The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-11-09

spending some portion of it on shore,
and to one of these casual excursions
was indebted for my first acquaint-
ance with the writings of an author
now well-known in this country-I
mean Washington Irving.
perfectly rccollect that both the
2lst and 23rd of September were spent
by friend and myself on the rl.h.
bank of the Patuxent The air, though
cooler than it had heretofore been, was
mild, and even enervating; and the
scenery partook just SO much ofa mix
ture of wilderness and cultivation, to
be in the highest degree interesting
and attractive. Not far from the brink
of the stream there stood large chat
teau, from which, as may be imagined,
the family had long ago retired. 1t
was surrounded by grounds laid out
with very considerable taste; and the
furniture, and the general arrangement,
of the interior, gave evidence, that its
owner, whoever he might be, was not
wanting either in aristocratic feeling,
or elegant propensities. Strange to
say, the chateau in question had es
capped plundering; its very library was
entire-though the only individuals
left in charge of it were an old gray
headed negro and his wife. In the IL
brary we found a work not long ago
republished in this country-"The Sal
magundi;" and though we could not
enter into the local pleasantries inter
spersed through it, l remember that
we read it with great qualification.
To say the truth our admiration Of the
talents of the author quite overcame
our regard to honesty; for we not only
read the volume on shore, but brought
it off with us to our transport.
We were not, however, on every oc-
casion, so intellectual in the objects Of
our search. Our fresh provisions be-
ing expanded, it became considera
tion of some moment with US, how we
might procure second supply, and
for this purpose parties were more than
once landed, and sent some way up the
country Several of these | accom-
panied; but as the adventures which
befell us on one occasion, rcsembied
very nearly those which befell us on 9th
ers, it will suffice if [ select single
excursion, and give narrative of it.,
as fair specimen of the rest.
On the oath of September a brother
officer and myself took with us l2 men
well armed, and landing at particu-
lar point, pushed off for the house Of a
gentleman named Carroll, which stood
at distance of two or three miles
from the river. Mr.. Carroll had al
ready been visited by several parties
from the fleet, to whom he had sold, at
considerable profit to himself, sheep,
geese, turkeys, and other live stock.
The purport of our excursion to-day
was to abtain from him similar IA
vor, and we found no difficulty in per-
suading him to accept about twice its
value, tor any article that we coveted.
To do him justice, however, Mr.. Car
roll was extremely hospitable; he made
lis heartily welcome to all that his lar
der and cellar could afford; and we be-
came, as it was right that we should
become, the best friends imaginable.
But our visit was not doomed to pass
by wholly without accident. We had
sat with MIN about half an hour, during
which time our men had caught and
brought in six sheep, two pigs, and a
quantity ofpoultry, when negro, rush
ing into the apartment, informed us,
in a hurried tone, that 200 horse had
just arrived at a village about mile
distant, and that he entertained no
doubt Of their design to cut us off from
the boats, and put us all to death. |
know not whence it came about. but
we had brought a bugler, bug lie and all,
on shore with us. Not doubling that
our African friend was in the right, we
instantly assembled our party; and
placing the live stock in the centre Of
half dozen men, we caused the other
half dozen to extend in covering order,
and gave the bugler directions, on the
first appearance of an enemy, to sound
We had good reason to think, that the
sound of bugle would convey to the
minds of these troopers the idea that 4
large force was on shore; nor were We
deceived.
We had traversed about Il mile, and
were approaching the open country on
the immediate margin of the stream,
when squadron of some twenty horse
suddenly showed itsclf,close upon our
rear. The bugler blew, as if it were
intended to alarm whole brigade, and
our men liocking to the spot in ones
and twos, doubtless impressed the
Americans with belief, that a large
force was in front Of them. They
halted, wheeled round and slowly rode
away; nor did we see anything more
Of them that morning. | need nor
add, that we made no delay IN gaining
our boats; or that we half decided not
again to venture, 50 few in number,
even as far from the feet as Mr.. Car
rolls residence.