Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1885-02-04
IN THE SOUTH.

Savannah Much Malaria in the Morn
ing = Scenes on the River - A Talk
| with a Negro Boatman - Something
about the ssSea Islands, Prosper
Il Gus Negroes Charleston and Savan-
nah.
SAVANNAH, Ga, Jan. 20.
To the Editor of the JOURNAL COURIER:
"Whither beund?' 'sFor the river
"Better not go yet awhile" "How so.''
otis not safe in these parts. The early bird
is said usually to catch the worm, but the
early tourist is said to catch-malaria. We
Savannahians have IsArned not to trife with
the atmosphere which rises from our river
bottoms every morning and night It is
loaded. There are plenty of people in town
who are shivering and writhing and drinking
hot lemonade while we talking, all on
account of indis5rattnns n this malarial
zion, You see that thin sitting fog over the
heusetops? Wait till II sets tired and goes
off somewhere "But am merely a wanueir
ing globe trotter It is only for day or
two, and ] thought perhaps there might be
something interesting in the wharf scenes
of Savannah at this early hour. Surely what
is safe for the sailors and wharf
hands is safe for me q single
| morning or two line river shlpplng Is
deserted at night. There is law which
compels all steamboat companies and owners
of sailing vessels to provide uptown lodging
for their employees during certain seasons of
the year when the nalariat tendencies
| worst" I chafed at the delay, but concluded
to accept the experience of my host in SO i'm
| portant matter. have since seen things
| which go to confirm the wisdom of this
course. Residents here who have contracted
malaria1 disorders tell me of trying to qui-
nine or morphine themselves cut of it,
til the influence of these artificial. remedies
| carried them nearly to the point of derange
ment. 1 am surprised continually at the use
| which the color.d people make of drugs,
particularly morphine and quinine, with
dangerous results. The insane asylums have
| an appallingly large constituency of colored
| inmates, who have drugged themselves into
| insanity. If a bottle of cod liver OIL or bit
ters even castor oil is left lying about the
| house, the chances are that the ignorant
| black servants will abduct it, and take It IL
| large doses in the hope that 1t will counter
| act some of the real or imaginary ills that
| flesh is heir to-" This reminds me of the
| implicit native confidence in European and
| American medical skill which have discov
cred in some of my Oriental travels. re-
| member one town in Asia Minor near Schlie
| mann's excavations, where the people came
| out the moment they discovered my pres
| ence, and begged me to come heal man
| who was frightfulIy bloated with dropsy.
| After breakfast 1 started down to the
river in search of EEsome new adventure"
| like Don Quixote The first wharf l struck
was nearly opposite the central market. A
good many sloops, schooners, tugs and small |
cargo steamers were moored alongside OF the |
docks, while in the distance were one or two |
regular ocean steamers, revenue cutter an
chored in the middle of the dirty stream, |
sidewheel Florida boat and one or two lit |
tie steamers of light draft that ply up the |
Savannah river to Augusta. But what inter |
ested me most was the feet of tiny, insignlf |
cant batteaux, owned and managed by ne |
groes, which were unloading their little |
cargoes of farm products. The smallest OF |
these were shaped like fatiron, and not |
over sixteen or eighteen feet in length by |
nearly half as many in breadth. Evidently |
here was phase of industry that was new |
to as it must be to the majority of our
northern readers and perhaps it would in /
volve glimpse into department of negro |
life which the bulk of tourists learn nothing |
about when they visit Savannah. So I ap
preached man who seemed to be in author |
ity over one of the smallest boats, and fell into
conversation with him.
s'Where do you hail froma" I asked. 'T
comes from Buferd myself. We all comes
Sou Carliny.'
''Do you come all the way in that little |
craft?' s'Oh, Yes. 'Taint more'n foty OF
fifty miles dat de mos of us comes. We
comes along inside de islands-don't you sees
where de water is always tolable calm. l
started yestahday and came up de riber
with de food tide dis nlawning. Sometimes |
de win helps US up de riber, but when it
don't we uses de oars, and comes up with de
tide. Course its rough sometimes, an more'n |
hafao I,oa, 10 1
We usually gets through"
'Whas are you unloading" "Cotton an
corn and vegetables mostly"
''How many people live on a boat like
this" "Theres two on us blongs to it, my |
self-Im capen-and my mate. We owns
de boat together. Some capens own all de |
boat and hires a ham as mate. We carries |
some Passengers also, sometimes as high as |
fifteen aw twenty. They pays us twenty five
or fifty cents, 'cawding to how far dey |
come"
"May look insideso eyes, sah." At
this was escorted to the narrow edge of the |
rude craft which passed around the hatches |
a perpendicular ladder led down q hole aft |
that was less than two feet square. The tiny |
damp apartment below was so full of filth |
and drifting bits of cotton that I declined to |
explore it. There was no window, but / |
could see by the dim light of burning Ian
tern that the furniture of the room consisted |
of two benches about six inches high, rude
stove and few metallic cooking utensils.
This room was not separated at |
all from the rough hold forward, where the
cargo was carried. By this time all the |
freight had been removed and ''toted" off to |
market, as they say in the South, and the
mate and another helper were loading with |
the return cargo. This consisted of ten bar |
rels labelled ''Grits, one labelled ''Sweet ;
Potatoes and two Or three small boxes of
provender. 1 watched during the fifteen
minutes which it took to completely load the {
batteau, ,conversing in the meanwhile with its |
genial proprietor. II
"How much freight do you get on those. 6
barrelss Give aw ten cents, cawding to /
de distance See dose bar'ls with on de
ends Dey has extra fine pearl grits in Yo' |
see we niggahs lives well on de islands. Mos l
of us dom want nothin' to do with short I
G
'sWhere is this best grits produced."
"Comes down from the nawth-from Balti | i
more, reckon. The Gavin that grows in E
de nawth beats our Gavin in the South" {
GLOW much does such batteau costa G
Mine cos nigh onto fawty dollars, [ reck-
on. It's rather roughly built, of course. .
Some of em costs more'n hundred dollahs. .
I made de sail-bought twill at twenty cents :
a yahd."
Then you Sea Islanders get along pretty :,
well?' :
eyes we do, boss But Use got to be off 7
now, cause de tide done turn an I wants to t
get home fo' mawning. Eff you wants to t
know somewhat bout US OBJ de islans go
talk to dat white man long side de emission e
house dar. He's white planter, knows all q
bout de islan's, and I reckon is a purity fair '
sawt OBJ man. Good mawnin'." And my a
gallant ''capen" pushed his batteau out into t
the stream by dilapidated oar and headed s
bis diminuitive ship down stream t
Walking to the commission house in C
question drifted into conversation with the \
planter who had been mentioned and found 1
that he familiar with all the prominent Z
Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina 2
the character of my southern | 5
T said, Cant you tell t
me something about these islandss'' c
not two per cent. of us at the North know e
that these islands are inhabited at all" II v
should like to do anything which will con f
tribute to the general information regarding 2
our South Carolinian islands. In the first s
place you must know that most of these is t
lands are industrially tributary to Charles I d
ton. Only the southern islands contribute t
10 the Savannah market. The four principal c
islands are Edisto, Wadmalaw, Johns and g
James The archipelago extends clear to 3