The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-07-18

their DunRS all Lne Llme. lue lOR tnls
day showed only 72 miles, the Azor be.
ing on the verge of the trade winds, and
encountering the light winds generally
prevailing there.
On Monday the log showed sixty-one
miles. Total in twenty-five days 3,l77
miles, being just fraction ahead of the
required average. All hands had by this
time begun to look forward to the speedy
termination of the journey, and calcula.
tions were made that Monrovia would
be reached by Thursday. These bright
hopes we're dashed, however, by the cap
tain, who. in answer to eager inquiries,
informed the passengers that the vessel
had been driven so far, and kept 80 long,
northward of her course by the almost
continual head winds that she was still O
full thousand miles from the 1.-THE haven
where she would be-" and could not be
reasonable expected to reach that point
before Saturday. From this point be-
lieve the passengers were
COUNTING THE MINUTES.
The longing for the sight of some
green thing; for some break in the weary
monotony of "sea and sky, sky and sea;
the dreary sea and sky again." for some
thing solid on which to rest the foot,
seemed to be most intense. Some graft
fed this feeling in simple way by post
ing themselves up in the bow, sitting
there all day long, and straining their
eyes before them to catch the first
glimpse of the shore. On Tuesday the
log showed l25 miles. About noon,
however, th. wind came in briskly, al
most abeam, and the bark responded
we'll, skimming smoothly along with all
her sails we'll filled. The Azor, by the
way, is remarkably easy runner, pitch
ing very little, and going through the
waves with motion that can only be
described by the word Sliding" The
weather was now becoming decidedly
warm again, and the steerage was un-
pleasantly close. While the passengers
had "waked up" on some subjects, their
indifference on others was discouraging
in the extreme. Some of them, as said
before, would persist in lying around be-
low, and keeping their children there,
thus making the atmosphere continually
close and disagreeable, instead of going
on deck and allowing the air to be puri-
lied against the inevitable pollutions of
tI,e night. The captain had disinfectants
and various substances of fumigating
nature distributed about in the steerage
quarters several times during each day
and night, thus keeping the atmosphere
what seemed to me to l. barely endu-
rable, but which many 0f tbs passengers
seemed to find very comfortable. Not
even the glorious tropical moon, which
made US seem to be floating down an
endless track of mellow, sparkling, liquid
light, could tempt these people from the
dark, sitting quarters below. The very
demon of perversity seemed to have
taken possession of them. Then again,
none of them seemed to have the slight
est desire for or appreciation of exercise.
They seemed to regard my walks on deck
as caused either by terrible restless and
uneasy conscience, or mild form OF lu-
macy. They couldn't understand it. l
never saw, of all that 300, single one
higher in the rigging than the foot of the
ratlines, and only one or two there, ex-
cept one young man whose leg became
entangled in rope, causing his elevation
about twenty feet up the foremast. Some
lusty yelling proclaimed the situation of
this unlucky emigrant, and he was re-
leased, while his fellow passengers fairly
fell down and rolled over and over in
their spasms of laughter at the mishap.
1 interviewed the emigrants quite gene
rally on
THE OBJECTS OF EMIGRATION
as soon as they were strong enough to
undergo the process. My conclusion is
that there is no cause or reason which
can be called general. The grievances
complained of and the hopes entertained
we're almost invariably of local or per-
sonal nature. Some were going because
they thought they would have better
chance to "rise in the world" with gen.
erous and cheaply procured soil and per-
feet social equality with their neighbors
others we're tired of "renting" or, "work-
ing out" and wanted to be their own
masters others complained that the
farmers were banding more and more
firmly together to keep down the wages
of the la6orer; others could give no good
reason for going, falling back on the old
talk "Ku-Klu1," might Hawks" and
political prosecutions" Some assigned
nearly all of these reasons, Others some,
others one. One of the most intelligent
of the Georgia emigrants said that it was
becoming such general practice for far.
mers in that State to avail themselves of
the homestead exemption laws, that the
laborer had no security for his earnings,
and, therefore, no inducement to work.
To other persons with whom they talked,
the enigrants ground the "Outrage mill"
much more freely. One of them, while
in Charleston, implored Capt. Holmes to
give up contemplated trip to Columbia,
assuring him that if he went there the
white men would find out who he was,
and certainly murder him. have often
thought that these people tell such lies
so frequently that they get to believe
them themselves, and this instance helps
to confirm me in that belief. l have
heard them tell what knew to be most
infamous falsehoods in a matter-of-fact,
simple manner that would almost con-
vince man against the evidence of his
senses. never wondered that Northern
correspondents and visitors were de-
ceived. The fact is, I think, the "Out-
rage" has taken the place Of the grue.
some "Spook" or "Big snake" story of
the olden time, each darkey trying to
raise his listeners hair the highest with
the most horrible story, and allowing his
imagination to run away with him. Du-
ring the campaign of 1876 l heard an
honest looking colored man in Columbia
tell to a knot of listeners that he had seen
about week before five colored women
tied to trees and disembowelled with
bowie knives by Democrats just above
the city, and l really think he had re-
peated the story so much that he had be-
gun to believe it. BY constant repetition
Of and additions to these tales of horror
they get to put implicit confidence in
them, and such groundless fears have
probably really something to do with this