allop. This Hood was a very ༣ fellow. He went close to the za in front of the house, and called in a loud voice, that "none should from within, or they should all be to death." Those within, disreding this warning, fired through the bnings, and killed one man. Major nuingham arriving shortly afterward, it a flag of truce with a written mesge, demanding "instant surrender," d promising, if they did so, "to spare their lives," but declaring at the same ne, that "if they should resist, and so use the spilling of his men's blood, he ould give them no quarter, but put em all to death." Col. Hays, trusting receive a reinforcement before the ation could be carried, refused to surender, and answered, "he should hold ut to the last, at the risk of the lives of is whole party." After some shooting mn both sides, Cunningham succeeded In setting fire to the "station," which was of wood, by means of a ramrod wrapped round with tow, dipped in pitch, and thrown in a blazing state on the roof. Half-suffocated, Hays and his party at length surrendered at discretion. Cunningham immediately hanged Hays and another man called Daniel Williams on the pole of a fodder-stock, the former for his cruelty to women and children, and the latter for having murdered in cold blood his favorite follower, Thomas Ellison, whose death he had sworn to avenge. Before they were dead, the pole broke, and Cunningham, drawing his sword, slew them both with his own hand. Being told that Cook, the man who with Ritchie and Moore had whipped his brother to death, was among the prisoners, he ordered him out from the rest, and slew him with his sword.

He then gave permission to his men to do as they pleased with the rest. All who had rendered themselves obnoxious by acts of cruelty and plunder, were slain without mercy. The others were saved. Each of Cunningham's men singled out whomsoever among the prisoners had been guilty of murdering any of his relatives, and killed him forthwith. The execution took place about sunset. At the affair of Turner's station, there

was no surrender made, nor quarter asked, and of course such a party as Cunningham's could not burden themselves with prisoners. At the time they were attacked, the people of that station were busy cutting up some beeves of which they had just plundered the tories. To conceal their occupation, they had fastened up blankets before the windows. The call for vengeance upon these marauders, which had reached Cunningham and his followers in Charleston, received an additional impulse from learning their present employment. The house was surrounded, and the inmates cut down as they attempted to fly. Only one man escaped the general massacre. Seven were saved at Hays' station, and were next morning set free without terms or conditions.

On their way back to Charleston, the party encountered one "Oliver Toles," famous for stealing tory cattle. Cunningham had him hanged with a thong cut from a tory cow's hide.

By this time the country had become fully alarmed. Parties under Pickens, Leroy Hammond, &c., commenced a vigorous pursuit, and before they arrived at Charleston, Ringtail's mettle was well tried. Seven fresh parties started in pursuit of Cunningham, one after the other, but Ringtail carried his master safe off from the whole of them. It was at the expense, however, of his own life, for he died twenty-three days after they reached the city, of fatigue, and the violent exertions he had been forced to make. Major Cunningham, "Bloody Bill," "the heartless, unfeeling monster," "the coldblooded demon," as they called him, wept like a child over his poor favorite and friend, as he was wont to term him. He had him buried with all the honors of war, the bells of Charleston were tolled and volleys were fired over the hero of many fights.

When the English evacuated Charleston, Major Cunningham, instead of embarking with them, chose to proceed to Florida by land, accompanied by five of his followers. One day having pitched his tent near the region of Greenville, in the fancied security of a deep wood, they laid aside their arms, unsaddled

their horses, and began to cook and get ready their dinner. In the midst of this interesting occupation, they were suddenly interrupted by the unwelcome appearance of a Captain Butler and twenty men of the revolutionary party. Taken thus by surprise, each man sprung as he was, without arms, on his unsaddled horse, and made off, as he best could. The tent, arms, and everything, except themselves and their barebacked horses, fell into the hands of the gallant captain and his band. The odds of twenty-one, well armed, to six unarmed men, was rather too great, even for Bloody Bill; so, thinking in this case that discretion was decidedly the better part of valor, he and Captain Hood, who kept close to him, made off as fast as their horses' legs could carry them, and were soon beyond the reach of danger.

He arrived safely in Florida, and afterward went to England with General Cunningham. He was presented at court, and during the rest of his life, enjoyed the half-pay of a major in the British service.

Cotton, the principal product of South Carolina, is of three kinds: the longstaple or black-seed, the short-staple, green-seed or upland, and the nankeen. The first of these is the most valuable kind of cotton, and is raised on the small, low, fertile islands, and on the immediate coast, in South Carolina and Georgia. The fibres are much longer and finer than those of the other kinds, and it is highly prized for the manufacture of some of the finest fabrics, in Europe as well as in this country.

The second kind is extensively cultivated in the interior, and in much the greatest quantity: but the culture and supply were greatly restricted for many years, in consequence of the difficulty of separating the seeds, to which the fibres adhere very closely. There was no other way known to effect the necessary separation, until the invention of the cotton gin, by Mr. Eli Whitney, of Connecticut, which was soon extensively introduced, and is now in universal use, to the incalculable benefit of the culture, commerce, and manufacture, of cotton, by greatly reducing the cost and

the time devoted to its preparation for market. The inventor of this invaluable machine was, however, long unrewarded for his skill and ingenuity; for, while on a tour of visitation in the south, after it had become extensively introduced, he was informed that it would be unsafe for him to prosecute a claim for violations of his patent. He afterward, however, received sums of money from some of the states most benefited, as a small return for the favor he had conferred upon them.

The nankeen cotton is of a clear and lasting buff color, and has been introduced with success into the middle and northern parts of the state, where it is much employed for home use. It is that kind of which the nankeen cloths of China are made.

Rice, as we have before remarked, is one of the principal productions of South Carolina. Being a water plant, its culture is confined to the lowlands, to which water can be brought in. It is a crop which requires peculiar care and attention, as may be presumed from the various processes necessary in its cultivation.

On the tide-lands, or those which lie on the coast and are open to the ocean, so that the supply of water is obtained from it, rice is sown about the 20th of March, while on those inland, which are irrigated from fresh-water streams, the sowing-time is about three weeks later. The soil is turned up with the hoe or plough, and then formed into drills or trenches. From one to two bushels are sown upon an acre, and then the water is let in, and left standing from two to four days, to kill the worms, and make the grain germinate. The water is then drawn off, and the hoeing commences, which is soon repeated, the grass being now picked from among the young grain by hand. The water is again let in after the third hoeing, for ten days and often more, sometimes for twenty. The water is then suffered to run off by degrees, and the rice branches out, each branch at length bearing an ear of from 100 to 300 grains. Three months after sowing it begins to blossom, and then the floodgates are again opened and the

water flows in, where it remains till harvest, which takes place in August on the coast, and in September inland. But the great obstacle in the way of riceculture, is the unhealthiness of the neighborhood, caused by the miasma raised by the heat of the sun, which is most deadly to white men, and very injurious also to the negroes. The rice-planters generally leave their homes during the summer, and take their families to the cities, or to the uplands, to avoid this evil.

From 600 to 1,500 pounds of rice are obtained from an acre inland, and on the coast from 1,200 to 1,500, and even sometimes 2,400.

The separation of families from each other, in a country where the plantation system is universal, and the scarcity of villages and even smaller settlements, necessarily throw many obstacles in the way of social improvement. Children can hardly be collected in schools, or the people in churches, while social intercourse must be limited, even though there may be much hospitality, leisure, and love of society, such as are generally found in this and other south

ern states.

Railroads.-South Carolina distinguished herself by her early enterprise, in constructing one of the first great railroads in the Union, on a plan whose success has proved its sagacity. It was constructed across an extensive region, offering indeed few obstacles of surface, but encouraged by few of the advantages found in a thickly-populated country. The grand object lay in opening a communication with the Savannah river overland, by which the delay and exposure of the sea voyage might be avoided; and a large part of the great cotton crops, annually gathered on its banks, is now carried in safety and at a rapid rate to the city of Charleston, the great commercial port of the south, to be shipped for New York and Europe.

KEOWEE LAKE (see page 373).-This secluded little lake lies among the wild scenes of a region little changed by cultivation or the neighborhood of man. A bold and wooded hill rises on the right with a sudden swell, while a path, wind

ing along the left bank, is shaded with a variety of trees, presenting a diversity of form and foliage. A white sail, seen at a distance, intimates that the placid waters are sometimes disturbed by a passing boat, while the group of visiters in the foreground, reminds us, that the beautiful scene has attracted the attention of the admirers of nature.

THE FALLS OF THE CHARASHILACTAY.-This view is inserted here, to give an idea of the bold and picturesque scenery which abounds in some parts of the high, western regions of the state. The stream, whose singular, aboriginal name has been preserved, after flowing some distance, meets an abrupt, mural precipice in its course, and falls, in a beautiful sheet, interrupted by two successive projecting shelves of the rock, to the bottom of the gulf which opens beneath. The effect is very striking, especially when viewed from below, the bare ledges in front, whitened by the glistening foam of the falling stream, being crowned with foliage, and half shaded by trees, which line the banks, and spring from the crevices.

CHARLESTON is the principal Atlantic seaport of the southern states, and a large and flourishing city. It stands upon a peninsula, at the mouths of Cooper and Ashley rivers, which empty into a spacious bay, with depth of water sufficient to form an excellent harbor. By the aid of several islands, advantageously situated, it is well protected from the waves of the ocean, and fortified against foreign attack. The population, including the Neck, in 1850, was 42,806.

Although the site of the city is level and low, like the neighboring land, its appearance is favorable from the water. The buildings, however, are chiefly of wood, and the streets are narrow, except the two principal ones, which cross each other, and traverse the city in its length and breadth. The principal public buildings are the city-hall, courthouse, college, orphanhouse, medical college, guardhouse, hospital, poorhouse, customhouse, jail, St. Andrew's hall, and state building, with several churches. The city suffered from a great conflagration in 1835, which laid waste a