The forest rides leading on either hand from the main road to the Cooper and Ashley rivers by which the sandy neck the city occupies is flanked, are, though flat, very delightful. Plants and flowers of rare beauty and in great variety abound here; the wild vine and other climbing plants are drawn from tree to tree; and the live-oak, sycamore, hickory, with the loftiest pines, altogether form avenues down which the eyes of a stranger wander with delight, and in which on these delicious calm days it is a joy to linger. My rides were sometimes solitary; and it was on these occasions I most enjoyed these forest paths, now as healthful as beautiful; yet, let only a few months pass away, and to sleep one night within their shade would be death as certain as though it were spent beneath the boughs of the poisonous Upas. I could hardly conceive the possibility of such a baneful change, as, on a bright day of December, I sauntered carelessly along, watching the sun dancing in long lines of light over the smooth water, and an atmosphere before me glowing, as though a veil of gold tissue had been drawn above the forest. Yet so it is; the overseers alone remain upon the plantation after sunset, and amongst these the numerous deaths, as well as the cadaverous hue of the survivors, afford unquestionable testimony of the peril incurred by such a residence. To the negro alone this air appears congenial, as the lively look of the chubby little imps that fill every cabin fully indicates. It is impossible not to be struck by the contrast between the looks of these children of the sun and the degenerate offsets of northern men; I have often observed with feelings of sorrow the sickly aspect of the children of some road-side store-keeper, or publican of the white race, as they sit languidly before their parents' door, with sallow parchment skins and lack-lustre eyes, the very emblems of malaria, possessing neither the strength nor the desire to follow those active sports natural and in fact necessary, at their age: whilst, sporting about or near them, might be observed the offspring of their slaves; the elder ones, with hardly any covering, pursuing each other, shouting and grinning from ear to ear; the youngsters, quite naked perhaps, rolling on the kitchen floor, or creeping about in the dust like so many black beetles, almost as broad as long. Despite their degraded condition, I have at such times been tempted to exclaim, "Surely this must here be the most enviable lot!" This picture, however, must not be applied to the wealthy portion of the landed proprietors, who either migrate north with each season, or else seek the shelter of the dry sandy soil of the Pine-barrens, and on their heights breathe health and life; whilst below and around, at no great distance, stalk disease and death.