New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-12-17

gvItl a
Their acc uuts OF the nus are partly from observa-
Ion. often from conversatiors bet.Neon the whites
which they have overheard. Necessarily inaccurate in
many nsrances, their state .nents are nevertheless,
IN the whole, consistent: trustw odhy t. grea. ex'
eut and of no little assistance, while Reconnaissance
or scouting pa,des on tire mainland ara az yet i'm
possible. Ia sometimes happens, naturally enough,
thai hey are eager TO give good news, or what they
suppose TO he valuable information, and no give
rather more thnn 10 very well founded, but their
substantial honesty Is uadeniabo. The general
current Of statements about themselves, their
object in coming in, treatment 10y their masters
and tie eiri made TO captlre and Kill fngitives, is
TIE same with those received 1T the camp below. III
ever a fact was proved by the consistent testimony
# hundreds Of Witnesses who have no possible
chance Of collusion with each oiher, the deiberate
shooting Of large numbes of slaves 10 prevent their
escape il established and here, at least, universally
believed. So ia regard to tie attempts 10y their
masters TO persuade the negroes that the Yankees
were coming TO Kill them or sell them 10 Caba-an
Insertion everywhere. made aud everywhere DIE
credited by the slaves Their belief that they should
find friends 10 the hated Yankees could not he shaken
can only be unsettled by ourselves If tie ulirs
policy Of this expedition sbouli 80 determine. They
do not always come with definite notions Of escape
from slavery into freedom, but always with the
conviction that enemies 20 tbes n.ssters must be
friends 10 them An old negro whom closely CUES
toned yesterday into whore brain only the dimmest
notions Of liberty Lad found their way, seemed pul.
zled TO guess the drift of the Inquiries he ried to
answer At last he said that he couldn't tell whether
lie was TO be free or not: but he came 10 IA becanse
he was sure that, whoever happened, his new mas
ter coulgu be CIV worse hun lie old. Such cases,
however. are eXceplions. have found iew slaves
so thoroughly debased ly life Of seryitGGe that
they DO not long for freedom for It's own sake and
believe that they shall receive i, at our hands. The
GUARDS are st maintained CA all the roads leading
hitterpsrd, and escape Is often extremely difficult.
Instances are not uncommon where slaves left the
,lutaon Immediately on recei = of The news Of our
victory, which for them relocated the North Star and
rorght down tie Cunada line TO Carolina Itself.
and Rave been hiding ever suce in lie woods and
swanrs, succeeding at last in e.udrg tie guards
snd reach,1s lie camps. Much greater M rbers are
su unable to come H. and perhaps tie largcat par.
If all Lave been carried inland by their masters
lcyold chance Of immediate ucape. TIE number IN
Barnw,u is So great that prov-i,us already
tcar,e, lui to tie slave, wto-e value 20 such has
smos vanished, ia left perhaps tLe choice bttweca
ttaryntion and tbe ballet
PoET Ro,AL, Dec y 1881.
Returning on Monday from Beaufort 10 catch The
nsil and fudicg Il a. usnal delayed, went mnie.
dafcly back on tie Winfield Scott, which Is not COZ.
sijercj very dangerous craft in ,.so0lh water If
there Is en-. rgh Of IT, but with her usual III luck,
shs nn, aground coming on, Of sculi Creek, getting
OF however. with not mrch Dolby. Beaufort WIS
quiet NJ in he non ing and very uurh more orderly
than during tie day before. In the attention to
more nrptut adairs tie repwcntl camp lines had
10, been yefy carefully guarcd. ard s2itieis were
an over the to0n on Sunday, u balf dozen patrols
were cent out 70 cary tie wanderers back 70 their
fclls. Everything wore q much more teitled look
on MONDAY. and tie soldiers were perfectly ppy IN
thoir crnpgc Of quarters ir,m tie yard heap tehiIi
F5u WeI,s u tie grassy plina outside oil Beaufort
where their tents arc newly plcled. TIE Emit
livouac Of tie s,b Michigan IN TIE public rquare,
beneath tie iiye-oaks clustering there in grove,
was j,ig fully IciWesqGci bot thrir lfeseni
csup j. quite ~ head M, and more convenient.
Dr.
throwing up au otr, work on The otlc, eide of Port
Royal Ferry about thous2nd yarlr from tho cro.--
ing, ara TO placed ar to command IT, by Monday
afternoon he, hsd made c1al.dorrIle pfogress and
evidently intended to dispute TIE a's1ge q ouftroois
or cover their own. As Iauitons battery WAS AZ
huud ard guuboat- could be bed for the asking,
wloae approlch by the channel buck Of tie leland.
was sil % DO practicable, It was not supposed that
Cen Stevens meant 10 eu.Icrthe undi,urJed compile
[ on 81 ne works 4 boa, iron Beaufort this morn
INK bring. news that our guns bad oleled Oh the
GeLels, who did nor reply, but | am able TO get no
further particulars. Tie tools ut tic Ferry, on
Monday, were anxious FOR a da OF come sort, ard
with ihe usual eagorucss OF volunteers wanted to 20
down on the cauteway, aud try the range Of their
guns IN indulgence not YET pIunied them. Reports
of other batteries erecting which had cau,ed iit,e
uueasiuess 10 the troops stationed a. one or two
points near the shore proved be founded except
perhsps, in one instance a party bad spent the day
Ladies' Island collecting proSisions, rnuls, and
other ooutrabsnd propcrty--ihe term contr1,band
having a liberal Interpretation hcre-and had been
very successful. ats much wanted, but diff
cult to come at The rebels are asirg On old ferry
somewhere the present crossing and are said to
have CONTRACTED iats capable If holding hundred
men. They are undoubtedly in considerable force
not far inland. Ever since the flight from Fort
Walker, a force as been stationed at Port Royal
Ferry, which seems 10 have been selected Is
point capable of defense. Large booies Of
troops thought to be mostly militia hastily enrolled
after their defeat, have been gathered at several
points not very remote from the ferry, especially
near the railroad, and at Haidyville. Gen. Dayton
with 1900 men, has moved down from the latter
place to Gardner's Corner, five miles inland, and
other forces thought TO be not far of. This in
formal ion comes from contrabands and is credited ut