Total State and County Tax,$4.61 on- — 100.00

“You will find by these figures that I am compelled to pay a state and county tax, on an over-appraised property, amounting to four dollars and sixty-one cents upon every one hundred dollars I possess.  Under this kind of taxation we are growing poorer every day of our lives.  Now, gentlemen, can you censure me for detesting the Carpet-bag government of my native state after you have heard this statement?  Rome in days of tyranny did no such injustice to her citizens.  To be a Roman was greater than to be a king; and here let me remark—­ Bob Squash! what’s that you are squinting at through the grass?” “Lor’ sakes, Massa Hampton, I does b’lieve it’s a man in a sort of a boat.  I nebber see de like befo’!”

At this point the company struggled through the high grass and invited me to land.  Being seriously alarmed for my companion, who was lying helpless in his boat half a mile away, I quickly explained my situation, and was at once advised to ascend Spring Creek, on the east side of the point of marsh, to the swamp, where the orator said I would find his camp, and his partner in the fishing-business, who would assist me to the best of his ability.  The orator promised to follow us after making one more cast with his seine for red-fish.  I returned as fast as possible to Saddles, and trying to infuse his failing heart with courage, fastened his boat’s painter to the stern of the duck-boat, and followed the course indicated by the fishermen.

Upon entering Spring Creek, with my companion in tow, we were soon encompassed on all sides by the marshes; and as the boats slowly ascended the crooked stream, the fringes of the feathery-crested palms appeared close to the margins of the savanna.  The land increased in height a few inches as I followed the reaches of the creek, and, when a mile from its mouth, entered the rank luxuriance of a swamp, where, in a thicket of red cedars, palmettos, and Spanish bayonets, I discovered two low huts, thatched with palm-leaves, which afforded temporary shelter to Captain F., a planter from the interior, his friend the orator, and their employees both white and black.  The kind-hearted captain understood my companion’s case at a glance, and when our tent was pitched, and a comfortable bed prepared, Saddles was put under his care.

He could not have fallen into better hands, for the planter had gone through many experiences in the treatment of fevers of all kinds.  It was indeed a boon to find in the unpeopled wilds a shelter and a physician for the sick man but the future loomed heavily before me, for though Saddles might improve, he would be pretty sure on the eighth day to have a return of his malady, and would probably again break down in a raving condition.

The camp was a restful and interesting retreat.  To reach the spot, the fishing-party had been obliged to cut a road eight miles through a swampy district, in places building a rough crossway to make their progress possible.  The creek had its sources in several springs, which burst from the earth just above the camp.  The water was of a blue tint, and slightly impregnated with sulphur, lime, and iron.  In this secluded place there was an abundance of deer and wild turkeys.