent rays, if it were suddenly blotted out from the sky. Such, and so deep, I can conceive to be the emotions, at this hour, of not a few of the honored ' friends and associates whom I see around me. Indeed, no one . can fail to realize that a star of the first magnitude has been struck from our political firmament. Let us nope that it has only been transferred to a higher and purer rphere, where it ; may shine on with undimmed brilliancy for ever!"?Ho*. E. j C. Wikthsop. The voyager on the Southern main Views with rapt awe the hallowed sign Which nightly flames "beyond the line"; Nor deems the labor all in vain Which brings him to that long-sought shrine, j The various tribes, in field, by flood, Walk in its light when day is done; And hail it in its high abode, Best reflex of the absent sun. In all their devious wanderings From dewy eve, through midnight's reign, It guides them till the morning's wings Shed sunlight o'er the earth again. What if that cross its front should veil, And, darkling, sink in night's embrace? Nor other stars nor sun could till Or share its wondrous dwelling-place. ~ ' A' O?iL liiHAn ihno MfJtK thflA I OIHT OI LUU OUUtii 2 vnoo buuo itiiu ?uw To thee all eyes and hearts were turned, As round thy path from plane to sea, The glory of thy greatness burned. Millions were drawn to thee, and bound, By mind's high mastery: millions hailed In thee a guide-star, and ne'er found A ray in thee that waned or failed. Fix'd as that sign which hangs in heaven ; Firm as the earth it shines upon ; Pure as the snow by light winds driven, Wert thou, Columbia's honored son ! No night's embrace for thee I nor pall But such as mortal hand hath wrought: Thou livkst still in mind?in all That breathes, or speaks, or lives in thought. Star of the South ! thy beams are here? Here in this heart that weeps thy loss; Though hidden, thou art still a sphere, Serene, refined from earthly dross, Eternal, and intensely clear! * Ralbigh, N. C., April, 185C. .from Jtfrira. From the News and Courier. THE "AZOR" AT SIERRA LEONE. a british captain leaves the emigrants in the lurch. Monrovia, Sunday, June 2?Midnight.? My last letter, dated Sierra Leone, May 30, was abruptly concluded with the announcement that we were off for this place in tow of the steamer Ethiopia, of the British mail line, between Liverpool and the west coast of Africa. After posting that somewhat voluminous document, I hastened, in company with Capt. Holmes, to the landing, whence we discerned to our astonishment and grief, the Ethiopia steaming away over tbebarmtAoul the Azor, which lay anchored at her place. We hurried aboard the bark, and signals were vainly made to recall the steamer, which finally disappeared around the cape. This desertion of us was not only a breach of commercial contract and plighted word on the part of Capt. Simmons of the Ethiopia, but it was a piece of the most heartless cruelty. He had distinctly made an agreement with - Capt Holmes to tow the Azor to Monrovia ?.r -PfKif th? latter nromisini? to be r^ady by 11 o'clock, A. M. We were ready by 10.45, A. M., at which time the Ethiopia was steaming away nearly out of sight. Capt. Simmons knew our situation perfectly. He had been informed of the opinion expressed by the physician?that should further delay occur in disembarking the Azor'g passengers, a large number would certainly die. What his motives were I do not know. I do know that he has violated the rules held sacred by every merchant and sailor, not to speak of gentlemen or men of honor. He is a disgrace to his company and his nation. His conduct was generally characterized iu Sierra Leone as "dirty." FORBIDDEN FRUIT. My last entry in the "Journal" of any importance, was on the 28th, the day of our arrival in Sierra Leone. Early next morning, several bumboats were about the ship, most of them having plentiful stores of pineapples, < bananas, oranges, mangoes, alligator pears ' and cocoanuts, which their owners clamorously offered for sale, speaking, like the pilot, a , jabber apparently equally savoring of French and African English. One or two women were also on hand, vociferously soliciting orders for washing. The Azor people clustered like bees on the rails, and stared, with open eyes, on the visitors, and with watering mouths on the fruit. This latter, however, was rigidly excluded by the ship's officers. We had about 300 souls aboard, and had fruit been allowed as it was wanted, we should have had 300 severe stomach aches before night. THE DANGER OF DELAY. About 8 o'clock on this morning (29th) the colonial physician came out in the harbormaster's boat. He (the physician) is an octoroon, with the white duck suit, cork hat, canvas shoes, side whiskers and vocal inflection of the average Englishman in these parts. He was a iittle afraid of us, I think, aud kept his ? - - r tv i _. l_; i! A _ I Doat ai a saie uistance, asmug questions tut iu : the disease aboard, its symptoms, tfcc., and entering the answers in a morocco note-book with a gold pencil. He was rowed by black oarsmen, and spoke to them in a manner that showed plainly that universal social equality was, by no means, an accomplished fact there. Bye and bye the doctor came aboard, looked ; at the patients, prescribed for them, and promised to send medicines and disinfectants. He confirmed our previous impression that the sickness was a mild form of ship fever, caused by overcrowding, uncleanliness, insufficient medicines and inefficient medical attendance. He gave, as his opinion, that every day of delay in getting the emigrants ashore increased the dauger of a violent and fatal outbreak. He was asked what the consequence would be should the Azor sail and be delayed for ten | days longer. "From fifty to sixty deaths," j was the ominous aud significant reply. This ; proved the wisdom of putting in, for the sickness alone, omitting mention of the scarcity of food and water. GOING ASHORE. As soon as the doctor had gone, Captain HnlmM and I went ashore, in a boat nroDell ed by two black oarsmen attired in cotton ' shirts and pantaloons and red skull caps. Our arrival at the landing seemed to create con-1 siderable excitement among the numerous j loungers in that vicinity. We were imiuedi- j ately surrounded by about twenty black men and women, the former touching caps and the j latter courtesying, and all offering to do all j sorts of things?"for a consideration." Right I here I will get through with describing the ! style of dress that prevailed. THE LATE8T AFRICAN FASHIONS. The dress of the fishermen has been already 1 spoken of a* generally consisting of a rag about the loins. The habiliments of the boatmen and policemen have also been mentioned.! The ordinary laborers, porters and longshore- ! men usually wear loose thin shirts and trowsers ; although they frequently have only the j * latter, and in other instances, what resembles ft a long bag cut open at the ends, with two ft holes cut above for the arms. All are bare- . * footed and most are barelegged below the knee. The almost invariable heao cohering is a skull cap of gaudy color. Clerks, messengers, store and shop keepers, and those belonging to that class, usually wear clothes of European cut and make, of different colors and fasbionings, with shoes and hats, like anybody else. Then come the Mussulmans, dressed iu long pure white and flowing robes, not unlike an Episcopal minister's surplice, with Bandals secured across the instep with huge buttons, and tall brimless linen or cloth caps. These are the fellows who come in from the country, and are "not at work to day." Their humbler brethren, who are at work, (a condition of life in which a Mussulman never is if he can possibly help himself) wear gowns of coarse blue cotton, generally dirty, but of the same shape. Not only these followers of the prophet, but many others of the colored citizens of Sierra Leone have suspended around their necks, leather pouches, bits of stone, <&c., containing charms. The dress of the women is as diverse as the men's. Sometimes they wear a single long, loose garment of thin cotton, gathered in at the waist. Others have a gaudily colored robe wrapped around their waists and falling below their ankles, with a spare piece hanging in front, which they pun up over their bosoms when a strange man is approaching. Very frequently an infant is bound up in the folds of this garment, resting quietly behind and forming a bustle. The mother always looks profoundly unconscious of, and unconcerned about, this burden, which is invariably quiet Everybody, unless engaged in commercial pursuits, manages to get some bright color introduced in his or ber dress, except the aristocratic Mussulman, in his spotless white, and even his cap is often z bright red or scarlet THE LABORING PEOPLE OF BOTH 8EXE8 are generally very erect, and walk with what in a white man would be a swagger, but in them, with their free limbB, is merely a graceful independence. The business men have the business man's usual stoop, methodical walk and steady look, and generally carry an umbrella and wear a broad bat I tbink these natives are usually very strong, and some of them are magnificently shaped, especially the women. The most beautiful and massive pair of female shoulders I have ever seen, I saw here. Their owner had a heavy load on her head, but walked under it as Btraight as an arrow, and the shoulders just spoken of were studies for an artist, being straight, square, clean cut and well rounded?altogether perfect. Almost all the overland transportation is done on human heads, there being only three horses in the entire colony. A woman will walk into town at a good pace from miles in the country, with a child swinging at her back, and from thirty to seventy pounds of produce on her head, carrying herself as well and showing as little fatigue as an average American or English woman would after a mile's unencumbered stroll. What the meD can carry I am afraid to say. I saw one start home with two huge iron pots balanced on his head, weighing probably one hundred pounds, and be looked as if he hardly felt them. The laborers whom we met at the wharf bore two two-gallon demijohns of rum iu each hand and another on their heads. I saw no woman whose dress would forbid her appearance on the streets of an American city. The children to about eight years old wear very little?very often nothing at all. Now you have the people as they appear on the streets. LOOKS OF THE TOWN. From the large stone dock on which we landed we walked probably half a bldck across a sort of court, on the right side of which was a large brick warehouse, in and about which demijohns and bales were being handled by a gang of black men. Here we reached a flight of broad steps made of beavy stone, in the interstices of which grew grass and weeds. On these steps we get up a short bill and are fairly within the town, which does not difl'er much, so far as I can see, from any small American seaport town. The town proper (Freetown) contains about 3,600 population, and the colony of Sierra Leone, extends some thirty miles back of the coast, and contains between 30,000 and 40,000 people. Freetown is built more along the foot of tbe high hills than 1 thought, Dot running more than a third of the distance up them. The streets are of ordinary width, being unpaged. The soil is common red clay, beaten hard by much treading, and the streets or roads are fringed on each side by a broad border of grass, precisely similar to our American grass and weeds. THE HOUSES are generally one story, and built of wood, with roofs made of reeds or rushes plaited. From the front of each of these houses projects a wide roof, covering where the pavement should be. The fences are also familiar, being the ordinary slat ones, the slats being boards, or barrel staves. In the little gardens, which are generally about seventy-five feet square, grow short stalks of corn, yams and a few other vegetables, and in most of them a cocoanut tree or two towers up. At long intervals a more pretentious building is reached, there being several large two story frame stores, the upper story surrounded with lattice work, a few brick stores, and probably half a dozen brick and wooden warehouses. A tin or tile roof is occasionally seen. The town is well laid off into streets, with English names, such as "Rawdon street," "Water street," "Oxford street," &c., painted at their corners. A short walk down several streets and around several corners brings us to the place of business of THE AMERICAN CON8UL, from which the "glorious gridiron" floats. Our guide has been a black man picked up from a boat, and on the way he succeeds in engaging himself to wait on the ship with his conveyance. We note en route that nearly every man we meet touches bis hat and says "goo mornin I" We see only one white man?a squarely built Englishman, in a eork hat and bis shirt sleeves, smoking a large pipe, and standing under a tree superintending a gang of laborers?who eyes us superciliously as we pass. The American representative is a member of an English Arm doing the largest business in Sierra Leone. On the first floor of his establishment is the retail store, a wide and deep apartment, Btocked , with bright prints, cotton, beads, hats, sandals, hardware, "notions," clothing and guns. The latter are the old flintlock, long barreled, smooth bore musket. My idea is tnat me man who 6res one of them thereby gives proof of courage of a very high order. The store has a counter, behind which stands the keeper, black?the head clerk, black?the junior clerks, black?porter, black?messenger, black. Back of this store is his warehouse, where gangs of laborers are at work. Up : stairs are the offices, of which there is a large suite. Here are four white men, includiug proprietors, and several colored and black clerks, all working together. THE BUSINESS STREET. There is little difficulty in getting our Amer- j ican notes changed and drafts cashed here,; and we sally out to see the town further. ' One of the junior salesmen is sent along to take care of me and my umbrella. My guide is European dressed, plodding, methodically and business like. We go around a few more corners and get into the business street, which is lined on both sides with the one story shops with their broad porches in front. Under these porches are grouped samples of the wares for sale within?bright prints, painted china, clothing aDd so on?which give the boulevard an extremely animated and picturesque appearance. Put in this street the people heretofore described with baskets, calabashes and trays on their heads, and you have Sierra Leone. Like everybody else on the Azor, I had lost my head gear, and I went | to buy a hat. None of the shops are deeper ; than four or five feet, being more booths than I stores, and the stock can be easily reached by ! the proprietor without his having to move | around much. The old heathen to whom I , was taken reached down an old white article lined with cork, and shaped like the coal scuttle in a railroad car after a collision. He wanted to sell it for thirty-six shillings. After a little cyphering this came to $9. Then I I looked at the hat. "Colored person," I asked, "suppose I ! walked down King street in this fearfully and | wonderfully constructed tile, bow many hundred boys would sing out to me, 'Shoot ;the bat,' between Line street and the Battery?" He said he would take 34 shillings, and followed us out, falling rapidly in price to 28. This was a characteristic of Sierra Leone shopkeepers. They always charge about twice what they will take. I finally got a hat capable of effecting the most startling changes in one's appearance. It is a broadbrimmed felt, and, when turned down, makes its wearer look like a sullen Quaker. Turned up, it changes him immediately to a combination of Bloody-Nose Bill the Avenger, a stage-pirate, and Sir Walter Scott's Alsatian. Now you have the town and the people. NO LION8 IN FREETOWN. There are no lions to look at in Freetown. A regiment of soldiers is quartered there. They are black, and dress in zouave uniform. There is a market which looks like a section of Charleston Market sawed off. There is a town hall which is an ordinary village courthouse. There are barracks for the soldiers, and that's all. The police are all colored, all dressed in blue, red and pewter, all have clubs, and are very frequently barefooted. I did not see a flower in the town. The trees are mostly cocoanut, the others beiing non-fruit bearing. Some of them were very handsome, but nobody could tell me what tbey were called. FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Sierra Leone produces principally ginger, hides, palm oil and peanuts. She raises a few "nubbins" of corn for table cousumption, rice, fruits, yams aud plantains. Cocoanuts you all know, yams you all know, bananas you know; alligator pears are about the size of a large cucumber, soft inside, eaten with salt and pepper, and having a large Btome. For a steady diet I would prefer mule meat to them. Mangoes are delightful, having an aromatic, spicy taste impossible to describe. The oranges are good. Pineapples Bell at Freetown at a penny (two cents) each, cocoanuts about the same price, the pears ditto, mangoes at a half penny, oranges at almost anything. Palm wine is also sold here, hut it tastes like hot water and bad molasses. A SOUVENIR OF RICHMOND. We procured fruits, onions, "greens," spinach, eggs, fresh meat and water at reasonable Drices. The latter tasted more like the "Jeems River" fluid, so dear to the hearts of Richmond (Va.) people, than anything I have seen in a long time. The fresh meat comes from small, but sleek looking and generally fawn colored cattle, which are raised in the country. It is excellent. I forgot, by the way, to mention that our old friends, the goats and hogs, perambulate the streets quite freely, and were quite as independent and greedy as in American towns. PENNILESS PASSENGERS. The captain of the Ethiopia was seen by Capt. Holmes on the occasion of this first visit, and an arrangement was made with him to tow the Azor out the next morning. When we got back aboard, the announcement was made known, and it gave general satisfaction, as the steamer could tow us in thirty hours over the distance it might have cost days of time and many lives for us to have sailed. Capt. Holmes wished to make the expense as light as possible for the Liberian Exodus Association and he proceeded to attempt the raising of half the amount from the passengers. I was elected treasurer. The Exodists raised 862 in cash among them. For the first time I got some idea of the extent to which these people have been drained to push the scheme. Several of the steerage passengers started from Charleston with actually not one cent. Others had sums varying from 81 to 810. One told me : "I gave the last 85 note I had, when they told me the ship couldn't start without more money." Another, who came awav without a dollar in his nocket. r ? ' holds claims for $1,200 against the Association. I don't think more than five of those aboard have over $50 in clear cash. The managers knew this too 1 A DRAFT ON THE L. E. A. These revelations induced Capt. Holmes to refrain from further drawing upon the pittances remaining, aBd he decided to draw on the Association for the full amount of $750, and restore what money had been paid in. Early in the morning on the 30tb, one of the sailors took it in his head to be stubborn, and a half hour's delay and hard work was irequired to put him in irons. Then we rushed ashore, where I finished and mailed my last letter. Our bitter disappointment 1 have already told you of. A VAIN HOPE. As the steamer disappeared, everybody looked almost ready to cry for vexation and disappointment. My mortification and sorrow were doubled, for a hope of "Pills" Curtis being left ashore had arisen, when we, hurrying to the ship, caught sight of him on a distant corner, making an ass of himself in the presence of a number of the natives, and swelling around like a ridiculous old peacock without any feathers. This hope was however, vain, as he came aboard about an hour after the time fixed for our departure. There was some consolation when we went ashore, for there we were informed that the Senegal and Bonnie (steamers) were due on Saturday, the former homeward aud the latter outward bound, and that we would certainly get towing from one of the two. KINDNES8 OF GOVERNOR ROWE. With this we were necessarily satisfied, especially as the Governor (Governor Rowe) had intimated very plainly that, if we attempted sailing he would institute a rigorous investigation into the number of passengers aboard the Azor, and enforce the English laws on the subject. This gentleman was exceedingly kind to us during our stay, lending his own boats and breakers to facilitate our watering, and furnishing us large quantities of medicine gratuitously. GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONY. There is much information regarding Sierra Leone which was gleaned at odd times and places, which I will have to throw together in as rnucn snape as possioie. p irsi, Decause the easiest disposed of, comes the politics. The Colony is ruled by a Governor and council appointed by the British Government. They are all white men, (or, as they are called there, "Europeans.") Some of the petty ci vil officers are colored, I believe. So here we see a happy people never troubled with elections, and they do seem the happier and better for it. AN AFRICAN NEWSPAPER. They have a newspaper in Sierra Leone, the existeuce of which is sporadic. The man who owns the press is strougly opposed to Governor Rowe's administration and policy, and wants to make a rowe with him on all occasions, while the man who owiib the type is a strong Rowe man. Consequently there is always a rowe. When the paper supports Rowe the anti Rowe man kicks up a rowe and takes away bis press, and when the unfortunate sheet opposes Rowe there is a d?1 of a rowe, and the Rowe man takes off his type. Then there ensues a suspension until enough men, who want to see Borne "little thing" of theirs in print, get together to have the portion of the outfit owned by the opposition. Then the sheet, which is about the size of a pocket handkerchief, comes out, sometimes giving fits to Rowe, and sometimes to those who ' make the rowe with Rowe. There's politics ! and literature. WAGES IN THE COLONY. Now for Bociety and the relations of the two races. The lower class of blacks, such as laborers, clerks and salesmen, are very much like our own negroes. A common day laborer earns a shilling (25) cents per diem, a good ! nlprk nr Rhonman from ?3 to ?5 ($15 to 825) per month, and all seem to live very comfortably and contentedly in their respective states of life. The Mussulmans are the principal agriculturalists, and, outside of the thirty miles of British possessions, work their farms with slaves, either bought or inherited. The slavery is of a very light nature, the nearness to John Bull's line making it easy for the slave to run off if ill-treated. He is, therefore, generally exceedingly well cared for. THE ORDINARY NEGRO. There is one point in the Sierra Leone negro far surpassing the American citizen of African descent. He washes himself always j once and generally twice a day. He generalI ly lives on rice, preferring the native grain which is parboiled before being beaten out, which process ruins its clear white, but renders it more nourishing and pleasant to eat. They say so, and I think so. If the ordinary negro is in your employ for five minutes or five years he always addresses and speaks of you as "raasser," touching his cap when approaching you, and taking it off in your presence. He makes a respectful, ready, cleanly and faithful servant, works cheaply, and is delighted by a "tip," bowing almost to the ground, scraping, and grinning from ear to ear when presented with Bix pence or a shilling, He never calls you "boss" or speaks of you as "ole ." Yet he knows his rights too. People can, and do, call him an infernal fool, a bloody idiot, a blasted son of gun, and an "onery cuss," and he takes it patiently and good-naturedly. But they are deprived of the sweet consolation of calling him "a durned nigger." The latter is an opprobrious term, and he will immediately have you summoned before a magistrate and fined from five to fifteen shillings. We were not very favorably impressed with the morals of this class, however, as the "drummers" at the wharves offered chickens, ducks, cabbages and young women all in the same breath and with the same business-like air. "8TRUCK ALL OF A HEAP." So much for the lower classes, now for the other. An English gentleman, with whom I became acquainted, invited me to his house 10 UlUIier. XXB woo a piuiuiucut mau, ouu there is do doubt as to his social and business standing being of the best. Od going to bis house, I was "struck all of a heap" by being introduced to his son and daughter, both unmistakably colored. In the expressive language of Mrs. Gump, "You might'a knocked me down with a feather." Blue Moses! Here was I who had never, never, never, sal; at meat with anything but pure Caucasian ; who had never called colored man or woman "Mr.," "Miss" or "Mrs." (resorting oftentimes to ingenious devices to avoid doing so without giving offence, such as asking a boy coming to the door "who lives here ?" in order that he should say "Mr. Johuson," and I shouldn't have to.) I, who had been explaining to ray host, while on the way home, why, in my judgment, a social distinction between the races was natural and proper; here I was suddenly confronted with this appalling problem. Of course there was only one thing to be done, and I went blindly and recklessly in and did it?that was pretended that there was nothing unusual, and that I didn't know white from otherwise. She did the honors of the table very gracefully, and afterwards performed several airs on the piano with correctness and taste. I was so afraid she bad noticed my involuntary start at first, that I assured her with tears in my two e'en that her music was the sweetest I had ever heard. A CONCERT BADLY MIXED. After dinner that night, (that wajj Friday, June 1,) I went to a concert, magic lanr.ern and ameteur theatrical performance in the courthouse hall. The room was about thirty feet square and divided by an ordinary railing. Outside of this were rough benches. Here were the shilling, half price seats. Inside the railing, the walls were decorated with cocoa tree branches, and there were chairs, which formed the two shilling seat, occupied by the elite. Against the well, opposite the entrance door, was a stage, on which the sheet on rollers^used for the magic lantern, was placed. This part of the performance was over. In the centre of the stage sat Gover nor Rowe, on the right a British officer in uniform, an old, and a middle aged colored woman, and on his left an octoroon girl and another young British officer. Against the wall on the left was another and smaller stage for the theatricals. The audience was of all colors, mostly black, there being a si ght sprinkling of English officers, one or two white civilians, the curate and, in fact, everybody. The play was a farce entitled "John Dobbs," and the actors were all black, the female parts peing assumed by men, (shades of Manager Ottolengui!) When the farce, which was a perfect farce in every way, was over, all went home, several of the colored damsels being escorted by white men, while others of the latter race and gender stood about the doors (after the manner of emptyheaded young men in general,) uncovering and bowing. A LITTLE SUPPER. I met there an American?a New Yorker and a "Copperhead," who had been living five years in Sierra Leone, and be carried roe off to a "little supper," in a delightfully cool upstairs room somewhere, where a miniature fountain played among green shrubs in the centre of the table, and we ate roast fowl and salmon, and drank claret from porous clay utensils in company with two men black as crows, one of whom addressed my friend by his last name. There's social, equality, and | nobody seems to feel or see any difference. ! My American friend says, "You soon get used I to it." The fact is the colored people in Sier' ra Leone are so thoroughly Angliciied in i every respect that the English fiud no difficul! ty in forgetting thir skins. I ain't English. : -I learn that the colored daughter of my Eng ! lish friend is a leader of the Freetown ton. i Iudeed, while I was in the house, the wife of a major in the army came in a:ud paid a socia; ble visit. THE CONVEYANCES. I have not been able to see much of the town, which, they say, lies behind the hill, as it was too far to walk, and the only othercon| veyances are wheeled and sedan chairs, pro| pelled or carried by natives, which don't look | either clean or pleasant. The Governor has J a large hammock, carried by a small com; pauy of servants, in which he can stow himi self and family, but he never offered to lend | it to me. The total number of white people in the Colony is about 200. The thermometer usually ranges between 90 end 100. OFF FOR MONROVIA. That's ahout Dearly all I know about Sierra Leone, as we started from there at 3 o'clock, yesterday (Saturday) evening, in tow of the steamer Senegal. I've been working almost this entire Sunday to get this ready to go back with her. Now it's 9. P. M. I will date this the time of our arrival in Monrovia. The steamer charges us ?210 for towing down. This, in common with the preceding letter, has been written in the upper berth of a narrow cabin, and with all disadvantages of sickness, the rolling and pitching of the vessel, ; and other discomforts and inconveniences which were neccessary consequences of our 1 crowded condition and poor provision. Un- j der such circumstances the brain does uot work > freely, nor is the hand cunning in transcribing. There is one comfort, however. The handwriting of most of this is such as to give me assurance that it will avenge me of my adversary, the intelligent compositor, to whom I owe a grudge of long standing. My next from Monrovia. A. B. Williams. |Uadituj. For the Yorkville Enquirer. DUE WEST AND ~ITS COLLEGES. One hundred and twenty-five years ago, that portion of booth Carolina which is known as Abbeville county, was a wild waste. The wood-man's axe bad not, as yet, been beard in the forest Tbe fields which now wave with generous crops, were covered with canes, blue grass and wild peas. In 1756, Patrick Calhoun and four other families settled on Long Cane creek. Previous to that date, there were but two white families in the region. One bore the name of Gowdy; the other that of Edwards. Soon the little colony of Patrick Calhoun, was joined by a family of the name of Pressley. In 1759, the settlement was temporarily abandoned on account of the shocking cruelties inflicted upon the whites by the red men. The Cherokee Indian then was in possession of the soil. In 1763, a treaty was made with these "Sons of the Forest," which removed them beyond a line commencing at a "corner tree," on the Savannah river, about midway between the mouths of English and Ross' creeks, and running north-east to Reedy river; thence north, fifty-five miles to South Packolet; thence due east to Armstrong's ferry on Little Catawba. After the ratification of this treaty, the territory was rapidly settled up, mainly by Scotch-Irish, and became, previous to the Revolutionary war, during that period, and after it, tbe scene of many thrilling events. In tbe northern section of Abbeville county, about eleven miles north of the county seat, is tbe village of Due West. At this point, previous to the year 1790, there was an Anti-Benger Associate Church, or rather there were in the region, a few persons of ma nAnniiaoiAn Tn 17Q/1 fkfl Limit rcilgiuuo pciouooiuu* au ll va) wuv a?v ? Peter MeMullen became the installed pastor of these people. The name Due West is evidently a corruption of Duet's. Our reason for this conclusion is, that on an olid map, used by the British during the Revolutionary war, there is laid down on the Cherokee line, about thirty miles from the "corner tree" on the Savannah, about fifteen miles from Heedy river, a place called "Duet's corner." Here, the road leading from Augusta by the way of NinetySix beyond the mountains is represented as crossing. We shall not undertake to explain by what laws of euphony the change was made, nor when, nor by whom it was made. All that we claim is that in 1763, and from that date to 1787, the place was called Duet's Corner; hut in 1794 and from that time until a very recent date, it was known by the name of Due West Corner. At present, its simple designation is Due West, and by some who are not well informed with regard to the geography of South Carolina, it is called "Key West.-' Near fifty years ago, a classical school was established at Due West. This grew and flourished, receiving the patronage of the most distinguished men in the State. In 1842 this school, which bore the name of Clark and Erskine Seminary, was reorganized and fnllc enninned. and the name Erskine Col ?v ""i?ri ' lege given to it. Id 1859, some energetic persons determined to establish a Female College at the same place. A magnificent brick structure was erected, a board of trustrees chosen, and an able corps of professors selected. It began operations with bright prospects, and each year the prospects have grown brighter. Wednesday, the 3rd of July, was the thirty-fifth annual commencement in Erskine College ; and Thursday, the 4th of July, the eighteenth commencement in Due West Female College. From Erskine College fourteen young men were graduated. The first honor was awarded to Mr. H. W. Harris, of York county, S. C., and the second honor to Mr. J. T. Chalmers, of Mecklenburg county, N. C. From the Female College, eleven young ladies were graduated. The commencement days were grand affairs. An immense concourse of people assembled to wituess the imposing ceremonies. Near two thousand persons were crowded into "Lindsay Hall." On the rostrum were seated, by actual count, one hundred and fifty persons. AmoDg these were United States Senators, State Senators, members of the Legislature, military chieftains, editors of newspapers, lawyers, physicians, farmers and ministers of the gospel. The Anniversary Address was delivered by Hon. M. C. Butler. Were we asked to give our impressions of this address, we would say that M. C. Butler has as good a face and figure as any man, and his speech was in perfect harmony with his face and figure. The music furnished on the occasion was of the highest order. The whole passed off by the assembling of the students of the two Colleges in the spacious chapel of the Female College on Thursday night. One thing must not be omitted. It is worthy of being put on record?of being graven on golden tablets. It is simply the fact, that notwithstanding three thousand persons were present, we heard but one oath sworn, and saw not a single disorderly act. The town marshal reported that there was, eo far as he discovered, but a single man on the grouDd that perpetrated a disorderly deed, and this was comparatively insignificant. Twenty-five years has produced wonderful changes in the village of Due West. Then it was, in all its features, a back-woods town. The front yards were enclosed with uncouth rail fences, and there was but one flower yard in the place. Now the town is laid off in streets at right angles, and the old houses have all beeD remodeled and a great many new ones of modern style erected, and a beautiful flower yard ornaments every home. Twenty-five years ago Due West was a florae ly place; now it is charmingly beautiful. The greatest chauge of all is that the standard of scholarship in Erekine College has been, within the last few years, greatly raised. DOMESTIC SURGERY* AND MEDICINE. It is said that the Spitz dog 10 a cross between the Arctic fox and Pomeranian hound. However this may be, and whether the origin, or the fact that the race is unaoclimated here, or both causes combined produce the effect, all should understand that this strange phenomenon seems well attested : The bite of the Spitz dog is always likely to produce hydrophobia, even when the animal is itself in perfect health. Consequently, no one is ever safe with a Spitz dog. But all should understand that hydrophobia is by no means incurable. The records of Breslau hospital show in 14 years, 184 cases admitted, of whom only two died. In the hospital at Zurich, in 41 years, 223 cases were admitted, only four died. As soon as 1 ? _ /i* possible alter me one is lomcteu, mix iwu tablespoonfuIs of fresh chloride of lime with half a pint of water, and use this wash freely, keeping the wound constantly wet and changing the compress often. An old German living in Chester county, Penn., (I think) never lost a case, though he treated many, and one after the spasms had set in. He milked a pint of fresh milk from the cow, boiled in it a root of elecampane, gave it to the patient fasting, and made him fast after it. He repeated the dose on the third day, and again on the fifth, never giving it more than three times. For a wound with a rusty nail, or any of those hurts that sometimes induce lockjaw, a thin slice of/raw bacon fat, bound on at once, is an excellent remedy. Apparently there is something healing in the smoked fat Also a common cock roach crushed and laid upon a wound will often prevent lockjaw. If the symptoms should appear, a little stiffness of the jaws, a tendency to throw back the head, hasten to intoxicate the patient with any liquor that can be obtained. The relaxing of the muscles consequent on intoxication counteracts the spasms. A physician once told me he had used lobelia with entire success for the same purpose. An excellent dressing for a small burn is made by turning about a table-spoonful of boiling water upon a tea-spoonful of quince seeds. When cool it makes a thick, clear jelly, with which to coat the burn. The best treatment for a burn is to hold it in warm water, as warm as it can be borne, or foment the place with cloths wrung out as hot as the patient can bear. A finger jammed fiat in the door has been thus restored with comparatively littlo suffering. A bruise in ? * " 1 -1 IJ I tne Dreasc, id particular, snouia never ue neglected, as caDcers often originate tbns. Croup should always be taken in hand at once. Do not wait until the doctor corns, but give ipecac, or warm salt and water, until vomiting is produced. In desperate cases, as a desperate remedy, make water light blue with indigo, and give a tea-spoonful, (less to an infant, of course.) Repeat the dose in fifteen minutes, if the patient be not relieved. In case an artery is cut, and the blood flows in jets, lift the arm above the head, or lay the patient down and raise the leg at right angles to the body. Tie a twisted handkerchief tightly around the limb, above the elbow or knee, and if the jets of blood do not stop, put your finger in the wound and try to stop it. Life depends on'doing so quickly. After a carbuncle bas discharged it is sometimes very slow to heal. A plaster of shoemaker's wax has been known to act almost like magic in such cases. Never make cold application to a carbuncle. A sad case came to my knowledge of a lady, who having one on her face, but not dreamiug of danger, rose OD6 morning, washed her face in cold water, as was her custom, and died in consequence. I have no personal acquaintance with carbuncles?have never seen one, but I hear they are like boils, only with several cores instead of one. A soothing ointment may be made of one teaspoonful of laudanum beaten to a cream with two teaspoonfuls of lard, or, in some cases, equal parts of lard and laudanum. I have seen this quiet, in five minutes, a pa tient that bad been moaning continually for more than an hour. I have also seen a terrible case of piles reduced very rapidly in this way. If the application is too harsh at first, beat in more lard, and strengthen it gradually after the first pain is over. You must have good lard ; by the way, the stuff* we often buy of grocers has already so much water in it that it will not take up laudanum, or only a very small quantity. The following remedy for a sore mouth, I know to be very efficient: Gather the wood sorrel, or ladies-sorrel, (a wild oxalis, with yellow blossoms,) bruise and press out the juice ; prepare parsley in the same way, and mix the juices in equal parts. Before eaeh meal, dip a cloth in the mixture and lay it on the patient's tongue, and let it remain as long as he can bear it comfortably. This has been known to cure a case which had been given over by the doctor. There are so many cases in which all depends on prompt action, and the delay of sending for a doctor may be death, and so many others where it is belter not to take drugs, and so many doctors are very apt to give them, that it is wise to be prepared for any small emergency. Probably these remedies, or most of them are familiar to the majority of your readers, but they may help some one, and then my purpose will be answered.?Household. A DEAD SHOTWITH A RIFLE. Dr. W. F. Carver the man who can put a bullet through a silver quarter while the coin is flying through the air, is now astonishing the New Yorkers by exhibitions of his skill. The New York Times says : The scene of yesterday's shooting is worthy of description. A small wooden shed, with a bar in one corner; in front of this a table, on which were four rifles, several boxes of cartridges and half a dozen score-books. Fifteen or twenty feet in front of this, again, a barrel and a man, the man taking the glass balls out of the barrel and throwing them in the air, and Dr. Craver breaking them with the bullets as fast as they appeared. Somebody was always at work loading a rifle. The marksman could fire them faeter than the loaders could load. And they were the most remarkable rifles?breech-loaders, of course. When they were opened at the end one cartridge was shoved in after another, till it seemed as if the first one must surely be somewhere up by the muzzle. Dr. Carver's costume has nothing to do with the marksmanship, and his shooting is strictly business. He seldom misses what he fires at. Most of the time was taken up in shooting glass balls, filled with feathers. The balls were of the thinnest film of glass, slightly tinted, so as to be seen easily in the air, and, when they broke the feathers scattered in every direction. The balls are thrown about 20 feet into the air, and the marksman was not more than 15 yards from them at any time. It was noticeable that the shot was invariably fired just as the upward impetus of the glass ball ceased and it was about to begin its fall. This close glass-ball shooting did not give the idea of remarkable skill, probably on account of the short distance, even though the average was 9. hit out of every Id It looked much more wonderful when the assistant threw the glass hails; an far as he could and J)r. Carver broke each one as it hew, the distance being not less than lOQyards, Several coins were shot, straight through the centre, as they whirled through the air. One of the most astounding of Dr. Carver's feats was his hitting a bell-metal ball when it was almost out of eight, up in the air. The ball is so made that when a bullet strikes it, it rings like a small gong. The assistant threw this ball many times as high as he could throw, till, sometimes, it could hardly be seeD, but every timf the marksman brought the 6ound out of it. He also cot in two all the lead pencils he could induce the spectatators to throw into the air, and he fired successfully at a large number of unused cartridges. When the assistant threw two glass balls up at the same time the rifleman, with a double-barrel weapon, first broke one and then the other, without making a single failure. The two requisites for good shooting are of on immnooKlo rpat. fnr fhfl Clin-Rtook and a steady hand and arm for the barrel. The secret of Dr. Carver's wonderful marksmanship may be in bis immense and perfectly balanced body, which stands firm as a rock. With a steady hand also, such a man may do almost incomprehensible things with a good rifle. His body seems able to withstand any attacks of nervousness; yet when he misses a shot he is very likely to miss the two or three succeeding ones, a sure sign that the miss flurries him. Another of his peculiarities is that he aims with both eyes open?so that he can keep an eye on an Indian, he says, while he is firing at a buffalo. theodoslT bubb. In a recent address before the North Carolina Historical Society, Hon. J. H. Wheeler, the eminent historian, advanced the following new theory as to the tragic end of the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Aaron Burr: The beauty and accomplishments, as well as the social position of Theodosia Burr Alston, her eventful life and her premature and tragic death, have thrown around ber name a spell of romance and sympathy which recent events have greatly enhanced. After her marriage in New York, (in January, 1801), at the age of eighteen, she accompanied her husband to South Carolina, where she resided for several years, interrupted by occasional visits to the home of her father. Her last voyage commenced in December, 1812, when, with impaired health, at the request of her husband (at this time the Governor of South Carolina) and her father, she embarked from Charleston to New York'in a small pilot-boat vessel, called the Patriot. From that day she has never been heard from. By many it was conjectured that the vessel had foundered in a gale of wind at sea, and all had perished. By others, it has been stated that the vessel was captured by pirates, and all on board murdered. Similar statements have appeared in the public prints, and a painful obscurity rests upon the fate of this unfortuv ate and lovelv ladv. But a recent discov ery has been made in oar State, which dissipates this obscurity and makes certain the mode of her untimely end. A few months ago the late Prof. Pool showed me an ezqqisite photograph of the original painting of Theodosia Burr, now in possession of his brother, Dr. W. 6. Pool, who now resides near Elizabeth City, of which he gave the following account: "Dr. Pool is a native and resident near Elizabeth City, in Eastern North Carolina. Some eight or ten years since he visited, in his professional capacity, a family near Cape Hatteras, and although they were in moderate circumstances, he observed hanging on the wall an equisite oil painting of a beautiful woman. On inquiry he discovered that this had been found, with some other articles, by the man of the bouse (now about eighty years of age), when a youth on a vessel that bad been wrecked near Cape Hatteras in a furious storm that occurred in the winter of 1812, or 1813. The vessel was a small one and all on board were drowned. ThiB picture was presented to Dr. Pool, and from this the photograph was taken. This settles beyond all question the manner of the death of the lost Theodosia. It was near that dreaded Cape Hatteras?so often before and since the death place of the fearless and the gallant; with the wild foam of the Atlantie her winding sheet and the fierce north wind for ber requiem, did his gentle spirit wing its flight to another world. Chinese Monet.?The Chinese probably illustrate, in the most extreme manner, the length to which loose views concerning currency can be carried. The history , of their currency presents that mingling of the grotesque with the tragic, which most of their actions have, when viewed through Western eyes. Coined money was known among them as early as the eleventh century before Christ, but their inability to comprehend the principles upon which a currency should be based, has led tbem into all sorts of extravagancies, which have been attended bv disorder, famine, and bloodshed. Coins came at last to be made so thin that 1,000 of them piled together were only three inches high ; then gold and silver were abandoned; and copper, tin, shells, skins, stones, and paper, were given a fixed value, and used, until by abuse, all the advantages to be derived from the use of money were lost, and there was nothing left for the people to do but to go back to barter, and this they did more than once. They cannot be said now to have a coinage; twenty-nine hundred years ago they made round coifis with a square bole in the middle, and they . have made no advance beyond that since. The well-known cash is a cast brass coin of that description, and, although it is valued at about one mill and a half of our money, and has to be strung in lots of one thousand to be computed with any ease, it is the sole measure of value and legal tender of the country. Spanish, Mexican, and our new trade dollars, are employed in China; they pass because they are necessary for larger operations, and because faith in their standard value has become established ; but they are current simply as stamped ingots, which their weight and fineness indicate.?Popular Science Monthly. The Best Government in the World.- The Washington Post has the following pungent paragraph on this much hacknied phrase: One of the most amusing things we have perused in a long time, is a screed in one of the soporofic dailies of Philadelphia, congratulating its readers that our country is not like Germany, where tbey go gunning for emperors ; nor like Russia, where to abolish trial by the executioner is more convenient; nor like any other effete monarchy; but, on the other hand, as the late Mr. Morton was fond of say ing, tbe best government the world ever saw. All of which is doubtless true, except as to a few inconsequencial details; for example, in sixteen years we have had the most tremendous civil war and social revolution ever known; we have had one President assassinated, another impeached, and a third stolen into office in defiance of the popular will; we have hud a section of our country, containing upwards of 12,000,000 people, governed by satraps and dragoon officers on the approved Russian plan; we have had a tyranny of financial policy that has crushed the very life out of our industries ; and finally, we are now engaged in an inquest upon the highest officials in the country, with a view of indicting them for common perjury and forgery, or the subornation thereof by bribery. With these few trifling exceptions, we join our soporific contemporary in rejoicing that we are not as other men, but, on the contrary, have the best government the world ever saw.