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Transcription
banks. Am in strange land. I know hardly any of the plants and cannot see the country for the solemn, dark, mysterious cypress forest. I know but few of the birds, and the winds are full of strange sounds - feel far from the people and plants and fields of home. Night is coming on and I am best with indescribable loneliness. Felt feverish; bathed in a black silent stream, nervously watchful for alligators. Obtained lodging in a planter’s house among cotton fields. Rosin wood for light. 32nd. In the low bottom forests of the Savannah River. Very busy with new specimens, most exquisitely planned wrecks of Agrostis scabra. “Pine barrens” in glorious array with open approachable plants. Long conversation with young African. Was amused with his eloquent narratives of coon hunts, alligators, and superstitions. Showed me place where train left track and where ghosts of the killed are seen at night. Long walk in the dark. At last received at the house of Dr. Perkins. Long recitals of war havoc, the slave question, northern politics, etc. A thoroughly southern family, polished and prejudiced. Breakfaster at revolving table. Saw Cape Jessamine in garden.
Date Original
July 1867
Source
Original journal dimensions: 10 x 16.5 cm.
Resource Identifier
MuirReel23Journal01P043.tif
Publisher
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Rights Management
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Keywords
John Muir, journals, drawings, writings, travel, journaling, naturalist
