labours were fruitless. No stone could be found in
this swamp; and the day was passed in anxiety and
hunger, a few raw potatoes being my only food.
Night at length came, and with it a renewal of
my travelling labours. Avoiding with the utmost
care, every appearance of a road, and pursuing my
way until daylight, I must have travelled at least
thirty miles this night. Awhile before day, in crossing a field, I fortunately came upon a bed of large
pebbles, on the side of a hill. Several of these were
deposited in my bag, which enabled me when day
arrived to procure fire, with which I parched corn
and roasted potatoes sufficient to subsist me for two or
three days. On the fourth night of my journey,
fortune directed me to a broad, open highway, that
appeared to be much travelled.
Near the side of this road, I established my quarters for the day in a thick pine wood, for the purpose of making observations upon the people who travelled it, and of judging thence of the part of the country to which it led.
Soon after daylight, a wagon passed along, drawn by oxen, and loaded with bales of cotton; then followed some white men on horseback, and soon after sunrise, a whole train of wagons and carts, all loaded with bales of cotton, passed by, following the wagon first seen by me. In the course of the day, at least one hundred wagons and carts passed along this road, towards the south-east, all laden with cotton bales; and at least an equal number came towards the west, either laden with casks of various
