, 1862-04-17

field from sun to ls;un::receiye . peck Of corn
q week-aWo suits Of clothing Q. yeaf-ano1
drag out their exfstence-in tbs monotonops3
manner. The striking feature = a taat tnSy ~
ferietics: prd Ida rot 6nd an instance where
IcouId discoYer any trace of mixture IN their
complexiop, until arrived at Beaufort. Their
lanpIage is rude, and among many almost un-
intsllig1ble. Imst with many who had never
and one old negro Of sixty years or upwards,
informed me- that he had never been
during his ife. Under such circumstances, |.
different result could hardly hare been ;ex-c
pected+ and Of course the order Of Intelligence
In man5 cases is-hardly aboVe the brates:' But
at Beaufort the influence Of the town Is at
once perceptlble, and you find the house-ser"
want, the coachman, the carpenter, orlg1s,
smart and quick-Witted, some OF them remark-
ably 60 H9t nearly al feel +6 fhs nee9 o. %m
have had any responsibility p1aced upon them,
and Of course ere totally lost whenever they
are thrown upon themselves; The women
have always been accustomed to labor In the
those employed as house serTants.: And the
difficulty with those who are trying to system
a1ize things there, is to find employment for
them In other capacities. The men can be
This applies to many Oh Hilton Head Island
and DaWfuskie, but they are not 80 low that
they do not fnlly understand their position
and realize fairly that they are free. The
slightest intimation TINT they will ever be
brought into bondage they repe1 at once. !
Whist is your buslness?" said to bright,
Intelligent 9t looking negro, who stoqd b. my
am carpenter, sir, and have been at work
for the past two months on board the Winfield |
Scott, and am now going to work on the !
steamer Mayaswer" -. !" Are yon good lt:na saE,
the c,naa wh5 i cs i me tt
"What do you get per day" lone dollar |
and a half'' s'Eaye you always lived in Beau
fort: Yes ST ard have done a gTgfas dsa
the t time. am nearly fifty years Of age and
used to get s.. Is day, and my master has
always taken 1t. l have earned hundreds Of
dollars for him and have never received any
| thing from him but two suits Of clothes year
and peck Of corn Saturday night. ufcould
earn little, at leisure moments, and buy
some meat with it, it vas my good luck, and
| I never had anything more from him" ibid
your master treat You vel: ~ 20, yss. sir, +
you caU kaat areH: H put great deal OF CONT
| family and furniture to the main land, and he
sent me back, telling me, Jake, you 60 over
! and bring al de oder se7yants with you, and I'll
| treat you well for it, came over, and when
/ found de Yankees had taken dc fort, con
cluded I radder stop with them .'Do4't
yon think You shall go back at all?" t'No,
| sir!" "But suppose the Yankees leave. and
your master comes back, what then?" IT will
60 to New York with them" But suppose
they would not have you" "Then, said he,
ton as he spoke, then, before would 60
| again into slavery, would cut my throat aud
diet" EDO you think" said I, *tthat there
arc many Of the colored ptople Who feel as
yon ~ '* Yes, sir, all Of them They never
aysi ana Z You 1aeg s 5eat siSD S0g
for them, and they never will come back"
| The sentiment have found unanimous. They
look to the Yankees for protection, they feel
their helplessness, and arc ready to show their
Sion and obedience. went all over
the Island. I visited many Of the planta-
tions which are six miles out Of the lines, and
where they have not seen any Of our North
EN- soldiers, and where did not feel remark
ably safe from lurking secesslonist. l have
and conycrscd with some Of the most degrad-
ed, and hare invariably met with the same
| expression OF ideas in relation to the state Of
affairs among them, namely, that their day Of
dcaerancs has come, and as one old negro said,
t'Why, We have prayed for this thing for
twenty-five years we kneo it would come,
Beaufort, which is thirteen miles from
Hilton Head, and where there was notice
gi{en from the pulpit on the previous
Inhabitants to leave, as the Northern army
would probably burn the town. The negro
said, When 1 heard the guns on Monday
morning and saw the windows in the houses
shaking, and the dishes on masters table
jumping, and misBis and the children running
about the streets, and crowds Of de women
and children wringi1g their hands and crying,
I l went out in dat live oak grove, and fell upon
my knees, and pray foE fiye hours, and tank I'd d.
: t Lord for that day" Said to another at Hi
bardment, ''What did you think when yor
saw those ships move in o. ~ can't tell
but thought when saw the Wabash, {whict
was the leading ship in the feet} move rount
and trow dem rotten shot {meaning the she'll
| thought sartai1 de Lord had come; ant
when I saw all our folks run AWAY aud yo1
Yankees land, I knew de Lord had sent you
: and that he vas on your side-kase de:.Lord i
On De side Of de ones who deliver 1s:' Thi
instructive expectation, which is certainly pro
duced by their fifth in God, and the firm con
viction that they all, without exception, ex
| press, that for years they hare looked
forward with hope to this day, is certain
every one who has been brought in contac
with them, TINT the deep religious feeling, an,
simple, cenf1dlng trust In God, that they wer
somehow or in some way to be delivered, the
knew not how. say have heard the remar
that 1t vas matter of astonishment and WOE
r der. Men who are connected with the army
t and whe have no fear Of God or: man befor
d ! their eyes, much less any such emotion 4
faith in Him themselves, notice this preyailin
sentiment among this race, and express til
same wonder and surprise. There are cor
stantly coming from the n,nin land over to th
islands, which are separated from it only b
a river mile wide, large numbers Of this pee
pie. On the road leading from this river, ma
,, be seen numbers almost every day, who has
ton. Those On the island have n,
ny friends who went with their masters whe
>, they fed to the main land. The idea whic
the masters instilled into their minds as q me
y tive for them to escape, vas that the Ya1
ships and sell them, and, as one told me hi
master said, THAT if the Yankees could ne
get more than five dollars for them, the
were 80 mean that they would sell them #
that" stronger induce5nent than many SUI
pose who do not know that negro consider
it the highest disgrace to be sold under prlc
The ones, however, which did remain SOC
managed to communicate with those who ha
been the victims Of this deception, aud the
With others, SO that those occupying that Sc
informed as to the true state Of affairs, and
natural consequence there is a stream Of IL
migration flowing in toward this point. Who
plantations are deserted and one company
LEO, the entire stock of one planter, came
together. There we're on Gen. Shefnan's Lis
registered, when left. ZOO, and Of cour
there are many more which could not be coun
ed in the making up Of the list. This same id
Of this being the work Of the Lord is expressf
,fn by those who arc just from the main land, az
1t. who seem to hare the same impressions
les are manifested By those on the islands. Sa
m to couple who had just come over, "Ho
did you get across?" ''O," said one who va
should Judge. seventy years old, 1--WE eau
Art. across in an old 1eaky boat. When we 2
II half way over the river I thought the DO
: would sink; she was half full Of water and Il
com1ade said ne should drown, but I told hi
- if the Lord was with US NC should be Sal
! and that We now had chance to tell wheth
1 the Lord was on our side. So he pulled, Al
II just rs VIC we're within rod Of the shore t
boat went down and VIC waded to the ban
So know that the Lord is with us just
i dat"
:. It has been said By some that the negro
~ were unwilling to work. I shall contrad
~ that aEcarfinn tt ia frua ynu will zee OPcrf