Day on Cooper River

'THERE is no more agreeable mode of passing a day, and thereby breaking in upon the tedium of a long summer's residence in Charleston, than taking advantage occasionally of the opportunity now afforded for a weekly excursion on Cooper River.....'So begins this wonderful reminiscence of South Carolina plantation life, written by Charleston physician-and rice planter himself-John B. Irving. Originally published in 1842, this reads as beautifully today as it did all those years ago.