what is called Valley, extending down to Buzzard Roost,which is 95 miles from Huntsville. It is a fine valley, owned principally by rich cotton planters and cultivated in the way I have described before. When you get to Buzzard Roost you are near the Mississippi line, 8 to 15 miles to the Mississippi line west.

Question. Do the arable portions of the country south of the Tennessee afford any provisions beyond what is required for the support of the population?

It is inhabited by the rich planters I have already describe, who are satisfied to make merely enough to carry on the operations of their plantations and look to cotton as the source of their revenue.

Question. Are there any practicable wagon roads leading into these coves that you speak of, judge, and where do these people find a market for the little surplus they have and how do they get it there?

There is no turnpike or roads that can be called highways running through those coves; there are roads that are used and the mountains are crossed by citizens, but the word "practicable" is scarcely to be applied. The mountains are crossed, but I should say there was no road running from Jackson county entering from the cove in Madison County to Huntsville that could be used or a load of anything brought. For instance, there is what is called the big Cove; people live there and bring to Huntsville their marketing with horse and buggy or carts, but they could not bring one-fourth of a load across the mountain; they could bring upon a mud road four times as much as they could bring across that mountain.

Question. What was the condition of all this region you have described, judge, in the month of July last, with reference to surplus supplies of provisions and forage?

I should say that 1861 was what was termed a bad year, for the grain crop was very short in North Alabama. Independent of that, in the month of February or March the Confederate army that fell back from Bowling Green and Fort Donelson passed through North Alabama and levied contributions upon the country as they passed through. These two facts, of a short crop and the Confederate army levying upon the people, made the supplies less than usual. The confederate army passed right through the and levied contributions during the two weeks they were there.

Question. What was supposed to be the strength of this army that levied upon the country in that way?

It was aid to be from 25,000 to 30,000 men. I saw a great many division pass. The secessionists of the country said there were from 25,000 to 30,000.

Question. Had the country also been drawn upon to a considerable extent by the United States troops previous to July, under the command of General Mitchell?

If my recollection serves me right I think General Mitchell reached Huntsville on the 11th of april I do not know what time General Buell got there, but I suppose it must have been about the 1st of July. My impression is that General Mitchell left the 3rd or 4th of July and General Buell got there three or four days before General Mitchell left. This would make two months and a half that General Mitchell had been there with an army of some 6,000 or 8,000 men; but I do not think General Mitchell had levied very heavy contributions, for I was frequently at his headquarters, and he evidently tried to avoid levying contributions, and got his supplies as well as he could from the army stores in Tennessee. There was some difficulty in getting provisions along the road; his trains were fired into and bridges were burned; but I think he brought a great many supplies from Nashville or Murfreesborough. He levied contributions for the forage entirely. I recollect on one occasion there was a considerable sensation, as it was said he was going to levy upon the smoke-houses, and it produced a great deal of consternation among the people. But I do not think he levied upon the people while I was there. He obtained his forage entirely from the country.

Question. What was the cause of this consternation produced by this anticipation that General Mitchell was about to take meat; was it because of the pecuniary loss, or because he would take that which was necessary for the substance of the population?

Upon consultation with General Mitchell I informed him that there was a great