Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1861-04-26


Charleston. and the issue Of the present
citemont there must be SO important, that per-
sons who have never been there may like TO
know that is the aspect of the city, and what
are the ways of the people Of Charleston.
will, therefore, note down a few particulars,
as they appear to a resident Of different part
of the country. As a fellow-citizen under
the general government Of the United States
am qualified to enter into their minds in a
general way. while the broad differences in
climate and its consequences between New
England and Southern State. may enable me
TO note and report peculiarities Of manners
and customs as foreigner would do. Let
my readers, then, think Of me as a merchant
from Massachusetts, visiting his sisters in
their Southern homes. first, during an ordi-
nary period Of repose and again, at a time
when public affairs were supposed to look
threatening This last condition is not un-
common one. Since the marriages of my sis
ters have three times been called to them,
10 see what could be done with them and the
children, in case of political or social convul-
sion.
Once went by sea, for air and GOODNESS -
Approaching the city in that way, | saw
long stretch of the coast: and must say
thought it a very dreary one The even line
Of forest on the low sandy shore the shoals;
the wide flats at low water and the same
ness Of level within the whole horizon, make
up scene of monotony such as had not an
ticipated seeing anywhere on our side the
Gulf When we came within sight Of Char
lesion the drearness did not 90 Off The city
occupies the point between the two rivers
Ashley and Cooper, spreading las | after
wards saw from church steeple) like fan
from the apex Of the sandy promontory which
It occupies. On either hand of our channel
lay the islands, which produce some Of the
best cotton in the world A few groups of
dwellings appeared in front of the pine woods
on the mainland. A few masts bristled on
the water off the wharves of the city and a
vessel was on the bar, coming out. as we went
in. On our right was Fort Moultrie on its
island and on the lett, Fort Sumter. appar-
emily growing out of the sea at high water
The most lively element in the scene was per-
haps the black buzzards which are always
moving about the harbor. They are as safe
there as the doves in st. Marks Place at We
nice; they are the unpaid scavengers of the
city, and are not to be mcddlcd with. It is
an odd sight at low water to see long row of
these ugly birds perched on the line of stakes
left uncovered by the cbb There is nothing
W ut TdtA lol tue OtuuNl VI Aut Wow from the
shore at such an hour and at high water.
the sea is hardly visible. 1t is distant gray
line, seen through either the reek of the slime
Of the harbor or the haze Of that sultry cli-
mate. ! am always glad to turn my back up
on the sea at Charleston. and shall always
reach the place by land, if, indeed, ever go
there again
We New Englanders are supposed by Old
Englanders to know something about woods
but doubt whether the railway cutting in
South Carolina is less striking to us than to
European travellers. 1t is "A sensation worth
knowing, to stand on the piazza in front of
one of the sheds which serve for stations, and
look at the railway one is about to embark
on. There is nothing whatever to be seen
but the track and the sky. The track is wall
ed in by two lines of dark trees, cut as clean
as if they had been sliced at one stroke. Be
tween them the rails run in perspective till
all four unite in one. which is itself lost Just
before the apparent meeting of the two lines
of forest. IL is impossible to conjecture how
many miles away it is. At length some means
of judging arise. The station masters prac-
tised ear catches the tokens of a coming train
After few minutes, his eye discerns what
the stranger cannot see but moving object
is at length visible to ala point Of a some
what different hue from all else. For sever
al more minutes it seems doubtful whether il
enlarges and one again and again supposes
it has halted. 1t has approached, however,
steadily, at the rate of nearly twenty miles
an hour. Before it comes up, exactly the
same process is going on, on the precisely
similar road on the other hand, on which the
train am expecting is travelling towards us.
Once off there is an alienation between
the two ordinary objects, the forest and the
swamp. Both have great charms to my eye.
The tall pines rise sometimes clear of branch
es to the very canopy and sometimes screen
ed with climbing plants, hanging out bios
SONS, red, yellow, and white. The gray moss
of the tysandria floats from every bough and
stem. The young aloes spring dnder the
shelter of fallen trunks, and quick little liz
ards run along the PROSTATE stems. The sill
very sand, scarcely tinged by wiry grass,
spreads its soft surface far one can see
under the trees; and the springs of water,
which ooze out from the roots of some old
tree, run clear as crystal in sun or shade. In
the swamp we see to some depth, as the rails
rest on piles and trestles, above the water
We can see water-snakes in the intervals OF
the Towering reeds and flags waving in any
casual current. | prefer passing these swamPs
IN the DAY LOT Dy night the frogs are 700
noisy for endurance. 1t is all chance, how
ever, what hour you pass any given spot
Time is of no value in these regions. Pune
tuality is not dreamed OF, and no guest is ex-
pected till he appears. One may reach Char
lesion at any hour of the day or night, and
the traveller should be prepared accordingly.
If he arrives by day, he will have seen some
country houses within the last few miles
houses surrounded by some sort of tillage,
and, most likely, cotton. The piazzas which
run round to the back may be either Of de-
caying wood, implanted and bare, or shaded
with honeysuckles such as are never seen else
where, large globes of luscious bloom, aud
yellow jasmines, before whose blossoms the
humming bird is stationary while sucking the
sweets, poised on quivering wings. In the
fences, the yucca appears, the most northern
ly of the palm tribe; and the splendid Cher
okee rose sprawls over hedge or rail, in long
lines of blossom, here and there conyerginl
into a mass of flowers.
At length | arrive at Charleston. IL by
night, ! perceive only that the streets are sin
gularly quiet, underfoo; and around Under.
foot is the deem sand still and still liable e