Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1870-04-08

pretty As we drive through we notice the
names of many celebrated in the annals of State
and national history. Here is the tomb of James
Munroe, and here, Just erected, STANDS a rubble
stone pyramid, about fifty feet in height, with
the inscription To the Confederate dead
rugged looking monument, but evidently in
tended TO endure. In the upper portion OF the
cemetery a great number Of rebel soldiers are
buried, and one cannot but feel sad that 80
much valor should have been wasted in such an
unholy cause.
Altogether our impressions of Richmond are
very favorable, and we leave with regret its
beautiful scenes In the afternoon we take the
train for Wilmington, via Petersburg and Wei
don. After a short ride we cross the celebrated
Appomattox, and enter Petersburg, quiet
looking town, surrounded by the remains OF
fortfrcatons and earthworks. About dusk We'll
don is reached, and, after a night in the sleep
ing car, we arrive at Wilmington about a. m,
and take quarters at the "Pursell House," kept
by an original old gentleman named Davis, who
rejoices in the fact of yet being unreconstruct-
ed. Wilmington, like all other places i'm the
South, has a finished, lazy look, rs though its
people did not trouble themselves about 1.-The
things of the morrow" The streets are 30 sandy
as to make locomotion unpleasant, and every
contrast with that of the inhabitants Of places
farther North. The cattle you see in the
streets and fields are very infrni, poor, and
starved looking, typical Of the want of de
velOpment in this region. A glass of good
milk is an impossibility, the condensed ar
ticle being almost exclusively i'm use. Most
of the beef and mutton are brought from New
York, and il seems odd to see on the bills OF
fare " New York beef" and " New York NUT
ton" Nothing win ever be made of this section
until thrifty emigration sets in, and the larger
proportion of its inhabitants either die or mi
crate. We steamed to the mouth Of Cape Fear
river in the afternoon, visiting Fort Anderson,
Fort Fisher, Battery Buchanan, Fort Caswell,
and Snithville, ofrebellion fame. We passed the
remains OF the rebel ram built by the jewels OF
the ladies of North Carolina, and which, meeting
An ignominious fate on its first trip, now lies
on an island, covered with green moss, as though
to keep the memory OF the self-sacrifcing efforts
of its far donors fresh in the minds Of all visit
ors. To the right, as you pass down the stream
are the walls of an old church, the first built In
North Carolina; and you observe numberless
uncultivated rice swamps, which would afford an
ample field for capital and well-directed labor
The country is fat and unprepessessing in its
appearance, and We saw large quantities OF
IumDer, resin, &C, ana seVeraI large saw mills
in operation. Cape Fear river is not wholly un-
attractive, and the country, in the hands Of en-
ergetic people, may yet be made productive.
We improvised a dance we steamed back
and had right merry time, the river being
lighted for miles on either side, by huge fires in
the surrounding country. We returned to the
city at ten O'Clock, and at the unreasonable
hours of three a. m. took the cars for Florence
and Charleston. - s.