by which the mills are worked. On the opposite side is a place called Manchester, where there are several cotton-mills. The river is very red and muddy; this is no doubt due to the red soil which they have about here. This red soil extends a long way through the Southern States.

Here too there was a great agricultural fair going on. I went out to see it, but was somewhat disappointed. The grounds seemed too large for the show. There were two most enormous cattle, but the others did not strike me very much. The most frequent animals were small Jersey cows, pretty little beasts. Trotting horses were conspicuous. There seemed no great show of fruits and vegetables. I may remark, now that I have seen a good many of these shows, that as an agricultural show that which I saw at Hamilton, in Canada, was the best of them all. I suspect that Virginia is not at all up to the Northern States in agricultural enterprise. Coming back from the fair I watched the ploughing going on in some large fields. The soil seemed light. It was being largely limed, and green crops were being ploughed in. This is very much the practice in these parts. I waited for two ploughs to come round, to see who the labourers were, and found that one was held by a black man, and one by a white man.

Returning to the town, I went to inquire about books giving information about the State laws, and got an authoritative compilation, the Revised Code of Virginia,' in one thick volume, circulated by authority of the Legislature. In the evening Colonel, son of the distinguished hydrographer, was good enough to call upon me and introduce me to the Westmoreland Club, an excellent institution. Afterwards I went to the theatre. The principal object of the play seemed to be to satirise an American member of Congress, a 'lady who had been abroad,' and an English tourist. They were very severe on the Congress-man, and attributed to him all sorts of corruption, which caused great laughter and applause. A 'civil rights man' was introduced. It seems that a civil rights. man is one who is in favour of complete equality of blacks and whites. He tells that in New York he patronises a 'civil rights' barber's shop, where they shave both blacks and whites, an idea which seemed to amuse the audience. The English tourist was a stupid and uninteresting person. The 'lady who had been abroad' was a caricature of the people we see in Continental Hotels, and she was held up to much ridi

cule. She was also the vehicle for exhibiting genuine Worth's dresses, which the Virginian ladies seem to think a very interesting sight.

and

Next morning I breakfasted with Governor Holliday, and met a party at his house. He has an official residence; and I noticed that convicts in chains were cleaning up the grounds in a way that very much reminded me of the practice in India in former days. The chain-gang is a recognised institution, and you may see them working in the streets any day. The people whom I met this morning say that General W his farm are far too favourable a specimen, and that most of the people in Virginia are not at all well off. Even in the best parts of the State much good land is for sale for less than the buildings alone originally cost. They think, however, that their geographical situation in the centre of the Union ought to enable them to retrieve their position, and they would do so if they were not ruined by the excessive cheapness of produce imported from the West. They all defend the institution of slavery without reserve, and declare that it often happened that the masters had to work very hard indeed, while the black labourers had a life the happiest, easiest, and most free from care that it is possible to imagine. There is now an income-tax in Virginia on all incomes, not derived from property, exceeding six hundred dollars per annum, the first six hundred dollars being in all cases exempt. All property is liable to the property-tax, and this income-tax is merely to catch people who do not pay property-tax, and who in most of the States are exempt from direct taxation. Some people of the town say that personal property is very fully taxed; indeed, even more so than the land, the land being now valued at a very low rate. It seems that there is a good deal of evasion of the income-tax. The assessors are elected, and dare not assess rigorously. I talked to a member of the Virginian Legislature, which contains a good many men of some substance. has both won and lost his seat on the question of the dog-tax, which is said to be necessary for the protection of the stockbreeders, but is very unpopular. It is imposed in some counties, and not in others. Many people seein to hope that local and side questions of this kind will take people off from party divisions and black and white factions. I observe that there are two or three independent candidates for Congress in this State. I am told stories of negroes who say they will vote

He

for a man because he is a gentleman.' I learn one thing which shocks me--that blacks are here systematically excluded from the juries. This seems to be avowed, the excuse being, They have got yotes, and we cannot give them everything.' In the United States Courts blacks are put on the juries, but not in the Virginian Courts. They say that there are many free traders here, but free trade is not an active question at present. The Southern States are much more occupied with reconstruction questions. They managed to carry the last changes of the Virginian Constitution, which gave the whites some advantages, under cover of disputes with the Federal Government on greater questions.

I visited the Richmond Institute, a philanthropic establishment for the education of black teachers and preachers. It seemed to be doing very well. Mr. CMr. C, the principal, has a high opinion of the negroes, but he admits that they are not mathematical. Ile is a Northerner sent by Northern people to carry on this work. He admits that the men of Richmond behave very well to him, but says that the ladies are much more bigoted.

I visited Mr. V's establishment for extracting the juice of meat in a pure form, without heating or cooking. I believe that this essence has an extraordinary virtue for invalids.

I lunched with Mr. B- , and met a large party there. They were generally pleasant people. The Virginian ladies are very agreeable, but they denounce in very strong language General Grant and the Abolitionists and all their works. Mr. B is President of the National Bank here. He complains that the banks are over-taxed. They could lend money at 5 or 6 per cent., if they were not taxed, better than they now can at 10 per cent. These National Banks are a great question in the United States. At present a large party denounce them, saying that they have far too favourable terms. They are allowed to issue bank-notes on deposit of United States securities; so that their solvency, so far as regards these notes, is always secured.

After dining with Major P— I went with him to a great gathering and banquet of the Confederate Soldiers of Northern Virginia,' where we heard a great oration, giving a military history of a part of the war from the Confederate point of view.

This day concludes my stay in Virginia, and ends a pleas ant visit to Richmond. It strikes me that now I have got into a negro country the servants are more numerous than in the North. Their style and manners are something like those of native servants in India. I believe in former days the Southerners were more English in their habits than some of the Northerners. Ladies used to ride on horseback; now they cannot afford many horses, and private property prevailed here so early that there are not the open sectional roads that I saw in Illinois. Ladies who attempt to ride or drive complain of the endless number of gates and want of open country.

NORTH CAROLINA.

From Richmond I travelled to Raleigh, the political capital of North Carolina. It is about 8 hours' run by rail. The country is more or less undulating. A great deal of it seemed rather poor, with a great deal of woodprincipally pine, and some indifferent oaks and other trees. I am told that the original pine of the Southern country is a very good wood; but when these trees have been once cut the second growth, which comes up spontaneously, is generally a tree of an inferior species. Most of the soil seemed to be reddish and rather light, but a good deal of it is cultivated; and as we got South cotton became common. The cotton crop is now ripe upon the ground, and picking is going on. My general impression of the cotton I saw was that it gives one the idea of a great extent of cultivation, rather than of very high cultivation. I am told that the cotton-plant grows very well in this reddish, lightish soil; in fact, it prefers a light soil, if it have only a little manure. This country is rather far North for its cultivation. The largest amount of cotton is by no means produced from the largest plants. Some very small, short plants are very heavy with cotton. There is a great variety in the yield; some fields seeming very heavy, others very poor.

I noticed many very miserable huts scattered about in an isolated way among the fields and the woods. They seem to be mostly of one pattern, and were inhabited both by

white people and by blacks. I remarked to I remarked to my fellowpassengers on the wretchedness of these houses, and they admitted that the cottages are certainly very poor; but they say in the South people are less in need of good houses, as the climate is more favourable. I understand that these isolated houses have been built since the war. Before the war the people-at any rate, the blacks—used to live together in plantation settlements. Since the war both whites and blacks have got land who had it not before. The two first acquaintances I made both came into these Southern parts with the Federal army, and stayed at the end of the war. One of them is an Englishman; they both seem to be on good terms with the people with whom they are engaged in cotton-buying and such business.

In the cotton-fields I several times noticed white people at work, but the majority of the cotton cultivators seemed to be black. White and black children seemed friendly enough together, but intermarriage is prohibited. It seems, however, that there has been a good deal of intermixture of races, and many of the coloured people are not pure blacks. I have heard it said with much truth, that since it is so there is much ground for legalising intermarriage. The cotton is all ginned by machinery, and what is called halfpressed. All over the country there are ginning mills and pressing machines, where the cotton is made up and sent to the great ports, where it is re-pressed for export. Much of the cotton seed is used for manure; in fact, the seed makes the best manure for this crop. I am told the settlers who have come to North Carolina of late years have, in most instances, not succeeded very well; they were very often cheated by land companies, and did not understand the business; but there are some Northern farmers who have done very well.

There was a second class on the train chiefly occupied by negroes, but not exclusively so. I noticed an advertisement of a travelling agent, who wants 150 farmers to go to Texas,' and offers to engage them either on wages or on shares.' Both my travelling acquaintances, though in some sense carpet-baggers themselves, speak strongly of the evils of the carpet-bag government of the Southern States.

Raleigh seems to be a pretty country place, with plenty of flowers and good vegetation. I went to the Yarborough