Загрузка...

AI-разбор доступен после входа

Суть книги, пересказ, главный конфликт, ключевые идеи, вывод, кому полезна, главные темы, персонажи и цитаты можно получить после входа в BookRa.

auto_awesomeПолучить AI-разбор

О книге

Дата написания1970-01-01
Язык книгиen
Возрастное ограничение12+
Жанры
зарубежная классика

Читать онлайн

Страница 2 из 119

Chapter Two The Indigo Plantation

My father was an indigo planter; his name was Randolph. I bear his name in full — George Randolph.

There is Indian blood in my veins. My father was of the Randolphs of Roanoke — hence descended from the Princess Pocahontas. He was proud of his Indian ancestry — almost vain of it.

It may sound paradoxical, especially to European ears; but it is true, that white men in America, who have Indian blood in them, are proud of the taint. Even to be a «half-breed» is no badge of shame — particularly where the sang mele has been gifted with fortune. Not all the volumes that have been written bear such strong testimony to the grandeur of the Indian character as this one fact — we are not ashamed to acknowledge them as ancestry!

Hundreds of white families lay claim to descent from the Virginian princess. If their claims be just, then must the fair Pocahontas have been a blessing to her lord.

I think my father was of the true lineage; at all events, he belonged to a proud family in the «Old Dominion;» and during his early life had been surrounded by sable slaves in hundreds. But his rich patrimonial lands became at length worn-out — profuse hospitality well-nigh ruined him; and not brooking an inferior station, he gathered up the fragments of his fortune, and «moved» southward — there to begin the world anew.

I was born before this removal, and am therefore a native of Virginia; but my earliest impressions of a home were formed upon the banks of the beautiful Suwanee in Florida. That was the scene of my boyhood’s life — the spot consecrated to me by the joys of youth and the charms of early love.

I would paint the picture of my boyhood’s home. Well do I remember it: so fair a scene is not easily effaced from the memory.

A handsome «frame»-house, coloured white, with green Venetians over the windows, and a wide verandah extending all round. Carved wooden porticoes support the roof of this verandah, and a low balustrade with light railing separates it from the adjoining grounds — from the flower parterre in front, the orangery on the right flank and a large garden on the left. From the outer edge of the parterre, a smooth lawn slopes gently to the bank of the river — here expanding to the dimensions of a noble lake, with distant wooded shores, islets that seem suspended in the air, wild-fowl upon the wing, and wild-fowl in the water.

Upon the lawn, behold tall tapering palms, with pinnatifid leaves — a species of oreodoxia — others with broad fan-shaped fronds — the palmettoes of the south; behold magnolias, clumps of the fragrant illicium, and radiating crowns of the yucca gloriosa — all indigenous to the soil. Another native presents itself to the eye — a huge live-oak extending its long horizontal boughs, covered thickly with evergreen coriaceous leaves, and broadly shadowing the grass beneath. Under its shade behold a beautiful girl, in light summer robes — her hair loosely coifed with a white kerchief, from the folds of which have escaped long tresses glittering with the hues of gold. That is my sister Virginia, my only sister, still younger than myself. Her golden hair bespeaks not her Indian descent, but in that she takes after our mother. She is playing with her pets, the doe of the fallow deer, and its pretty spotted fawn. She is feeding them with the pulp of the sweet orange, of which they are immoderately fond. Another favourite is by her side, led by its tiny chain. It is the black fox-squirrel, with glossy coat and quivering tail. Its eccentric gambols frighten the fawn, causing the timid creature to start over the ground, and press closer to its mother, and sometimes to my sister, for protection.

The scene has its accompaniment of music. The golden oriole, whose nest is among the orange-trees, gives out its liquid song; the mock-bird, caged in the verandah, repeats the strain with variations. The gay mimic echoes the red cardinal and the blue jay, both fluttering among the flowers of the magnolia; it mocks the chatter of the green paroquets, that are busy with the berries of the tall cypresses down by the water’s edge; at intervals it repeats the wild scream of the Spanish curlews that wave their silver wings overhead, or the cry of the tantalus heard from the far islets of the lake. The bark of the dog, the mewing of the cat, the hinny of mules, the neighing of horses, even the tones of the human voice, are all imitated by this versatile and incomparable songster.

The rear of the dwelling presents a different aspect — perhaps not so bright, though not less cheerful. Here is exhibited a scene of active life — a picture of the industry of an indigo plantation.

A spacious enclosure, with its «post-and-rail» fence, adjoins the house. Near the centre of this stands the piece de resistance — a grand shed that covers half an acre of ground, supported upon strong pillars of wood. Underneath are seen huge oblong vats, hewn from the great trunks of the cypress. They are ranged in threes, one above the other, and communicate by means of spigots placed in their ends. In these the precious plant is macerated, and its cerulean colour extracted.

Beyond are rows of pretty little cottages, uniform in size and shape, each embowered in its grove of orange-trees, whose ripening fruit and white wax-like flowers fill the air with perfume. These are the negro-cabins. Here and there, towering above their roofs in upright attitude, or bending gently over, is the same noble palm-tree that ornaments the lawn in front. Other houses appear within the enclosure, rude structures of hewn logs, with «clap-board» roofs: they are the stable, the corn-crib, the kitchen — this last communicating with the main dwelling by a long open gallery, with shingle roof, supported upon posts of the fragrant red cedar.

Beyond the enclosure stretch wild fields, backed by a dark belt of cypress forest that shuts out the view of the horizon. These fields exhibit the staple of cultivation, the precious dye-plant, though other vegetation appears upon them. There are maize-plants and sweet potatoes (Convolvulus batatas) some rice, and sugar-cane. These are not intended for commerce, but to provision the establishment.

The indigo is sown in straight rows, with intervals between. The plants are of different ages, some just bursting through the glebe with leaves like young trefoil; others full-grown, above two feet in height, resemble ferns, and exhibit the light-green pinnated leaves which distinguish most of the leguminosa — for the indigo belongs to this tribe. Some shew their papilionaceous flowers just on the eve of bursting; but rarely are they permitted to exhibit their full bloom. Another destiny awaits them; and the hand of the reaper rudely checks their purple inflorescence.

Страница 2 из 119

Назад123…119Далее

Вам также может понравиться

Триумфальная арка — обложка книги

Триумфальная арка

Эрих Мария Ремарк

Крестный отец — обложка книги

Крестный отец

Марио Пьюзо

Цитадель — обложка книги

Цитадель

Арчибальд Джозеф Кронин

Замок Броуди — обложка книги

Замок Броуди

Арчибальд Джозеф Кронин

Сага о Форсайтах — обложка книги

Сага о Форсайтах

Джон Голсуорси

Три любви — обложка книги

Три любви

Арчибальд Джозеф Кронин

Искра жизни — обложка книги

Искра жизни

Эрих Мария Ремарк

Три товарища — обложка книги

Три товарища

Эрих Мария Ремарк

Острие бритвы — обложка книги

Острие бритвы

Сомерсет Моэм

Богач, бедняк — обложка книги

Богач, бедняк

Ирвин Шоу

Ночь в Лиссабоне — обложка книги

Ночь в Лиссабоне

Эрих Мария Ремарк

На Западном фронте без перемен — обложка книги

На Западном фронте без перемен

Эрих Мария Ремарк

Страница 1 из 355

Назад12…355Далее