122 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

Imprimus. I give, devise, and bequeath to my beloved wife,
Mary, all my estate, real, personal, & mixed, of what nature or
kind soever, to her, her heirs & assigns forever.

Item. I do hereby nominate and appoint my said wife,
Mary, Executrix, and Samuel Ashe & William Hill, Executors,
to this my last will and testament, hereby revoking and dis-
annulling all former wills by me heretofore made. Ratifying
and confirming this & no other to be my last will & testament.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the
day and year above written.

Cornu. Harnerr (Seal)

Signed, sealed, published, pronounced,
and declared by the said Cornelius Har-
nett as & for his last Will & Testament
in presence of

Anne Hooper.
THo. Mac rarne.
JNO. JUSKE.

I, Cornelius Harnett having executed the within written
will, think it not improper to add that as I have ever considered
expensive funerals as ostentatious folly, it is my earnest request
(and from my present circumstances now doubly necessary)
that I may be buried with the utmost frugality.

Cornu. Harner.
New Hanover Covunry.
January Trrm, 1782.

The within last will & Testament of Cornelius Harnett,
Esquire, was exhibited in Court and proved by the oath of
Thomas Maclaine, a subscribing witness thereto, who swore
that he saw the testator sign, seal, publish, and declare the same
to be and contain his last will and testament. Also, that he

was of sound and disposing mind and memory. Ordered, that
letters testamentary do issue to Mary Harnett, Executrix to the
said will. At same time Mrs. Harnett qualified agreeable to

law. Tuo. Macurarne, Olk.

This will was filed in my office by H. H. Robinson, clerk of
Bladen County, this 20th January, 1846.

L. H. Marstenuer,
Clk N. Hanover Cty Ct.

The Revolution

FLORA MACDONALD.

By DaAvyvip MACRAR.

Shortly after the four years’ war, a distinguished Scottish
traveler and lecturer, David Macrae, visited Wilmington, and was
entertained for several weeks by my father, the late Alexander
Sprunt, who sent him with credentials to the “Scotch Country,”
where he was cordially received and honored. Mr. Macrae
delivered in Wilmington several lectures, which were largely

attended, and he generously devoted the proceeds to the benefit
of local charities.

He subsequently wrote the following account of Highlanders in
North Carolina, with particular reference to Flora Macdonald,

whose romantic life on the Cape Fear is worthy of a more en-
during memorial.

Visit To THE HigHLAND SETTLEMENT.

In the month of February, one clear, sharp morning, I left
Wilmington on my way up the Cape Fear River to follow the
old track of the Highland emigrants, and see their settlement.

The steamers on that river, as indeed on most of the long
rivers in America, are stern-wheelers—large, slim, white, and
deck-cabined, with only one paddle, but that of stupendous size,
standing out like a mill-wheel from the stern and making one
think, on seeing the steamer in motion, of a gigantic wheel-
barrow drawn swiftly backwards. The advantage of the stern
wheel for shallow and winding rivers is that it allows of a
narrower beam than two paddles, and takes sufficient hold to
propel a steamer in water too shallow for the screw. Our
steamer that morning (flat-bottomed, of course, as all American
river steamers are) drew only eighteen inches of water, and
went at great speed.

We had not been steaming long up the broad pale earthy-
brown river, through the flat expanse, with its rice plantations,
its forest land, and its clearings, with the black stumps still
standing like chessmen on a board, when I was struck with the
extraordinary appearance of the leafless woods, which looked as
if a deluge had just subsided, leaving the trees covered with
masses of sea-weed.

I gazed on this phenomenon with much wonder, till it sud-
denly occurred to me that this must be the famous Carolina

moss (7%llandsia) of which I had often heard, but which I had
not yet seen in any quantity. I satisfied myself by asking a