The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1845-10-31

and have passed days and nights Of
agony, sometimes under one aiflilc-
ton and some times under the other;
believe, except in one instance,
was | subject to both calamities at
once. The remembrance of that
combination Of tortures ever, even
now, causes a thrill and shudder
through my whole frame.
| was travelling on the eastern
shore of Maryland-a district re-
nouned for female beauty and insect
voracity-and on certain Sabbath
afternoon, in the month of July, |
arrived at diminutivc village, on
the shores of stream called the Po-
comoke, which seems TO me to be
an earthly duplicate of the river
Styx; being dark, sluggish and tort
nous, and swarming with musqui-
toes as the internal flood was said
to swarm with spectres. Every vii
lage hereabout, however small, has
its church or meeting house; gener-
ally neat white wooden tabernacle
of extremely moderate size, with a
pulpit at one end and a singing gal
lcry at the other; the intermediate
space being furnished with pins
benches, never painted and some
times scarcely planed. Altogether
these temples would not be to the
taste of those christians who formal
ly renounce the pomps and vanities
of this world, while seated comior-
tably in handsome pews, decorated
with crimson cushions and rich
brussels carpcting.
1t was not yet time for the after
noon service to commence, but the
congregation had commenced 10 as
semblc. took a position at the
door among a croud of devotees
who were waiting there for the ar
rival Of the minister. | was amazed
at first to see the little throng in
constant motion-twirling and twist
ing about, in what | thought a "a
Their heathen-like manner--more af-
ter the fashion Of a troop of dancing
dervishcs than a christian assembly
The mystery was soon explained
for scarcely had | taken my stand
when my face and hands were COW
cred with colonies of mosquitoes
which began to eat me up alive in ;
way that showed Inc the cxpediency
of keeping up some muscular mo
ton TO interrupt their sanguinary op
crations.
Most of my neighbors were sadly
unprovided with defensive armor tC
rcpel the attacks Of the multitudin-
Gus foe. 1t was not the fashion il
those parts for the ladies and gen
tlemen to wear shoes and stocking:
in warm weather, and their gar.
ments being made of homespun, OF
factory cotton, as it commonly call.
ed, are such penetrable stuff, thai
the mosquitoes never consider then
as any obstacle to the qualification
of their appetites for blood. Hence
what is said of the United States il
general, may be said of the people o
this region in Observation-Disclosures il
| no such thing as standing still :
there must be motion Of some kind
progressive, saltatory, rotary, o
retrogrcssivc.
By and by the ladies began to ar.
rive; they were dressed in domcs
tic plaid; but some who were par
= ticularly inclined to show off, wcr,
decked out in calicocs of the gayes
= colors. These were the bellies o
the neighborhood. They wor
straw or chip hats, decorated in ex
IRENE cases, with gaudy ribbons an,
. feathers Of all indigenous kinds tina
forest or farm-yard can supply; tn
, plumage of the peacock, guinea
fowl, pheasant, and rooster bein
most conspicuous. The feet in a
cases were uncovered. Never di
| see such delightful example c
-. loneliness unadorned, as those shoe
i less and stockingless little feet ey
hibited. Commonly the foot muse
to cotton and kid-skin bondage, cs
; pands rather much to suit our idea
of femcnine delicacy, but with til
= eastern shore girls it is not so; til
= soil is soft and sandy, and yieldin
. gently TO the feet it neither indu
rates nor enlargos them. Some c
those feet and ANGLES (pardon m
reader for dwelling fondly on tn
reminiscenee) were indeed of IT,
most elegant pattern, and those {
j one young lady especially concer
r trated all my powers of observation
s She had the most divine pair of lii
Il tie trotters, that youthful poet eve
s rancicd when he loved, and | hav
J, a strong persuasion that a handsom
c foot, is, with young man of poet
= cal temperament, the most indispc.
L a