[55] its share in their training; witness that most poetic of all their songs, which always reminds me of the “Lyke-Wake Dirge” in the “Scottish Border Minstrelsy,” --
I know moon-rise, I know star-rise;
Lay dis body down.
I walk in de moonlight, I walk in de starlight,
To lay dis body down.
I'll walk in de graveyard, I'll walk through de graveyard,
To lay dis body down.
I'll lie in de grave and stretch out my arms;
Lay dis body down.
I go to de Judgment in de evening ob de day
When I lay dis body down;
And my soul and your soul will meet in de day
When I lay dis body down.
January 14, 1863.
In speaking of the military qualities of the blacks, I should add, that the only point where I am disappointed is one I have never seen raised by the most incredulous newspaper critics,--namely, their physical condition.
To be sure they often look magnificently to my gymnasium-trained eye; and I always like to observe them when bathing,--such splendid muscular development, set off by that smooth coating of adipose tissue which makes them, like the South-Sea Islanders, appear even more muscular than they are. Their skins are also of finer grain than those of whites, the surgeons say, and certainly are smoother and far more free from hair.
But their weakness is pulmonary; pneumonia and pleurisy are their besetting ailments; they are easily made ill, and easily cured, if promptly treated: childish organizations again.
Guard-duty injures them more than whites, apparently; and double-quick movements, in choking dust, set them coughing badly.
But then it is to be remembered 