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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/44268-0.txt b/44268-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..66730fa --- /dev/null +++ b/44268-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4106 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44268 *** + +Transcriber's Note + +Some typographical features could not be reproduced in this version. +Italics are therefore delimited with the underscore character as +_italic_. Any words or phrases appearing in mixed case using small +capital letters, are shifted to all upper case. + +Please note that the longitudes used in this text, which predates the +establishment of Greenwich as the reference, used the nation's capitol, +Washington, D.C. (approx. W 77°) as its basis. Thus, Cincinnati, at +W 84° 30' on p. 1, is placed at a longitude of 7° 31'. Also, on p. 33, +the location of the state of Indiana is mistakenly given using seconds +(") of longitude, rather than minutes ('). These were corrected. + +The spelling of place names was fluid at the time and all are retained +here. + +Footnotes, which appeared on the bottom of pages, have been relocated +to follow the paragraph where they are referenced. They have been +lettered consecutively from A to K for ease of reference. + +Please consult the transcriber's end note at the bottom of this text +for any other details. + + + + + THE + AMERICANS AS THEY ARE; + DESCRIBED IN + A TOUR + THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. + + BY THE AUTHOR OF + "AUSTRIA AS IT IS." + + LONDON: + HURST, CHANCE, AND CO. + ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. + 1828. + + + + + LONDON: + Printed by Bradbury and Dent, + St. Dunstan's-ct., Fleet-st. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +The publication of this tour was intended for the year 1827. Several +circumstances have prevented it. + +The American is, as far as relates to his own country, justly supposed +to be prone to exaggeration. English travellers, on the contrary, are +apt to undervalue brother Jonathan and his country. The Author has twice +seen these countries, of whose present state he gives a sketch in the +following pages. He is far from claiming for his work any sort of +literary merit. Truth and practical observation are his chief points. +Whether his opinions and statements are correct, it remains for the +reader to judge, and experience to confirm. + + _London, March, 1828._ + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Upwards of half a century has now elapsed since the independence of +the United States became firmly established. During this period two +great questions have been solved, exposing the fallacies of human +calculations, which anticipated only present anarchy and ultimate +dissolution as the fate of the new Republics. The possibility of a +people governing themselves, and being prosperous and happy, time, the +sure ordeal of all projects, has at length demonstrated. Their political +infancy is over, they are approaching towards manhood, and fully +sensible of their strength, their first magistrate has ventured to +utter those important words contained in his address of 1820: that +"notwithstanding their neutrality, they would consider any attempt on +the part of the European Powers, to extend their system to any portion +of THEIR hemisphere, as dangerous to their peace and safety; and that +they could not admit of any projects of colonization on the part of +Europe." Thus, for the first time, they have asserted their right of +taking a part DE FACTO in the great transactions of European Powers, and +pronounced their declaration in a tone, which has certainly contributed +to the abandonment of those intentions which were fast ripening into +execution. + +The important influence of American liberty throughout the civilised +world, has been already apparent; and more especially in France, in the +South American revolutions, and in the commotions in Spain, Portugal, +Naples, and Piedmont. These owe their origin, not to any instigation on +the part of the United States, but to the influence of their example in +raising the standard of freedom, and more than all, to the success which +crowned their efforts. Great has been on the other hand, the influence +of European politics on the North American nation. A party, existing +since the revolution, and extending its ramifications over the whole +United States, is now growing into importance, and guided by the +principles of European diplomacy, is rooting itself deeper and deeper, +drawing within its ranks the wealthy, the enlightened, the dissatisfied; +thus adding every day to its strength. We see, in short, the principle +of monarchy developing itself in the United States, and though it is not +attempted to establish it by means of a revolution, which would +infallibly fail, there is a design to bring it about by that cunning, +cautious, and I may add, American way, which must eventually succeed; +unless the spirit of freedom be sufficiently powerful to neutralize the +subtle poison in its progress, or to triumph over its revolutionary +results. There have occurred many changes in the United States within +the last ten years. The present rulers have succeeded in so amalgamating +opinions, that whatever may be said to the contrary, only two parties +are now in existence. These are the monarchists, who would become +governors, and the republicans, who would not be governed. + +The object proposed in the following pages has been to exhibit to the +eyes of the European world, the real state of American affairs, divested +of all prejudice, and all party spirit. Adams on the whole is a +favourite with Great Britain. This empire however, has no reason to +admire him; should his plans succeed, the cost to Great Britain would be +the loss of her last possession in North America. But as long as the +American Republic continues united, this unwieldy mass of twenty-four +states can never become dangerous. + +Of the different orders of society, there is yet little to be said, but +they are developing themselves as fast as wealth, ambition, luxury, and +the sciences on the one side, and poverty, ignorance, and indirect +oppression on the other, will permit them. There, as every where else, +this is the natural course of things. To show the state of society in +general, and the relative bearings of the different classes to each +other, and thus to afford a clear idea of what the United States really +are, is the second object attempted in this work. To represent social +intercourse and prevailing habits in such a manner as to enable the +future emigrant to follow the prescribed track, and to settle with +security and advantage to himself and to his new country; to afford him +the means of judging for himself, by giving him a complete view of +public and private life in general, as well as of each profession or +business in particular, is the third object here contemplated. + +The capitalist, the merchant, the farmer, the physician, the lawyer, the +mechanic, cannot fail, I trust, to find adequate information respecting +the course which, on their settling in the Union, will be the most +eligible to pursue. Farther explanation I think unnecessary. He who +would consider the following condensed picture of Trans-atlantic society +and manners insufficient, would not be better informed, if I were to +enlarge the work to twice its size. Such an objection would shew him to +be unfit to adventure in the character of a settler in a country where +so many snares will beset his path, and call for no small degree of +natural shrewdness and penetration. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +Cincinnati.--Parting glance at Ohio.--Its Government and +Inhabitants. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Tour through the state of Kentucky.--Bigbonelick.--Mammoths.--Two +Kentuckian Characters.--Kentuckian +Scenes. + + +CHAPTER III. + +Vevay.--Geographical Sketch of the state of Indiana--Madison.-- +Charleston.--Jeffersonville.--Clarksville.--New Albany.--The Falls of +Ohio. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Louisville.--Canal of Louisville.--Its Commerce.--Surrounding +Country.--Sketch of the state of Kentucky, and of its Inhabitants. + + +CHAPTER V. + +A Keel-boat journey.--Description of the preparations.--Fall +of the Country.--Troy.--Lady Washington.--The River sport.-- +Owensborough.--Henderson. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Mr. Owen's of Lanark, formerly Rapp's settlement.--Remarks on +it.--Keel-boat Scenes.--Cave in Rock.--Cumberland and +Tennessee rivers.--Fort Massai. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Mississippi.--General Features of the state of Illinois, and of +its Inhabitants. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Excursion to St. Louis.--Fall of the Country.--Sketch of the state of +Missouri.--Return to Trinity. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The state of Tennessee.--Steam boats on the Mississippi.--Flat Boats. + + +CHAPTER X. + +Scenery along the Mississippi.--Hopefield.--St. Helena.--Arkansas +Territory.--Spanish Moss.--Vixburgh. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The city of Natchez.--Excursion to Palmira.--Plantations.--The cotton +planter of the state of Mississippi.--Remarks.--Return to Natchez. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Arrival at New Orleans.--Cursory reflections. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Topographical sketch of the City of New Orleans. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and of +Louisiana.--Creoles.--Anglo Americans. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Frenchmen.--Free people of colour.--Slaves.--Public spirit.-- +Education.--State of religious worship.--Public entertainments.-- +Theatres.--Balls, &c. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The Climate of Louisiana.--The yellow fever. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.--Planters.--Farmers.--Merchants.-- +Mechanics. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +Geographical features of the state of Louisiana.--Conclusion. + + + + +AMERICA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Cincinnati.--Parting Glance at Ohio.--Character of its Government and + its Inhabitants. + + +The city of Cincinnati is the largest in the state of Ohio: for the last +eight years it has left even Pittsburgh far behind. It is situated in +39° 5' 54" north latitude, and 7° 31' west longitude, on the second bank +of the Ohio, rising gradually and extending to the west, the north, and +the east, for a distance of several miles. The lower part of the city +below the new warehouse, is exposed, during the spring tides, to +inundations which are not, however, productive of serious consequences; +the whole mass of water turning to the Kentuckian shore. The river is +here about a mile wide, and assumes the form of a half moon. When viewed +from the high banks, the mighty sheet of water, rolling down in a deep +bed, affords a splendid sight. In 1780, the spot where now stands one of +the prettiest towns of the Union, was a native forest. In that year, the +first attempt was made at forming a settlement in the country, by +erecting a blockhouse, which was called Fort Washington, and was +enlarged at a subsequent period. In the year 1788, Judge Symmes laid out +the town, whose occupants he drew from the New England States. +Successive attacks, however, of the Indians wearied them out, and the +greater part withdrew. The battle gained by General Wayne over these +natives, tranquillised the country; and after the year 1794, Cincinnati +rapidly improved. It became the capital of the western district, which +was erected into a territorial government. When Ohio was declared an +independent state, in the year 1800, Cincinnati continued to be the seat +of the legislature till 1806. + +Fort Washington has since made room for peaceful dwellings. Their number +is at present 1560, with 12,000 inhabitants. The streets are regular, +broad, and mostly well paved. The main street, which runs the length of +a mile from the court-house down to the quay, is elegant.--Among the +public buildings, the court-house is constructed in an extremely simple +but noble style; the Episcopalian, the Catholic, and the Presbyterian +churches, the academy and the United States' bank, are handsome +buildings. Besides these, are churches for Presbyterians, Lutherans, +Methodists, Baptists, Swedenborghians, Unitarians, a Lancasterian +school, the farmers', the mechanics', and the Cincinnati banks, a +reading room with a well provided library, five newspaper printing +offices;--among these papers are the Cincinnati Literary Gazette, and a +price current--and the land office for the southern part of the state. +The colonnade of the theatre is, however, a strange specimen of the +architectural genius of the backwoods. Among the manufacturing +establishments, the principal are,--the steam mill on the river, a +saw-mill, cloth and cotton manufactories, several steam engines, iron +and nail manufactories, all on the steam principle. Cincinnati carries +on an important trade with New Orleans, and it may be considered as the +staple of the state. The produce of the whole state is brought to +Cincinnati, and shipped down the Ohio and Mississippi. The only +impediments to its uninterrupted trade, are the falls of the Ohio at +Louisville, which obstruct the navigation during eight months in the +year. These obstacles are now on the point of being removed. The exports +from Cincinnati are flour, whisky, salt, hams, pork, beef, dried and +fresh fruits, corn, &c.; the imports are cotton, sugar, rice, indigo, +tobacco, coffee, and spices. The manufactured goods are generally +brought in waggons from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and discharged +there. In order to improve the commerce of Cincinnati, an insurance +company has been formed. There is a committee established for the +inspection of vessels running between New Orleans and this place. There +are a number of steam and other boats building at the present time. For +the benefit of travellers, &c., a line of steam boats is established +between Cincinnati and Louisville; and they start regularly every second +day, performing the voyage of 115 miles to Louisville in twelve, and +back again in twenty hours. + +There are in Cincinnati a great number of wholesale, commission, and +retail merchants; but the want of ready money is as much felt here as +anywhere else, and causes a stagnation of business. The inhabitants are +chiefly American born, with some admixture of Germans, French, and +Irish. As the former are mostly from the New England States, the general +character of the inhabitants has taken an adventurous turn, which is +conspicuous in their buildings. Most of the houses in the city are +elegant, many are truly beautiful; but they belong to the bank of the +United States, which possesses at least 200 of the finest houses in +Cincinnati. The building mania obtained such strong hold of the +inhabitants, that most of them forgot their actual means; and +accordingly, having drawn money from the bank which they were unable to +refund, they had at last to give up lots and buildings to the United +States' bank. Though this city possesses in itself many advantages over +other towns of the Ohio, and has much the start of them in point of +commerce and manufactures, yet there is little expectation of its +increasing in the same proportion as it has hitherto done. Neither of +the canals which are intended to join the Ohio, will come up as far as +this town. The great Ohio canal is to run near the mouth of the Sciota +river; the _Dayton_ canal below Cincinnati; and these places will +attract a considerable part of the population. The third canal, which is +to connect the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and of the Ohio, will be +more advantageous to the towns of Upper Ohio, Marietta, Steubenville, +and Wheeling. Commerce will thus be more equally divided, and Cincinnati +cannot always expect to continue as it has hitherto been, the staple +of the trade to the southward of the Ohio. The merchant possessed +of a moderate capital, if he consult his interest, will not establish +himself at Cincinnati, but at one of the intermediate places of the +above-mentioned three canals. The farmer has eligible spots in the +Tuscarora valleys, about New Lancaster, Columbus, Franklintown, +Pickaway, Chilicathe, and especially in the Sandusky counties on lake +Erie. Mechanics, such as carpenters, cabinet makers, &c., will also find +these new settlements more advantageous markets for their industry than +the city of Cincinnati itself. The manufacturers, of every kind, will +choose either Cincinnati or Pittsburgh, but still give the preference +to the former, in spite of its smoke and dirt, as the place most +favoured by natural position, which must necessarily become the first +manufacturing town of the Union, notwithstanding the well-known +inactivity of the Pennsylvanians. But as the state of Ohio must look to +its manufactures, unless it chooses to continue a loser by the exchange +of its raw produce; Cincinnati, whose manufactures have attained a high +degree of perfection, favoured as it is by its coal mines, its water +communication, and the fertility and consequent cheapness of the +necessaries of life, must always possess very great advantages. +Travellers arriving from the north, proceed to the south by way of +Louisville on board a steam boat; and coming from thence, they go either +to the eastward to Philadelphia by the mail stage, or by the same +conveyance northward, through Chilicathe and Columbus, to lake Erie, +where they embark for Buffalo. + +During my stay, on the twenty-fifth of October, a question of some +importance for the inhabitants of Cincinnati was to be decided. It was +concerning a stricter police and its necessary regulations. The city +council, with the wealthier class of inhabitants, had been for some time +previous to the decision, engaged in preparing and gaining over the +multitude. I went to the court-house in company with Mr. Bama, a +wholesale merchant, and several gentlemen, to hear the speeches +delivered on both sides, and the result of the motion. It was four +o'clock when we arrived, and about 600 persons were assembled in and +outside of the court-house. The noise, however, was such, that it was +impossible to hear more than detached periods. At eight o'clock, when +almost dark, they had gone through the business, and the poll was about +to commence. The party for abridging public liberty was ordered to go +out on the left:--those who insisted on the preservation of the present +order of things, were to draw off to the right. On arriving before the +court-house, they ranged themselves in two separate ranks, each of which +was counted by the presiding judge. There was a majority of 72 votes in +favour of the party which upheld the present system, and the question +was, therefore, decided in favour of popular liberty. I found here, as +well as everywhere else, that the freedom of a community is nowhere more +exposed to encroachments than in large towns, where dissipation and +occupations of every kind are likely to engross the attention of the +people, who leave the magistrates to do what they please. The city +council were on the point of obtaining the majority, had it not been for +the farmers whom the market-day had drawn to town. These, of course, did +not fail to open the eyes of the honest burghers; and the question was +accordingly negatived. + +The prevailing manners of society at Cincinnati, are those peculiar to +larger cities, without the formalities and mannerism of the eastern sea +ports. Freedom of thought prevails in a high degree, and toleration is +exercised without limitation. The women are considered very handsome; +their deportment is free from pride; but simple and unassuming as +they appear, they evince a high taste for literary and mental +accomplishments. The Literary Gazette owes its origin to their united +efforts. There is no doubt that the commanding situation of this +beautiful town, its majestic river, its mild climate, which may be +compared to the south of France, and the liberal spirit of its +inhabitants, contribute to render this place, both in a physical and +moral point of view, one of the most eligible residences in the Union. + +As much, indeed, may be said of the state of Ohio in general. It +combines in itself all the elements that tend to make its inhabitants +the happiest people on the face of the earth. Nature has done every +thing in favour of this country. In point of fertility, it excels +every one of the thirteen old states; and, owing to its political +institutions, and the abolition of slavery, it has taken the lead among +those newly created. + +Ohio is bounded on the north by lake Erie, on the west by the state +of Indiana, on the south by the river Ohio, and on the east by +Pennsylvania, comprising an area of 4,000 square miles; it is divided +into 71 counties, and has a population of 72,000 souls. This state forms +the eastern extremity of the great valley of the Mississippi, which has +the Alleghany for its eastern, and the Rocky Mountains for its western +boundary, sinking by degrees as it approaches the Mississippi, and +extending more than a thousand miles towards the south. The climate of +this state, which presents for the most part the form of an elevated +plain, running between the mountainous Pennsylvania and the swampy +Mississippi states, is temperate, extending from 38° 28', to 72° 58' +northern latitude, and from 3° 32', to 7° 40' west longitude. Its +temperature varies less than that of other states. Its soil is +inexhaustible; its fertility, especially in the northern and southern +parts, being truly astonishing; and though some portions have been +cultivated upwards of thirty years without being manured, the land still +yields the same quantity of produce. The northern inhabitants of the +state send their produce down to New York by lake Erie, and the Buffalo +canal; the southern find a market in Louisiana and New Orleans. The +middle part suffered greatly from the want of water communication, to +which they are now on the point of applying a remedy, in order to obtain +an intercourse with New York; which, as it is well known, has effected +by means of a canal, a water communication with lake Erie. The Ohions +commenced a canal in the year 1825, beginning at Cleveland on the +shores of lake Erie, taking thence a southern course through Tuscarora +county at Zanesville, turning to the right six miles below Columbus, and +running down to the shores of the Ohio. It is intended to be completed +in the space of three years. The state of Ohio expects from this canal, +which if the pecuniary means be considered may be called a gigantic +undertaking, a ready market for its produce in the city and state of New +York; looking forward, at the same time, to become the staple for the +trade between New York and New Orleans. It cannot fail, however, to be +productive of still greater advantage to the United States in general, +and to the cities of New York and New Orleans in particular, which will +thus have the means of a land or water communication, over a space of +nearly 3,000 miles. The first idea of this canal originated with the +state of New York; the citizens of which, when they had finished their +own, encouraged those of Ohio to enter upon a similar undertaking. +Encouragement was not much wanting; the plan of joining the waters of +the Hudson and the Mississippi was taken up with enthusiasm; canal +committees were formed; most of the towns in the state sent their +deputies, and after the customary debates, the resolution was adopted. +The only difficulty was to raise the requisite funds. New York offered +to defray the necessary expenses, if allowed the revenue arising from +the new canal, for a certain period. The pride of the Ohions revolted +against the proposition; they preferred raising a loan in New York. In +this respect the government of the state committed a great error. A loan +of three millions of dollars, and the necessary evils attendant upon it, +are certainly a heavy burthen to a new state, which can scarcely reckon +an existence of forty years, especially as the new canal may be +considered a continuation of the great one of New York, and as the +advantage resulting from it to the state can bear no comparison with +that which New York derives from its own. + +New York, already the most important commercial city of the Union, +will, after the completion of this canal, enjoy the trade of the +western and south-western states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, +Mississippi, &c.; and thus the Ohio canal will rather contribute to the +aggrandizement of New York, than to that of Ohio. Their debt, so out of +proportion with the resources of the state, made the people of Ohio +relax in their ardour for carrying this project into effect, and gave +rise to discontent against the administration of the state. But the same +case happened in New York, and the exultation of the inhabitants of +Ohio, when they see the work accomplished, will scarcely yield to that +which was manifested by the people of the former state. There is, +nevertheless, not any city in the state of Ohio to be compared with New +York, Philadelphia, or Boston, nor is it probable there will be. At +the same time this want is largely compensated by the absence of +immorality and luxury--evils necessarily attached to large and opulent +cities--which may be said to attract the heart's blood of the country, +and send forth the very dregs of it in return. In Ohio, wealth is not +accumulated in one place, or in a few hands; it is visibly diffused over +the whole community. The country towns and villages are invariably +constructed in a more elegant and tasteful manner than those of +Pennsylvania, and the Northern states. There is something grand in +their plan and execution, though the prevailing want or insufficiency of +means to carry them through, is still an obstacle in the way. The farms +and country houses are elegant; I saw hundreds of them, which no English +nobleman would be ashamed of. They are generally of brick, sometimes +of wood, and built in a tasteful style. The turnpike roads are in +excellent order. It is astonishing to see what has been done during a +few years, and under an increasing scarcity of money, by the mere dint +of industry. The traveller will seldom have reason to rail at bad roads +or bad taverns; I could only complain of one of the latter, which stands +upon a road that is seldom travelled. In every county town there are at +least two elegant inns, and the tables are loaded with such a variety of +venison and dishes of every kind, that even a _gourmand_ could not +justly complain. + +The whole state bespeaks a wealthy condition, which, far removed from +riches, rests on the surest foundation--the fertility of the soil, and +the persevering industry of its cultivators. Although behind-hand, +perhaps, with the Yankees in literary accomplishments, they are far more +liberal, and intelligent, being endowed with a strong and enterprising +mind. Crimes are here less frequently committed, the inhabitants +consisting of the most respectable classes of the eastern and foreign +states. Only men of moderate property came into the state; the wealthy +were deterred by the difficulties attending a new settlement; the +indigent by the impossibility of getting vacant lands, and thus the +state remained equally free from money-born aristocrats, (certainly the +worst in the world), and from beggars. Its form of government bears +internal evidence of this, the governor of Ohio having neither the +revenue, nor the power of the eastern governors. He is elected for the +term of two years. The constitution bespeaks independence and +liberality. The number of senators cannot exceed thirty, nor the +representatives seventy-two. The general assembly has the sole power of +enacting laws, the signature of the governor being in no case necessary. +The judges are chosen by the legislature for seven years, and the +justices of the peace for the term of three years, by their respective +townships. The resolutions of their assembly are quite free from that +narrow-minded prejudice found in Pennsylvania and the southern states, +which sees in the law of Moses the only rule for direction, and loses +sight of that liberal spirit which pervades the law of Christ. The +inhabitants of Ohio are not, however, so religious as their neighbours, +the Pennsylvanians. Their ministers exercise little influence; and +numerous sects contribute greatly to lessen their authority, which is +certainly not the case in the north. The people of Ohio are equally free +from the uncultivated and rude character of the western American, and +from the innate wiliness of the Yankees. This state is not unlike a +vigorous and blooming youth, who is approaching to manhood, and whose +natural form and manner excite our just admiration. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Tour through Kentucky.--Bigbonelick.--Mammoths.--Two Kentuckian + Characters.--Kentuckian Scenes. + + +After a stay of six days in Cincinnati I departed; crossed the Ohio in +the ferryboat, and landed in the state of Kentucky, at Newport, a small +country town of Campbell county. It contains, besides the government +arsenal for the western states, a court-house, and about 100 buildings, +scattered irregularly upon the eminence. From thence to Bigbonelick, the +distance is 23 miles; the country is more hilly than on the other side +of the river; it is, however, fertile, the stratum being generally +limestone. The growth of timber is very fine; the trees are beech, +sugar-maple, and sycamore. The contrast between Ohio and Kentucky is +striking, and the baneful influence of slavery is very soon discovered. +Instead of elegant farms, orchards, meadows, corn and wheat fields +carefully enclosed, you see patches planted with tobacco, the leaves +neglected; and instead of well-looking houses, a sort of double cabins, +like those inhabited in the north of Pennsylvania by the poorest +classes. In one part lives the family, in the other is the kitchen; +behind these, are the wretched cabins of the negroes, bearing a +resemblance to pigsties, with half a dozen black children playing about +them on the ground. + +About three o'clock I arrived at Bigbonelick, well known for its Mammoth +bones. The lands ten miles on this side of Bigbone are of an indifferent +character, dreary and mountainous. The valley of Bigbone is about a mile +long, and of equal breadth; it no doubt has been the scene of some great +convulsion of nature. The water is seen oozing forth from the many bogs, +and has a saltish taste, impregnated with saltpetre and sulphur. These +quagmires are covered with a thin grass, which has the same taste. Their +depth is said to be unfathomable. Whether the Mammoth bones which are +found here, were brought into the valley by a convulsion of the earth, +by an inundation, or whether the animals sunk down when in search of +food, remains to be decided. The first two suppositions seem authorised +by the circumstance, that bones were found, not on their carcases, but +scattered, which could not be the case if they were swallowed up alive. +The same revolution of nature which carried elephants and palm-trees to +Siberia and Lapland, and the lions of Africa to the coast of Gibraltar, +may, in like manner, have brought these animals to Bigbonelick. The +tradition handed down to us by the Indians respecting them, is +remarkable. "In ancient times, it is said, a herd of these tremendous +animals came to the Bigbonelicks, and commenced an universal destruction +among the buffaloes, bears, and elks, which had been created for the +Indians. The Great Spirit looking down from above, became so enraged at +the sight, that taking some of his thunderbolts he descended, seated +himself on a neighbouring rock which still bears the print of his +footsteps, and hurling down the bolts among the destroyers, killed them +all with the exception of the big bull, which, turning its front to the +bolts, shook them off; but being struck at last in the side, he turned +round, and with a tremendous leap bounded over the Ohio, the Wabash, the +Illinois, and the great lakes, beyond which he is still living at the +present day." + +Some few weeks later, I spoke with an Indian trader at Trinity. +According to his account, he found in one of his excursions, traces of a +large animal, belonging to none of the species known to him, and equal +in size to the elephant. On making inquiries of an old Indian, the +latter ascribed the traces to an immense, but very rare animal, the +race of which was almost destroyed by the Great Spirit; there remaining +but very few on the other side of the lakes. He also pretended that +he had seen one of those animals: whether the tale of the Indian, or +that of the trader, a class of people somewhat prone to exaggeration, +be true or not, I am incapable of deciding. I afterwards met this +man at New Orleans, and requested him to go along with me to one of my +acquaintances, in order to furnish further information on this subject, +and enable me to give publicity to it, but he pretended business, and +refused to accompany me. The researches which were undertaken here, were +amply rewarded. The greatest part of the early discoveries has been +transmitted to London; a fine collection is exhibiting in the Museum at +Philadelphia, and in the Levee at New Orleans. + +The road from Bigbonelick is, for the distance of ten miles, dreary and +the country barren. I arrived late at a farm-house, of rather a better +appearance, where I intended to stop the night. The first night's +lodging convinced me but too plainly, that the inhabitants of this +state, justly called in New York, half horse and half alligator, had not +yet assumed a milder character. The farmer, or rather planter, was +absent with his wife; and his brother, who took care of the farm, was at +a horse race; an old man, however, with his daughter, answered my +application for a lodging, in the affirmative. I was supping upon slices +of bacon, roasted corn bread, and some milk, when the brother of the +farmer returned from the races with his neighbour. Both had led horses +besides those on which they rode. Before dismounting they discharged +their pistols. Each of the Kentuckians had a pistol in his girdle, and a +poniard in the breast pocket. Before resuming my supper I was pressed to +take a dram. With a quart bottle in one hand, and with the other drawing +the remains of tobacco from his mouth, in rather a nauseous manner, the +host drank for half a minute out of the bottle; then took from the slave +the can with water, and handed the bottle to me, the mouth of which had +assumed, from the remains of the tobacco, a brownish colour. The +Kentuckian looked displeased when I wiped the bottle. I however took no +notice of him, but presented it, after having drunk, to his friend. We +sat down. + +"How far are you come to day?" asked the landlord. + +"From Cincinnati." + +"You don't live in Cincinnati, I guess, do you?" + +"No, sir." + +"And where do you live?" + +"In Pennsylvania." + +"A fine distance!" exclaimed my host, "I like the people of Pennsylvania +better than those G----d d----d Yankees, but still they are no +Kentuckians." I gave my full and hearty assent. + +"The Kentuckians," continued my landlord, "are astonishingly mighty +people; they are the very first people on earth!" + +"Yes, sir." + +"They are immensely great, and wonderfully powerful people; ar'nt they?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"They are ten thousand times superior to any nation on earth." + +"Yes, sir." + +"How do you like Kentucky?" + +"Very well, sir; I travelled through it four years ago." + +"G--d d--n my s--l t----e----l d----n!" roared he. "The Pennsylvanians +have not a square mile of land in their state, equal to our poor lands. +Bill," turning now to his neighbour on the left, "Bill has been marked +in a mighty fine style. G--d d--n, &c., he blooded like a hog." + +"Yes," replied the neighbour, "Sam has stabbed exceedingly well, I +presume. Bill has to wait four weeks before he may be on his legs again, +if he will be at all. G--d d--n! but to tell Isaac, his horse, which he +thinks so much of, is a poor beast compared with his--and so to give him +the lie. I would have knocked him down, come what might _out of it_. But +Dick and John!"--and now these two fellows broke out into roaring shouts +of horse laughter. "How his eyes twinkled, he looked quite as squire +Toms, when laying all night over the bottle; I guess he never will be +able to set his eyes a-right." + +"He does not see," said the neighbour; "the one is quite out of its +socket, and Joe was obliged to carry him home." + +"Why, the seconds are wonderfully lovely fellows, I warrant you; they +did not spoil the sport with interfering." + +"Yes, they bore John an old grudge." + +"Oh, certainly--it was a mighty fine sport; I would not for the world +have missed it. G--d d--n! Dick is a fine gouger--the second turn--John +down--and both thumbs in his eyes.--I presume you have races in +Pennsylvania?" turning to me. + +"Yes, sir." + +"And fightings and gougings?" + +"No, sir." With an expressive look towards his neighbour, he continued: +"Yes, the Pennsylvanians are a quiet, religious sort of people; they +don't kill anything but their hogs, and prefer giving their money to +their parsons." The evening passed in these and similar conversations, +of which the above are mere specimens; and it was eleven o'clock before +the interesting pair separated. + +Some miles below Mr. White's farm, the road divides into two, the one +leading to Newcastle, the other to the Ohio. I stopped at a farm fifteen +miles from my former night's lodging. The landlord was mounting his +horse for Newcastle; his wife sat in the kitchen, surrounded by eight +negro girls, all busy knitting and sewing. The girls seemed to be in +excellent spirits, and were tolerably well dressed; the house rather +indicated affluence, though it was far from possessing the order and +cleanliness of a few of only half its value in Ohio. It was a simple +brick house; but constructed without the least attention to the rules of +symmetry. The fields were in a very indifferent state. Behind the +dwelling, were seen some negro infants at play, while an old negro woman +was preparing my breakfast. The family had thirty-five slaves, both +young and old, forming a capital of at least 10,000 dollars. "Was not I +a fool?" asked the open-hearted landlady, "to marry Mr. Forth, who had +but twelve slaves, and a plantation, with seven children; but they are +provided for;--whereas I had fourteen slaves, and a plantation too, +after my first husband's decease, and no children at all."--"I don't +know," was my reply, afraid of engaging the old lady in further +discussion. While descanting upon this theme, and on the advantages +resulting to her happy husband from a match so disparaging on her part, +I was allowed to take my breakfast, when some yells and hallooing called +us to the door. A troop of horsemen were passing. Two of the party had +each a negro slave running before him, secured by a rope fastened to an +iron collar. A tremendous horsewhip reminded them at intervals to +quicken their pace. The bloody backs and necks of these wretches, +bespoke a too frequent application of the lash. The third negro had, +however, the hardest lot. The rope of his collar was fastened to the +saddle string of the third horseman, and the miserable creature had thus +no alternative left, but to keep an equal pace with the trotting horse, +or to be dragged through ditches, thorns, and copsewood. His feet and +legs, all covered with blood, exhibited a dreadful spectacle. The three +slaves had run away two days before, dreading transportation to +Mississippi or Louisiana. "Look here," said Mrs. Forth, calling her +black girls, "what is done with the bad negroes, who run away from their +good masters!" With an indifference, and a laughing countenance, which +clearly shewed how accustomed these poor children were to the like +scenes, they expressed their sentiments at this disgusting conduct. + +The road from Mr. Forth's plantation runs a considerable distance along +ridges, descending finally into the bottom lands along the Ohio. These +are exceedingly fertile. The growth of timber is extremely luxuriant. I +measured a sycamore of common size, and found it seventeen feet in +diameter; their height is truly astonishing. The soil is of a deep brown +colour, and where it is turned up, proves to be blackish. The stratum +is generally limestone. I crossed the Ohio at Ghent, in Kentucky, +opposite to Vevay, in Indiana. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Vevay.--Geographical Sketch of the State of Indiana.--Madison.-- + Charlestown--its Court.--Jeffersonville.--Clarksville.--New + Albany.--The Falls of the Ohio. + + +Vevay, in Indiana, became a settlement twenty years ago, by Swiss +emigrants, who obtained a grant of land, equal to 200 acres for each +family, under the condition of cultivating the vine; they accordingly +settled here, and laid out vineyards. The original settlers may have +amounted to thirty; others joined them afterwards, and in this manner +was founded the county town of New Switzerland, in Indiana, which +consists almost exclusively of these French and Swiss settlers. They +have their vineyards below the town, on the banks of the river Ohio. The +vines, however, have degenerated, and the produce is an indifferent +beverage, resembling any thing but claret, as it had been represented. +Two of them have attempted to cultivate the river hills, and the +vineyards laid out there are rather of a better sort. The town is on the +decline; it has a court-house, and two stores very ill supplied. The +condition of these, and the absence of lawyers, are sure indications of +the poverty of the inhabitants, if broken windows, and doors falling +from their hinges, should leave any doubt on the subject; they are, +however, a merry set of people, and balls are held regularly every +month. In the evening arrived ten teams laden with fifty emigrants from +Kentucky, going to settle in Indiana; their reasons for doing this were +numerous. Although they had bought their lands in Kentucky twice over, +they had to give them up a third time, their titles having proved +invalid; but still they would have remained, had it not been for the +insolent behaviour of their more wealthy neighbours, who, in consequence +of these emigrants having no slaves, and being thus obliged to work for +themselves, not only treated them as slaves, but even encouraged their +own blacks to give them every kind of annoyance, and to rob them--for +no other reason than their dislike to have paupers for neighbours. + +My landlord assured me that at least 200 waggons had passed from the +Kentucky side, through Vevay, during the present season, all full of +emigrants, discouraged from continuing among these lawless people. + +The state of Indiana, which I had now entered, begins below Cincinnati, +running down the big Miami westward to the big Wabash, which separates +this country from the Illinois. To the south, it is bounded by the Ohio; +to the north, by lake Michigan; thus extending from 37° 50', to 42° 10', +north latitude; and from 7° 40', to 10° 47', west longitude. Like the +state of Ohio, it belongs to the class coming within the range of the +great valley of the Mississippi. It exhibits nearly the same features as +the state of Ohio, with the exception, that it approaches nearer to the +Mississippi than its eastern neighbour, and is the second slope of the +eastern part of the valley of the Mississippi: it declines more than +Ohio, being but 250 feet above lake Erie, and 210 feet above lake +Michigan, which is one hundred feet less in elevation than the state of +Ohio. Two ridges of mountains, or rather hills, traverse the country; +the Knobs, or Silver-hills, running ten miles below Louisville, in a +north-eastern direction, and the Illinois mountains appearing from the +west, and running to the north-east, where they fall to a level with the +high plains of lake Michigan. These hills have a perfect sameness. The +climate is rather milder than that of Ohio. Cotton and tobacco are +raised by the farmers in sufficient quantities for their home +consumption. The growth of timber is the same as in Ohio. The vallies +are interspersed with sycamores and beeches; and below the falls, with +maples, and cotton and walnut-trees. The hills are covered with beech, +sassafras, and logwood. This state, though not inferior to Ohio in +fertility, and taken in general, perhaps, superior to it, has one great +defect. It has no sufficient water communication, and thus the +inhabitants have no market for their produce. There is not in this state +any river of importance, the Ohio which washes its southern borders +excepted. A scarcity of money therefore is more severely felt here, +than in any other state of the Union. This want of inter-communication, +added to the circumstance that the state of Ohio had already engrossed +the whole surplus population from the eastern states, had a prejudicial +effect upon Indiana, its original population being in general by no +means so respectable as that of Ohio. In the north-west it was peopled +by French emigrants, from Canada; in the south, on the banks of the +Ohio, and farther up, by Kentuckians, who fled from their country for +debt, or similar causes. + +The state thus became the refuge of adventurers and idlers of every +description. A proof of this may be seen in the character of its towns, +as well as in the nature of the improvements that have been carried on +in the country. The towns, though some of them had an earlier existence +than many in Ohio, are, in point of regularity, style of building, and +cleanliness, far inferior to those of the former state. The wandering +spirit of the inhabitants seems still to contend with the principle of +steadiness in the very construction of their buildings. They are mostly +a rude set of people, just emerging from previous bad habits, from whom +such friendly assistance as honest neighbours afford, or mutual +intercourse and good will, can hardly be expected. The case is rather +different in the interior of the country, and on the Wabash, the finest +part of the state, where respectable settlements have been formed by +Americans from the east. Wherever the latter constitute the majority, +every necessary assistance may be expected. + +For adventurers of all descriptions, Indiana holds out allurements of +every kind. Numbers of Germans, French, and Irish, are scattered in the +towns, and over the country, carrying on the business of bakers, +grocers, store, grog shops, and tavern keepers. In time, these people +will become steady from necessity, and consequently prosperous. The +number of the inhabitants of Indiana amounts to 215,000. Its admission +into the Union as a sovereign state, dates from the year 1815 to 1816; +its constitution differs in some points from that of Ohio, and its +governor is elected for the term of three years. + +Madisonville, the seat of justice for Jefferson-county, on the second +bank of the Ohio, fifty-seven miles above its falls, contains at present +180 dwelling-houses, a court-house, four stores, three inns, a printing +office--with 800 inhabitants, most of them Kentuckians. The innkeeper of +the tavern at which I alighted, does no credit to the character of this +people. He was engaged for some time in certain bank-note affairs, which +qualified him for an imprisonment of ten years; he escaped, however, by +the assistance of his legal friends, and of 1000 dollars. The +opportunity of testifying his gratitude to these gentlemen soon +presented itself. One of his neighbours, a boatman, had the misfortune +to possess a wife who attracted his attention. Her husband knowing the +temper of the man, resolved to sell all he had, and to move down to +Louisville. Some days before his intended departure, he met Sheets in +the street, and addressed him in these words: "Mr. Sheets, I ought to +chastise you for making such shameful proposals to my wife;" so saying, +he gently touched him with his cane. Sheets, without uttering a +syllable, drew his poniard, and stabbed him in the breast. The +unfortunate husband fell, exclaiming, "Oh, God! I am a dead man!"--"Not +yet," said Sheets, drawing his poniard out of the wound, and running it +a second time through his heart; "Now, my dear fellow, I guess we have +done." This monster was seized and imprisoned, and his trial took place. +_His_ countrymen took, as might be expected, a great interest in his +fate. With the assistance of 3000 dollars, he even this time escaped the +gallows. I read the issue of the trial, and the summons of the jury, in +the county paper of 1823, which was actually handed to me in the evening +by one of the guests. But a more remarkable circumstance is, that the +inhabitants continue to frequent his tavern. At first they stayed away +for some weeks; but in less than a month the affair was forgotten, and +his house is now visited as before. + +The road from Madison to Charleston, leads through a fertile country, in +some parts well cultivated. The distance from Madison is twenty-eight +miles. It is the chief town of Clark county, and seems to advance more +rapidly than Madison, the country about being pretty well peopled, and +agriculture having made more progress than in any part of the state +through which I had travelled. I found it to contain 170 houses and 750 +inhabitants, five well stored tradesmen's shops, a printing office, and +four inns. The town is about a mile distant from the river, on a high +plain. When I arrived, the court was going to adjourn, and I hastened to +the court-house. The presiding judge and his two associate judges were +in their tribune, and the parties seated on boards laid across the +stumps of trees. One of the lawyers having concluded his speech, the +defendant was called upon. The gentleman in question, whom I took for a +pedlar, stood close by my side in conversation with his party, holding +in his hand half an apple, his teeth having taken a firm bite of the +other half. At the moment his name was called, he walked with his mouth +full, up to the rostrum, and kept eating his apple with perfect +indifference. "Well," interrupted the judge impatient of the delay; +"what have you to say against the charge? You know it is high time to +break up the court, and I must go home." The gentleman at the bar now +pocketted his apple, and having thus augmented the store of provision +which he probably kept by him, looked as if he carried two knapsacks +behind his coat. "It strikes me mightily,"--was the exordium of this +speech, which in point of elegance and conciseness was a true sample of +back-wood eloquence. Fortunately the speaker took the judge's hint; in +less than half an hour he had done--in less than one hour the jurymen +returned a verdict, the county transactions were finished, and the court +broke up. + +From Charleston to Louisville, the distance is fourteen miles. The lands +are fertile. Several very well looking farms shew a higher degree of +cultivation, especially near Jeffersonville. There the road turns into +an extensive valley formed by the alluvions of the Ohio. Jeffersonville, +the seat of justice for Floyd-county, three quarters of a mile above +the falls of the Ohio, was laid out in 1802, and has since increased to +160 houses, among which are a bank, a Presbyterian church, a warehouse, +a cotton manufactory, a court-house, and an academy, with a land office, +for the disposal of the United States' lands. The commerce of the +inhabitants, 800 in number, is of some importance, though checked by the +vicinity of Louisville, and by the circumstance, that the falls on the +Indiana side are not to be approached, except at the highest rise. Two +miles below this town, is the village of Clarksville, laid out in 1783, +and forming part of the grant made to officers and soldiers of the +Illinois regiment. It contains sixty houses and 300 inhabitants. New +Albany, a mile below Clarksville, has a thousand inhabitants, and a +great deal of activity, owing to its manufactory of steam engines, its +saw mills, and the steam boats lying at anchor and generally repairing +there. It is a place of importance, and though hitherto the resort of +sailors, boatmen, and travellers, who go down the river in their own +boats, it is annually on the increase. + +The Ohio is generally crossed above the falls at Jeffersonville. The +sheet of water dammed up here by the natural ledge of rocks which forms +the falls, expands to 5,230 feet in breadth. The falls of the Ohio, +though they should not properly be called falls, cannot be seen when +crossing the river, and the waters do not pour like the falls of +Niagara over an horizontal rock down a considerable depth, but press +through a rocky bed, about a mile long, which spreads across the river, +and causes a decline of twenty-two feet in the course of two miles. When +the waters are high, the rocks and the falls disappear entirely. Seen +from Louisville at low water, they have by no means an imposing +appearance. The majestic and broad river branches off into several small +creeks, and assumes the form of mountain torrents forcing their way +through the ledge of rocks. When the river rises, and only three islands +are to be seen, the immense sheet of water rushing down the declivity at +the rate of thirteen miles an hour, must afford a magnificent spectacle. +At the time I saw it, the river was lower than it had been for a series +of years. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Louisville.--Canal of Louisville--its Commerce.--Surrounding + Country.--Sketch of the State of Kentucky and its Inhabitants, &c. + + +The road from the landing-place to Louisville, leads through one of the +finest and richest alluvial bottoms on the banks of the Ohio. They are +here about seventy feet above the level of the water, and sufficiently +high to protect the town from inundation, but there being no outlets for +stagnant waters and ponds, epidemic diseases are frequent. A lottery is +now established for the purpose of raising the necessary funds for +draining these nuisances. Louisville extends in an oblong square about a +mile down the river, and may be considered as the natural key to the +Upper and Lower Ohio, and the most important staple for trade on this +river, not excepting the city of Cincinnati. The commodities coming +during the summer and autumn from southern states are landed here. +Travellers who arrive by water, whether from the north or south, engage +steam boats at this place either for New Orleans or for Cincinnati. +These advantages made the inhabitants less desirous of having a canal, +notwithstanding the solicitations of the states watered by the Ohio. The +Congress has, at last, interposed; the canal is now contemplated. +Probably this undertaking, in which not only the Upper states of the +river Ohio, but the Union at large, are very much interested, is already +commenced. By means of this canal, steam vessels will be enabled to +avoid the falls, and to proceed to the upper Ohio at every season of the +year. It is to be two miles and a half long; to open at the mouth of +Beargrasscreek and to terminate at Shippingport. The highest ground is +twenty-seven feet; upon an average twenty feet; and it is of a clayey +substance, bottomed upon a rock. The expences are estimated at about +200,000 dollars, a trifle compared with the object to be accomplished. + +Louisville, the seat of justice for Jefferson county, in Kentucky, in +38° 8' north latitude, is about half the size of Cincinnati, and lies +105 miles below that city, by the Kentucky road through Newcastle, and +125 miles by the Kentucky and Indiana road. It is 1500 miles northeast +of New Orleans. The town is laid out on a grand scale, the streets +running parallel with the river, and intersected by others at right +angles. The main street, about three quarters of a mile long, is +elegant; most of the houses are three stories high; those of the other +streets are of course inferior in size. The number of dwelling houses +amounts to 700, inhabited by 4,500 souls, exclusive of travellers +and boatmen. Louisville has no remarkable public buildings; the +court-house and the Presbyterian church are the best. Besides these, +the Episcopalians, Catholics, and Unitarians have their meeting houses. +There are now three banks, including a branch bank of the United States, +an insurance company, and four newspaper printing offices. A quay is now +constructing which will greatly contribute to the security of the middle +part of the town, opposite to the falls. The manufactories of +Louisville are important; and the distilleries and rope walks on a large +scale. Besides these there are soap, candle, cotton, glass, paper, and +engine manufactories, all on the same principle, with grist and saw +mills. The commerce of Louisville is still more important. Of the +hundred steam boats plying on the Mississippi and Ohio, fifty at least +are engaged during six months in the year in the trade with Louisville. +They descend to New Orleans in six days, returning in double the time. +Though the town is but half as large as Cincinnati, the credit of the +merchants is more substantial, and the inhabitants are in general more +wealthy. Luxury is carried to a higher pitch than in any other town on +this side of the Alleghany mountains. Here is the only billiard-table[A] +to be met with between Philadelphia and St. Louis. The owner has to pay +a tax of 563 dollars--an enormous sum. + +[A] Of course this billiard table is not mentioned as a matter of +importance, but merely to give a characteristic idea of the state of +society in these parts. + +Notwithstanding the circulating library, the reading-room, and several +houses where good society is to be met with, Louisville is not a +pleasant town to reside in, owing to the character of the majority of +its inhabitants, the Kentuckians. Louisville has an academy, but sends +its youth to the college of Bairdstown, thirty miles to the southwest, +where lectures are given by some French priests. Below Louisville, are +the two villages of Shippingport and Portland; the former is two miles +from the town, with 150 inhabitants, the latter at the distance of three +miles, with fifty inhabitants, mostly boatmen and keepers of grog shops, +for the lowest classes of people. The environs of Louisville are well +cultivated, Portland and Shippingport excepted, the inhabitants of which +are said to extend their notions of common property too far. Behind +Louisville the country is delightful; the houses and plantations vying +with each other in point of elegance and cultivation. The woods have +greatly disappeared, and for the distance of twenty miles, the roads are +lined in every direction with plantations. This town holds the rank of +the second order in Kentucky, a country which, in latter times, has +obtained a renown of somewhat ambiguous nature. It extends to the +south, from the river Ohio, to the state of Tennessee, having for its +eastern boundary the state of Virginia; and to the west, the river +Mississippi, which separates it from the state of Missouri. It extends +from 36° 30' to 39° 10' north latitude, and from 4° 78' to 12° 20' west +longitude. It embraces an area of 40,000 square miles. Though under a +southern degree of latitude, it enjoys a moderate temperature, which is +also less variable than in the more eastern states. The two great rivers +of the Mississippi and the Ohio, forming the boundary of this state, +secure to it no inconsiderable trade. + +The productions of this beautiful country might, if properly cultivated, +become inexhaustible sources of wealth and prosperity to its inhabitants; +tobacco is a staple article, excelling in quality even that of Virginia, +if properly managed: cotton thrives well in the southern parts of the +state. Corn yields from forty to ninety bushels; wheat from thirty to +sixty; melons, sweet potatoes, peaches, apples, plumbs, &c., attain +a superior degree of perfection. One of the principal articles of +trade is hemp, the culture of which has been brought to a high state of +improvement; it constitutes one of the chief articles of export to New +Orleans. Kentucky has not such extensive plains as Ohio, but is equally +fertile, and less exposed to bilious and ague fevers. The stratum, which +is generally limestone, is a sure sign of inexhaustible fertility. Hills +alternating with valleys form landscapes, which though consisting of +native forests, are in the highest degree picturesque. There are parts +about Lexington and its environs, which nothing can exceed in beauty of +scenery. Even Louisville, with its three islands, the majestic Ohio, and +the surrounding little towns, possesses charms seldom rivalled in any +country. Kentucky is, without the least exaggeration, one of the finest +districts on the face of the earth. The climate is equal to that of the +south of France; fruits of every kind arrive at the highest perfection; +and it would be difficult to quit this country, did not the character of +the inhabitants lessen one's regret at leaving it. But notwithstanding +these natural advantages, the population has not increased either in +wealth or numbers, in proportion to the more recent state of Ohio. The +inhabitants consist chiefly of emigrants from Virginia, and North and +South Carolina, and of descendants from back-wood settlers--a proud, +fierce, and overbearing set of people. They established themselves under +a state of continual warfare with the Indians, who took their revenge by +communicating to their vanquishers their cruel and implacable spirit. +This, indeed, is their principal feature. A Kentuckian will wait three +or four weeks in the woods, for the moment of satiating his revenge; and +he seldom or never forgives. The men are of an athletic form, and there +may be found amongst them many models of truly masculine beauty. The +number of inhabitants is now 57,000, including 15,000 slaves. Planters +are among the most respectable class, and form the mass of the +population. Lawyers are next, or equal to them in rank, no less than the +merchants and manufacturers. Physicians and ministers are a degree +lower; and last of all, are those mechanics and farmers not possessed of +slaves. These are not treated better than the slaves themselves. The +constitution inclines towards federalism, landed property being +required to qualify a man for a public station. Ministers, of whatever +form of worship, are wholly excluded from public offices. Kentucky is +not a country that could be recommended to new settlers; slavery; +insecure titles to land: the division of the courts of justice into two +parts, furiously opposed to each other; an executive, whose present +chief is a disgrace to his station, and whose son would be hung in +chains, had he been in Great Britain; the worst paper-currency, &c., are +serious warnings to every lover of peace and tranquillity. We abstain +from farther particulars, as our purpose is to give a characteristic +description of the Union, which would assuredly not gain by a faithful +representation of the state of things in this country, during the last +ten years. The Desha family, the emetic scene, the proceedings of the +legislature, and of the courts of justice, Sharp's death, &c., are facts +which belong rather to the history of the tomahawk savages, than to that +of a civilised state. Passions must work with double power and effect, +where wealth, and arbitrary sway over a herd of slaves, and a warfare of +thirty years with savages, have sown the seeds of the most lawless +arrogance, and an untameable spirit of revenge. + +The literary institutions, the Transylvanian university of Lexington, +and the college of Bairdstown, have hitherto exercised very little +influence over these fierce people. But a still worse feature observable +in them, is an utter disregard of religious principles. Ohio has its +sects, thereby evincing an interest in the performance of the highest of +human duties. The Kentuckian rails at these, and at every form of +worship; certainly a trait doubly afflicting and deplorable in a rising +state. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + A Keel-boat Voyage--Description of the Preparations.--Face of the + Country.--Troy.--Lady Washington.--The River + Sport.--Owensborough.--Henderson. + + +The Ohio still continuing low, and there being no prospect of proceeding +to New Orleans by a steam boat, I resolved to embark on board a keel +boat, in company with several ladies and gentlemen, who were returning +to their plantations and their homes. The preparations in such a case, +are to dispose of horse and gig, where one does not choose going by land +through Nashville, and Natchez. There is not much pleasure to be derived +from a passage on board a keel boat--a machine, fifty feet long and ten +feet broad, shut up on every side; with two doors, two and a half feet +high. It forms a species of wooden prison, containing commonly four +rooms; the first for the steward, the second a dining room, the third a +cabin for gentlemen, and the fourth a ladies' cabin. Each of these +cabins was provided with an iron stove, one of which some days +afterwards was very near sending us all to heaven, in the manner which +the most Catholic king has been pleased to adopt in regard to us +heretics. On the sides were our births, in double rows, six feet in +length and two broad. In former times this manner of travelling was +generally resorted to on the Ohio and Mississippi; the application of +steam, however, has superseded these primitive conveyances, and I hope +to the regret of no one. Our passage to Trinity, 515 miles by water, +including provisions, &c., was twenty-five dollars. We were sure of +meeting there with steam boats. The company consisted of two ladies with +their families, returning to Louisiana; two others were going to +Yellow-banks, with several governesses, nieces, &c.; in all ten ladies, +with eleven gentlemen, considered a happy omen. Amongst the men were +three planters from Louisiana and Mississippi; three merchants, one a +Yankee, the other a Kentuckian, the third a Frenchman; a lawyer, from +Tennessee; two physicians, one from the same state, the other from +Kentucky, with a Kentuckian six and a half feet high. Of these persons +the Kentuckian doctor was the most to be pitied. He was in the last +stage of a pulmonary affection, and expected relief from the mild +climate of Louisiana; but much as we did to alleviate the fate of this +man, whose perpetual cough was as insufferable to us, as the constant +fire he kept up in the stove, and which at last communicated to our +boat, the poor fellow died three days after his arrival at New Orleans. +Four individuals of less note joined the company, consisting of three +slave-drivers, and a Yankee who travelled to make his fortune. We +resigned ourselves to our lot, with as good a grace as we could, the +Frenchman excepted, who found fault with every thing but the dinner, +when he handled his knife and fork with uncommon activity. A captain, a +mate, and a steward, composed the officers, twelve oarmen formed the +crew, and forty slaves, who were to be transported to the states of +Mississippi and Louisiana, were a sort of deck passengers, so that the +whole cargo, inside and out, amounted to ninety persons. As long as the +weather continued fine, the poor negroes had a tolerable lot, but when +afterwards it began to rain, and they continued on a deck seven and a +half feet broad, and forty-two long, without any covering over their +heads, or being able to move, our kitchen being likewise upon deck, +their situation became truly distressing, and one of the infants died +shortly afterwards; another, as I was informed, fell into the +Mississippi above Palmyra settlements. + +We took our meals in three divisions; the first consisting of the ladies +and five gentlemen, who were helped by the other six gentlemen; +afterwards the six remaining sat down with the three drivers, and the +Yankee; the latter personages were, however, excused from helping the +ladies. After them came the captain, with his boatmen. Our dinner was +very good, because we took the precaution of making it part of our +agreement that we should purchase such provisions as we thought proper. +Our breakfast at the hour of eight, consisted of pigeons, ducks, +sometimes opossum, roast beef, chickens, pork cakes, coffee and tea. +Our dinner at three o'clock, in the same manner, with the addition of a +haunch of venison or a turkey. Our supper at six, was the same as our +breakfast. To fill up the intervals, we took at eleven a lunch, +consisting of a _doddy_; at nine at night we had a tea party given by +the ladies, and the said ten gentlemen alternately. We started the 7th +of November, at four o'clock in the afternoon, instead of nine in the +morning. The cause of this delay was the alteration which had to be made +in the births; for it appeared that two of the Kentuckians were +considerably longer than the space allotted to them. They were therefore +to be made more _lengthy_ at the expense of the dining rooms. When every +thing was ready we started, heartily tired of this delay. We had taken +the precaution to provide ourselves with powder and shot, in order to +make shooting excursions, having a skiff along side the boat. The +landscape on both banks of the Ohio was still hilly, the shores varying +from bottom lands to moderate hills, thus forming a boundary line +between the interior of Kentucky which lay to our left, and Indiana and +the river lands on our right. The cotton tree is almost the only one +here, with the exception of beeches and sycamores. The first do not +quite attain the height of the sycamore, but still they are seldom less +than 140 feet high. The forests assume a more southern character; the +shrub-grass, thistles and thorns, are stronger, and the vines of an +astonishing size. At several places we were unable to land from the +thickness of the natural hedges which lined the banks, presenting an +impenetrable barrier. Pigeons now appeared in flocks of thousands and +tens of thousands. On the morning of the following day we shot +seventy-five, and in the afternoon seventy, without any difficulty. + +Troy, the seat of justice for Crawford county, in Indiana, was the first +place we visited. It has a court-house, a printing-office, and about +sixty houses. The inhabitants seem rather indolent. On our asking for +apples, they demanded ten dollars for half a barrel; the price for a +whole one in Louisville being no more than three dollars. We advised +them to keep their apples, and to plant trees, which would enable them +to raise some for themselves; and to put panes of glass in their +windows, instead of old newspapers. The surrounding country is beautiful +and fertile. Farms, however, become more scarce, and are in a state of +more primitive simplicity. A block cabin not unlike a stable, with as +many holes as there are logs in it, patches of ground planted with +tobacco, sweet potatoes, and some corn, are the sole ornaments of these +back-wood mansions. We purchased, below Troy, half a young bear, at the +rate of five cents per pound. Two others which were skinned, indicated +an abundance of these animals, and more application to the sport than +seems compatible with the proper cultivation of these regions. The +settlers have something of a savage appearance: their features are hard, +and the tone of their voice denotes a violent disposition. Our Frenchman +was bargaining for a turkey, with the farmer's son, an athletic youth. +On being asked three dollars for it, the Frenchman turned round to Mr. +B., saying: "I suppose the Kentuckians take us for fools." "What do you +say, stranger," replied the youth, at the same time laying his heavy +hand across the shoulders of the poor Frenchman, in rather a rough +manner. The latter looked as if thunderstruck, and retired in the true +style of the Great Nation, when they get a sound drubbing. We remarked +on his return, the pains he took to repress his feelings at the +coarseness of the Kentuckians. He was, however, discreet enough to keep +his peace, and he did very well; but his spirit was gone, and he never +afterwards undertook to make a bargain, except with old women, for a pot +of milk, or a dozen of eggs, &c. + +Below Lady Washington, or Hanging Rock, as it is called,--a bare +perpendicular rock a hundred feet above the water on the right side of +the river, the mountains, or rather hills, cease by degrees, and are +succeeded by a vast plain on both sides the high banks of the Ohio. We +had here the enjoyment of some sport on the water: a deer was crossing +the river, contracted in this place to about a thousand feet, when it +was discovered by three Kentuckians, who were going to do the same. Our +boat was about half a mile above the spot when we discovered the game. +Four of us leaped into the skiff in order to intercept it. The deer +continued its course towards the Indiana side, and it was easy for us +to intercept its path. As soon as we were near enough, we aimed a blow +at it with our oars, having in the hurry forgotten our guns. The deer +then took the direction of the boat--we followed--the Kentuckians +approached from the other side: full thirty minutes elapsed before these +could come up with the animal and give it a blow. Though its strength +was on the decline, it did not relax its efforts, but advanced again +towards us without our being able to reach it. A second blow on the part +of the Kentuckians, who were more expert in handling their oars, seemed +to stun the noble animal; yet, summoning up its remaining strength, it +went up the stream on the Kentucky side, and reached the shore, but so +exhausted by long swimming and the two blows from the powerful +Kentuckians, that on landing it staggered and fell, without being able +to ascend the high bank. Instantly one of the Kentuckians rushed upon +it, cutting asunder its knee joints. The deer, taking a sudden turn, +made a plunge at the Kentuckian, tearing away part of his trowsers, and +lacerating his leg. So sudden was the last effort of this animal, that +but for the speedy arrival of his companion, who had been assisting the +third Kentuckian in drawing the skiff closer to the shore, it would +infallibly have ripped up its aggressor's bowels. The dirk of the second +Kentuckian ended _the sport_, which had terminated in a rather serious +way. By this time we had also reached the field of battle. "What do you +want, gentlemen?" said the wounded Kentuckian, accosting us with his +poniard in his hand. "Part of the deer, which you know you could not +have got without our assistance?" They first looked at our party of +four, then at our boat, which was already at the distance of a mile and +a half from us. The wounded man seating himself, asked again, "What part +do you choose?" "Half the deer, with the bowels, and tongue for our +ladies." "Have you ladies on board your vessel?" "Yes, sir." Without +uttering a word more, they skinned the venison, cleaned, and divided it. +We stepped aside meanwhile, collected a couple of dollars, and offered +them to the wounded man. He took the money, thanked us, and the other +two carried the venison to our boat. We parted after cordially shaking +hands. There was now an abundance of pigeons, venison, and bear's flesh +on board our boat; the latter, when young, is delicious, having a very +fine flavour, with rather a sweet and luscious taste. We were all +partial to it except the Frenchman, who most likely took us for a +species of these animals. But as thoughts are free, even in the most +despotic countries, he had the privilege of thinking, without daring to +utter a syllable--assuredly the severest punishment upon one of the +Great Nation. On the third day we lost part of our company, as two of +the ladies landed on the Yellow-banks, so called from the yellow colour +of the shores, which formerly gave the name to the county town of Davies +county, now Owensborough. It contains eighty buildings, including a +court-house, a newspaper printing office, and three stores. The +distance hence to Louisville, is 170 miles. From this village, down to +the mouth of the Green river, wild vines grow very luxuriantly, forming +a continued series of hedges. The grapes are used for wine, which is of +a hard taste, but not a bad flavour; if properly attended to they would +certainly yield an excellent produce. We gathered in a few minutes +abundance of grapes, and found them juicy and very good. Near the mouth +of the Green river, and up its banks, are several ponds of bitumen, a +material which is used by the inhabitants for lamp oil. The country +abounds in saltpetre, and saltlicks. On the same side, sixty miles below +Owensborough, is laid out Henderson, the seat of justice for the county +of the same name. It contains 500 inhabitants, 90 dwellings, and a +courthouse. Some of the houses are in tolerable order, but the greatest +part in a shattered condition, and the town has a dirty appearance. The +Ohio forms a bend between Owensborough and Henderson, thus making the +distance by water sixty miles, which by land-travelling would not exceed +twenty. A species of the mistletoe here makes its appearance for the +first time. The trees are covered with bunches of this plant, its +foliage is yellow, the berries milk white, and so viscous as to serve +for bird lime; when falling they adhere to the branches, and strike root +in the bark of the trees. + +In the morning of the sixth day we arrived at Miller's Ferry, twenty +miles above the mouth of the Wabash. As the Ohio makes a great bend in +this place, and our navigation was very slow, Messrs. B----, R----, and +myself, determined on taking a tour to Harmony, now Owen's settlement, +fifteen miles distant from the ferry. The guide we took led us through a +rich plain, with settlements scattered over it; the road was excellent, +though a mere path, and we arrived at half-past ten. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + Mr. Owen's of Lanark, formerly Rapp's Settlement.--Remarks on + it.--Keel-boat Scenes.--Cave in Rock.--Cumberland and Tennessee + Rivers.--Fort Massai. + + +About a hundred and fifty houses, built on the Swabian plan, with the +exception of Mr. Rapp's[B] former residence--a handsome brick +house--presented themselves to our view. We were introduced to one of +the managers, a Mr. Shnee, formerly a Lutheran minister, who entered +very soon into particulars respecting Mr. Owen's ulterior views, in +rather a pompous manner. This settlement, which is about thirty miles +above the mouth of the big Wabash, in Indiana, was first established by +Rapp, in the year 1817, and was now (in the year 1823), purchased by Mr. +Owen, of Lanark, for the sum of 150,000 dollars. The society is to be +established on a plan rather different from the one he has pursued in +Scotland, and on a larger scale. Mr. Owen has, it is said, the pecuniary +means as well as the ability to effect something of importance. A plan +was shown and sold to us, according to which a new building of colossal +dimensions is projected; and if Mr. Owen's means should not fall short +of his good will, this edifice would certainly exhibit the most +magnificent piece of architecture in the Union, the capitol at +Washington excepted. This palace, when finished, is to receive his +community. According to his views, as laid down in his publications, in +the lectures held by him at Washington and at New York, and as stated in +the verbal communications of the persons who represent him, he is about +to form a society, unshackled by all those fetters which religion, +education, prejudices, and manners have imposed upon the human species; +and his followers will exhibit to the world the novel and interesting +example of a community, which, laying aside every form of worship and +all religious belief in a supreme being, shall be capable of enjoying +the highest social happiness by no other means than the impulse of +innate egotism. It has been the object of Mr. Owen's study to improve +this egotism in the most rational manner, and to bring it to the highest +degree of perfection; and in this sense he has published the +Constitution, which is to be adopted by the community. It is +distributed, if I recollect rightly, into three subdivisions, with +seventy or more articles.--Mechanics of every description--people who +have learned any useful art,--are admitted into this community. Those +who pay 500 dollars, are free from any obligation to work. The time of +the members is divided between working, reading, and dancing. A ball is +given every day, and is regularly attended by the community. Divine +service, or worship of any kind, is entirely excluded; in lieu of it, +moreover, a ball is given on Sunday. The children are summoned to school +by beat of drum. A newspaper is published, chiefly treating of their own +affairs, and of the entertainments and the social regulations of the +community, amounting to about 500 members, of both sexes, composed +almost exclusively of adventurers of every nation, who expect joyful +days. The settlement has not improved since the purchase, and there +appeared to exist the greatest disorder and uncleanliness. This +community has since been dissolved as was to have been expected. The +Scotchman seems to have a very high notion of the power of egotism. He +is certainly not wrong in this point; but if he intends to give still +greater strength to a spirit which already works with too much effect in +the Union, it may be feared that he will soon snap the cords of society +asunder. According to his notions, and those of his people, all the +legislators of ancient and modern times, religious as well as political, +were either fools or impostors, who went in quest of prosperity on a +mistaken principle, which he is now about to correct. Scotchmen, it is +known, are sometimes liable to adopt strange notions, in which they +always deem themselves infallible. I am acquainted with an honorable +president of the quarter-sessions, who, as a true Swedenborghian, is +fully convinced that he will preside again as judge in the other world, +and that the German farmers will be there the same fools they are here, +whom he may continue to cheat out of their property. Great Britain has +no cause to envy the United States this acquisition. We stayed at this +place about two hours, crossed the Wabash, and took the road to +Shawneetown, through part of Mr. Birkbeck's settlement. The country is +highly cultivated, and the difference between the steady Englishman of +the Illinois side, and the rabble of Owen's settlement, is clearly seen +in the style and character of the improvements carried on. + +[B] Eighteen miles from Pittsburgh on the road to Beaver, the new and +third settlement of the Swabian separatists, called Economy, was +established two years ago by Rapp, a man celebrated in the Union for his +rustic sagacity. This man affords an instance of what persevering +industry, united with sound sense, may effect.--When he arrived with his +400 followers from Germany, twenty years ago, their capital amounted +to 35,000 dollars; and so poor were they at first, that their leader +could not find credit for a barrel of salt. They are now worth at +least a million of dollars. Their new settlement promises to thrive, +and to become superior to those which they sold in Buttler County, +Pennsylvania, and in Indiana on the Wabash. Nothing can exceed the +authority exercised by this man over his flock. He unites both the +spiritual and temporal power in his own person. He has with him a kind +of Vice-Dictator in the person of his adopted son, (who is married to +his daughter), and a council of twelve elders, who manage the domestic +affairs of the community, now amounting to 1000 souls. When he was yet +residing in Old Harmony, twenty-eight miles north of Pittsburgh, the +bridge constructed over a creek which passes by the village, wanted +repair. It was winter time; the ice seemed thick enough to allow of +walking across. The creek, however, was deep, and 100 feet wide: Master +Rapp, notwithstanding, ventured upon it, intending to come up to the +pier. He was scarcely in the middle of the river, when the ice gave way. +A number of his followers being assembled on the shores, were eager to +assist him.--"Do you think," hallooed Rapp, "that the Lord will withdraw +his hands from his elect, and that I need your help?" The poor fellows +immediately dropped the boards, but at the same time Master Rapp sunk +deeper into the creek. The danger at last conquered his shame and his +confidence in supernatural aid, and he called lustily for assistance. +Notwithstanding the cries of the American by-standers, "You d--d fools, +let the tyrant go down, you will have his money, you will be free," they +immediately threw boards on the ice, went up to him, and took him out of +the water, amidst shouts of laughter from the unbelieving Americans. On +the following Sunday he preached them a sermon, purporting that the Lord +had visited their sins upon him, and that their disobedience to his +commands was the cause of his sinking. The poor dupes literally believed +all this, promised obedience, and both parties were satisfied. Several +of his followers left him, being shocked at his law of celibacy, but +such was his ascendancy over the female part of the community, that +they chose rather to leave their husbands than their father Rapp, as +they call him. Last year, however (1826), he abolished this kind of +celibacy, hitherto so strictly observed, and on the 4th of July, +eighteen couples were permitted to marry. This settlement is one of the +finest villages in the west of Pennsylvania. A manufactory of steam +engines, extensive parks of deer, two elks, and a magnificent palace +for himself, splendidly furnished, show that he knows how to avail +himself of his increasing wealth. The inhabitants of Pittsburgh make +frequent excursions to this settlement, and though his manners savour +of the Swabian peasant, yet his wealth and his hospitality have +considerably diminished the contempt in which he was formerly held by +the Anglo-Americans. We arrived at Shawneetown, where our boat was +waiting for us, having travelled since seven o'clock in the morning a +distance of forty miles. We found our boat's company in the utmost +confusion. Our ladies had hitherto given a regular tea party at nine +o'clock, out of their own stock of provisions. With the exception of +guns, powder, shot, some hundred cigars, a few bottles of wine, the +gentlemen were furnished with nothing. They went therefore to +Shawneetown, a village twelve miles below the mouth of the Wabash, with +sixty houses, and 300 inhabitants, of a very indifferent character, +mostly labourers at the salt works of the Saline river. The party +however were not so fortunate as to procure anything except a dried +haunch of venison. On their return, the invalid doctor missed the +negro girl he had brought to wait upon him, intending to sell her +along with a male slave. She was gone. A search was commenced, +but the honest inhabitants declared, with many G--d d--ns, that +they did not know anything about her. The company discovered what +was wanting, and persuaded the physician to offer a reward for her +recovery. In less than half an hour, one of the worthy inhabitants came +up with the run-away girl, leading her by a rope. He had shortly before +assured some of the inquirers, under the pledge of a round oath, of his +utter ignorance of the matter, whilst at the same time the slave was +concealed in his kitchen. The second physician from Tennessee had the +benevolent precaution of suggesting to the patient to keep himself cool. +But every advice was thrown away. The Kentuckian could not resist +striking the girl. With the utmost pain he raised himself up in his bed, +to give her blows, which did himself infinitely more harm. When called +upon to pay the reward of twenty dollars, his wrath rose to the highest +pitch, and if he had had strength we should have witnessed a strange +scene. He paid, however, and contented himself with binding her arms, +and fastening her to the door-post, from which she was released by the +following accident, which took place about eight o'clock, just as we +returned from our excursion. One of the planters, a Kentuckian by birth, +made a regular excursion, twice a day, to fetch milk and eggs for the +company. The captain refused to dispatch the skiff for him, but the rest +of the company sent it without asking the captain's leave. Some hours +after the Kentuckian's return he heard of the captain's refusal, and +immediately accused him of negligence, &c. The captain gave him the lie, +and hardly was the word spoken, when the Kentuckian rushed upon the +young man with a dirk in his hand. He was, however, prevented, when +turning round, he ran to the other side to fetch an axe, declaring at +the same time, with a G----d d----n, he would knock down any body who +dared to oppose him. I stood with Mr. B. at the door. A quarrel ensued, +and he was going to force it open, when several gentlemen came to our +assistance. During this riot the stove became heated to such a degree, +as unobserved by any one, to set fire to the wood beneath it, so that +the birth of our patient was in flames in a moment. Quarrelling, and +murderous thoughts gave way to the danger of being roasted alive. All +hands, even the Kentuckian, were assiduous in their endeavours to +extinguish the fire; but this could not be so easily accomplished, the +boat being extremely crowded. At last we succeeded; the poor doctor had +almost been forgotten, and was very near being burnt alive, had it not +been for his second servant, who immediately laid hold of a bucket full +of water, and poured it over his master. The behaviour of this invalid +was strange beyond description, and shewed a degree of passion, at once +ludicrous and pitiable. "For heaven's sake," exclaimed he, "I am +roasting! no, I am drowning! the wretch has poured a whole bucket of +water over me. Come hither, rascal!" The servant was obliged to +approach, and tender his face to receive a box on the ear, certainly the +most harmless he ever got; the master at the same time reproaching him +with his villainy, and lamenting the consequences which this bath would +bring upon him, such as rheumatism, fever, &c. We stood astonished and +confounded at this man, the living image of a burnt-out volcano. "But +for heaven's sake," said Mr. B., "Doctor, you would have been roasted +alive but for your slave, and you have been the only cause of the fire, +by the unsupportable heat you kept up in the stove; you must not do that +again." "He is my slave," was the answer, "and should have stayed with +me, instead of listening to your ungentlemanly disputes; then the fire +would not have broken out." We assented to this, and peace was fully +restored. + +The next day we proceeded on our journey, having the state of Illinois +on our right, and Kentucky on our left. Thirteen miles below Saline +river we visited the cave of Rock Island. The limestone wall, 120 feet +high, runs for about half a mile along the right bank of the Ohio; +nearly at its end is the entrance to the cave. A few steps bring you at +once into the grotto, which is about sixty-five feet wide at the base, +narrowing as you ascend, and forming an arch, the span of which is from +twenty-five to thirty feet, extending to a length of 120 feet. Marine +shells, feathers, and bones of bears, turkies, and wild geese, afford +ample testimony that this place has not been visited by the curious +alone, but has been the resort of numerous families, which had taken +temporary refuge here. + +Our sporting excursions had generally pigeons, turkies, or opossums, for +their object; below the cave, in the rocks, wild geese and ducks become +very plentiful. Flocks of from forty to one hundred were flying over our +heads in every direction, and augmenting in numbers as we approached the +Mississippi. We shot this day seven geese and ducks, and passed the +small villages of Cumberland, at the mouth of the river of that name, +and Smithland, three miles below. Both villages are now springing up. +The Cumberland is 720 feet wide at its mouth. The river Tennessee, +thirteen miles below, is 700 feet. Eleven miles lower down, on the +Illinois side, is fort Spassai, erected on a high bank and in a +commanding position, which overlooks the Ohio, here a mile wide. The +prospect for a distance of forty miles, is charming. The extraordinary +beauty of the river, which the French very properly called _la belle +rivière_, on both sides the majestic native forests, clad in their +autumnal foliage, here and there an island in the midst of the stream, +with its luxuriant growth of trees, not unlike enchanted gardens. The +charm which is diffused over the whole scene can scarcely be described. +The fort is garrisoned by a captain, with a company of regulars, who, +however, suffer much from swamps in the rear of the fort. + +On the two following days we passed the county towns of Golconda, the +seat of justice for Pope county; Vienna, for Johnson; and America, for +Alexander county; villages which have nothing in common with the cities +of which they remind you but the name. They are inhabited by some +Kentuckians and loiterers, who spend part of their time in bringing down +the Mississippi the produce of the country, for the transport of which +they demand double wages, and are thus enabled to spend the rest of +their time sitting cross-legged over their whiskey. The ninth day, +about noon, we arrived at Trinity. I was heartily tired of this manner +of travelling, and resolved to wait here with Mr. B., and Mrs. Th---- +and family, for a steam-boat from St. Louis. The rest of the company +went on in the boat, after an hour's stopping. Trinity, or as it was +formerly called, Cairo, is situated four and a half miles above the +junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, consisting only of a tavern and a +store, kept by a Mr. Bershoud. The inundations occurring regularly every +year, have hitherto prevented the formation of settlements at this +place. Though these inundations rise every year from four to ten feet +above the banks, as may be seen from the weeds remaining in clusters on +the trees, the inhabitants of these two houses have, if we except the +trouble of transporting their effects and goods to the upper story, but +little to apprehend, the rise of the river being gradually slow, and its +power being lessened by its circuitous course, and by the trees on its +bank. + +From Trinity down to Baton Rouge, a distance of 900 miles, the houses +are constructed in such a manner as to be secured against accidents; the +foundations are stumps of trees, or low brick pillars, four feet high. +The houses are so built, or rather laid upon these pillars, as to allow +the water to pass beneath. Notwithstanding this precaution, the flood +generally reaches to the lower apartments, and passengers coming from +Trinity to New Orleans last February, had to get into the skiff sent for +them, through the window of the second story. + +From Trinity to the mouth of the Ohio, are reckoned four and a half +miles. We visited on the following morning, this remarkable spot, where +two of the most important rivers unite. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Mississippi.--General Features of the State of Illinois and its +Inhabitants. + + +The nearer we approached the Mississippi, the lower the country became, +and the more imposing the scenery. By degrees the river Ohio loses its +blue tinge, taking from the mightier stream a milky colour, which +changes into a muddy white when very near the junction--this junction +itself is one of the most magnificent sights. On the left hand the Ohio, +half a mile wide, overpowered, as it were, by its mightier rival--in +front the more gigantic Mississippi, one mile and a half broad, rolling +down its vast volumes of water with incredible rapidity. Farther on, the +high banks of the state of Missouri, with some farm buildings of a +diminutive appearance, owing to the great distance; in the back ground, +the colossal native forests of Missouri; and lastly, to the south, these +two rivers united and turning majestically to the south-west. The deep +silence which reigns in these regions, and which is interrupted only by +the rushing sound of the waves, and the immense mass of water, produce +the illusion that you are no longer standing upon firm ground; you are +fearful less the earth should give way to the powerful element, which, +pressed into so narrow a space, rolls on with irresistible force. I had +formerly seen the falls of Niagara; but this scene, taken in the proper +point of view, is in no respect inferior to that which they present. The +immense number of streams which empty into the Mississippi, and caused +it to be named, very appropriately, the _Father of Rivers_, render it +powerful throughout the year; it generally rises in February, and falls +in July. In September and October the autumnal rains begin; and they +continue to swell it through the winter. When it overflows its banks, +the Mississippi inundates the country on both sides, for an extent of +from forty-five to fifty miles, thus forming an immense lake. From the +mouth of the Ohio to Walnut hills, in the state of Mississippi, the +difference between the lowest water and the highest inundation, is +generally sixteen feet. The nearer it approaches the gulph of Mexico, +the less is the flood. The water leaving its bed on the west side never +returns, but forms into lakes and marshes. On the east side they find +resistance from the high lands, that follow the meanderings of the +river. Above Natchez, the river inundates the lands for a space of +thirty miles. At Baton Rouge, the high lands take on a sudden a +south-eastern direction, while the river turns to the south-west, thus +leaving the waters to form the eastern swamps of Louisiana. It rises to +thirty feet at that place; whilst at New Orleans it scarcely attains the +height of twelve feet, and at the mouth no difference between a rise and +fall is perceptible. Whoever comes to the Mississippi with the +expectation of beholding a sea-like river flowing quietly along, will +find himself disappointed. The magnitude of this river does not consist +in its width but in its depth, and the immense quantity of water it +pours out into the sea. At the mouth of the Ohio it is a mile and a half +wide. This moderate breadth rather diminishes as it proceeds in its +course. At New Orleans, after receiving the waters of some great +tributary streams, it is not more than a mile in width, and in some +places three quarters of a mile. Its depth, however, continues to +increase; below the Ohio it is reckoned to be from thirty-five to fifty +feet deep. Below the Arkansas to Natchez, from 100 to 150. From Natchez +to New Orleans, from 150 to 250 feet. At its mouth, owing to the sand +bar at the Paliseter, the depth greatly diminishes, and it is well known +that vessels drawing eighteen feet of water can hardly enter the mouth +of the stream. The waters of the Mississippi are not clear at any period +of the year. This was the second time I saw it, when it was said to be +very low; still its waters were of a muddy turbid appearance. When +rising it changes to a muddy yellow. A glass filled with water from the +Mississippi, deposits in a quarter of an hour a mass of mud equal to one +tenth of the whole contents. But when clear, it is excellent for +drinking, and superior to any I have tasted. It is generally used by +those who inhabit its banks. + +The accommodations in Trinity are comfortable, and the tables are well +furnished, but the prices exorbitant. It cannot, however, be expected to +be otherwise, owing to the new settlers, whose anxiety never permits +them to neglect an opportunity of improving their means on their first +outset. We found this to be the case on all occasions. Whenever some of +our passengers made purchases of trifles, such as cigars, &c., they had +to pay five times as much as in Louisville. It is therefore advisable to +provide oneself with every thing, when travelling in these backwoods; +the generality of the settlers on these banks being needy adventurers, +partly foreigners, partly Kentuckians, who, with a capital of not quite +100 dollars, with which they purchase some goods in New Orleans, begin +their commercial career, and may be seen with both hands in their +pockets, their legs on the table or chimney-piece, and cigars in their +mouths, selling their goods for five hundred per cent above prime cost. +Towards the north on the banks of the Mississippi, the settlers are +generally Frenchmen, who now assume by degrees the American manners and +language. Many of them are wealthy store-keepers, merchants, and +farmers; but for the most part, however, a lightfooted kind of people, +who, from their fathers, have inherited frivolity, and from their +mothers, Indian women, uncleanliness. The towns of Kaskakia, Cahokia, +&c., as well as several villages up the Mississippi to the Prairie des +Chiens, owe their origin to them. The solid class of inhabitants live on +the big and little Wabash, and between these two rivers and the +Illinois. This is, no doubt, the finest part of the state, and one of +the most delightful countries on the face of the earth. It is mostly +inhabited by Americans and Englishmen. Agriculture, the breeding of +cattle, and improvements of every kind, are making rapid progress. The +settlements in Bond, Crawford, Edward's, Franklin, and White Counties, +are to be considered as forming the main substance of the state. A +number of elegant towns have arisen in the space of a few years: among +others, Vandalia, the capital, and for these three years past the seat +of government, with a state house and a projected university, for which +36,000 acres of land have been assigned. An excellent spirit is +acknowledged to prevail among the inhabitants of this district. Still, +however, the style of architecture--if the laying of logs or of bricks +upon each other deserves this name--the manners, the attempted +improvements, every thing announces a new land, which has only a few +years since started into political existence, and the settlers of which +do not yet evince any anxiety for the comforts of life. Illinois has now +80,000 inhabitants, 1500 of whom are people of colour; the rest are +Americans, English, French, and a German settlement about Vandalia. The +state was received into the Union in the year 1818. The constitution, +with a governor and a secretary at its head, resembles that of the state +of Ohio. In the year 1824, the question was again brought forward +concerning the possession of slaves: it was, however, negatived, and we +hope it will never be pressed upon the people. The state is much +indebted in every point to the late Mr. Birkbeck, who died too soon for +the welfare of his adopted country. He was considered as the father of +the state, and whenever he could gain over a useful citizen, he spared +no expense, and sacrificed a considerable part of his property in this +manner. The people of Illinois, in acknowledgment of his services, had +chosen him for secretary of the state, in which character he died in +1825. He was generally known under the name of Emperor of the Prairies, +from the vast extent of natural meadows belonging to his lands. It is to +be regretted, however, that Mr. Birkbeck was not acquainted with the +country about Trinity. His large capital and the number of hands who +joined him, would no doubt succeed in establishing a settlement here. +This will sooner or later take place, and will eventually render it one +of the finest towns in the United States, as the advantages of its +situation are incalculable. Illinois is, in point of commerce, more +advantageously situated than any of the Ohio states; being bounded on +the west by the river Mississippi, which forms the line between this +state and that of Missouri, to the east by the big Wabash, and to the +south by the Ohio, the river Illinois running through it with some +smaller rivers; thus affording it an open navigation to the north-west, +the west, the south, and the east. Towards the north the banks of the +Upper Mississippi form a range of hills which join the Illinois +mountains to the east, and lowering by degrees lose themselves in the +plains of lakes Huron and Michigan. The country is, on the whole, less +elevated than Indiana, and forms the last slope of the northern valley +of the Mississippi, the hills being intersected by a number of valleys, +plains, prairies, and marshes. The fertility of this state is +extraordinary, surpassing that of Indiana and Ohio. In beauty, variety +of scenery, and fertility, it may vie with the most celebrated +countries. Wheat thrives only on high land, the soil of the valleys +being too rich. Corn gives for every bushel a hundred. Tobacco planted +in Illinois, if well managed, is found to be superior to that of +Kentucky and Virginia. Rice and indigo grow wild, their cultivation +being neglected for want of hands. Pecans, a product of the West Indies, +grow in abundance in the native forests. This state having a temperate +climate, possesses many of the southern products. The timber is of +colossal magnitude. Sycamores and cotton trees of an immense height, +walnut, pecan trees, honey-locusts and maples, cover the surface of this +country, and are the surest indications of an exceedingly rich soil. The +most fertile parts of the state are the bottom lands along the +Mississippi, Illinois, and the big and little Wabash. The country is +complained of as being sickly. There is no doubt that a state which +abounds in rivers, marshes, and ponds, must be subject to epidemic +diseases, but the climate being temperate the fault lies very much with +the settlers and the inhabitants themselves. The settler who chooses for +his dwelling-house a spot on an eminence, and far from the marshes, +taking at the same time the necessary precautions in point of dress, +cleanliness, and the choice of victuals and beverage, may live without +fear in these countries. All agree in this opinion, and I have myself +experienced the correctness of it. The greatest part, however, of the +new comers and inhabitants live upon milk or stagnant water taken from +the first pond they meet with on their way, with a few slices of bacon. +Their wardrobe consists of a single shirt, which is worn till it falls +to pieces. It cannot, therefore, be matter of astonishment if agues and +bilious fevers spread over the country, and even in this case a quart of +corn brandy is their prescription. This being the general mode of +living, and we may add of dying, among the lower classes, disease must +necessarily spread its ravages with more rapidity. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Excursion to St. Louis.--Face of the Country.--Sketch of the State of +Missouri.--Return to Trinity. + + +The steam-boat, the Pioneer, having come up to Trinity the following +day, on its way to St. Louis, Mr. B. and I resolved to take a trip to +the latter place, as the best chance that offered to get away as soon as +possible. We started at ten o'clock in the morning, turned round the +fork, and ascended the muddy Mississippi. The first town we saw was +Hamburgh, on the Illinois side, consisting of nineteen frame dwellings +and cabins, and four stores. On the left, in the state of Missouri, is +Cape Girardeau. The settlement mostly consists of Frenchmen, and German +Redemptioners. The town has not a very inviting appearance. One hundred +and six miles above the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, we landed +at St. Genevieve to take in wood. This town is the principal mart for +the Burton mines; it has a Catholic chapel, twenty stores, a printing +office, 250 houses, and 1600 inhabitants. Twenty-four miles farther up +the same side, is Herculaneum, with 300 inhabitants, a court-house, +and a printing office. The town had been laid out and peopled by +Kentuckians. There are several villages on the right and left bank, and +some good-looking farms. On the third day, at twelve o'clock, we reached +the town of St. Louis, 170 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and +thirteen miles below the junction of the Mississippi, and the Missouri. +This town extends, in a truly picturesque situation, in 38° 33' north +latitude, and 12° 58' west longitude, for the length of two miles along +the river, in three parallel streets, rising one above the other in the +form of terraces, on a stratum of limestone. The houses are for the most +part built of this material, and surrounded with gardens. The number of +buildings amounts to 620, that of the inhabitants to 5000. Its principal +buildings are, a Catholic, and two Protestant churches, a branch bank +of the United States, and the bank of St. Louis, the courthouse, the +government-house, an academy, and a theatre; besides these, there are a +number of wholesale and retail stores, two printing offices, and an +abundance of coffee-shops, billiard-tables, and dancing-rooms. The trade +of St. Louis is not so extensive as that of Louisville, and less liable +to interruption, as the navigation is not impeded at any season of the +year, the Mississippi, being at all times navigable for the largest +vessels. An exception, indeed, occurred in 1802, when the Ohio and other +rivers were almost dried up. The inhabitants of St. Louis and of +Missouri, have therefore a never-failing channel for carrying their +produce to market. This they generally do, when the rivers which empty +themselves into the Mississippi, are so low that they have no +apprehension of finding any competition in New Orleans. Last year, the +market of New Orleans was almost exclusively supplied with produce from +St. Louis and Missouri. Eighty dollars was the general price for a +bullock, which at a later period would not have obtained twenty-five +dollars; flour was at eight dollars, whereas, two months afterwards, +abundance could be had for two and a half dollars. In the same +proportion they sold every other article. It is this circumstance which +contributes to the wealth of St. Louis, and of Missouri in general, to +the detriment, on the other hand, of the Ohio States, Kentucky, Indiana, +and Ohio. At the time of our arrival at St. Louis, there were in its +port, five steam vessels, and thirty-five other boats. St. Louis is a +sort of New Orleans on a smaller scale; in both places are to be found a +number of coffee-houses and dancing rooms. The French are seen engaged +in the same amusements and passions that formerly characterised the +creoles of Louisiana, with the exception, that the trade with the +Indians has given to the French backwoods-men of St. Louis, a rather +malicious and dishonest turn--a fault from which the creoles of +Louisiana are free, owing to the greater respectability of their +visitors and settlers, from Europe, and from the north of the Union. The +majority of the inhabitants of this town, as well as of the state, +consists of people descended from the French, of Kentuckians, and +foreigners of every description--Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Irish, +&c. Kentucky manners are fashionable. Not long before my arrival, there +occurred a specimen of this, in an open assault and duel between two +individuals in the public street. For the last five years, men of +property and respectability, attracted by the superior advantages of the +situation, have settled at St. Louis, and their example and influence +have been conducive of some good to public morals. The enterprising +spirit of the Americans is remarkable, even in this place and state. +Within the twenty-three years that have elapsed since the cession of +this country (part of the former Louisiana) to the Union, much more has +been achieved in every point of view, than during the sixty years +preceding, when it was in possession of France and Spain. Streets, +villages, settlements, towns, and farms, have sprung up in every +direction; the population has augmented from 20,000 to 84,000 +inhabitants; and if they are not superior in wealth to their neighbours, +it is certainly to be attributed to their want of industry, and to +their passing the greater part of their time in grog-shops, or in +dancing-companies, according to the prevailing custom. Slavery, which is +introduced here, though so ill adapted to a northern state, contributes +not a little to the aristocratic notions of the people, the least of +whom, if he can call himself the master of one slave, would be ashamed +to put his hand to any work. Still there is more ready money among the +inhabitants, than in any of the western states, and prices are demanded +accordingly. Cattle that fetch in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, ten +dollars per head, are sold in Missouri for twenty-five dollars, and so +in proportion. The country about St. Louis to the north, south, and +west, consists of prairies, extending fifteen miles in every direction, +with some very handsome farm houses, and numerous herds of cattle. +Though in the same degree of northern latitude as the city of +Washington, the climate is more severe, owing to the two rivers Missouri +and Mississippi, whose waters coming from northern countries greatly +contribute to cool the air. The cultivation of tobacco has not +succeeded, and the produce chiefly consists of wheat, corn and +cattle;--equally important is the profit from the lead mines, and +the fur trade. The most improved settlements are those along the +Mississippi, and on the Missouri they are beginning to be formed. + +Missouri was received into the Union in 1821, and is, with the exception +of Virginia, the largest state of the Union, its area exceeding 60,000 +square miles. To the north and west it borders on the Missouri +territory; towards the east the Mississippi is the boundary between this +state, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; the Arkansas territory lies to +the south. It extends from 36° to 40° 25' north latitude, and from 12° +50' to 18° 10' west longitude. The country forms an elevated plain, +sloping considerably to the south, where it is crossed by the Ozark +mountains. Marshes and mountains prevail more in the southern parts, +high plains in the northern. Along the Mississippi and Missouri, the +bottom lands are generally extremely fertile. The soils, however, cannot +be altogether compared with that of Illinois. The possession of slaves +is allowed by the constitution of this state, and their number amounts +to 10,000; that of the rest of the inhabitants to 70,000. The form of +government approaches very nearly that of Kentucky. We remained one day +at St. Louis, and returned in the steam-boat, General Brown, to Trinity, +where we took on board the ladies and some new passengers, returning +from thence to the Mississippi. We passed several small islands, and a +large one (Wolf's Island), and landed at New Madrid at midnight, for the +purpose of taking in wood. This place is the seat of justice for the +county of the same name; it has, however, no court-house, and is a +rather wretched looking place, containing about thirty log and shattered +farm houses, with 180 inhabitants, Spaniards, French, and Italians. The +two stores being open, we visited them. They were but poorly provided, +having about a dozen cotton handkerchiefs, one barrel of whiskey, and a +heap of furs. Two Indians were stretched on the ground before the door, +and in a sound sleep, with their guns by their side. The Mississippi is +continually encroaching upon the town, and has already swept away many +intended streets, as the inhabitants say, obliging them to move back to +their no small disappointment. The surrounding country is highly +fertile, and in the rear of the town there are several well cultivated +cotton and rice plantations. A rich plain stretches along to the west, +behind New Madrid, as far as the waters of Sherrimack. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The State of Tennessee.--Steam-boats on the Mississippi.--Flat-boats. + + +We had now passed the western extremity of Kentucky, and had the state +of Tennessee on our left. The eastern banks of the Mississippi, viz. on +the Tennessee side, are throughout lower than the western or Missouri +shores; presenting a series of marshes from which cypress trees and +canebrack seem just emerging, lining them for hundreds of miles to the +southward. Farther eastward, towards the rivers Tennessee and +Cumberland, the soil is overgrown with sugar-maples, sycamore trees, +walnuts, and honey-locusts; the mountains with white and live oak and +hickory. The eastern part of the state resembles North Carolina. The +middle part is by far the best. Cotton and tobacco are staple articles. +Rice is cultivated with success. Hemp is not considered of the same +quality as the Kentuckian, the climate being too warm. The tropical +fruits, such as figs, thrive well; chesnuts are superior to those of the +other states. Melons, peaches, and apples, are abundant. Tennessee is +considered altogether a rich and fertile land. The inhabitants are +liberal, noble hearted, and noted for their good conduct towards +strangers. Several foreigners settled in the state, have attained a high +degree of wealth and prosperity. There is no state in the Union where +slavery has had less pernicious effects upon the character of the +people. The inhabitants are mostly descendants of emigrants from North +Carolina, and their hospitality is without bounds. This state extends, +in an oblong square, from the shores of the Mississippi towards Virginia +and North Carolina, in 35° to 36° 30' north latitude, and 4° 26' to 13° +5' west longitude. It is bounded on the east by Virginia and North +Carolina; on the south by Georgia, Albania, and Mississippi; on the west +by the river Mississippi, and on the north by Kentucky, comprising +altogether 40,000 square miles. East Tennessee partakes more of the +sandy character of North Carolina. West Tennessee of the marshes of the +Mississippi valley. Its principal rivers are the Cumberland and +Tennessee, with the Mississippi on the west, where however, with the +exception of some very small settlements, there are no improvements of +any kind. The canal proposed by Governor Troup, of Georgia, to Governor +Carrott, of Tennessee, which is to bring this state into immediate +connection with the Atlantic, will have a very beneficial effect, these +two rivers being navigable for steam-boats only during three months in +the year, and New Orleans being the only market for Tennessee. +Notwithstanding its straitened commerce, the state is rapidly improving, +and several of its towns, though not large are yet very elegant. The +chief wealth of the state, however, consists in the plantations, and the +farmer and planter live in a style, which at least in point of eating, +cannot be exceeded by the wealthiest nobleman in any country. Among the +towns of the state, Nashville holds the first rank. This town occupies a +commanding situation, on a solid cliff of rocks on the south side of +the Cumberland, 200 feet above the level of the banks. The river is +navigable here during three months in the year for steam-boats of 300 +tons burthen. Besides the court-house, three churches, two banks, +including a branch bank of the United States, three printing offices, +and a great number of wholesale and retail merchants, there is the seat +of the district court for the western part of Tennessee. Several +literary institutions, such as Cumberland college, a ladies' school, and +reading-room with a public library, are evident proofs of a liberal +spirit. This spirit is combined with unbounded hospitality. There is a +number of houses, such as those of Governor Carrott, Major General +Jackson, &c., where every respectable stranger is welcome, and may be +sure of meeting with a select company. The surrounding country is +beautiful, cotton plantations lining the banks of the river, and +extending in every direction hither. The wealthier inhabitants generally +retire during the summer months, from the stifling heats prevailing +on the barren rocks upon which Nashville stands. Knoxville in +east Tennessee, with 400 houses and 2,500 inhabitants, is of less +importance; it is the seat of the supreme district court for east +Tennessee, and has a bank, a college, and two churches. The country +about Knoxville is far inferior to that round Nashville. The capital of +Tennessee, Murfreesborough, has 1500 inhabitants, with a state-house, a +bank, two printing-offices, &c. It communicates by water with Nashville, +through Stonecreek. The situation seems not to be very judiciously +chosen for a chief town. This was the state of things four years +ago, when I passed through the place; but doubtless it has since +proportionably increased. Our company being on this occasion of a less +mixed, and a less troublesome character, we sailed down the majestic +father of rivers, with minds well disposed to acknowledge our +obligations to Mr. Fulton, for his happy idea of applying the power of +steam to navigation. The settlers of the Mississippi valley, are in duty +bound to raise a monument to the memory of a man, who has effected in +their mode of conveyance so adventurous, and so successful a change. Not +ten years have elapsed since the inhabitants of the west were used to +toil like beasts of burden, in order to ascend the stream for a +distance of ten or fifteen miles a day; and when in 1802, some boats +belonging to Mr. R., of Nashville, arrived from New Orleans in +eighty-seven days, this passage was considered the _ne plus ultra_ of +quick travelling by water, and was instantly made known throughout the +Union. A passenger now performs the same voyage in five days, sitting +all the while in a comfortable state-room, which in point of fitting-up +vies with the most elegant parlours, writing letters, or reading the +newspapers, and if tired of these occupations, paying visits to the +ladies, if he be permitted to do so; or otherwise pacing the deck, where +his less fortunate fellow passengers are hanging in hammocks--an +indication to many of what may be their future state. There is certainly +not any nation that can boast of a greater disposition for travelling, +than Brother Jonathan; and there is again nobody more at home than he, +whether in a tavern, or on board a vessel; as he is in the habit of +considering a tavern, a vessel, or a steam-boat, as a kind of public +property. Yet on board a vessel, or a steam-boat, he is very tractable. +The great difference of fare between a cabin and a deck passage, from +Louisville to New Orleans, being for the former forty dollars, and for +the latter eight dollars, contributes to establish a distinction in this +assemblage of people, placing those who are found too light in the upper +house, and the more weighty in the lower. The first have to find +themselves, the others are provided with every thing in a manner which +shows that private institutions for the benefit of the public, are +certainly more patronised here than in most other countries. If the +pecuniary resources of the citizen of the United States do not reach a +very low ebb, he will certainly choose the cabin, his pride forbidding +him to mix with the rabble, though the expence may fall too heavy upon +him. That economical refinement which the French evince on these +occasions, is not to be seen in America. When I proceeded four months +ago from Havre to Rouen, in the Duchess of Angouleme steam-boat, among +the 100 passengers who were on board, more than fifty well-looking +people were seen unpacking their bundles, and regaling themselves with +their contents--bread, chicken, cutlets, wine, &c., &c., a frugality +which will hardly be found to contribute to the improvement of a spirit +of enterprise. The Americans would be ashamed of this kind of parsimony, +which must ever impede all public undertakings. Owing to this cause, the +American steam-boats are in point of elegance superior to those of other +nations; and none but the English are able to compete with them. The +furniture, carpets, beds, &c., are throughout elegant, and in good +condition. Some of the new steam-boats are provided with small rooms, +each containing two births, which passengers may use for their +accommodation in shaving, dressing, &c. The general regulations are +suspended above the side board in a gilt frame, and are as binding as a +law. They prohibit speaking to the pilot during the passage--visiting +the ladies' state-room, without their consent--lying down upon the bed +with shoes or boots on--smoking cigars in the state-room--and playing at +cards after ten o'clock. The first transgression is punished with a +fine; if repeated, the transgressor is sent ashore. The fare is +excellent, and the breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, are provided with +such a multiplicity of dishes, and even dainties, as would satisfy the +most refined appetite. The beverage consists of rum, gin, brandy, +claret, to be taken at pleasure during meals; but out of that time they +are to be paid for. Distressing accidents will of course occasionally +occur; the last of this kind was of a truly heart-rending nature: it +happened four years ago, above Walnut-hills, in the steam-boat +Tennessee. The night was tempestuous, the rain fell in torrents, and the +captain, instead of landing and waiting until the weather cleared up, +lost his senses, and ran on a sawyer[C]. The steam-boat was not sixty +feet distant from the bank, which could not be distinguished, and she +went down in a few seconds, together with 110 passengers, save a few who +by accident reached the shore. Since that time, although steam-boats +have sunk, no such loss of lives has occurred. This, however, is not to +be compared with the hardships, the toils, the loss of health and life, +to which the navigators of flat and keel-boats were formerly, and are +still exposed, when going down the Mississippi. Nothing more uncouth +than these flat-boats was ever sent forth from the hands of a carpenter. +They are built of rude timber and planks, sixty feet in length, and +twenty-five feet in breadth, and so unmanageable, that only the strong +arm of a backwoodsman can keep them from running upon planters[D], +sawyers, wooden-islands, and all the Scyllas and Charybdes, that are to +be met with on the voyage. We found numbers of them along the Ohio, +detained by low water; and from St. Louis down to New Orleans, sometimes +fifteen, twenty, and thirty together. Their uncouth appearance, the +boisterous and fierce manners of their crews, the immense distance they +have already proceeded, make them truly objects of interest. One of +these flat-boats is from the Upper Ohio, laden with pine-boards, planks, +rye, whisky, flour; close to it, another from the falls of the Ohio, +with corn in the ear and bulk, apples, peaches; a third, with hemp, +tobacco, and cotton. In the fourth you may find horses regularly stabled +together; in the next, cattle from the mouth of the Missouri; a sixth +will have hogs, poultry, turkeys; and in a seventh you see peeping out +of the holes, the woolly heads of slaves transported from Virginia and +Kentucky, to the human flesh mart at New Orleans. They have come +thousands of miles, and still have to proceed a thousand more, before +they arrive at their place of destination. + +[C] Sawyers are bodies of trees fixed in the river, which yield to the +pressure of the current, disappearing and appearing by turns above +water, like the rotatory motion of the saw-mill, from which they have +derived their name. They sometimes point up the stream, sometimes in the +contrary direction. A steam-boat running on a sawyer, cannot escape +destruction. + +[D] Planters are large bodies of trees, firmly fixed by their roots to +the bottom of the river, in a perpendicular manner, and rising no more +than a foot above the surface at low water. They are so firmly rooted, +as to be unmoved by the shock of steam-boats running upon them. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Scenery along the Mississippi.--Hopefield.--St. Helena.--Arkansas + Territory.--Spanish Moss.--Vixburgh. + + +We pursued our course at the rate of ten miles an hour, passing the +Chickasaw Bluffs, Memphis, a small settlement on the Tennessee side, and +a number of smaller and larger islands, from two to six miles in length, +but seldom more than one in breadth. The sediment of the Mississippi is +continually forming new sand banks, at the same time that its +irresistible power carries away old ones. That river was, as I have +already mentioned, very low, and the numerous sand banks on both sides +contracted its channel into a bed scarcely more than half a mile broad. +On these banks numberless flocks of wild ducks, geese, cranes, swans, +and pelicans, stationed themselves in rows, extending sometimes a mile +in length. As soon as the steam boat approaches, dashing through the +water with the noise of thunder, and vomiting forth columns of smoke, +they fly up in masses resembling clouds, and retire to their covers in +the marshes and ponds contiguous to the banks of the Mississippi. They +abound most 150 miles above Natchez, and hundreds of thousands are seen +crossing the river in every direction. The scenery in view is an immense +valley, with banks sixty feet above the water, forests of colossal trees +on both sides, and the vast expanse of waters rolling with a velocity +the more surprising, as the country stretches in a continued plain, with +scarcely any perceptible decline. The rural scenery of the regions +consists of detached cabins raised on huge stumps of trees; instead of +windows there are the natural apertures of the logs joined together; in +front of them woodstacks, for the use of the steam boats; ten or twelve +deer, bear, or fox skins drying in the open air; some turkies and hogs, +scattered over a corn patch, &c. Farms, or plantations, properly so +called, are seldom to be met with here; the chief object of these +settlers being the breed of cattle and poultry, for the use of +steam-boats. The only trace of agriculture is a small tract of cotton +field, which the settlers endeavour to improve. + +We stayed an hour and a half in Hopefield, opposite to the Chickasaw +Bluffs, the chief village of Hempstead county, with ten houses. There +are two taverns, such as may be expected in these parts, a store and a +post office. Two hours later we saw the mouth of the Wolf river; the +beautiful President's island, ten miles long, which with its colossal +forests presents an imposing sight, with several small islands in its +train. Among these is the Battle island, taking its name from a battle +fought here between two Kentuckians, who compelled their captain to land +them, and returned after half an hour, the one with his nose bitten off, +the other with his eyes scooped out of their sockets! This night we +arrived in the county town of St. Helena, ninety-five miles above the +mouth of the Arkansas. The place was laid out a few years ago, and bids +fair to become of some importance, from the extreme scarcity of spots +adapted for towns on the banks of the Mississippi. The village is +situated a quarter of a mile from the west bank. The cabin houses are +built upon dwarfish round hills, resembling sugar loaves. Viewed from a +distance they have a handsome appearance, which, however, considerably +diminishes on approaching nearer to them. The spot is quite broken land. +Two hundred yards further up, a ridge eighty feet above the level of the +water, extends about a quarter of a mile, and six other houses are built +upon it, amongst which is a tavern and store, with few articles besides +a barrel of whisky for their Indian guests. A heap of furs, of every +description, indicates that this trade is a very lucrative one. About +thirty miles to the westward are the military lands, granted as a reward +to the soldiers who served in the last war; only a few of them have come +to settle on these grants. The distance from the eastern cities being so +immense, the expenses of the journey, compared with the object they were +about to attain, were so great, that most of them remained in the east. + +On the following morning we passed the mouth of the White river, and +thirteen miles lower down the river Arkansas, a beautiful, wide, and +very important stream, next in size to the Ohio, which after a course of +2,500 miles, 900 of which are navigable for steam-boats, empties itself +into the Mississippi at this place. From this river the territory of +Arkansas has taken its name. It was formerly part of Louisiana, then of +Missouri, and has since 1819, been separated from the latter, and now +forms a distinct territory extending from 33° to 36° north latitude, and +from 11° 45' to 23° west longitude. Its area is computed to be above +100,000 square miles. With the exception of a few towns, such as +Arkopolis, Post Arkansas, Little-rock, &c., and some other settlements +of less note, it is not otherwise known than from the reports of the +expeditions sent into the interior at various times. According to their +accounts it differs in some essential points from the eastern states. +The eastern part of this vast territory bears the character of the +Mississippi valley, and abounds in well wooded plains, prairies, and +marshes, in alternate succession, the latter occupying almost +exclusively the tract of land situated between the rivers Arkansas and +St. Francis towards the Ozark mountains. There the country rises; rocks +and mountains become visible, announcing the approach to the Rocky +mountains. Between these and the Ozark mountains are vast plains covered +with salt crusts, imparting to the rivers flowing through the country a +brackish taste. There have also been discovered valleys competing in +point of fertility with the valley of the Mississippi; eminences covered +for a distance of many miles with vines, whose grapes are said to be +equal to the best produce of the Cape. In other places are vast plains, +which owing to their stratum being gravel, produce but a short and dry +grape, without any trees. The territory in the interior contains +important mineral and vegetable treasures. The Volcanos, the Hotsprings, +the Ouachitta lake, and other natural wonders, will soon attract general +attention. From what was related to me by an eye witness who bestowed +all his attention on them, they are undoubtedly of the first importance. +The springs are six in number, and they are situated about ten miles +from the Ouachitta, near a volcano. Their temperature being 150°, the +use which visitors make of them consists in exposing themselves to the +vapour. They are impregnated with carbonic acid, muriate of soda, and a +small quantity of iron and calcareous matter. Hitherto, besides Indians +and hunters, but few persons resorted to them until the last two years, +when several gentlemen went thither for the recovery of their health. +But the present total want of ready money in these deserted parts has +prevented a more rapid improvement. The population amounts to 18,000 +souls, 2,000 of whom are slaves. Mental improvement is here sought for +in vain. The American reads his Bible, and if opportunity offers, he +visits once a year a Methodist Missionary. The French care as little for +one as for the other. Colleges, academies, or literary institutions +there are none, but in Post Arkansas, Arkopolis, and Little-rock, +schools are established. Those cannot be expected from a country without +any political importance, and with a population scattered over such an +immense extent. An extract from a newspaper published in Arkopolis, +which I found in St. Helena, may give some idea of the honourables of +these parts: "Mr. White respectfully begs leave to announce himself as +candidate for their Representative, &c.--N.B. Tailoring business done +in the best manner, and at the shortest notice!!" + +Arkansas has hitherto been the refuge for poor adventurers, foreigners, +French soldiers, German redemptioners, with a few respectable American +families; men of fortune preferring the state of Mississippi or +Louisiana, where society and the comforts of life can be found with less +difficulty. It is certain, however, that the western part of this +territory is healthier than the western states of Alabama, Georgia, and +Mississippi, and that the Rocky and Ozark chain, running from east to +west, obviates one great evil--the sudden change of temperature, caused +by the want of high mountains to resist the power of the north and south +winds. + +A traveller who first visits the valley of the Mississippi, is led to +believe that the waters of this immense river rise above the trees along +its banks, leaving the branches covered with weeds and mud when they +retire to their bed. It is Spanish moss or Tellandsea which presents +that appearance to the traveller. It is firmly rooted in the apertures +of the bark, and hangs down from the trees, not unlike long rough +beards. This plant has a yellow blossom, and a pod containing the seed. +It is found along the coast of the Mississippi, from St. Helena to below +New Orleans, and is universally applied to all those purposes for which +curled hair is used in the north. It is gathered from the trees with +long hooks, afterwards put into water for a few days in order to rot the +outer part, and then dried. The substance obtained by this simple +process is a fine black fibre resembling horse hair. A mattrass stuffed +in this manner may serve for a year, if not wetted; it then becomes +dusty and requires that the moss should be taken out, beaten, and the +mattress filled again, by which means it becomes more elastic than it +was before. + +We passed several settlements and islands, the mouth of the Yazoo +rivers, and on the third day we arrived at Vixburgh, or Walnut-hills. We +were now 600 miles from the mouth of the Ohio, and in that whole +distance had not seen either a hill or mountain, with the exception of a +few mole-hills at St. Helena, which rose, perhaps, to the height of +twenty or twenty-five feet above the endless plain. The first objects +which interrupt the sameness of this grand but rather uniform scenery, +are the Walnut-hills, on the east bank of the river, in the state of +Mississippi. They rise singly and perfectly detached. There may be +eight or nine in number, with a small house on the top of each. Close +to the landing-place is the warehouse of Mr. Brown; and farther back, +some merchant's stores, and two taverns. Half a mile from the bank +rises a ridge about four miles long, and 300 feet high. This hill, +notwithstanding its inconvenient situation, will probably be selected +for the site of part of Vixburgh town, which was laid out two years ago, +and is now the seat of justice for Warren county. It has already fifty +houses and three stores. Several steam-boats are regularly employed in +the cotton trade. As there is not a single place on the banks of the +Mississippi, where a town of some extent could be built without being +exposed to the floods, Vixburgh must very soon become a place of great +importance for the upper part of the state of Mississippi. The +surrounding country begins to be rapidly settled; and civilization, +which is almost extinct for more than a 1000 miles up the Mississippi +and the Ohio, here resumes its power, and increases the farther you +descend towards New Orleans. + +On the following day we passed Warrington, Palmyra, Davies', Judge +Smith's settlements, the Grand and Petit Golfe, and Gruinsburgh, and +arrived at five o'clock in the evening at Natchez. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + The Town of Natchez.--Excursion to Palmyra Plantations.--The Cotton + Planters of the State of Mississippi.--Sketch of the State of + Mississippi.--Return to Natchez. + + +Rain, and a subsequent frost, had a week before our arrival dispelled +that scourge of the south--the yellow fever. The inhabitants had +returned from the places of safety, to which they had fled in every +direction, and intercourse was again re-established, the town having +resumed all the activity I had found in it three years before. The road +to the town, properly so called, leads through a suburb, known by the +name of Low Natchez, consisting of some warehouses and shops of every +description. This place deserves, in every respect, the epithet of Low +Natchez, being a true Gomorrha, and containing an assemblage of the +lowest characters. Although fifteen years ago, a great part of the bluff +buried in its fall, several of these wretches, and every rainy season +exposes the survivors to the same fate, yet they seem unconscious of +their danger. The road ascends to the town on both sides of these liquor +shops, built as it were on the brink of a precipice. Natchez is situated +on a hill, 250 feet above the level of the water. The prospect from this +hill, or bluff, as it is called, is beautiful. At your feet you behold +this nest of sinners, close to it four or five steam-boats, and thirty +or forty keel and flat-boats anchoring in the port, with the bustle and +noise attendant on these wandering arks. On the opposite bank of the +Mississippi, which is here one mile and a quarter wide, you see the +county town of Concordia, and on both sides of this little town, +numerous plantations, with the stately mansion of the wealthy cotton +planter, and the numerous cabins of his black dependents; and in the +background, the whole scenery is girded by an immense ring of cypress +forests, which seem, as it were, to bury themselves in the flats below +the Mississippi. To the right and left a charming elevated plain +extends, with numerous gardens, which, though it was then the end of +November, still preserved their verdure, faded, indeed, into an autumnal +hue. In the rear is the town of Natchez, of moderate dimensions; but +elegant and regular as far as the broken ground would admit. The +dwelling-houses, several of them with colonnades, exhibit throughout a +high degree of wealth. The court-house, an academy, the United States' +branch bank, and the bank of Natchez, three churches, three newspaper +printing offices, one of which publishes a literary journal (the Ariel), +a library and reading-room, are the public institutions, and they are +very liberally patronised. Neither during my former journey, nor in the +present visit, could I discover any foundation for the charge of +narrowness of mind, which is made against the inhabitants. Their number +amounts to 3,540, and their houses to 600. They are mostly planters, +merchants, lawyers, and physicians, of Anglo-American extraction, with +the exception of ten or twelve German families. + +Natchez is considered as a port, and on this ground the representative +of the state obtained the most useless grant of money ever made--1500 +dollars--for the purpose of erecting a light-house, at a place 410 miles +distant from the sea. This town had been considered a healthier spot +than New Orleans, until the two last years, when it was repeatedly +visited by the yellow-fever, from which New Orleans remained free. It is +yet doubtful whether this evil is to be ascribed to the dissolute life +prevailing in lower Natchez, or to the oppressive heat which prevails on +these high plains. The distance, however, from the cooling current of +the Mississippi, short as it is, and the unwholesome rain-water, which +is used for drinking, must contribute to create bilious fevers. The +great pecuniary resources which the inhabitants of Natchez have at +command, would make it an easy matter for them to obtain their water for +drinking from the Mississippi, in the same manner as the inhabitants of +Philadelphia have raised the waters of Schuylkill. The country about +Natchez is an extensive and elevated plain, 200 feet above the level of +the Mississippi, stretching 130 miles from north to south, and about +forty miles to the eastward. Although a fertile tract of land, it is +far inferior to the Mississippi bottom-lands. The upland cotton grown +upon it, is inferior in quantity and quality to that of Mississippi +growth. The soil, however, produces corn, vegetables, plumbs, peaches, +and figs in abundance. I stayed two days in Natchez, and rode with a +friend to the distance of fifty-five miles above Natchez, on the +Mississippi, passing through Gibsonport, twenty-five miles from Natchez, +and six miles from the Mississippi, a town having a court-house, +a newspaper printing office, and about sixty houses, with 1100 +inhabitants. The following day we arrived at Messrs. D.'s plantation. +These two brothers having purchased, three years ago, 6500 acres of +land, at the rate of two dollars an acre, landed with their slaves at +their new purchase, from their former residence in Kentucky. The lands +being a complete wilderness, their first occupation was to raise cabins +for themselves and their slaves. This was accomplished in four weeks. +They succeeded during the first year in clearing fifty acres of land, +twenty-five of which were sown in the month of February with cotton +seed, the rest with corn. This was was sufficient to defray the expense +of the first year. The clearing of woods, however, in this country, if +not canebrack bottom, is not so easy a matter as in the northern states. +Numerous shrubs, thistles, and thorns, of an immense size, form hedges, +which it is almost impossible to penetrate. To these obstructions may be +added, snakes, muskitoes, and in the marshes, alligators, which, though +not so dangerous as the Egyptian crocodile, are still a great annoyance. +The trees are here destroyed in the same manner as in the north, by +killing them. Shrubs, underwood, canebrack, are burnt, and the corn or +cotton is planted instead. This is the work of the negroes, who labour +under the superintendence of their masters, or, if he be a wealthy man, +of his overseer. In the months of June or July, the ground is ploughed +or turned up; the weeds and shrubs are cleared away, as is done in the +case of Indian corn; the cultivation of cotton, though more troublesome, +being conducted much in the same manner. In the month of October, the +cotton begins to ripen, the buds open, and the white flower appears. The +present is the season for gathering cotton. Three kinds of cotton seeds +are now sown in the southern states; the green, the black, and the +Mexican seed, which latter is considered to be the best. Of the green +seed cotton, a slave may gather 150 pounds a day, of the other two +kinds, the utmost that can be collected is 100 pounds. The buds are +broken from the plants, and the cotton, with the seed, taken out and put +into round baskets, which when filled are brought into the cotton yard, +and spread along planks, for the purpose of drying. The cotton is from +thence carried to the cotton gin, the machinery of which is put into +motion by three or four horses. The cotton is thrown between a cylinder +moving round a projecting saw; by this process the seed is separated +from the cotton, which is then thrown back into a large receptacle, and +afterwards pressed into bales. These are laid in stores and kept ready +for shipping, in steam or flat boats to Natchez or New Orleans. The two +brothers in this, the third, year from the date of their establishment, +raised 200 bales of cotton from 200 acres of cleared land. According to +their own estimation, and from what I know, they might have raised 350 +bales, had it not been for a disaster which befel them in the spring of +the year 1825. They were visited with a hurricane, which lifted their +dwelling-house from the ground, carried it to a considerable distance +and completely destroyed it, with the entire furniture. Mr. D----, who +was at the plantation at the time, had great difficulty in escaping with +his wife and child, though not without a fractured leg, from the effects +of which he was still suffering. Not even a chair had been spared. The +immense trees torn up by the roots and still lying in every direction +upon the ground, the shattered cabins of his negroes, every thing +presented indications of the havoc made in this disastrous night. +Happily no human life was lost. This misfortune had, of course, +considerably retarded the improvements in progress, and thrown them back +for at least a twelvemonth. Still the planters calculated this year upon +a profit of 10,000 dollars from their plantation; 4000 dollars may be +deducted from this for household and other necessary expenses, leaving a +clear profit of 6000 dollars. The original capital of the two brothers +consisted, (including the value of their slaves), of 20,000 dollars. +They paid half the purchase money when they took possession, and the +rest in the present year. Their plantation is now worth 60,000 dollars. +In the state of Mississippi, the principal article of cultivation is +cotton, as it is the staple article of its commerce; corn and the +breeding of cattle are considered as secondary objects, though many +plantations reckon from 100 to 300 head of cattle, which have a free +range in the vast forests in quest of food. Only those intended for +fattening are kept at home and fed with cotton seed, which in a few +weeks will make them exceedingly fat. Turkeys and poultry in general are +found in abundance, and constitute with firewood the articles which are +sold to steam-boats passing on their way. Indian corn supplies in these +parts the place of rye or wheat. The slaves live exclusively on corn +bread; their masters vary it with wheat cakes. Wheat, flour, whiskey, +articles of dress, sacking, and blankets, come from the north, or from +New Orleans. The dress of the planter during the summer months consists +of a linen jacket, pantaloons of the same, Monroe boots, and a straw +hat. During the winter he wears a cotton shirt and a cloth dress. That +of his slaves during summer is a coarse cotton shirt and trowsers, with +shoes called mocasins. In winter they are furnished with cotton +trowsers, and a coat made of a woollen blanket. The females have dresses +of the same materials. The manner of living of the southern planter +differs little from that of the northern; he likes his doddy, which the +northern planter or farmer is also known to be fond of; he lives on +wheat cakes or Indian corn bread, and superintends his slaves at their +work, as the northern does his hands. Of the effeminate and luxurious +style in which the southern planters are said to indulge--of their +pretended fondness for female slaves, without whose assistance they +cannot find their beds, I have never had any proofs, though in both my +journeys I have not passed less than a year in Mississippi and +Louisiana, and know one half of the plantations. The American planter +lives in a higher style than his northern fellow citizen: this is quite +natural, considering that his income is very large, and his taxes +trifling. His chief expense, however, consists in his travels or summer +excursions to the north, where he is pleased to shew his southern +magnificence in a display of pompous dissipation. This fault, with few +exceptions, is general with southern planters. They save at home, and +renounce the very comforts of life in order to have the means of +spending more money during the summer at Saratoga, Boston, or New York. +The slave always rises at five o'clock, and works till seven, then +breakfasts--generally upon soup with corn bread, baked on a pan, and +eaten warm with a piece of bacon or salt-meat. Their tasks are assigned +to them by the master of the plantation, or if he has been settled for +some years, by an overseer. Part of the negroes are engaged in the +cotton gin, others in carpenters' or in cabinet work, each plantation +having two or three mechanics among the slaves. A third part works in +the cotton or corn fields. The females have likewise their tasks. One or +two of the girls are housemaids; two more are cooks, one for the white, +the other for the black family. The old negro women have the washing +assigned to them. The dinner of the slaves consists of corn bread, a +pudding of the same stuff, and salt or fresh meat. It is usual to give +them a piece of meat, in order to keep them in good condition. The +supper is of corn bread again, and a soup without meat. They seldom get +any whiskey, and tavern keepers are prohibited by law from selling it to +them. The first transgression is punished with a fine, the second with +the loss of the tavern licence. On Sundays the slaves are exempt from +working for their master, and permitted to attend to their family or +their own concerns. Many of them are seen gleaning the cotton fields, +collecting this way from eighty to a hundred pounds of cotton in one +day. They are not, however, so well treated as in the northern slave +states, where they are rather considered as domestics, who in many cases +would not exchange their condition for that liberty which is enjoyed by +the German peasantry. The northern slave is, for this reason, extremely +afraid of transportation, which is a sort of punishment. The southern +blacks frequently run away, and there is not a newspaper published, in +which some escapes are not announced. The Anglo-Americans, however, +treat their slaves throughout better than the French and their +descendants, with whom the wretched blacks, (their general allowance +being ten ears of Indian corn a day), experience a treatment in few +respects better than that of a beast. The principle upon which the +French descendant acts, is, that the slave ought to repay him in three +years the expense of his purchase. But, strange to say, the worst of all +are the free people of colour, who are equally permitted to possess +slaves. To be transferred into the hands of their own race, is the most +dreadful thing which can happen to a slave. Formal marriages rarely take +place between slaves: if the negro youth feels himself attracted by the +charms of a black beauty, their master allows them to cohabit. If the +female slave is on a distant plantation, the youth is permitted to see +her, provided he be trustworthy, and not suspected of an intention to +effect his escape. The children belong to the mother, or rather to her +master, who is not permitted to dispose of them before they are ten +years of age. The punishment which masters are allowed to inflict on +their slaves at home, is a flogging of thirty-nine lashes. The huts of +these people are of rough logs; lower down the river they are of regular +carpenter's work. The mansions of the American planters are in the easy +American style--sometimes frame, mostly, however, brick-houses, +constructed on four piles in the manner already described. Below +Natchez, the dwelling houses of the planters are in the old-fashioned +Spanish style, with immense roofs, but comfortable and adapted to the +climate. The windows are high and provided with shutters. They have a +summer dining room to the north, open on all sides so as to admit of a +free current of air. In the southern parts, the planter is the most +respectable and wealthy inhabitant. He lives contented, though his +domestic peace is sometimes troubled by the accidents inseparable from +the state of bondage in which his black family is kept. If he manages +his affairs well, for which very little is wanting beyond common sense +and activity, he cannot fail to become wealthy in a few years. I am +acquainted with several gentlemen, who settled in these states ten years +ago, with a capital of from 10 to 20,000 dollars. They are worth now at +least 100,000 dollars. The great difference between these plantations +and the northern farms, is the ready mart they are sure to find, and the +high price they obtain for their produce. Though the prices of cotton +are considerably reduced, yet the profit which is derived from a capital +employed in a plantation is superior to any other. The price of a +well-conditioned plantation is enormous. I can instance Mr. B., who +having inherited one half of a plantation, bought the other half for +32,000 dollars. The failures in crops are of very rare occurrence in +these parts, and generally in the fourth year after a plantation has +been begun, the produce is equal to the capital employed in the +establishment. The management of these plantations requires by no means +a very enterprising turn of mind. I know some ladies who have +established cotton plantations, and raise from four to five hundred +bales a year, being assisted only by their overseer. Mrs. Barrow, Mrs. +Hook, &c., &c., are instances in proof of what I advance. Those who are +unable to bear the summer heats, or are not inured to the climate, +reside in the north, leaving a trusty overseer in charge of the +plantation. The distance from Natchez to Louisville or Cincinnati, +between 11 and 1200 miles, may be performed in nine or ten days. The +journey is a pleasant one, and is amply rewarded by the purchases which +planters generally make in the north for themselves, their families, and +their slaves. Indolence, luxury, and effeminacy, are vices that are but +seldom to be met with in the American planter. He does not yield to the +northern farmer in activity or industry. He cannot work in person +without exposing himself to a bilious fever; but this is not necessary; +the superintendence of his affairs is a sufficient occupation for +him. In this state I found matters: after a serious and practical +investigation, and much experience, I can pronounce it to be a safer way +of employing a moderate capital in an advantageous manner, than any +other which offers itself in the United States. + +There can scarcely be a country where there is greater facility for +hunting than in these parts. Mr. D. being still lame from his late +accident, was obliged to remain at home, but he provided us with a +guide, in the person of the overseer of the Palmyra plantation, five +miles above Mr. D.'s settlement. We mounted our horses, and arrived in a +few minutes on the outside of the cotton-fields, a tract of canebrack +bottom, extending about ten miles, where we expected to start a deer or +a bear. We had not ridden above half an hour when we discovered a bear, +which was killed. We proceeded afterwards to a marsh two miles behind +the plantation, the resort of flocks of ducks and wild geese. We found +about 300 of them, and having shot nine returned home. The bear was +found to be a young one, weighing 150 pounds:--its flesh was excellent. +These animals, as well as every description of game, are found in such +prodigious numbers, that our landlord thought it not worth while sending +his slaves such a distance for the ducks and geese we had shot in the +pond; and they were, therefore, left for birds of prey to feast upon. +The following day we made a shooting excursion with the overseer of +Palmyra plantation. After partaking of some refreshments at his +dwelling, we proceeded in his company. He superintends the plantation of +Mrs. Turner, for an annual salary of 1500 dollars, with board, lodging, +&c.; a sum which would be considered in the north as a first rate +salary, suitable to any gentleman. Seven wild turkeys were the spoils of +this day; we divided them equally amongst us, reserving the seventh to +be roasted at Warrington for our dinner. Warrington, formerly the seat +of justice for Warren county, which is now transferred to Vixburgh, +though situated sixty feet above the water level of the Mississippi, is +regularly inundated by the spring floods. This town is on the decline, +owing to the removal of the seat of justice. It contains 200 +inhabitants, with forty houses, five of which are built of brick, the +rest of wood. Two lawyers, who are now on the move, two taverns, and two +stores, are to be found here. The two store-keepers, who were extremely +poor when they first settled here, eight years ago, are now worth above +20,000 dollars; one of them is going to establish a plantation. We +returned in good time, being here at a distance of twenty miles from the +plantation. Although the tract of country we came through is extremely +fertile, yet there is a great difference in the soil. The plantation of +Mr. D----, has undoubtedly the advantage over the six which came under +our notice; his cotton is of a superior quality. The richness of the +soil depends on the stratum. The best is considered to be that which is +found to have three or four feet of river sediment on a red brownish +earth; where sand or gravel forms the stratum, the land, though fertile, +is not of so durable a quality. The growth of timber is generally the +surest mode of ascertaining the nature of the soil; we measured on the +plantation of Major Davis, some sycamores torn up by the hurricane, +which were not less than 200 feet in length; and cotton trees of 170 +feet. Where such a gigantic vegetation is seen, one may rely on the +fertility and inexhaustible quality of the soil. Our guide gave me a +proof of this: in one of his fields, he raised tobacco for ten +successive years, without doing more than ploughing the earth; the +produce, instead of diminishing, has rather increased both in quantity +and quality. One can hardly conceive how a soil, apparently sandy, can +be of a nature so inexhaustibly productive; the overflowing of the +Mississippi, and the sediment left on the banks, account, however, +sufficiently for it. + +The following day we took leave of our hospitable landlord, and +returned. The country we passed through is one continued range of the +most beautiful forests, opening some times to give place to a rising +plantation. I counted between Palmyra and Natchez, twenty-five. + +The State of Mississippi was received into the Union in the year +1817. It extends from 30° 10' to 35° north latitude, and from 11° 30' +to 14° 32' west longitude; and is bounded on the north by Tennessee, +on the west by Arkansas and Louisiana, on the south by Louisiana +and the gulf of Mexico, and on the east by Alabama. It comprises an +area of 15,000 square miles. Though this state has acquired, this +ten years past, a political existence, and in point of fertility is +far superior to Missouri and Indiana, yet its population has not +increased in the same proportion;--it does not exceed 80,000 souls, +including 34,000 slaves. The emigrants to Mississippi, are either men +of fortune, or needy adventurers. The middle classes, having from 2 +to 3,000 dollars property, seldom chose to settle there, having no +prospect of succeeding by dint of personal industry. The fatigue and +labour in these hot and sultry climates, can only be borne by slaves; +a white man who should attempt the same labour which kept him stout +and hearty in the north, would soon be overcome by the heat of the +climate. Most of the respectable settlers are therefore from Virginia, +Tennessee, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Kentucky; having sold their +property there, and emigrated with their slaves into this country. The +North American, properly so called, from New England, New York, &c., +seldom ventures so far. Owing to this cause, the towns in Mississippi +and Louisiana, are neither so elegant nor so wealthy as those of the +north. With the exception of places of commerce, such as New Orleans +and Natchez, the towns of the state of Mississippi cannot be compared +to those of other states of more recent date. These smaller towns +of Mississippi and Louisiana, are generally inhabited by mechanics, +tradesmen, tavern-keepers, and the poorer classes of the people. Those +who have any fortune, prefer laying it out on plantations,--a sure and +infallible source of wealth, and the most respectable occupation in +the country. Merchants who have succeeded in making a fortune in these +small towns, remove to more convenient places. The traveller who judges +of the wealth of the country from the mean appearance of these villages +and towns, would be greatly mistaken. In order to form a correct +opinion he must visit the plantations, and he will be surprised at the +high degree of prosperity and comfort enjoyed by the possessors. + +After a stay of three days in Natchez, I took a passage on board the +steam-boat Helen MacGregor, which had lately returned from New Orleans +to Walnut hills, and was on its way to the capital of Louisiana. The +intercourse between Natchez and New Orleans is by water, travellers +naturally preferring this easy and comfortable mode of conveyance by +steam-boats to land journeys, rendered disagreeable by the wretchedness +of the roads, and the still worse condition of the generality of +inns. This evil has been occasioned by the former hospitality of the +French creoles. Any one calling at a plantation was sure of a welcome +reception. This hospitality has ceased, and the most respectable +traveller is now likely to have the door shut in his face, owing to the +misconduct of the Kentuckians. It was the practice of these gentlemen +to call on their rambles at these plantations, where plenty of rum +and brandy, with other accommodations, could be had for nothing. They +behaved with an arrogance and presumption almost incredible, not +unfrequently calling the creoles in their own houses French dogs, and +knocking them down if they presumed to shew the least displeasure. +These people are the horror of all creoles, who when they wish to +describe the highest degree of barbarity, designate it by the name of +Kentuckian. The worst of it is that the creoles, who are far from being +eminent scholars, comprehend the whole north under the appellation +of Kentucky. We started from Natchez at nine o'clock in the evening, +took in 300 bales of cotton at Bayon Sarah[E], and some firewood a +few miles below, and then passed Baton Rouge, the Bayons Plaquimines, +Manchac, Tourche, both sides of the river being lined with beautiful +plantations, and arrived on Sunday, at four o'clock, above New Orleans. + +[E] Bayons, outlets of the Mississippi, formed by nature. They are in +great numbers, and carry its waters to the gulph of Mexico. Without +these outlets, New Orleans would be destroyed by the spring floods in a +few hours. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Arrival at New Orleans.--Cursory Reflections. + + +It is certainly mournful for a traveller to dwell among the monuments of +Pompeii, of Herculaneum, and of Rome. There, if he feels at all, he +feels among these wrecks of past grandeur, that he is nothing. A totally +different sensation possesses the mind on entering an American city. In +these man beholds what he can contend with, and what he can accomplish, +when his strength is not checked by the arbitrary will of a despot. New +Orleans, the wet grave[F], where the hopes of thousands are buried; for +eighty years the wretched asylum for the outcasts of France and Spain, +who could not venture 100 paces beyond its gates without utterly sinking +to the breast in mud, or being attacked by alligators; has become in the +space of twenty-three years one of the most beautiful cities of the +Union, inhabited by 40,000 persons, who trade with half the world. The +view is splendid beyond description, when you pass down the stream, +which is here a mile broad, rolls its immense volume of waters in a bed +above 200 feet deep, and as if conscious of its strength, appears to +look quietly on the bustle of the habitations of man. Both its banks are +lined with charming sugar plantations, from the midst of which rises the +airy mansion of the wealthy planter, surrounded with orange, banana, +lime, and fig trees, the growth of a climate approaching to the torrid +zone. In the rear you discover the cabins of the negroes and the +sugar-houses, and just at the entrance of the port, groups of smaller +houses, as if erected for the purpose of concealing the prospect of the +town. As soon as the steam-boats pass these out posts, New Orleans, in +the form of a half moon, appears in all its splendour. The river runs +for a distance of four or five miles in a southern direction; here it +suddenly takes an eastern course, which it pursues for the space of two +miles, thus forming a semicircular bend. A single glance exhibits to +view the harbour, the vessels at anchor, together with the city, +situated as it were at the feet of the passenger. The first object that +presents itself is the dirty and uncouth backwoods flat boat. Hams, ears +of corn, apples, whiskey barrels, are strewed upon it, or are fixed to +poles to direct the attention of the buyers. Close by are the rather +more decent keel-boats, with cotton, furs, whiskey, flour; next the +elegant steam-boat, which by its hissing and repeated sounds, announces +either its arrival or departure, and sends forth immense columns of +black smoke, that form into long clouds above the city. Farther on are +the smaller merchant vessels, the sloops and schooners from the +Havannah, Vera Cruz, Tampico; then the brigs; and lastly, the elegant +ships appearing like a forest of masts[G]. + +[F] In New Orleans, water is found two feet below the surface. Those who +cannot afford to procure a vault for their dead, are literally compelled +to deposit them in the water. + +[G] The whole number of vessels then in port was 100 schooners, brigs, +and ships. + +What in Philadelphia and even in New York is dispersed in several +points, is here offered at once to the eye--a truly enchanting prospect. +Most of the steam-boats were kept back by the lowness of the Ohio, at +Cincinnati, Louisville, and Nashville; we landed, therefore, close to +the shore without encountering any impediment. In a moment our state +room was filled with five or six clerks, from the newspaper printing +offices, and a dozen negroes; the former to inspect the log-book of the +steam-boat, and to lay before their subscribers the names of the goods, +and of the passengers arrived; the latter to offer their services in +carrying our trunks. After labouring to climb over the mountains of +cotton bales which obstructed our passage, we went on shore. The city +had increased beyond expectation, within the last four years. More than +700 brick houses had been erected; a new street (the Levee), was already +half finished; the houses throughout were solid, and more or less in an +elegant style. It was on a Sunday that we arrived; the shops, the stores +of the French and creoles, were open as usual, and if there were fewer +buyers than on other days, the coffeehouses, grog-shops, and the +_estaminets_, as they are called, of the French and German inhabitants, +exhibited a more noisy scene. A kind of music, accompanied with human, +or rather inhuman voices, resounded in almost every direction. This +little respect paid to the Sabbath is a relic of the French revolution +and of Buonaparte, for whom the French and the creoles of Louisiana have +an unlimited respect, imitating him as poor minds generally do, as far +as they are able, in his bad qualities, his contempt of venerable +customs, and his egotism, and leaving his great deeds and the noble +traits in his character to the imitation of others better qualified to +appreciate them. + +To a new comer, accustomed in the north to the dignified and quiet +keeping of the Sabbath, this appears very shocking. The Anglo-Americans, +with few exceptions, remain even here faithful to their ancient custom +of keeping the Sabbath holy. I had many opportunities of appreciating +the importance of the keeping of the Sabbath, particularly in new +states. A well regulated observance of this day is productive of +incalculable benefits, and though it is sometimes carried too far in the +northern states, as is certainly the case in Pennsylvania and New +England, still the public ought firmly to maintain this institution in +full force. The man who provides in six days for his personal wants, may +dedicate the seventh to the improvement of his mind; and this he can +only accomplish by abstaining from all trifling amusements. In a +despotic monarchy the case is different; there the government has no +doubt every reason for allowing its slaves, after six toilsome days of +labour, the indulgence of twenty-four hours of amusement, that they may +forget themselves and their fate in the dissipation of dancing, smoking, +and drinking. The case ought to be otherwise in a republic, where even +the poor constitute, or are about to constitute, part of the sovereign +body. These ought to remember to what purposes they are destined, and +not to allow themselves, under any circumstances, to be the dupes of +others. The keeping of the Sabbath is their surest safeguard. If there +were no opportunities offered for dancing, their sons and their +daughters would stay at home, either reading their Bible, or attending +to other appropriate intellectual occupations, and learning in this +manner their rights and duties, and those of other people. The American +has not deviated in this respect from his English kinsman. If you enter +his dwelling on the Sabbath, you will find the family, old and young, +quietly sitting down, the Bible in hand, thus preparing themselves for +the toils and hardships to come, and acquiring the firmness and +confidence so necessary in human life; a confidence, which we so justly +admire in the British nation; as far distant from the bravado of the +French, as the unfeeling and base stupidity of the Russians; and which +never displays itself in brighter colours than in the hour of danger. We +are in this manner enabled to account for those high traits of character +in moments full of peril--traits not surpassed in the most brilliant and +the most virtuous epochs of Greece or of Rome. A single fact will speak +volumes--the Kent East Indiaman, burning and going down in the bay of +Biscay, in 1825. Ladies, gentlemen, officers, and soldiers, all on board +exhibited a magnanimity of heart, and a truly Christian heroism, which +must fill even the most rancorous enemies of the British people with +admiration and regard. What a different picture would have been +presented to us, if half a regiment of Bonaparte's soldiers had been on +board the ship! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Topographical Sketch of the City of New Orleans. + + +The city of New Orleans occupies an oblong area, extending 3960 feet +along the eastern bank of Mississippi, embracing six squares, 319 feet +in length, and of equal breadth. Above and below this parallelogram are +the suburbs. Higher up is the suburb of St. Mary, still belonging to +the city corporation; farther up, the suburbs Duplantier, Soulel, La +Course, L'Annunciation, and Religieuses; below, the suburbs of Marigny, +Daunois, and Clouet; in the rear, St. Claude and Johnsburgh. The seven +streets, named Levee, Chartres-street, Royal-street, Bourbon, Burgundy, +Toulouse, and Rampart, run parallel with the river, and are intersected +at right angles by twelve others, running from the banks of the +Mississippi, called the Levee, in the direction of the swamps, the +Custom-house-street, Brenville, Conti, St. Louis, and Toulouse. The +city, with the exception of Levee and Rampart-streets, is paved, an +improvement which occasions great expense to the corporation, as the +stones are imported; flags, however, are not wanting even in the most +distant suburbs. The ground on which New Orleans is built, is a plain, +descending about seven feet from the banks of the river, towards the +swamps; and it is lower than the level of the Mississippi. It is secured +by a levee, which would afford very little resistance 400 miles higher +up; but here, where numerous bayons and natural channels have carried +off part of the waters to the gulf of Mexico, it answers every purpose. +About the city, the breadth of this plain is half a mile, and above it +three-quarters of a mile, terminating in the back-ground in impenetrable +swamps. The city and suburbs are lighted with reflecting lamps, +suspended in the middle of the streets. Between the pavement and the +road, gutters are made for the purpose of carrying off the filth into +the swamps, of refreshing the air with the water of the Mississippi, +with which these gutters communicate, and of allaying the dust during +the hot season. There are now about 6000 buildings, large and small, in +New Orleans. In the first mentioned three streets, and the greater part +of the upper suburb, the houses are throughout of brick; some are +plastered over to preserve them from the influence of the sultry +climate. Though building materials of every kind are imported, and +consequently very dear, yet the houses are rapidly changing from the +uncouth Spanish style, to more elegant forms. The new houses are mostly +three stories high, with balconies, and a summer-room with blinds. In +the lower suburbs, frame houses, with Spanish roofs, are still +prevalent. Two-thirds of the private buildings may at present be said +to rival those of northern cities, of an equal population. The public +edifices, however, are far inferior to those of the former, both in +style and execution. The most prominent is the cathedral, in the +middle of the town, separated from the bank of the Mississippi, +by the parade ground. It is of Spanish architecture, with a façade of +seventy feet, and a depth of 120, having on each side a steeple, and a +small cupola in the centre, which gives an air of dignity to a heavy and +ill-proportioned structure. All illusion, however, is dispelled on +entering the church. The Catholics had the strange notion of painting +the interior, taking for this purpose the most glaring colours that can +be found--green and purple. The church is painted over in fresco, with +these colours, and presents at one view a curious taste of the creoles. +The interior is not overloaded with decorations, as Catholic churches +generally are. The high altar, and two side ones, are, with an organ, +its only ornaments. Two tombs contain the remains of Baron Carondolet +and Mr. Marigny. On one side of the cathedral is the city-hall, and on +the other, the Presbytire. The former, erected in 1795, presents a +façade of 108 feet, in which the meetings of the city council are held. +The Presbytire, 114 in front, was built in 1813, and is the seat of +the supreme District Court, and of the Criminal Court of New Orleans. +These two edifices, and the cathedral between them, form together a +dignified whole. The government-house, at the corner of Toulouse and +Levee-streets, is an old and decaying edifice, where the legislature of +the state holds its meetings. In point of situation, (among grog shops), +and of style, it may be considered the poorest state-house in the Union. + +The Protestants have three churches. The Episcopalian, at the corner of +Bourbon and Canal-streets, is an octagon edifice, with a cupola, in bad +taste. Out of gratitude to the late governor Clayborne, the inhabitants +have erected in the church-yard, a monument to his memory, with the +following inscription: + + THE + CITIZENS OF NEW ORLEANS, + TO + TESTIFY THEIR RESPECT FOR THE VIRTUES + OF + W. C. C. CLAYBORNE, + LATE + GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA, + HAVE + ERECTED THIS MONUMENT. + +The Presbyterian church, in the suburb of St. Mary, is a simple, but +chaste building, the expense of which amounted to 55,000 dollars. The +congregation being unwilling to defray the cost of its erection, it was +sold by the sheriff, and is now the property of Mr. Levy, an Israelite, +who leases it out to the congregation for 1500 dollars. The Methodist +church is a frame building, erected in 1826. + +The public hospital, in Canal-street, consists of two square buildings, +with wards for fever maladies; for dysentery; one for chronic diseases; +another for females; a third for convalescents; a bathing-room, an +apothecary's-room, and a room for the physicians and assistants. Out of +1842 patients who were received into this hospital in the year 1824, 500 +died, and the rest were discharged; out of 1700 received in 1825, 271 +died, the others recovered. The accommodations in this house seem to be +respectable; it has one thing, however, in common with all hospitals, +that no one is tempted to return to it a second time. + +There are now four banks in New Orleans; the United States Bank, with a +capital of one million of dollars; the Bank of the State, the Louisiana +Bank, and the Bank of New Orleans, each having likewise a capital of one +million of dollars. The insurance offices are five in number: the +Louisiana State Insurance Company, with a capital of 400,000 dollars; +the Fire Insurance Company, with 300,000; the Mississippi and Marine +Insurance Company, with 200,000; and the London Phoenix Insurance +Company. New Orleans has no less than six masonic lodges, including the +grand lodge of Louisiana; a French and an American theatre. The latter +was built by a Mr. Caldwell, from Nashville, in Tennessee, who has also +the management of it. It has the advantage in point of architecture, and +the French theatre in the selectness of its audience. Close to the +latter are the ball-rooms, where are given the only masked balls in the +United States. Among the public buildings may be reckoned the three +market halls, for the sale of provisions of every kind; one of them is +in the city, the two others on the upper and lower suburbs, on the +Levee. + +The nuns have removed two miles below the town, and this convent is now +the residence of the Roman Catholic bishop. In the chapel divine +service is performed; this chapel, and the cathedral, are the places of +worship belonging to the Catholics. + +The cotton-pressing establishments deserve to be mentioned. These are +now nine in number; the most important is that of Mr. Rilieux, at the +corner of Poydras-street. It has three presses; one worked by steam, +another by an hydraulic machine, and the third by horsepower. For the +security of cotton bales, eight wells, a fire-engine, &c., are within +the range of buildings; the expenses of which amounted to 150,000 +dollars. The cotton press formerly belonged to a German commission +merchant, who failed in consequence of his extravagant cotton +speculations; it is simple, but of solid construction. It can receive +10,000 bales. The expenses of the building amounted to 90,000 dollars. +Besides these are the presses of Shiff, a Jew from Germany, Debays, +Lorger, &c. A steam saw-mill on the bank of the Mississippi, in the +upper suburb, with a few iron foundries, are the only manufacturies in +New Orleans; every thing being imported from the north. + +Carondolots canal is in the rear of the town, towards the marshes. The +entrance is a basin, containing from thirty to fifty small vessels, and +opening into a canal, or rather a ditch, which has been cut through the +swamps, in order to join the Bayon St. John with New Orleans. + +Small vessels drawing no more than six feet of water, arrive from Mobile +and Pensacola[H], through lake Pont Chartrain, Bayon St. John, and the +above-mentioned canal at New Orleans, performing only a third of the way +they would otherwise have to make by going up the Mississippi. They are +in general freighted with wood, planks, bricks, cotton, &c.; and take in +goods in return. This canal, which is of great importance for the part +of the city lying contiguous to the swamps, was commenced by Baron +Carondolet, but given up at a subsequent time, and resumed in the year +1815. Its cost was trifling compared with the advantages resulting to +this city, and the salutary effects it must have in draining off part of +the swamps. + +[H] Pensacola has been established as a port for the United States navy: +1825-1826. + +The president of the city council is a mayor, or Maire, a creole. His +police regulations deserve every praise, and New Orleans, which less +than fifteen years ago was the lurking hole of every assassin, is now in +point of security not inferior to any other city. The revenues of the +city corporation amount to 150,000 dollars, which are, however, found to +be insufficient, and loans are resorted to in order to cover the +expenses. + +When the United States took possession of New Orleans, this town +consisted of 1000 houses, and 8000 inhabitants, black and white. In the +year 1820, it amounted to near 27,000; namely, 8000 white males, 5314 +white females, 1500 foreigners, 2500 men, and 400 women of colour, 3000 +male, and 4,500 female slaves; the population of the parish being then +14,000. In the year 1821, the population was 29,000; in 1822 it had +risen to 32,000; in the present year 1826, it amounts to upwards of +40,000; to be distinguished as follows: 14,500 white males, and 7500 +white females, 1300 foreigners, 3690 free men, and 800 free women of +colour, 5500 male, and 6300 female slaves. The population of the parish +is 15,000. + +As New Orleans, notwithstanding its being 109 miles distant from the +sea, is considered as a seaport, all the officers necessarily connected +with a place of that description reside there, as well as consuls from +every nation, having commercial intercourse with it;--from England, +Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Hamburgh, the Netherlands, France, +Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, with others from the Southern Republics. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view. + + +New Orleans groaned for a long time under the yoke of the most wretched +tyranny; its crowned possessors so far from doing any thing towards the +improvement of a plan which, considered in a commercial light, has not +its equal on the face of the earth, contributed as much as was in their +power to circumscribe it. After two hours rain, every kind of +communication in the city itself was quite impracticable; paving or +lighting the streets was of course out of the question; assassinations +were of almost daily occurrence: but this was not all--the place was to +be a fortress in spite of common sense. It was thought proper to +surround it with a wall eighteen feet wide and pallisadoes, five +bastions, and redoubts, upon which some old cannon were mounted, perhaps +for the purpose of keeping the Indians at a proper distance. The +Americans pulled down those pitiful circumvallations which could have no +other effect than to impede commerce, and erected others in a situation +where they are likely to be of more advantage--along the passes of the +Mississippi and of lake Pontchartrain. The city has improved in an +astonishing degree during the twenty-three years that it has been +incorporated with the United States; indeed much more in proportion than +any other town of the Union, in spite of the yellow fever, the deadly +miasmata, and the myriads of musquitoes; and it has now become one of +the most elegant and wealthy cities of the republic. If, however, we +consider its situation, it is susceptible of still greater improvements, +and it must eventually become, what nature destined it to be, the first +commercial city, and the emporium of America, notwithstanding the +concurrence of many unfavourable circumstances, and the gross +selfishness of its inhabitants. The incredible fertility of Louisiana, +the Egypt of the west, and the fertility of the states of the valley of +the Mississippi in general, which can be duly appreciated only by +personal observation, must render New Orleans one of the most +flourishing cities in the world. There is not a spot on the globe that +presents a more favourable situation for trade. Standing on the extreme +point of the longest river in the world, New Orleans commands all the +commerce of the immense territory of the Mississippi, being the staple +pointed out by nature for the countries watered by this stream, or by +its tributaries--a territory exceeding a million of square miles. You +may travel on board a steam-boat of 300 tons and upwards for an extent +of 1000 miles from New Orleans up the Red river; 1500 miles up the +Arkansas river; 3000 miles up the Missouri and its branches; 1700 miles +on the Mississippi to the falls of St. Anthony; the same distance from +New Orleans up the Illinois; 1200 miles to the north-east from New +Orleans on the big Wabash; 1300 on the Tennessee; 1300 on the +Cumberland, and 2300 miles on the Ohio up to Pittsburgh. Thus New +Orleans has in its rear this immense territory, with a river 4200 miles +long, (including the Missouri)[I]; besides the water communication which +is about to be completed between New York and the river Ohio. The coast +of Mexico, the West India islands, and the half of America to the south, +the rest of America on its left, and the continent of Europe beyond the +Atlantic. New Orleans is beyond a doubt the most important commercial +point on the face of the earth[J]. Although the states along the +Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, the +territories of Missouri, and Arkansas, undoubtedly the finest part of +the Union, have not yet a population of 3,000,000 inhabitants, their +trade with New Orleans may be estimated by the fact, that not less than +1500 keel and flat boats, with nearly a hundred steam vessels, are +engaged every year in the trade with this city. The capital laid out on +these steam-boats amounts alone to above two million of dollars. The +number of vessels that clear out is upward of 1000, which export more +than 200,000 bales of cotton, 25,000 hogsheads of sugar, 17,000 +hogsheads of tobacco, about 1250 tons of lead, with a considerable +quantity of rice, furs, &c. Besides these staple articles, the produce +of the northern states is exported to Mexico, the West Indies, the +Havannah, and South America. The commerce of New Orleans increases +regularly every year in proportion with the improvements in its own +state, and in those of the Mississippi. The wealth accruing to the +country and to the city from this commerce, is out of proportion with +the number of inhabitants. There are many families who, in the course of +a few years, have accumulated a property yielding an income of 50,000 +dollars, and 25,000 is the usual income of respectable planters. No +other place offers such chances for making a fortune in so easy a way. +Plantations and commerce, if properly attended to, are the surest means +of succeeding in the favourite object of man's great pursuit,--"money +making." This accounts for the avidity with which thousands seek New +Orleans, in spite of the yellow fever again making room for thousands in +rapid succession. + +[I] The whole course of the Mississippi exceeds, the Missouri included, +4200 miles. This latter is its principal tributary stream, and superior +in magnitude even to the Mississippi. + +[J] Below New Orleans there is no place well adapted for the site of a +large city. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and + Louisiana.--Creoles.--Anglo-Americans.--French.--Free People of + Colour.--Slaves. + + +At the time of the cession of Louisiana to the United States (1803), +this country with its capital was inhabited by Creoles--descendants of +French settlers. Many reasons as they may have to congratulate +themselves upon their admission into the great political Union, whether +considered in a religious or political point of view, there were, +however, several causes which contributed to render them disaffected to +the measure. This repugnance is far from being removed. The advantages +on both sides were equal, or perhaps greater on the part of the United +States. The central government and the generality of Americans behaved +towards Louisiana in a becoming manner. But there is in the character +of American freedom, especially in the deportment of an American +towards foreigners and strangers in his own country, something +repulsive. It is not the pride of a nobleman accustomed to be obeyed, +nor the natural pride of an Englishman, who carries his sulky temper +along with him, and finds fault with every thing: it is rather the pride +of an adventurer--of an upstart, who exults at his not being a runaway +himself, although the descendant of one. Louisiana immediately after its +cession, was admitted to the full enjoyment of all the advantages +connected with its prerogative, as one of the states of the Union, and +its white natives, the Creoles, were considered as citizens born of the +United States. But the moment the cession was made, crowds of needy +Yankees, and what is worse, Kentuckians, spread all over the country, +attracted by the hope of gain; the latter treating the inhabitants as +little better than a purchased property. Full of prejudice towards the +descendants of a nation, of which they knew little more than the +proverb, "French dog," they, without knowing or condescending to learn +their language, behaved towards these people as if the lands, as well as +the inhabitants, could be seized without ceremony. This was certainly +not the way of thinking, or the conduct of all the northern new comers, +there being amongst them many a useful mechanic, merchant, planter, or +lawyer; but the greater number came with a degree of presumption, which +was in an inverse ratio with their unbounded and absolute ignorance. The +creoles, with a proper sense of their own independence, naturally +retreated from the intercourse of these intruders. On the other hand, +the consequences of an oppressive colonial government, the natural +effects of an enervating and sultry climate, could not fail giving to +the character of the creoles, a certain tone of passiveness, which makes +them an object of interest. They are not capable either of violent +passions, or of strong exertions. Gentle and frugal, they abhor +drunkenness and gluttony. Their eyes are generally black; but without +fire or expression. Their countenances evince neither spirit nor +animation; they can boast of very few men of superior talents. Their +gait and figure are easy, and their colour generally pale. Though unable +to endure great hardships, they are far from being cowards, as the +events of the year 1815, and the numerous duels, sufficiently attest. +The drawbacks from their character are, an overruling passion for +frivolous amusements, an impatience of habit, a tendency for the +luxurious enjoyment of the other sex, without being very scrupulous in +their choice of either the black or the white race. Their greatest +defect, however, is their indifference towards the poor, and towards +their own slaves. They treat the former with cold contempt, and cannot +easily be induced to assist their fellow-creatures. In this respect they +are far inferior to their fellow-citizens of the north, whose example +they may follow with much advantage in many things. The Union has +already changed much, and the restless and active spirit of their +northern fellow-citizens has altered their character, which now partakes +much less of the Sybarite, than it formerly did; still, they can never +be brought to exercise a mechanical trade, which they consider as below +their dignity. The female sex of Louisiana, (the creoles), have in +general an interesting appearance. A black languishing eye, colour +rather too pale, figure of middle size, which partakes of _en bon +point_, and does not exhibit any waist, are the characteristics of the +fair sex. With a great deal of vivacity, they show, however, a proper +sense of decorum. Adultery is seldom known among the better classes, +notwithstanding the many grounds afforded to them by the infidelity of +their husbands. As wives and mothers, they are entitled to every praise; +they are more moderate in their expenses than the northern ladies, and +though always neat and elegantly dressed, they seldom go beyond +reasonable bounds. Several instances are known of their having displayed +a high degree of fortitude. In sickness and danger, they are the +inseparable assistants and companions of their husbands. In literary +education, however, they are extremely deficient; and nothing can be +more tiresome than a literary _tête a tête_ with a Creole lady. They +receive their education in the convent of the Ursalines, where they +learn reading, writing, some female works, and the piano-forte. It is +superfluous to observe, being descendants from the French, that they +are the best dancers in the United States. Americans from other parts of +the Union, may be considered as constituting about three-eighths of the +present population of the state, and of New Orleans. Brother Jonathan is +to be found in all parts of the Union, and properly speaking, nowhere at +home. After having settled in one place, at the distance of 1000 miles +from his late residence, cleared lands, reared houses, farms, &c., he +leaves his spot as soon as a better chance seems to offer itself. He is +an adventurer, who would as soon remove to Mexico, or New South Wales, +provided he could "make money" by the change. Most of those who settled +in Louisiana grew wealthy either as planters or merchants, and really +the wealthiest families of Louisiana are at present Americans from other +parts of the Union, who likewise hold the most important public +stations. The governors, as well as the members of congress, and +senators, have hitherto been Americans, from the very natural reason, +that the creoles could not speak the English language, although some +important offices are filled by the latter. Nothing can exceed or +surpass the suppleness of the Yankey; and the refined Frenchmen, with +all their dexterity, may still profit from them and their kindred. + +The emigrant French are numerous in New Orleans. Among them are many +very respectable merchants, some lawyers, physicians, &c., the greater +part, however, consists of adventurers, hair-dressers, dancing-masters, +performers, musicians, and the like. The French are of all men the least +valuable acquisition for a new state. Of a lavish and wanton temper, +they spend their time in trifles, which are of no importance to any but +themselves. Dancing, fighting, riding, and love-making, are the daily +occupation of these people. Their influence on a new and unsettled +state, whose inhabitants have no correct opinion of true politeness and +manners, is far from being advantageous. Without either religion, +morality, or even education, they pretend to be the leaders of the _bon +ton_, because they came from Paris, and they in general succeed. As for +religion and principles, except a sort of _point d'honneur_, they are +certainly a most contemptible set, and greatly contribute to promote +immorality. There are a great number of Germans in New Orleans. These +people, without being possessed of the smallest resources, embarked +eight or ten years ago, and after having lost one-half, or three-parts +of their comrades during the passage, they were sold as white slaves, or +as they are called, Redemptioners, the moment of their arrival. Thus +mixed with the negroes in the same kind of labour, they experience no +more consideration than the latter; and their conduct certainly deserves +no better treatment. Those who did not escape, were driven away by their +masters for their immoderate drinking; and all, with few exceptions, +were glad to get rid of such dregs. The watchmen and lamp-lighters are +Germans, and hundreds of these people fell victims to the fever, between +the years 1814 and 1822. The rest of the white population consists of +English, Irish, Spaniards, and some Italians, amongst whom are several +respectable houses. + +The free people of colour consist of emancipated slaves; but chiefly of +the offspring of an intercourse between the whites and blacks, the +cause of which is to be sought in the nature of the climate, where +sensual passions are so easily excited. Of these descendants, the +females in particular are very handsome, and generally destined for the +gratification of the wealthier class of the French and the creoles, as +their mothers had been before them. The American seldom or never +indulges in such unrestrained pleasures. He usually marries early, and +remains faithful to his wife. Of a more steady and religious turn, he +pays strict attention to decorum and appearances, with certain isolated +exceptions of course; but in general he is more solicitous and careful +of his public character than the Frenchman, or foreigner, who has seldom +any reputation to lose. + +The negroes form the lowest class. There are certainly found some +amongst them who are entitled to praise for their honesty and fidelity +towards their masters; but thousands, on the other hand, will exhibit +the vicious nature of a debased and slavish character. There is no +doubt, that a malignant and cruel disposition characterises, more or +less, this black race. Whether it be inborn, or the result of slavery, I +leave to others to decide. + +All that can be said in favour of emancipation, may be reduced in the +compass of these few words: In the present state of things, if the +general cultivation of Louisiana, and the southern states, is to proceed +successfully, emancipation is impossible. In this climate, no white +person could stand the labour; the act of emancipation itself, +treacherous and barbarous as the slaves are, would subject their former +masters to certain destruction and death. We are, indeed, very far +behind hand in the study of the human character, and of the different +gradations of the human species. Unjust, as it assuredly was, to traffic +in fellow-creatures, as though they were so many heads of cattle, it is +equally unjust now to infringe upon a property which has been +transmitted from generation to generation, and which time has +sanctioned, without adopting some method of public compensation. All +that should be required is, that the slaves be treated with humanity--a +law might be enacted to that effect. The slaves will then be improved, +and become ripe for a state of emancipation, which may be granted at a +future period, without danger or inconvenience to their masters. + +It is, however, to be regretted, that the slave population of Louisiana +are not so well treated as in the north. The cupidity of their masters, +and their solicitude to make a rapid fortune, subject those poor +wretches to an oppressive labour, which they are hardly able to endure. +They revolted in Louisiana on three occasions, and several white persons +fell victims to their vengeance; they were, however, easily subdued, and +the example set by the executions, contributed to restore tranquillity. +It is impossible to form an idea of the degree of jealousy with which +the southern population watch and defend their rights, touching this +point. A question upon the right of a slave, as a human being, is almost +one of life and death; and lawyers, whenever they presume to defend +slaves, and to hint at their rights, are in imminent danger of being +stoned like Jews. Not long ago, a gentleman of the bar, Mr. D--e, was +very near meeting this fate. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + Public Spirit.--Education.--State of Religious Worship.--Public + Entertainments, Theatres, Balls, &c. + + +Heterogeneous as this population may seem, and as it really is, in +manners, language, and principles, they all agree in one point--the +pursuit after--"money." Americans, English, French, Germans, Spaniards, +all come hither--to make money, and to stay here as long as money is to +be made. Half the inhabitants may be said to be regularly settled; the +rest are half-settlers. Merchants, store-keepers, remain only until +they have amassed a fortune answering their expectations, and then +remove to their former houses. Others reside here during the winter, to +carry on business, and retire to the north in the month of May. That is +the case with all the Yankee commission merchants. This has, of course, +a sensible and an extensive influence upon the public, and may explain +why New Orleans, though one of the wealthiest cities of the Union, is so +backward in mental improvement. Even the better Anglo-American families +disdain to spend their money in the country where they have earned it, +and prefer removing to the north. The institutions for education are +consequently inferior to those of any city of equal extent and less +wealth, such as Richmond, and even Albany. The only literary institution +in the state of Louisiana, the college of New Orleans, is now +established, and is intended to be revived at some distance from the +capital. Free schools are now (1826) formed in the city, after the +manner of the northern states, with a president and professors; and by +and bye they will be extended to the rest of the state. Another college, +still inferior to the above-mentioned, is superintended by the Catholic +clergy. Excepting the elements of reading, writing, mathematics, and +latin, it affords no intellectual information. The best of these +schools is kept by Mr. Shute, rector of the Episcopalian church, an +enlightened and clever man, who fully deserves the popularity he has +acquired. Reading, writing, geography, particular and universal history, +are taught under his tuition, and in his own rectory. This school, and +other private ones where the rudiments are taught, comprehend all the +establishments for education in the state. + +With respect to the female sex, the creoles are educated by the nuns; +the Protestant young ladies by some boarding-school mistresses, partly +French, partly Americans, who come from the north. The better classes of +the Anglo-Americans, however, prefer sending their daughters to a +northern establishment, where they remain for two years, and then return +to their homes. Among the charitable institutions must be mentioned the +Poydras Asylum for young orphan girls, founded in 1804, by Mr. Poydras. +The legislature voted 4000 dollars towards it. Sixty girls are now +educating in this asylum. Upon the same plan, is a second asylum for +boys, where, in 1825, forty were admitted. These, besides the hospital, +are the only public institutions for the benefit of the poor. New +Orleans has eight newspapers; among these the State, and two other +papers, are published in English and French, a fourth in the Spanish, +and the rest in the English. The best of them is the Louisiana +Advertiser. + +There is not a place in the Union where religion is so little attended +to as in New Orleans. For a population of 40,000 inhabitants, it has +only four churches; Philadelphia, with 120,000 inhabitants, reckons +upwards of eighty; New York upwards of sixty. The city of Pittsburgh, +with a population of 10,000 souls, has ten churches, far superior to +those in New Orleans. Among the Protestant churches, the high church is +best provided for, and the members of this congregation are said to be +liberal, which they are generally found to be. They have recently +finished a rectory for their minister, and show that liberality which so +eminently distinguishes them. Of the Presbyterians we have spoken +before. Though they would run ten times on a Sunday to church, and hear +even as many sermons, yet they neither pay their minister, who by the +bye is far from being an amiable character, nor redeem their church out +of the hands of Israel, but prefer keeping their money to contributing +towards such objects. + +The creoles, who are Catholics, seldom visit their church, and when they +do, it is only at Easter. They have a very learned bishop, named +Dubourgh, a Frenchman, who is not however very popular, and is spoken of +for his gallantries, though a man of sixty. It is whispered about that +there is a living proof of this. A more religious character is Pere +Antoine, a highly distinguished old Capuchin friar, enjoying universal +love and popularity. The manner in which I saw the Governor and the city +authorities, with the most respectable persons of the county, behave +towards him, does as much credit to them as to the object of their +consideration. + +Of the two theatres, the American is open during five, and the French +during eight months in the year. The American theatre has the advantage +of becoming more and more national and popular, although at present it +is only resorted to by the lower class of the American population; +boatmen, Kentuckians, Mississippi traders, and backwoods-men of every +description. The pieces are execrably performed. The late Charles Von +Weber would not have been much delighted at witnessing the performance +of his Der Freyshutz, here metamorphosed into the wild huntsmen of +Bohemia. Six violins, which played any thing but music, and some voices +far from being human, performed the opera, which was applauded; the +Kentuckians expressed their satisfaction in a hurrah, which made the +very walls tremble. The interior of the theatre has still a mean +appearance. The curtain consists of two sail cloths, and the horrible +smell of whiskey and tobacco is a sufficient drawback for any person who +would attempt to frequent this place of amusement. The French theatre +performs the old classic productions of Corneille, Racine, Voltaire, +with the addition of some new ones, such as Regulus, Marie Stuart, and +William Tell. The best performer of this theatre, is Madame Clauzel. + +Towards the close of December, the carnival commences; society balls, +masquerades, or routs, besides a number of private balls, are then the +order of the day. The first, the third, and the last masquerade, and the +society balls, are the most splendid. They are regularly attended by the +daughters of the merchants and planters, who at this time come to the +city. There is, however, nothing more tiresome than a masked ball in New +Orleans. Some young merchants, and sons of planters, took it into their +heads to assume the character of poor paddies, and they dressed +themselves accordingly. This would have been for the most unaccomplished +American or English Miss, a fair opportunity for displaying at least +some wit. But the creole Demoiselles, when addressed by their lovers, +had not a word to say, except, "Oh, we know that you are no Paddies--You +are very respectable--You are the wealthy C." Another would say, "Oh, I +know that you are not an Irishman--You are the rich Y." This was the +conversation all round. Still more tedious are the public balls given +in commemoration of the eighth of January, on the anniversary of the +birth-day of Washington, &c. Until last year, and owing to the shyness +of the creoles towards their new brothers, the Americans and creoles +stood with their ladies apart, neither speaking nor dancing with one +another. Last year both parties seemed willing to draw nearer to each +other. Even these entertainments, as well as more important affairs, are +very subordinate to the all-powerful desire of "making money." This is +the final object of every one, and on every occasion. Any pursuit of a +different tendency than that of gaining money, is neglected, and deemed +unworthy of consideration. That which every town of 2000 inhabitants is +now provided with, a reading-room and circulating library, you would +seek in vain at New Orleans. Though the Anglo-Americans attempted to +establish such an institution, which is indispensable in a great +commercial city, it failed through the unwillingness of the creoles to +trouble their heads with reading. Churches or theatres are not more +patronised. To improve the moral condition is far from their thoughts, +every one being bent upon--making money, as quickly as possible, in +order the sooner to leave the place. New Orleans, considering its +situation, should again be what it was lately, were it not for the +detestable selfishness which pervades all classes, and has established a +dominion over the mind, as painful as it is disgusting. The complaints +about luxury are unfounded. The wealthy inhabitants live by no means in +such high style as they do at New York, Boston, and even Richmond, upon +a less income. There is no cause for finding fault with their +extravagance, or their dissolute manners, not because they have better +moral principles, but because they are too selfish to indulge in +pleasures that would cost "money," and would mar their principal object, +which is to amass it. The American from the north, whilst he inhabits +New Orleans, lives in a style far inferior to that in which he indulges +at home; and even if he be a permanent settler, he chooses rather to go +to the north in order to spend his money there. Only three American +houses can be said to receive good company, the rest are creoles. The +living in New Orleans, however, is good, though expensive. Board and +lodging in a respectable house, will cost sixty dollars a month; in an +inferior one, forty. The proper season of business for strangers, and +those not accustomed to the climate, is the winter. In the summer, every +one retires to the north, or across the lake, only such persons +remaining as are compelled from circumstances to do so. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + The Climate of Louisiana.--The Yellow Fever. + + +That a country, the fourth part of which consists of marshes, stagnant +waters, rivers, and lakes, and which is so near the torrid zone, cannot +be altogether healthy, is not to be denied. Although Louisiana is not so +salubrious a country as the creoles or settlers inured to the climate, +would persuade us that it is; on the other hand it is not the seat of +the plague, or of continued disease, as the North Americans or Europeans +imagine. Louisiana is no doubt a most agreeable country during the +winter and spring. The former commences in December, and continues +through January. Rains and showers will sometimes fall, during several +successive weeks, snow very seldom. North and north-east winds prevail; +a south wind will occasionally change the temperature, on a sudden, from +a northern April day to the heat of summer. The coldest winter +experienced for twenty years past, was that of the year 1821; the +gutters were choked up with ice, and water exposed in buckets, froze to +the thickness of an inch and a half. Fahrenheit's thermometer fell to +20° below zero. In this year, the orange, lime, and even fig-trees were +destroyed by the frost. + +Towards the close of January the Mississippi rises, and the ice of the +Ohio breaks up. This river, seldom, however, causes an inundation. This +is generally reserved for the Missouri, the principal river that empties +itself into the Mississippi. With the month of February the spring +breaks forth in Louisiana. Frequent rains fall in this month, the +vegetation advances astonishingly, and the trees receive their new +foliage. On the 1st of March we had potatoes grown in the open fields, +pease, beans, and artichokes. South winds prevail alternately with +north-west winds. The month of March is undoubtedly the finest season in +Louisiana; there are sometimes night frosts, though scarcely felt by any +one except the creoles, and the equally tender orange flowers. The +thermometer is in this month at 68°-70°. At this time prevails a +disease, the influenza, which arises from the sudden alternations of +cold and warm weather; it has carried off several persons. It is always +necessary to wear cotton shirts, whether in cold or warm weather. +Towards the close of March, the fruit-trees have done blooming, the +forests are clad in their new verdure, and all nature bursts out in the +most exuberant vegetation; every thing develops itself in the country +with gigantic strides. Already the musquitoes are beginning to make +their troublesome appearance, and musquito bars become necessary. Still +the heat is moderate, being cooled by the north winds and the refreshing +waters of the Mississippi. May brings with it the heat of a northern +summer, moderated however, by cooling north and north-east breezes. The +thermometer is at 78° to 80°. At this season, frequent showers and +hurricanes coming from the south, rage with the utmost fury in those +extensive plains. With the month of June the heats become oppressive; +there is not a breath of air to be felt; the musquitos come in millions; +one is incessantly pursued by those troublesome insects. The worst, +however, is, that they will sometimes force their way through the +musquito bars. Nothing is more disagreeable than this buzzing sound, and +the pain occasioned by their sting; they keep you from sleeping the +whole night. Still they are not so troublesome as the millepedes, an +insect whose sting causes a most painful sensation. In the month of July +the heat increases. August, September, and October, are dangerous months +in New Orleans. A deep silence reigns during this time in the city, most +of the stores and magazines are shut up. No one is to be seen in the +streets in the day time except negroes and people of colour. No carriage +except the funeral hearse. At the approach of evening the doors open, +and the inhabitants pour forth, to enjoy the air, and to walk on the +Levee above and below the city. The yellow fever has not made its +appearance since 1822. It is not the extraordinary heat which causes +this baneful disease, the temperature seldom exceeding 100°. In the year +1825, when the thermometer rose in New York and Boston above 108°, it +was in New Orleans, no more than 97°. It is the pestilential miasmata +which rise from the swamps and marshes, and infect the air to a degree +which it is difficult to describe. These oppressive exhalations load the +air, and it is almost impossible to draw breath. If a breeze comes at +all, it is a south wind, which, from its baneful influence, exhausts the +last remaining force after throwing you into a dreadful state of +perspiration. The years 1811, 1814, and 1823, were the most terrible of +any for New Orleans. From sixty to eighty persons were buried every day, +and nothing was to be seen but coffins carried about on all sides. Whole +streets in the upper suburb, (inhabited chiefly by Americans and +Germans) were cleared of their inhabitants, and New Orleans was +literally one vast cemetery. Among the inhabitants, the poorer classes +were mostly exposed to the attacks of the unsparing and deadly disease, +as their situation did not permit them to stay at home; thus women were +for this reason, less exposed to its effects; and least of all the +wealthiest inhabitants, who were not compelled to quit their dwellings. +The creoles and others who were seasoned to the climate, were little +affected. The creole, mulatto, and negro women, are said to be the most +skilful in the cure of the disease. In 1822, hundreds of patients died +under the hands of the most experienced physicians, when these old women +commonly succeeded in restoring their own patients. Their preservatives +and medicines are as simple as they are efficacious, and every stranger +who intends to stay the summer in New Orleans, should make himself +acquainted with one of these women, in case a necessity should arise for +requiring their attendance. They give such ample proofs of their +superior skill, as to claim in this point a preference over the ablest +physicians. + +The inhabitants are in general forewarned of the approaching disease, by +the swarms of musquitoes; although they come in sufficient quantity +every summer, they make their appearance in infinitely greater numbers +previously to a yellow fever. + +This is said to have been the case on the three occasions already +mentioned. At such a time all business is of course suspended. The port +is empty, the stores are shut up. Those officers alone whose presence is +indispensable, or who have overcome the yellow fever, will remain with a +set of wretches, who, like beasts of prey feed upon the relics of the +dead, speculating upon the misery of their fellow creatures so far, as +not unfrequently to buy at auctions the very beds upon which they have +been known to expire in a few days afterwards. The first rain, succeeded +by a little frost, banishes the deadly guest, and every one returns to +his former business. + +It is to be hoped, that this scourge of the land, if it should not be +wholly extirpated, will at least become less prevalent for the future. +The police regulations adopted during the last four years, have proved +very effectual. Among these are a strict attention to cleanliness, +watering the streets by means of the gutters, shutting up the grog-shops +after nine o'clock; and removing from the city all the poor and +houseless people, at the expense of the corporation, as soon as the +least indication of approaching infection is perceived. These, and +several other wise regulations will, it is hoped, contribute greatly to +increase the population, and to give the new comers a firmer guarantee +for their lives, than they have hitherto found. When the plans in +contemplation shall have been carried into effect, and the swamps behind +the city drained, a measure the more beneficial, as the soil of these +swamps is beyond all imagination fertile; then the surrounding country, +and the city itself, will become as healthy as any other part of the +Union. With the increasing population, we have no doubt, that Louisiana +will present the same features, as Egypt in former days, bearing, as +it does, the most exact resemblance to that country. During six +months, and already at the present time, it is a delightful place, +successfully resorted to from the north, by persons in a weak state of +health. The mildness of the climate, which even during the two winter +months, is seldom interrupted by frost, the most luxuriant tropical +fruits--bananas, pine-apples, oranges, lemons, figs, cocoa-nuts, &c., +partly reared in the country, partly imported in ship loads from the +Havannah, a distance of only a few hundred miles; excellent oysters, +turtle of the best kind, arriving every hour; fish from the lake +Pontchartrain; game, venison of all sorts; vegetables of the finest +growth,--all these advantages give New Orleans a superiority over almost +every other place. Sobriety, temperance, and moderation in the use of +sensual enjoyments, and especially in the intercourse with the sex, with +a strict attention to the state of health, and an instant resort to the +necessary preservatives in case of derangement in the digestive +system,--such are the precautions that will best enable a stranger to +guard against the attacks of the disorders incident to this place. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.--Planters, Farmers, Merchants, and + Mechanics. + + +Whoever emigrates from a northern to a southern climate, experiences +more or less a change in his constitution; his blood is thinned, and in +a state of greater effervescence, and his frame weakened in consequence. +The least derangement in the digestive system in this case, produces a +bilious fever. + +The new comers emigrating to Louisiana, are either planters, farmers, +merchants, or mechanics. The former, being more or less wealthy, come +for the purpose of establishing themselves, and usually buy sugar or +cotton lands, on the banks of the Mississippi, or Red-river, which, +though in general healthy, are, on the other hand, a sure grave to those +who neglect taking the necessary precautions. Planters descend to +Louisiana in the winter months; but as the heat increases every moment, +and has a debilitating effect upon their bodies, accustomed to a cold +climate, they attempt to counterbalance this weakness by an excessive +use of spirituous liquors, to promote digestion. Notwithstanding bad +omens, and in spite of the advice of their more experienced neighbours, +their mania for making money keeps them there during the summer, and +they fall victims to their avidity for gain. + +Whoever intends to establish a plantation in Louisiana, has the free +choice between the low lands on the Mississippi, or the Red-river. There +are upwards of 200,000 acres of sugar lands still unoccupied. He may +settle himself on the banks of the above-mentioned rivers, without the +least fear, the yellow fever seldom or never penetrating to the +plantations. Thousands of planters live and continue there without +experiencing any attack of sickness. After having bought his lands, and +obtained possession, he may stay till the month of May, taking the +necessary measures for the improvement of the plantation, leave his +directions with his overseer, and remove to the north. His house, if +along the banks of the Mississippi, should be built not far from the +river, in order that he may enjoy the cooling freshness of its waters. +In the rear of his plantation, and about his house, he sows the seed of +sun-flowers, to preserve his slaves from the morning and night +exhalations of the swamps; a measure which, trifling as it may seem, +will have an incredible effect in improving the air. + +With a capital of 25,000 dollars, 5,500_l._ sterling, he may purchase at +the present time, 2,000 acres of land, for a sum of from 3 to 4,000 +dollars, and thirty stout slaves for 15,000 dollars; there will remain +7,000 for his first year's expenses. The establishment of a sugar +plantation amounts to not more than the above stated sum of 25,000 +dollars. The produce of the third year, if the plantation be properly +managed, amounts to 150,000 pounds of sugar, valued at 12,000 dollars, +besides the molasses, the sale of which will cover the household +expenses; each negro, therefore, yielding a clear annual income of 400 +dollars. + +Failures in sugar crops in plantations along the banks of the +Mississippi, never occur, except beyond 30° 30' of north latitude. The +planter, however, cannot expect any thing in the first year from his +sugar fields; the canes yielding produce only eighteen months after +having been planted. The planting takes place from August until +December, by means of eye-slips. The process at the sugar-houses is +sufficiently known. These plantations, if well managed and well attended +to, are, owing to the great and constant demand for sugar, the surest +way of realising a capital, though the management requires considerable +care and attention. + +Cotton plantations are not to be judged according to the same estimate. +A cotton plantation may now be established by means of a capital of +10,000 dollars. 3000 dollars for the purchase of 1500 or 2000 acres of +land, on the banks of the Mississippi, from Baton Rouge up to the +Walnut-hills, on both sides of the river; or what is still preferable, +on the banks of the Red-river. Ten slaves at 5000 dollars, leaves 2000 +for the first year's current expenses. The beginner will not find it +difficult to clear fifty acres in the first twelve months; and to raise +from twenty-five acres, thirty bales of cotton, the produce of which +will, with the crop of corn from the remaining twenty-five acres, keep +him for the first year, the cotton alone being worth 1500 dollars, +independently of the corn. The following year he may raise sixty bales, +giving an income of 3000 dollars, every slave thereby yielding about 300 +dollars; proceeding thus in a manner which in a few years more will +render his income equal to his original capital. + +There are still unappropriated above two millions of acres of cotton +lands, of the very first quality, in the state of Louisiana; and though +it sometimes happens that the plants are killed by the frosts, as was +the case in the spring of 1826, these accidents seldom affect the +profits. The management of a cotton plantation is by no means +difficult, as it differs but little from that bestowed upon Indian corn, +and requires only a strict superintendence over the negroes. + +The cultivation of indigo has latterly been neglected, though 200,000 +acres of land in the state of Louisiana are well adapted for it. This +neglect was occasioned by the injurious effects produced upon the +labourer by the watering of the plants, and the exhalations from them. + +The cultivation of rice is more extensive. There are 200,000 acres +unoccupied. Planters generally combine the cultivation of this plant +with that of cotton or sugar. Tobacco of a superior quality is reared +about Natchitoches and Alexandria; the produce is little inferior to +that of Cuba. The price of a stout male negro is 500 dollars; if a +mechanic, from 6 to 900 dollars; females from 350 to 400 dollars; so +that 5000 dollars will purchase five men, two of them mechanics, and +five stout women, and enable their master at once to set about a +plantation, which will, in the course of three years, double the capital +of the owner, without his exposing himself to any risk. + +The easy way in which the planters of Louisiana are found to accumulate +wealth, excites in every one the desire of pursuing the same road, +without having the necessary means at command. Hundreds of respectable +farmers have paid with their lives for a neglect of this truth. +Instigated by the anxiety to become rich, and unable withal to purchase +slaves, they were under the necessity of labouring for themselves. The +consequence was, they shortly fell victims to their mistaken notions. +One can only be seasoned by degrees to the climate of Louisiana. To +force the march of time and habit, is impossible. The more stout and +healthy the person, the greater the risk. People who, allured by the +prospect of wealth, would attempt to work in this climate as they were +used to do in the north, would fall sick and die, without having +provided for their children, who are then forced upon the charity of +strangers. There are many tracts of second-rate land, equal to land of +the best quality in the northern states, in the west and east of +Louisiana, which are perfectly healthy, and where farmers of less +property may buy lands, and establish labour and corn farms, or raise +cattle in abundance. Those who have proceeded in this way, which is more +proportioned to their means, have never failed to acquire in the course +of time, a large fortune, as by the open water communication the produce +can easily be conveyed to New Orleans, where, in the summer, they find a +ready and advantageous market. These parts have hitherto been too much +neglected, to which circumstance it is greatly owing that New Orleans, +at certain seasons, is almost destitute of provisions, when the waters +of the tributary rivers of the Mississippi, Ohio, &c., are low. + +A third class of settlers in Louisiana are merchants. New Orleans has +unfortunately the credit of being a place to which wealth flows in +streams, and it is consequently the resort of all adventurers from +Europe and America, who come hither in the expectation, that they have +only to be on the spot to make money. Thousands of these ill-fated +adventurers have lost their lives in consequence. It is true, that most +of the wealthy merchants were needy adventurers, who began with scarcely +a dollar in their pockets, as pedlars, who sold pins and glass beads to +the Indians. But the surest way for the merchant who wishes to begin +with a small capital, will always be to settle in one of the smaller +towns, Francisville, Alexandria, Natchitoches, Baton Rouge, &c. Those +who have followed this course grew wealthy in a short time. I admit +there is an exception with respect to such as have a sufficient capital +to begin business with in the city itself, or to embark in commercial +relation with Great Britain, the north of the Union, or the continent of +Europe. + +The commission trade is advantageous in the extreme; and the clear +income realised in commercial business by several merchants, amounts to +50,000 dollars a year. All the French, English, and Spaniards, who have +established themselves in this place, have become rich, especially if +the individuals of the latter nations were conversant with the French +language. + +For manufacturers, there is in New Orleans little prospect. In a slave +state, where of course hard labour is performed only by slaves, whose +food consists of Indian corn, and at the most, of salt meat, and their +dress of cotton trowsers, or a blanket rudely adapted to their shapes, +the mechanic cannot find sufficient customers. Half of the inhabitants +have no need of his assistance; and as he cannot renounce his habits of +living on wheat flour, fresh meat, &c., provisions which at certain +seasons are very dear in New Orleans, his existence there must be very +precarious. The charges are proportionably enormous. The price for the +making of a great coat, is from fourteen to sixteen dollars; of a coat, +from ten to twelve dollars. The greatest part of the inhabitants, +therefore, buy their own dresses ready made in the north. The wealthy +alone employ these mechanics. + +There are yet several trades which would answer well in New Orleans, +such as clever tailors, confectioners, &c. But as almost every article +is brought into this country, the mechanics have rather a poor chance of +succeeding, and if not provided with a sufficient capital, they are +exposed to great penury until they can find customers. This class of +people are very little respected, and hardly more so than the people of +colour in Louisiana. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + Geographical Features of the State of Louisiana.--Conclusion. + + +Louisiana lies under the same degree of north latitude as Egypt, and +bears a striking resemblance to that country. Their soil, their climate, +and their very rivers, exhibit the same features, with the exception, +that the Mississippi runs from north to south, whereas the Nile takes an +opposite course. Close to the eastern bank of the former, we find a +continued series of Cyprus, swamps, and lakes, sometimes intersected by +a tributary stream of the Mississippi, with elevated banks or hills. +Farther towards the east are large tracts of lands, with pinewoods +stretching towards the river Mobile, which resembles the Mississippi in +every thing, except in size. Further southward, between the Mississippi +and Mobile, we find the rivers Amite, Tickfah, Tangipao, Pearl, +Pascagola, emptying themselves into a chain of lakes and swamps, running +in a south-east direction from the Mississippi to the mouth of the +Mobile. Further to the westward is the Mississippi in its meandering +course, its banks lined with plantations from Natchez to New Orleans, +each plantation extending half a mile back to the swamps. South of New +Orleans, is another chain of swamps, lakes, and bayons, terminating in +the gulf of Mexico. West of the Mississippi, a multitude of rivers flow +in a thousand windings, lined with impenetrable forests of cyprus, +cotton trees, and cedars, intermixed with canebrack and the palmetta. In +this labyrinth of rivers, the Red-river, the Arkansas, the White-river, +and Tensaw rivers are seen meandering. Farther east are the immense +prairies of Opelausas, and Attacapas, interspersed here and there with +rising farms, forests along the banks of the Red-river, and more to the +westward the great prairies, the resort of innumerable buffaloes and of +every kind of game. The Red-river, like the Mississippi, forms an +impenetrable series of swamps and lakes. Beyond this river are seen +pinewoods, from which issues the Ouachitta, losing itself afterwards in +the Delta of the Mississippi. Beyond these pine woods, in a north +western direction, rise the Mazernes mountains, extending from the east +to west 200 miles, and forming the boundary line between east and west +Louisiana. To the north and west of the Red-river, the country is dry +and healthy, but of inferior quality; to the east we find a chain of +lakes; to the south another chain. In summer they dry up, thus affording +fine pasturage to buffaloes. In autumn, with the rising of the rivers, +they again fill with water. Southward is a continued lake, intermixed +with swamps, which terminate at last in the gulph of Mexico. + +Louisiana, though the smallest of the states and territories formed out +of the ancient Louisiana, is by far the most important, and the central +point of the western commonwealth. Its boundaries are, on the south, the +Gulph of Mexico; on the west, the Mexican province of Tecas; on the +north, the Arkansas territory, and the state of Mississippi; and on the +east, the state of Mississippi, and Mexico. The number of inhabitants +amounts to 190,000, 106,000 of whom are people of colour. The +constitution of the state inclines to Federal. The governor, the +senators, and the representatives, in order to be eligible, must be +possessed of landed property--the former to the amount of at least 5000 +dollars, the next 1000, and the latter 500. Every citizen of the state +is qualified to vote. The government in this, as well as in every other +state, is divided into three separate branches. The chief magistrate of +the state is elected for the term of four years. Under him he has a +secretary of state. The present governor is an Anglo-American; Mr. +Johnson, the secretary, is a Creole. + +The legislative branch is composed of the senators, and of the house of +representatives. The former consists of sixteen members, elected for the +term of four years. They choose from among themselves a president, who +takes the place of the governor, in case of the demise of the +latter.[K] The house of representatives consists of forty-four members, +headed by a speaker; the court of justice of three judges of the +district court, a supreme judge of the criminal court of New Orleans, +and eight district judges, with an equal number of district attorneys. +The sessions are held every Monday. The parish and county courts have +twenty-eight county or parish judges, twenty-six sheriffs, and 159 +lawyers, to assist them in their labours. In a political view, the +acquisition of Louisiana is no doubt the most important occurrence in +the United States since the revolution; and, considered altogether, it +may be called a second revolution. Independently of the pacific +acquisition of a country containing nearly a million and a half of +square miles, with the longest river in the world flowing through a +valley several thousand miles in length and breadth, their geographical +position is now secured, and they form, since the further acquisition +of Florida, a whole and compact body, with a coast extending upwards of +1000 miles along the gulph of Mexico, and 500 miles on the Pacific +ocean. Whether the vast increase of wealth amassed by most of those who +settled on the banks of the Mississippi will prove strong enough to +retain this political link unbroken, is very much to be doubted. It is +very clear that the inhabitants of the valley of the Mississippi, and +especially of Louisiana, entertain a feeling of estrangement from their +northern fellow citizens. + +[K] The governor of Louisiana has 5000 dollars a year: the governors of +other states either 2 or 3000 dollars. According to the American money, +four dollars forty-four cents make a pound: a dollar has 100 cents. + +With the exception of a number of respectable Americans, Louisiana and +the valley of the Mississippi have hitherto been the refuge of all +classes of foreigners, good and bad, who sought here an asylum from +oppression and poverty, or from the avenging arm of justice in their +native countries. Many have not succeeded in their expectations--many +have died--others returned, exasperated against a country which had +disappointed their hopes, because they expected to find superior beings, +and discovered that they were men neither worse nor better than their +habits, propensities, country, climate, and a thousand other +circumstances had made them. The fault was theirs. Though there exists +not, perhaps, a country in the world where a fortune can be made in an +easier way, yet it cannot be made without industry, steadiness, and a +small capital to begin with--things in which these people were mostly +deficient. And there is another circumstance not to be lost sight of. +Whoever changes his country should have before him a complete view and a +clear idea of the state in which he intends to settle, as well as of the +rest of the Union: he ought to depend upon his own means, on himself in +short, and not upon others. Upon no other terms will prosperity and +happiness attend the emigrant's exertions in the United States. The +foreign mechanic who, emigrating into the United States, selects the +states of New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio, will find sufficient +occupation, his trade respected, and his industry rewarded by wealth and +political consequence. The manufacturer with a moderate capital, will +choose Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and the like places. The merchant who is +possessed of 2 or 3000 dollars, and settles in Ohio, in the north +western part of Pennsylvania, or over in Illinois, will, if he be +prudent and steady, have no reason to complain of the Yankees. The +farmer, with a capital of from 3 to 4000 dollars, will fix upon the +state of Ohio, in preference to any other, especially if he comes +accompanied only by his own family, and is therefore obliged to rely on +the friendly assistance of his neighbours. He will there prefer the +lands adjacent to navigable rivers, or to the rise of the new canal. If +he goes beyond Ohio, he will find eligible situations in Illinois, and +in Missouri. Any one who can command a capital exceeding 10,000 dollars, +who is not incumbered with a large family, and whose mind does not +revolt at the idea of being the owner of slaves, will choose the state +of Mississippi, or of Louisiana, and realize there in a short time a +fortune beyond his most sanguine expectations. He has his choice there +of the unsold lands along the Mississippi, and Red-river, in the +parishes of Plaquemines or Bayon Bastier; in the interior, of La +Fourche, Iberville, Attacapas, Opelousas, Rapides, Nachitoches, +Concordia, New Feliciana, and all the way up the Mississippi, to +Walnut-hills, four hundred miles above New Orleans. All that has been +urged against the unhealthiness of the country may be answered in these +few words. Louisiana, though not at every season of the year equally +salubrious, is far healthier than Cuba, Jamaica, and the West Indies in +general. Thousands of people live free from the attacks of any kind of +fever. On the plantations there is not the least danger.--In New Orleans +the yellow fever has not appeared these four years past, and the place +is so far from being unhealthy now, that the mortality for the last +three years was less in this place than in Boston, New York and +Philadelphia. Cleanliness, sobriety, a strict attention to the digestive +system, and the avoiding of strong liquors, and exposure to heat, or to +the rising miasmata, will keep every one as healthy in Louisiana as any +where else. The neglect of proper precautions will cause as serious +inconvenience in Louisiana as in any other country. This is the real +condition of the state, and those acquainted with it will readily bear +testimony to the correctness of my opinion, that it holds out not only +to British emigrants, but also to capitalists of that country, +advantages far surpassing those of their own vast dominions in any +quarter of the globe. + +In Louisiana they should embark a part of their capital, not in land +speculations, or in buying extensive tracts, which they have to sell in +the course of time in small parcels, but in plantations. These are +sources of wealth far superior to the gold mines of Mexico, and are +guaranteed by a firm constitution, and by the character and the habits +of a liberal people, taken in the whole, whatever John Bull may have to +say against it. In this manner may the said John Bull still reap the +reward of his having formed and maintained the first settlements in the +United States, at a vast expense of blood and treasure. + +This would be the means of drawing closer the now rather relaxed ties +which formerly united him with his kinsman, for Brother Jonathan is +neither so bad as John Bull supposes him to be, nor so faultless as he +fancies himself.--_Medium tenuere beati._ + + +THE END. + + + + + TABLE + + OF THE + + STATES, COUNTIES, CITIES, TOWNS, AND VILLAGES. + + + _Pittsburgh_, county town of _Alleghany_ county. + + _Alleghany_ (river), _Monongehela_ (river). + + _Oeconomy_, Rapp's Settlement in Beaver county. + + _Zanesville_, capital of _Muskiagum_ county. + + _New Lancaster_, capital of _Fairfield_ county. + + _Columbus_, capital of the State of _Ohio_. + + _Chilicothe_, capital of the _Sciota_ county. + + _Franklintown_, capital of _Franklin_ county. + + _Cincinnati_, capital of _Hamilton_ county. + + _Newport_, capital of _Campbell_ county, in _Kentucky_. + + _Vevay_, capital of _New Switzerland_ county, in the State of + _Indiana_. + + _Madisonville_, capital of _Jefferson_ county. + + _Charlestown_, capital of _Clark_ county. + + _Jeffersonville_, capital of _Floyd_ county. + + _Clarkesville_ and _New Albany_, villages of _Floyd_ county. + + _Louisville_, capital of _Jefferson_ county, in _Kentucky_. + + _Shippingport_ and _Portland_, villages. + + _Troy_, capital of _Crawford_ county. + + _Owensborough_, capital of _Henderson_ county. + + _Harmony_, in _Indiana_, second settlement of _Rapp_, purchased + 1823, by _Owen_, of _Lanark_. + + _Shawneetown_, in the State of _Illinois_. + + _Fort Massai_, in the State of _Illinois_. + + _Golconda_, capital of _Pope_ county. + + _Vienna_, capital of _Johnson_ county. + + _America_, capital of _Alexander_ county. + + _Trinity_, village of _Alexander_. + + _Kaskakia_, _Cahokia_, towns of _Illinois_. + + _Vandalia_, capital of the State of _Illinois_. + + _Hamburgh_, village in _Illinois_. + + _Cape Girardeau_, capital of the county of the same name. + + _St. Genevieve_ and _Herculaneum_, towns of the State of _Missouri_. + + _City of St. Louis_, capital of _Missouri_ (the state). + + _New Madrid_, capital of _New Madrid_ county. + + _Tennessee_, State of + + _Nashville_, _Knoxville_, towns of _Tennessee_, and _New + Ereesborough_, capital of the State. + + _Hopefield_, capital of _Hempstead_ county. + + _St. Helena_, village of _Arkansas_ territory. + + _Vixburgh_, capital of _Warren_ county. + + _Warrington_, village of _Warren_ county. + + _Palmyra Plantations_, _Bruinsburgh_, _Natchez_ (city of), in the + State of _Mississippi_. + + _Gibsonport_, capital of _Gibson_ county. + + _Baton Rouge_, _Plaquemines_, _Manchac_, _Bayon_, _Tourche_, the + former the capital of the county, and the latter bayons. + + _New Orleans_ (city of), the capital of _Louisiana_. + +IN CHAPTER XIX. THE FOLLOWING RIVERS OCCUR. + + _Mobile_--the rivers _Amite_, _Tickfah_, _Tangipao_, _Pearl_, + _Pascaguala_, _Arkansas_, _White_ and _Red-River_, _Tensaw_. + + _Plaquemines_, _Interior of la Tourche_, _Iberville_, _Attacapas_, + _Opelousas_, _Rapides_, _Natchitoches_, _Concordia_, _Avoyelles_, + _New Feliciana_, _Parishes of Louisiana_. + +N.B. The Counties in the State of Louisiana, are called Parishes. + + + _Printed by Bradbury & Dent, Bolt-court, Fleet-street._ + + +Transcriber's Note + +Minor errors in punctuation are corrected silently. + +In the final table of place names, 'New Ereesborough' is referred to +as the state capital of Tennessee. This seems a corruption of +'Murfreesborough', which was the capital until 1826. + +The following issues, which were deemed printer's errors, and their +resolutions are described here: + +p. ii [t]hroughout] Added. + +p. 80 approach[e]d Added. + +p. 82 Baton [D/R]ouge Corrected. + +p. 99 hickor[i]y Removed. + +p. 108 backswood-man / backwoods-man Corrected. + +p. 206 Fran[s]cisville Removed. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Americans as They Are, by Charles Sealsfield + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44268 *** diff --git a/44268-h/44268-h.htm b/44268-h/44268-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e12b935 --- /dev/null +++ b/44268-h/44268-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4251 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Americans as they are; described in a tour through the valley of the Mississippi, by Charles Sealesfield: a Project Gutenberg eBook. + </title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.xs {font-size: x-small; } +.xlarge {font-size: x-large; } +.smaller { font-size: 80%; } +.smallest { font-size: 60%; } + +h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + margin-bottom: 1.0em; + clear: both;} + +td { + text-align: left; + } + +a:link { text-decoration: none; } + +p { + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin: 0.5em auto; +} + +p.chapterhead { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; +} + +.summary { + font-size: 95%; + margin-bottom: 1.5em; + text-align: center; +} + +.dateline { font-size: 95%; margin-top: 1em; font-weight: normal; + text-align: right; padding-right: 5%;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.titlepage {text-indent: 0em; + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; + margin-top: 2em; + line-height: 200%; } + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + border-color: #CC6633; +} + +hr.tb {width: 35%; } + +hr.chap {width: 65%; + page-break-before: always; } + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} +.fakesc { font-size: 75%; text-transform: uppercase; } + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +#errata td { font-size: 90%; + text-align: left; + padding-top: 1em; + padding-right: 0.5em; + vertical-align: top; } + +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px; + margin-left: 1em;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 5%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { +/* vertical-align: super; */ + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +.hang { padding-left: 0.50in; + text-indent: -0.25in; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: left; } + +a[title].pagenum { position: absolute; right: 3%; } + +a[title].pagenum:after +{ + content: attr(title); + border: 1px solid silver; + display: inline; + font-size: x-small; + text-align: right; + color: #808080; + background-color: inherit; + font-style: normal; + padding: 1px 4px 1px 4px; + font-variant: normal; + font-weight: normal; + text-decoration: none; + text-indent: 0; + letter-spacing: 0; +} + +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:smaller; + padding:0.5em; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; } + +.covernote {visibility: hidden; display: none;} + +@media handheld, print +{ + .covernote {visibility: visible; display: block;} + + hr.chap + { + width: 64%; + margin-left: 18%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + + hr.tb + { + width: 35%; + margin-left:32.5%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + +} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44268 ***</div> + +<div class="transnote"> +<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2> + +<p>Please note that the longitudes used in this text, which predates the +establishment of Greenwich as the reference, used the nation’s capitol, +Washington, D.C. (approx. W 77°) as its basis. Thus, Cincinnati, at +W 84° 30′ on p. 1, is placed at a longitude of 7° 31′. Also, on p. 33, +the location of the state of Indiana is mistakenly given using seconds +(″) of longitude, rather than minutes (′). These were corrected.</p> + +<p>The spelling of place names was fluid at the time and all are retained +here.</p> + +<p>Footnotes, which appeared on the bottom of pages, have been relocated +to the end of the text. They have been lettered consecutively from A to K, +and hyperlinked for ease of reference.</p> + +<p class="covernote">The cover of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in +the public domain.</p> + +<p>Please consult the transcriber’s <a href="#EndNote">end note</a> at the bottom of this text +for any other details.</p> +</div> + + + + +<h1><span class="smallest">THE</span><br /> + AMERICANS AS THEY ARE;<br /> + <span class="xs">DESCRIBED IN</span><br /> + <span class="smallest">A TOUR</span><br /> + <span class="smallest">THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.</span></h1> + +<p class="titlepage">BY THE AUTHOR OF<br /> + “AUSTRIA AS IT IS.”</p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">LONDON:<br /> + HURST, CHANCE, AND CO.<br /> + ST. PAUL’S CHURCH YARD.<br /> + 1828.</p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">LONDON:<br /> + Printed by Bradbury and Dent,<br /> + St. Dunstan’s-ct., Fleet-st.</p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>ADVERTISEMENT.</h2> + + +<p>The publication of this tour was intended for the year 1827. Several +circumstances have prevented it.</p> + +<p>The American is, as far as relates to his own country, justly supposed +to be prone to exaggeration. English travellers, on the contrary, are +apt to undervalue brother Jonathan and his country. The Author has twice +seen these countries, of whose present state he gives a sketch in the +following pages. He is far from claiming for his work any sort of +literary merit. Truth and practical observation are his chief points. +Whether his opinions and statements are correct, it remains for the +reader to judge, and experience to confirm.</p> + +<p class="dateline"><em>London, March, 1828.</em></p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_i" title="i"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>Upwards of half a century has now elapsed since the independence of the +United States became firmly established. During this period two great +questions have been solved, exposing the fallacies of human +calculations, which anticipated only present anarchy and ultimate +dissolution as the fate of the new Republics. The possibility of a +people governing themselves, and being prosperous and happy, time, the +sure ordeal of all projects, has at length demonstrated. Their political +infancy is over,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_ii" title="ii"></a> they are approaching towards manhood, and fully +sensible of their strength, their first magistrate has ventured to utter +those important words contained in his address of 1820: that +“notwithstanding their neutrality, they would consider any attempt on +the part of the European Powers, to extend their system to any portion +of <span class="fakesc">their</span> hemisphere, as dangerous to their peace and safety; and that +they could not admit of any projects of colonization on the part of +Europe.” Thus, for the first time, they have asserted their right of +taking a part <span class="fakesc">DE FACTO</span> in the great transactions of European Powers, and +pronounced their declaration in a tone, which has certainly contributed +to the abandonment of those intentions which were fast ripening into +execution.</p> + +<p>The important influence of American liberty throughout the civilised +world, has been already apparent; and more especially in France, in the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_iii" title="iii"></a> +South American revolutions, and in the commotions in Spain, Portugal, +Naples, and Piedmont. These owe their origin, not to any instigation on +the part of the United States, but to the influence of their example in +raising the standard of freedom, and more than all, to the success which +crowned their efforts. Great has been on the other hand, the influence +of European politics on the North American nation. A party, existing +since the revolution, and extending its ramifications over the whole +United States, is now growing into importance, and guided by the +principles of European diplomacy, is rooting itself deeper and deeper, +drawing within its ranks the wealthy, the enlightened, the dissatisfied; +thus adding every day to its strength. We see, in short, the principle +of monarchy developing itself in the United States, and though it is not +attempted to establish it by means of a revolution, which would +infallibly fail, there is a design to bring it about by that cunning,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_iv" title="iv"></a> +cautious, and I may add, American way, which must eventually succeed; +unless the spirit of freedom be sufficiently powerful to neutralize the +subtle poison in its progress, or to triumph over its revolutionary +results. There have occurred many changes in the United States within +the last ten years. The present rulers have succeeded in so amalgamating +opinions, that whatever may be said to the contrary, only two parties +are now in existence. These are the monarchists, who would become +governors, and the republicans, who would not be governed.</p> + +<p>The object proposed in the following pages has been to exhibit to the +eyes of the European world, the real state of American affairs, divested +of all prejudice, and all party spirit. Adams on the whole is a +favourite with Great Britain. This empire however, has no reason to +admire him; should his plans succeed, the cost to Great Britain would be +the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_v" title="v"></a> loss of her last possession in North America. But as long as the +American Republic continues united, this unwieldy mass of twenty-four +states can never become dangerous.</p> + +<p>Of the different orders of society, there is yet little to be said, but +they are developing themselves as fast as wealth, ambition, luxury, and +the sciences on the one side, and poverty, ignorance, and indirect +oppression on the other, will permit them. There, as every where else, +this is the natural course of things. To show the state of society in +general, and the relative bearings of the different classes to each +other, and thus to afford a clear idea of what the United States really +are, is the second object attempted in this work. To represent social +intercourse and prevailing habits in such a manner as to enable the +future emigrant to follow the prescribed track, and to settle with +security and advantage to himself and to his new country; to afford him +the means of judg<a class="pagenum" id="Page_vi" title="vi"></a>ing for himself, by giving him a complete view of +public and private life in general, as well as of each profession or +business in particular, is the third object here contemplated.</p> + +<p>The capitalist, the merchant, the farmer, the physician, the lawyer, the +mechanic, cannot fail, I trust, to find adequate information respecting +the course which, on their settling in the Union, will be the most +eligible to pursue. Farther explanation I think unnecessary. He who +would consider the following condensed picture of Trans-atlantic society +and manners insufficient, would not be better informed, if I were to +enlarge the work to twice its size. Such an objection would shew him to +be unfit to adventure in the character of a settler in a country where +so many snares will beset his path, and call for no small degree of +natural shrewdness and penetration.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_1">CHAPTER I.</a></p> + +<p>Cincinnati.—Parting glance at Ohio.—Its Government and +Inhabitants.</p> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_18">CHAPTER II.</a></p> + +<p>Tour through the state of Kentucky.—Bigbonelick.—Mammoths.—Two +Kentuckian Characters.—Kentuckian +Scenes.</p> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_31">CHAPTER III.</a></p> + +<p>Vevay.—Geographical Sketch of the state of Indiana—Madison.— +Charleston.—Jeffersonville.—Clarksville.—New Albany.—The Falls of +Ohio.</p> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_43">CHAPTER IV.</a></p> + +<p>Louisville.—Canal of Louisville.—Its Commerce.—Surrounding +Country.—Sketch of the state of Kentucky, and of its Inhabitants.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_53">CHAPTER V.</a></p> + +<p>A Keel-boat journey.—Description of the preparations.—Fall +of the Country.—Troy.—Lady Washington.—The River sport.— +Owensborough.—Henderson.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_66">CHAPTER VI.</a></p> + +<p>Mr. Owen’s of Lanark, formerly Rapp’s settlement.—Remarks on +it.—Keel-boat Scenes.—Cave in Rock.—Cumberland and +Tennessee rivers.—Fort Massai.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_80">CHAPTER VII.</a></p> + +<p>The Mississippi.—General Features of the state of Illinois, and of +its Inhabitants.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_91">CHAPTER VIII.</a></p> + +<p>Excursion to St. Louis.—Fall of the Country.—Sketch of the state of +Missouri.—Return to Trinity.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_99">CHAPTER IX.</a></p> + +<p>The state of Tennessee.—Steam boats on the Mississippi.—Flat Boats.</p> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_110">CHAPTER X.</a></p> + +<p>Scenery along the Mississippi.—Hopefield.—St. Helena.—Arkansas +Territory.—Spanish Moss.—Vixburgh.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_121">CHAPTER XI.</a></p> + +<p>The city of Natchez.—Excursion to Palmira.—Plantations.—The cotton +planter of the state of Mississippi.—Remarks.—Return to Natchez.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_144">CHAPTER XII.</a></p> + +<p>Arrival at New Orleans.—Cursory reflections.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_152">CHAPTER XIII.</a></p> + +<p>Topographical sketch of the City of New Orleans.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_163">CHAPTER XIV.</a></p> + +<p>The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_168">CHAPTER XV.</a></p> + +<p>Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and of +Louisiana.—Creoles.—Anglo Americans.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_179">CHAPTER XVI.</a></p> + +<p>Frenchmen.—Free people of colour.—Slaves.—Public spirit.— +Education.—State of religious worship.—Public entertainments.— +Theatres.—Balls, &c.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_189">CHAPTER XVII.</a></p> + +<p>The Climate of Louisiana.—The yellow fever.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_198">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></p> + +<p>Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.—Planters.—Farmers.—Merchants.— +Mechanics.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_208">CHAPTER XIX.</a></p> + +<p>Geographical features of the state of Louisiana.—Conclusion.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p class="titlepage xlarge"><a class="pagenum" id="Page_1" title="1"></a>AMERICA.</p> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<h2><a id="CHAP_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="summary"> + Cincinnati.—Parting Glance at Ohio.—Character of its Government and + its Inhabitants.</p> + + +<p>The city of Cincinnati is the largest in the state of Ohio: for the last +eight years it has left even Pittsburgh far behind. It is situated in +39° 5′ 54″ north latitude, and 7° 31′ west longitude, on the second bank +of the Ohio, rising gradually and extending to the west, the north, and +the east, for a distance of several miles. The lower part of the city +below the new warehouse, is exposed, during the spring tides, to +inundations which are not, however, productive of serious consequences; +the whole mass of water turning to the Kentuckian<a class="pagenum" id="Page_2" title="2"></a> shore. The river is +here about a mile wide, and assumes the form of a half moon. When viewed +from the high banks, the mighty sheet of water, rolling down in a deep +bed, affords a splendid sight. In 1780, the spot where now stands one of +the prettiest towns of the Union, was a native forest. In that year, the +first attempt was made at forming a settlement in the country, by +erecting a blockhouse, which was called Fort Washington, and was +enlarged at a subsequent period. In the year 1788, Judge Symmes laid out +the town, whose occupants he drew from the New England States. +Successive attacks, however, of the Indians wearied them out, and the +greater part withdrew. The battle gained by General Wayne over these +natives, tranquillised the country; and after the year 1794, Cincinnati +rapidly improved. It became the capital of the western district, which +was erected into a territorial government. When Ohio was declared an +independent state, in the year 1800, Cincinnati continued to be the seat +of the legislature till 1806.</p> + +<p>Fort Washington has since made room for peaceful dwellings. Their number +is at present<a class="pagenum" id="Page_3" title="3"></a> 1560, with 12,000 inhabitants. The streets are regular, +broad, and mostly well paved. The main street, which runs the length of +a mile from the court-house down to the quay, is elegant.—Among the +public buildings, the court-house is constructed in an extremely simple +but noble style; the Episcopalian, the Catholic, and the Presbyterian +churches, the academy and the United States’ bank, are handsome +buildings. Besides these, are churches for Presbyterians, Lutherans, +Methodists, Baptists, Swedenborghians, Unitarians, a Lancasterian +school, the farmers’, the mechanics’, and the Cincinnati banks, a +reading room with a well provided library, five newspaper printing +offices;—among these papers are the Cincinnati Literary Gazette, and a +price current—and the land office for the southern part of the state. +The colonnade of the theatre is, however, a strange specimen of the +architectural genius of the backwoods. Among the manufacturing +establishments, the principal are,—the steam mill on the river, a +saw-mill, cloth and cotton manufactories, several steam engines, iron +and nail manufactories, all on the steam principle. Cincinnati carries +on an important trade with New<a class="pagenum" id="Page_4" title="4"></a> Orleans, and it may be considered as the +staple of the state. The produce of the whole state is brought to +Cincinnati, and shipped down the Ohio and Mississippi. The only +impediments to its uninterrupted trade, are the falls of the Ohio at +Louisville, which obstruct the navigation during eight months in the +year. These obstacles are now on the point of being removed. The exports +from Cincinnati are flour, whisky, salt, hams, pork, beef, dried and +fresh fruits, corn, &c.; the imports are cotton, sugar, rice, indigo, +tobacco, coffee, and spices. The manufactured goods are generally +brought in waggons from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and discharged +there. In order to improve the commerce of Cincinnati, an insurance +company has been formed. There is a committee established for the +inspection of vessels running between New Orleans and this place. There +are a number of steam and other boats building at the present time. For +the benefit of travellers, &c., a line of steam boats is established +between Cincinnati and Louisville; and they start regularly every second +day, performing the voyage of 115 miles to Louisville in twelve, and +back again in twenty hours.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_5" title="5"></a>There are in Cincinnati a great number of wholesale, commission, and +retail merchants; but the want of ready money is as much felt here as +anywhere else, and causes a stagnation of business. The inhabitants are +chiefly American born, with some admixture of Germans, French, and +Irish. As the former are mostly from the New England States, the general +character of the inhabitants has taken an adventurous turn, which is +conspicuous in their buildings. Most of the houses in the city are +elegant, many are truly beautiful; but they belong to the bank of the +United States, which possesses at least 200 of the finest houses in +Cincinnati. The building mania obtained such strong hold of the +inhabitants, that most of them forgot their actual means; and +accordingly, having drawn money from the bank which they were unable to +refund, they had at last to give up lots and buildings to the United +States’ bank. Though this city possesses in itself many advantages over +other towns of the Ohio, and has much the start of them in point of +commerce and manufactures, yet there is little expectation of its +increasing in the same proportion as it has hitherto done. Neither of +the canals which<a class="pagenum" id="Page_6" title="6"></a> are intended to join the Ohio, will come up as far as +this town. The great Ohio canal is to run near the mouth of the Sciota +river; the <em>Dayton</em> canal below Cincinnati; and these places will +attract a considerable part of the population. The third canal, which is +to connect the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and of the Ohio, will be +more advantageous to the towns of Upper Ohio, Marietta, Steubenville, +and Wheeling. Commerce will thus be more equally divided, and Cincinnati +cannot always expect to continue as it has hitherto been, the staple of +the trade to the southward of the Ohio. The merchant possessed of a +moderate capital, if he consult his interest, will not establish himself +at Cincinnati, but at one of the intermediate places of the +above-mentioned three canals. The farmer has eligible spots in the +Tuscarora valleys, about New Lancaster, Columbus, Franklintown, +Pickaway, Chilicathe, and especially in the Sandusky counties on lake +Erie. Mechanics, such as carpenters, cabinet makers, &c., will also find +these new settlements more advantageous markets for their industry than +the city of Cincinnati itself. The manufacturers, of every kind, will +choose either Cincinnati or Pitts<a class="pagenum" id="Page_7" title="7"></a>burgh, but still give the preference +to the former, in spite of its smoke and dirt, as the place most +favoured by natural position, which must necessarily become the first +manufacturing town of the Union, notwithstanding the well-known +inactivity of the Pennsylvanians. But as the state of Ohio must look to +its manufactures, unless it chooses to continue a loser by the exchange +of its raw produce; Cincinnati, whose manufactures have attained a high +degree of perfection, favoured as it is by its coal mines, its water +communication, and the fertility and consequent cheapness of the +necessaries of life, must always possess very great advantages. +Travellers arriving from the north, proceed to the south by way of +Louisville on board a steam boat; and coming from thence, they go either +to the eastward to Philadelphia by the mail stage, or by the same +conveyance northward, through Chilicathe and Columbus, to lake Erie, +where they embark for Buffalo.</p> + +<p>During my stay, on the twenty-fifth of October, a question of some +importance for the inhabitants of Cincinnati was to be decided.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_8" title="8"></a> It was +concerning a stricter police and its necessary regulations. The city +council, with the wealthier class of inhabitants, had been for some time +previous to the decision, engaged in preparing and gaining over the +multitude. I went to the court-house in company with Mr. Bama, a +wholesale merchant, and several gentlemen, to hear the speeches +delivered on both sides, and the result of the motion. It was four +o’clock when we arrived, and about 600 persons were assembled in and +outside of the court-house. The noise, however, was such, that it was +impossible to hear more than detached periods. At eight o’clock, when +almost dark, they had gone through the business, and the poll was about +to commence. The party for abridging public liberty was ordered to go +out on the left:—those who insisted on the preservation of the present +order of things, were to draw off to the right. On arriving before the +court-house, they ranged themselves in two separate ranks, each of which +was counted by the presiding judge. There was a majority of 72 votes in +favour of the party which upheld the present system, and the question +was, therefore, decided in favour of popular<a class="pagenum" id="Page_9" title="9"></a> liberty. I found here, as +well as everywhere else, that the freedom of a community is nowhere more +exposed to encroachments than in large towns, where dissipation and +occupations of every kind are likely to engross the attention of the +people, who leave the magistrates to do what they please. The city +council were on the point of obtaining the majority, had it not been for +the farmers whom the market-day had drawn to town. These, of course, did +not fail to open the eyes of the honest burghers; and the question was +accordingly negatived.</p> + +<p>The prevailing manners of society at Cincinnati, are those peculiar to +larger cities, without the formalities and mannerism of the eastern sea +ports. Freedom of thought prevails in a high degree, and toleration is +exercised without limitation. The women are considered very handsome; +their deportment is free from pride; but simple and unassuming as they +appear, they evince a high taste for literary and mental +accomplishments. The Literary Gazette owes its origin to their united +efforts. There is no doubt that the commanding situation of this +beautiful town, its ma<a class="pagenum" id="Page_10" title="10"></a>jestic river, its mild climate, which may be +compared to the south of France, and the liberal spirit of its +inhabitants, contribute to render this place, both in a physical and +moral point of view, one of the most eligible residences in the Union.</p> + +<p>As much, indeed, may be said of the state of Ohio in general. It +combines in itself all the elements that tend to make its inhabitants +the happiest people on the face of the earth. Nature has done every +thing in favour of this country. In point of fertility, it excels every +one of the thirteen old states; and, owing to its political +institutions, and the abolition of slavery, it has taken the lead among +those newly created.</p> + +<p>Ohio is bounded on the north by lake Erie, on the west by the state of +Indiana, on the south by the river Ohio, and on the east by +Pennsylvania, comprising an area of 4,000 square miles; it is divided +into 71 counties, and has a population of 72,000 souls. This state forms +the eastern extremity of the great valley of the Mississippi, which has +the Alleghany for its eastern, and the Rocky Mountains for its western +boundary, sinking<a class="pagenum" id="Page_11" title="11"></a> by degrees as it approaches the Mississippi, and +extending more than a thousand miles towards the south. The climate of +this state, which presents for the most part the form of an elevated +plain, running between the mountainous Pennsylvania and the swampy +Mississippi states, is temperate, extending from 38° 28′, to 72° 58′ +northern latitude, and from 3° 32′, to 7° 40′ west longitude. Its +temperature varies less than that of other states. Its soil is +inexhaustible; its fertility, especially in the northern and southern +parts, being truly astonishing; and though some portions have been +cultivated upwards of thirty years without being manured, the land still +yields the same quantity of produce. The northern inhabitants of the +state send their produce down to New York by lake Erie, and the Buffalo +canal; the southern find a market in Louisiana and New Orleans. The +middle part suffered greatly from the want of water communication, to +which they are now on the point of applying a remedy, in order to obtain +an intercourse with New York; which, as it is well known, has effected +by means of a canal, a water communication with lake Erie. The Ohions +commenced<a class="pagenum" id="Page_12" title="12"></a> a canal in the year 1825, beginning at Cleveland on the +shores of lake Erie, taking thence a southern course through Tuscarora +county at Zanesville, turning to the right six miles below Columbus, and +running down to the shores of the Ohio. It is intended to be completed +in the space of three years. The state of Ohio expects from this canal, +which if the pecuniary means be considered may be called a gigantic +undertaking, a ready market for its produce in the city and state of New +York; looking forward, at the same time, to become the staple for the +trade between New York and New Orleans. It cannot fail, however, to be +productive of still greater advantage to the United States in general, +and to the cities of New York and New Orleans in particular, which will +thus have the means of a land or water communication, over a space of +nearly 3,000 miles. The first idea of this canal originated with the +state of New York; the citizens of which, when they had finished their +own, encouraged those of Ohio to enter upon a similar undertaking. +Encouragement was not much wanting; the plan of joining the waters of +the Hudson and the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_13" title="13"></a> Mississippi was taken up with enthusiasm; canal +committees were formed; most of the towns in the state sent their +deputies, and after the customary debates, the resolution was adopted. +The only difficulty was to raise the requisite funds. New York offered +to defray the necessary expenses, if allowed the revenue arising from +the new canal, for a certain period. The pride of the Ohions revolted +against the proposition; they preferred raising a loan in New York. In +this respect the government of the state committed a great error. A loan +of three millions of dollars, and the necessary evils attendant upon it, +are certainly a heavy burthen to a new state, which can scarcely reckon +an existence of forty years, especially as the new canal may be +considered a continuation of the great one of New York, and as the +advantage resulting from it to the state can bear no comparison with +that which New York derives from its own.</p> + +<p>New York, already the most important commercial city of the Union, will, +after the completion of this canal, enjoy the trade of the western and +south-western states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ten<a class="pagenum" id="Page_14" title="14"></a>nessee, Mississippi, +&c.; and thus the Ohio canal will rather contribute to the +aggrandizement of New York, than to that of Ohio. Their debt, so out of +proportion with the resources of the state, made the people of Ohio +relax in their ardour for carrying this project into effect, and gave +rise to discontent against the administration of the state. But the same +case happened in New York, and the exultation of the inhabitants of +Ohio, when they see the work accomplished, will scarcely yield to that +which was manifested by the people of the former state. There is, +nevertheless, not any city in the state of Ohio to be compared with New +York, Philadelphia, or Boston, nor is it probable there will be. At the +same time this want is largely compensated by the absence of immorality +and luxury—evils necessarily attached to large and opulent +cities—which may be said to attract the heart’s blood of the country, +and send forth the very dregs of it in return. In Ohio, wealth is not +accumulated in one place, or in a few hands; it is visibly diffused over +the whole community. The country towns and villages are invariably +constructed in a more elegant and tasteful manner than those of +Pennsylvania, and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_15" title="15"></a> the Northern states. There is something grand in +their plan and execution, though the prevailing want or insufficiency of +means to carry them through, is still an obstacle in the way. The farms +and country houses are elegant; I saw hundreds of them, which no English +nobleman would be ashamed of. They are generally of brick, sometimes +of wood, and built in a tasteful style. The turnpike roads are in +excellent order. It is astonishing to see what has been done during a +few years, and under an increasing scarcity of money, by the mere dint +of industry. The traveller will seldom have reason to rail at bad roads +or bad taverns; I could only complain of one of the latter, which stands +upon a road that is seldom travelled. In every county town there are at +least two elegant inns, and the tables are loaded with such a variety of +venison and dishes of every kind, that even a <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">gourmand</em> could not +justly complain.</p> + +<p>The whole state bespeaks a wealthy condition, which, far removed from +riches, rests on the surest foundation—the fertility of the soil, and +the persevering industry of its cultivators.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_16" title="16"></a> Although behind-hand, +perhaps, with the Yankees in literary accomplishments, they are far more +liberal, and intelligent, being endowed with a strong and enterprising +mind. Crimes are here less frequently committed, the inhabitants +consisting of the most respectable classes of the eastern and foreign +states. Only men of moderate property came into the state; the wealthy +were deterred by the difficulties attending a new settlement; the +indigent by the impossibility of getting vacant lands, and thus the +state remained equally free from money-born aristocrats, (certainly the +worst in the world), and from beggars. Its form of government bears +internal evidence of this, the governor of Ohio having neither the +revenue, nor the power of the eastern governors. He is elected for the +term of two years. The constitution bespeaks independence and +liberality. The number of senators cannot exceed thirty, nor the +representatives seventy-two. The general assembly has the sole power of +enacting laws, the signature of the governor being in no case necessary. +The judges are chosen by the legislature for seven years, and the +justices of the peace for the term<a class="pagenum" id="Page_17" title="17"></a> of three years, by their respective +townships. The resolutions of their assembly are quite free from that +narrow-minded prejudice found in Pennsylvania and the southern states, +which sees in the law of Moses the only rule for direction, and loses +sight of that liberal spirit which pervades the law of Christ. The +inhabitants of Ohio are not, however, so religious as their neighbours, +the Pennsylvanians. Their ministers exercise little influence; and +numerous sects contribute greatly to lessen their authority, which is +certainly not the case in the north. The people of Ohio are equally free +from the uncultivated and rude character of the western American, and +from the innate wiliness of the Yankees. This state is not unlike a +vigorous and blooming youth, who is approaching to manhood, and whose +natural form and manner excite our just admiration.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_18" title="18"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Tour through Kentucky.—Bigbonelick.—Mammoths.—Two Kentuckian + Characters.—Kentuckian Scenes.</p> + + +<p>After a stay of six days in Cincinnati I departed; crossed the Ohio in +the ferryboat, and landed in the state of Kentucky, at Newport, a small +country town of Campbell county. It contains, besides the government +arsenal for the western states, a court-house, and about 100 buildings, +scattered irregularly upon the eminence. From thence to Bigbonelick, the +distance is 23 miles; the country is more hilly than on the other side +of the river; it is, however, fertile, the stratum being generally +limestone. The growth of timber is very fine; the trees are<a class="pagenum" id="Page_19" title="19"></a> beech, +sugar-maple, and sycamore. The contrast between Ohio and Kentucky is +striking, and the baneful influence of slavery is very soon discovered. +Instead of elegant farms, orchards, meadows, corn and wheat fields +carefully enclosed, you see patches planted with tobacco, the leaves +neglected; and instead of well-looking houses, a sort of double cabins, +like those inhabited in the north of Pennsylvania by the poorest +classes. In one part lives the family, in the other is the kitchen; +behind these, are the wretched cabins of the negroes, bearing a +resemblance to pigsties, with half a dozen black children playing about +them on the ground.</p> + +<p>About three o’clock I arrived at Bigbonelick, well known for its Mammoth +bones. The lands ten miles on this side of Bigbone are of an indifferent +character, dreary and mountainous. The valley of Bigbone is about a mile +long, and of equal breadth; it no doubt has been the scene of some great +convulsion of nature. The water is seen oozing forth from the many bogs, +and has a saltish taste, impregnated with saltpetre and sulphur. These<a class="pagenum" id="Page_20" title="20"></a> +quagmires are covered with a thin grass, which has the same taste. Their +depth is said to be unfathomable. Whether the Mammoth bones which are +found here, were brought into the valley by a convulsion of the earth, +by an inundation, or whether the animals sunk down when in search of +food, remains to be decided. The first two suppositions seem authorised +by the circumstance, that bones were found, not on their carcases, but +scattered, which could not be the case if they were swallowed up alive. +The same revolution of nature which carried elephants and palm-trees to +Siberia and Lapland, and the lions of Africa to the coast of Gibraltar, +may, in like manner, have brought these animals to Bigbonelick. The +tradition handed down to us by the Indians respecting them, is +remarkable. “In ancient times, it is said, a herd of these tremendous +animals came to the Bigbonelicks, and commenced an universal destruction +among the buffaloes, bears, and elks, which had been created for the +Indians. The Great Spirit looking down from above, became so enraged at +the sight, that taking some of his thunderbolts he descended, seated +himself on a neighbouring rock<a class="pagenum" id="Page_21" title="21"></a> which still bears the print of his +footsteps, and hurling down the bolts among the destroyers, killed them +all with the exception of the big bull, which, turning its front to the +bolts, shook them off; but being struck at last in the side, he turned +round, and with a tremendous leap bounded over the Ohio, the Wabash, the +Illinois, and the great lakes, beyond which he is still living at the +present day.”</p> + +<p>Some few weeks later, I spoke with an Indian trader at Trinity. +According to his account, he found in one of his excursions, traces of a +large animal, belonging to none of the species known to him, and equal +in size to the elephant. On making inquiries of an old Indian, the +latter ascribed the traces to an immense, but very rare animal, the race +of which was almost destroyed by the Great Spirit; there remaining but +very few on the other side of the lakes. He also pretended that he had +seen one of those animals: whether the tale of the Indian, or that of +the trader, a class of people somewhat prone to exaggeration, be true or +not, I am incapable of deciding. I afterwards met this man at New<a class="pagenum" id="Page_22" title="22"></a> +Orleans, and requested him to go along with me to one of my +acquaintances, in order to furnish further information on this subject, +and enable me to give publicity to it, but he pretended business, and +refused to accompany me. The researches which were undertaken here, were +amply rewarded. The greatest part of the early discoveries has been +transmitted to London; a fine collection is exhibiting in the Museum at +Philadelphia, and in the Levee at New Orleans.</p> + +<p>The road from Bigbonelick is, for the distance of ten miles, dreary and +the country barren. I arrived late at a farm-house, of rather a better +appearance, where I intended to stop the night. The first night’s +lodging convinced me but too plainly, that the inhabitants of this +state, justly called in New York, half horse and half alligator, had not +yet assumed a milder character. The farmer, or rather planter, was +absent with his wife; and his brother, who took care of the farm, was at +a horse race; an old man, however, with his daughter, answered my +application for a lodging, in the affirmative. I was supping upon slices +of bacon, roasted corn bread, and some milk,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_23" title="23"></a> when the brother of the +farmer returned from the races with his neighbour. Both had led horses +besides those on which they rode. Before dismounting they discharged +their pistols. Each of the Kentuckians had a pistol in his girdle, and a +poniard in the breast pocket. Before resuming my supper I was pressed to +take a dram. With a quart bottle in one hand, and with the other drawing +the remains of tobacco from his mouth, in rather a nauseous manner, the +host drank for half a minute out of the bottle; then took from the slave +the can with water, and handed the bottle to me, the mouth of which had +assumed, from the remains of the tobacco, a brownish colour. The +Kentuckian looked displeased when I wiped the bottle. I however took no +notice of him, but presented it, after having drunk, to his friend. We +sat down.</p> + +<p>“How far are you come to day?” asked the landlord.</p> + +<p>“From Cincinnati.”</p> + +<p>“You don’t live in Cincinnati, I guess, do you?”</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_024" title="024"></a>“No, sir.”</p> + +<p>“And where do you live?”</p> + +<p>“In Pennsylvania.”</p> + +<p>“A fine distance!” exclaimed my host, “I like the people of Pennsylvania +better than those G——d d——d Yankees, but still they are no +Kentuckians.” I gave my full and hearty assent.</p> + +<p>“The Kentuckians,” continued my landlord, “are astonishingly mighty +people; they are the very first people on earth!”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“They are immensely great, and wonderfully powerful people; ar’nt they?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“They are ten thousand times superior to any nation on earth.”</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_025" title="025"></a>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“How do you like Kentucky?”</p> + +<p>“Very well, sir; I travelled through it four years ago.”</p> + +<p>“G—d d—n my s—l t——e——l d——n!” roared he. “The Pennsylvanians +have not a square mile of land in their state, equal to our poor lands. +Bill,” turning now to his neighbour on the left, “Bill has been marked +in a mighty fine style. G—d d—n, &c., he blooded like a hog.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” replied the neighbour, “Sam has stabbed exceedingly well, I +presume. Bill has to wait four weeks before he may be on his legs again, +if he will be at all. G—d d—n! but to tell Isaac, his horse, which he +thinks so much of, is a poor beast compared with his—and so to give him +the lie. I would have knocked him down, come what might <em>out of it</em>. But +Dick and John!”—and now these two fellows broke out into roaring shouts +of horse laughter. “How<a class="pagenum" id="Page_26" title="26"></a> his eyes twinkled, he looked quite as squire +Toms, when laying all night over the bottle; I guess he never will be +able to set his eyes a-right.”</p> + +<p>“He does not see,” said the neighbour; “the one is quite out of its +socket, and Joe was obliged to carry him home.”</p> + +<p>“Why, the seconds are wonderfully lovely fellows, I warrant you; they +did not spoil the sport with interfering.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, they bore John an old grudge.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, certainly—it was a mighty fine sport; I would not for the world +have missed it. G—d d—n! Dick is a fine gouger—the second turn—John +down—and both thumbs in his eyes.—I presume you have races in +Pennsylvania?” turning to me.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“And fightings and gougings?”</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_027" title="027"></a>“No, sir.” With an expressive look towards his neighbour, he continued: +“Yes, the Pennsylvanians are a quiet, religious sort of people; they +don’t kill anything but their hogs, and prefer giving their money to +their parsons.” The evening passed in these and similar conversations, +of which the above are mere specimens; and it was eleven o’clock before +the interesting pair separated.</p> + +<p>Some miles below Mr. White’s farm, the road divides into two, the one +leading to Newcastle, the other to the Ohio. I stopped at a farm fifteen +miles from my former night’s lodging. The landlord was mounting his +horse for Newcastle; his wife sat in the kitchen, surrounded by eight +negro girls, all busy knitting and sewing. The girls seemed to be in +excellent spirits, and were tolerably well dressed; the house rather +indicated affluence, though it was far from possessing the order and +cleanliness of a few of only half its value in Ohio. It was a simple +brick house; but constructed without the least attention to the rules of +symmetry. The fields were in a very indifferent state. Behind the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_28" title="28"></a> +dwelling, were seen some negro infants at play, while an old negro woman +was preparing my breakfast. The family had thirty-five slaves, both +young and old, forming a capital of at least 10,000 dollars. “Was not I +a fool?” asked the open-hearted landlady, “to marry Mr. Forth, who had +but twelve slaves, and a plantation, with seven children; but they are +provided for;—whereas I had fourteen slaves, and a plantation too, +after my first husband’s decease, and no children at all.”—“I don’t +know,” was my reply, afraid of engaging the old lady in further +discussion. While descanting upon this theme, and on the advantages +resulting to her happy husband from a match so disparaging on her part, +I was allowed to take my breakfast, when some yells and hallooing called +us to the door. A troop of horsemen were passing. Two of the party had +each a negro slave running before him, secured by a rope fastened to an +iron collar. A tremendous horsewhip reminded them at intervals to +quicken their pace. The bloody backs and necks of these wretches, +bespoke a too frequent application of the lash. The third negro had, +however, the hardest lot. The rope of his<a class="pagenum" id="Page_29" title="29"></a> collar was fastened to the +saddle string of the third horseman, and the miserable creature had thus +no alternative left, but to keep an equal pace with the trotting horse, +or to be dragged through ditches, thorns, and copsewood. His feet and +legs, all covered with blood, exhibited a dreadful spectacle. The three +slaves had run away two days before, dreading transportation to +Mississippi or Louisiana. “Look here,” said Mrs. Forth, calling her +black girls, “what is done with the bad negroes, who run away from their +good masters!” With an indifference, and a laughing countenance, which +clearly shewed how accustomed these poor children were to the like +scenes, they expressed their sentiments at this disgusting conduct.</p> + +<p>The road from Mr. Forth’s plantation runs a considerable distance along +ridges, descending finally into the bottom lands along the Ohio. These +are exceedingly fertile. The growth of timber is extremely luxuriant. I +measured a sycamore of common size, and found it seventeen feet in +diameter; their height is truly astonishing. The soil is of a deep brown +colour, and where<a class="pagenum" id="Page_30" title="30"></a> it is turned up, proves to be blackish. The stratum +is generally limestone. I crossed the Ohio at Ghent, in Kentucky, +opposite to Vevay, in Indiana.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_31" title="31"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Vevay.—Geographical Sketch of the State of Indiana.—Madison.— + Charlestown—its Court.—Jeffersonville.—Clarksville.—New + Albany.—The Falls of the Ohio.</p> + + +<p>Vevay, in Indiana, became a settlement twenty years ago, by Swiss +emigrants, who obtained a grant of land, equal to 200 acres for each +family, under the condition of cultivating the vine; they accordingly +settled here, and laid out vineyards. The original settlers may have +amounted to thirty; others joined them afterwards, and in this manner +was founded the county town of New Switzerland, in Indiana, which +consists almost exclusively of these French and Swiss settlers. They +have their vineyards below the town, on the banks of the river Ohio. The +vines, how<a class="pagenum" id="Page_32" title="32"></a>ever, have degenerated, and the produce is an indifferent +beverage, resembling any thing but claret, as it had been represented. +Two of them have attempted to cultivate the river hills, and the +vineyards laid out there are rather of a better sort. The town is on the +decline; it has a court-house, and two stores very ill supplied. The +condition of these, and the absence of lawyers, are sure indications of +the poverty of the inhabitants, if broken windows, and doors falling +from their hinges, should leave any doubt on the subject; they are, +however, a merry set of people, and balls are held regularly every +month. In the evening arrived ten teams laden with fifty emigrants from +Kentucky, going to settle in Indiana; their reasons for doing this were +numerous. Although they had bought their lands in Kentucky twice over, +they had to give them up a third time, their titles having proved +invalid; but still they would have remained, had it not been for the +insolent behaviour of their more wealthy neighbours, who, in consequence +of these emigrants having no slaves, and being thus obliged to work for +themselves, not only treated them as slaves, but even encouraged their +own<a class="pagenum" id="Page_33" title="33"></a> blacks to give them every kind of annoyance, and to rob them—for +no other reason than their dislike to have paupers for neighbours.</p> + +<p>My landlord assured me that at least 200 waggons had passed from the +Kentucky side, through Vevay, during the present season, all full of +emigrants, discouraged from continuing among these lawless people.</p> + +<p>The state of Indiana, which I had now entered, begins below Cincinnati, +running down the big Miami westward to the big Wabash, which separates +this country from the Illinois. To the south, it is bounded by the Ohio; +to the north, by lake Michigan; thus extending from 37° 50′, to 42° 10′, +north latitude; and from 7° 40′, to 10° 47′, west longitude. Like the +state of Ohio, it belongs to the class coming within the range of the +great valley of the Mississippi. It exhibits nearly the same features as +the state of Ohio, with the exception, that it approaches nearer to the +Mississippi than its eastern neighbour, and is the second slope of the +eastern part of the valley of the Mississippi: it declines more than<a class="pagenum" id="Page_34" title="34"></a> +Ohio, being but 250 feet above lake Erie, and 210 feet above lake +Michigan, which is one hundred feet less in elevation than the state of +Ohio. Two ridges of mountains, or rather hills, traverse the country; +the Knobs, or Silver-hills, running ten miles below Louisville, in a +north-eastern direction, and the Illinois mountains appearing from the +west, and running to the north-east, where they fall to a level with the +high plains of lake Michigan. These hills have a perfect sameness. The +climate is rather milder than that of Ohio. Cotton and tobacco are +raised by the farmers in sufficient quantities for their home +consumption. The growth of timber is the same as in Ohio. The vallies +are interspersed with sycamores and beeches; and below the falls, with +maples, and cotton and walnut-trees. The hills are covered with beech, +sassafras, and logwood. This state, though not inferior to Ohio in +fertility, and taken in general, perhaps, superior to it, has one great +defect. It has no sufficient water communication, and thus the +inhabitants have no market for their produce. There is not in this state +any river of importance, the Ohio which washes its southern borders +excepted. A<a class="pagenum" id="Page_35" title="35"></a> scarcity of money therefore is more severely felt here, +than in any other state of the Union. This want of inter-communication, +added to the circumstance that the state of Ohio had already engrossed +the whole surplus population from the eastern states, had a prejudicial +effect upon Indiana, its original population being in general by no +means so respectable as that of Ohio. In the north-west it was peopled +by French emigrants, from Canada; in the south, on the banks of the +Ohio, and farther up, by Kentuckians, who fled from their country for +debt, or similar causes.</p> + +<p>The state thus became the refuge of adventurers and idlers of every +description. A proof of this may be seen in the character of its towns, +as well as in the nature of the improvements that have been carried on +in the country. The towns, though some of them had an earlier existence +than many in Ohio, are, in point of regularity, style of building, and +cleanliness, far inferior to those of the former state. The wandering +spirit of the inhabitants seems still to contend with the principle of +steadiness in the very construction of their buildings. They are mostly<a class="pagenum" id="Page_36" title="36"></a> +a rude set of people, just emerging from previous bad habits, from whom +such friendly assistance as honest neighbours afford, or mutual +intercourse and good will, can hardly be expected. The case is rather +different in the interior of the country, and on the Wabash, the finest +part of the state, where respectable settlements have been formed by +Americans from the east. Wherever the latter constitute the majority, +every necessary assistance may be expected.</p> + +<p>For adventurers of all descriptions, Indiana holds out allurements of +every kind. Numbers of Germans, French, and Irish, are scattered in the +towns, and over the country, carrying on the business of bakers, +grocers, store, grog shops, and tavern keepers. In time, these people +will become steady from necessity, and consequently prosperous. The +number of the inhabitants of Indiana amounts to 215,000. Its admission +into the Union as a sovereign state, dates from the year 1815 to 1816; +its constitution differs in some points from that of Ohio, and its +governor is elected for the term of three years.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_037" title="037"></a>Madisonville, the seat of justice for Jefferson-county, on the second +bank of the Ohio, fifty-seven miles above its falls, contains at present +180 dwelling-houses, a court-house, four stores, three inns, a printing +office—with 800 inhabitants, most of them Kentuckians. The innkeeper of +the tavern at which I alighted, does no credit to the character of this +people. He was engaged for some time in certain bank-note affairs, which +qualified him for an imprisonment of ten years; he escaped, however, by +the assistance of his legal friends, and of 1000 dollars. The +opportunity of testifying his gratitude to these gentlemen soon +presented itself. One of his neighbours, a boatman, had the misfortune +to possess a wife who attracted his attention. Her husband knowing the +temper of the man, resolved to sell all he had, and to move down to +Louisville. Some days before his intended departure, he met Sheets in +the street, and addressed him in these words: “Mr. Sheets, I ought to +chastise you for making such shameful proposals to my wife;” so saying, +he gently touched him with his cane. Sheets, without uttering a +syllable, drew his poniard, and stabbed him in the breast.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_38" title="38"></a> The +unfortunate husband fell, exclaiming, “Oh, God! I am a dead man!”—“Not +yet,” said Sheets, drawing his poniard out of the wound, and running it +a second time through his heart; “Now, my dear fellow, I guess we have +done.” This monster was seized and imprisoned, and his trial took place. +<em>His</em> countrymen took, as might be expected, a great interest in his +fate. With the assistance of 3000 dollars, he even this time escaped the +gallows. I read the issue of the trial, and the summons of the jury, in +the county paper of 1823, which was actually handed to me in the evening +by one of the guests. But a more remarkable circumstance is, that the +inhabitants continue to frequent his tavern. At first they stayed away +for some weeks; but in less than a month the affair was forgotten, and +his house is now visited as before.</p> + +<p>The road from Madison to Charleston, leads through a fertile country, in +some parts well cultivated. The distance from Madison is twenty-eight +miles. It is the chief town of Clark county, and seems to advance more +rapidly than Madison, the country about being pretty well<a class="pagenum" id="Page_39" title="39"></a> peopled, and +agriculture having made more progress than in any part of the state +through which I had travelled. I found it to contain 170 houses and 750 +inhabitants, five well stored tradesmen’s shops, a printing office, and +four inns. The town is about a mile distant from the river, on a high +plain. When I arrived, the court was going to adjourn, and I hastened to +the court-house. The presiding judge and his two associate judges were +in their tribune, and the parties seated on boards laid across the +stumps of trees. One of the lawyers having concluded his speech, the +defendant was called upon. The gentleman in question, whom I took for a +pedlar, stood close by my side in conversation with his party, holding +in his hand half an apple, his teeth having taken a firm bite of the +other half. At the moment his name was called, he walked with his mouth +full, up to the rostrum, and kept eating his apple with perfect +indifference. “Well,” interrupted the judge impatient of the delay; +“what have you to say against the charge? You know it is high time to +break up the court, and I must go home.” The gentleman at the bar now +pocketted his apple, and having thus<a class="pagenum" id="Page_40" title="40"></a> augmented the store of provision +which he probably kept by him, looked as if he carried two knapsacks +behind his coat. “It strikes me mightily,”—was the exordium of this +speech, which in point of elegance and conciseness was a true sample of +back-wood eloquence. Fortunately the speaker took the judge’s hint; in +less than half an hour he had done—in less than one hour the jurymen +returned a verdict, the county transactions were finished, and the court +broke up.</p> + +<p>From Charleston to Louisville, the distance is fourteen miles. The lands +are fertile. Several very well looking farms shew a higher degree of +cultivation, especially near Jeffersonville. There the road turns into +an extensive valley formed by the alluvions of the Ohio. Jeffersonville, +the seat of justice for Floyd-county, three quarters of a mile above +the falls of the Ohio, was laid out in 1802, and has since increased to +160 houses, among which are a bank, a Presbyterian church, a warehouse, +a cotton manufactory, a court-house, and an academy, with a land office, +for the disposal of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_41" title="41"></a> the United States’ lands. The commerce of the +inhabitants, 800 in number, is of some importance, though checked by the +vicinity of Louisville, and by the circumstance, that the falls on the +Indiana side are not to be approached, except at the highest rise. Two +miles below this town, is the village of Clarksville, laid out in 1783, +and forming part of the grant made to officers and soldiers of the +Illinois regiment. It contains sixty houses and 300 inhabitants. New +Albany, a mile below Clarksville, has a thousand inhabitants, and a +great deal of activity, owing to its manufactory of steam engines, its +saw mills, and the steam boats lying at anchor and generally repairing +there. It is a place of importance, and though hitherto the resort of +sailors, boatmen, and travellers, who go down the river in their own +boats, it is annually on the increase.</p> + +<p>The Ohio is generally crossed above the falls at Jeffersonville. The +sheet of water dammed up here by the natural ledge of rocks which forms +the falls, expands to 5,230 feet in breadth. The falls of the Ohio, +though they should not properly be called falls, cannot be seen when +cross<a class="pagenum" id="Page_42" title="42"></a>ing the river, and the waters do not pour like the falls of +Niagara over an horizontal rock down a considerable depth, but press +through a rocky bed, about a mile long, which spreads across the river, +and causes a decline of twenty-two feet in the course of two miles. When +the waters are high, the rocks and the falls disappear entirely. Seen +from Louisville at low water, they have by no means an imposing +appearance. The majestic and broad river branches off into several small +creeks, and assumes the form of mountain torrents forcing their way +through the ledge of rocks. When the river rises, and only three islands +are to be seen, the immense sheet of water rushing down the declivity at +the rate of thirteen miles an hour, must afford a magnificent spectacle. +At the time I saw it, the river was lower than it had been for a series +of years.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_43" title="43"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Louisville.—Canal of Louisville—its Commerce.—Surrounding + Country.—Sketch of the State of Kentucky and its Inhabitants, &c.</p> + + +<p>The road from the landing-place to Louisville, leads through one of the +finest and richest alluvial bottoms on the banks of the Ohio. They are +here about seventy feet above the level of the water, and sufficiently +high to protect the town from inundation, but there being no outlets for +stagnant waters and ponds, epidemic diseases are frequent. A lottery is +now established for the purpose of raising the necessary funds for +draining these nuisances. Louisville extends in an oblong square about a +mile down the river, and may be considered as the natural key to the +Upper and Lower Ohio, and the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_44" title="44"></a> most important staple for trade on this +river, not excepting the city of Cincinnati. The commodities coming +during the summer and autumn from southern states are landed here. +Travellers who arrive by water, whether from the north or south, engage +steam boats at this place either for New Orleans or for Cincinnati. +These advantages made the inhabitants less desirous of having a canal, +notwithstanding the solicitations of the states watered by the Ohio. The +Congress has, at last, interposed; the canal is now contemplated. +Probably this undertaking, in which not only the Upper states of the +river Ohio, but the Union at large, are very much interested, is already +commenced. By means of this canal, steam vessels will be enabled to +avoid the falls, and to proceed to the upper Ohio at every season of the +year. It is to be two miles and a half long; to open at the mouth of +Beargrasscreek and to terminate at Shippingport. The highest ground is +twenty-seven feet; upon an average twenty feet; and it is of a clayey +substance, bottomed upon a rock. The expences are estimated at about +200,000 dollars, a trifle compared with the object to be accomplished.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_045" title="045"></a>Louisville, the seat of justice for Jefferson county, in Kentucky, in +38° 8′ north latitude, is about half the size of Cincinnati, and lies +105 miles below that city, by the Kentucky road through Newcastle, and +125 miles by the Kentucky and Indiana road. It is 1500 miles northeast +of New Orleans. The town is laid out on a grand scale, the streets +running parallel with the river, and intersected by others at right +angles. The main street, about three quarters of a mile long, is +elegant; most of the houses are three stories high; those of the other +streets are of course inferior in size. The number of dwelling houses +amounts to 700, inhabited by 4,500 souls, exclusive of travellers and +boatmen. Louisville has no remarkable public buildings; the court-house +and the Presbyterian church are the best. Besides these, the +Episcopalians, Catholics, and Unitarians have their meeting houses. +There are now three banks, including a branch bank of the United States, +an insurance company, and four newspaper printing offices. A quay is now +constructing which will greatly contribute to the security of the middle +part of the town, opposite to the falls. The manufac<a class="pagenum" id="Page_46" title="46"></a>tories of +Louisville are important; and the distilleries and rope walks on a large +scale. Besides these there are soap, candle, cotton, glass, paper, and +engine manufactories, all on the same principle, with grist and saw +mills. The commerce of Louisville is still more important. Of the +hundred steam boats plying on the Mississippi and Ohio, fifty at least +are engaged during six months in the year in the trade with Louisville. +They descend to New Orleans in six days, returning in double the time. +Though the town is but half as large as Cincinnati, the credit of the +merchants is more substantial, and the inhabitants are in general more +wealthy. Luxury is carried to a higher pitch than in any other town on +this side of the Alleghany mountains. Here is the only billiard-table<a id="FNanchor_A" href="#Footnote_A" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> +to be met with between Philadelphia and St. Louis. The owner has to pay +a tax of 563 dollars—an enormous sum.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the circulating library, the reading-room, and several +houses where good so<a class="pagenum" id="Page_47" title="47"></a>ciety is to be met with, Louisville is not a +pleasant town to reside in, owing to the character of the majority of +its inhabitants, the Kentuckians. Louisville has an academy, but sends +its youth to the college of Bairdstown, thirty miles to the southwest, +where lectures are given by some French priests. Below Louisville, are +the two villages of Shippingport and Portland; the former is two miles +from the town, with 150 inhabitants, the latter at the distance of three +miles, with fifty inhabitants, mostly boatmen and keepers of grog shops, +for the lowest classes of people. The environs of Louisville are well +cultivated, Portland and Shippingport excepted, the inhabitants of which +are said to extend their notions of common property too far. Behind +Louisville the country is delightful; the houses and plantations vying +with each other in point of elegance and cultivation. The woods have +greatly disappeared, and for the distance of twenty miles, the roads are +lined in every direction with plantations. This town holds the rank of +the second order in Kentucky, a country which, in latter times, has +obtained a renown of somewhat ambiguous nature. It extends to the +south,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_48" title="48"></a> from the river Ohio, to the state of Tennessee, having for its +eastern boundary the state of Virginia; and to the west, the river +Mississippi, which separates it from the state of Missouri. It extends +from 36° 30′ to 39° 10′ north latitude, and from 4° 78' to 12° 20′ west +longitude. It embraces an area of 40,000 square miles. Though under a +southern degree of latitude, it enjoys a moderate temperature, which is +also less variable than in the more eastern states. The two great rivers +of the Mississippi and the Ohio, forming the boundary of this state, +secure to it no inconsiderable trade.</p> + +<p>The productions of this beautiful country might, if properly cultivated, +become inexhaustible sources of wealth and prosperity to its +inhabitants; tobacco is a staple article, excelling in quality even that +of Virginia, if properly managed: cotton thrives well in the southern +parts of the state. Corn yields from forty to ninety bushels; wheat from +thirty to sixty; melons, sweet potatoes, peaches, apples, plumbs, &c., +attain a superior degree of perfection. One of the principal articles of +trade is<a class="pagenum" id="Page_49" title="49"></a> hemp, the culture of which has been brought to a high state of +improvement; it constitutes one of the chief articles of export to New +Orleans. Kentucky has not such extensive plains as Ohio, but is equally +fertile, and less exposed to bilious and ague fevers. The stratum, which +is generally limestone, is a sure sign of inexhaustible fertility. Hills +alternating with valleys form landscapes, which though consisting of +native forests, are in the highest degree picturesque. There are parts +about Lexington and its environs, which nothing can exceed in beauty of +scenery. Even Louisville, with its three islands, the majestic Ohio, and +the surrounding little towns, possesses charms seldom rivalled in any +country. Kentucky is, without the least exaggeration, one of the finest +districts on the face of the earth. The climate is equal to that of the +south of France; fruits of every kind arrive at the highest perfection; +and it would be difficult to quit this country, did not the character of +the inhabitants lessen one’s regret at leaving it. But notwithstanding +these natural advantages, the population has not increased either in +wealth or numbers, in proportion to the more recent state<a class="pagenum" id="Page_50" title="50"></a> of Ohio. The +inhabitants consist chiefly of emigrants from Virginia, and North and +South Carolina, and of descendants from back-wood settlers—a proud, +fierce, and overbearing set of people. They established themselves under +a state of continual warfare with the Indians, who took their revenge by +communicating to their vanquishers their cruel and implacable spirit. +This, indeed, is their principal feature. A Kentuckian will wait three +or four weeks in the woods, for the moment of satiating his revenge; and +he seldom or never forgives. The men are of an athletic form, and there +may be found amongst them many models of truly masculine beauty. The +number of inhabitants is now 57,000, including 15,000 slaves. Planters +are among the most respectable class, and form the mass of the +population. Lawyers are next, or equal to them in rank, no less than the +merchants and manufacturers. Physicians and ministers are a degree +lower; and last of all, are those mechanics and farmers not possessed of +slaves. These are not treated better than the slaves themselves. The +constitution inclines towards federalism, landed property being +required<a class="pagenum" id="Page_51" title="51"></a> to qualify a man for a public station. Ministers, of whatever +form of worship, are wholly excluded from public offices. Kentucky is +not a country that could be recommended to new settlers; slavery; +insecure titles to land: the division of the courts of justice into two +parts, furiously opposed to each other; an executive, whose present +chief is a disgrace to his station, and whose son would be hung in +chains, had he been in Great Britain; the worst paper-currency, &c., are +serious warnings to every lover of peace and tranquillity. We abstain +from farther particulars, as our purpose is to give a characteristic +description of the Union, which would assuredly not gain by a faithful +representation of the state of things in this country, during the last +ten years. The Desha family, the emetic scene, the proceedings of the +legislature, and of the courts of justice, Sharp’s death, &c., are facts +which belong rather to the history of the tomahawk savages, than to that +of a civilised state. Passions must work with double power and effect, +where wealth, and arbitrary sway over a herd of slaves, and a warfare of +thirty years with savages, have sown the seeds of the most lawless<a class="pagenum" id="Page_52" title="52"></a> +arrogance, and an untameable spirit of revenge.</p> + +<p>The literary institutions, the Transylvanian university of Lexington, +and the college of Bairdstown, have hitherto exercised very little +influence over these fierce people. But a still worse feature observable +in them, is an utter disregard of religious principles. Ohio has its +sects, thereby evincing an interest in the performance of the highest of +human duties. The Kentuckian rails at these, and at every form of +worship; certainly a trait doubly afflicting and deplorable in a rising +state.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_53" title="53"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="summary">A Keel-boat Voyage—Description of the Preparations.—Face of the + Country.—Troy.—Lady Washington.—The River + Sport.—Owensborough.—Henderson.</p> + + +<p>The Ohio still continuing low, and there being no prospect of proceeding +to New Orleans by a steam boat, I resolved to embark on board a keel +boat, in company with several ladies and gentlemen, who were returning +to their plantations and their homes. The preparations in such a case, +are to dispose of horse and gig, where one does not choose going by land +through Nashville, and Natchez. There is not much pleasure to be derived +from a passage on board a keel boat—a machine, fifty feet long and ten +feet broad, shut up on every side; with two doors,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_54" title="54"></a> two and a half feet +high. It forms a species of wooden prison, containing commonly four +rooms; the first for the steward, the second a dining room, the third a +cabin for gentlemen, and the fourth a ladies’ cabin. Each of these +cabins was provided with an iron stove, one of which some days +afterwards was very near sending us all to heaven, in the manner which +the most Catholic king has been pleased to adopt in regard to us +heretics. On the sides were our births, in double rows, six feet in +length and two broad. In former times this manner of travelling was +generally resorted to on the Ohio and Mississippi; the application of +steam, however, has superseded these primitive conveyances, and I hope +to the regret of no one. Our passage to Trinity, 515 miles by water, +including provisions, &c., was twenty-five dollars. We were sure of +meeting there with steam boats. The company consisted of two ladies with +their families, returning to Louisiana; two others were going to +Yellow-banks, with several governesses, nieces, &c.; in all ten ladies, +with eleven gentlemen, considered a happy omen. Amongst the men were +three planters from Louisiana and Mississippi; three merchants,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_55" title="55"></a> one a +Yankee, the other a Kentuckian, the third a Frenchman; a lawyer, from +Tennessee; two physicians, one from the same state, the other from +Kentucky, with a Kentuckian six and a half feet high. Of these persons +the Kentuckian doctor was the most to be pitied. He was in the last +stage of a pulmonary affection, and expected relief from the mild +climate of Louisiana; but much as we did to alleviate the fate of this +man, whose perpetual cough was as insufferable to us, as the constant +fire he kept up in the stove, and which at last communicated to our +boat, the poor fellow died three days after his arrival at New Orleans. +Four individuals of less note joined the company, consisting of three +slave-drivers, and a Yankee who travelled to make his fortune. We +resigned ourselves to our lot, with as good a grace as we could, the +Frenchman excepted, who found fault with every thing but the dinner, +when he handled his knife and fork with uncommon activity. A captain, a +mate, and a steward, composed the officers, twelve oarmen formed the +crew, and forty slaves, who were to be transported to the states of +Mississippi and Louisiana, were a sort of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_56" title="56"></a> deck passengers, so that the +whole cargo, inside and out, amounted to ninety persons. As long as the +weather continued fine, the poor negroes had a tolerable lot, but when +afterwards it began to rain, and they continued on a deck seven and a +half feet broad, and forty-two long, without any covering over their +heads, or being able to move, our kitchen being likewise upon deck, +their situation became truly distressing, and one of the infants died +shortly afterwards; another, as I was informed, fell into the +Mississippi above Palmyra settlements.</p> + +<p>We took our meals in three divisions; the first consisting of the ladies +and five gentlemen, who were helped by the other six gentlemen; +afterwards the six remaining sat down with the three drivers, and the +Yankee; the latter personages were, however, excused from helping the +ladies. After them came the captain, with his boatmen. Our dinner was +very good, because we took the precaution of making it part of our +agreement that we should purchase such provisions as we thought proper. +Our breakfast at the hour of eight, consisted of pigeons, ducks, +sometimes opossum, roast<a class="pagenum" id="Page_57" title="57"></a> beef, chickens, pork cakes, coffee and tea. +Our dinner at three o’clock, in the same manner, with the addition of a +haunch of venison or a turkey. Our supper at six, was the same as our +breakfast. To fill up the intervals, we took at eleven a lunch, +consisting of a <em>doddy</em>; at nine at night we had a tea party given by +the ladies, and the said ten gentlemen alternately. We started the 7th +of November, at four o’clock in the afternoon, instead of nine in the +morning. The cause of this delay was the alteration which had to be made +in the births; for it appeared that two of the Kentuckians were +considerably longer than the space allotted to them. They were therefore +to be made more <em>lengthy</em> at the expense of the dining rooms. When every +thing was ready we started, heartily tired of this delay. We had taken +the precaution to provide ourselves with powder and shot, in order to +make shooting excursions, having a skiff along side the boat. The +landscape on both banks of the Ohio was still hilly, the shores varying +from bottom lands to moderate hills, thus forming a boundary line +between the interior of Kentucky which lay to our left, and Indiana and +the river lands<a class="pagenum" id="Page_58" title="58"></a> on our right. The cotton tree is almost the only one +here, with the exception of beeches and sycamores. The first do not +quite attain the height of the sycamore, but still they are seldom less +than 140 feet high. The forests assume a more southern character; the +shrub-grass, thistles and thorns, are stronger, and the vines of an +astonishing size. At several places we were unable to land from the +thickness of the natural hedges which lined the banks, presenting an +impenetrable barrier. Pigeons now appeared in flocks of thousands and +tens of thousands. On the morning of the following day we shot +seventy-five, and in the afternoon seventy, without any difficulty.</p> + +<p>Troy, the seat of justice for Crawford county, in Indiana, was the first +place we visited. It has a court-house, a printing-office, and about +sixty houses. The inhabitants seem rather indolent. On our asking for +apples, they demanded ten dollars for half a barrel; the price for a +whole one in Louisville being no more than three dollars. We advised +them to keep their apples, and to plant trees, which would enable them +to<a class="pagenum" id="Page_59" title="59"></a> raise some for themselves; and to put panes of glass in their +windows, instead of old newspapers. The surrounding country is beautiful +and fertile. Farms, however, become more scarce, and are in a state of +more primitive simplicity. A block cabin not unlike a stable, with as +many holes as there are logs in it, patches of ground planted with +tobacco, sweet potatoes, and some corn, are the sole ornaments of these +back-wood mansions. We purchased, below Troy, half a young bear, at the +rate of five cents per pound. Two others which were skinned, indicated +an abundance of these animals, and more application to the sport than +seems compatible with the proper cultivation of these regions. The +settlers have something of a savage appearance: their features are hard, +and the tone of their voice denotes a violent disposition. Our Frenchman +was bargaining for a turkey, with the farmer’s son, an athletic youth. +On being asked three dollars for it, the Frenchman turned round to Mr. +B., saying: “I suppose the Kentuckians take us for fools.” “What do you +say, stranger,” replied the youth, at the same time laying his heavy +hand across the shoulders of the poor Frenchman, in rather a rough +manner.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_60" title="60"></a> The latter looked as if thunderstruck, and retired in the true +style of the Great Nation, when they get a sound drubbing. We remarked +on his return, the pains he took to repress his feelings at the +coarseness of the Kentuckians. He was, however, discreet enough to keep +his peace, and he did very well; but his spirit was gone, and he never +afterwards undertook to make a bargain, except with old women, for a pot +of milk, or a dozen of eggs, &c.</p> + +<p>Below Lady Washington, or Hanging Rock, as it is called,—a bare +perpendicular rock a hundred feet above the water on the right side of +the river, the mountains, or rather hills, cease by degrees, and are +succeeded by a vast plain on both sides the high banks of the Ohio. We +had here the enjoyment of some sport on the water: a deer was crossing +the river, contracted in this place to about a thousand feet, when it +was discovered by three Kentuckians, who were going to do the same. Our +boat was about half a mile above the spot when we discovered the game. +Four of us leaped into the skiff in order to intercept it. The deer +continued its course towards the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_61" title="61"></a> Indiana side, and it was easy for us +to intercept its path. As soon as we were near enough, we aimed a blow +at it with our oars, having in the hurry forgotten our guns. The deer +then took the direction of the boat—we followed—the Kentuckians +approached from the other side: full thirty minutes elapsed before these +could come up with the animal and give it a blow. Though its strength +was on the decline, it did not relax its efforts, but advanced again +towards us without our being able to reach it. A second blow on the part +of the Kentuckians, who were more expert in handling their oars, seemed +to stun the noble animal; yet, summoning up its remaining strength, it +went up the stream on the Kentucky side, and reached the shore, but so +exhausted by long swimming and the two blows from the powerful +Kentuckians, that on landing it staggered and fell, without being able +to ascend the high bank. Instantly one of the Kentuckians rushed upon +it, cutting asunder its knee joints. The deer, taking a sudden turn, +made a plunge at the Kentuckian, tearing away part of his trowsers, and +lacerating his leg. So sudden was the last effort of this animal, that +but for the speedy arrival of his<a class="pagenum" id="Page_62" title="62"></a> companion, who had been assisting the +third Kentuckian in drawing the skiff closer to the shore, it would +infallibly have ripped up its aggressor’s bowels. The dirk of the second +Kentuckian ended <em>the sport</em>, which had terminated in a rather serious +way. By this time we had also reached the field of battle. “What do you +want, gentlemen?” said the wounded Kentuckian, accosting us with his +poniard in his hand. “Part of the deer, which you know you could not +have got without our assistance?” They first looked at our party of +four, then at our boat, which was already at the distance of a mile and +a half from us. The wounded man seating himself, asked again, “What part +do you choose?” “Half the deer, with the bowels, and tongue for our +ladies.” “Have you ladies on board your vessel?” “Yes, sir.” Without +uttering a word more, they skinned the venison, cleaned, and divided it. +We stepped aside meanwhile, collected a couple of dollars, and offered +them to the wounded man. He took the money, thanked us, and the other +two carried the venison to our boat. We parted after cordially shaking +hands. There was now an abundance of pigeons, venison, and bear’s flesh<a class="pagenum" id="Page_63" title="63"></a> +on board our boat; the latter, when young, is delicious, having a very +fine flavour, with rather a sweet and luscious taste. We were all +partial to it except the Frenchman, who most likely took us for a +species of these animals. But as thoughts are free, even in the most +despotic countries, he had the privilege of thinking, without daring to +utter a syllable—assuredly the severest punishment upon one of the +Great Nation. On the third day we lost part of our company, as two of +the ladies landed on the Yellow-banks, so called from the yellow colour +of the shores, which formerly gave the name to the county town of Davies +county, now Owensborough. It contains eighty buildings, including a +court-house, a newspaper printing office, and three stores. The +distance hence to Louisville, is 170 miles. From this village, down to +the mouth of the Green river, wild vines grow very luxuriantly, forming +a continued series of hedges. The grapes are used for wine, which is of +a hard taste, but not a bad flavour; if properly attended to they would +certainly yield an excellent produce. We gathered in a few minutes +abundance of grapes, and found them juicy and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_64" title="64"></a> very good. Near the mouth +of the Green river, and up its banks, are several ponds of bitumen, a +material which is used by the inhabitants for lamp oil. The country +abounds in saltpetre, and saltlicks. On the same side, sixty miles below +Owensborough, is laid out Henderson, the seat of justice for the county +of the same name. It contains 500 inhabitants, 90 dwellings, and a +courthouse. Some of the houses are in tolerable order, but the greatest +part in a shattered condition, and the town has a dirty appearance. The +Ohio forms a bend between Owensborough and Henderson, thus making the +distance by water sixty miles, which by land-travelling would not exceed +twenty. A species of the mistletoe here makes its appearance for the +first time. The trees are covered with bunches of this plant, its +foliage is yellow, the berries milk white, and so viscous as to serve +for bird lime; when falling they adhere to the branches, and strike root +in the bark of the trees.</p> + +<p>In the morning of the sixth day we arrived at Miller’s Ferry, twenty +miles above the mouth of the Wabash. As the Ohio makes a great bend<a class="pagenum" id="Page_65" title="65"></a> in +this place, and our navigation was very slow, Messrs. B——, R——, and +myself, determined on taking a tour to Harmony, now Owen’s settlement, +fifteen miles distant from the ferry. The guide we took led us through a +rich plain, with settlements scattered over it; the road was excellent, +though a mere path, and we arrived at half-past ten.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_66" title="66"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Mr. Owen’s of Lanark, formerly Rapp’s Settlement.—Remarks on + it.—Keel-boat Scenes.—Cave in Rock.—Cumberland and Tennessee + Rivers.—Fort Massai.</p> + + +<p>About a hundred and fifty houses, built on the Swabian plan, with the +exception of Mr. Rapp’s<a id="FNanchor_B" href="#Footnote_B" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> former residence—a handsome brick +house—presented themselves to our view. We were introduced to one of +the managers, a Mr. Shnee, formerly a <a class="pagenum" id="Page_67" title="67"></a>Lutheran minister, who entered +very soon into particulars respecting Mr. Owen’s ulterior views, in +rather a pompous manner. This settlement, which is about thirty miles +above the mouth of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_68" title="68"></a> the big Wabash, in Indiana, was first established by +Rapp, in the year 1817, and was now (in the year 1823), purchased by Mr. +Owen, of Lanark, for the sum of 150,000 dollars. The society is to be +established on a plan rather different from the one he has pursued in +Scotland, and on a larger scale. Mr. Owen has, it is said, the pecuniary +means as well as the ability to effect something of importance. A plan +was shown and sold to us, according to which a new building of colossal +dimensions is projected; and if Mr. Owen’s means should not fall short +of his good will, this edifice would certainly exhibit the <a class="pagenum" id="Page_69" title="69"></a>most +magnificent piece of architecture in the Union, the capitol at +Washington excepted. This palace, when finished, is to receive his +community. According to his views, as laid down in his publications, in +the lectures held by him at Washington and at New York, and as stated in +the verbal communications of the persons who represent him, he is about +to form a society, unshackled by all those fetters which religion, +education, prejudices, and manners have imposed upon the human species; +and his followers will exhibit to the world the novel and interesting +example of a community, which, laying aside every form of worship and +all religious belief in a supreme being, shall be capable of enjoying +the highest social happiness by no other means than the impulse of +innate egotism. It has been the object of Mr. Owen’s study to improve +this egotism in the most rational manner, and to bring it to the highest +degree of perfection; and in this sense he has published the +Constitution, which is to be adopted by the community. It is +distributed, if I recollect rightly, into three subdivisions, with +seventy or more articles.—Mechanics of every description—people who<a class="pagenum" id="Page_70" title="70"></a> +have learned any useful art,—are admitted into this community. Those +who pay 500 dollars, are free from any obligation to work. The time of +the members is divided between working, reading, and dancing. A ball is +given every day, and is regularly attended by the community. Divine +service, or worship of any kind, is entirely excluded; in lieu of it, +moreover, a ball is given on Sunday. The children are summoned to school +by beat of drum. A newspaper is published, chiefly treating of their own +affairs, and of the entertainments and the social regulations of the +community, amounting to about 500 members, of both sexes, composed +almost exclusively of adventurers of every nation, who expect joyful +days. The settlement has not improved since the purchase, and there +appeared to exist the greatest disorder and uncleanliness. This +community has since been dissolved as was to have been expected. The +Scotchman seems to have a very high notion of the power of egotism. He +is certainly not wrong in this point; but if he intends to give still +greater strength to a spirit which already works with too much effect in +the Union, it may be feared that he will soon snap the cords of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_71" title="71"></a> society +asunder. According to his notions, and those of his people, all the +legislators of ancient and modern times, religious as well as political, +were either fools or impostors, who went in quest of prosperity on a +mistaken principle, which he is now about to correct. Scotchmen, it is +known, are sometimes liable to adopt strange notions, in which they +always deem themselves infallible. I am acquainted with an honorable +president of the quarter-sessions, who, as a true Swedenborghian, is +fully convinced that he will preside again as judge in the other world, +and that the German farmers will be there the same fools they are here, +whom he may continue to cheat out of their property. Great Britain has +no cause to envy the United States this acquisition. We stayed at this +place about two hours, crossed the Wabash, and took the road to +Shawneetown, through part of Mr. Birkbeck’s settlement. The country is +highly cultivated, and the difference between the steady Englishman of +the Illinois side, and the rabble of Owen’s settlement, is clearly seen +in the style and character of the improvements carried on.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_72" title="72"></a>We arrived at Shawneetown, where our boat was waiting +for us, having travelled since seven o’clock in the morning a distance +of forty miles. We found our boat’s company in the utmost confusion. Our +ladies had hitherto given a regular tea party at nine o’clock, out of +their own stock of provisions. With the exception of guns, powder, shot, +some hundred cigars, a few bottles of wine, the gentlemen were furnished +with nothing. They went therefore to Shawneetown, a village twelve miles +below the mouth of the Wabash, with sixty houses, and 300 inhabitants, +of a very indifferent character, mostly labourers at the salt works of +the Saline river. The party however were not so fortunate as to procure +anything except a dried haunch of venison. On their return, the invalid +doctor missed the negro girl he had brought to wait upon him, intending +to sell her along with a male slave. She was gone. A search was +commenced, but the honest inhabitants declared, with many G—d d—ns, +that they did not know anything about her. The company discovered what +was wanting, and persuaded the physician to offer a reward for her +recovery. In less than half an hour, one of the worthy inhab<a class="pagenum" id="Page_73" title="73"></a>itants came +up with the run-away girl, leading her by a rope. He had shortly before +assured some of the inquirers, under the pledge of a round oath, of his +utter ignorance of the matter, whilst at the same time the slave was +concealed in his kitchen. The second physician from Tennessee had the +benevolent precaution of suggesting to the patient to keep himself cool. +But every advice was thrown away. The Kentuckian could not resist +striking the girl. With the utmost pain he raised himself up in his bed, +to give her blows, which did himself infinitely more harm. When called +upon to pay the reward of twenty dollars, his wrath rose to the highest +pitch, and if he had had strength we should have witnessed a strange +scene. He paid, however, and contented himself with binding her arms, +and fastening her to the door-post, from which she was released by the +following accident, which took place about eight o’clock, just as we +returned from our excursion. One of the planters, a Kentuckian by birth, +made a regular excursion, twice a day, to fetch milk and eggs for the +company. The captain refused to dispatch the skiff for him, but the rest +of the company sent it without asking the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_74" title="74"></a> captain’s leave. Some hours +after the Kentuckian’s return he heard of the captain’s refusal, and +immediately accused him of negligence, &c. The captain gave him the lie, +and hardly was the word spoken, when the Kentuckian rushed upon the +young man with a dirk in his hand. He was, however, prevented, when +turning round, he ran to the other side to fetch an axe, declaring at +the same time, with a G——d d——n, he would knock down any body who +dared to oppose him. I stood with Mr. B. at the door. A quarrel ensued, +and he was going to force it open, when several gentlemen came to our +assistance. During this riot the stove became heated to such a degree, +as unobserved by any one, to set fire to the wood beneath it, so that +the birth of our patient was in flames in a moment. Quarrelling, and +murderous thoughts gave way to the danger of being roasted alive. All +hands, even the Kentuckian, were assiduous in their endeavours to +extinguish the fire; but this could not be so easily accomplished, the +boat being extremely crowded. At last we succeeded; the poor doctor had +almost been forgotten, and was very near being burnt alive, had it not +been for his second<a class="pagenum" id="Page_75" title="75"></a> servant, who immediately laid hold of a bucket full +of water, and poured it over his master. The behaviour of this invalid +was strange beyond description, and shewed a degree of passion, at once +ludicrous and pitiable. “For heaven’s sake,” exclaimed he, “I am +roasting! no, I am drowning! the wretch has poured a whole bucket of +water over me. Come hither, rascal!” The servant was obliged to +approach, and tender his face to receive a box on the ear, certainly the +most harmless he ever got; the master at the same time reproaching him +with his villainy, and lamenting the consequences which this bath would +bring upon him, such as rheumatism, fever, &c. We stood astonished and +confounded at this man, the living image of a burnt-out volcano. “But +for heaven’s sake,” said Mr. B., “Doctor, you would have been roasted +alive but for your slave, and you have been the only cause of the fire, +by the unsupportable heat you kept up in the stove; you must not do that +again.” “He is my slave,” was the answer, “and should have stayed with +me, instead of listening to your ungentlemanly disputes; then the fire +would not have broken out.” We assented to this, and peace was fully +restored.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_076" title="076"></a>The next day we proceeded on our journey, having the state of Illinois +on our right, and Kentucky on our left. Thirteen miles below Saline +river we visited the cave of Rock Island. The limestone wall, 120 feet +high, runs for about half a mile along the right bank of the Ohio; +nearly at its end is the entrance to the cave. A few steps bring you at +once into the grotto, which is about sixty-five feet wide at the base, +narrowing as you ascend, and forming an arch, the span of which is from +twenty-five to thirty feet, extending to a length of 120 feet. Marine +shells, feathers, and bones of bears, turkies, and wild geese, afford +ample testimony that this place has not been visited by the curious +alone, but has been the resort of numerous families, which had taken +temporary refuge here.</p> + +<p>Our sporting excursions had generally pigeons, turkies, or opossums, for +their object; below the cave, in the rocks, wild geese and ducks become +very plentiful. Flocks of from forty to one hundred were flying over our +heads in every direction, and augmenting in numbers as we approached the +Mississippi. We shot this day seven geese and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_77" title="77"></a> ducks, and passed the +small villages of Cumberland, at the mouth of the river of that name, +and Smithland, three miles below. Both villages are now springing up. +The Cumberland is 720 feet wide at its mouth. The river Tennessee, +thirteen miles below, is 700 feet. Eleven miles lower down, on the +Illinois side, is fort Spassai, erected on a high bank and in a +commanding position, which overlooks the Ohio, here a mile wide. The +prospect for a distance of forty miles, is charming. The extraordinary +beauty of the river, which the French very properly called <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">la belle +rivière</em>, on both sides the majestic native forests, clad in their +autumnal foliage, here and there an island in the midst of the stream, +with its luxuriant growth of trees, not unlike enchanted gardens. The +charm which is diffused over the whole scene can scarcely be described. +The fort is garrisoned by a captain, with a company of regulars, who, +however, suffer much from swamps in the rear of the fort.</p> + +<p>On the two following days we passed the county towns of Golconda, the +seat of justice for Pope county; Vienna, for Johnson; and America, for<a class="pagenum" id="Page_78" title="78"></a> +Alexander county; villages which have nothing in common with the cities +of which they remind you but the name. They are inhabited by some +Kentuckians and loiterers, who spend part of their time in bringing down +the Mississippi the produce of the country, for the transport of which +they demand double wages, and are thus enabled to spend the rest of +their time sitting cross-legged over their whiskey. The ninth day, +about noon, we arrived at Trinity. I was heartily tired of this manner +of travelling, and resolved to wait here with Mr. B., and Mrs. Th—— +and family, for a steam-boat from St. Louis. The rest of the company +went on in the boat, after an hour’s stopping. Trinity, or as it was +formerly called, Cairo, is situated four and a half miles above the +junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, consisting only of a tavern and a +store, kept by a Mr. Bershoud. The inundations occurring regularly every +year, have hitherto prevented the formation of settlements at this +place. Though these inundations rise every year from four to ten feet +above the banks, as may be seen from the weeds remaining in clusters on +the trees, the inhabitants of these two houses have, if we except<a class="pagenum" id="Page_79" title="79"></a> the +trouble of transporting their effects and goods to the upper story, but +little to apprehend, the rise of the river being gradually slow, and its +power being lessened by its circuitous course, and by the trees on its +bank.</p> + +<p>From Trinity down to Baton Rouge, a distance of 900 miles, the houses +are constructed in such a manner as to be secured against accidents; the +foundations are stumps of trees, or low brick pillars, four feet high. +The houses are so built, or rather laid upon these pillars, as to allow +the water to pass beneath. Notwithstanding this precaution, the flood +generally reaches to the lower apartments, and passengers coming from +Trinity to New Orleans last February, had to get into the skiff sent for +them, through the window of the second story.</p> + +<p>From Trinity to the mouth of the Ohio, are reckoned four and a half +miles. We visited on the following morning, this remarkable spot, where +two of the most important rivers unite.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_80" title="80"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The Mississippi.—General Features of the State of Illinois and its +Inhabitants.</p> + + +<p>The nearer we approached the Mississippi, the lower the country became, +and the more imposing the scenery. By degrees the river Ohio loses its +blue tinge, taking from the mightier stream a milky colour, which +changes into a muddy white when very near the junction—this junction +itself is one of the most magnificent sights. On the left hand the Ohio, +half a mile wide, overpowered, as it were, by its mightier rival—in +front the more gigantic Mississippi, one mile and a half broad, rolling +down its vast volumes of water with incredible rapidity. Farther on, the +high banks of the state of Missouri, with some farm buildings of a +dimi<a class="pagenum" id="Page_81" title="81"></a>nutive appearance, owing to the great distance; in the back ground, +the colossal native forests of Missouri; and lastly, to the south, these +two rivers united and turning majestically to the south-west. The deep +silence which reigns in these regions, and which is interrupted only by +the rushing sound of the waves, and the immense mass of water, produce +the illusion that you are no longer standing upon firm ground; you are +fearful less the earth should give way to the powerful element, which, +pressed into so narrow a space, rolls on with irresistible force. I had +formerly seen the falls of Niagara; but this scene, taken in the proper +point of view, is in no respect inferior to that which they present. The +immense number of streams which empty into the Mississippi, and caused +it to be named, very appropriately, the <em>Father of Rivers</em>, render it +powerful throughout the year; it generally rises in February, and falls +in July. In September and October the autumnal rains begin; and they +continue to swell it through the winter. When it overflows its banks, +the Mississippi inundates the country on both sides, for an extent of +from forty-five to fifty miles, thus forming an immense lake. From the +mouth of the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_82" title="82"></a> Ohio to Walnut hills, in the state of Mississippi, the +difference between the lowest water and the highest inundation, is +generally sixteen feet. The nearer it approaches the gulph of Mexico, +the less is the flood. The water leaving its bed on the west side never +returns, but forms into lakes and marshes. On the east side they find +resistance from the high lands, that follow the meanderings of the +river. Above Natchez, the river inundates the lands for a space of +thirty miles. At Baton Rouge, the high lands take on a sudden a +south-eastern direction, while the river turns to the south-west, thus +leaving the waters to form the eastern swamps of Louisiana. It rises to +thirty feet at that place; whilst at New Orleans it scarcely attains the +height of twelve feet, and at the mouth no difference between a rise and +fall is perceptible. Whoever comes to the Mississippi with the +expectation of beholding a sea-like river flowing quietly along, will +find himself disappointed. The magnitude of this river does not consist +in its width but in its depth, and the immense quantity of water it +pours out into the sea. At the mouth of the Ohio it is a mile and a half +wide. This moderate breadth rather diminishes<a class="pagenum" id="Page_83" title="83"></a> as it proceeds in its +course. At New Orleans, after receiving the waters of some great +tributary streams, it is not more than a mile in width, and in some +places three quarters of a mile. Its depth, however, continues to +increase; below the Ohio it is reckoned to be from thirty-five to fifty +feet deep. Below the Arkansas to Natchez, from 100 to 150. From Natchez +to New Orleans, from 150 to 250 feet. At its mouth, owing to the sand +bar at the Paliseter, the depth greatly diminishes, and it is well known +that vessels drawing eighteen feet of water can hardly enter the mouth +of the stream. The waters of the Mississippi are not clear at any period +of the year. This was the second time I saw it, when it was said to be +very low; still its waters were of a muddy turbid appearance. When +rising it changes to a muddy yellow. A glass filled with water from the +Mississippi, deposits in a quarter of an hour a mass of mud equal to one +tenth of the whole contents. But when clear, it is excellent for +drinking, and superior to any I have tasted. It is generally used by +those who inhabit its banks.</p> + +<p>The accommodations in Trinity are comfort<a class="pagenum" id="Page_84" title="84"></a>able, and the tables are well +furnished, but the prices exorbitant. It cannot, however, be expected to +be otherwise, owing to the new settlers, whose anxiety never permits +them to neglect an opportunity of improving their means on their first +outset. We found this to be the case on all occasions. Whenever some of +our passengers made purchases of trifles, such as cigars, &c., they had +to pay five times as much as in Louisville. It is therefore advisable to +provide oneself with every thing, when travelling in these backwoods; +the generality of the settlers on these banks being needy adventurers, +partly foreigners, partly Kentuckians, who, with a capital of not quite +100 dollars, with which they purchase some goods in New Orleans, begin +their commercial career, and may be seen with both hands in their +pockets, their legs on the table or chimney-piece, and cigars in their +mouths, selling their goods for five hundred per cent above prime cost. +Towards the north on the banks of the Mississippi, the settlers are +generally Frenchmen, who now assume by degrees the American manners and +language. Many of them are wealthy store-keepers, merchants, and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_85" title="85"></a> +farmers; but for the most part, however, a lightfooted kind of people, +who, from their fathers, have inherited frivolity, and from their +mothers, Indian women, uncleanliness. The towns of Kaskakia, Cahokia, +&c., as well as several villages up the Mississippi to the Prairie des +Chiens, owe their origin to them. The solid class of inhabitants live on +the big and little Wabash, and between these two rivers and the +Illinois. This is, no doubt, the finest part of the state, and one of +the most delightful countries on the face of the earth. It is mostly +inhabited by Americans and Englishmen. Agriculture, the breeding of +cattle, and improvements of every kind, are making rapid progress. The +settlements in Bond, Crawford, Edward’s, Franklin, and White Counties, +are to be considered as forming the main substance of the state. A +number of elegant towns have arisen in the space of a few years: among +others, Vandalia, the capital, and for these three years past the seat +of government, with a state house and a projected university, for which +36,000 acres of land have been assigned. An excellent spirit is +acknowledged to prevail among the inhabitants of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_86" title="86"></a> this district. Still, +however, the style of architecture—if the laying of logs or of bricks +upon each other deserves this name—the manners, the attempted +improvements, every thing announces a new land, which has only a few +years since started into political existence, and the settlers of which +do not yet evince any anxiety for the comforts of life. Illinois has now +80,000 inhabitants, 1500 of whom are people of colour; the rest are +Americans, English, French, and a German settlement about Vandalia. The +state was received into the Union in the year 1818. The constitution, +with a governor and a secretary at its head, resembles that of the state +of Ohio. In the year 1824, the question was again brought forward +concerning the possession of slaves: it was, however, negatived, and we +hope it will never be pressed upon the people. The state is much +indebted in every point to the late Mr. Birkbeck, who died too soon for +the welfare of his adopted country. He was considered as the father of +the state, and whenever he could gain over a useful citizen, he spared +no expense, and sacrificed a considerable part of his property in this +manner. The people of Illinois, in acknow<a class="pagenum" id="Page_87" title="87"></a>ledgment of his services, had +chosen him for secretary of the state, in which character he died in +1825. He was generally known under the name of Emperor of the Prairies, +from the vast extent of natural meadows belonging to his lands. It is to +be regretted, however, that Mr. Birkbeck was not acquainted with the +country about Trinity. His large capital and the number of hands who +joined him, would no doubt succeed in establishing a settlement here. +This will sooner or later take place, and will eventually render it one +of the finest towns in the United States, as the advantages of its +situation are incalculable. Illinois is, in point of commerce, more +advantageously situated than any of the Ohio states; being bounded on +the west by the river Mississippi, which forms the line between this +state and that of Missouri, to the east by the big Wabash, and to the +south by the Ohio, the river Illinois running through it with some +smaller rivers; thus affording it an open navigation to the north-west, +the west, the south, and the east. Towards the north the banks of the +Upper Mississippi form a range of hills which join the Illinois +mountains to the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_88" title="88"></a> east, and lowering by degrees lose themselves in the +plains of lakes Huron and Michigan. The country is, on the whole, less +elevated than Indiana, and forms the last slope of the northern valley +of the Mississippi, the hills being intersected by a number of valleys, +plains, prairies, and marshes. The fertility of this state is +extraordinary, surpassing that of Indiana and Ohio. In beauty, variety +of scenery, and fertility, it may vie with the most celebrated +countries. Wheat thrives only on high land, the soil of the valleys +being too rich. Corn gives for every bushel a hundred. Tobacco planted +in Illinois, if well managed, is found to be superior to that of +Kentucky and Virginia. Rice and indigo grow wild, their cultivation +being neglected for want of hands. Pecans, a product of the West Indies, +grow in abundance in the native forests. This state having a temperate +climate, possesses many of the southern products. The timber is of +colossal magnitude. Sycamores and cotton trees of an immense height, +walnut, pecan trees, honey-locusts and maples, cover the surface of this +country, and are the surest indications of an exceedingly rich soil. The +most fertile<a class="pagenum" id="Page_89" title="89"></a> parts of the state are the bottom lands along the +Mississippi, Illinois, and the big and little Wabash. The country is +complained of as being sickly. There is no doubt that a state which +abounds in rivers, marshes, and ponds, must be subject to epidemic +diseases, but the climate being temperate the fault lies very much with +the settlers and the inhabitants themselves. The settler who chooses for +his dwelling-house a spot on an eminence, and far from the marshes, +taking at the same time the necessary precautions in point of dress, +cleanliness, and the choice of victuals and beverage, may live without +fear in these countries. All agree in this opinion, and I have myself +experienced the correctness of it. The greatest part, however, of the +new comers and inhabitants live upon milk or stagnant water taken from +the first pond they meet with on their way, with a few slices of bacon. +Their wardrobe consists of a single shirt, which is worn till it falls +to pieces. It cannot, therefore, be matter of astonishment if agues and +bilious fevers spread over the country, and even in this case a quart of +corn brandy is their prescription.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_90" title="90"></a> This being the general mode of +living, and we may add of dying, among the lower classes, disease must +necessarily spread its ravages with more rapidity.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_91" title="91"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Excursion to St. Louis.—Face of the Country.—Sketch of the State of +Missouri.—Return to Trinity.</p> + + +<p>The steam-boat, the Pioneer, having come up to Trinity the following +day, on its way to St. Louis, Mr. B. and I resolved to take a trip to +the latter place, as the best chance that offered to get away as soon as +possible. We started at ten o’clock in the morning, turned round the +fork, and ascended the muddy Mississippi. The first town we saw was +Hamburgh, on the Illinois side, consisting of nineteen frame dwellings +and cabins, and four stores. On the left, in the state of Missouri, is +Cape Girardeau. The settlement mostly consists of Frenchmen, and German +Redemptioners. The town has not a very inviting<a class="pagenum" id="Page_92" title="92"></a> appearance. One hundred +and six miles above the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, we landed +at St. Genevieve to take in wood. This town is the principal mart for +the Burton mines; it has a Catholic chapel, twenty stores, a printing +office, 250 houses, and 1600 inhabitants. Twenty-four miles farther up +the same side, is Herculaneum, with 300 inhabitants, a court-house, and +a printing office. The town had been laid out and peopled by +Kentuckians. There are several villages on the right and left bank, and +some good-looking farms. On the third day, at twelve o’clock, we reached +the town of St. Louis, 170 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and +thirteen miles below the junction of the Mississippi, and the Missouri. +This town extends, in a truly picturesque situation, in 38° 33′ north +latitude, and 12° 58′ west longitude, for the length of two miles along +the river, in three parallel streets, rising one above the other in the +form of terraces, on a stratum of limestone. The houses are for the most +part built of this material, and surrounded with gardens. The number of +buildings amounts to 620, that of the inhabitants to 5000. Its principal +buildings are, a Catholic, and two Pro<a class="pagenum" id="Page_93" title="93"></a>testant churches, a branch bank +of the United States, and the bank of St. Louis, the courthouse, the +government-house, an academy, and a theatre; besides these, there are a +number of wholesale and retail stores, two printing offices, and an +abundance of coffee-shops, billiard-tables, and dancing-rooms. The trade +of St. Louis is not so extensive as that of Louisville, and less liable +to interruption, as the navigation is not impeded at any season of the +year, the Mississippi, being at all times navigable for the largest +vessels. An exception, indeed, occurred in 1802, when the Ohio and other +rivers were almost dried up. The inhabitants of St. Louis and of +Missouri, have therefore a never-failing channel for carrying their +produce to market. This they generally do, when the rivers which empty +themselves into the Mississippi, are so low that they have no +apprehension of finding any competition in New Orleans. Last year, the +market of New Orleans was almost exclusively supplied with produce from +St. Louis and Missouri. Eighty dollars was the general price for a +bullock, which at a later period would not have obtained twenty-five +dollars; flour was at eight dollars, whereas,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_94" title="94"></a> two months afterwards, +abundance could be had for two and a half dollars. In the same +proportion they sold every other article. It is this circumstance which +contributes to the wealth of St. Louis, and of Missouri in general, to +the detriment, on the other hand, of the Ohio States, Kentucky, Indiana, +and Ohio. At the time of our arrival at St. Louis, there were in its +port, five steam vessels, and thirty-five other boats. St. Louis is a +sort of New Orleans on a smaller scale; in both places are to be found a +number of coffee-houses and dancing rooms. The French are seen engaged +in the same amusements and passions that formerly characterised the +creoles of Louisiana, with the exception, that the trade with the +Indians has given to the French backwoods-men of St. Louis, a rather +malicious and dishonest turn—a fault from which the creoles of +Louisiana are free, owing to the greater respectability of their +visitors and settlers, from Europe, and from the north of the Union. The +majority of the inhabitants of this town, as well as of the state, +consists of people descended from the French, of Kentuckians, and +foreigners of every description—Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Irish, +&c. Ken<a class="pagenum" id="Page_95" title="95"></a>tucky manners are fashionable. Not long before my arrival, there +occurred a specimen of this, in an open assault and duel between two +individuals in the public street. For the last five years, men of +property and respectability, attracted by the superior advantages of the +situation, have settled at St. Louis, and their example and influence +have been conducive of some good to public morals. The enterprising +spirit of the Americans is remarkable, even in this place and state. +Within the twenty-three years that have elapsed since the cession of +this country (part of the former Louisiana) to the Union, much more has +been achieved in every point of view, than during the sixty years +preceding, when it was in possession of France and Spain. Streets, +villages, settlements, towns, and farms, have sprung up in every +direction; the population has augmented from 20,000 to 84,000 +inhabitants; and if they are not superior in wealth to their neighbours, +it is certainly to be attributed to their want of industry, and to their +passing the greater part of their time in grog-shops, or in +dancing-companies, according to the prevailing custom. Slavery, which is +introduced here, though so ill<a class="pagenum" id="Page_96" title="96"></a> adapted to a northern state, contributes +not a little to the aristocratic notions of the people, the least of +whom, if he can call himself the master of one slave, would be ashamed +to put his hand to any work. Still there is more ready money among the +inhabitants, than in any of the western states, and prices are demanded +accordingly. Cattle that fetch in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, ten +dollars per head, are sold in Missouri for twenty-five dollars, and so +in proportion. The country about St. Louis to the north, south, and +west, consists of prairies, extending fifteen miles in every direction, +with some very handsome farm houses, and numerous herds of cattle. +Though in the same degree of northern latitude as the city of +Washington, the climate is more severe, owing to the two rivers Missouri +and Mississippi, whose waters coming from northern countries greatly +contribute to cool the air. The cultivation of tobacco has not +succeeded, and the produce chiefly consists of wheat, corn and +cattle;—equally important is the profit from the lead mines, and the +fur trade. The most improved settlements are those along the +Mississippi, and on the Missouri they are beginning to be formed.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_097" title="097"></a>Missouri was received into the Union in 1821, and is, with the exception +of Virginia, the largest state of the Union, its area exceeding 60,000 +square miles. To the north and west it borders on the Missouri +territory; towards the east the Mississippi is the boundary between this +state, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; the Arkansas territory lies to +the south. It extends from 36° to 40° 25′ north latitude, and from 12° +50′ to 18° 10′ west longitude. The country forms an elevated plain, +sloping considerably to the south, where it is crossed by the Ozark +mountains. Marshes and mountains prevail more in the southern parts, +high plains in the northern. Along the Mississippi and Missouri, the +bottom lands are generally extremely fertile. The soils, however, cannot +be altogether compared with that of Illinois. The possession of slaves +is allowed by the constitution of this state, and their number amounts +to 10,000; that of the rest of the inhabitants to 70,000. The form of +government approaches very nearly that of Kentucky. We remained one day +at St. Louis, and returned in the steam-boat, General Brown, to Trinity, +where we took on board the ladies and some new passengers,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_98" title="98"></a> returning +from thence to the Mississippi. We passed several small islands, and a +large one (Wolf’s Island), and landed at New Madrid at midnight, for the +purpose of taking in wood. This place is the seat of justice for the +county of the same name; it has, however, no court-house, and is a +rather wretched looking place, containing about thirty log and shattered +farm houses, with 180 inhabitants, Spaniards, French, and Italians. The +two stores being open, we visited them. They were but poorly provided, +having about a dozen cotton handkerchiefs, one barrel of whiskey, and a +heap of furs. Two Indians were stretched on the ground before the door, +and in a sound sleep, with their guns by their side. The Mississippi is +continually encroaching upon the town, and has already swept away many +intended streets, as the inhabitants say, obliging them to move back to +their no small disappointment. The surrounding country is highly +fertile, and in the rear of the town there are several well cultivated +cotton and rice plantations. A rich plain stretches along to the west, +behind New Madrid, as far as the waters of Sherrimack.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_99" title="99"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The State of Tennessee.—Steam-boats on the Mississippi.—Flat-boats.</p> + + +<p>We had now passed the western extremity of Kentucky, and had the state +of Tennessee on our left. The eastern banks of the Mississippi, viz. on +the Tennessee side, are throughout lower than the western or Missouri +shores; presenting a series of marshes from which cypress trees and +canebrack seem just emerging, lining them for hundreds of miles to the +southward. Farther eastward, towards the rivers Tennessee and +Cumberland, the soil is overgrown with sugar-maples, sycamore trees, +walnuts, and honey-locusts; the mountains with white and live oak and +hickory. The eastern part of the state resembles North<a class="pagenum" id="Page_100" title="100"></a> Carolina. The +middle part is by far the best. Cotton and tobacco are staple articles. +Rice is cultivated with success. Hemp is not considered of the same +quality as the Kentuckian, the climate being too warm. The tropical +fruits, such as figs, thrive well; chesnuts are superior to those of the +other states. Melons, peaches, and apples, are abundant. Tennessee is +considered altogether a rich and fertile land. The inhabitants are +liberal, noble hearted, and noted for their good conduct towards +strangers. Several foreigners settled in the state, have attained a high +degree of wealth and prosperity. There is no state in the Union where +slavery has had less pernicious effects upon the character of the +people. The inhabitants are mostly descendants of emigrants from North +Carolina, and their hospitality is without bounds. This state extends, +in an oblong square, from the shores of the Mississippi towards Virginia +and North Carolina, in 35° to 36° 30′ north latitude, and 4° 26′ to 13° +5′ west longitude. It is bounded on the east by Virginia and North +Carolina; on the south by Georgia, Albania, and Mississippi; on the west +by the river Mississippi, and on the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_101" title="101"></a> north by Kentucky, comprising +altogether 40,000 square miles. East Tennessee partakes more of the +sandy character of North Carolina. West Tennessee of the marshes of the +Mississippi valley. Its principal rivers are the Cumberland and +Tennessee, with the Mississippi on the west, where however, with the +exception of some very small settlements, there are no improvements of +any kind. The canal proposed by Governor Troup, of Georgia, to Governor +Carrott, of Tennessee, which is to bring this state into immediate +connection with the Atlantic, will have a very beneficial effect, these +two rivers being navigable for steam-boats only during three months in +the year, and New Orleans being the only market for Tennessee. +Notwithstanding its straitened commerce, the state is rapidly improving, +and several of its towns, though not large are yet very elegant. The +chief wealth of the state, however, consists in the plantations, and the +farmer and planter live in a style, which at least in point of eating, +cannot be exceeded by the wealthiest nobleman in any country. Among the +towns of the state, Nashville holds the first rank. This town occupies a +commanding situa<a class="pagenum" id="Page_102" title="102"></a>tion, on a solid cliff of rocks on the south side of +the Cumberland, 200 feet above the level of the banks. The river is +navigable here during three months in the year for steam-boats of 300 +tons burthen. Besides the court-house, three churches, two banks, +including a branch bank of the United States, three printing offices, +and a great number of wholesale and retail merchants, there is the seat +of the district court for the western part of Tennessee. Several +literary institutions, such as Cumberland college, a ladies’ school, and +reading-room with a public library, are evident proofs of a liberal +spirit. This spirit is combined with unbounded hospitality. There is a +number of houses, such as those of Governor Carrott, Major General +Jackson, &c., where every respectable stranger is welcome, and may be +sure of meeting with a select company. The surrounding country is +beautiful, cotton plantations lining the banks of the river, and +extending in every direction hither. The wealthier inhabitants generally +retire during the summer months, from the stifling heats prevailing on +the barren rocks upon which Nashville stands. Knoxville in east +Tennessee, with 400 houses and 2,500 inhabi<a class="pagenum" id="Page_103" title="103"></a>tants, is of less +importance; it is the seat of the supreme district court for east +Tennessee, and has a bank, a college, and two churches. The country +about Knoxville is far inferior to that round Nashville. The capital of +Tennessee, Murfreesborough, has 1500 inhabitants, with a state-house, a +bank, two printing-offices, &c. It communicates by water with Nashville, +through Stonecreek. The situation seems not to be very judiciously +chosen for a chief town. This was the state of things four years ago, +when I passed through the place; but doubtless it has since +proportionably increased. Our company being on this occasion of a less +mixed, and a less troublesome character, we sailed down the majestic +father of rivers, with minds well disposed to acknowledge our +obligations to Mr. Fulton, for his happy idea of applying the power of +steam to navigation. The settlers of the Mississippi valley, are in duty +bound to raise a monument to the memory of a man, who has effected in +their mode of conveyance so adventurous, and so successful a change. Not +ten years have elapsed since the inhabitants of the west were used to +toil like<a class="pagenum" id="Page_104" title="104"></a> beasts of burden, in order to ascend the stream for a +distance of ten or fifteen miles a day; and when in 1802, some boats +belonging to Mr. R., of Nashville, arrived from New Orleans in +eighty-seven days, this passage was considered the <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">ne plus ultra</em> of +quick travelling by water, and was instantly made known throughout the +Union. A passenger now performs the same voyage in five days, sitting +all the while in a comfortable state-room, which in point of fitting-up +vies with the most elegant parlours, writing letters, or reading the +newspapers, and if tired of these occupations, paying visits to the +ladies, if he be permitted to do so; or otherwise pacing the deck, where +his less fortunate fellow passengers are hanging in hammocks—an +indication to many of what may be their future state. There is certainly +not any nation that can boast of a greater disposition for travelling, +than Brother Jonathan; and there is again nobody more at home than he, +whether in a tavern, or on board a vessel; as he is in the habit of +considering a tavern, a vessel, or a steam-boat, as a kind of public +property. Yet on board a vessel, or a steam-boat, he is very tractable. +The great difference of fare between<a class="pagenum" id="Page_105" title="105"></a> a cabin and a deck passage, from +Louisville to New Orleans, being for the former forty dollars, and for +the latter eight dollars, contributes to establish a distinction in this +assemblage of people, placing those who are found too light in the upper +house, and the more weighty in the lower. The first have to find +themselves, the others are provided with every thing in a manner which +shows that private institutions for the benefit of the public, are +certainly more patronised here than in most other countries. If the +pecuniary resources of the citizen of the United States do not reach a +very low ebb, he will certainly choose the cabin, his pride forbidding +him to mix with the rabble, though the expence may fall too heavy upon +him. That economical refinement which the French evince on these +occasions, is not to be seen in America. When I proceeded four months +ago from Havre to Rouen, in the Duchess of Angouleme steam-boat, among +the 100 passengers who were on board, more than fifty well-looking +people were seen unpacking their bundles, and regaling themselves with +their contents—bread, chicken, cutlets, wine, &c., &c., a frugality +which will hardly be found to contribute to the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_106" title="106"></a> improvement of a spirit +of enterprise. The Americans would be ashamed of this kind of parsimony, +which must ever impede all public undertakings. Owing to this cause, the +American steam-boats are in point of elegance superior to those of other +nations; and none but the English are able to compete with them. The +furniture, carpets, beds, &c., are throughout elegant, and in good +condition. Some of the new steam-boats are provided with small rooms, +each containing two births, which passengers may use for their +accommodation in shaving, dressing, &c. The general regulations are +suspended above the side board in a gilt frame, and are as binding as a +law. They prohibit speaking to the pilot during the passage—visiting +the ladies’ state-room, without their consent—lying down upon the bed +with shoes or boots on—smoking cigars in the state-room—and playing at +cards after ten o’clock. The first transgression is punished with a +fine; if repeated, the transgressor is sent ashore. The fare is +excellent, and the breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, are provided with +such a multiplicity of dishes, and even dainties, as would satisfy the +most refined appetite.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_107" title="107"></a> The beverage consists of rum, gin, brandy, +claret, to be taken at pleasure during meals; but out of that time they +are to be paid for. Distressing accidents will of course occasionally +occur; the last of this kind was of a truly heart-rending nature: it +happened four years ago, above Walnut-hills, in the steam-boat +Tennessee. The night was tempestuous, the rain fell in torrents, and the +captain, instead of landing and waiting until the weather cleared up, +lost his senses, and ran on a sawyer<a id="FNanchor_C" href="#Footnote_C" class="fnanchor">[C]</a>. The steam-boat was not sixty +feet distant from the bank, which could not be distinguished, and she +went down in a few seconds, together with 110 passengers, save a few who +by accident reached the shore. Since that time, although steam-boats +have sunk, no such loss of lives has occurred. This, however, is not to +be compared with the hardships, the toils, the loss of health and life, +to which the navigators of flat and keel-boats were formerly, and are +<a class="pagenum" id="Page_108" title="108"></a> still exposed, when going down the Mississippi. +Nothing more uncouth than these flat-boats was ever sent forth from the +hands of a carpenter. They are built of rude timber and planks, sixty +feet in length, and twenty-five feet in breadth, and so unmanageable, +that only the strong arm of a backwoodsman can keep them from running +upon planters[<a id="FNanchor_D" href="#Footnote_D" class="fnanchor">[D]</a>, sawyers, wooden-islands, and all the Scyllas and +Charybdes, that are to be met with on the voyage. We found numbers of +them along the Ohio, detained by low water; and from St. Louis down to +New Orleans, sometimes fifteen, twenty, and thirty together. Their +uncouth appearance, the boisterous and fierce manners of their crews, +the immense distance they have already proceeded, make them truly +objects of interest. One of these flat-boats is from the Upper Ohio, +laden with pine-boards, planks, rye, whisky, flour; close to it, another +from the falls of the Ohio, with corn in the ear and bulk, apples, +peaches;<a class="pagenum" id="Page_109" title="109"></a> a third, with hemp, tobacco, and cotton. In the fourth you may +find horses regularly stabled together; in the next, cattle from the +mouth of the Missouri; a sixth will have hogs, poultry, turkeys; and in +a seventh you see peeping out of the holes, the woolly heads of slaves +transported from Virginia and Kentucky, to the human flesh mart at New +Orleans. They have come thousands of miles, and still have to proceed a +thousand more, before they arrive at their place of destination.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_110" title="110"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Scenery along the Mississippi.—Hopefield.—St. Helena.—Arkansas + Territory.—Spanish Moss.—Vixburgh.</p> + + +<p>We pursued our course at the rate of ten miles an hour, passing the +Chickasaw Bluffs, Memphis, a small settlement on the Tennessee side, and +a number of smaller and larger islands, from two to six miles in length, +but seldom more than one in breadth. The sediment of the Mississippi is +continually forming new sand banks, at the same time that its +irresistible power carries away old ones. That river was, as I have +already mentioned, very low, and the numerous sand banks on both sides +contracted its channel into a bed scarcely more than half a mile broad. +On these banks numberless flocks of wild ducks, geese,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_111" title="111"></a> cranes, swans, +and pelicans, stationed themselves in rows, extending sometimes a mile +in length. As soon as the steam boat approaches, dashing through the +water with the noise of thunder, and vomiting forth columns of smoke, +they fly up in masses resembling clouds, and retire to their covers in +the marshes and ponds contiguous to the banks of the Mississippi. They +abound most 150 miles above Natchez, and hundreds of thousands are seen +crossing the river in every direction. The scenery in view is an immense +valley, with banks sixty feet above the water, forests of colossal trees +on both sides, and the vast expanse of waters rolling with a velocity +the more surprising, as the country stretches in a continued plain, with +scarcely any perceptible decline. The rural scenery of the regions +consists of detached cabins raised on huge stumps of trees; instead of +windows there are the natural apertures of the logs joined together; in +front of them woodstacks, for the use of the steam boats; ten or twelve +deer, bear, or fox skins drying in the open air; some turkies and hogs, +scattered over a corn patch, &c. Farms, or plantations, properly so +called, are seldom to be met with here; the chief object of these +settlers<a class="pagenum" id="Page_112" title="112"></a> being the breed of cattle and poultry, for the use of +steam-boats. The only trace of agriculture is a small tract of cotton +field, which the settlers endeavour to improve.</p> + +<p>We stayed an hour and a half in Hopefield, opposite to the Chickasaw +Bluffs, the chief village of Hempstead county, with ten houses. There +are two taverns, such as may be expected in these parts, a store and a +post office. Two hours later we saw the mouth of the Wolf river; the +beautiful President’s island, ten miles long, which with its colossal +forests presents an imposing sight, with several small islands in its +train. Among these is the Battle island, taking its name from a battle +fought here between two Kentuckians, who compelled their captain to land +them, and returned after half an hour, the one with his nose bitten off, +the other with his eyes scooped out of their sockets! This night we +arrived in the county town of St. Helena, ninety-five miles above the +mouth of the Arkansas. The place was laid out a few years ago, and bids +fair to become of some importance, from the extreme scarcity of spots +adapted for towns on the banks<a class="pagenum" id="Page_113" title="113"></a> of the Mississippi. The village is +situated a quarter of a mile from the west bank. The cabin houses are +built upon dwarfish round hills, resembling sugar loaves. Viewed from a +distance they have a handsome appearance, which, however, considerably +diminishes on approaching nearer to them. The spot is quite broken land. +Two hundred yards further up, a ridge eighty feet above the level of the +water, extends about a quarter of a mile, and six other houses are built +upon it, amongst which is a tavern and store, with few articles besides +a barrel of whisky for their Indian guests. A heap of furs, of every +description, indicates that this trade is a very lucrative one. About +thirty miles to the westward are the military lands, granted as a reward +to the soldiers who served in the last war; only a few of them have come +to settle on these grants. The distance from the eastern cities being so +immense, the expenses of the journey, compared with the object they were +about to attain, were so great, that most of them remained in the east.</p> + +<p>On the following morning we passed the mouth of the White river, and +thirteen miles<a class="pagenum" id="Page_114" title="114"></a> lower down the river Arkansas, a beautiful, wide, and +very important stream, next in size to the Ohio, which after a course of +2,500 miles, 900 of which are navigable for steam-boats, empties itself +into the Mississippi at this place. From this river the territory of +Arkansas has taken its name. It was formerly part of Louisiana, then of +Missouri, and has since 1819, been separated from the latter, and now +forms a distinct territory extending from 33° to 36° north latitude, and +from 11° 45′ to 23° west longitude. Its area is computed to be above +100,000 square miles. With the exception of a few towns, such as +Arkopolis, Post Arkansas, Little-rock, &c., and some other settlements +of less note, it is not otherwise known than from the reports of the +expeditions sent into the interior at various times. According to their +accounts it differs in some essential points from the eastern states. +The eastern part of this vast territory bears the character of the +Mississippi valley, and abounds in well wooded plains, prairies, and +marshes, in alternate succession, the latter occupying almost +exclusively the tract of land situated between the rivers Arkansas and +St. Francis towards<a class="pagenum" id="Page_115" title="115"></a> the Ozark mountains. There the country rises; rocks +and mountains become visible, announcing the approach to the Rocky +mountains. Between these and the Ozark mountains are vast plains covered +with salt crusts, imparting to the rivers flowing through the country a +brackish taste. There have also been discovered valleys competing in +point of fertility with the valley of the Mississippi; eminences covered +for a distance of many miles with vines, whose grapes are said to be +equal to the best produce of the Cape. In other places are vast plains, +which owing to their stratum being gravel, produce but a short and dry +grape, without any trees. The territory in the interior contains +important mineral and vegetable treasures. The Volcanos, the Hotsprings, +the Ouachitta lake, and other natural wonders, will soon attract general +attention. From what was related to me by an eye witness who bestowed +all his attention on them, they are undoubtedly of the first importance. +The springs are six in number, and they are situated about ten miles +from the Ouachitta, near a volcano. Their temperature being 150°, the +use which visitors make of them consists in exposing them<a class="pagenum" id="Page_116" title="116"></a>selves to the +vapour. They are impregnated with carbonic acid, muriate of soda, and a +small quantity of iron and calcareous matter. Hitherto, besides Indians +and hunters, but few persons resorted to them until the last two years, +when several gentlemen went thither for the recovery of their health. +But the present total want of ready money in these deserted parts has +prevented a more rapid improvement. The population amounts to 18,000 +souls, 2,000 of whom are slaves. Mental improvement is here sought for +in vain. The American reads his Bible, and if opportunity offers, he +visits once a year a Methodist Missionary. The French care as little for +one as for the other. Colleges, academies, or literary institutions +there are none, but in Post Arkansas, Arkopolis, and Little-rock, +schools are established. Those cannot be expected from a country without +any political importance, and with a population scattered over such an +immense extent. An extract from a newspaper published in Arkopolis, +which I found in St. Helena, may give some idea of the honourables of +these parts: “Mr. White respectfully begs leave to announce himself as +candidate for their Representative, &c.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_117" title="117"></a>—N.B. Tailoring business done +in the best manner, and at the shortest notice!!”</p> + +<p>Arkansas has hitherto been the refuge for poor adventurers, foreigners, +French soldiers, German redemptioners, with a few respectable American +families; men of fortune preferring the state of Mississippi or +Louisiana, where society and the comforts of life can be found with less +difficulty. It is certain, however, that the western part of this +territory is healthier than the western states of Alabama, Georgia, and +Mississippi, and that the Rocky and Ozark chain, running from east to +west, obviates one great evil—the sudden change of temperature, caused +by the want of high mountains to resist the power of the north and south +winds.</p> + +<p>A traveller who first visits the valley of the Mississippi, is led to +believe that the waters of this immense river rise above the trees along +its banks, leaving the branches covered with weeds and mud when they +retire to their bed. It is Spanish moss or Tellandsea which presents +that appearance to the traveller. It is firmly rooted<a class="pagenum" id="Page_118" title="118"></a> in the apertures +of the bark, and hangs down from the trees, not unlike long rough +beards. This plant has a yellow blossom, and a pod containing the seed. +It is found along the coast of the Mississippi, from St. Helena to below +New Orleans, and is universally applied to all those purposes for which +curled hair is used in the north. It is gathered from the trees with +long hooks, afterwards put into water for a few days in order to rot the +outer part, and then dried. The substance obtained by this simple +process is a fine black fibre resembling horse hair. A mattrass stuffed +in this manner may serve for a year, if not wetted; it then becomes +dusty and requires that the moss should be taken out, beaten, and the +mattress filled again, by which means it becomes more elastic than it +was before.</p> + +<p>We passed several settlements and islands, the mouth of the Yazoo +rivers, and on the third day we arrived at Vixburgh, or Walnut-hills. We +were now 600 miles from the mouth of the Ohio, and in that whole +distance had not seen either a hill or mountain, with the exception of a +few mole-hills at St. Helena, which rose, perhaps,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_119" title="119"></a> to the height of +twenty or twenty-five feet above the endless plain. The first objects +which interrupt the sameness of this grand but rather uniform scenery, +are the Walnut-hills, on the east bank of the river, in the state of +Mississippi. They rise singly and perfectly detached. There may be eight +or nine in number, with a small house on the top of each. Close to the +landing-place is the warehouse of Mr. Brown; and farther back, some +merchant’s stores, and two taverns. Half a mile from the bank rises a +ridge about four miles long, and 300 feet high. This hill, +notwithstanding its inconvenient situation, will probably be selected +for the site of part of Vixburgh town, which was laid out two years ago, +and is now the seat of justice for Warren county. It has already fifty +houses and three stores. Several steam-boats are regularly employed in +the cotton trade. As there is not a single place on the banks of the +Mississippi, where a town of some extent could be built without being +exposed to the floods, Vixburgh must very soon become a place of great +importance for the upper part of the state of Mississippi. The +surrounding country begins to be<a class="pagenum" id="Page_120" title="120"></a> rapidly settled; and civilization, +which is almost extinct for more than a 1000 miles up the Mississippi +and the Ohio, here resumes its power, and increases the farther you +descend towards New Orleans.</p> + +<p>On the following day we passed Warrington, Palmyra, Davies’, Judge +Smith’s settlements, the Grand and Petit Golfe, and Gruinsburgh, and +arrived at five o’clock in the evening at Natchez.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_121" title="121"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The Town of Natchez.—Excursion to Palmyra Plantations.—The Cotton + Planters of the State of Mississippi.—Sketch of the State of + Mississippi.—Return to Natchez.</p> + + +<p>Rain, and a subsequent frost, had a week before our arrival dispelled +that scourge of the south—the yellow fever. The inhabitants had +returned from the places of safety, to which they had fled in every +direction, and intercourse was again re-established, the town having +resumed all the activity I had found in it three years before. The road +to the town, properly so called, leads through a suburb, known by the +name of Low Natchez, consisting of some warehouses and shops of every +description. This place deserves, in every respect, the epithet of Low +Natchez,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_122" title="122"></a> being a true Gomorrha, and containing an assemblage of the +lowest characters. Although fifteen years ago, a great part of the bluff +buried in its fall, several of these wretches, and every rainy season +exposes the survivors to the same fate, yet they seem unconscious of +their danger. The road ascends to the town on both sides of these liquor +shops, built as it were on the brink of a precipice. Natchez is situated +on a hill, 250 feet above the level of the water. The prospect from this +hill, or bluff, as it is called, is beautiful. At your feet you behold +this nest of sinners, close to it four or five steam-boats, and thirty +or forty keel and flat-boats anchoring in the port, with the bustle and +noise attendant on these wandering arks. On the opposite bank of the +Mississippi, which is here one mile and a quarter wide, you see the +county town of Concordia, and on both sides of this little town, +numerous plantations, with the stately mansion of the wealthy cotton +planter, and the numerous cabins of his black dependents; and in the +background, the whole scenery is girded by an immense ring of cypress +forests, which seem, as it were, to bury themselves in the flats below +the Mississippi. To the right<a class="pagenum" id="Page_123" title="123"></a> and left a charming elevated plain +extends, with numerous gardens, which, though it was then the end of +November, still preserved their verdure, faded, indeed, into an autumnal +hue. In the rear is the town of Natchez, of moderate dimensions; but +elegant and regular as far as the broken ground would admit. The +dwelling-houses, several of them with colonnades, exhibit throughout a +high degree of wealth. The court-house, an academy, the United States’ +branch bank, and the bank of Natchez, three churches, three newspaper +printing offices, one of which publishes a literary journal (the Ariel), +a library and reading-room, are the public institutions, and they are +very liberally patronised. Neither during my former journey, nor in the +present visit, could I discover any foundation for the charge of +narrowness of mind, which is made against the inhabitants. Their number +amounts to 3,540, and their houses to 600. They are mostly planters, +merchants, lawyers, and physicians, of Anglo-American extraction, with +the exception of ten or twelve German families.</p> + +<p>Natchez is considered as a port, and on this<a class="pagenum" id="Page_124" title="124"></a> ground the representative +of the state obtained the most useless grant of money ever made—1500 +dollars—for the purpose of erecting a light-house, at a place 410 miles +distant from the sea. This town had been considered a healthier spot +than New Orleans, until the two last years, when it was repeatedly +visited by the yellow-fever, from which New Orleans remained free. It is +yet doubtful whether this evil is to be ascribed to the dissolute life +prevailing in lower Natchez, or to the oppressive heat which prevails on +these high plains. The distance, however, from the cooling current of +the Mississippi, short as it is, and the unwholesome rain-water, which +is used for drinking, must contribute to create bilious fevers. The +great pecuniary resources which the inhabitants of Natchez have at +command, would make it an easy matter for them to obtain their water for +drinking from the Mississippi, in the same manner as the inhabitants of +Philadelphia have raised the waters of Schuylkill. The country about +Natchez is an extensive and elevated plain, 200 feet above the level of +the Mississippi, stretching 130 miles from north to south, and about +forty miles to the eastward. Although a<a class="pagenum" id="Page_125" title="125"></a> fertile tract of land, it is +far inferior to the Mississippi bottom-lands. The upland cotton grown +upon it, is inferior in quantity and quality to that of Mississippi +growth. The soil, however, produces corn, vegetables, plumbs, peaches, +and figs in abundance. I stayed two days in Natchez, and rode with a +friend to the distance of fifty-five miles above Natchez, on the +Mississippi, passing through Gibsonport, twenty-five miles from Natchez, +and six miles from the Mississippi, a town having a court-house, a +newspaper printing office, and about sixty houses, with 1100 +inhabitants. The following day we arrived at Messrs. D.’s plantation. +These two brothers having purchased, three years ago, 6500 acres of +land, at the rate of two dollars an acre, landed with their slaves at +their new purchase, from their former residence in Kentucky. The lands +being a complete wilderness, their first occupation was to raise cabins +for themselves and their slaves. This was accomplished in four weeks. +They succeeded during the first year in clearing fifty acres of land, +twenty-five of which were sown in the month of February with cotton +seed, the rest with corn. This was was sufficient to defray<a class="pagenum" id="Page_126" title="126"></a> the expense +of the first year. The clearing of woods, however, in this country, if +not canebrack bottom, is not so easy a matter as in the northern states. +Numerous shrubs, thistles, and thorns, of an immense size, form hedges, +which it is almost impossible to penetrate. To these obstructions may be +added, snakes, muskitoes, and in the marshes, alligators, which, though +not so dangerous as the Egyptian crocodile, are still a great annoyance. +The trees are here destroyed in the same manner as in the north, by +killing them. Shrubs, underwood, canebrack, are burnt, and the corn or +cotton is planted instead. This is the work of the negroes, who labour +under the superintendence of their masters, or, if he be a wealthy man, +of his overseer. In the months of June or July, the ground is ploughed +or turned up; the weeds and shrubs are cleared away, as is done in the +case of Indian corn; the cultivation of cotton, though more troublesome, +being conducted much in the same manner. In the month of October, the +cotton begins to ripen, the buds open, and the white flower appears. The +present is the season for gathering cotton. Three kinds of cotton seeds +are now sown in the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_127" title="127"></a> southern states; the green, the black, and the +Mexican seed, which latter is considered to be the best. Of the green +seed cotton, a slave may gather 150 pounds a day, of the other two +kinds, the utmost that can be collected is 100 pounds. The buds are +broken from the plants, and the cotton, with the seed, taken out and put +into round baskets, which when filled are brought into the cotton yard, +and spread along planks, for the purpose of drying. The cotton is from +thence carried to the cotton gin, the machinery of which is put into +motion by three or four horses. The cotton is thrown between a cylinder +moving round a projecting saw; by this process the seed is separated +from the cotton, which is then thrown back into a large receptacle, and +afterwards pressed into bales. These are laid in stores and kept ready +for shipping, in steam or flat boats to Natchez or New Orleans. The two +brothers in this, the third, year from the date of their establishment, +raised 200 bales of cotton from 200 acres of cleared land. According to +their own estimation, and from what I know, they might have raised 350 +bales, had it not been for a disaster which befel them in the spring<a class="pagenum" id="Page_128" title="128"></a> of +the year 1825. They were visited with a hurricane, which lifted their +dwelling-house from the ground, carried it to a considerable distance +and completely destroyed it, with the entire furniture. Mr. D——, who +was at the plantation at the time, had great difficulty in escaping with +his wife and child, though not without a fractured leg, from the effects +of which he was still suffering. Not even a chair had been spared. The +immense trees torn up by the roots and still lying in every direction +upon the ground, the shattered cabins of his negroes, every thing +presented indications of the havoc made in this disastrous night. +Happily no human life was lost. This misfortune had, of course, +considerably retarded the improvements in progress, and thrown them back +for at least a twelvemonth. Still the planters calculated this year upon +a profit of 10,000 dollars from their plantation; 4000 dollars may be +deducted from this for household and other necessary expenses, leaving a +clear profit of 6000 dollars. The original capital of the two brothers +consisted, (including the value of their slaves), of 20,000 dollars. +They paid half the purchase<a class="pagenum" id="Page_129" title="129"></a> money when they took possession, and the +rest in the present year. Their plantation is now worth 60,000 dollars. +In the state of Mississippi, the principal article of cultivation is +cotton, as it is the staple article of its commerce; corn and the +breeding of cattle are considered as secondary objects, though many +plantations reckon from 100 to 300 head of cattle, which have a free +range in the vast forests in quest of food. Only those intended for +fattening are kept at home and fed with cotton seed, which in a few +weeks will make them exceedingly fat. Turkeys and poultry in general are +found in abundance, and constitute with firewood the articles which are +sold to steam-boats passing on their way. Indian corn supplies in these +parts the place of rye or wheat. The slaves live exclusively on corn +bread; their masters vary it with wheat cakes. Wheat, flour, whiskey, +articles of dress, sacking, and blankets, come from the north, or from +New Orleans. The dress of the planter during the summer months consists +of a linen jacket, pantaloons of the same, Monroe boots, and a straw +hat. During the winter he wears a cotton shirt and a cloth dress. That<a class="pagenum" id="Page_130" title="130"></a> +of his slaves during summer is a coarse cotton shirt and trowsers, with +shoes called mocasins. In winter they are furnished with cotton +trowsers, and a coat made of a woollen blanket. The females have dresses +of the same materials. The manner of living of the southern planter +differs little from that of the northern; he likes his doddy, which the +northern planter or farmer is also known to be fond of; he lives on +wheat cakes or Indian corn bread, and superintends his slaves at their +work, as the northern does his hands. Of the effeminate and luxurious +style in which the southern planters are said to indulge—of their +pretended fondness for female slaves, without whose assistance they +cannot find their beds, I have never had any proofs, though in both my +journeys I have not passed less than a year in Mississippi and +Louisiana, and know one half of the plantations. The American planter +lives in a higher style than his northern fellow citizen: this is quite +natural, considering that his income is very large, and his taxes +trifling. His chief expense, however, consists in his travels or summer +excursions to the north, where he is pleased to shew his<a class="pagenum" id="Page_131" title="131"></a> southern +magnificence in a display of pompous dissipation. This fault, with few +exceptions, is general with southern planters. They save at home, and +renounce the very comforts of life in order to have the means of +spending more money during the summer at Saratoga, Boston, or New York. +The slave always rises at five o’clock, and works till seven, then +breakfasts—generally upon soup with corn bread, baked on a pan, and +eaten warm with a piece of bacon or salt-meat. Their tasks are assigned +to them by the master of the plantation, or if he has been settled for +some years, by an overseer. Part of the negroes are engaged in the +cotton gin, others in carpenters’ or in cabinet work, each plantation +having two or three mechanics among the slaves. A third part works in +the cotton or corn fields. The females have likewise their tasks. One or +two of the girls are housemaids; two more are cooks, one for the white, +the other for the black family. The old negro women have the washing +assigned to them. The dinner of the slaves consists of corn bread, a +pudding of the same stuff, and salt or fresh meat. It is usual to give +them a piece of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_132" title="132"></a> meat, in order to keep them in good condition. The +supper is of corn bread again, and a soup without meat. They seldom get +any whiskey, and tavern keepers are prohibited by law from selling it to +them. The first transgression is punished with a fine, the second with +the loss of the tavern licence. On Sundays the slaves are exempt from +working for their master, and permitted to attend to their family or +their own concerns. Many of them are seen gleaning the cotton fields, +collecting this way from eighty to a hundred pounds of cotton in one +day. They are not, however, so well treated as in the northern slave +states, where they are rather considered as domestics, who in many cases +would not exchange their condition for that liberty which is enjoyed by +the German peasantry. The northern slave is, for this reason, extremely +afraid of transportation, which is a sort of punishment. The southern +blacks frequently run away, and there is not a newspaper published, in +which some escapes are not announced. The Anglo-Americans, however, +treat their slaves throughout better than the French and their +descendants, with whom the wretched blacks,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_133" title="133"></a> (their general allowance +being ten ears of Indian corn a day), experience a treatment in few +respects better than that of a beast. The principle upon which the +French descendant acts, is, that the slave ought to repay him in three +years the expense of his purchase. But, strange to say, the worst of all +are the free people of colour, who are equally permitted to possess +slaves. To be transferred into the hands of their own race, is the most +dreadful thing which can happen to a slave. Formal marriages rarely take +place between slaves: if the negro youth feels himself attracted by the +charms of a black beauty, their master allows them to cohabit. If the +female slave is on a distant plantation, the youth is permitted to see +her, provided he be trustworthy, and not suspected of an intention to +effect his escape. The children belong to the mother, or rather to her +master, who is not permitted to dispose of them before they are ten +years of age. The punishment which masters are allowed to inflict on +their slaves at home, is a flogging of thirty-nine lashes. The huts of +these people are of rough logs; lower down the river they are of regular +carpenter’s work. The<a class="pagenum" id="Page_134" title="134"></a> mansions of the American planters are in the easy +American style—sometimes frame, mostly, however, brick-houses, +constructed on four piles in the manner already described. Below +Natchez, the dwelling houses of the planters are in the old-fashioned +Spanish style, with immense roofs, but comfortable and adapted to the +climate. The windows are high and provided with shutters. They have a +summer dining room to the north, open on all sides so as to admit of a +free current of air. In the southern parts, the planter is the most +respectable and wealthy inhabitant. He lives contented, though his +domestic peace is sometimes troubled by the accidents inseparable from +the state of bondage in which his black family is kept. If he manages +his affairs well, for which very little is wanting beyond common sense +and activity, he cannot fail to become wealthy in a few years. I am +acquainted with several gentlemen, who settled in these states ten years +ago, with a capital of from 10 to 20,000 dollars. They are worth now at +least 100,000 dollars. The great difference between these plantations +and the northern farms, is the ready mart they are sure to find, and the +high price they obtain for<a class="pagenum" id="Page_135" title="135"></a> their produce. Though the prices of cotton +are considerably reduced, yet the profit which is derived from a capital +employed in a plantation is superior to any other. The price of a +well-conditioned plantation is enormous. I can instance Mr. B., who +having inherited one half of a plantation, bought the other half for +32,000 dollars. The failures in crops are of very rare occurrence in +these parts, and generally in the fourth year after a plantation has +been begun, the produce is equal to the capital employed in the +establishment. The management of these plantations requires by no means +a very enterprising turn of mind. I know some ladies who have +established cotton plantations, and raise from four to five hundred +bales a year, being assisted only by their overseer. Mrs. Barrow, Mrs. +Hook, &c., &c., are instances in proof of what I advance. Those who are +unable to bear the summer heats, or are not inured to the climate, +reside in the north, leaving a trusty overseer in charge of the +plantation. The distance from Natchez to Louisville or Cincinnati, +between 11 and 1200 miles, may be performed in nine or ten days. The +journey is a pleasant one, and is amply rewarded by the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_136" title="136"></a> purchases which +planters generally make in the north for themselves, their families, and +their slaves. Indolence, luxury, and effeminacy, are vices that are but +seldom to be met with in the American planter. He does not yield to the +northern farmer in activity or industry. He cannot work in person +without exposing himself to a bilious fever; but this is not necessary; +the superintendence of his affairs is a sufficient occupation for him. +In this state I found matters: after a serious and practical +investigation, and much experience, I can pronounce it to be a safer way +of employing a moderate capital in an advantageous manner, than any +other which offers itself in the United States.</p> + +<p>There can scarcely be a country where there is greater facility for +hunting than in these parts. Mr. D. being still lame from his late +accident, was obliged to remain at home, but he provided us with a +guide, in the person of the overseer of the Palmyra plantation, five +miles above Mr. D.’s settlement. We mounted our horses, and arrived in a +few minutes on the outside of the cotton-fields, a tract of canebrack +bottom, ex<a class="pagenum" id="Page_137" title="137"></a>tending about ten miles, where we expected to start a deer or +a bear. We had not ridden above half an hour when we discovered a bear, +which was killed. We proceeded afterwards to a marsh two miles behind +the plantation, the resort of flocks of ducks and wild geese. We found +about 300 of them, and having shot nine returned home. The bear was +found to be a young one, weighing 150 pounds:—its flesh was excellent. +These animals, as well as every description of game, are found in such +prodigious numbers, that our landlord thought it not worth while sending +his slaves such a distance for the ducks and geese we had shot in the +pond; and they were, therefore, left for birds of prey to feast upon. +The following day we made a shooting excursion with the overseer of +Palmyra plantation. After partaking of some refreshments at his +dwelling, we proceeded in his company. He superintends the plantation of +Mrs. Turner, for an annual salary of 1500 dollars, with board, lodging, +&c.; a sum which would be considered in the north as a first rate +salary, suitable to any gentleman. Seven wild turkeys were the spoils of +this day; we divided them equally amongst us,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_138" title="138"></a> reserving the seventh to +be roasted at Warrington for our dinner. Warrington, formerly the seat +of justice for Warren county, which is now transferred to Vixburgh, +though situated sixty feet above the water level of the Mississippi, is +regularly inundated by the spring floods. This town is on the decline, +owing to the removal of the seat of justice. It contains 200 +inhabitants, with forty houses, five of which are built of brick, the +rest of wood. Two lawyers, who are now on the move, two taverns, and two +stores, are to be found here. The two store-keepers, who were extremely +poor when they first settled here, eight years ago, are now worth above +20,000 dollars; one of them is going to establish a plantation. We +returned in good time, being here at a distance of twenty miles from the +plantation. Although the tract of country we came through is extremely +fertile, yet there is a great difference in the soil. The plantation of +Mr. D——, has undoubtedly the advantage over the six which came under +our notice; his cotton is of a superior quality. The richness of the +soil depends on the stratum. The best is considered to be that which is +found to have three or four feet of river sediment on a red<a class="pagenum" id="Page_139" title="139"></a> brownish +earth; where sand or gravel forms the stratum, the land, though fertile, +is not of so durable a quality. The growth of timber is generally the +surest mode of ascertaining the nature of the soil; we measured on the +plantation of Major Davis, some sycamores torn up by the hurricane, +which were not less than 200 feet in length; and cotton trees of 170 +feet. Where such a gigantic vegetation is seen, one may rely on the +fertility and inexhaustible quality of the soil. Our guide gave me a +proof of this: in one of his fields, he raised tobacco for ten +successive years, without doing more than ploughing the earth; the +produce, instead of diminishing, has rather increased both in quantity +and quality. One can hardly conceive how a soil, apparently sandy, can +be of a nature so inexhaustibly productive; the overflowing of the +Mississippi, and the sediment left on the banks, account, however, +sufficiently for it.</p> + +<p>The following day we took leave of our hospitable landlord, and +returned. The country we passed through is one continued range of the +most beautiful forests, opening some times to<a class="pagenum" id="Page_140" title="140"></a> give place to a rising +plantation. I counted between Palmyra and Natchez, twenty-five.</p> + +<p>The State of Mississippi was received into the Union in the year 1817. +It extends from 30° 10′ to 35° north latitude, and from 11° 30′ to 14° +32′ west longitude; and is bounded on the north by Tennessee, on the +west by Arkansas and Louisiana, on the south by Louisiana and the gulf +of Mexico, and on the east by Alabama. It comprises +an area of 15,000 square miles. Though this state has acquired, this ten +years past, a political existence, and in point of fertility is far +superior to Missouri and Indiana, yet its population has not increased +in the same proportion;—it does not exceed 80,000 souls, including +34,000 slaves. The emigrants to Mississippi, are either men of fortune, +or needy adventurers. The middle classes, having from 2 to 3,000 dollars +property, seldom chose to settle there, having no prospect of succeeding +by dint of personal industry. The fatigue and labour in these hot and +sultry climates, can only be borne by slaves; a white man who should +attempt the same labour which kept him<a class="pagenum" id="Page_141" title="141"></a> stout and hearty in the north, +would soon be overcome by the heat of the climate. Most of the +respectable settlers are therefore from Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, +the Carolinas, and Kentucky; having sold their property there, and +emigrated with their slaves into this country. The North American, +properly so called, from New England, New York, &c., seldom ventures so +far. Owing to this cause, the towns in Mississippi and Louisiana, are +neither so elegant nor so wealthy as those of the north. With the +exception of places of commerce, such as New Orleans and Natchez, the +towns of the state of Mississippi cannot be compared to those of other +states of more recent date. These smaller towns of Mississippi and +Louisiana, are generally inhabited by mechanics, tradesmen, +tavern-keepers, and the poorer classes of the people. Those who have any +fortune, prefer laying it out on plantations,—a sure and infallible +source of wealth, and the most respectable occupation in the country. +Merchants who have succeeded in making a fortune in these small towns, +remove to more convenient places. The traveller who judges of the wealth +of the country<a class="pagenum" id="Page_142" title="142"></a> from the mean appearance of these villages and towns, +would be greatly mistaken. In order to form a correct opinion he must +visit the plantations, and he will be surprised at the high degree of +prosperity and comfort enjoyed by the possessors.</p> + +<p>After a stay of three days in Natchez, I took a passage on board the +steam-boat Helen MacGregor, which had lately returned from New Orleans +to Walnut hills, and was on its way to the capital of +Louisiana. The intercourse between Natchez and New Orleans is by water, +travellers naturally preferring this easy and comfortable mode of +conveyance by steam-boats to land journeys, rendered disagreeable by the +wretchedness of the roads, and the still worse condition of the +generality of inns. This evil has been occasioned by the former +hospitality of the French creoles. Any one calling at a plantation was +sure of a welcome reception. This hospitality has ceased, and the most +respectable traveller is now likely to have the door shut in his face, +owing to the misconduct of the Kentuckians. It was the practice of these +gentlemen to call<a class="pagenum" id="Page_143" title="143"></a> on their rambles at these plantations, where plenty +of rum and brandy, with other accommodations, could be had for nothing. +They behaved with an arrogance and presumption almost incredible, not +unfrequently calling the creoles in their own houses French dogs, and +knocking them down if they presumed to shew the least displeasure. These +people are the horror of all creoles, who when they wish to describe the +highest degree of barbarity, designate it by the name of Kentuckian. The +worst of it is that the creoles, who are far from being eminent +scholars, comprehend the whole north under the appellation of Kentucky. +We started from Natchez at nine o’clock in the evening, took in 300 +bales of cotton at Bayon Sarah<a id="FNanchor_E" href="#Footnote_E" class="fnanchor">[E]</a>, and some firewood a few miles below, +and then passed Baton Rouge, the Bayons Plaquimines, Manchac, Tourche, +both sides of the river being lined with beautiful plantations, and +arrived on Sunday, at four o’clock, above New Orleans.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_144" title="144"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Arrival at New Orleans.—Cursory Reflections.</p> + + +<p>It is certainly mournful for a traveller to dwell among the monuments of +Pompeii, of Herculaneum, and of Rome. There, if he feels at all, he +feels among these wrecks of past grandeur, that he is nothing. A totally +different sensation possesses the mind on entering an American city. In +these man beholds what he can contend with, and what he can accomplish, +when his strength is not checked by the arbitrary will of a despot. New +Orleans, the wet grave<a id="FNanchor_F" href="#Footnote_F" class="fnanchor">[F]</a>, <a class="pagenum" id="Page_145" title="145"></a>where the hopes of thousands are buried; for +eighty years the wretched asylum for the outcasts of France and Spain, +who could not venture 100 paces beyond its gates without utterly sinking +to the breast in mud, or being attacked by alligators; has become in the +space of twenty-three years one of the most beautiful cities of the +Union, inhabited by 40,000 persons, who trade with half the world. The +view is splendid beyond description, when you pass down the stream, +which is here a mile broad, rolls its immense volume of waters in a bed +above 200 feet deep, and as if conscious of its strength, appears to +look quietly on the bustle of the habitations of man. Both its banks are +lined with charming sugar plantations, from the midst of which rises the +airy mansion of the wealthy planter, surrounded with orange, banana, +lime, and fig trees, the growth of a climate approaching to the torrid +zone. In the rear you discover the cabins of the negroes and the +sugar-houses, and just at the entrance of the port, groups of smaller +houses, as if erected for the purpose of concealing the prospect of the +town. As soon as the steam-boats pass these out posts, New<a class="pagenum" id="Page_146" title="146"></a> Orleans, in +the form of a half moon, appears in all its splendour. The river runs +for a distance of four or five miles in a southern direction; here it +suddenly takes an eastern course, which it pursues for the space of two +miles, thus forming a semicircular bend. A single glance exhibits to +view the harbour, the vessels at anchor, together with the city, +situated as it were at the feet of the passenger. The first object that +presents itself is the dirty and uncouth backwoods flat boat. Hams, ears +of corn, apples, whiskey barrels, are strewed upon it, or are fixed to +poles to direct the attention of the buyers. Close by are the rather +more decent keel-boats, with cotton, furs, whiskey, flour; next the +elegant steam-boat, which by its hissing and repeated sounds, announces +either its arrival or departure, and sends forth immense columns of +black smoke, that form into long clouds above the city. Farther on are +the smaller merchant vessels, the sloops and schooners from the +Havannah, Vera Cruz, Tampico; then the brigs; and lastly, the elegant +ships appearing like a forest of masts<a id="FNanchor_G" href="#Footnote_G" class="fnanchor">[G]</a>.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_147" title="147"></a>What in Philadelphia and even in New York is dispersed in several +points, is here offered at once to the eye—a truly enchanting prospect. +Most of the steam-boats were kept back by the lowness of the Ohio, at +Cincinnati, Louisville, and Nashville; we landed, therefore, close to +the shore without encountering any impediment. In a moment our state +room was filled with five or six clerks, from the newspaper printing +offices, and a dozen negroes; the former to inspect the log-book of the +steam-boat, and to lay before their subscribers the names of the goods, +and of the passengers arrived; the latter to offer their services in +carrying our trunks. After labouring to climb over the mountains of +cotton bales which obstructed our passage, we went on shore. The city +had increased beyond expectation, within the last four years. More than +700 brick houses had been erected; a new street (the Levee), was already +half finished; the houses throughout were solid, and more or less in an +elegant style. It was on a Sunday that we arrived; the shops, the stores +of the French and creoles, were open as usual, and if there were fewer +buyers than on other days, the coffee<a class="pagenum" id="Page_148" title="148"></a>houses, grog-shops, and the +<em lang="la" xml:lang="la">estaminets</em>, as they are called, of the French and German inhabitants, +exhibited a more noisy scene. A kind of music, accompanied with human, +or rather inhuman voices, resounded in almost every direction. This +little respect paid to the Sabbath is a relic of the French revolution +and of Buonaparte, for whom the French and the creoles of Louisiana have +an unlimited respect, imitating him as poor minds generally do, as far +as they are able, in his bad qualities, his contempt of venerable +customs, and his egotism, and leaving his great deeds and the noble +traits in his character to the imitation of others better qualified to +appreciate them.</p> + +<p>To a new comer, accustomed in the north to the dignified and quiet +keeping of the Sabbath, this appears very shocking. The Anglo-Americans, +with few exceptions, remain even here faithful to their ancient custom +of keeping the Sabbath holy. I had many opportunities of appreciating +the importance of the keeping of the Sabbath, particularly in new +states. A well regulated observance of this day is productive of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_149" title="149"></a> +incalculable benefits, and though it is sometimes carried too far in the +northern states, as is certainly the case in Pennsylvania and New +England, still the public ought firmly to maintain this institution in +full force. The man who provides in six days for his personal wants, may +dedicate the seventh to the improvement of his mind; and this he can +only accomplish by abstaining from all trifling amusements. In a +despotic monarchy the case is different; there the government has no +doubt every reason for allowing its slaves, after six toilsome days of +labour, the indulgence of twenty-four hours of amusement, that they may +forget themselves and their fate in the dissipation of dancing, smoking, +and drinking. The case ought to be otherwise in a republic, where even +the poor constitute, or are about to constitute, part of the sovereign +body. These ought to remember to what purposes they are destined, and +not to allow themselves, under any circumstances, to be the dupes of +others. The keeping of the Sabbath is their surest safeguard. If there +were no opportunities offered for dancing, their sons and their +daughters would<a class="pagenum" id="Page_150" title="150"></a> stay at home, either reading their Bible, or attending +to other appropriate intellectual occupations, and learning in this +manner their rights and duties, and those of other people. The American +has not deviated in this respect from his English kinsman. If you enter +his dwelling on the Sabbath, you will find the family, old and young, +quietly sitting down, the Bible in hand, thus preparing themselves for +the toils and hardships to come, and acquiring the firmness and +confidence so necessary in human life; a confidence, which we so justly +admire in the British nation; as far distant from the bravado of the +French, as the unfeeling and base stupidity of the Russians; and which +never displays itself in brighter colours than in the hour of danger. We +are in this manner enabled to account for those high traits of character +in moments full of peril—traits not surpassed in the most brilliant and +the most virtuous epochs of Greece or of Rome. A single fact will speak +volumes—the Kent East Indiaman, burning and going down in the bay of +Biscay, in 1825. Ladies, gentlemen, officers, and soldiers, all on board +exhibited a magnanimity of heart, and a<a class="pagenum" id="Page_151" title="151"></a> truly Christian heroism, which +must fill even the most rancorous enemies of the British people with +admiration and regard. What a different picture would have been +presented to us, if half a regiment of Bonaparte’s soldiers had been on +board the ship!</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_152" title="152"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Topographical Sketch of the City of New Orleans.</p> + + +<p>The city of New Orleans occupies an oblong area, extending 3960 feet +along the eastern bank of Mississippi, embracing six squares, 319 feet +in length, and of equal breadth. Above and below this parallelogram are +the suburbs. Higher up is the suburb of St. Mary, still belonging to the +city corporation; farther up, the suburbs Duplantier, Soulel, La Course, +L’Annunciation, and Religieuses; below, the suburbs of Marigny, Daunois, +and Clouet; in the rear, St. Claude and Johnsburgh. The seven streets, +named Levee, Chartres-street, Royal-street, Bourbon, Burgundy, Toulouse, +and Rampart, run parallel with the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_153" title="153"></a> river, and are intersected at right +angles by twelve others, running from the banks of the Mississippi, +called the Levee, in the direction of the swamps, the +Custom-house-street, Brenville, Conti, St. Louis, and Toulouse. The +city, with the exception of Levee and Rampart-streets, is paved, an +improvement which occasions great expense to the corporation, as the +stones are imported; flags, however, are not wanting even in the most +distant suburbs. The ground on which New Orleans is built, is a plain, +descending about seven feet from the banks of the river, towards the +swamps; and it is lower than the level of the Mississippi. It is secured +by a levee, which would afford very little resistance 400 miles higher +up; but here, where numerous bayons and natural channels have carried +off part of the waters to the gulf of Mexico, it answers every purpose. +About the city, the breadth of this plain is half a mile, and above it +three-quarters of a mile, terminating in the back-ground in impenetrable +swamps. The city and suburbs are lighted with reflecting lamps, +suspended in the middle of the streets. Between the pavement and the +road, gutters are<a class="pagenum" id="Page_154" title="154"></a> made for the purpose of carrying off the filth into +the swamps, of refreshing the air with the water of the Mississippi, +with which these gutters communicate, and of allaying the dust during +the hot season. There are now about 6000 buildings, large and small, in +New Orleans. In the first mentioned three streets, and the greater part +of the upper suburb, the houses are throughout of brick; some are +plastered over to preserve them from the influence of the sultry +climate. Though building materials of every kind are imported, and +consequently very dear, yet the houses are rapidly changing from the +uncouth Spanish style, to more elegant forms. The new houses are mostly +three stories high, with balconies, and a summer-room with blinds. In +the lower suburbs, frame houses, with Spanish roofs, are still +prevalent. Two-thirds of the private buildings may at present be said to +rival those of northern cities, of an equal population. The public +edifices, however, are far inferior to those of the former, both in +style and execution. The most prominent is the cathedral, in the middle +of the town, separated from the bank of the Mississippi, by the parade +ground. It is of Spanish architecture,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_155" title="155"></a> with a façade of seventy feet, +and a depth of 120, having on each side a steeple, and a small cupola in +the centre, which gives an air of dignity to a heavy and +ill-proportioned structure. All illusion, however, is dispelled on +entering the church. The Catholics had the strange notion of painting +the interior, taking for this purpose the most glaring colours that can +be found—green and purple. The church is painted over in fresco, with +these colours, and presents at one view a curious taste of the creoles. +The interior is not overloaded with decorations, as Catholic churches +generally are. The high altar, and two side ones, are, with an organ, +its only ornaments. Two tombs contain the remains of Baron Carondolet +and Mr. Marigny. On one side of the cathedral is the city-hall, and on +the other, the Presbytire. The former, erected in 1795, presents a +façade of 108 feet, in which the meetings of the city council are held. +The Presbytire, 114 in front, was built in 1813, and is the seat of the +supreme District Court, and of the Criminal Court of New Orleans. These +two edifices, and the cathedral between them, form together a dignified +whole. The government-house, at the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_156" title="156"></a> corner of Toulouse and +Levee-streets, is an old and decaying edifice, where the legislature of +the state holds its meetings. In point of situation, (among grog shops), +and of style, it may be considered the poorest state-house in the Union.</p> + +<p>The Protestants have three churches. The Episcopalian, at the corner of +Bourbon and Canal-streets, is an octagon edifice, with a cupola, in bad +taste. Out of gratitude to the late governor Clayborne, the inhabitants +have erected in the church-yard, a monument to his memory, with the +following inscription:</p> + +<div class="center"> + THE<br /> + CITIZENS OF NEW ORLEANS,<br /> + TO<br /> + TESTIFY THEIR RESPECT FOR THE VIRTUES<br /> + OF<br /> + W. C. C. CLAYBORNE,<br /> + LATE<br /> + GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA,<br /> + HAVE<br /> + ERECTED THIS MONUMENT. +</div> + +<p>The Presbyterian church, in the suburb of St. Mary, is a simple, but +chaste building, the expense of which amounted to 55,000 dollars. The<a class="pagenum" id="Page_157" title="157"></a> +congregation being unwilling to defray the cost of its erection, it was +sold by the sheriff, and is now the property of Mr. Levy, an Israelite, +who leases it out to the congregation for 1500 dollars. The Methodist +church is a frame building, erected in 1826.</p> + +<p>The public hospital, in Canal-street, consists of two square buildings, +with wards for fever maladies; for dysentery; one for chronic diseases; +another for females; a third for convalescents; a bathing-room, an +apothecary’s-room, and a room for the physicians and assistants. Out of +1842 patients who were received into this hospital in the year 1824, 500 +died, and the rest were discharged; out of 1700 received in 1825, 271 +died, the others recovered. The accommodations in this house seem to be +respectable; it has one thing, however, in common with all hospitals, +that no one is tempted to return to it a second time.</p> + +<p>There are now four banks in New Orleans; the United States Bank, with a +capital of one million of dollars; the Bank of the State, the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_158" title="158"></a> Louisiana +Bank, and the Bank of New Orleans, each having likewise a capital of one +million of dollars. The insurance offices are five in number: the +Louisiana State Insurance Company, with a capital of 400,000 dollars; +the Fire Insurance Company, with 300,000; the Mississippi and Marine +Insurance Company, with 200,000; and the London Phoenix Insurance +Company. New Orleans has no less than six masonic lodges, including the +grand lodge of Louisiana; a French and an American theatre. The latter +was built by a Mr. Caldwell, from Nashville, in Tennessee, who has also +the management of it. It has the advantage in point of architecture, and +the French theatre in the selectness of its audience. Close to the +latter are the ball-rooms, where are given the only masked balls in the +United States. Among the public buildings may be reckoned the three +market halls, for the sale of provisions of every kind; one of them is +in the city, the two others on the upper and lower suburbs, on the +Levee.</p> + +<p>The nuns have removed two miles below the town, and this convent is now +the residence of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_159" title="159"></a> the Roman Catholic bishop. In the chapel divine +service is performed; this chapel, and the cathedral, are the places of +worship belonging to the Catholics.</p> + +<p>The cotton-pressing establishments deserve to be mentioned. These are +now nine in number; the most important is that of Mr. Rilieux, at the +corner of Poydras-street. It has three presses; one worked by steam, +another by an hydraulic machine, and the third by horsepower. For the +security of cotton bales, eight wells, a fire-engine, &c., are within +the range of buildings; the expenses of which amounted to 150,000 +dollars. The cotton press formerly belonged to a German commission +merchant, who failed in consequence of his extravagant cotton +speculations; it is simple, but of solid construction. It can receive +10,000 bales. The expenses of the building amounted to 90,000 dollars. +Besides these are the presses of Shiff, a Jew from Germany, Debays, +Lorger, &c. A steam saw-mill on the bank of the Mississippi, in the +upper suburb, with a few iron foundries,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_160" title="160"></a> are the only manufacturies in +New Orleans; every thing being imported from the north.</p> + +<p>Carondolots canal is in the rear of the town, towards the marshes. The +entrance is a basin, containing from thirty to fifty small vessels, and +opening into a canal, or rather a ditch, which has been cut through the +swamps, in order to join the Bayon St. John with New Orleans.</p> + +<p>Small vessels drawing no more than six feet of water, arrive from Mobile +and Pensacola<a id="FNanchor_H" href="#Footnote_H" class="fnanchor">[H]</a>, through lake Pont Chartrain, Bayon St. John, and the +above-mentioned canal at New Orleans, performing only a third of the way +they would otherwise have to make by going up the Mississippi. They are +in general freighted with wood, planks, bricks, cotton, &c.; and take in +goods in return. This canal, which is of great importance for the part +of the city lying contiguous to the swamps, was commenced by Baron +Carondolet, but given up at a subsequent time, <a class="pagenum" id="Page_161" title="161"></a>and resumed in the year +1815. Its cost was trifling compared with the advantages resulting to +this city, and the salutary effects it must have in draining off part of +the swamps.</p> + +<p>The president of the city council is a mayor, or Maire, a creole. His +police regulations deserve every praise, and New Orleans, which less +than fifteen years ago was the lurking hole of every assassin, is now in +point of security not inferior to any other city. The revenues of the +city corporation amount to 150,000 dollars, which are, however, found to +be insufficient, and loans are resorted to in order to cover the +expenses.</p> + +<p>When the United States took possession of New Orleans, this town +consisted of 1000 houses, and 8000 inhabitants, black and white. In the +year 1820, it amounted to near 27,000; namely, 8000 white males, 5314 +white females, 1500 foreigners, 2500 men, and 400 women of colour, 3000 +male, and 4,500 female slaves; the population of the parish being then +14,000. In the year 1821, the population was 29,000; in 1822<a class="pagenum" id="Page_162" title="162"></a> it had +risen to 32,000; in the present year 1826, it amounts to upwards of +40,000; to be distinguished as follows: 14,500 white males, and 7500 +white females, 1300 foreigners, 3690 free men, and 800 free women of +colour, 5500 male, and 6300 female slaves. The population of the parish +is 15,000.</p> + +<p>As New Orleans, notwithstanding its being 109 miles distant from the +sea, is considered as a seaport, all the officers necessarily connected +with a place of that description reside there, as well as consuls from +every nation, having commercial intercourse with it;—from England, +Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Hamburgh, the Netherlands, France, +Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, with others from the Southern Republics.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_163" title="163"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view.</p> + + +<p>New Orleans groaned for a long time under the yoke of the most wretched +tyranny; its crowned possessors so far from doing any thing towards the +improvement of a plan which, considered in a commercial light, has not +its equal on the face of the earth, contributed as much as was in their +power to circumscribe it. After two hours rain, every kind of +communication in the city itself was quite impracticable; paving or +lighting the streets was of course out of the question; assassinations +were of almost daily occurrence: but this was not all—the place was to +be a fortress in spite of common sense. It was thought proper to +surround it with a wall eighteen feet wide and pal<a class="pagenum" id="Page_164" title="164"></a>lisadoes, five +bastions, and redoubts, upon which some old cannon were mounted, perhaps +for the purpose of keeping the Indians at a proper distance. The +Americans pulled down those pitiful circumvallations which could have no +other effect than to impede commerce, and erected others in a situation +where they are likely to be of more advantage—along the passes of the +Mississippi and of lake Pontchartrain. The city has improved in an +astonishing degree during the twenty-three years that it has been +incorporated with the United States; indeed much more in proportion than +any other town of the Union, in spite of the yellow fever, the deadly +miasmata, and the myriads of musquitoes; and it has now become one of +the most elegant and wealthy cities of the republic. If, however, we +consider its situation, it is susceptible of still greater improvements, +and it must eventually become, what nature destined it to be, the first +commercial city, and the emporium of America, notwithstanding the +concurrence of many unfavourable circumstances, and the gross +selfishness of its inhabitants. The incredible fertility of Louisiana,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_165" title="165"></a> +the Egypt of the west, and the fertility of the states of the valley of +the Mississippi in general, which can be duly appreciated only by +personal observation, must render New Orleans one of the most +flourishing cities in the world. There is not a spot on the globe that +presents a more favourable situation for trade. Standing on the extreme +point of the longest river in the world, New Orleans commands all the +commerce of the immense territory of the Mississippi, being the staple +pointed out by nature for the countries watered by this stream, or by +its tributaries—a territory exceeding a million of square miles. You +may travel on board a steam-boat of 300 tons and upwards for an extent +of 1000 miles from New Orleans up the Red river; 1500 miles up the +Arkansas river; 3000 miles up the Missouri and its branches; 1700 miles +on the Mississippi to the falls of St. Anthony; the same distance from +New Orleans up the Illinois; 1200 miles to the north-east from New +Orleans on the big Wabash; 1300 on the Tennessee; 1300 on the +Cumberland, and 2300 miles on the Ohio up to Pittsburgh. Thus New +Orleans has in its rear this immense territory,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_166" title="166"></a> with a river 4200 miles +long, (including the Missouri)<a id="FNanchor_I" href="#Footnote_I" class="fnanchor">[I]</a>; besides the water communication which +is about to be completed between New York and the river Ohio. The coast +of Mexico, the West India islands, and the half of America to the south, +the rest of America on its left, and the continent of Europe beyond the +Atlantic. New Orleans is beyond a doubt the most important commercial +point on the face of the earth<a id="FNanchor_J" href="#Footnote_J" class="fnanchor">[J]</a>. Although the states along the +Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, the +territories of Missouri, and Arkansas, undoubtedly the finest part of +the Union, have not yet a population of 3,000,000 inhabitants, their +trade with New Orleans may be estimated by the fact, that not less than +1500 keel and flat boats, with nearly a hundred steam vessels, are +engaged every year in the trade with this city. The capital laid out on +these steam-boats amounts alone to above two million of dollars. The +number of vessels that clear out is upward <a class="pagenum" id="Page_167" title="167"></a>of 1000, which export more +than 200,000 bales of cotton, 25,000 hogsheads of sugar, 17,000 +hogsheads of tobacco, about 1250 tons of lead, with a considerable +quantity of rice, furs, &c. Besides these staple articles, the produce +of the northern states is exported to Mexico, the West Indies, the +Havannah, and South America. The commerce of New Orleans increases +regularly every year in proportion with the improvements in its own +state, and in those of the Mississippi. The wealth accruing to the +country and to the city from this commerce, is out of proportion with +the number of inhabitants. There are many families who, in the course of +a few years, have accumulated a property yielding an income of 50,000 +dollars, and 25,000 is the usual income of respectable planters. No +other place offers such chances for making a fortune in so easy a way. +Plantations and commerce, if properly attended to, are the surest means +of succeeding in the favourite object of man’s great pursuit,—“money +making.” This accounts for the avidity with which thousands seek New +Orleans, in spite of the yellow fever again making room for thousands in +rapid succession.</p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_168" title="168"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and + Louisiana.—Creoles.—Anglo-Americans.—French.—Free People of + Colour.—Slaves.</p> + + +<p>At the time of the cession of Louisiana to the United States (1803), +this country with its capital was inhabited by Creoles—descendants of +French settlers. Many reasons as they may have to congratulate +themselves upon their admission into the great political Union, whether +considered in a religious or political point of view, there were, +however, several causes which contributed to render them disaffected to +the measure. This repugnance is far from being removed. The advantages +on both sides were equal, or perhaps greater on the part of the United +States.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_169" title="169"></a> The central government and the generality of Americans behaved +towards Louisiana in a becoming manner. But there is in the character of +American freedom, especially in the deportment of an American towards +foreigners and strangers in his own country, something repulsive. It is +not the pride of a nobleman accustomed to be obeyed, nor the natural +pride of an Englishman, who carries his sulky temper along with him, and +finds fault with every thing: it is rather the pride of an +adventurer—of an upstart, who exults at his not being a runaway +himself, although the descendant of one. Louisiana immediately after its +cession, was admitted to the full enjoyment of all the advantages +connected with its prerogative, as one of the states of the Union, and +its white natives, the Creoles, were considered as citizens born of the +United States. But the moment the cession was made, crowds of needy +Yankees, and what is worse, Kentuckians, spread all over the country, +attracted by the hope of gain; the latter treating the inhabitants as +little better than a purchased property. Full of prejudice towards the +descendants of a nation, of which they knew little<a class="pagenum" id="Page_170" title="170"></a> more than the +proverb, “French dog,” they, without knowing or condescending to learn +their language, behaved towards these people as if the lands, as well as +the inhabitants, could be seized without ceremony. This was certainly +not the way of thinking, or the conduct of all the northern new comers, +there being amongst them many a useful mechanic, merchant, planter, or +lawyer; but the greater number came with a degree of presumption, which +was in an inverse ratio with their unbounded and absolute ignorance. The +creoles, with a proper sense of their own independence, naturally +retreated from the intercourse of these intruders. On the other hand, +the consequences of an oppressive colonial government, the natural +effects of an enervating and sultry climate, could not fail giving to +the character of the creoles, a certain tone of passiveness, which makes +them an object of interest. They are not capable either of violent +passions, or of strong exertions. Gentle and frugal, they abhor +drunkenness and gluttony. Their eyes are generally black; but without +fire or expression. Their countenances evince neither spirit nor +animation; they can boast of very<a class="pagenum" id="Page_171" title="171"></a> few men of superior talents. Their +gait and figure are easy, and their colour generally pale. Though unable +to endure great hardships, they are far from being cowards, as the +events of the year 1815, and the numerous duels, sufficiently attest. +The drawbacks from their character are, an overruling passion for +frivolous amusements, an impatience of habit, a tendency for the +luxurious enjoyment of the other sex, without being very scrupulous in +their choice of either the black or the white race. Their greatest +defect, however, is their indifference towards the poor, and towards +their own slaves. They treat the former with cold contempt, and cannot +easily be induced to assist their fellow-creatures. In this respect they +are far inferior to their fellow-citizens of the north, whose example +they may follow with much advantage in many things. The Union has +already changed much, and the restless and active spirit of their +northern fellow-citizens has altered their character, which now partakes +much less of the Sybarite, than it formerly did; still, they can never +be brought to exercise a mechanical trade, which they consider as below +their dignity. The female sex<a class="pagenum" id="Page_172" title="172"></a> of Louisiana, (the creoles), have in +general an interesting appearance. A black languishing eye, colour +rather too pale, figure of middle size, which partakes of <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">en bon +point</em>, and does not exhibit any waist, are the characteristics of the +fair sex. With a great deal of vivacity, they show, however, a proper +sense of decorum. Adultery is seldom known among the better classes, +notwithstanding the many grounds afforded to them by the infidelity of +their husbands. As wives and mothers, they are entitled to every praise; +they are more moderate in their expenses than the northern ladies, and +though always neat and elegantly dressed, they seldom go beyond +reasonable bounds. Several instances are known of their having displayed +a high degree of fortitude. In sickness and danger, they are the +inseparable assistants and companions of their husbands. In literary +education, however, they are extremely deficient; and nothing can be +more tiresome than a literary <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">tête a tête</em> with a Creole lady. They +receive their education in the convent of the Ursalines, where they +learn reading, writing, some female works, and the piano-forte. It is +superfluous to ob<a class="pagenum" id="Page_173" title="173"></a>serve, being descendants from the French, that they +are the best dancers in the United States. Americans from other parts of +the Union, may be considered as constituting about three-eighths of the +present population of the state, and of New Orleans. Brother Jonathan is +to be found in all parts of the Union, and properly speaking, nowhere at +home. After having settled in one place, at the distance of 1000 miles +from his late residence, cleared lands, reared houses, farms, &c., he +leaves his spot as soon as a better chance seems to offer itself. He is +an adventurer, who would as soon remove to Mexico, or New South Wales, +provided he could “make money” by the change. Most of those who settled +in Louisiana grew wealthy either as planters or merchants, and really +the wealthiest families of Louisiana are at present Americans from other +parts of the Union, who likewise hold the most important public +stations. The governors, as well as the members of congress, and +senators, have hitherto been Americans, from the very natural reason, +that the creoles could not speak the English language, although some +important offices are filled by the latter.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_174" title="174"></a> Nothing can exceed or +surpass the suppleness of the Yankey; and the refined Frenchmen, with +all their dexterity, may still profit from them and their kindred.</p> + +<p>The emigrant French are numerous in New Orleans. Among them are many +very respectable merchants, some lawyers, physicians, &c., the greater +part, however, consists of adventurers, hair-dressers, dancing-masters, +performers, musicians, and the like. The French are of all men the least +valuable acquisition for a new state. Of a lavish and wanton temper, +they spend their time in trifles, which are of no importance to any but +themselves. Dancing, fighting, riding, and love-making, are the daily +occupation of these people. Their influence on a new and unsettled +state, whose inhabitants have no correct opinion of true politeness and +manners, is far from being advantageous. Without either religion, +morality, or even education, they pretend to be the leaders of the <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">bon +ton</em>, because they came from Paris, and they in general succeed. As for +religion and principles, except a sort of <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">point d’honneur</em>, they are +certainly a most<a class="pagenum" id="Page_175" title="175"></a> contemptible set, and greatly contribute to promote +immorality. There are a great number of Germans in New Orleans. These +people, without being possessed of the smallest resources, embarked +eight or ten years ago, and after having lost one-half, or three-parts +of their comrades during the passage, they were sold as white slaves, or +as they are called, Redemptioners, the moment of their arrival. Thus +mixed with the negroes in the same kind of labour, they experience no +more consideration than the latter; and their conduct certainly deserves +no better treatment. Those who did not escape, were driven away by their +masters for their immoderate drinking; and all, with few exceptions, +were glad to get rid of such dregs. The watchmen and lamp-lighters are +Germans, and hundreds of these people fell victims to the fever, between +the years 1814 and 1822. The rest of the white population consists of +English, Irish, Spaniards, and some Italians, amongst whom are several +respectable houses.</p> + +<p>The free people of colour consist of emancipated slaves; but chiefly of +the offspring of an<a class="pagenum" id="Page_176" title="176"></a> intercourse between the whites and blacks, the +cause of which is to be sought in the nature of the climate, where +sensual passions are so easily excited. Of these descendants, the +females in particular are very handsome, and generally destined for the +gratification of the wealthier class of the French and the creoles, as +their mothers had been before them. The American seldom or never +indulges in such unrestrained pleasures. He usually marries early, and +remains faithful to his wife. Of a more steady and religious turn, he +pays strict attention to decorum and appearances, with certain isolated +exceptions of course; but in general he is more solicitous and careful +of his public character than the Frenchman, or foreigner, who has seldom +any reputation to lose.</p> + +<p>The negroes form the lowest class. There are certainly found some +amongst them who are entitled to praise for their honesty and fidelity +towards their masters; but thousands, on the other hand, will exhibit +the vicious nature of a debased and slavish character. There is no +doubt, that a malignant and cruel disposition<a class="pagenum" id="Page_177" title="177"></a> characterises, more or +less, this black race. Whether it be inborn, or the result of slavery, I +leave to others to decide.</p> + +<p>All that can be said in favour of emancipation, may be reduced in the +compass of these few words: In the present state of things, if the +general cultivation of Louisiana, and the southern states, is to proceed +successfully, emancipation is impossible. In this climate, no white +person could stand the labour; the act of emancipation itself, +treacherous and barbarous as the slaves are, would subject their former +masters to certain destruction and death. We are, indeed, very far +behind hand in the study of the human character, and of the different +gradations of the human species. Unjust, as it assuredly was, to traffic +in fellow-creatures, as though they were so many heads of cattle, it is +equally unjust now to infringe upon a property which has been +transmitted from generation to generation, and which time has +sanctioned, without adopting some method of public compensation. All +that should be required is, that the slaves be treated with humanity—a +law might be enacted to that effect. The slaves<a class="pagenum" id="Page_178" title="178"></a> will then be improved, +and become ripe for a state of emancipation, which may be granted at a +future period, without danger or inconvenience to their masters.</p> + +<p>It is, however, to be regretted, that the slave population of Louisiana +are not so well treated as in the north. The cupidity of their masters, +and their solicitude to make a rapid fortune, subject those poor +wretches to an oppressive labour, which they are hardly able to endure. +They revolted in Louisiana on three occasions, and several white persons +fell victims to their vengeance; they were, however, easily subdued, and +the example set by the executions, contributed to restore tranquillity. +It is impossible to form an idea of the degree of jealousy with which +the southern population watch and defend their rights, touching this +point. A question upon the right of a slave, as a human being, is almost +one of life and death; and lawyers, whenever they presume to defend +slaves, and to hint at their rights, are in imminent danger of being +stoned like Jews. Not long ago, a gentleman of the bar, Mr. D—e, was +very near meeting this fate.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_179" title="179"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Public Spirit.—Education.—State of Religious Worship.—Public + Entertainments, Theatres, Balls, &c.</p> + + +<p>Heterogeneous as this population may seem, and as it really is, in +manners, language, and principles, they all agree in one point—the +pursuit after—“money.” Americans, English, French, Germans, Spaniards, +all come hither—to make money, and to stay here as long as money is to +be made. Half the inhabitants may be said to be regularly settled; the +rest are half-settlers. Merchants, store-keepers, remain only until +they have amassed a fortune answering their expectations, and then +remove to their former houses. Others reside here during the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_180" title="180"></a> winter, to +carry on business, and retire to the north in the month of May. That is +the case with all the Yankee commission merchants. This has, of course, +a sensible and an extensive influence upon the public, and may explain +why New Orleans, though one of the wealthiest cities of the Union, is so +backward in mental improvement. Even the better Anglo-American families +disdain to spend their money in the country where they have earned it, +and prefer removing to the north. The institutions for education are +consequently inferior to those of any city of equal extent and less +wealth, such as Richmond, and even Albany. The only literary institution +in the state of Louisiana, the college of New Orleans, is now +established, and is intended to be revived at some distance from the +capital. Free schools are now (1826) formed in the city, after the +manner of the northern states, with a president and professors; and by +and bye they will be extended to the rest of the state. Another college, +still inferior to the above-mentioned, is superintended by the Catholic +clergy. Excepting the elements of reading, writing, mathematics, and +latin, it affords<a class="pagenum" id="Page_181" title="181"></a> no intellectual information. The best of these +schools is kept by Mr. Shute, rector of the Episcopalian church, an +enlightened and clever man, who fully deserves the popularity he has +acquired. Reading, writing, geography, particular and universal history, +are taught under his tuition, and in his own rectory. This school, and +other private ones where the rudiments are taught, comprehend all the +establishments for education in the state.</p> + +<p>With respect to the female sex, the creoles are educated by the nuns; +the Protestant young ladies by some boarding-school mistresses, partly +French, partly Americans, who come from the north. The better classes of +the Anglo-Americans, however, prefer sending their daughters to a +northern establishment, where they remain for two years, and then return +to their homes. Among the charitable institutions must be mentioned the +Poydras Asylum for young orphan girls, founded in 1804, by Mr. Poydras. +The legislature voted 4000 dollars towards it. Sixty girls are now +educating in this asylum. Upon the same plan, is a second asylum for +boys,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_182" title="182"></a> where, in 1825, forty were admitted. These, besides the hospital, +are the only public institutions for the benefit of the poor. New +Orleans has eight newspapers; among these the State, and two other +papers, are published in English and French, a fourth in the Spanish, +and the rest in the English. The best of them is the Louisiana +Advertiser.</p> + +<p>There is not a place in the Union where religion is so little attended +to as in New Orleans. For a population of 40,000 inhabitants, it has +only four churches; Philadelphia, with 120,000 inhabitants, reckons +upwards of eighty; New York upwards of sixty. The city of Pittsburgh, +with a population of 10,000 souls, has ten churches, far superior to +those in New Orleans. Among the Protestant churches, the high church is +best provided for, and the members of this congregation are said to be +liberal, which they are generally found to be. They have recently +finished a rectory for their minister, and show that liberality which so +eminently distinguishes them. Of the Presbyterians we have spoken +before. Though they<a class="pagenum" id="Page_183" title="183"></a> would run ten times on a Sunday to church, and hear +even as many sermons, yet they neither pay their minister, who by the +bye is far from being an amiable character, nor redeem their church out +of the hands of Israel, but prefer keeping their money to contributing +towards such objects.</p> + +<p>The creoles, who are Catholics, seldom visit their church, and when they +do, it is only at Easter. They have a very learned bishop, named +Dubourgh, a Frenchman, who is not however very popular, and is spoken of +for his gallantries, though a man of sixty. It is whispered about that +there is a living proof of this. A more religious character is Pere +Antoine, a highly distinguished old Capuchin friar, enjoying universal +love and popularity. The manner in which I saw the Governor and the city +authorities, with the most respectable persons of the county, behave +towards him, does as much credit to them as to the object of their +consideration.</p> + +<p>Of the two theatres, the American is open<a class="pagenum" id="Page_184" title="184"></a> during five, and the French +during eight months in the year. The American theatre has the advantage +of becoming more and more national and popular, although at present it +is only resorted to by the lower class of the American population; +boatmen, Kentuckians, Mississippi traders, and backwoods-men of every +description. The pieces are execrably performed. The late Charles Von +Weber would not have been much delighted at witnessing the performance +of his Der Freyshutz, here metamorphosed into the wild huntsmen of +Bohemia. Six violins, which played any thing but music, and some voices +far from being human, performed the opera, which was applauded; the +Kentuckians expressed their satisfaction in a hurrah, which made the +very walls tremble. The interior of the theatre has still a mean +appearance. The curtain consists of two sail cloths, and the horrible +smell of whiskey and tobacco is a sufficient drawback for any person who +would attempt to frequent this place of amusement. The French theatre +performs the old classic productions of Corneille, Racine, Voltaire, +with the addition of some new ones, such as Regulus, Marie Stuart, and +William<a class="pagenum" id="Page_185" title="185"></a> Tell. The best performer of this theatre, is Madame Clauzel.</p> + +<p>Towards the close of December, the carnival commences; society balls, +masquerades, or routs, besides a number of private balls, are then the +order of the day. The first, the third, and the last masquerade, and the +society balls, are the most splendid. They are regularly attended by the +daughters of the merchants and planters, who at this time come to the +city. There is, however, nothing more tiresome than a masked ball in New +Orleans. Some young merchants, and sons of planters, took it into their +heads to assume the character of poor paddies, and they dressed +themselves accordingly. This would have been for the most unaccomplished +American or English Miss, a fair opportunity for displaying at least +some wit. But the creole Demoiselles, when addressed by their lovers, +had not a word to say, except, “Oh, we know that you are no Paddies—You +are very respectable—You are the wealthy C.” Another would say, “Oh, I +know that you are not an Irishman—You are the rich Y.” This was the +conversation all round. Still<a class="pagenum" id="Page_186" title="186"></a> more tedious are the public balls given +in commemoration of the eighth of January, on the anniversary of the +birth-day of Washington, &c. Until last year, and owing to the shyness +of the creoles towards their new brothers, the Americans and creoles +stood with their ladies apart, neither speaking nor dancing with one +another. Last year both parties seemed willing to draw nearer to each +other. Even these entertainments, as well as more important affairs, are +very subordinate to the all-powerful desire of “making money.” This is +the final object of every one, and on every occasion. Any pursuit of a +different tendency than that of gaining money, is neglected, and deemed +unworthy of consideration. That which every town of 2000 inhabitants is +now provided with, a reading-room and circulating library, you would +seek in vain at New Orleans. Though the Anglo-Americans attempted to +establish such an institution, which is indispensable in a great +commercial city, it failed through the unwillingness of the creoles to +trouble their heads with reading. Churches or theatres are not more +patronised. To improve the moral condition is far from their thoughts, +every one<a class="pagenum" id="Page_187" title="187"></a> being bent upon—making money, as quickly as possible, in +order the sooner to leave the place. New Orleans, considering its +situation, should again be what it was lately, were it not for the +detestable selfishness which pervades all classes, and has established a +dominion over the mind, as painful as it is disgusting. The complaints +about luxury are unfounded. The wealthy inhabitants live by no means in +such high style as they do at New York, Boston, and even Richmond, upon +a less income. There is no cause for finding fault with their +extravagance, or their dissolute manners, not because they have better +moral principles, but because they are too selfish to indulge in +pleasures that would cost “money,” and would mar their principal object, +which is to amass it. The American from the north, whilst he inhabits +New Orleans, lives in a style far inferior to that in which he indulges +at home; and even if he be a permanent settler, he chooses rather to go +to the north in order to spend his money there. Only three American +houses can be said to receive good company, the rest are creoles. The +living in New Orleans, however, is good, though ex<a class="pagenum" id="Page_188" title="188"></a>pensive. Board and +lodging in a respectable house, will cost sixty dollars a month; in an +inferior one, forty. The proper season of business for strangers, and +those not accustomed to the climate, is the winter. In the summer, every +one retires to the north, or across the lake, only such persons +remaining as are compelled from circumstances to do so.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_189" title="189"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The Climate of Louisiana.—The Yellow Fever.</p> + + +<p>That a country, the fourth part of which consists of marshes, stagnant +waters, rivers, and lakes, and which is so near the torrid zone, cannot +be altogether healthy, is not to be denied. Although Louisiana is not so +salubrious a country as the creoles or settlers inured to the climate, +would persuade us that it is; on the other hand it is not the seat of +the plague, or of continued disease, as the North Americans or Europeans +imagine. Louisiana is no doubt a most agreeable country during the +winter and spring. The former commences in December, and continues +through January. Rains and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_190" title="190"></a> showers will sometimes fall, during several +successive weeks, snow very seldom. North and north-east winds prevail; +a south wind will occasionally change the temperature, on a sudden, from +a northern April day to the heat of summer. The coldest winter +experienced for twenty years past, was that of the year 1821; the +gutters were choked up with ice, and water exposed in buckets, froze to +the thickness of an inch and a half. Fahrenheit’s thermometer fell to +20° below zero. In this year, the orange, lime, and even fig-trees were +destroyed by the frost.</p> + +<p>Towards the close of January the Mississippi rises, and the ice of the +Ohio breaks up. This river, seldom, however, causes an inundation. This +is generally reserved for the Missouri, the principal river that empties +itself into the Mississippi. With the month of February the spring +breaks forth in Louisiana. Frequent rains fall in this month, the +vegetation advances astonishingly, and the trees receive their new +foliage. On the 1st of March we had potatoes grown in the open fields, +pease, beans, and artichokes. South winds prevail alternately<a class="pagenum" id="Page_191" title="191"></a> with +north-west winds. The month of March is undoubtedly the finest season in +Louisiana; there are sometimes night frosts, though scarcely felt by any +one except the creoles, and the equally tender orange flowers. The +thermometer is in this month at 68°–70°. At this time prevails a +disease, the influenza, which arises from the sudden alternations of +cold and warm weather; it has carried off several persons. It is always +necessary to wear cotton shirts, whether in cold or warm weather. +Towards the close of March, the fruit-trees have done blooming, the +forests are clad in their new verdure, and all nature bursts out in the +most exuberant vegetation; every thing develops itself in the country +with gigantic strides. Already the musquitoes are beginning to make +their troublesome appearance, and musquito bars become necessary. Still +the heat is moderate, being cooled by the north winds and the refreshing +waters of the Mississippi. May brings with it the heat of a northern +summer, moderated however, by cooling north and north-east breezes. The +thermometer is at 78° to 80°. At this season, frequent showers and +hurricanes<a class="pagenum" id="Page_192" title="192"></a> coming from the south, rage with the utmost fury in those +extensive plains. With the month of June the heats become oppressive; +there is not a breath of air to be felt; the musquitos come in millions; +one is incessantly pursued by those troublesome insects. The worst, +however, is, that they will sometimes force their way through the +musquito bars. Nothing is more disagreeable than this buzzing sound, and +the pain occasioned by their sting; they keep you from sleeping the +whole night. Still they are not so troublesome as the millepedes, an +insect whose sting causes a most painful sensation. In the month of July +the heat increases. August, September, and October, are dangerous months +in New Orleans. A deep silence reigns during this time in the city, most +of the stores and magazines are shut up. No one is to be seen in the +streets in the day time except negroes and people of colour. No carriage +except the funeral hearse. At the approach of evening the doors open, +and the inhabitants pour forth, to enjoy the air, and to walk on the +Levee above and below the city. The yellow fever has not made its +appearance since 1822. It is not the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_193" title="193"></a> extraordinary heat which causes +this baneful disease, the temperature seldom exceeding 100°. In the year +1825, when the thermometer rose in New York and Boston above 108°, it +was in New Orleans, no more than 97°. It is the pestilential miasmata +which rise from the swamps and marshes, and infect the air to a degree +which it is difficult to describe. These oppressive exhalations load the +air, and it is almost impossible to draw breath. If a breeze comes at +all, it is a south wind, which, from its baneful influence, exhausts the +last remaining force after throwing you into a dreadful state of +perspiration. The years 1811, 1814, and 1823, were the most terrible of +any for New Orleans. From sixty to eighty persons were buried every day, +and nothing was to be seen but coffins carried about on all sides. Whole +streets in the upper suburb, (inhabited chiefly by Americans and +Germans) were cleared of their inhabitants, and New Orleans was +literally one vast cemetery. Among the inhabitants, the poorer classes +were mostly exposed to the attacks of the unsparing and deadly disease, +as their situation did not permit them to stay at home; thus women were<a class="pagenum" id="Page_194" title="194"></a> +for this reason, less exposed to its effects; and least of all the +wealthiest inhabitants, who were not compelled to quit their dwellings. +The creoles and others who were seasoned to the climate, were little +affected. The creole, mulatto, and negro women, are said to be the most +skilful in the cure of the disease. In 1822, hundreds of patients died +under the hands of the most experienced physicians, when these old women +commonly succeeded in restoring their own patients. Their preservatives +and medicines are as simple as they are efficacious, and every stranger +who intends to stay the summer in New Orleans, should make himself +acquainted with one of these women, in case a necessity should arise for +requiring their attendance. They give such ample proofs of their +superior skill, as to claim in this point a preference over the ablest +physicians.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants are in general forewarned of the approaching disease, by +the swarms of musquitoes; although they come in sufficient quantity +every summer, they make their appearance in infinitely greater numbers +previously to a yellow fever.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_195" title="195"></a>This is said to have been the case on the three occasions already +mentioned. At such a time all business is of course suspended. The port +is empty, the stores are shut up. Those officers alone whose presence is +indispensable, or who have overcome the yellow fever, will remain with a +set of wretches, who, like beasts of prey feed upon the relics of the +dead, speculating upon the misery of their fellow creatures so far, as +not unfrequently to buy at auctions the very beds upon which they have +been known to expire in a few days afterwards. The first rain, succeeded +by a little frost, banishes the deadly guest, and every one returns to +his former business.</p> + +<p>It is to be hoped, that this scourge of the land, if it should not be +wholly extirpated, will at least become less prevalent for the future. +The police regulations adopted during the last four years, have proved +very effectual. Among these are a strict attention to cleanliness, +watering the streets by means of the gutters, shutting up the grog-shops +after nine o’clock; and removing<a class="pagenum" id="Page_196" title="196"></a> from the city all the poor and +houseless people, at the expense of the corporation, as soon as the +least indication of approaching infection is perceived. These, and +several other wise regulations will, it is hoped, contribute greatly to +increase the population, and to give the new comers a firmer guarantee +for their lives, than they have hitherto found. When the plans in +contemplation shall have been carried into effect, and the swamps behind +the city drained, a measure the more beneficial, as the soil of these +swamps is beyond all imagination fertile; then the surrounding country, +and the city itself, will become as healthy as any other part of the +Union. With the increasing population, we have no doubt, that Louisiana +will present the same features, as Egypt in former days, bearing, as it +does, the most exact resemblance to that country. During six months, and +already at the present time, it is a delightful place, successfully +resorted to from the north, by persons in a weak state of health. +The mildness of the climate, which even during the two winter months, +is seldom interrupted by frost, the most luxuriant tropical +fruits—bananas, pine-apples,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_197" title="197"></a> oranges, lemons, figs, cocoa-nuts, &c., +partly reared in the country, partly imported in ship loads from the +Havannah, a distance of only a few hundred miles; excellent oysters, +turtle of the best kind, arriving every hour; fish from the lake +Pontchartrain; game, venison of all sorts; vegetables of the finest +growth,—all these advantages give New Orleans a superiority over almost +every other place. Sobriety, temperance, and moderation in the use of +sensual enjoyments, and especially in the intercourse with the sex, with +a strict attention to the state of health, and an instant resort to the +necessary preservatives in case of derangement in the digestive +system,—such are the precautions that will best enable a stranger to +guard against the attacks of the disorders incident to this place.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_198" title="198"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.—Planters, Farmers, Merchants, and + Mechanics.</p> + + +<p>Whoever emigrates from a northern to a southern climate, experiences +more or less a change in his constitution; his blood is thinned, and in +a state of greater effervescence, and his frame weakened in consequence. +The least derangement in the digestive system in this case, produces a +bilious fever.</p> + +<p>The new comers emigrating to Louisiana, are either planters, farmers, +merchants, or mechanics. The former, being more or less wealthy, come +for the purpose of establishing themselves, and usually buy sugar or +cotton<a class="pagenum" id="Page_199" title="199"></a> lands, on the banks of the Mississippi, or Red-river, which, +though in general healthy, are, on the other hand, a sure grave to those +who neglect taking the necessary precautions. Planters descend to +Louisiana in the winter months; but as the heat increases every moment, +and has a debilitating effect upon their bodies, accustomed to a cold +climate, they attempt to counterbalance this weakness by an excessive +use of spirituous liquors, to promote digestion. Notwithstanding bad +omens, and in spite of the advice of their more experienced neighbours, +their mania for making money keeps them there during the summer, and +they fall victims to their avidity for gain.</p> + +<p>Whoever intends to establish a plantation in Louisiana, has the free +choice between the low lands on the Mississippi, or the Red-river. There +are upwards of 200,000 acres of sugar lands still unoccupied. He may +settle himself on the banks of the above-mentioned rivers, without the +least fear, the yellow fever seldom or never penetrating to the +plantations. Thousands of planters live and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_200" title="200"></a> continue there without +experiencing any attack of sickness. After having bought his lands, and +obtained possession, he may stay till the month of May, taking the +necessary measures for the improvement of the plantation, leave his +directions with his overseer, and remove to the north. His house, if +along the banks of the Mississippi, should be built not far from the +river, in order that he may enjoy the cooling freshness of its waters. +In the rear of his plantation, and about his house, he sows the seed of +sun-flowers, to preserve his slaves from the morning and night +exhalations of the swamps; a measure which, trifling as it may seem, +will have an incredible effect in improving the air.</p> + +<p>With a capital of 25,000 dollars, 5,500<em>l.</em> sterling, he may purchase at +the present time, 2,000 acres of land, for a sum of from 3 to 4,000 +dollars, and thirty stout slaves for 15,000 dollars; there will remain +7,000 for his first year’s expenses. The establishment of a sugar +plantation amounts to not more than the above stated sum of 25,000 +dollars. The pro<a class="pagenum" id="Page_201" title="201"></a>duce of the third year, if the plantation be properly +managed, amounts to 150,000 pounds of sugar, valued at 12,000 dollars, +besides the molasses, the sale of which will cover the household +expenses; each negro, therefore, yielding a clear annual income of 400 +dollars.</p> + +<p>Failures in sugar crops in plantations along the banks of the +Mississippi, never occur, except beyond 30° 30′ of north latitude. The +planter, however, cannot expect any thing in the first year from his +sugar fields; the canes yielding produce only eighteen months after +having been planted. The planting takes place from August until +December, by means of eye-slips. The process at the sugar-houses is +sufficiently known. These plantations, if well managed and well attended +to, are, owing to the great and constant demand for sugar, the surest +way of realising a capital, though the management requires considerable +care and attention.</p> + +<p>Cotton plantations are not to be judged according to the same estimate. +A cotton plantation may now be established by means of a capital of +10,000 dollars. 3000 dollars for the purchase<a class="pagenum" id="Page_202" title="202"></a> of 1500 or 2000 acres of +land, on the banks of the Mississippi, from Baton Rouge up to the +Walnut-hills, on both sides of the river; or what is still preferable, +on the banks of the Red-river. Ten slaves at 5000 dollars, leaves 2000 +for the first year’s current expenses. The beginner will not find it +difficult to clear fifty acres in the first twelve months; and to raise +from twenty-five acres, thirty bales of cotton, the produce of which +will, with the crop of corn from the remaining twenty-five acres, keep +him for the first year, the cotton alone being worth 1500 dollars, +independently of the corn. The following year he may raise sixty bales, +giving an income of 3000 dollars, every slave thereby yielding about 300 +dollars; proceeding thus in a manner which in a few years more will +render his income equal to his original capital.</p> + +<p>There are still unappropriated above two millions of acres of cotton +lands, of the very first quality, in the state of Louisiana; and though +it sometimes happens that the plants are killed by the frosts, as was +the case in the spring of 1826, these accidents seldom affect the +profits. The management of a cotton plantation is by<a class="pagenum" id="Page_203" title="203"></a> no means +difficult, as it differs but little from that bestowed upon Indian corn, +and requires only a strict superintendence over the negroes.</p> + +<p>The cultivation of indigo has latterly been neglected, though 200,000 +acres of land in the state of Louisiana are well adapted for it. This +neglect was occasioned by the injurious effects produced upon the +labourer by the watering of the plants, and the exhalations from them.</p> + +<p>The cultivation of rice is more extensive. There are 200,000 acres +unoccupied. Planters generally combine the cultivation of this plant +with that of cotton or sugar. Tobacco of a superior quality is reared +about Natchitoches and Alexandria; the produce is little inferior to +that of Cuba. The price of a stout male negro is 500 dollars; if a +mechanic, from 6 to 900 dollars; females from 350 to 400 dollars; so +that 5000 dollars will purchase five men, two of them mechanics, and +five stout women, and enable their master at once to set about a +plantation, which will, in the course of three years, double the capital +of the owner, without his exposing himself to any risk.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_204" title="204"></a>The easy way in which the planters of Louisiana are found to accumulate +wealth, excites in every one the desire of pursuing the same road, +without having the necessary means at command. Hundreds of respectable +farmers have paid with their lives for a neglect of this truth. +Instigated by the anxiety to become rich, and unable withal to purchase +slaves, they were under the necessity of labouring for themselves. The +consequence was, they shortly fell victims to their mistaken notions. +One can only be seasoned by degrees to the climate of Louisiana. To +force the march of time and habit, is impossible. The more stout and +healthy the person, the greater the risk. People who, allured by the +prospect of wealth, would attempt to work in this climate as they were +used to do in the north, would fall sick and die, without having +provided for their children, who are then forced upon the charity of +strangers. There are many tracts of second-rate land, equal to land of +the best quality in the northern states, in the west and east of +Louisiana, which are perfectly healthy, and where farmers of less +property may buy lands, and establish labour and corn farms,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_205" title="205"></a> or raise +cattle in abundance. Those who have proceeded in this way, which is more +proportioned to their means, have never failed to acquire in the course +of time, a large fortune, as by the open water communication the produce +can easily be conveyed to New Orleans, where, in the summer, they find a +ready and advantageous market. These parts have hitherto been too much +neglected, to which circumstance it is greatly owing that New Orleans, +at certain seasons, is almost destitute of provisions, when the waters +of the tributary rivers of the Mississippi, Ohio, &c., are low.</p> + +<p>A third class of settlers in Louisiana are merchants. New Orleans has +unfortunately the credit of being a place to which wealth flows in +streams, and it is consequently the resort of all adventurers from +Europe and America, who come hither in the expectation, that they have +only to be on the spot to make money. Thousands of these ill-fated +adventurers have lost their lives in consequence. It is true, that most +of the wealthy merchants were needy adventurers, who began with scarcely +a dollar in their pockets,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_206" title="206"></a> as pedlars, who sold pins and glass beads to +the Indians. But the surest way for the merchant who wishes to begin +with a small capital, will always be to settle in one of the smaller +towns, Francisville, Alexandria, Natchitoches, Baton Rouge, &c. Those +who have followed this course grew wealthy in a short time. I admit +there is an exception with respect to such as have a sufficient capital +to begin business with in the city itself, or to embark in commercial +relation with Great Britain, the north of the Union, or the continent of +Europe.</p> + +<p>The commission trade is advantageous in the extreme; and the clear +income realised in commercial business by several merchants, amounts to +50,000 dollars a year. All the French, English, and Spaniards, who have +established themselves in this place, have become rich, especially if +the individuals of the latter nations were conversant with the French +language.</p> + +<p>For manufacturers, there is in New Orleans little prospect. In a slave +state, where of course hard labour is performed only by slaves, whose +food consists of Indian corn, and at the most,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_207" title="207"></a> of salt meat, and their +dress of cotton trowsers, or a blanket rudely adapted to their shapes, +the mechanic cannot find sufficient customers. Half of the inhabitants +have no need of his assistance; and as he cannot renounce his habits of +living on wheat flour, fresh meat, &c., provisions which at certain +seasons are very dear in New Orleans, his existence there must be very +precarious. The charges are proportionably enormous. The price for the +making of a great coat, is from fourteen to sixteen dollars; of a coat, +from ten to twelve dollars. The greatest part of the inhabitants, +therefore, buy their own dresses ready made in the north. The wealthy +alone employ these mechanics.</p> + +<p>There are yet several trades which would answer well in New Orleans, +such as clever tailors, confectioners, &c. But as almost every article +is brought into this country, the mechanics have rather a poor chance of +succeeding, and if not provided with a sufficient capital, they are +exposed to great penury until they can find customers. This class of +people are very little respected, and hardly more so than the people of +colour in Louisiana.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_208" title="208"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Geographical Features of the State of Louisiana.—Conclusion.</p> + + +<p>Louisiana lies under the same degree of north latitude as Egypt, and +bears a striking resemblance to that country. Their soil, their climate, +and their very rivers, exhibit the same features, with the exception, +that the Mississippi runs from north to south, whereas the Nile takes an +opposite course. Close to the eastern bank of the former, we find a +continued series of Cyprus, swamps, and lakes, sometimes intersected by +a tributary stream of the Mississippi, with elevated banks or hills. +Farther towards the east are large tracts of lands, with pinewoods +stretching towards the river Mobile, which resembles<a class="pagenum" id="Page_209" title="209"></a> the Mississippi in +every thing, except in size. Further southward, between the Mississippi +and Mobile, we find the rivers Amite, Tickfah, Tangipao, Pearl, +Pascagola, emptying themselves into a chain of lakes and swamps, running +in a south-east direction from the Mississippi to the mouth of the +Mobile. Further to the westward is the Mississippi in its meandering +course, its banks lined with plantations from Natchez to New Orleans, +each plantation extending half a mile back to the swamps. South of New +Orleans, is another chain of swamps, lakes, and bayons, terminating in +the gulf of Mexico. West of the Mississippi, a multitude of rivers flow +in a thousand windings, lined with impenetrable forests of cyprus, +cotton trees, and cedars, intermixed with canebrack and the palmetta. In +this labyrinth of rivers, the Red-river, the Arkansas, the White-river, +and Tensaw rivers are seen meandering. Farther east are the immense +prairies of Opelausas, and Attacapas, interspersed here and there with +rising farms, forests along the banks of the Red-river, and more to the +westward the great prairies, the resort of innumerable buffaloes and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_210" title="210"></a> of +every kind of game. The Red-river, like the Mississippi, forms an +impenetrable series of swamps and lakes. Beyond this river are seen +pinewoods, from which issues the Ouachitta, losing itself afterwards in +the Delta of the Mississippi. Beyond these pine woods, in a north +western direction, rise the Mazernes mountains, extending from the east +to west 200 miles, and forming the boundary line between east and west +Louisiana. To the north and west of the Red-river, the country is dry +and healthy, but of inferior quality; to the east we find a chain of +lakes; to the south another chain. In summer they dry up, thus affording +fine pasturage to buffaloes. In autumn, with the rising of the rivers, +they again fill with water. Southward is a continued lake, intermixed +with swamps, which terminate at last in the gulph of Mexico.</p> + +<p>Louisiana, though the smallest of the states and territories formed out +of the ancient Louisiana, is by far the most important, and the central +point of the western commonwealth. Its boundaries are, on the south, the +Gulph of Mexico;<a class="pagenum" id="Page_211" title="211"></a> on the west, the Mexican province of Tecas; on the +north, the Arkansas territory, and the state of Mississippi; and on the +east, the state of Mississippi, and Mexico. The number of inhabitants +amounts to 190,000, 106,000 of whom are people of colour. The +constitution of the state inclines to Federal. The governor, the +senators, and the representatives, in order to be eligible, must be +possessed of landed property—the former to the amount of at least 5000 +dollars, the next 1000, and the latter 500. Every citizen of the state +is qualified to vote. The government in this, as well as in every other +state, is divided into three separate branches. The chief magistrate of +the state is elected for the term of four years. Under him he has a +secretary of state. The present governor is an Anglo-American; Mr. +Johnson, the secretary, is a Creole.</p> + +<p>The legislative branch is composed of the senators, and of the house of +representatives. The former consists of sixteen members, elected for the +term of four years. They choose from among themselves a president, who +takes the place of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_212" title="212"></a> the governor, in case of the demise of the +latter.<a id="FNanchor_K" href="#Footnote_K" class="fnanchor">[K]</a> The house of representatives consists of forty-four members, +headed by a speaker; the court of justice of three judges of the +district court, a supreme judge of the criminal court of New Orleans, +and eight district judges, with an equal number of district attorneys. +The sessions are held every Monday. The parish and county courts have +twenty-eight county or parish judges, twenty-six sheriffs, and 159 +lawyers, to assist them in their labours. In a political view, the +acquisition of Louisiana is no doubt the most important occurrence in +the United States since the revolution; and, considered altogether, it +may be called a second revolution. Independently of the pacific +acquisition of a country containing nearly a million and a half of +square miles, with the longest river in the world flowing through a +valley several thousand miles in length and breadth, their geographical +position is now <a class="pagenum" id="Page_213" title="213"></a>secured, and they form, since the further acquisition +of Florida, a whole and compact body, with a coast extending upwards of +1000 miles along the gulph of Mexico, and 500 miles on the Pacific +ocean. Whether the vast increase of wealth amassed by most of those who +settled on the banks of the Mississippi will prove strong enough to +retain this political link unbroken, is very much to be doubted. It is +very clear that the inhabitants of the valley of the Mississippi, and +especially of Louisiana, entertain a feeling of estrangement from their +northern fellow citizens.</p> + +<p>With the exception of a number of respectable Americans, Louisiana and +the valley of the Mississippi have hitherto been the refuge of all +classes of foreigners, good and bad, who sought here an asylum from +oppression and poverty, or from the avenging arm of justice in their +native countries. Many have not succeeded in their expectations—many +have died—others returned, exasperated against a country which had +disappointed their hopes, because they expected to find superior beings, +and discovered that they<a class="pagenum" id="Page_214" title="214"></a> were men neither worse nor better than their +habits, propensities, country, climate, and a thousand other +circumstances had made them. The fault was theirs. Though there exists +not, perhaps, a country in the world where a fortune can be made in an +easier way, yet it cannot be made without industry, steadiness, and a +small capital to begin with—things in which these people were mostly +deficient. And there is another circumstance not to be lost sight of. +Whoever changes his country should have before him a complete view and a +clear idea of the state in which he intends to settle, as well as of the +rest of the Union: he ought to depend upon his own means, on himself in +short, and not upon others. Upon no other terms will prosperity and +happiness attend the emigrant’s exertions in the United States. The +foreign mechanic who, emigrating into the United States, selects the +states of New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio, will find sufficient +occupation, his trade respected, and his industry rewarded by wealth and +political consequence. The manufacturer with a moderate capital, will +choose Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and the like places. The merchant<a class="pagenum" id="Page_215" title="215"></a> who is +possessed of 2 or 3000 dollars, and settles in Ohio, in the north +western part of Pennsylvania, or over in Illinois, will, if he be +prudent and steady, have no reason to complain of the Yankees. The +farmer, with a capital of from 3 to 4000 dollars, will fix upon the +state of Ohio, in preference to any other, especially if he comes +accompanied only by his own family, and is therefore obliged to rely on +the friendly assistance of his neighbours. He will there prefer the +lands adjacent to navigable rivers, or to the rise of the new canal. If +he goes beyond Ohio, he will find eligible situations in Illinois, and +in Missouri. Any one who can command a capital exceeding 10,000 dollars, +who is not incumbered with a large family, and whose mind does not +revolt at the idea of being the owner of slaves, will choose the state +of Mississippi, or of Louisiana, and realize there in a short time a +fortune beyond his most sanguine expectations. He has his choice there +of the unsold lands along the Mississippi, and Red-river, in the +parishes of Plaquemines or Bayon Bastier; in the interior, of La +Fourche, Iberville, Attacapas, Opelousas,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_216" title="216"></a> Rapides, Nachitoches, +Concordia, New Feliciana, and all the way up the Mississippi, to +Walnut-hills, four hundred miles above New Orleans. All that has been +urged against the unhealthiness of the country may be answered in these +few words. Louisiana, though not at every season of the year equally +salubrious, is far healthier than Cuba, Jamaica, and the West Indies in +general. Thousands of people live free from the attacks of any kind of +fever. On the plantations there is not the least danger.—In New Orleans +the yellow fever has not appeared these four years past, and the place +is so far from being unhealthy now, that the mortality for the last +three years was less in this place than in Boston, New York and +Philadelphia. Cleanliness, sobriety, a strict attention to the digestive +system, and the avoiding of strong liquors, and exposure to heat, or to +the rising miasmata, will keep every one as healthy in Louisiana as any +where else. The neglect of proper precautions will cause as serious +inconvenience in Louisiana as in any other country. This is the real +condition of the state, and those acquainted with it will readily bear +testimony to the correctness of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_217" title="217"></a> my opinion, that it holds out not only +to British emigrants, but also to capitalists of that country, +advantages far surpassing those of their own vast dominions in any +quarter of the globe.</p> + +<p>In Louisiana they should embark a part of their capital, not in land +speculations, or in buying extensive tracts, which they have to sell in +the course of time in small parcels, but in plantations. These are +sources of wealth far superior to the gold mines of Mexico, and are +guaranteed by a firm constitution, and by the character and the habits +of a liberal people, taken in the whole, whatever John Bull may have to +say against it. In this manner may the said John Bull still reap the +reward of his having formed and maintained the first settlements in the +United States, at a vast expense of blood and treasure.</p> + +<p>This would be the means of drawing closer the now rather relaxed ties +which formerly united him with his kinsman, for Brother Jonathan is<a class="pagenum" id="Page_218" title="218"></a> +neither so bad as John Bull supposes him to be, nor so faultless as he +fancies himself.—<em lang="la" xml:lang="la">Medium tenuere beati.</em></p> + + +<p class="center">THE END.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_219" title="219"></a>TABLE<br /> + +<span class="smaller">OF THE</span><br /> + +<span class="smaller">STATES, COUNTIES, CITIES, TOWNS, AND VILLAGES.</span></h2> + + +<div class="hang"> + + <p><em>Pittsburgh</em>, county town of <em>Alleghany</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Alleghany</em> (river), <em>Monongehela</em> (river).</p> + + <p><em>Oeconomy</em>, Rapp’s Settlement in Beaver county.</p> + + <p><em>Zanesville</em>, capital of <em>Muskiagum</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>New Lancaster</em>, capital of <em>Fairfield</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Columbus</em>, capital of the State of <em>Ohio</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Chilicothe</em>, capital of the <em>Sciota</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Franklintown</em>, capital of <em>Franklin</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Cincinnati</em>, capital of <em>Hamilton</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Newport</em>, capital of <em>Campbell</em> county, in <em>Kentucky</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Vevay</em>, capital of <em>New Switzerland</em> county, in the State of + <em>Indiana</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Madisonville</em>, capital of <em>Jefferson</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Charlestown</em>, capital of <em>Clark</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Jeffersonville</em>, capital of <em>Floyd</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Clarkesville</em> and <em>New Albany</em>, villages of <em>Floyd</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Louisville</em>, capital of <em>Jefferson</em> county, in <em>Kentucky</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Shippingport</em> and <em>Portland</em>, villages.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_220" title="220"></a><em>Troy</em>, capital of <em>Crawford</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Owensborough</em>, capital of <em>Henderson</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Harmony</em>, in <em>Indiana</em>, second settlement of <em>Rapp</em>, purchased + 1823, by <em>Owen</em>, of <em>Lanark</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Shawneetown</em>, in the State of <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Fort Massai</em>, in the State of <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Golconda</em>, capital of <em>Pope</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Vienna</em>, capital of <em>Johnson</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>America</em>, capital of <em>Alexander</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Trinity</em>, village of <em>Alexander</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Kaskakia</em>, <em>Cahokia</em>, towns of <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Vandalia</em>, capital of the State of <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Hamburgh</em>, village in <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Cape Girardeau</em>, capital of the county of the same name.</p> + + <p><em>St. Genevieve</em> and <em>Herculaneum</em>, towns of the State of <em>Missouri</em>.</p> + + <p><em>City of St. Louis</em>, capital of <em>Missouri</em> (the state).</p> + + <p><em>New Madrid</em>, capital of <em>New Madrid</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Tennessee</em>, State of</p> + + <p><em>Nashville</em>, <em>Knoxville</em>, towns of <em>Tennessee</em>, and <em>New + Ereesborough</em>, capital of the State.</p> + + <p><em>Hopefield</em>, capital of <em>Hempstead</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>St. Helena</em>, village of <em>Arkansas</em> territory.</p> + + <p><em>Vixburgh</em>, capital of <em>Warren</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Warrington</em>, village of <em>Warren</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Palmyra Plantations</em>, <em>Bruinsburgh</em>, <em>Natchez</em> (city of), in the + State of <em>Mississippi</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Gibsonport</em>, capital of <em>Gibson</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Baton Rouge</em>, <em>Plaquemines</em>, <em>Manchac</em>, <em>Bayon</em>, <em>Tourche</em>, the + former the capital of the county, and the latter bayons.</p> + + <p><em>New Orleans</em> (city of), the capital of <em>Louisiana</em>.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">In Chapter xix. the following Rivers occur.</span></p> + +<div class="hang"> + + <p><em>Mobile</em>—the rivers <em>Amite</em>, <em>Tickfah</em>, <em>Tangipao</em>, <em>Pearl</em>, + <em>Pascaguala</em>, <em>Arkansas</em>, <em>White</em> and <em>Red-River</em>, <em>Tensaw</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Plaquemines</em>, <em>Interior of la Tourche</em>, <em>Iberville</em>, <em>Attacapas</em>, + <em>Opelousas</em>, <em>Rapides</em>, <em>Natchitoches</em>, <em>Concordia</em>, <em>Avoyelles</em>, + <em>New Feliciana</em>, <em>Parishes of Louisiana</em>.</p> + +</div> + +<p>N.B. The Counties in the State of Louisiana, are called Parishes.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> +<p class="center"> + <em>Printed by Bradbury & Dent, Bolt-court, Fleet-street.</em> +</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<h2><a id="FOOTNOTES"></a>Footnotes</h2> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_A" href="#FNanchor_A"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> +Of course this billiard table is not mentioned as a matter +of importance, but merely to give a characteristic idea of the state of +society in these parts.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_B" href="#FNanchor_B"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> +Eighteen miles from Pittsburgh on the road to Beaver, the +new and third settlement of the Swabian separatists, called Economy, was +established two years ago by Rapp, a man celebrated in the Union for his +rustic sagacity. This man affords an instance of what persevering +industry, united with sound sense, may effect.—When he arrived with his +400 followers from Germany, twenty years ago, their capital amounted to +35,000 dollars; and so poor were they at first, that their leader could +not find credit for a barrel of salt. They are now worth at least a +million of dollars. Their new settlement promises to thrive, and to +become superior to those which they sold in Buttler County, +Pennsylvania, and in Indiana on the Wabash. Nothing can exceed the +authority exercised by this man over his flock. He unites both the +spiritual and temporal power in his own person. He has with him a kind +of Vice-Dictator in the person of his adopted son, (who is married to +his daughter), and a council of twelve elders, who manage the domestic +affairs of the community, now amounting to 1000 souls. When he was yet +residing in Old Harmony, twenty-eight miles north of Pittsburgh, the +bridge constructed over a creek which passes by the village, wanted +repair. It was winter time; the ice seemed thick enough to allow of +walking across. The creek, however, was deep, and 100 feet wide: Master +Rapp, notwithstanding, ventured upon it, intending to come up to the +pier. He was scarcely in the middle of the river, when the ice gave way. +A number of his followers being assembled on the shores, were eager to +assist him.—“Do you think,” hallooed Rapp, “that the Lord will withdraw +his hands from his elect, and that I need your help?” The poor fellows +immediately dropped the boards, but at the same time Master Rapp sunk +deeper into the creek. The danger at last conquered his shame and his +confidence in supernatural aid, and he called lustily for assistance. +Notwithstanding the cries of the American by-standers, “You d—d fools, +let the tyrant go down, you will have his money, you will be free,” they +immediately threw boards on the ice, went up to him, and took him out of +the water, amidst shouts of laughter from the unbelieving Americans. On +the following Sunday he preached them a sermon, purporting that the Lord +had visited their sins upon him, and that their disobedience to his +commands was the cause of his sinking. The poor dupes literally believed +all this, promised obedience, and both parties were satisfied. Several +of his followers left him, being shocked at his law of celibacy, but +such was his ascendancy over the female part of the community, that they +chose rather to leave their husbands than their father Rapp, as they +call him. Last year, however (1826), he abolished this kind of celibacy, +hitherto so strictly observed, and on the 4th of July, eighteen couples +were permitted to marry. This settlement is one of the finest villages +in the west of Pennsylvania. A manufactory of steam engines, extensive +parks of deer, two elks, and a magnificent palace for himself, +splendidly furnished, show that he knows how to avail himself of his +increasing wealth. The inhabitants of Pittsburgh make frequent +excursions to this settlement, and though his manners savour of the +Swabian peasant, yet his wealth and his hospitality have considerably +diminished the contempt in which he was formerly held by the +Anglo-Americans.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_C" href="#FNanchor_C"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> +Sawyers are bodies of trees fixed in the river, which yield +to the pressure of the current, disappearing and appearing by turns +above water, like the rotatory motion of the saw-mill, from which they +have derived their name. They sometimes point up the stream, sometimes +in the contrary direction. A steam-boat running on a sawyer, cannot +escape destruction.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_D" href="#FNanchor_D"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> +Planters are large bodies of trees, firmly fixed by their +roots to the bottom of the river, in a perpendicular manner, and rising +no more than a foot above the surface at low water. They are so firmly +rooted, as to be unmoved by the shock of steam-boats running upon +them.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_E" href="#FNanchor_E"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> +Bayons, outlets of the Mississippi, formed by nature. They +are in great numbers, and carry its waters to the gulph of Mexico. +Without these outlets, New Orleans would be destroyed by the spring +floods in a few hours.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_F" href="#FNanchor_F"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> +In New Orleans, water is found two feet below the surface. +Those who cannot afford to procure a vault for their dead, are literally +compelled to deposit them in the water.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_G" href="#FNanchor_G"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> +The whole number of vessels then in port was 100 schooners, +brigs, and ships.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_H" href="#FNanchor_H"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> +Pensacola has been established as a port for the United +States navy: 1825–1826.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_I" href="#FNanchor_I"><span class="label">[I]</span></a> +The whole course of the Mississippi exceeds, the Missouri +included, 4200 miles. This latter is its principal tributary stream, and +superior in magnitude even to the Mississippi.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_J" href="#FNanchor_J"><span class="label">[J]</span></a> +Below New Orleans there is no place well adapted for the +site of a large city.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_K" href="#FNanchor_K"><span class="label">[K]</span></a> +The governor of Louisiana has 5000 dollars a year: the +governors of other states either 2 or 3000 dollars. According to the +American money, four dollars forty-four cents make a pound: a dollar has +100 cents.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="transnote"> + +<h2><a id="EndNote"></a>Transcriber’s Note</h2> + +<p>Minor errors in punctuation are corrected silently.</p> + +<p>In the final table of place names, ‘New Ereesborough’ is referred to +as the state capital of Tennessee. This seems a corruption of +‘Murfreesborough’, which was the capital until 1826.</p> + +<p>The following issues, which were deemed printer’s errors, and their resolutions +are described here:</p> + +<table id="errata" summary="errata"> + <tr><td>p. ii</td><td>[t]hroughout]</td><td>Added.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 80</td><td>approach[e]d</td><td>Added.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 82</td><td>Baton [D/R]ouge</td><td>Corrected.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 99</td><td>hickor[i]y</td><td>Removed.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 108</td><td>backswood-man / backwoods-man</td><td>Corrected.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 206</td><td>Fran[s]cisville</td><td>Removed.</td></tr> + +</table> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44268 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + + + diff --git a/44268-h/images/cover.jpg b/44268-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e472a52 --- /dev/null +++ b/44268-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dcf0301 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #44268 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44268) diff --git a/old/44268-8.txt b/old/44268-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..097ced9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44268-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4492 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Americans as They Are, by Charles Sealsfield + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Americans as They Are + Described in a tour through the valley of the Mississippi + +Author: Charles Sealsfield + +Release Date: November 24, 2013 [EBook #44268] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICANS AS THEY ARE *** + + + + +Produced by KD Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Some typographical features could not be reproduced in this version. +Italics are therefore delimited with the underscore character as +_italic_. Any words or phrases appearing in mixed case using small +capital letters, are shifted to all upper case. + +Please note that the longitudes used in this text, which predates the +establishment of Greenwich as the reference, used the nation's capitol, +Washington, D.C. (approx. W 77°) as its basis. Thus, Cincinnati, at +W 84° 30' on p. 1, is placed at a longitude of 7° 31'. Also, on p. 33, +the location of the state of Indiana is mistakenly given using seconds +(") of longitude, rather than minutes ('). These were corrected. + +The spelling of place names was fluid at the time and all are retained +here. + +Footnotes, which appeared on the bottom of pages, have been relocated +to follow the paragraph where they are referenced. They have been +lettered consecutively from A to K for ease of reference. + +Please consult the transcriber's end note at the bottom of this text +for any other details. + + + + + THE + AMERICANS AS THEY ARE; + DESCRIBED IN + A TOUR + THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. + + BY THE AUTHOR OF + "AUSTRIA AS IT IS." + + LONDON: + HURST, CHANCE, AND CO. + ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. + 1828. + + + + + LONDON: + Printed by Bradbury and Dent, + St. Dunstan's-ct., Fleet-st. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +The publication of this tour was intended for the year 1827. Several +circumstances have prevented it. + +The American is, as far as relates to his own country, justly supposed +to be prone to exaggeration. English travellers, on the contrary, are +apt to undervalue brother Jonathan and his country. The Author has twice +seen these countries, of whose present state he gives a sketch in the +following pages. He is far from claiming for his work any sort of +literary merit. Truth and practical observation are his chief points. +Whether his opinions and statements are correct, it remains for the +reader to judge, and experience to confirm. + + _London, March, 1828._ + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Upwards of half a century has now elapsed since the independence of +the United States became firmly established. During this period two +great questions have been solved, exposing the fallacies of human +calculations, which anticipated only present anarchy and ultimate +dissolution as the fate of the new Republics. The possibility of a +people governing themselves, and being prosperous and happy, time, the +sure ordeal of all projects, has at length demonstrated. Their political +infancy is over, they are approaching towards manhood, and fully +sensible of their strength, their first magistrate has ventured to +utter those important words contained in his address of 1820: that +"notwithstanding their neutrality, they would consider any attempt on +the part of the European Powers, to extend their system to any portion +of THEIR hemisphere, as dangerous to their peace and safety; and that +they could not admit of any projects of colonization on the part of +Europe." Thus, for the first time, they have asserted their right of +taking a part DE FACTO in the great transactions of European Powers, and +pronounced their declaration in a tone, which has certainly contributed +to the abandonment of those intentions which were fast ripening into +execution. + +The important influence of American liberty throughout the civilised +world, has been already apparent; and more especially in France, in the +South American revolutions, and in the commotions in Spain, Portugal, +Naples, and Piedmont. These owe their origin, not to any instigation on +the part of the United States, but to the influence of their example in +raising the standard of freedom, and more than all, to the success which +crowned their efforts. Great has been on the other hand, the influence +of European politics on the North American nation. A party, existing +since the revolution, and extending its ramifications over the whole +United States, is now growing into importance, and guided by the +principles of European diplomacy, is rooting itself deeper and deeper, +drawing within its ranks the wealthy, the enlightened, the dissatisfied; +thus adding every day to its strength. We see, in short, the principle +of monarchy developing itself in the United States, and though it is not +attempted to establish it by means of a revolution, which would +infallibly fail, there is a design to bring it about by that cunning, +cautious, and I may add, American way, which must eventually succeed; +unless the spirit of freedom be sufficiently powerful to neutralize the +subtle poison in its progress, or to triumph over its revolutionary +results. There have occurred many changes in the United States within +the last ten years. The present rulers have succeeded in so amalgamating +opinions, that whatever may be said to the contrary, only two parties +are now in existence. These are the monarchists, who would become +governors, and the republicans, who would not be governed. + +The object proposed in the following pages has been to exhibit to the +eyes of the European world, the real state of American affairs, divested +of all prejudice, and all party spirit. Adams on the whole is a +favourite with Great Britain. This empire however, has no reason to +admire him; should his plans succeed, the cost to Great Britain would be +the loss of her last possession in North America. But as long as the +American Republic continues united, this unwieldy mass of twenty-four +states can never become dangerous. + +Of the different orders of society, there is yet little to be said, but +they are developing themselves as fast as wealth, ambition, luxury, and +the sciences on the one side, and poverty, ignorance, and indirect +oppression on the other, will permit them. There, as every where else, +this is the natural course of things. To show the state of society in +general, and the relative bearings of the different classes to each +other, and thus to afford a clear idea of what the United States really +are, is the second object attempted in this work. To represent social +intercourse and prevailing habits in such a manner as to enable the +future emigrant to follow the prescribed track, and to settle with +security and advantage to himself and to his new country; to afford him +the means of judging for himself, by giving him a complete view of +public and private life in general, as well as of each profession or +business in particular, is the third object here contemplated. + +The capitalist, the merchant, the farmer, the physician, the lawyer, the +mechanic, cannot fail, I trust, to find adequate information respecting +the course which, on their settling in the Union, will be the most +eligible to pursue. Farther explanation I think unnecessary. He who +would consider the following condensed picture of Trans-atlantic society +and manners insufficient, would not be better informed, if I were to +enlarge the work to twice its size. Such an objection would shew him to +be unfit to adventure in the character of a settler in a country where +so many snares will beset his path, and call for no small degree of +natural shrewdness and penetration. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +Cincinnati.--Parting glance at Ohio.--Its Government and +Inhabitants. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Tour through the state of Kentucky.--Bigbonelick.--Mammoths.--Two +Kentuckian Characters.--Kentuckian +Scenes. + + +CHAPTER III. + +Vevay.--Geographical Sketch of the state of Indiana--Madison.-- +Charleston.--Jeffersonville.--Clarksville.--New Albany.--The Falls of +Ohio. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Louisville.--Canal of Louisville.--Its Commerce.--Surrounding +Country.--Sketch of the state of Kentucky, and of its Inhabitants. + + +CHAPTER V. + +A Keel-boat journey.--Description of the preparations.--Fall +of the Country.--Troy.--Lady Washington.--The River sport.-- +Owensborough.--Henderson. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Mr. Owen's of Lanark, formerly Rapp's settlement.--Remarks on +it.--Keel-boat Scenes.--Cave in Rock.--Cumberland and +Tennessee rivers.--Fort Massai. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Mississippi.--General Features of the state of Illinois, and of +its Inhabitants. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Excursion to St. Louis.--Fall of the Country.--Sketch of the state of +Missouri.--Return to Trinity. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The state of Tennessee.--Steam boats on the Mississippi.--Flat Boats. + + +CHAPTER X. + +Scenery along the Mississippi.--Hopefield.--St. Helena.--Arkansas +Territory.--Spanish Moss.--Vixburgh. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The city of Natchez.--Excursion to Palmira.--Plantations.--The cotton +planter of the state of Mississippi.--Remarks.--Return to Natchez. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Arrival at New Orleans.--Cursory reflections. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Topographical sketch of the City of New Orleans. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and of +Louisiana.--Creoles.--Anglo Americans. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Frenchmen.--Free people of colour.--Slaves.--Public spirit.-- +Education.--State of religious worship.--Public entertainments.-- +Theatres.--Balls, &c. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The Climate of Louisiana.--The yellow fever. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.--Planters.--Farmers.--Merchants.-- +Mechanics. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +Geographical features of the state of Louisiana.--Conclusion. + + + + +AMERICA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Cincinnati.--Parting Glance at Ohio.--Character of its Government and + its Inhabitants. + + +The city of Cincinnati is the largest in the state of Ohio: for the last +eight years it has left even Pittsburgh far behind. It is situated in +39° 5' 54" north latitude, and 7° 31' west longitude, on the second bank +of the Ohio, rising gradually and extending to the west, the north, and +the east, for a distance of several miles. The lower part of the city +below the new warehouse, is exposed, during the spring tides, to +inundations which are not, however, productive of serious consequences; +the whole mass of water turning to the Kentuckian shore. The river is +here about a mile wide, and assumes the form of a half moon. When viewed +from the high banks, the mighty sheet of water, rolling down in a deep +bed, affords a splendid sight. In 1780, the spot where now stands one of +the prettiest towns of the Union, was a native forest. In that year, the +first attempt was made at forming a settlement in the country, by +erecting a blockhouse, which was called Fort Washington, and was +enlarged at a subsequent period. In the year 1788, Judge Symmes laid out +the town, whose occupants he drew from the New England States. +Successive attacks, however, of the Indians wearied them out, and the +greater part withdrew. The battle gained by General Wayne over these +natives, tranquillised the country; and after the year 1794, Cincinnati +rapidly improved. It became the capital of the western district, which +was erected into a territorial government. When Ohio was declared an +independent state, in the year 1800, Cincinnati continued to be the seat +of the legislature till 1806. + +Fort Washington has since made room for peaceful dwellings. Their number +is at present 1560, with 12,000 inhabitants. The streets are regular, +broad, and mostly well paved. The main street, which runs the length of +a mile from the court-house down to the quay, is elegant.--Among the +public buildings, the court-house is constructed in an extremely simple +but noble style; the Episcopalian, the Catholic, and the Presbyterian +churches, the academy and the United States' bank, are handsome +buildings. Besides these, are churches for Presbyterians, Lutherans, +Methodists, Baptists, Swedenborghians, Unitarians, a Lancasterian +school, the farmers', the mechanics', and the Cincinnati banks, a +reading room with a well provided library, five newspaper printing +offices;--among these papers are the Cincinnati Literary Gazette, and a +price current--and the land office for the southern part of the state. +The colonnade of the theatre is, however, a strange specimen of the +architectural genius of the backwoods. Among the manufacturing +establishments, the principal are,--the steam mill on the river, a +saw-mill, cloth and cotton manufactories, several steam engines, iron +and nail manufactories, all on the steam principle. Cincinnati carries +on an important trade with New Orleans, and it may be considered as the +staple of the state. The produce of the whole state is brought to +Cincinnati, and shipped down the Ohio and Mississippi. The only +impediments to its uninterrupted trade, are the falls of the Ohio at +Louisville, which obstruct the navigation during eight months in the +year. These obstacles are now on the point of being removed. The exports +from Cincinnati are flour, whisky, salt, hams, pork, beef, dried and +fresh fruits, corn, &c.; the imports are cotton, sugar, rice, indigo, +tobacco, coffee, and spices. The manufactured goods are generally +brought in waggons from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and discharged +there. In order to improve the commerce of Cincinnati, an insurance +company has been formed. There is a committee established for the +inspection of vessels running between New Orleans and this place. There +are a number of steam and other boats building at the present time. For +the benefit of travellers, &c., a line of steam boats is established +between Cincinnati and Louisville; and they start regularly every second +day, performing the voyage of 115 miles to Louisville in twelve, and +back again in twenty hours. + +There are in Cincinnati a great number of wholesale, commission, and +retail merchants; but the want of ready money is as much felt here as +anywhere else, and causes a stagnation of business. The inhabitants are +chiefly American born, with some admixture of Germans, French, and +Irish. As the former are mostly from the New England States, the general +character of the inhabitants has taken an adventurous turn, which is +conspicuous in their buildings. Most of the houses in the city are +elegant, many are truly beautiful; but they belong to the bank of the +United States, which possesses at least 200 of the finest houses in +Cincinnati. The building mania obtained such strong hold of the +inhabitants, that most of them forgot their actual means; and +accordingly, having drawn money from the bank which they were unable to +refund, they had at last to give up lots and buildings to the United +States' bank. Though this city possesses in itself many advantages over +other towns of the Ohio, and has much the start of them in point of +commerce and manufactures, yet there is little expectation of its +increasing in the same proportion as it has hitherto done. Neither of +the canals which are intended to join the Ohio, will come up as far as +this town. The great Ohio canal is to run near the mouth of the Sciota +river; the _Dayton_ canal below Cincinnati; and these places will +attract a considerable part of the population. The third canal, which is +to connect the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and of the Ohio, will be +more advantageous to the towns of Upper Ohio, Marietta, Steubenville, +and Wheeling. Commerce will thus be more equally divided, and Cincinnati +cannot always expect to continue as it has hitherto been, the staple +of the trade to the southward of the Ohio. The merchant possessed +of a moderate capital, if he consult his interest, will not establish +himself at Cincinnati, but at one of the intermediate places of the +above-mentioned three canals. The farmer has eligible spots in the +Tuscarora valleys, about New Lancaster, Columbus, Franklintown, +Pickaway, Chilicathe, and especially in the Sandusky counties on lake +Erie. Mechanics, such as carpenters, cabinet makers, &c., will also find +these new settlements more advantageous markets for their industry than +the city of Cincinnati itself. The manufacturers, of every kind, will +choose either Cincinnati or Pittsburgh, but still give the preference +to the former, in spite of its smoke and dirt, as the place most +favoured by natural position, which must necessarily become the first +manufacturing town of the Union, notwithstanding the well-known +inactivity of the Pennsylvanians. But as the state of Ohio must look to +its manufactures, unless it chooses to continue a loser by the exchange +of its raw produce; Cincinnati, whose manufactures have attained a high +degree of perfection, favoured as it is by its coal mines, its water +communication, and the fertility and consequent cheapness of the +necessaries of life, must always possess very great advantages. +Travellers arriving from the north, proceed to the south by way of +Louisville on board a steam boat; and coming from thence, they go either +to the eastward to Philadelphia by the mail stage, or by the same +conveyance northward, through Chilicathe and Columbus, to lake Erie, +where they embark for Buffalo. + +During my stay, on the twenty-fifth of October, a question of some +importance for the inhabitants of Cincinnati was to be decided. It was +concerning a stricter police and its necessary regulations. The city +council, with the wealthier class of inhabitants, had been for some time +previous to the decision, engaged in preparing and gaining over the +multitude. I went to the court-house in company with Mr. Bama, a +wholesale merchant, and several gentlemen, to hear the speeches +delivered on both sides, and the result of the motion. It was four +o'clock when we arrived, and about 600 persons were assembled in and +outside of the court-house. The noise, however, was such, that it was +impossible to hear more than detached periods. At eight o'clock, when +almost dark, they had gone through the business, and the poll was about +to commence. The party for abridging public liberty was ordered to go +out on the left:--those who insisted on the preservation of the present +order of things, were to draw off to the right. On arriving before the +court-house, they ranged themselves in two separate ranks, each of which +was counted by the presiding judge. There was a majority of 72 votes in +favour of the party which upheld the present system, and the question +was, therefore, decided in favour of popular liberty. I found here, as +well as everywhere else, that the freedom of a community is nowhere more +exposed to encroachments than in large towns, where dissipation and +occupations of every kind are likely to engross the attention of the +people, who leave the magistrates to do what they please. The city +council were on the point of obtaining the majority, had it not been for +the farmers whom the market-day had drawn to town. These, of course, did +not fail to open the eyes of the honest burghers; and the question was +accordingly negatived. + +The prevailing manners of society at Cincinnati, are those peculiar to +larger cities, without the formalities and mannerism of the eastern sea +ports. Freedom of thought prevails in a high degree, and toleration is +exercised without limitation. The women are considered very handsome; +their deportment is free from pride; but simple and unassuming as +they appear, they evince a high taste for literary and mental +accomplishments. The Literary Gazette owes its origin to their united +efforts. There is no doubt that the commanding situation of this +beautiful town, its majestic river, its mild climate, which may be +compared to the south of France, and the liberal spirit of its +inhabitants, contribute to render this place, both in a physical and +moral point of view, one of the most eligible residences in the Union. + +As much, indeed, may be said of the state of Ohio in general. It +combines in itself all the elements that tend to make its inhabitants +the happiest people on the face of the earth. Nature has done every +thing in favour of this country. In point of fertility, it excels +every one of the thirteen old states; and, owing to its political +institutions, and the abolition of slavery, it has taken the lead among +those newly created. + +Ohio is bounded on the north by lake Erie, on the west by the state +of Indiana, on the south by the river Ohio, and on the east by +Pennsylvania, comprising an area of 4,000 square miles; it is divided +into 71 counties, and has a population of 72,000 souls. This state forms +the eastern extremity of the great valley of the Mississippi, which has +the Alleghany for its eastern, and the Rocky Mountains for its western +boundary, sinking by degrees as it approaches the Mississippi, and +extending more than a thousand miles towards the south. The climate of +this state, which presents for the most part the form of an elevated +plain, running between the mountainous Pennsylvania and the swampy +Mississippi states, is temperate, extending from 38° 28', to 72° 58' +northern latitude, and from 3° 32', to 7° 40' west longitude. Its +temperature varies less than that of other states. Its soil is +inexhaustible; its fertility, especially in the northern and southern +parts, being truly astonishing; and though some portions have been +cultivated upwards of thirty years without being manured, the land still +yields the same quantity of produce. The northern inhabitants of the +state send their produce down to New York by lake Erie, and the Buffalo +canal; the southern find a market in Louisiana and New Orleans. The +middle part suffered greatly from the want of water communication, to +which they are now on the point of applying a remedy, in order to obtain +an intercourse with New York; which, as it is well known, has effected +by means of a canal, a water communication with lake Erie. The Ohions +commenced a canal in the year 1825, beginning at Cleveland on the +shores of lake Erie, taking thence a southern course through Tuscarora +county at Zanesville, turning to the right six miles below Columbus, and +running down to the shores of the Ohio. It is intended to be completed +in the space of three years. The state of Ohio expects from this canal, +which if the pecuniary means be considered may be called a gigantic +undertaking, a ready market for its produce in the city and state of New +York; looking forward, at the same time, to become the staple for the +trade between New York and New Orleans. It cannot fail, however, to be +productive of still greater advantage to the United States in general, +and to the cities of New York and New Orleans in particular, which will +thus have the means of a land or water communication, over a space of +nearly 3,000 miles. The first idea of this canal originated with the +state of New York; the citizens of which, when they had finished their +own, encouraged those of Ohio to enter upon a similar undertaking. +Encouragement was not much wanting; the plan of joining the waters of +the Hudson and the Mississippi was taken up with enthusiasm; canal +committees were formed; most of the towns in the state sent their +deputies, and after the customary debates, the resolution was adopted. +The only difficulty was to raise the requisite funds. New York offered +to defray the necessary expenses, if allowed the revenue arising from +the new canal, for a certain period. The pride of the Ohions revolted +against the proposition; they preferred raising a loan in New York. In +this respect the government of the state committed a great error. A loan +of three millions of dollars, and the necessary evils attendant upon it, +are certainly a heavy burthen to a new state, which can scarcely reckon +an existence of forty years, especially as the new canal may be +considered a continuation of the great one of New York, and as the +advantage resulting from it to the state can bear no comparison with +that which New York derives from its own. + +New York, already the most important commercial city of the Union, +will, after the completion of this canal, enjoy the trade of the +western and south-western states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, +Mississippi, &c.; and thus the Ohio canal will rather contribute to the +aggrandizement of New York, than to that of Ohio. Their debt, so out of +proportion with the resources of the state, made the people of Ohio +relax in their ardour for carrying this project into effect, and gave +rise to discontent against the administration of the state. But the same +case happened in New York, and the exultation of the inhabitants of +Ohio, when they see the work accomplished, will scarcely yield to that +which was manifested by the people of the former state. There is, +nevertheless, not any city in the state of Ohio to be compared with New +York, Philadelphia, or Boston, nor is it probable there will be. At +the same time this want is largely compensated by the absence of +immorality and luxury--evils necessarily attached to large and opulent +cities--which may be said to attract the heart's blood of the country, +and send forth the very dregs of it in return. In Ohio, wealth is not +accumulated in one place, or in a few hands; it is visibly diffused over +the whole community. The country towns and villages are invariably +constructed in a more elegant and tasteful manner than those of +Pennsylvania, and the Northern states. There is something grand in +their plan and execution, though the prevailing want or insufficiency of +means to carry them through, is still an obstacle in the way. The farms +and country houses are elegant; I saw hundreds of them, which no English +nobleman would be ashamed of. They are generally of brick, sometimes +of wood, and built in a tasteful style. The turnpike roads are in +excellent order. It is astonishing to see what has been done during a +few years, and under an increasing scarcity of money, by the mere dint +of industry. The traveller will seldom have reason to rail at bad roads +or bad taverns; I could only complain of one of the latter, which stands +upon a road that is seldom travelled. In every county town there are at +least two elegant inns, and the tables are loaded with such a variety of +venison and dishes of every kind, that even a _gourmand_ could not +justly complain. + +The whole state bespeaks a wealthy condition, which, far removed from +riches, rests on the surest foundation--the fertility of the soil, and +the persevering industry of its cultivators. Although behind-hand, +perhaps, with the Yankees in literary accomplishments, they are far more +liberal, and intelligent, being endowed with a strong and enterprising +mind. Crimes are here less frequently committed, the inhabitants +consisting of the most respectable classes of the eastern and foreign +states. Only men of moderate property came into the state; the wealthy +were deterred by the difficulties attending a new settlement; the +indigent by the impossibility of getting vacant lands, and thus the +state remained equally free from money-born aristocrats, (certainly the +worst in the world), and from beggars. Its form of government bears +internal evidence of this, the governor of Ohio having neither the +revenue, nor the power of the eastern governors. He is elected for the +term of two years. The constitution bespeaks independence and +liberality. The number of senators cannot exceed thirty, nor the +representatives seventy-two. The general assembly has the sole power of +enacting laws, the signature of the governor being in no case necessary. +The judges are chosen by the legislature for seven years, and the +justices of the peace for the term of three years, by their respective +townships. The resolutions of their assembly are quite free from that +narrow-minded prejudice found in Pennsylvania and the southern states, +which sees in the law of Moses the only rule for direction, and loses +sight of that liberal spirit which pervades the law of Christ. The +inhabitants of Ohio are not, however, so religious as their neighbours, +the Pennsylvanians. Their ministers exercise little influence; and +numerous sects contribute greatly to lessen their authority, which is +certainly not the case in the north. The people of Ohio are equally free +from the uncultivated and rude character of the western American, and +from the innate wiliness of the Yankees. This state is not unlike a +vigorous and blooming youth, who is approaching to manhood, and whose +natural form and manner excite our just admiration. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Tour through Kentucky.--Bigbonelick.--Mammoths.--Two Kentuckian + Characters.--Kentuckian Scenes. + + +After a stay of six days in Cincinnati I departed; crossed the Ohio in +the ferryboat, and landed in the state of Kentucky, at Newport, a small +country town of Campbell county. It contains, besides the government +arsenal for the western states, a court-house, and about 100 buildings, +scattered irregularly upon the eminence. From thence to Bigbonelick, the +distance is 23 miles; the country is more hilly than on the other side +of the river; it is, however, fertile, the stratum being generally +limestone. The growth of timber is very fine; the trees are beech, +sugar-maple, and sycamore. The contrast between Ohio and Kentucky is +striking, and the baneful influence of slavery is very soon discovered. +Instead of elegant farms, orchards, meadows, corn and wheat fields +carefully enclosed, you see patches planted with tobacco, the leaves +neglected; and instead of well-looking houses, a sort of double cabins, +like those inhabited in the north of Pennsylvania by the poorest +classes. In one part lives the family, in the other is the kitchen; +behind these, are the wretched cabins of the negroes, bearing a +resemblance to pigsties, with half a dozen black children playing about +them on the ground. + +About three o'clock I arrived at Bigbonelick, well known for its Mammoth +bones. The lands ten miles on this side of Bigbone are of an indifferent +character, dreary and mountainous. The valley of Bigbone is about a mile +long, and of equal breadth; it no doubt has been the scene of some great +convulsion of nature. The water is seen oozing forth from the many bogs, +and has a saltish taste, impregnated with saltpetre and sulphur. These +quagmires are covered with a thin grass, which has the same taste. Their +depth is said to be unfathomable. Whether the Mammoth bones which are +found here, were brought into the valley by a convulsion of the earth, +by an inundation, or whether the animals sunk down when in search of +food, remains to be decided. The first two suppositions seem authorised +by the circumstance, that bones were found, not on their carcases, but +scattered, which could not be the case if they were swallowed up alive. +The same revolution of nature which carried elephants and palm-trees to +Siberia and Lapland, and the lions of Africa to the coast of Gibraltar, +may, in like manner, have brought these animals to Bigbonelick. The +tradition handed down to us by the Indians respecting them, is +remarkable. "In ancient times, it is said, a herd of these tremendous +animals came to the Bigbonelicks, and commenced an universal destruction +among the buffaloes, bears, and elks, which had been created for the +Indians. The Great Spirit looking down from above, became so enraged at +the sight, that taking some of his thunderbolts he descended, seated +himself on a neighbouring rock which still bears the print of his +footsteps, and hurling down the bolts among the destroyers, killed them +all with the exception of the big bull, which, turning its front to the +bolts, shook them off; but being struck at last in the side, he turned +round, and with a tremendous leap bounded over the Ohio, the Wabash, the +Illinois, and the great lakes, beyond which he is still living at the +present day." + +Some few weeks later, I spoke with an Indian trader at Trinity. +According to his account, he found in one of his excursions, traces of a +large animal, belonging to none of the species known to him, and equal +in size to the elephant. On making inquiries of an old Indian, the +latter ascribed the traces to an immense, but very rare animal, the +race of which was almost destroyed by the Great Spirit; there remaining +but very few on the other side of the lakes. He also pretended that +he had seen one of those animals: whether the tale of the Indian, or +that of the trader, a class of people somewhat prone to exaggeration, +be true or not, I am incapable of deciding. I afterwards met this +man at New Orleans, and requested him to go along with me to one of my +acquaintances, in order to furnish further information on this subject, +and enable me to give publicity to it, but he pretended business, and +refused to accompany me. The researches which were undertaken here, were +amply rewarded. The greatest part of the early discoveries has been +transmitted to London; a fine collection is exhibiting in the Museum at +Philadelphia, and in the Levee at New Orleans. + +The road from Bigbonelick is, for the distance of ten miles, dreary and +the country barren. I arrived late at a farm-house, of rather a better +appearance, where I intended to stop the night. The first night's +lodging convinced me but too plainly, that the inhabitants of this +state, justly called in New York, half horse and half alligator, had not +yet assumed a milder character. The farmer, or rather planter, was +absent with his wife; and his brother, who took care of the farm, was at +a horse race; an old man, however, with his daughter, answered my +application for a lodging, in the affirmative. I was supping upon slices +of bacon, roasted corn bread, and some milk, when the brother of the +farmer returned from the races with his neighbour. Both had led horses +besides those on which they rode. Before dismounting they discharged +their pistols. Each of the Kentuckians had a pistol in his girdle, and a +poniard in the breast pocket. Before resuming my supper I was pressed to +take a dram. With a quart bottle in one hand, and with the other drawing +the remains of tobacco from his mouth, in rather a nauseous manner, the +host drank for half a minute out of the bottle; then took from the slave +the can with water, and handed the bottle to me, the mouth of which had +assumed, from the remains of the tobacco, a brownish colour. The +Kentuckian looked displeased when I wiped the bottle. I however took no +notice of him, but presented it, after having drunk, to his friend. We +sat down. + +"How far are you come to day?" asked the landlord. + +"From Cincinnati." + +"You don't live in Cincinnati, I guess, do you?" + +"No, sir." + +"And where do you live?" + +"In Pennsylvania." + +"A fine distance!" exclaimed my host, "I like the people of Pennsylvania +better than those G----d d----d Yankees, but still they are no +Kentuckians." I gave my full and hearty assent. + +"The Kentuckians," continued my landlord, "are astonishingly mighty +people; they are the very first people on earth!" + +"Yes, sir." + +"They are immensely great, and wonderfully powerful people; ar'nt they?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"They are ten thousand times superior to any nation on earth." + +"Yes, sir." + +"How do you like Kentucky?" + +"Very well, sir; I travelled through it four years ago." + +"G--d d--n my s--l t----e----l d----n!" roared he. "The Pennsylvanians +have not a square mile of land in their state, equal to our poor lands. +Bill," turning now to his neighbour on the left, "Bill has been marked +in a mighty fine style. G--d d--n, &c., he blooded like a hog." + +"Yes," replied the neighbour, "Sam has stabbed exceedingly well, I +presume. Bill has to wait four weeks before he may be on his legs again, +if he will be at all. G--d d--n! but to tell Isaac, his horse, which he +thinks so much of, is a poor beast compared with his--and so to give him +the lie. I would have knocked him down, come what might _out of it_. But +Dick and John!"--and now these two fellows broke out into roaring shouts +of horse laughter. "How his eyes twinkled, he looked quite as squire +Toms, when laying all night over the bottle; I guess he never will be +able to set his eyes a-right." + +"He does not see," said the neighbour; "the one is quite out of its +socket, and Joe was obliged to carry him home." + +"Why, the seconds are wonderfully lovely fellows, I warrant you; they +did not spoil the sport with interfering." + +"Yes, they bore John an old grudge." + +"Oh, certainly--it was a mighty fine sport; I would not for the world +have missed it. G--d d--n! Dick is a fine gouger--the second turn--John +down--and both thumbs in his eyes.--I presume you have races in +Pennsylvania?" turning to me. + +"Yes, sir." + +"And fightings and gougings?" + +"No, sir." With an expressive look towards his neighbour, he continued: +"Yes, the Pennsylvanians are a quiet, religious sort of people; they +don't kill anything but their hogs, and prefer giving their money to +their parsons." The evening passed in these and similar conversations, +of which the above are mere specimens; and it was eleven o'clock before +the interesting pair separated. + +Some miles below Mr. White's farm, the road divides into two, the one +leading to Newcastle, the other to the Ohio. I stopped at a farm fifteen +miles from my former night's lodging. The landlord was mounting his +horse for Newcastle; his wife sat in the kitchen, surrounded by eight +negro girls, all busy knitting and sewing. The girls seemed to be in +excellent spirits, and were tolerably well dressed; the house rather +indicated affluence, though it was far from possessing the order and +cleanliness of a few of only half its value in Ohio. It was a simple +brick house; but constructed without the least attention to the rules of +symmetry. The fields were in a very indifferent state. Behind the +dwelling, were seen some negro infants at play, while an old negro woman +was preparing my breakfast. The family had thirty-five slaves, both +young and old, forming a capital of at least 10,000 dollars. "Was not I +a fool?" asked the open-hearted landlady, "to marry Mr. Forth, who had +but twelve slaves, and a plantation, with seven children; but they are +provided for;--whereas I had fourteen slaves, and a plantation too, +after my first husband's decease, and no children at all."--"I don't +know," was my reply, afraid of engaging the old lady in further +discussion. While descanting upon this theme, and on the advantages +resulting to her happy husband from a match so disparaging on her part, +I was allowed to take my breakfast, when some yells and hallooing called +us to the door. A troop of horsemen were passing. Two of the party had +each a negro slave running before him, secured by a rope fastened to an +iron collar. A tremendous horsewhip reminded them at intervals to +quicken their pace. The bloody backs and necks of these wretches, +bespoke a too frequent application of the lash. The third negro had, +however, the hardest lot. The rope of his collar was fastened to the +saddle string of the third horseman, and the miserable creature had thus +no alternative left, but to keep an equal pace with the trotting horse, +or to be dragged through ditches, thorns, and copsewood. His feet and +legs, all covered with blood, exhibited a dreadful spectacle. The three +slaves had run away two days before, dreading transportation to +Mississippi or Louisiana. "Look here," said Mrs. Forth, calling her +black girls, "what is done with the bad negroes, who run away from their +good masters!" With an indifference, and a laughing countenance, which +clearly shewed how accustomed these poor children were to the like +scenes, they expressed their sentiments at this disgusting conduct. + +The road from Mr. Forth's plantation runs a considerable distance along +ridges, descending finally into the bottom lands along the Ohio. These +are exceedingly fertile. The growth of timber is extremely luxuriant. I +measured a sycamore of common size, and found it seventeen feet in +diameter; their height is truly astonishing. The soil is of a deep brown +colour, and where it is turned up, proves to be blackish. The stratum +is generally limestone. I crossed the Ohio at Ghent, in Kentucky, +opposite to Vevay, in Indiana. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Vevay.--Geographical Sketch of the State of Indiana.--Madison.-- + Charlestown--its Court.--Jeffersonville.--Clarksville.--New + Albany.--The Falls of the Ohio. + + +Vevay, in Indiana, became a settlement twenty years ago, by Swiss +emigrants, who obtained a grant of land, equal to 200 acres for each +family, under the condition of cultivating the vine; they accordingly +settled here, and laid out vineyards. The original settlers may have +amounted to thirty; others joined them afterwards, and in this manner +was founded the county town of New Switzerland, in Indiana, which +consists almost exclusively of these French and Swiss settlers. They +have their vineyards below the town, on the banks of the river Ohio. The +vines, however, have degenerated, and the produce is an indifferent +beverage, resembling any thing but claret, as it had been represented. +Two of them have attempted to cultivate the river hills, and the +vineyards laid out there are rather of a better sort. The town is on the +decline; it has a court-house, and two stores very ill supplied. The +condition of these, and the absence of lawyers, are sure indications of +the poverty of the inhabitants, if broken windows, and doors falling +from their hinges, should leave any doubt on the subject; they are, +however, a merry set of people, and balls are held regularly every +month. In the evening arrived ten teams laden with fifty emigrants from +Kentucky, going to settle in Indiana; their reasons for doing this were +numerous. Although they had bought their lands in Kentucky twice over, +they had to give them up a third time, their titles having proved +invalid; but still they would have remained, had it not been for the +insolent behaviour of their more wealthy neighbours, who, in consequence +of these emigrants having no slaves, and being thus obliged to work for +themselves, not only treated them as slaves, but even encouraged their +own blacks to give them every kind of annoyance, and to rob them--for +no other reason than their dislike to have paupers for neighbours. + +My landlord assured me that at least 200 waggons had passed from the +Kentucky side, through Vevay, during the present season, all full of +emigrants, discouraged from continuing among these lawless people. + +The state of Indiana, which I had now entered, begins below Cincinnati, +running down the big Miami westward to the big Wabash, which separates +this country from the Illinois. To the south, it is bounded by the Ohio; +to the north, by lake Michigan; thus extending from 37° 50', to 42° 10', +north latitude; and from 7° 40', to 10° 47', west longitude. Like the +state of Ohio, it belongs to the class coming within the range of the +great valley of the Mississippi. It exhibits nearly the same features as +the state of Ohio, with the exception, that it approaches nearer to the +Mississippi than its eastern neighbour, and is the second slope of the +eastern part of the valley of the Mississippi: it declines more than +Ohio, being but 250 feet above lake Erie, and 210 feet above lake +Michigan, which is one hundred feet less in elevation than the state of +Ohio. Two ridges of mountains, or rather hills, traverse the country; +the Knobs, or Silver-hills, running ten miles below Louisville, in a +north-eastern direction, and the Illinois mountains appearing from the +west, and running to the north-east, where they fall to a level with the +high plains of lake Michigan. These hills have a perfect sameness. The +climate is rather milder than that of Ohio. Cotton and tobacco are +raised by the farmers in sufficient quantities for their home +consumption. The growth of timber is the same as in Ohio. The vallies +are interspersed with sycamores and beeches; and below the falls, with +maples, and cotton and walnut-trees. The hills are covered with beech, +sassafras, and logwood. This state, though not inferior to Ohio in +fertility, and taken in general, perhaps, superior to it, has one great +defect. It has no sufficient water communication, and thus the +inhabitants have no market for their produce. There is not in this state +any river of importance, the Ohio which washes its southern borders +excepted. A scarcity of money therefore is more severely felt here, +than in any other state of the Union. This want of inter-communication, +added to the circumstance that the state of Ohio had already engrossed +the whole surplus population from the eastern states, had a prejudicial +effect upon Indiana, its original population being in general by no +means so respectable as that of Ohio. In the north-west it was peopled +by French emigrants, from Canada; in the south, on the banks of the +Ohio, and farther up, by Kentuckians, who fled from their country for +debt, or similar causes. + +The state thus became the refuge of adventurers and idlers of every +description. A proof of this may be seen in the character of its towns, +as well as in the nature of the improvements that have been carried on +in the country. The towns, though some of them had an earlier existence +than many in Ohio, are, in point of regularity, style of building, and +cleanliness, far inferior to those of the former state. The wandering +spirit of the inhabitants seems still to contend with the principle of +steadiness in the very construction of their buildings. They are mostly +a rude set of people, just emerging from previous bad habits, from whom +such friendly assistance as honest neighbours afford, or mutual +intercourse and good will, can hardly be expected. The case is rather +different in the interior of the country, and on the Wabash, the finest +part of the state, where respectable settlements have been formed by +Americans from the east. Wherever the latter constitute the majority, +every necessary assistance may be expected. + +For adventurers of all descriptions, Indiana holds out allurements of +every kind. Numbers of Germans, French, and Irish, are scattered in the +towns, and over the country, carrying on the business of bakers, +grocers, store, grog shops, and tavern keepers. In time, these people +will become steady from necessity, and consequently prosperous. The +number of the inhabitants of Indiana amounts to 215,000. Its admission +into the Union as a sovereign state, dates from the year 1815 to 1816; +its constitution differs in some points from that of Ohio, and its +governor is elected for the term of three years. + +Madisonville, the seat of justice for Jefferson-county, on the second +bank of the Ohio, fifty-seven miles above its falls, contains at present +180 dwelling-houses, a court-house, four stores, three inns, a printing +office--with 800 inhabitants, most of them Kentuckians. The innkeeper of +the tavern at which I alighted, does no credit to the character of this +people. He was engaged for some time in certain bank-note affairs, which +qualified him for an imprisonment of ten years; he escaped, however, by +the assistance of his legal friends, and of 1000 dollars. The +opportunity of testifying his gratitude to these gentlemen soon +presented itself. One of his neighbours, a boatman, had the misfortune +to possess a wife who attracted his attention. Her husband knowing the +temper of the man, resolved to sell all he had, and to move down to +Louisville. Some days before his intended departure, he met Sheets in +the street, and addressed him in these words: "Mr. Sheets, I ought to +chastise you for making such shameful proposals to my wife;" so saying, +he gently touched him with his cane. Sheets, without uttering a +syllable, drew his poniard, and stabbed him in the breast. The +unfortunate husband fell, exclaiming, "Oh, God! I am a dead man!"--"Not +yet," said Sheets, drawing his poniard out of the wound, and running it +a second time through his heart; "Now, my dear fellow, I guess we have +done." This monster was seized and imprisoned, and his trial took place. +_His_ countrymen took, as might be expected, a great interest in his +fate. With the assistance of 3000 dollars, he even this time escaped the +gallows. I read the issue of the trial, and the summons of the jury, in +the county paper of 1823, which was actually handed to me in the evening +by one of the guests. But a more remarkable circumstance is, that the +inhabitants continue to frequent his tavern. At first they stayed away +for some weeks; but in less than a month the affair was forgotten, and +his house is now visited as before. + +The road from Madison to Charleston, leads through a fertile country, in +some parts well cultivated. The distance from Madison is twenty-eight +miles. It is the chief town of Clark county, and seems to advance more +rapidly than Madison, the country about being pretty well peopled, and +agriculture having made more progress than in any part of the state +through which I had travelled. I found it to contain 170 houses and 750 +inhabitants, five well stored tradesmen's shops, a printing office, and +four inns. The town is about a mile distant from the river, on a high +plain. When I arrived, the court was going to adjourn, and I hastened to +the court-house. The presiding judge and his two associate judges were +in their tribune, and the parties seated on boards laid across the +stumps of trees. One of the lawyers having concluded his speech, the +defendant was called upon. The gentleman in question, whom I took for a +pedlar, stood close by my side in conversation with his party, holding +in his hand half an apple, his teeth having taken a firm bite of the +other half. At the moment his name was called, he walked with his mouth +full, up to the rostrum, and kept eating his apple with perfect +indifference. "Well," interrupted the judge impatient of the delay; +"what have you to say against the charge? You know it is high time to +break up the court, and I must go home." The gentleman at the bar now +pocketted his apple, and having thus augmented the store of provision +which he probably kept by him, looked as if he carried two knapsacks +behind his coat. "It strikes me mightily,"--was the exordium of this +speech, which in point of elegance and conciseness was a true sample of +back-wood eloquence. Fortunately the speaker took the judge's hint; in +less than half an hour he had done--in less than one hour the jurymen +returned a verdict, the county transactions were finished, and the court +broke up. + +From Charleston to Louisville, the distance is fourteen miles. The lands +are fertile. Several very well looking farms shew a higher degree of +cultivation, especially near Jeffersonville. There the road turns into +an extensive valley formed by the alluvions of the Ohio. Jeffersonville, +the seat of justice for Floyd-county, three quarters of a mile above +the falls of the Ohio, was laid out in 1802, and has since increased to +160 houses, among which are a bank, a Presbyterian church, a warehouse, +a cotton manufactory, a court-house, and an academy, with a land office, +for the disposal of the United States' lands. The commerce of the +inhabitants, 800 in number, is of some importance, though checked by the +vicinity of Louisville, and by the circumstance, that the falls on the +Indiana side are not to be approached, except at the highest rise. Two +miles below this town, is the village of Clarksville, laid out in 1783, +and forming part of the grant made to officers and soldiers of the +Illinois regiment. It contains sixty houses and 300 inhabitants. New +Albany, a mile below Clarksville, has a thousand inhabitants, and a +great deal of activity, owing to its manufactory of steam engines, its +saw mills, and the steam boats lying at anchor and generally repairing +there. It is a place of importance, and though hitherto the resort of +sailors, boatmen, and travellers, who go down the river in their own +boats, it is annually on the increase. + +The Ohio is generally crossed above the falls at Jeffersonville. The +sheet of water dammed up here by the natural ledge of rocks which forms +the falls, expands to 5,230 feet in breadth. The falls of the Ohio, +though they should not properly be called falls, cannot be seen when +crossing the river, and the waters do not pour like the falls of +Niagara over an horizontal rock down a considerable depth, but press +through a rocky bed, about a mile long, which spreads across the river, +and causes a decline of twenty-two feet in the course of two miles. When +the waters are high, the rocks and the falls disappear entirely. Seen +from Louisville at low water, they have by no means an imposing +appearance. The majestic and broad river branches off into several small +creeks, and assumes the form of mountain torrents forcing their way +through the ledge of rocks. When the river rises, and only three islands +are to be seen, the immense sheet of water rushing down the declivity at +the rate of thirteen miles an hour, must afford a magnificent spectacle. +At the time I saw it, the river was lower than it had been for a series +of years. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Louisville.--Canal of Louisville--its Commerce.--Surrounding + Country.--Sketch of the State of Kentucky and its Inhabitants, &c. + + +The road from the landing-place to Louisville, leads through one of the +finest and richest alluvial bottoms on the banks of the Ohio. They are +here about seventy feet above the level of the water, and sufficiently +high to protect the town from inundation, but there being no outlets for +stagnant waters and ponds, epidemic diseases are frequent. A lottery is +now established for the purpose of raising the necessary funds for +draining these nuisances. Louisville extends in an oblong square about a +mile down the river, and may be considered as the natural key to the +Upper and Lower Ohio, and the most important staple for trade on this +river, not excepting the city of Cincinnati. The commodities coming +during the summer and autumn from southern states are landed here. +Travellers who arrive by water, whether from the north or south, engage +steam boats at this place either for New Orleans or for Cincinnati. +These advantages made the inhabitants less desirous of having a canal, +notwithstanding the solicitations of the states watered by the Ohio. The +Congress has, at last, interposed; the canal is now contemplated. +Probably this undertaking, in which not only the Upper states of the +river Ohio, but the Union at large, are very much interested, is already +commenced. By means of this canal, steam vessels will be enabled to +avoid the falls, and to proceed to the upper Ohio at every season of the +year. It is to be two miles and a half long; to open at the mouth of +Beargrasscreek and to terminate at Shippingport. The highest ground is +twenty-seven feet; upon an average twenty feet; and it is of a clayey +substance, bottomed upon a rock. The expences are estimated at about +200,000 dollars, a trifle compared with the object to be accomplished. + +Louisville, the seat of justice for Jefferson county, in Kentucky, in +38° 8' north latitude, is about half the size of Cincinnati, and lies +105 miles below that city, by the Kentucky road through Newcastle, and +125 miles by the Kentucky and Indiana road. It is 1500 miles northeast +of New Orleans. The town is laid out on a grand scale, the streets +running parallel with the river, and intersected by others at right +angles. The main street, about three quarters of a mile long, is +elegant; most of the houses are three stories high; those of the other +streets are of course inferior in size. The number of dwelling houses +amounts to 700, inhabited by 4,500 souls, exclusive of travellers +and boatmen. Louisville has no remarkable public buildings; the +court-house and the Presbyterian church are the best. Besides these, +the Episcopalians, Catholics, and Unitarians have their meeting houses. +There are now three banks, including a branch bank of the United States, +an insurance company, and four newspaper printing offices. A quay is now +constructing which will greatly contribute to the security of the middle +part of the town, opposite to the falls. The manufactories of +Louisville are important; and the distilleries and rope walks on a large +scale. Besides these there are soap, candle, cotton, glass, paper, and +engine manufactories, all on the same principle, with grist and saw +mills. The commerce of Louisville is still more important. Of the +hundred steam boats plying on the Mississippi and Ohio, fifty at least +are engaged during six months in the year in the trade with Louisville. +They descend to New Orleans in six days, returning in double the time. +Though the town is but half as large as Cincinnati, the credit of the +merchants is more substantial, and the inhabitants are in general more +wealthy. Luxury is carried to a higher pitch than in any other town on +this side of the Alleghany mountains. Here is the only billiard-table[A] +to be met with between Philadelphia and St. Louis. The owner has to pay +a tax of 563 dollars--an enormous sum. + +[A] Of course this billiard table is not mentioned as a matter of +importance, but merely to give a characteristic idea of the state of +society in these parts. + +Notwithstanding the circulating library, the reading-room, and several +houses where good society is to be met with, Louisville is not a +pleasant town to reside in, owing to the character of the majority of +its inhabitants, the Kentuckians. Louisville has an academy, but sends +its youth to the college of Bairdstown, thirty miles to the southwest, +where lectures are given by some French priests. Below Louisville, are +the two villages of Shippingport and Portland; the former is two miles +from the town, with 150 inhabitants, the latter at the distance of three +miles, with fifty inhabitants, mostly boatmen and keepers of grog shops, +for the lowest classes of people. The environs of Louisville are well +cultivated, Portland and Shippingport excepted, the inhabitants of which +are said to extend their notions of common property too far. Behind +Louisville the country is delightful; the houses and plantations vying +with each other in point of elegance and cultivation. The woods have +greatly disappeared, and for the distance of twenty miles, the roads are +lined in every direction with plantations. This town holds the rank of +the second order in Kentucky, a country which, in latter times, has +obtained a renown of somewhat ambiguous nature. It extends to the +south, from the river Ohio, to the state of Tennessee, having for its +eastern boundary the state of Virginia; and to the west, the river +Mississippi, which separates it from the state of Missouri. It extends +from 36° 30' to 39° 10' north latitude, and from 4° 78' to 12° 20' west +longitude. It embraces an area of 40,000 square miles. Though under a +southern degree of latitude, it enjoys a moderate temperature, which is +also less variable than in the more eastern states. The two great rivers +of the Mississippi and the Ohio, forming the boundary of this state, +secure to it no inconsiderable trade. + +The productions of this beautiful country might, if properly cultivated, +become inexhaustible sources of wealth and prosperity to its inhabitants; +tobacco is a staple article, excelling in quality even that of Virginia, +if properly managed: cotton thrives well in the southern parts of the +state. Corn yields from forty to ninety bushels; wheat from thirty to +sixty; melons, sweet potatoes, peaches, apples, plumbs, &c., attain +a superior degree of perfection. One of the principal articles of +trade is hemp, the culture of which has been brought to a high state of +improvement; it constitutes one of the chief articles of export to New +Orleans. Kentucky has not such extensive plains as Ohio, but is equally +fertile, and less exposed to bilious and ague fevers. The stratum, which +is generally limestone, is a sure sign of inexhaustible fertility. Hills +alternating with valleys form landscapes, which though consisting of +native forests, are in the highest degree picturesque. There are parts +about Lexington and its environs, which nothing can exceed in beauty of +scenery. Even Louisville, with its three islands, the majestic Ohio, and +the surrounding little towns, possesses charms seldom rivalled in any +country. Kentucky is, without the least exaggeration, one of the finest +districts on the face of the earth. The climate is equal to that of the +south of France; fruits of every kind arrive at the highest perfection; +and it would be difficult to quit this country, did not the character of +the inhabitants lessen one's regret at leaving it. But notwithstanding +these natural advantages, the population has not increased either in +wealth or numbers, in proportion to the more recent state of Ohio. The +inhabitants consist chiefly of emigrants from Virginia, and North and +South Carolina, and of descendants from back-wood settlers--a proud, +fierce, and overbearing set of people. They established themselves under +a state of continual warfare with the Indians, who took their revenge by +communicating to their vanquishers their cruel and implacable spirit. +This, indeed, is their principal feature. A Kentuckian will wait three +or four weeks in the woods, for the moment of satiating his revenge; and +he seldom or never forgives. The men are of an athletic form, and there +may be found amongst them many models of truly masculine beauty. The +number of inhabitants is now 57,000, including 15,000 slaves. Planters +are among the most respectable class, and form the mass of the +population. Lawyers are next, or equal to them in rank, no less than the +merchants and manufacturers. Physicians and ministers are a degree +lower; and last of all, are those mechanics and farmers not possessed of +slaves. These are not treated better than the slaves themselves. The +constitution inclines towards federalism, landed property being +required to qualify a man for a public station. Ministers, of whatever +form of worship, are wholly excluded from public offices. Kentucky is +not a country that could be recommended to new settlers; slavery; +insecure titles to land: the division of the courts of justice into two +parts, furiously opposed to each other; an executive, whose present +chief is a disgrace to his station, and whose son would be hung in +chains, had he been in Great Britain; the worst paper-currency, &c., are +serious warnings to every lover of peace and tranquillity. We abstain +from farther particulars, as our purpose is to give a characteristic +description of the Union, which would assuredly not gain by a faithful +representation of the state of things in this country, during the last +ten years. The Desha family, the emetic scene, the proceedings of the +legislature, and of the courts of justice, Sharp's death, &c., are facts +which belong rather to the history of the tomahawk savages, than to that +of a civilised state. Passions must work with double power and effect, +where wealth, and arbitrary sway over a herd of slaves, and a warfare of +thirty years with savages, have sown the seeds of the most lawless +arrogance, and an untameable spirit of revenge. + +The literary institutions, the Transylvanian university of Lexington, +and the college of Bairdstown, have hitherto exercised very little +influence over these fierce people. But a still worse feature observable +in them, is an utter disregard of religious principles. Ohio has its +sects, thereby evincing an interest in the performance of the highest of +human duties. The Kentuckian rails at these, and at every form of +worship; certainly a trait doubly afflicting and deplorable in a rising +state. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + A Keel-boat Voyage--Description of the Preparations.--Face of the + Country.--Troy.--Lady Washington.--The River + Sport.--Owensborough.--Henderson. + + +The Ohio still continuing low, and there being no prospect of proceeding +to New Orleans by a steam boat, I resolved to embark on board a keel +boat, in company with several ladies and gentlemen, who were returning +to their plantations and their homes. The preparations in such a case, +are to dispose of horse and gig, where one does not choose going by land +through Nashville, and Natchez. There is not much pleasure to be derived +from a passage on board a keel boat--a machine, fifty feet long and ten +feet broad, shut up on every side; with two doors, two and a half feet +high. It forms a species of wooden prison, containing commonly four +rooms; the first for the steward, the second a dining room, the third a +cabin for gentlemen, and the fourth a ladies' cabin. Each of these +cabins was provided with an iron stove, one of which some days +afterwards was very near sending us all to heaven, in the manner which +the most Catholic king has been pleased to adopt in regard to us +heretics. On the sides were our births, in double rows, six feet in +length and two broad. In former times this manner of travelling was +generally resorted to on the Ohio and Mississippi; the application of +steam, however, has superseded these primitive conveyances, and I hope +to the regret of no one. Our passage to Trinity, 515 miles by water, +including provisions, &c., was twenty-five dollars. We were sure of +meeting there with steam boats. The company consisted of two ladies with +their families, returning to Louisiana; two others were going to +Yellow-banks, with several governesses, nieces, &c.; in all ten ladies, +with eleven gentlemen, considered a happy omen. Amongst the men were +three planters from Louisiana and Mississippi; three merchants, one a +Yankee, the other a Kentuckian, the third a Frenchman; a lawyer, from +Tennessee; two physicians, one from the same state, the other from +Kentucky, with a Kentuckian six and a half feet high. Of these persons +the Kentuckian doctor was the most to be pitied. He was in the last +stage of a pulmonary affection, and expected relief from the mild +climate of Louisiana; but much as we did to alleviate the fate of this +man, whose perpetual cough was as insufferable to us, as the constant +fire he kept up in the stove, and which at last communicated to our +boat, the poor fellow died three days after his arrival at New Orleans. +Four individuals of less note joined the company, consisting of three +slave-drivers, and a Yankee who travelled to make his fortune. We +resigned ourselves to our lot, with as good a grace as we could, the +Frenchman excepted, who found fault with every thing but the dinner, +when he handled his knife and fork with uncommon activity. A captain, a +mate, and a steward, composed the officers, twelve oarmen formed the +crew, and forty slaves, who were to be transported to the states of +Mississippi and Louisiana, were a sort of deck passengers, so that the +whole cargo, inside and out, amounted to ninety persons. As long as the +weather continued fine, the poor negroes had a tolerable lot, but when +afterwards it began to rain, and they continued on a deck seven and a +half feet broad, and forty-two long, without any covering over their +heads, or being able to move, our kitchen being likewise upon deck, +their situation became truly distressing, and one of the infants died +shortly afterwards; another, as I was informed, fell into the +Mississippi above Palmyra settlements. + +We took our meals in three divisions; the first consisting of the ladies +and five gentlemen, who were helped by the other six gentlemen; +afterwards the six remaining sat down with the three drivers, and the +Yankee; the latter personages were, however, excused from helping the +ladies. After them came the captain, with his boatmen. Our dinner was +very good, because we took the precaution of making it part of our +agreement that we should purchase such provisions as we thought proper. +Our breakfast at the hour of eight, consisted of pigeons, ducks, +sometimes opossum, roast beef, chickens, pork cakes, coffee and tea. +Our dinner at three o'clock, in the same manner, with the addition of a +haunch of venison or a turkey. Our supper at six, was the same as our +breakfast. To fill up the intervals, we took at eleven a lunch, +consisting of a _doddy_; at nine at night we had a tea party given by +the ladies, and the said ten gentlemen alternately. We started the 7th +of November, at four o'clock in the afternoon, instead of nine in the +morning. The cause of this delay was the alteration which had to be made +in the births; for it appeared that two of the Kentuckians were +considerably longer than the space allotted to them. They were therefore +to be made more _lengthy_ at the expense of the dining rooms. When every +thing was ready we started, heartily tired of this delay. We had taken +the precaution to provide ourselves with powder and shot, in order to +make shooting excursions, having a skiff along side the boat. The +landscape on both banks of the Ohio was still hilly, the shores varying +from bottom lands to moderate hills, thus forming a boundary line +between the interior of Kentucky which lay to our left, and Indiana and +the river lands on our right. The cotton tree is almost the only one +here, with the exception of beeches and sycamores. The first do not +quite attain the height of the sycamore, but still they are seldom less +than 140 feet high. The forests assume a more southern character; the +shrub-grass, thistles and thorns, are stronger, and the vines of an +astonishing size. At several places we were unable to land from the +thickness of the natural hedges which lined the banks, presenting an +impenetrable barrier. Pigeons now appeared in flocks of thousands and +tens of thousands. On the morning of the following day we shot +seventy-five, and in the afternoon seventy, without any difficulty. + +Troy, the seat of justice for Crawford county, in Indiana, was the first +place we visited. It has a court-house, a printing-office, and about +sixty houses. The inhabitants seem rather indolent. On our asking for +apples, they demanded ten dollars for half a barrel; the price for a +whole one in Louisville being no more than three dollars. We advised +them to keep their apples, and to plant trees, which would enable them +to raise some for themselves; and to put panes of glass in their +windows, instead of old newspapers. The surrounding country is beautiful +and fertile. Farms, however, become more scarce, and are in a state of +more primitive simplicity. A block cabin not unlike a stable, with as +many holes as there are logs in it, patches of ground planted with +tobacco, sweet potatoes, and some corn, are the sole ornaments of these +back-wood mansions. We purchased, below Troy, half a young bear, at the +rate of five cents per pound. Two others which were skinned, indicated +an abundance of these animals, and more application to the sport than +seems compatible with the proper cultivation of these regions. The +settlers have something of a savage appearance: their features are hard, +and the tone of their voice denotes a violent disposition. Our Frenchman +was bargaining for a turkey, with the farmer's son, an athletic youth. +On being asked three dollars for it, the Frenchman turned round to Mr. +B., saying: "I suppose the Kentuckians take us for fools." "What do you +say, stranger," replied the youth, at the same time laying his heavy +hand across the shoulders of the poor Frenchman, in rather a rough +manner. The latter looked as if thunderstruck, and retired in the true +style of the Great Nation, when they get a sound drubbing. We remarked +on his return, the pains he took to repress his feelings at the +coarseness of the Kentuckians. He was, however, discreet enough to keep +his peace, and he did very well; but his spirit was gone, and he never +afterwards undertook to make a bargain, except with old women, for a pot +of milk, or a dozen of eggs, &c. + +Below Lady Washington, or Hanging Rock, as it is called,--a bare +perpendicular rock a hundred feet above the water on the right side of +the river, the mountains, or rather hills, cease by degrees, and are +succeeded by a vast plain on both sides the high banks of the Ohio. We +had here the enjoyment of some sport on the water: a deer was crossing +the river, contracted in this place to about a thousand feet, when it +was discovered by three Kentuckians, who were going to do the same. Our +boat was about half a mile above the spot when we discovered the game. +Four of us leaped into the skiff in order to intercept it. The deer +continued its course towards the Indiana side, and it was easy for us +to intercept its path. As soon as we were near enough, we aimed a blow +at it with our oars, having in the hurry forgotten our guns. The deer +then took the direction of the boat--we followed--the Kentuckians +approached from the other side: full thirty minutes elapsed before these +could come up with the animal and give it a blow. Though its strength +was on the decline, it did not relax its efforts, but advanced again +towards us without our being able to reach it. A second blow on the part +of the Kentuckians, who were more expert in handling their oars, seemed +to stun the noble animal; yet, summoning up its remaining strength, it +went up the stream on the Kentucky side, and reached the shore, but so +exhausted by long swimming and the two blows from the powerful +Kentuckians, that on landing it staggered and fell, without being able +to ascend the high bank. Instantly one of the Kentuckians rushed upon +it, cutting asunder its knee joints. The deer, taking a sudden turn, +made a plunge at the Kentuckian, tearing away part of his trowsers, and +lacerating his leg. So sudden was the last effort of this animal, that +but for the speedy arrival of his companion, who had been assisting the +third Kentuckian in drawing the skiff closer to the shore, it would +infallibly have ripped up its aggressor's bowels. The dirk of the second +Kentuckian ended _the sport_, which had terminated in a rather serious +way. By this time we had also reached the field of battle. "What do you +want, gentlemen?" said the wounded Kentuckian, accosting us with his +poniard in his hand. "Part of the deer, which you know you could not +have got without our assistance?" They first looked at our party of +four, then at our boat, which was already at the distance of a mile and +a half from us. The wounded man seating himself, asked again, "What part +do you choose?" "Half the deer, with the bowels, and tongue for our +ladies." "Have you ladies on board your vessel?" "Yes, sir." Without +uttering a word more, they skinned the venison, cleaned, and divided it. +We stepped aside meanwhile, collected a couple of dollars, and offered +them to the wounded man. He took the money, thanked us, and the other +two carried the venison to our boat. We parted after cordially shaking +hands. There was now an abundance of pigeons, venison, and bear's flesh +on board our boat; the latter, when young, is delicious, having a very +fine flavour, with rather a sweet and luscious taste. We were all +partial to it except the Frenchman, who most likely took us for a +species of these animals. But as thoughts are free, even in the most +despotic countries, he had the privilege of thinking, without daring to +utter a syllable--assuredly the severest punishment upon one of the +Great Nation. On the third day we lost part of our company, as two of +the ladies landed on the Yellow-banks, so called from the yellow colour +of the shores, which formerly gave the name to the county town of Davies +county, now Owensborough. It contains eighty buildings, including a +court-house, a newspaper printing office, and three stores. The +distance hence to Louisville, is 170 miles. From this village, down to +the mouth of the Green river, wild vines grow very luxuriantly, forming +a continued series of hedges. The grapes are used for wine, which is of +a hard taste, but not a bad flavour; if properly attended to they would +certainly yield an excellent produce. We gathered in a few minutes +abundance of grapes, and found them juicy and very good. Near the mouth +of the Green river, and up its banks, are several ponds of bitumen, a +material which is used by the inhabitants for lamp oil. The country +abounds in saltpetre, and saltlicks. On the same side, sixty miles below +Owensborough, is laid out Henderson, the seat of justice for the county +of the same name. It contains 500 inhabitants, 90 dwellings, and a +courthouse. Some of the houses are in tolerable order, but the greatest +part in a shattered condition, and the town has a dirty appearance. The +Ohio forms a bend between Owensborough and Henderson, thus making the +distance by water sixty miles, which by land-travelling would not exceed +twenty. A species of the mistletoe here makes its appearance for the +first time. The trees are covered with bunches of this plant, its +foliage is yellow, the berries milk white, and so viscous as to serve +for bird lime; when falling they adhere to the branches, and strike root +in the bark of the trees. + +In the morning of the sixth day we arrived at Miller's Ferry, twenty +miles above the mouth of the Wabash. As the Ohio makes a great bend in +this place, and our navigation was very slow, Messrs. B----, R----, and +myself, determined on taking a tour to Harmony, now Owen's settlement, +fifteen miles distant from the ferry. The guide we took led us through a +rich plain, with settlements scattered over it; the road was excellent, +though a mere path, and we arrived at half-past ten. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + Mr. Owen's of Lanark, formerly Rapp's Settlement.--Remarks on + it.--Keel-boat Scenes.--Cave in Rock.--Cumberland and Tennessee + Rivers.--Fort Massai. + + +About a hundred and fifty houses, built on the Swabian plan, with the +exception of Mr. Rapp's[B] former residence--a handsome brick +house--presented themselves to our view. We were introduced to one of +the managers, a Mr. Shnee, formerly a Lutheran minister, who entered +very soon into particulars respecting Mr. Owen's ulterior views, in +rather a pompous manner. This settlement, which is about thirty miles +above the mouth of the big Wabash, in Indiana, was first established by +Rapp, in the year 1817, and was now (in the year 1823), purchased by Mr. +Owen, of Lanark, for the sum of 150,000 dollars. The society is to be +established on a plan rather different from the one he has pursued in +Scotland, and on a larger scale. Mr. Owen has, it is said, the pecuniary +means as well as the ability to effect something of importance. A plan +was shown and sold to us, according to which a new building of colossal +dimensions is projected; and if Mr. Owen's means should not fall short +of his good will, this edifice would certainly exhibit the most +magnificent piece of architecture in the Union, the capitol at +Washington excepted. This palace, when finished, is to receive his +community. According to his views, as laid down in his publications, in +the lectures held by him at Washington and at New York, and as stated in +the verbal communications of the persons who represent him, he is about +to form a society, unshackled by all those fetters which religion, +education, prejudices, and manners have imposed upon the human species; +and his followers will exhibit to the world the novel and interesting +example of a community, which, laying aside every form of worship and +all religious belief in a supreme being, shall be capable of enjoying +the highest social happiness by no other means than the impulse of +innate egotism. It has been the object of Mr. Owen's study to improve +this egotism in the most rational manner, and to bring it to the highest +degree of perfection; and in this sense he has published the +Constitution, which is to be adopted by the community. It is +distributed, if I recollect rightly, into three subdivisions, with +seventy or more articles.--Mechanics of every description--people who +have learned any useful art,--are admitted into this community. Those +who pay 500 dollars, are free from any obligation to work. The time of +the members is divided between working, reading, and dancing. A ball is +given every day, and is regularly attended by the community. Divine +service, or worship of any kind, is entirely excluded; in lieu of it, +moreover, a ball is given on Sunday. The children are summoned to school +by beat of drum. A newspaper is published, chiefly treating of their own +affairs, and of the entertainments and the social regulations of the +community, amounting to about 500 members, of both sexes, composed +almost exclusively of adventurers of every nation, who expect joyful +days. The settlement has not improved since the purchase, and there +appeared to exist the greatest disorder and uncleanliness. This +community has since been dissolved as was to have been expected. The +Scotchman seems to have a very high notion of the power of egotism. He +is certainly not wrong in this point; but if he intends to give still +greater strength to a spirit which already works with too much effect in +the Union, it may be feared that he will soon snap the cords of society +asunder. According to his notions, and those of his people, all the +legislators of ancient and modern times, religious as well as political, +were either fools or impostors, who went in quest of prosperity on a +mistaken principle, which he is now about to correct. Scotchmen, it is +known, are sometimes liable to adopt strange notions, in which they +always deem themselves infallible. I am acquainted with an honorable +president of the quarter-sessions, who, as a true Swedenborghian, is +fully convinced that he will preside again as judge in the other world, +and that the German farmers will be there the same fools they are here, +whom he may continue to cheat out of their property. Great Britain has +no cause to envy the United States this acquisition. We stayed at this +place about two hours, crossed the Wabash, and took the road to +Shawneetown, through part of Mr. Birkbeck's settlement. The country is +highly cultivated, and the difference between the steady Englishman of +the Illinois side, and the rabble of Owen's settlement, is clearly seen +in the style and character of the improvements carried on. + +[B] Eighteen miles from Pittsburgh on the road to Beaver, the new and +third settlement of the Swabian separatists, called Economy, was +established two years ago by Rapp, a man celebrated in the Union for his +rustic sagacity. This man affords an instance of what persevering +industry, united with sound sense, may effect.--When he arrived with his +400 followers from Germany, twenty years ago, their capital amounted +to 35,000 dollars; and so poor were they at first, that their leader +could not find credit for a barrel of salt. They are now worth at +least a million of dollars. Their new settlement promises to thrive, +and to become superior to those which they sold in Buttler County, +Pennsylvania, and in Indiana on the Wabash. Nothing can exceed the +authority exercised by this man over his flock. He unites both the +spiritual and temporal power in his own person. He has with him a kind +of Vice-Dictator in the person of his adopted son, (who is married to +his daughter), and a council of twelve elders, who manage the domestic +affairs of the community, now amounting to 1000 souls. When he was yet +residing in Old Harmony, twenty-eight miles north of Pittsburgh, the +bridge constructed over a creek which passes by the village, wanted +repair. It was winter time; the ice seemed thick enough to allow of +walking across. The creek, however, was deep, and 100 feet wide: Master +Rapp, notwithstanding, ventured upon it, intending to come up to the +pier. He was scarcely in the middle of the river, when the ice gave way. +A number of his followers being assembled on the shores, were eager to +assist him.--"Do you think," hallooed Rapp, "that the Lord will withdraw +his hands from his elect, and that I need your help?" The poor fellows +immediately dropped the boards, but at the same time Master Rapp sunk +deeper into the creek. The danger at last conquered his shame and his +confidence in supernatural aid, and he called lustily for assistance. +Notwithstanding the cries of the American by-standers, "You d--d fools, +let the tyrant go down, you will have his money, you will be free," they +immediately threw boards on the ice, went up to him, and took him out of +the water, amidst shouts of laughter from the unbelieving Americans. On +the following Sunday he preached them a sermon, purporting that the Lord +had visited their sins upon him, and that their disobedience to his +commands was the cause of his sinking. The poor dupes literally believed +all this, promised obedience, and both parties were satisfied. Several +of his followers left him, being shocked at his law of celibacy, but +such was his ascendancy over the female part of the community, that +they chose rather to leave their husbands than their father Rapp, as +they call him. Last year, however (1826), he abolished this kind of +celibacy, hitherto so strictly observed, and on the 4th of July, +eighteen couples were permitted to marry. This settlement is one of the +finest villages in the west of Pennsylvania. A manufactory of steam +engines, extensive parks of deer, two elks, and a magnificent palace +for himself, splendidly furnished, show that he knows how to avail +himself of his increasing wealth. The inhabitants of Pittsburgh make +frequent excursions to this settlement, and though his manners savour +of the Swabian peasant, yet his wealth and his hospitality have +considerably diminished the contempt in which he was formerly held by +the Anglo-Americans. We arrived at Shawneetown, where our boat was +waiting for us, having travelled since seven o'clock in the morning a +distance of forty miles. We found our boat's company in the utmost +confusion. Our ladies had hitherto given a regular tea party at nine +o'clock, out of their own stock of provisions. With the exception of +guns, powder, shot, some hundred cigars, a few bottles of wine, the +gentlemen were furnished with nothing. They went therefore to +Shawneetown, a village twelve miles below the mouth of the Wabash, with +sixty houses, and 300 inhabitants, of a very indifferent character, +mostly labourers at the salt works of the Saline river. The party +however were not so fortunate as to procure anything except a dried +haunch of venison. On their return, the invalid doctor missed the +negro girl he had brought to wait upon him, intending to sell her +along with a male slave. She was gone. A search was commenced, +but the honest inhabitants declared, with many G--d d--ns, that +they did not know anything about her. The company discovered what +was wanting, and persuaded the physician to offer a reward for her +recovery. In less than half an hour, one of the worthy inhabitants came +up with the run-away girl, leading her by a rope. He had shortly before +assured some of the inquirers, under the pledge of a round oath, of his +utter ignorance of the matter, whilst at the same time the slave was +concealed in his kitchen. The second physician from Tennessee had the +benevolent precaution of suggesting to the patient to keep himself cool. +But every advice was thrown away. The Kentuckian could not resist +striking the girl. With the utmost pain he raised himself up in his bed, +to give her blows, which did himself infinitely more harm. When called +upon to pay the reward of twenty dollars, his wrath rose to the highest +pitch, and if he had had strength we should have witnessed a strange +scene. He paid, however, and contented himself with binding her arms, +and fastening her to the door-post, from which she was released by the +following accident, which took place about eight o'clock, just as we +returned from our excursion. One of the planters, a Kentuckian by birth, +made a regular excursion, twice a day, to fetch milk and eggs for the +company. The captain refused to dispatch the skiff for him, but the rest +of the company sent it without asking the captain's leave. Some hours +after the Kentuckian's return he heard of the captain's refusal, and +immediately accused him of negligence, &c. The captain gave him the lie, +and hardly was the word spoken, when the Kentuckian rushed upon the +young man with a dirk in his hand. He was, however, prevented, when +turning round, he ran to the other side to fetch an axe, declaring at +the same time, with a G----d d----n, he would knock down any body who +dared to oppose him. I stood with Mr. B. at the door. A quarrel ensued, +and he was going to force it open, when several gentlemen came to our +assistance. During this riot the stove became heated to such a degree, +as unobserved by any one, to set fire to the wood beneath it, so that +the birth of our patient was in flames in a moment. Quarrelling, and +murderous thoughts gave way to the danger of being roasted alive. All +hands, even the Kentuckian, were assiduous in their endeavours to +extinguish the fire; but this could not be so easily accomplished, the +boat being extremely crowded. At last we succeeded; the poor doctor had +almost been forgotten, and was very near being burnt alive, had it not +been for his second servant, who immediately laid hold of a bucket full +of water, and poured it over his master. The behaviour of this invalid +was strange beyond description, and shewed a degree of passion, at once +ludicrous and pitiable. "For heaven's sake," exclaimed he, "I am +roasting! no, I am drowning! the wretch has poured a whole bucket of +water over me. Come hither, rascal!" The servant was obliged to +approach, and tender his face to receive a box on the ear, certainly the +most harmless he ever got; the master at the same time reproaching him +with his villainy, and lamenting the consequences which this bath would +bring upon him, such as rheumatism, fever, &c. We stood astonished and +confounded at this man, the living image of a burnt-out volcano. "But +for heaven's sake," said Mr. B., "Doctor, you would have been roasted +alive but for your slave, and you have been the only cause of the fire, +by the unsupportable heat you kept up in the stove; you must not do that +again." "He is my slave," was the answer, "and should have stayed with +me, instead of listening to your ungentlemanly disputes; then the fire +would not have broken out." We assented to this, and peace was fully +restored. + +The next day we proceeded on our journey, having the state of Illinois +on our right, and Kentucky on our left. Thirteen miles below Saline +river we visited the cave of Rock Island. The limestone wall, 120 feet +high, runs for about half a mile along the right bank of the Ohio; +nearly at its end is the entrance to the cave. A few steps bring you at +once into the grotto, which is about sixty-five feet wide at the base, +narrowing as you ascend, and forming an arch, the span of which is from +twenty-five to thirty feet, extending to a length of 120 feet. Marine +shells, feathers, and bones of bears, turkies, and wild geese, afford +ample testimony that this place has not been visited by the curious +alone, but has been the resort of numerous families, which had taken +temporary refuge here. + +Our sporting excursions had generally pigeons, turkies, or opossums, for +their object; below the cave, in the rocks, wild geese and ducks become +very plentiful. Flocks of from forty to one hundred were flying over our +heads in every direction, and augmenting in numbers as we approached the +Mississippi. We shot this day seven geese and ducks, and passed the +small villages of Cumberland, at the mouth of the river of that name, +and Smithland, three miles below. Both villages are now springing up. +The Cumberland is 720 feet wide at its mouth. The river Tennessee, +thirteen miles below, is 700 feet. Eleven miles lower down, on the +Illinois side, is fort Spassai, erected on a high bank and in a +commanding position, which overlooks the Ohio, here a mile wide. The +prospect for a distance of forty miles, is charming. The extraordinary +beauty of the river, which the French very properly called _la belle +rivière_, on both sides the majestic native forests, clad in their +autumnal foliage, here and there an island in the midst of the stream, +with its luxuriant growth of trees, not unlike enchanted gardens. The +charm which is diffused over the whole scene can scarcely be described. +The fort is garrisoned by a captain, with a company of regulars, who, +however, suffer much from swamps in the rear of the fort. + +On the two following days we passed the county towns of Golconda, the +seat of justice for Pope county; Vienna, for Johnson; and America, for +Alexander county; villages which have nothing in common with the cities +of which they remind you but the name. They are inhabited by some +Kentuckians and loiterers, who spend part of their time in bringing down +the Mississippi the produce of the country, for the transport of which +they demand double wages, and are thus enabled to spend the rest of +their time sitting cross-legged over their whiskey. The ninth day, +about noon, we arrived at Trinity. I was heartily tired of this manner +of travelling, and resolved to wait here with Mr. B., and Mrs. Th---- +and family, for a steam-boat from St. Louis. The rest of the company +went on in the boat, after an hour's stopping. Trinity, or as it was +formerly called, Cairo, is situated four and a half miles above the +junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, consisting only of a tavern and a +store, kept by a Mr. Bershoud. The inundations occurring regularly every +year, have hitherto prevented the formation of settlements at this +place. Though these inundations rise every year from four to ten feet +above the banks, as may be seen from the weeds remaining in clusters on +the trees, the inhabitants of these two houses have, if we except the +trouble of transporting their effects and goods to the upper story, but +little to apprehend, the rise of the river being gradually slow, and its +power being lessened by its circuitous course, and by the trees on its +bank. + +From Trinity down to Baton Rouge, a distance of 900 miles, the houses +are constructed in such a manner as to be secured against accidents; the +foundations are stumps of trees, or low brick pillars, four feet high. +The houses are so built, or rather laid upon these pillars, as to allow +the water to pass beneath. Notwithstanding this precaution, the flood +generally reaches to the lower apartments, and passengers coming from +Trinity to New Orleans last February, had to get into the skiff sent for +them, through the window of the second story. + +From Trinity to the mouth of the Ohio, are reckoned four and a half +miles. We visited on the following morning, this remarkable spot, where +two of the most important rivers unite. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Mississippi.--General Features of the State of Illinois and its +Inhabitants. + + +The nearer we approached the Mississippi, the lower the country became, +and the more imposing the scenery. By degrees the river Ohio loses its +blue tinge, taking from the mightier stream a milky colour, which +changes into a muddy white when very near the junction--this junction +itself is one of the most magnificent sights. On the left hand the Ohio, +half a mile wide, overpowered, as it were, by its mightier rival--in +front the more gigantic Mississippi, one mile and a half broad, rolling +down its vast volumes of water with incredible rapidity. Farther on, the +high banks of the state of Missouri, with some farm buildings of a +diminutive appearance, owing to the great distance; in the back ground, +the colossal native forests of Missouri; and lastly, to the south, these +two rivers united and turning majestically to the south-west. The deep +silence which reigns in these regions, and which is interrupted only by +the rushing sound of the waves, and the immense mass of water, produce +the illusion that you are no longer standing upon firm ground; you are +fearful less the earth should give way to the powerful element, which, +pressed into so narrow a space, rolls on with irresistible force. I had +formerly seen the falls of Niagara; but this scene, taken in the proper +point of view, is in no respect inferior to that which they present. The +immense number of streams which empty into the Mississippi, and caused +it to be named, very appropriately, the _Father of Rivers_, render it +powerful throughout the year; it generally rises in February, and falls +in July. In September and October the autumnal rains begin; and they +continue to swell it through the winter. When it overflows its banks, +the Mississippi inundates the country on both sides, for an extent of +from forty-five to fifty miles, thus forming an immense lake. From the +mouth of the Ohio to Walnut hills, in the state of Mississippi, the +difference between the lowest water and the highest inundation, is +generally sixteen feet. The nearer it approaches the gulph of Mexico, +the less is the flood. The water leaving its bed on the west side never +returns, but forms into lakes and marshes. On the east side they find +resistance from the high lands, that follow the meanderings of the +river. Above Natchez, the river inundates the lands for a space of +thirty miles. At Baton Rouge, the high lands take on a sudden a +south-eastern direction, while the river turns to the south-west, thus +leaving the waters to form the eastern swamps of Louisiana. It rises to +thirty feet at that place; whilst at New Orleans it scarcely attains the +height of twelve feet, and at the mouth no difference between a rise and +fall is perceptible. Whoever comes to the Mississippi with the +expectation of beholding a sea-like river flowing quietly along, will +find himself disappointed. The magnitude of this river does not consist +in its width but in its depth, and the immense quantity of water it +pours out into the sea. At the mouth of the Ohio it is a mile and a half +wide. This moderate breadth rather diminishes as it proceeds in its +course. At New Orleans, after receiving the waters of some great +tributary streams, it is not more than a mile in width, and in some +places three quarters of a mile. Its depth, however, continues to +increase; below the Ohio it is reckoned to be from thirty-five to fifty +feet deep. Below the Arkansas to Natchez, from 100 to 150. From Natchez +to New Orleans, from 150 to 250 feet. At its mouth, owing to the sand +bar at the Paliseter, the depth greatly diminishes, and it is well known +that vessels drawing eighteen feet of water can hardly enter the mouth +of the stream. The waters of the Mississippi are not clear at any period +of the year. This was the second time I saw it, when it was said to be +very low; still its waters were of a muddy turbid appearance. When +rising it changes to a muddy yellow. A glass filled with water from the +Mississippi, deposits in a quarter of an hour a mass of mud equal to one +tenth of the whole contents. But when clear, it is excellent for +drinking, and superior to any I have tasted. It is generally used by +those who inhabit its banks. + +The accommodations in Trinity are comfortable, and the tables are well +furnished, but the prices exorbitant. It cannot, however, be expected to +be otherwise, owing to the new settlers, whose anxiety never permits +them to neglect an opportunity of improving their means on their first +outset. We found this to be the case on all occasions. Whenever some of +our passengers made purchases of trifles, such as cigars, &c., they had +to pay five times as much as in Louisville. It is therefore advisable to +provide oneself with every thing, when travelling in these backwoods; +the generality of the settlers on these banks being needy adventurers, +partly foreigners, partly Kentuckians, who, with a capital of not quite +100 dollars, with which they purchase some goods in New Orleans, begin +their commercial career, and may be seen with both hands in their +pockets, their legs on the table or chimney-piece, and cigars in their +mouths, selling their goods for five hundred per cent above prime cost. +Towards the north on the banks of the Mississippi, the settlers are +generally Frenchmen, who now assume by degrees the American manners and +language. Many of them are wealthy store-keepers, merchants, and +farmers; but for the most part, however, a lightfooted kind of people, +who, from their fathers, have inherited frivolity, and from their +mothers, Indian women, uncleanliness. The towns of Kaskakia, Cahokia, +&c., as well as several villages up the Mississippi to the Prairie des +Chiens, owe their origin to them. The solid class of inhabitants live on +the big and little Wabash, and between these two rivers and the +Illinois. This is, no doubt, the finest part of the state, and one of +the most delightful countries on the face of the earth. It is mostly +inhabited by Americans and Englishmen. Agriculture, the breeding of +cattle, and improvements of every kind, are making rapid progress. The +settlements in Bond, Crawford, Edward's, Franklin, and White Counties, +are to be considered as forming the main substance of the state. A +number of elegant towns have arisen in the space of a few years: among +others, Vandalia, the capital, and for these three years past the seat +of government, with a state house and a projected university, for which +36,000 acres of land have been assigned. An excellent spirit is +acknowledged to prevail among the inhabitants of this district. Still, +however, the style of architecture--if the laying of logs or of bricks +upon each other deserves this name--the manners, the attempted +improvements, every thing announces a new land, which has only a few +years since started into political existence, and the settlers of which +do not yet evince any anxiety for the comforts of life. Illinois has now +80,000 inhabitants, 1500 of whom are people of colour; the rest are +Americans, English, French, and a German settlement about Vandalia. The +state was received into the Union in the year 1818. The constitution, +with a governor and a secretary at its head, resembles that of the state +of Ohio. In the year 1824, the question was again brought forward +concerning the possession of slaves: it was, however, negatived, and we +hope it will never be pressed upon the people. The state is much +indebted in every point to the late Mr. Birkbeck, who died too soon for +the welfare of his adopted country. He was considered as the father of +the state, and whenever he could gain over a useful citizen, he spared +no expense, and sacrificed a considerable part of his property in this +manner. The people of Illinois, in acknowledgment of his services, had +chosen him for secretary of the state, in which character he died in +1825. He was generally known under the name of Emperor of the Prairies, +from the vast extent of natural meadows belonging to his lands. It is to +be regretted, however, that Mr. Birkbeck was not acquainted with the +country about Trinity. His large capital and the number of hands who +joined him, would no doubt succeed in establishing a settlement here. +This will sooner or later take place, and will eventually render it one +of the finest towns in the United States, as the advantages of its +situation are incalculable. Illinois is, in point of commerce, more +advantageously situated than any of the Ohio states; being bounded on +the west by the river Mississippi, which forms the line between this +state and that of Missouri, to the east by the big Wabash, and to the +south by the Ohio, the river Illinois running through it with some +smaller rivers; thus affording it an open navigation to the north-west, +the west, the south, and the east. Towards the north the banks of the +Upper Mississippi form a range of hills which join the Illinois +mountains to the east, and lowering by degrees lose themselves in the +plains of lakes Huron and Michigan. The country is, on the whole, less +elevated than Indiana, and forms the last slope of the northern valley +of the Mississippi, the hills being intersected by a number of valleys, +plains, prairies, and marshes. The fertility of this state is +extraordinary, surpassing that of Indiana and Ohio. In beauty, variety +of scenery, and fertility, it may vie with the most celebrated +countries. Wheat thrives only on high land, the soil of the valleys +being too rich. Corn gives for every bushel a hundred. Tobacco planted +in Illinois, if well managed, is found to be superior to that of +Kentucky and Virginia. Rice and indigo grow wild, their cultivation +being neglected for want of hands. Pecans, a product of the West Indies, +grow in abundance in the native forests. This state having a temperate +climate, possesses many of the southern products. The timber is of +colossal magnitude. Sycamores and cotton trees of an immense height, +walnut, pecan trees, honey-locusts and maples, cover the surface of this +country, and are the surest indications of an exceedingly rich soil. The +most fertile parts of the state are the bottom lands along the +Mississippi, Illinois, and the big and little Wabash. The country is +complained of as being sickly. There is no doubt that a state which +abounds in rivers, marshes, and ponds, must be subject to epidemic +diseases, but the climate being temperate the fault lies very much with +the settlers and the inhabitants themselves. The settler who chooses for +his dwelling-house a spot on an eminence, and far from the marshes, +taking at the same time the necessary precautions in point of dress, +cleanliness, and the choice of victuals and beverage, may live without +fear in these countries. All agree in this opinion, and I have myself +experienced the correctness of it. The greatest part, however, of the +new comers and inhabitants live upon milk or stagnant water taken from +the first pond they meet with on their way, with a few slices of bacon. +Their wardrobe consists of a single shirt, which is worn till it falls +to pieces. It cannot, therefore, be matter of astonishment if agues and +bilious fevers spread over the country, and even in this case a quart of +corn brandy is their prescription. This being the general mode of +living, and we may add of dying, among the lower classes, disease must +necessarily spread its ravages with more rapidity. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Excursion to St. Louis.--Face of the Country.--Sketch of the State of +Missouri.--Return to Trinity. + + +The steam-boat, the Pioneer, having come up to Trinity the following +day, on its way to St. Louis, Mr. B. and I resolved to take a trip to +the latter place, as the best chance that offered to get away as soon as +possible. We started at ten o'clock in the morning, turned round the +fork, and ascended the muddy Mississippi. The first town we saw was +Hamburgh, on the Illinois side, consisting of nineteen frame dwellings +and cabins, and four stores. On the left, in the state of Missouri, is +Cape Girardeau. The settlement mostly consists of Frenchmen, and German +Redemptioners. The town has not a very inviting appearance. One hundred +and six miles above the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, we landed +at St. Genevieve to take in wood. This town is the principal mart for +the Burton mines; it has a Catholic chapel, twenty stores, a printing +office, 250 houses, and 1600 inhabitants. Twenty-four miles farther up +the same side, is Herculaneum, with 300 inhabitants, a court-house, +and a printing office. The town had been laid out and peopled by +Kentuckians. There are several villages on the right and left bank, and +some good-looking farms. On the third day, at twelve o'clock, we reached +the town of St. Louis, 170 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and +thirteen miles below the junction of the Mississippi, and the Missouri. +This town extends, in a truly picturesque situation, in 38° 33' north +latitude, and 12° 58' west longitude, for the length of two miles along +the river, in three parallel streets, rising one above the other in the +form of terraces, on a stratum of limestone. The houses are for the most +part built of this material, and surrounded with gardens. The number of +buildings amounts to 620, that of the inhabitants to 5000. Its principal +buildings are, a Catholic, and two Protestant churches, a branch bank +of the United States, and the bank of St. Louis, the courthouse, the +government-house, an academy, and a theatre; besides these, there are a +number of wholesale and retail stores, two printing offices, and an +abundance of coffee-shops, billiard-tables, and dancing-rooms. The trade +of St. Louis is not so extensive as that of Louisville, and less liable +to interruption, as the navigation is not impeded at any season of the +year, the Mississippi, being at all times navigable for the largest +vessels. An exception, indeed, occurred in 1802, when the Ohio and other +rivers were almost dried up. The inhabitants of St. Louis and of +Missouri, have therefore a never-failing channel for carrying their +produce to market. This they generally do, when the rivers which empty +themselves into the Mississippi, are so low that they have no +apprehension of finding any competition in New Orleans. Last year, the +market of New Orleans was almost exclusively supplied with produce from +St. Louis and Missouri. Eighty dollars was the general price for a +bullock, which at a later period would not have obtained twenty-five +dollars; flour was at eight dollars, whereas, two months afterwards, +abundance could be had for two and a half dollars. In the same +proportion they sold every other article. It is this circumstance which +contributes to the wealth of St. Louis, and of Missouri in general, to +the detriment, on the other hand, of the Ohio States, Kentucky, Indiana, +and Ohio. At the time of our arrival at St. Louis, there were in its +port, five steam vessels, and thirty-five other boats. St. Louis is a +sort of New Orleans on a smaller scale; in both places are to be found a +number of coffee-houses and dancing rooms. The French are seen engaged +in the same amusements and passions that formerly characterised the +creoles of Louisiana, with the exception, that the trade with the +Indians has given to the French backwoods-men of St. Louis, a rather +malicious and dishonest turn--a fault from which the creoles of +Louisiana are free, owing to the greater respectability of their +visitors and settlers, from Europe, and from the north of the Union. The +majority of the inhabitants of this town, as well as of the state, +consists of people descended from the French, of Kentuckians, and +foreigners of every description--Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Irish, +&c. Kentucky manners are fashionable. Not long before my arrival, there +occurred a specimen of this, in an open assault and duel between two +individuals in the public street. For the last five years, men of +property and respectability, attracted by the superior advantages of the +situation, have settled at St. Louis, and their example and influence +have been conducive of some good to public morals. The enterprising +spirit of the Americans is remarkable, even in this place and state. +Within the twenty-three years that have elapsed since the cession of +this country (part of the former Louisiana) to the Union, much more has +been achieved in every point of view, than during the sixty years +preceding, when it was in possession of France and Spain. Streets, +villages, settlements, towns, and farms, have sprung up in every +direction; the population has augmented from 20,000 to 84,000 +inhabitants; and if they are not superior in wealth to their neighbours, +it is certainly to be attributed to their want of industry, and to +their passing the greater part of their time in grog-shops, or in +dancing-companies, according to the prevailing custom. Slavery, which is +introduced here, though so ill adapted to a northern state, contributes +not a little to the aristocratic notions of the people, the least of +whom, if he can call himself the master of one slave, would be ashamed +to put his hand to any work. Still there is more ready money among the +inhabitants, than in any of the western states, and prices are demanded +accordingly. Cattle that fetch in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, ten +dollars per head, are sold in Missouri for twenty-five dollars, and so +in proportion. The country about St. Louis to the north, south, and +west, consists of prairies, extending fifteen miles in every direction, +with some very handsome farm houses, and numerous herds of cattle. +Though in the same degree of northern latitude as the city of +Washington, the climate is more severe, owing to the two rivers Missouri +and Mississippi, whose waters coming from northern countries greatly +contribute to cool the air. The cultivation of tobacco has not +succeeded, and the produce chiefly consists of wheat, corn and +cattle;--equally important is the profit from the lead mines, and +the fur trade. The most improved settlements are those along the +Mississippi, and on the Missouri they are beginning to be formed. + +Missouri was received into the Union in 1821, and is, with the exception +of Virginia, the largest state of the Union, its area exceeding 60,000 +square miles. To the north and west it borders on the Missouri +territory; towards the east the Mississippi is the boundary between this +state, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; the Arkansas territory lies to +the south. It extends from 36° to 40° 25' north latitude, and from 12° +50' to 18° 10' west longitude. The country forms an elevated plain, +sloping considerably to the south, where it is crossed by the Ozark +mountains. Marshes and mountains prevail more in the southern parts, +high plains in the northern. Along the Mississippi and Missouri, the +bottom lands are generally extremely fertile. The soils, however, cannot +be altogether compared with that of Illinois. The possession of slaves +is allowed by the constitution of this state, and their number amounts +to 10,000; that of the rest of the inhabitants to 70,000. The form of +government approaches very nearly that of Kentucky. We remained one day +at St. Louis, and returned in the steam-boat, General Brown, to Trinity, +where we took on board the ladies and some new passengers, returning +from thence to the Mississippi. We passed several small islands, and a +large one (Wolf's Island), and landed at New Madrid at midnight, for the +purpose of taking in wood. This place is the seat of justice for the +county of the same name; it has, however, no court-house, and is a +rather wretched looking place, containing about thirty log and shattered +farm houses, with 180 inhabitants, Spaniards, French, and Italians. The +two stores being open, we visited them. They were but poorly provided, +having about a dozen cotton handkerchiefs, one barrel of whiskey, and a +heap of furs. Two Indians were stretched on the ground before the door, +and in a sound sleep, with their guns by their side. The Mississippi is +continually encroaching upon the town, and has already swept away many +intended streets, as the inhabitants say, obliging them to move back to +their no small disappointment. The surrounding country is highly +fertile, and in the rear of the town there are several well cultivated +cotton and rice plantations. A rich plain stretches along to the west, +behind New Madrid, as far as the waters of Sherrimack. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The State of Tennessee.--Steam-boats on the Mississippi.--Flat-boats. + + +We had now passed the western extremity of Kentucky, and had the state +of Tennessee on our left. The eastern banks of the Mississippi, viz. on +the Tennessee side, are throughout lower than the western or Missouri +shores; presenting a series of marshes from which cypress trees and +canebrack seem just emerging, lining them for hundreds of miles to the +southward. Farther eastward, towards the rivers Tennessee and +Cumberland, the soil is overgrown with sugar-maples, sycamore trees, +walnuts, and honey-locusts; the mountains with white and live oak and +hickory. The eastern part of the state resembles North Carolina. The +middle part is by far the best. Cotton and tobacco are staple articles. +Rice is cultivated with success. Hemp is not considered of the same +quality as the Kentuckian, the climate being too warm. The tropical +fruits, such as figs, thrive well; chesnuts are superior to those of the +other states. Melons, peaches, and apples, are abundant. Tennessee is +considered altogether a rich and fertile land. The inhabitants are +liberal, noble hearted, and noted for their good conduct towards +strangers. Several foreigners settled in the state, have attained a high +degree of wealth and prosperity. There is no state in the Union where +slavery has had less pernicious effects upon the character of the +people. The inhabitants are mostly descendants of emigrants from North +Carolina, and their hospitality is without bounds. This state extends, +in an oblong square, from the shores of the Mississippi towards Virginia +and North Carolina, in 35° to 36° 30' north latitude, and 4° 26' to 13° +5' west longitude. It is bounded on the east by Virginia and North +Carolina; on the south by Georgia, Albania, and Mississippi; on the west +by the river Mississippi, and on the north by Kentucky, comprising +altogether 40,000 square miles. East Tennessee partakes more of the +sandy character of North Carolina. West Tennessee of the marshes of the +Mississippi valley. Its principal rivers are the Cumberland and +Tennessee, with the Mississippi on the west, where however, with the +exception of some very small settlements, there are no improvements of +any kind. The canal proposed by Governor Troup, of Georgia, to Governor +Carrott, of Tennessee, which is to bring this state into immediate +connection with the Atlantic, will have a very beneficial effect, these +two rivers being navigable for steam-boats only during three months in +the year, and New Orleans being the only market for Tennessee. +Notwithstanding its straitened commerce, the state is rapidly improving, +and several of its towns, though not large are yet very elegant. The +chief wealth of the state, however, consists in the plantations, and the +farmer and planter live in a style, which at least in point of eating, +cannot be exceeded by the wealthiest nobleman in any country. Among the +towns of the state, Nashville holds the first rank. This town occupies a +commanding situation, on a solid cliff of rocks on the south side of +the Cumberland, 200 feet above the level of the banks. The river is +navigable here during three months in the year for steam-boats of 300 +tons burthen. Besides the court-house, three churches, two banks, +including a branch bank of the United States, three printing offices, +and a great number of wholesale and retail merchants, there is the seat +of the district court for the western part of Tennessee. Several +literary institutions, such as Cumberland college, a ladies' school, and +reading-room with a public library, are evident proofs of a liberal +spirit. This spirit is combined with unbounded hospitality. There is a +number of houses, such as those of Governor Carrott, Major General +Jackson, &c., where every respectable stranger is welcome, and may be +sure of meeting with a select company. The surrounding country is +beautiful, cotton plantations lining the banks of the river, and +extending in every direction hither. The wealthier inhabitants generally +retire during the summer months, from the stifling heats prevailing +on the barren rocks upon which Nashville stands. Knoxville in +east Tennessee, with 400 houses and 2,500 inhabitants, is of less +importance; it is the seat of the supreme district court for east +Tennessee, and has a bank, a college, and two churches. The country +about Knoxville is far inferior to that round Nashville. The capital of +Tennessee, Murfreesborough, has 1500 inhabitants, with a state-house, a +bank, two printing-offices, &c. It communicates by water with Nashville, +through Stonecreek. The situation seems not to be very judiciously +chosen for a chief town. This was the state of things four years +ago, when I passed through the place; but doubtless it has since +proportionably increased. Our company being on this occasion of a less +mixed, and a less troublesome character, we sailed down the majestic +father of rivers, with minds well disposed to acknowledge our +obligations to Mr. Fulton, for his happy idea of applying the power of +steam to navigation. The settlers of the Mississippi valley, are in duty +bound to raise a monument to the memory of a man, who has effected in +their mode of conveyance so adventurous, and so successful a change. Not +ten years have elapsed since the inhabitants of the west were used to +toil like beasts of burden, in order to ascend the stream for a +distance of ten or fifteen miles a day; and when in 1802, some boats +belonging to Mr. R., of Nashville, arrived from New Orleans in +eighty-seven days, this passage was considered the _ne plus ultra_ of +quick travelling by water, and was instantly made known throughout the +Union. A passenger now performs the same voyage in five days, sitting +all the while in a comfortable state-room, which in point of fitting-up +vies with the most elegant parlours, writing letters, or reading the +newspapers, and if tired of these occupations, paying visits to the +ladies, if he be permitted to do so; or otherwise pacing the deck, where +his less fortunate fellow passengers are hanging in hammocks--an +indication to many of what may be their future state. There is certainly +not any nation that can boast of a greater disposition for travelling, +than Brother Jonathan; and there is again nobody more at home than he, +whether in a tavern, or on board a vessel; as he is in the habit of +considering a tavern, a vessel, or a steam-boat, as a kind of public +property. Yet on board a vessel, or a steam-boat, he is very tractable. +The great difference of fare between a cabin and a deck passage, from +Louisville to New Orleans, being for the former forty dollars, and for +the latter eight dollars, contributes to establish a distinction in this +assemblage of people, placing those who are found too light in the upper +house, and the more weighty in the lower. The first have to find +themselves, the others are provided with every thing in a manner which +shows that private institutions for the benefit of the public, are +certainly more patronised here than in most other countries. If the +pecuniary resources of the citizen of the United States do not reach a +very low ebb, he will certainly choose the cabin, his pride forbidding +him to mix with the rabble, though the expence may fall too heavy upon +him. That economical refinement which the French evince on these +occasions, is not to be seen in America. When I proceeded four months +ago from Havre to Rouen, in the Duchess of Angouleme steam-boat, among +the 100 passengers who were on board, more than fifty well-looking +people were seen unpacking their bundles, and regaling themselves with +their contents--bread, chicken, cutlets, wine, &c., &c., a frugality +which will hardly be found to contribute to the improvement of a spirit +of enterprise. The Americans would be ashamed of this kind of parsimony, +which must ever impede all public undertakings. Owing to this cause, the +American steam-boats are in point of elegance superior to those of other +nations; and none but the English are able to compete with them. The +furniture, carpets, beds, &c., are throughout elegant, and in good +condition. Some of the new steam-boats are provided with small rooms, +each containing two births, which passengers may use for their +accommodation in shaving, dressing, &c. The general regulations are +suspended above the side board in a gilt frame, and are as binding as a +law. They prohibit speaking to the pilot during the passage--visiting +the ladies' state-room, without their consent--lying down upon the bed +with shoes or boots on--smoking cigars in the state-room--and playing at +cards after ten o'clock. The first transgression is punished with a +fine; if repeated, the transgressor is sent ashore. The fare is +excellent, and the breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, are provided with +such a multiplicity of dishes, and even dainties, as would satisfy the +most refined appetite. The beverage consists of rum, gin, brandy, +claret, to be taken at pleasure during meals; but out of that time they +are to be paid for. Distressing accidents will of course occasionally +occur; the last of this kind was of a truly heart-rending nature: it +happened four years ago, above Walnut-hills, in the steam-boat +Tennessee. The night was tempestuous, the rain fell in torrents, and the +captain, instead of landing and waiting until the weather cleared up, +lost his senses, and ran on a sawyer[C]. The steam-boat was not sixty +feet distant from the bank, which could not be distinguished, and she +went down in a few seconds, together with 110 passengers, save a few who +by accident reached the shore. Since that time, although steam-boats +have sunk, no such loss of lives has occurred. This, however, is not to +be compared with the hardships, the toils, the loss of health and life, +to which the navigators of flat and keel-boats were formerly, and are +still exposed, when going down the Mississippi. Nothing more uncouth +than these flat-boats was ever sent forth from the hands of a carpenter. +They are built of rude timber and planks, sixty feet in length, and +twenty-five feet in breadth, and so unmanageable, that only the strong +arm of a backwoodsman can keep them from running upon planters[D], +sawyers, wooden-islands, and all the Scyllas and Charybdes, that are to +be met with on the voyage. We found numbers of them along the Ohio, +detained by low water; and from St. Louis down to New Orleans, sometimes +fifteen, twenty, and thirty together. Their uncouth appearance, the +boisterous and fierce manners of their crews, the immense distance they +have already proceeded, make them truly objects of interest. One of +these flat-boats is from the Upper Ohio, laden with pine-boards, planks, +rye, whisky, flour; close to it, another from the falls of the Ohio, +with corn in the ear and bulk, apples, peaches; a third, with hemp, +tobacco, and cotton. In the fourth you may find horses regularly stabled +together; in the next, cattle from the mouth of the Missouri; a sixth +will have hogs, poultry, turkeys; and in a seventh you see peeping out +of the holes, the woolly heads of slaves transported from Virginia and +Kentucky, to the human flesh mart at New Orleans. They have come +thousands of miles, and still have to proceed a thousand more, before +they arrive at their place of destination. + +[C] Sawyers are bodies of trees fixed in the river, which yield to the +pressure of the current, disappearing and appearing by turns above +water, like the rotatory motion of the saw-mill, from which they have +derived their name. They sometimes point up the stream, sometimes in the +contrary direction. A steam-boat running on a sawyer, cannot escape +destruction. + +[D] Planters are large bodies of trees, firmly fixed by their roots to +the bottom of the river, in a perpendicular manner, and rising no more +than a foot above the surface at low water. They are so firmly rooted, +as to be unmoved by the shock of steam-boats running upon them. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Scenery along the Mississippi.--Hopefield.--St. Helena.--Arkansas + Territory.--Spanish Moss.--Vixburgh. + + +We pursued our course at the rate of ten miles an hour, passing the +Chickasaw Bluffs, Memphis, a small settlement on the Tennessee side, and +a number of smaller and larger islands, from two to six miles in length, +but seldom more than one in breadth. The sediment of the Mississippi is +continually forming new sand banks, at the same time that its +irresistible power carries away old ones. That river was, as I have +already mentioned, very low, and the numerous sand banks on both sides +contracted its channel into a bed scarcely more than half a mile broad. +On these banks numberless flocks of wild ducks, geese, cranes, swans, +and pelicans, stationed themselves in rows, extending sometimes a mile +in length. As soon as the steam boat approaches, dashing through the +water with the noise of thunder, and vomiting forth columns of smoke, +they fly up in masses resembling clouds, and retire to their covers in +the marshes and ponds contiguous to the banks of the Mississippi. They +abound most 150 miles above Natchez, and hundreds of thousands are seen +crossing the river in every direction. The scenery in view is an immense +valley, with banks sixty feet above the water, forests of colossal trees +on both sides, and the vast expanse of waters rolling with a velocity +the more surprising, as the country stretches in a continued plain, with +scarcely any perceptible decline. The rural scenery of the regions +consists of detached cabins raised on huge stumps of trees; instead of +windows there are the natural apertures of the logs joined together; in +front of them woodstacks, for the use of the steam boats; ten or twelve +deer, bear, or fox skins drying in the open air; some turkies and hogs, +scattered over a corn patch, &c. Farms, or plantations, properly so +called, are seldom to be met with here; the chief object of these +settlers being the breed of cattle and poultry, for the use of +steam-boats. The only trace of agriculture is a small tract of cotton +field, which the settlers endeavour to improve. + +We stayed an hour and a half in Hopefield, opposite to the Chickasaw +Bluffs, the chief village of Hempstead county, with ten houses. There +are two taverns, such as may be expected in these parts, a store and a +post office. Two hours later we saw the mouth of the Wolf river; the +beautiful President's island, ten miles long, which with its colossal +forests presents an imposing sight, with several small islands in its +train. Among these is the Battle island, taking its name from a battle +fought here between two Kentuckians, who compelled their captain to land +them, and returned after half an hour, the one with his nose bitten off, +the other with his eyes scooped out of their sockets! This night we +arrived in the county town of St. Helena, ninety-five miles above the +mouth of the Arkansas. The place was laid out a few years ago, and bids +fair to become of some importance, from the extreme scarcity of spots +adapted for towns on the banks of the Mississippi. The village is +situated a quarter of a mile from the west bank. The cabin houses are +built upon dwarfish round hills, resembling sugar loaves. Viewed from a +distance they have a handsome appearance, which, however, considerably +diminishes on approaching nearer to them. The spot is quite broken land. +Two hundred yards further up, a ridge eighty feet above the level of the +water, extends about a quarter of a mile, and six other houses are built +upon it, amongst which is a tavern and store, with few articles besides +a barrel of whisky for their Indian guests. A heap of furs, of every +description, indicates that this trade is a very lucrative one. About +thirty miles to the westward are the military lands, granted as a reward +to the soldiers who served in the last war; only a few of them have come +to settle on these grants. The distance from the eastern cities being so +immense, the expenses of the journey, compared with the object they were +about to attain, were so great, that most of them remained in the east. + +On the following morning we passed the mouth of the White river, and +thirteen miles lower down the river Arkansas, a beautiful, wide, and +very important stream, next in size to the Ohio, which after a course of +2,500 miles, 900 of which are navigable for steam-boats, empties itself +into the Mississippi at this place. From this river the territory of +Arkansas has taken its name. It was formerly part of Louisiana, then of +Missouri, and has since 1819, been separated from the latter, and now +forms a distinct territory extending from 33° to 36° north latitude, and +from 11° 45' to 23° west longitude. Its area is computed to be above +100,000 square miles. With the exception of a few towns, such as +Arkopolis, Post Arkansas, Little-rock, &c., and some other settlements +of less note, it is not otherwise known than from the reports of the +expeditions sent into the interior at various times. According to their +accounts it differs in some essential points from the eastern states. +The eastern part of this vast territory bears the character of the +Mississippi valley, and abounds in well wooded plains, prairies, and +marshes, in alternate succession, the latter occupying almost +exclusively the tract of land situated between the rivers Arkansas and +St. Francis towards the Ozark mountains. There the country rises; rocks +and mountains become visible, announcing the approach to the Rocky +mountains. Between these and the Ozark mountains are vast plains covered +with salt crusts, imparting to the rivers flowing through the country a +brackish taste. There have also been discovered valleys competing in +point of fertility with the valley of the Mississippi; eminences covered +for a distance of many miles with vines, whose grapes are said to be +equal to the best produce of the Cape. In other places are vast plains, +which owing to their stratum being gravel, produce but a short and dry +grape, without any trees. The territory in the interior contains +important mineral and vegetable treasures. The Volcanos, the Hotsprings, +the Ouachitta lake, and other natural wonders, will soon attract general +attention. From what was related to me by an eye witness who bestowed +all his attention on them, they are undoubtedly of the first importance. +The springs are six in number, and they are situated about ten miles +from the Ouachitta, near a volcano. Their temperature being 150°, the +use which visitors make of them consists in exposing themselves to the +vapour. They are impregnated with carbonic acid, muriate of soda, and a +small quantity of iron and calcareous matter. Hitherto, besides Indians +and hunters, but few persons resorted to them until the last two years, +when several gentlemen went thither for the recovery of their health. +But the present total want of ready money in these deserted parts has +prevented a more rapid improvement. The population amounts to 18,000 +souls, 2,000 of whom are slaves. Mental improvement is here sought for +in vain. The American reads his Bible, and if opportunity offers, he +visits once a year a Methodist Missionary. The French care as little for +one as for the other. Colleges, academies, or literary institutions +there are none, but in Post Arkansas, Arkopolis, and Little-rock, +schools are established. Those cannot be expected from a country without +any political importance, and with a population scattered over such an +immense extent. An extract from a newspaper published in Arkopolis, +which I found in St. Helena, may give some idea of the honourables of +these parts: "Mr. White respectfully begs leave to announce himself as +candidate for their Representative, &c.--N.B. Tailoring business done +in the best manner, and at the shortest notice!!" + +Arkansas has hitherto been the refuge for poor adventurers, foreigners, +French soldiers, German redemptioners, with a few respectable American +families; men of fortune preferring the state of Mississippi or +Louisiana, where society and the comforts of life can be found with less +difficulty. It is certain, however, that the western part of this +territory is healthier than the western states of Alabama, Georgia, and +Mississippi, and that the Rocky and Ozark chain, running from east to +west, obviates one great evil--the sudden change of temperature, caused +by the want of high mountains to resist the power of the north and south +winds. + +A traveller who first visits the valley of the Mississippi, is led to +believe that the waters of this immense river rise above the trees along +its banks, leaving the branches covered with weeds and mud when they +retire to their bed. It is Spanish moss or Tellandsea which presents +that appearance to the traveller. It is firmly rooted in the apertures +of the bark, and hangs down from the trees, not unlike long rough +beards. This plant has a yellow blossom, and a pod containing the seed. +It is found along the coast of the Mississippi, from St. Helena to below +New Orleans, and is universally applied to all those purposes for which +curled hair is used in the north. It is gathered from the trees with +long hooks, afterwards put into water for a few days in order to rot the +outer part, and then dried. The substance obtained by this simple +process is a fine black fibre resembling horse hair. A mattrass stuffed +in this manner may serve for a year, if not wetted; it then becomes +dusty and requires that the moss should be taken out, beaten, and the +mattress filled again, by which means it becomes more elastic than it +was before. + +We passed several settlements and islands, the mouth of the Yazoo +rivers, and on the third day we arrived at Vixburgh, or Walnut-hills. We +were now 600 miles from the mouth of the Ohio, and in that whole +distance had not seen either a hill or mountain, with the exception of a +few mole-hills at St. Helena, which rose, perhaps, to the height of +twenty or twenty-five feet above the endless plain. The first objects +which interrupt the sameness of this grand but rather uniform scenery, +are the Walnut-hills, on the east bank of the river, in the state of +Mississippi. They rise singly and perfectly detached. There may be +eight or nine in number, with a small house on the top of each. Close +to the landing-place is the warehouse of Mr. Brown; and farther back, +some merchant's stores, and two taverns. Half a mile from the bank +rises a ridge about four miles long, and 300 feet high. This hill, +notwithstanding its inconvenient situation, will probably be selected +for the site of part of Vixburgh town, which was laid out two years ago, +and is now the seat of justice for Warren county. It has already fifty +houses and three stores. Several steam-boats are regularly employed in +the cotton trade. As there is not a single place on the banks of the +Mississippi, where a town of some extent could be built without being +exposed to the floods, Vixburgh must very soon become a place of great +importance for the upper part of the state of Mississippi. The +surrounding country begins to be rapidly settled; and civilization, +which is almost extinct for more than a 1000 miles up the Mississippi +and the Ohio, here resumes its power, and increases the farther you +descend towards New Orleans. + +On the following day we passed Warrington, Palmyra, Davies', Judge +Smith's settlements, the Grand and Petit Golfe, and Gruinsburgh, and +arrived at five o'clock in the evening at Natchez. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + The Town of Natchez.--Excursion to Palmyra Plantations.--The Cotton + Planters of the State of Mississippi.--Sketch of the State of + Mississippi.--Return to Natchez. + + +Rain, and a subsequent frost, had a week before our arrival dispelled +that scourge of the south--the yellow fever. The inhabitants had +returned from the places of safety, to which they had fled in every +direction, and intercourse was again re-established, the town having +resumed all the activity I had found in it three years before. The road +to the town, properly so called, leads through a suburb, known by the +name of Low Natchez, consisting of some warehouses and shops of every +description. This place deserves, in every respect, the epithet of Low +Natchez, being a true Gomorrha, and containing an assemblage of the +lowest characters. Although fifteen years ago, a great part of the bluff +buried in its fall, several of these wretches, and every rainy season +exposes the survivors to the same fate, yet they seem unconscious of +their danger. The road ascends to the town on both sides of these liquor +shops, built as it were on the brink of a precipice. Natchez is situated +on a hill, 250 feet above the level of the water. The prospect from this +hill, or bluff, as it is called, is beautiful. At your feet you behold +this nest of sinners, close to it four or five steam-boats, and thirty +or forty keel and flat-boats anchoring in the port, with the bustle and +noise attendant on these wandering arks. On the opposite bank of the +Mississippi, which is here one mile and a quarter wide, you see the +county town of Concordia, and on both sides of this little town, +numerous plantations, with the stately mansion of the wealthy cotton +planter, and the numerous cabins of his black dependents; and in the +background, the whole scenery is girded by an immense ring of cypress +forests, which seem, as it were, to bury themselves in the flats below +the Mississippi. To the right and left a charming elevated plain +extends, with numerous gardens, which, though it was then the end of +November, still preserved their verdure, faded, indeed, into an autumnal +hue. In the rear is the town of Natchez, of moderate dimensions; but +elegant and regular as far as the broken ground would admit. The +dwelling-houses, several of them with colonnades, exhibit throughout a +high degree of wealth. The court-house, an academy, the United States' +branch bank, and the bank of Natchez, three churches, three newspaper +printing offices, one of which publishes a literary journal (the Ariel), +a library and reading-room, are the public institutions, and they are +very liberally patronised. Neither during my former journey, nor in the +present visit, could I discover any foundation for the charge of +narrowness of mind, which is made against the inhabitants. Their number +amounts to 3,540, and their houses to 600. They are mostly planters, +merchants, lawyers, and physicians, of Anglo-American extraction, with +the exception of ten or twelve German families. + +Natchez is considered as a port, and on this ground the representative +of the state obtained the most useless grant of money ever made--1500 +dollars--for the purpose of erecting a light-house, at a place 410 miles +distant from the sea. This town had been considered a healthier spot +than New Orleans, until the two last years, when it was repeatedly +visited by the yellow-fever, from which New Orleans remained free. It is +yet doubtful whether this evil is to be ascribed to the dissolute life +prevailing in lower Natchez, or to the oppressive heat which prevails on +these high plains. The distance, however, from the cooling current of +the Mississippi, short as it is, and the unwholesome rain-water, which +is used for drinking, must contribute to create bilious fevers. The +great pecuniary resources which the inhabitants of Natchez have at +command, would make it an easy matter for them to obtain their water for +drinking from the Mississippi, in the same manner as the inhabitants of +Philadelphia have raised the waters of Schuylkill. The country about +Natchez is an extensive and elevated plain, 200 feet above the level of +the Mississippi, stretching 130 miles from north to south, and about +forty miles to the eastward. Although a fertile tract of land, it is +far inferior to the Mississippi bottom-lands. The upland cotton grown +upon it, is inferior in quantity and quality to that of Mississippi +growth. The soil, however, produces corn, vegetables, plumbs, peaches, +and figs in abundance. I stayed two days in Natchez, and rode with a +friend to the distance of fifty-five miles above Natchez, on the +Mississippi, passing through Gibsonport, twenty-five miles from Natchez, +and six miles from the Mississippi, a town having a court-house, +a newspaper printing office, and about sixty houses, with 1100 +inhabitants. The following day we arrived at Messrs. D.'s plantation. +These two brothers having purchased, three years ago, 6500 acres of +land, at the rate of two dollars an acre, landed with their slaves at +their new purchase, from their former residence in Kentucky. The lands +being a complete wilderness, their first occupation was to raise cabins +for themselves and their slaves. This was accomplished in four weeks. +They succeeded during the first year in clearing fifty acres of land, +twenty-five of which were sown in the month of February with cotton +seed, the rest with corn. This was was sufficient to defray the expense +of the first year. The clearing of woods, however, in this country, if +not canebrack bottom, is not so easy a matter as in the northern states. +Numerous shrubs, thistles, and thorns, of an immense size, form hedges, +which it is almost impossible to penetrate. To these obstructions may be +added, snakes, muskitoes, and in the marshes, alligators, which, though +not so dangerous as the Egyptian crocodile, are still a great annoyance. +The trees are here destroyed in the same manner as in the north, by +killing them. Shrubs, underwood, canebrack, are burnt, and the corn or +cotton is planted instead. This is the work of the negroes, who labour +under the superintendence of their masters, or, if he be a wealthy man, +of his overseer. In the months of June or July, the ground is ploughed +or turned up; the weeds and shrubs are cleared away, as is done in the +case of Indian corn; the cultivation of cotton, though more troublesome, +being conducted much in the same manner. In the month of October, the +cotton begins to ripen, the buds open, and the white flower appears. The +present is the season for gathering cotton. Three kinds of cotton seeds +are now sown in the southern states; the green, the black, and the +Mexican seed, which latter is considered to be the best. Of the green +seed cotton, a slave may gather 150 pounds a day, of the other two +kinds, the utmost that can be collected is 100 pounds. The buds are +broken from the plants, and the cotton, with the seed, taken out and put +into round baskets, which when filled are brought into the cotton yard, +and spread along planks, for the purpose of drying. The cotton is from +thence carried to the cotton gin, the machinery of which is put into +motion by three or four horses. The cotton is thrown between a cylinder +moving round a projecting saw; by this process the seed is separated +from the cotton, which is then thrown back into a large receptacle, and +afterwards pressed into bales. These are laid in stores and kept ready +for shipping, in steam or flat boats to Natchez or New Orleans. The two +brothers in this, the third, year from the date of their establishment, +raised 200 bales of cotton from 200 acres of cleared land. According to +their own estimation, and from what I know, they might have raised 350 +bales, had it not been for a disaster which befel them in the spring of +the year 1825. They were visited with a hurricane, which lifted their +dwelling-house from the ground, carried it to a considerable distance +and completely destroyed it, with the entire furniture. Mr. D----, who +was at the plantation at the time, had great difficulty in escaping with +his wife and child, though not without a fractured leg, from the effects +of which he was still suffering. Not even a chair had been spared. The +immense trees torn up by the roots and still lying in every direction +upon the ground, the shattered cabins of his negroes, every thing +presented indications of the havoc made in this disastrous night. +Happily no human life was lost. This misfortune had, of course, +considerably retarded the improvements in progress, and thrown them back +for at least a twelvemonth. Still the planters calculated this year upon +a profit of 10,000 dollars from their plantation; 4000 dollars may be +deducted from this for household and other necessary expenses, leaving a +clear profit of 6000 dollars. The original capital of the two brothers +consisted, (including the value of their slaves), of 20,000 dollars. +They paid half the purchase money when they took possession, and the +rest in the present year. Their plantation is now worth 60,000 dollars. +In the state of Mississippi, the principal article of cultivation is +cotton, as it is the staple article of its commerce; corn and the +breeding of cattle are considered as secondary objects, though many +plantations reckon from 100 to 300 head of cattle, which have a free +range in the vast forests in quest of food. Only those intended for +fattening are kept at home and fed with cotton seed, which in a few +weeks will make them exceedingly fat. Turkeys and poultry in general are +found in abundance, and constitute with firewood the articles which are +sold to steam-boats passing on their way. Indian corn supplies in these +parts the place of rye or wheat. The slaves live exclusively on corn +bread; their masters vary it with wheat cakes. Wheat, flour, whiskey, +articles of dress, sacking, and blankets, come from the north, or from +New Orleans. The dress of the planter during the summer months consists +of a linen jacket, pantaloons of the same, Monroe boots, and a straw +hat. During the winter he wears a cotton shirt and a cloth dress. That +of his slaves during summer is a coarse cotton shirt and trowsers, with +shoes called mocasins. In winter they are furnished with cotton +trowsers, and a coat made of a woollen blanket. The females have dresses +of the same materials. The manner of living of the southern planter +differs little from that of the northern; he likes his doddy, which the +northern planter or farmer is also known to be fond of; he lives on +wheat cakes or Indian corn bread, and superintends his slaves at their +work, as the northern does his hands. Of the effeminate and luxurious +style in which the southern planters are said to indulge--of their +pretended fondness for female slaves, without whose assistance they +cannot find their beds, I have never had any proofs, though in both my +journeys I have not passed less than a year in Mississippi and +Louisiana, and know one half of the plantations. The American planter +lives in a higher style than his northern fellow citizen: this is quite +natural, considering that his income is very large, and his taxes +trifling. His chief expense, however, consists in his travels or summer +excursions to the north, where he is pleased to shew his southern +magnificence in a display of pompous dissipation. This fault, with few +exceptions, is general with southern planters. They save at home, and +renounce the very comforts of life in order to have the means of +spending more money during the summer at Saratoga, Boston, or New York. +The slave always rises at five o'clock, and works till seven, then +breakfasts--generally upon soup with corn bread, baked on a pan, and +eaten warm with a piece of bacon or salt-meat. Their tasks are assigned +to them by the master of the plantation, or if he has been settled for +some years, by an overseer. Part of the negroes are engaged in the +cotton gin, others in carpenters' or in cabinet work, each plantation +having two or three mechanics among the slaves. A third part works in +the cotton or corn fields. The females have likewise their tasks. One or +two of the girls are housemaids; two more are cooks, one for the white, +the other for the black family. The old negro women have the washing +assigned to them. The dinner of the slaves consists of corn bread, a +pudding of the same stuff, and salt or fresh meat. It is usual to give +them a piece of meat, in order to keep them in good condition. The +supper is of corn bread again, and a soup without meat. They seldom get +any whiskey, and tavern keepers are prohibited by law from selling it to +them. The first transgression is punished with a fine, the second with +the loss of the tavern licence. On Sundays the slaves are exempt from +working for their master, and permitted to attend to their family or +their own concerns. Many of them are seen gleaning the cotton fields, +collecting this way from eighty to a hundred pounds of cotton in one +day. They are not, however, so well treated as in the northern slave +states, where they are rather considered as domestics, who in many cases +would not exchange their condition for that liberty which is enjoyed by +the German peasantry. The northern slave is, for this reason, extremely +afraid of transportation, which is a sort of punishment. The southern +blacks frequently run away, and there is not a newspaper published, in +which some escapes are not announced. The Anglo-Americans, however, +treat their slaves throughout better than the French and their +descendants, with whom the wretched blacks, (their general allowance +being ten ears of Indian corn a day), experience a treatment in few +respects better than that of a beast. The principle upon which the +French descendant acts, is, that the slave ought to repay him in three +years the expense of his purchase. But, strange to say, the worst of all +are the free people of colour, who are equally permitted to possess +slaves. To be transferred into the hands of their own race, is the most +dreadful thing which can happen to a slave. Formal marriages rarely take +place between slaves: if the negro youth feels himself attracted by the +charms of a black beauty, their master allows them to cohabit. If the +female slave is on a distant plantation, the youth is permitted to see +her, provided he be trustworthy, and not suspected of an intention to +effect his escape. The children belong to the mother, or rather to her +master, who is not permitted to dispose of them before they are ten +years of age. The punishment which masters are allowed to inflict on +their slaves at home, is a flogging of thirty-nine lashes. The huts of +these people are of rough logs; lower down the river they are of regular +carpenter's work. The mansions of the American planters are in the easy +American style--sometimes frame, mostly, however, brick-houses, +constructed on four piles in the manner already described. Below +Natchez, the dwelling houses of the planters are in the old-fashioned +Spanish style, with immense roofs, but comfortable and adapted to the +climate. The windows are high and provided with shutters. They have a +summer dining room to the north, open on all sides so as to admit of a +free current of air. In the southern parts, the planter is the most +respectable and wealthy inhabitant. He lives contented, though his +domestic peace is sometimes troubled by the accidents inseparable from +the state of bondage in which his black family is kept. If he manages +his affairs well, for which very little is wanting beyond common sense +and activity, he cannot fail to become wealthy in a few years. I am +acquainted with several gentlemen, who settled in these states ten years +ago, with a capital of from 10 to 20,000 dollars. They are worth now at +least 100,000 dollars. The great difference between these plantations +and the northern farms, is the ready mart they are sure to find, and the +high price they obtain for their produce. Though the prices of cotton +are considerably reduced, yet the profit which is derived from a capital +employed in a plantation is superior to any other. The price of a +well-conditioned plantation is enormous. I can instance Mr. B., who +having inherited one half of a plantation, bought the other half for +32,000 dollars. The failures in crops are of very rare occurrence in +these parts, and generally in the fourth year after a plantation has +been begun, the produce is equal to the capital employed in the +establishment. The management of these plantations requires by no means +a very enterprising turn of mind. I know some ladies who have +established cotton plantations, and raise from four to five hundred +bales a year, being assisted only by their overseer. Mrs. Barrow, Mrs. +Hook, &c., &c., are instances in proof of what I advance. Those who are +unable to bear the summer heats, or are not inured to the climate, +reside in the north, leaving a trusty overseer in charge of the +plantation. The distance from Natchez to Louisville or Cincinnati, +between 11 and 1200 miles, may be performed in nine or ten days. The +journey is a pleasant one, and is amply rewarded by the purchases which +planters generally make in the north for themselves, their families, and +their slaves. Indolence, luxury, and effeminacy, are vices that are but +seldom to be met with in the American planter. He does not yield to the +northern farmer in activity or industry. He cannot work in person +without exposing himself to a bilious fever; but this is not necessary; +the superintendence of his affairs is a sufficient occupation for +him. In this state I found matters: after a serious and practical +investigation, and much experience, I can pronounce it to be a safer way +of employing a moderate capital in an advantageous manner, than any +other which offers itself in the United States. + +There can scarcely be a country where there is greater facility for +hunting than in these parts. Mr. D. being still lame from his late +accident, was obliged to remain at home, but he provided us with a +guide, in the person of the overseer of the Palmyra plantation, five +miles above Mr. D.'s settlement. We mounted our horses, and arrived in a +few minutes on the outside of the cotton-fields, a tract of canebrack +bottom, extending about ten miles, where we expected to start a deer or +a bear. We had not ridden above half an hour when we discovered a bear, +which was killed. We proceeded afterwards to a marsh two miles behind +the plantation, the resort of flocks of ducks and wild geese. We found +about 300 of them, and having shot nine returned home. The bear was +found to be a young one, weighing 150 pounds:--its flesh was excellent. +These animals, as well as every description of game, are found in such +prodigious numbers, that our landlord thought it not worth while sending +his slaves such a distance for the ducks and geese we had shot in the +pond; and they were, therefore, left for birds of prey to feast upon. +The following day we made a shooting excursion with the overseer of +Palmyra plantation. After partaking of some refreshments at his +dwelling, we proceeded in his company. He superintends the plantation of +Mrs. Turner, for an annual salary of 1500 dollars, with board, lodging, +&c.; a sum which would be considered in the north as a first rate +salary, suitable to any gentleman. Seven wild turkeys were the spoils of +this day; we divided them equally amongst us, reserving the seventh to +be roasted at Warrington for our dinner. Warrington, formerly the seat +of justice for Warren county, which is now transferred to Vixburgh, +though situated sixty feet above the water level of the Mississippi, is +regularly inundated by the spring floods. This town is on the decline, +owing to the removal of the seat of justice. It contains 200 +inhabitants, with forty houses, five of which are built of brick, the +rest of wood. Two lawyers, who are now on the move, two taverns, and two +stores, are to be found here. The two store-keepers, who were extremely +poor when they first settled here, eight years ago, are now worth above +20,000 dollars; one of them is going to establish a plantation. We +returned in good time, being here at a distance of twenty miles from the +plantation. Although the tract of country we came through is extremely +fertile, yet there is a great difference in the soil. The plantation of +Mr. D----, has undoubtedly the advantage over the six which came under +our notice; his cotton is of a superior quality. The richness of the +soil depends on the stratum. The best is considered to be that which is +found to have three or four feet of river sediment on a red brownish +earth; where sand or gravel forms the stratum, the land, though fertile, +is not of so durable a quality. The growth of timber is generally the +surest mode of ascertaining the nature of the soil; we measured on the +plantation of Major Davis, some sycamores torn up by the hurricane, +which were not less than 200 feet in length; and cotton trees of 170 +feet. Where such a gigantic vegetation is seen, one may rely on the +fertility and inexhaustible quality of the soil. Our guide gave me a +proof of this: in one of his fields, he raised tobacco for ten +successive years, without doing more than ploughing the earth; the +produce, instead of diminishing, has rather increased both in quantity +and quality. One can hardly conceive how a soil, apparently sandy, can +be of a nature so inexhaustibly productive; the overflowing of the +Mississippi, and the sediment left on the banks, account, however, +sufficiently for it. + +The following day we took leave of our hospitable landlord, and +returned. The country we passed through is one continued range of the +most beautiful forests, opening some times to give place to a rising +plantation. I counted between Palmyra and Natchez, twenty-five. + +The State of Mississippi was received into the Union in the year +1817. It extends from 30° 10' to 35° north latitude, and from 11° 30' +to 14° 32' west longitude; and is bounded on the north by Tennessee, +on the west by Arkansas and Louisiana, on the south by Louisiana +and the gulf of Mexico, and on the east by Alabama. It comprises an +area of 15,000 square miles. Though this state has acquired, this +ten years past, a political existence, and in point of fertility is +far superior to Missouri and Indiana, yet its population has not +increased in the same proportion;--it does not exceed 80,000 souls, +including 34,000 slaves. The emigrants to Mississippi, are either men +of fortune, or needy adventurers. The middle classes, having from 2 +to 3,000 dollars property, seldom chose to settle there, having no +prospect of succeeding by dint of personal industry. The fatigue and +labour in these hot and sultry climates, can only be borne by slaves; +a white man who should attempt the same labour which kept him stout +and hearty in the north, would soon be overcome by the heat of the +climate. Most of the respectable settlers are therefore from Virginia, +Tennessee, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Kentucky; having sold their +property there, and emigrated with their slaves into this country. The +North American, properly so called, from New England, New York, &c., +seldom ventures so far. Owing to this cause, the towns in Mississippi +and Louisiana, are neither so elegant nor so wealthy as those of the +north. With the exception of places of commerce, such as New Orleans +and Natchez, the towns of the state of Mississippi cannot be compared +to those of other states of more recent date. These smaller towns +of Mississippi and Louisiana, are generally inhabited by mechanics, +tradesmen, tavern-keepers, and the poorer classes of the people. Those +who have any fortune, prefer laying it out on plantations,--a sure and +infallible source of wealth, and the most respectable occupation in +the country. Merchants who have succeeded in making a fortune in these +small towns, remove to more convenient places. The traveller who judges +of the wealth of the country from the mean appearance of these villages +and towns, would be greatly mistaken. In order to form a correct +opinion he must visit the plantations, and he will be surprised at the +high degree of prosperity and comfort enjoyed by the possessors. + +After a stay of three days in Natchez, I took a passage on board the +steam-boat Helen MacGregor, which had lately returned from New Orleans +to Walnut hills, and was on its way to the capital of Louisiana. The +intercourse between Natchez and New Orleans is by water, travellers +naturally preferring this easy and comfortable mode of conveyance by +steam-boats to land journeys, rendered disagreeable by the wretchedness +of the roads, and the still worse condition of the generality of +inns. This evil has been occasioned by the former hospitality of the +French creoles. Any one calling at a plantation was sure of a welcome +reception. This hospitality has ceased, and the most respectable +traveller is now likely to have the door shut in his face, owing to the +misconduct of the Kentuckians. It was the practice of these gentlemen +to call on their rambles at these plantations, where plenty of rum +and brandy, with other accommodations, could be had for nothing. They +behaved with an arrogance and presumption almost incredible, not +unfrequently calling the creoles in their own houses French dogs, and +knocking them down if they presumed to shew the least displeasure. +These people are the horror of all creoles, who when they wish to +describe the highest degree of barbarity, designate it by the name of +Kentuckian. The worst of it is that the creoles, who are far from being +eminent scholars, comprehend the whole north under the appellation +of Kentucky. We started from Natchez at nine o'clock in the evening, +took in 300 bales of cotton at Bayon Sarah[E], and some firewood a +few miles below, and then passed Baton Rouge, the Bayons Plaquimines, +Manchac, Tourche, both sides of the river being lined with beautiful +plantations, and arrived on Sunday, at four o'clock, above New Orleans. + +[E] Bayons, outlets of the Mississippi, formed by nature. They are in +great numbers, and carry its waters to the gulph of Mexico. Without +these outlets, New Orleans would be destroyed by the spring floods in a +few hours. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Arrival at New Orleans.--Cursory Reflections. + + +It is certainly mournful for a traveller to dwell among the monuments of +Pompeii, of Herculaneum, and of Rome. There, if he feels at all, he +feels among these wrecks of past grandeur, that he is nothing. A totally +different sensation possesses the mind on entering an American city. In +these man beholds what he can contend with, and what he can accomplish, +when his strength is not checked by the arbitrary will of a despot. New +Orleans, the wet grave[F], where the hopes of thousands are buried; for +eighty years the wretched asylum for the outcasts of France and Spain, +who could not venture 100 paces beyond its gates without utterly sinking +to the breast in mud, or being attacked by alligators; has become in the +space of twenty-three years one of the most beautiful cities of the +Union, inhabited by 40,000 persons, who trade with half the world. The +view is splendid beyond description, when you pass down the stream, +which is here a mile broad, rolls its immense volume of waters in a bed +above 200 feet deep, and as if conscious of its strength, appears to +look quietly on the bustle of the habitations of man. Both its banks are +lined with charming sugar plantations, from the midst of which rises the +airy mansion of the wealthy planter, surrounded with orange, banana, +lime, and fig trees, the growth of a climate approaching to the torrid +zone. In the rear you discover the cabins of the negroes and the +sugar-houses, and just at the entrance of the port, groups of smaller +houses, as if erected for the purpose of concealing the prospect of the +town. As soon as the steam-boats pass these out posts, New Orleans, in +the form of a half moon, appears in all its splendour. The river runs +for a distance of four or five miles in a southern direction; here it +suddenly takes an eastern course, which it pursues for the space of two +miles, thus forming a semicircular bend. A single glance exhibits to +view the harbour, the vessels at anchor, together with the city, +situated as it were at the feet of the passenger. The first object that +presents itself is the dirty and uncouth backwoods flat boat. Hams, ears +of corn, apples, whiskey barrels, are strewed upon it, or are fixed to +poles to direct the attention of the buyers. Close by are the rather +more decent keel-boats, with cotton, furs, whiskey, flour; next the +elegant steam-boat, which by its hissing and repeated sounds, announces +either its arrival or departure, and sends forth immense columns of +black smoke, that form into long clouds above the city. Farther on are +the smaller merchant vessels, the sloops and schooners from the +Havannah, Vera Cruz, Tampico; then the brigs; and lastly, the elegant +ships appearing like a forest of masts[G]. + +[F] In New Orleans, water is found two feet below the surface. Those who +cannot afford to procure a vault for their dead, are literally compelled +to deposit them in the water. + +[G] The whole number of vessels then in port was 100 schooners, brigs, +and ships. + +What in Philadelphia and even in New York is dispersed in several +points, is here offered at once to the eye--a truly enchanting prospect. +Most of the steam-boats were kept back by the lowness of the Ohio, at +Cincinnati, Louisville, and Nashville; we landed, therefore, close to +the shore without encountering any impediment. In a moment our state +room was filled with five or six clerks, from the newspaper printing +offices, and a dozen negroes; the former to inspect the log-book of the +steam-boat, and to lay before their subscribers the names of the goods, +and of the passengers arrived; the latter to offer their services in +carrying our trunks. After labouring to climb over the mountains of +cotton bales which obstructed our passage, we went on shore. The city +had increased beyond expectation, within the last four years. More than +700 brick houses had been erected; a new street (the Levee), was already +half finished; the houses throughout were solid, and more or less in an +elegant style. It was on a Sunday that we arrived; the shops, the stores +of the French and creoles, were open as usual, and if there were fewer +buyers than on other days, the coffeehouses, grog-shops, and the +_estaminets_, as they are called, of the French and German inhabitants, +exhibited a more noisy scene. A kind of music, accompanied with human, +or rather inhuman voices, resounded in almost every direction. This +little respect paid to the Sabbath is a relic of the French revolution +and of Buonaparte, for whom the French and the creoles of Louisiana have +an unlimited respect, imitating him as poor minds generally do, as far +as they are able, in his bad qualities, his contempt of venerable +customs, and his egotism, and leaving his great deeds and the noble +traits in his character to the imitation of others better qualified to +appreciate them. + +To a new comer, accustomed in the north to the dignified and quiet +keeping of the Sabbath, this appears very shocking. The Anglo-Americans, +with few exceptions, remain even here faithful to their ancient custom +of keeping the Sabbath holy. I had many opportunities of appreciating +the importance of the keeping of the Sabbath, particularly in new +states. A well regulated observance of this day is productive of +incalculable benefits, and though it is sometimes carried too far in the +northern states, as is certainly the case in Pennsylvania and New +England, still the public ought firmly to maintain this institution in +full force. The man who provides in six days for his personal wants, may +dedicate the seventh to the improvement of his mind; and this he can +only accomplish by abstaining from all trifling amusements. In a +despotic monarchy the case is different; there the government has no +doubt every reason for allowing its slaves, after six toilsome days of +labour, the indulgence of twenty-four hours of amusement, that they may +forget themselves and their fate in the dissipation of dancing, smoking, +and drinking. The case ought to be otherwise in a republic, where even +the poor constitute, or are about to constitute, part of the sovereign +body. These ought to remember to what purposes they are destined, and +not to allow themselves, under any circumstances, to be the dupes of +others. The keeping of the Sabbath is their surest safeguard. If there +were no opportunities offered for dancing, their sons and their +daughters would stay at home, either reading their Bible, or attending +to other appropriate intellectual occupations, and learning in this +manner their rights and duties, and those of other people. The American +has not deviated in this respect from his English kinsman. If you enter +his dwelling on the Sabbath, you will find the family, old and young, +quietly sitting down, the Bible in hand, thus preparing themselves for +the toils and hardships to come, and acquiring the firmness and +confidence so necessary in human life; a confidence, which we so justly +admire in the British nation; as far distant from the bravado of the +French, as the unfeeling and base stupidity of the Russians; and which +never displays itself in brighter colours than in the hour of danger. We +are in this manner enabled to account for those high traits of character +in moments full of peril--traits not surpassed in the most brilliant and +the most virtuous epochs of Greece or of Rome. A single fact will speak +volumes--the Kent East Indiaman, burning and going down in the bay of +Biscay, in 1825. Ladies, gentlemen, officers, and soldiers, all on board +exhibited a magnanimity of heart, and a truly Christian heroism, which +must fill even the most rancorous enemies of the British people with +admiration and regard. What a different picture would have been +presented to us, if half a regiment of Bonaparte's soldiers had been on +board the ship! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Topographical Sketch of the City of New Orleans. + + +The city of New Orleans occupies an oblong area, extending 3960 feet +along the eastern bank of Mississippi, embracing six squares, 319 feet +in length, and of equal breadth. Above and below this parallelogram are +the suburbs. Higher up is the suburb of St. Mary, still belonging to +the city corporation; farther up, the suburbs Duplantier, Soulel, La +Course, L'Annunciation, and Religieuses; below, the suburbs of Marigny, +Daunois, and Clouet; in the rear, St. Claude and Johnsburgh. The seven +streets, named Levee, Chartres-street, Royal-street, Bourbon, Burgundy, +Toulouse, and Rampart, run parallel with the river, and are intersected +at right angles by twelve others, running from the banks of the +Mississippi, called the Levee, in the direction of the swamps, the +Custom-house-street, Brenville, Conti, St. Louis, and Toulouse. The +city, with the exception of Levee and Rampart-streets, is paved, an +improvement which occasions great expense to the corporation, as the +stones are imported; flags, however, are not wanting even in the most +distant suburbs. The ground on which New Orleans is built, is a plain, +descending about seven feet from the banks of the river, towards the +swamps; and it is lower than the level of the Mississippi. It is secured +by a levee, which would afford very little resistance 400 miles higher +up; but here, where numerous bayons and natural channels have carried +off part of the waters to the gulf of Mexico, it answers every purpose. +About the city, the breadth of this plain is half a mile, and above it +three-quarters of a mile, terminating in the back-ground in impenetrable +swamps. The city and suburbs are lighted with reflecting lamps, +suspended in the middle of the streets. Between the pavement and the +road, gutters are made for the purpose of carrying off the filth into +the swamps, of refreshing the air with the water of the Mississippi, +with which these gutters communicate, and of allaying the dust during +the hot season. There are now about 6000 buildings, large and small, in +New Orleans. In the first mentioned three streets, and the greater part +of the upper suburb, the houses are throughout of brick; some are +plastered over to preserve them from the influence of the sultry +climate. Though building materials of every kind are imported, and +consequently very dear, yet the houses are rapidly changing from the +uncouth Spanish style, to more elegant forms. The new houses are mostly +three stories high, with balconies, and a summer-room with blinds. In +the lower suburbs, frame houses, with Spanish roofs, are still +prevalent. Two-thirds of the private buildings may at present be said +to rival those of northern cities, of an equal population. The public +edifices, however, are far inferior to those of the former, both in +style and execution. The most prominent is the cathedral, in the +middle of the town, separated from the bank of the Mississippi, +by the parade ground. It is of Spanish architecture, with a façade of +seventy feet, and a depth of 120, having on each side a steeple, and a +small cupola in the centre, which gives an air of dignity to a heavy and +ill-proportioned structure. All illusion, however, is dispelled on +entering the church. The Catholics had the strange notion of painting +the interior, taking for this purpose the most glaring colours that can +be found--green and purple. The church is painted over in fresco, with +these colours, and presents at one view a curious taste of the creoles. +The interior is not overloaded with decorations, as Catholic churches +generally are. The high altar, and two side ones, are, with an organ, +its only ornaments. Two tombs contain the remains of Baron Carondolet +and Mr. Marigny. On one side of the cathedral is the city-hall, and on +the other, the Presbytire. The former, erected in 1795, presents a +façade of 108 feet, in which the meetings of the city council are held. +The Presbytire, 114 in front, was built in 1813, and is the seat of +the supreme District Court, and of the Criminal Court of New Orleans. +These two edifices, and the cathedral between them, form together a +dignified whole. The government-house, at the corner of Toulouse and +Levee-streets, is an old and decaying edifice, where the legislature of +the state holds its meetings. In point of situation, (among grog shops), +and of style, it may be considered the poorest state-house in the Union. + +The Protestants have three churches. The Episcopalian, at the corner of +Bourbon and Canal-streets, is an octagon edifice, with a cupola, in bad +taste. Out of gratitude to the late governor Clayborne, the inhabitants +have erected in the church-yard, a monument to his memory, with the +following inscription: + + THE + CITIZENS OF NEW ORLEANS, + TO + TESTIFY THEIR RESPECT FOR THE VIRTUES + OF + W. C. C. CLAYBORNE, + LATE + GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA, + HAVE + ERECTED THIS MONUMENT. + +The Presbyterian church, in the suburb of St. Mary, is a simple, but +chaste building, the expense of which amounted to 55,000 dollars. The +congregation being unwilling to defray the cost of its erection, it was +sold by the sheriff, and is now the property of Mr. Levy, an Israelite, +who leases it out to the congregation for 1500 dollars. The Methodist +church is a frame building, erected in 1826. + +The public hospital, in Canal-street, consists of two square buildings, +with wards for fever maladies; for dysentery; one for chronic diseases; +another for females; a third for convalescents; a bathing-room, an +apothecary's-room, and a room for the physicians and assistants. Out of +1842 patients who were received into this hospital in the year 1824, 500 +died, and the rest were discharged; out of 1700 received in 1825, 271 +died, the others recovered. The accommodations in this house seem to be +respectable; it has one thing, however, in common with all hospitals, +that no one is tempted to return to it a second time. + +There are now four banks in New Orleans; the United States Bank, with a +capital of one million of dollars; the Bank of the State, the Louisiana +Bank, and the Bank of New Orleans, each having likewise a capital of one +million of dollars. The insurance offices are five in number: the +Louisiana State Insurance Company, with a capital of 400,000 dollars; +the Fire Insurance Company, with 300,000; the Mississippi and Marine +Insurance Company, with 200,000; and the London Phoenix Insurance +Company. New Orleans has no less than six masonic lodges, including the +grand lodge of Louisiana; a French and an American theatre. The latter +was built by a Mr. Caldwell, from Nashville, in Tennessee, who has also +the management of it. It has the advantage in point of architecture, and +the French theatre in the selectness of its audience. Close to the +latter are the ball-rooms, where are given the only masked balls in the +United States. Among the public buildings may be reckoned the three +market halls, for the sale of provisions of every kind; one of them is +in the city, the two others on the upper and lower suburbs, on the +Levee. + +The nuns have removed two miles below the town, and this convent is now +the residence of the Roman Catholic bishop. In the chapel divine +service is performed; this chapel, and the cathedral, are the places of +worship belonging to the Catholics. + +The cotton-pressing establishments deserve to be mentioned. These are +now nine in number; the most important is that of Mr. Rilieux, at the +corner of Poydras-street. It has three presses; one worked by steam, +another by an hydraulic machine, and the third by horsepower. For the +security of cotton bales, eight wells, a fire-engine, &c., are within +the range of buildings; the expenses of which amounted to 150,000 +dollars. The cotton press formerly belonged to a German commission +merchant, who failed in consequence of his extravagant cotton +speculations; it is simple, but of solid construction. It can receive +10,000 bales. The expenses of the building amounted to 90,000 dollars. +Besides these are the presses of Shiff, a Jew from Germany, Debays, +Lorger, &c. A steam saw-mill on the bank of the Mississippi, in the +upper suburb, with a few iron foundries, are the only manufacturies in +New Orleans; every thing being imported from the north. + +Carondolots canal is in the rear of the town, towards the marshes. The +entrance is a basin, containing from thirty to fifty small vessels, and +opening into a canal, or rather a ditch, which has been cut through the +swamps, in order to join the Bayon St. John with New Orleans. + +Small vessels drawing no more than six feet of water, arrive from Mobile +and Pensacola[H], through lake Pont Chartrain, Bayon St. John, and the +above-mentioned canal at New Orleans, performing only a third of the way +they would otherwise have to make by going up the Mississippi. They are +in general freighted with wood, planks, bricks, cotton, &c.; and take in +goods in return. This canal, which is of great importance for the part +of the city lying contiguous to the swamps, was commenced by Baron +Carondolet, but given up at a subsequent time, and resumed in the year +1815. Its cost was trifling compared with the advantages resulting to +this city, and the salutary effects it must have in draining off part of +the swamps. + +[H] Pensacola has been established as a port for the United States navy: +1825-1826. + +The president of the city council is a mayor, or Maire, a creole. His +police regulations deserve every praise, and New Orleans, which less +than fifteen years ago was the lurking hole of every assassin, is now in +point of security not inferior to any other city. The revenues of the +city corporation amount to 150,000 dollars, which are, however, found to +be insufficient, and loans are resorted to in order to cover the +expenses. + +When the United States took possession of New Orleans, this town +consisted of 1000 houses, and 8000 inhabitants, black and white. In the +year 1820, it amounted to near 27,000; namely, 8000 white males, 5314 +white females, 1500 foreigners, 2500 men, and 400 women of colour, 3000 +male, and 4,500 female slaves; the population of the parish being then +14,000. In the year 1821, the population was 29,000; in 1822 it had +risen to 32,000; in the present year 1826, it amounts to upwards of +40,000; to be distinguished as follows: 14,500 white males, and 7500 +white females, 1300 foreigners, 3690 free men, and 800 free women of +colour, 5500 male, and 6300 female slaves. The population of the parish +is 15,000. + +As New Orleans, notwithstanding its being 109 miles distant from the +sea, is considered as a seaport, all the officers necessarily connected +with a place of that description reside there, as well as consuls from +every nation, having commercial intercourse with it;--from England, +Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Hamburgh, the Netherlands, France, +Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, with others from the Southern Republics. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view. + + +New Orleans groaned for a long time under the yoke of the most wretched +tyranny; its crowned possessors so far from doing any thing towards the +improvement of a plan which, considered in a commercial light, has not +its equal on the face of the earth, contributed as much as was in their +power to circumscribe it. After two hours rain, every kind of +communication in the city itself was quite impracticable; paving or +lighting the streets was of course out of the question; assassinations +were of almost daily occurrence: but this was not all--the place was to +be a fortress in spite of common sense. It was thought proper to +surround it with a wall eighteen feet wide and pallisadoes, five +bastions, and redoubts, upon which some old cannon were mounted, perhaps +for the purpose of keeping the Indians at a proper distance. The +Americans pulled down those pitiful circumvallations which could have no +other effect than to impede commerce, and erected others in a situation +where they are likely to be of more advantage--along the passes of the +Mississippi and of lake Pontchartrain. The city has improved in an +astonishing degree during the twenty-three years that it has been +incorporated with the United States; indeed much more in proportion than +any other town of the Union, in spite of the yellow fever, the deadly +miasmata, and the myriads of musquitoes; and it has now become one of +the most elegant and wealthy cities of the republic. If, however, we +consider its situation, it is susceptible of still greater improvements, +and it must eventually become, what nature destined it to be, the first +commercial city, and the emporium of America, notwithstanding the +concurrence of many unfavourable circumstances, and the gross +selfishness of its inhabitants. The incredible fertility of Louisiana, +the Egypt of the west, and the fertility of the states of the valley of +the Mississippi in general, which can be duly appreciated only by +personal observation, must render New Orleans one of the most +flourishing cities in the world. There is not a spot on the globe that +presents a more favourable situation for trade. Standing on the extreme +point of the longest river in the world, New Orleans commands all the +commerce of the immense territory of the Mississippi, being the staple +pointed out by nature for the countries watered by this stream, or by +its tributaries--a territory exceeding a million of square miles. You +may travel on board a steam-boat of 300 tons and upwards for an extent +of 1000 miles from New Orleans up the Red river; 1500 miles up the +Arkansas river; 3000 miles up the Missouri and its branches; 1700 miles +on the Mississippi to the falls of St. Anthony; the same distance from +New Orleans up the Illinois; 1200 miles to the north-east from New +Orleans on the big Wabash; 1300 on the Tennessee; 1300 on the +Cumberland, and 2300 miles on the Ohio up to Pittsburgh. Thus New +Orleans has in its rear this immense territory, with a river 4200 miles +long, (including the Missouri)[I]; besides the water communication which +is about to be completed between New York and the river Ohio. The coast +of Mexico, the West India islands, and the half of America to the south, +the rest of America on its left, and the continent of Europe beyond the +Atlantic. New Orleans is beyond a doubt the most important commercial +point on the face of the earth[J]. Although the states along the +Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, the +territories of Missouri, and Arkansas, undoubtedly the finest part of +the Union, have not yet a population of 3,000,000 inhabitants, their +trade with New Orleans may be estimated by the fact, that not less than +1500 keel and flat boats, with nearly a hundred steam vessels, are +engaged every year in the trade with this city. The capital laid out on +these steam-boats amounts alone to above two million of dollars. The +number of vessels that clear out is upward of 1000, which export more +than 200,000 bales of cotton, 25,000 hogsheads of sugar, 17,000 +hogsheads of tobacco, about 1250 tons of lead, with a considerable +quantity of rice, furs, &c. Besides these staple articles, the produce +of the northern states is exported to Mexico, the West Indies, the +Havannah, and South America. The commerce of New Orleans increases +regularly every year in proportion with the improvements in its own +state, and in those of the Mississippi. The wealth accruing to the +country and to the city from this commerce, is out of proportion with +the number of inhabitants. There are many families who, in the course of +a few years, have accumulated a property yielding an income of 50,000 +dollars, and 25,000 is the usual income of respectable planters. No +other place offers such chances for making a fortune in so easy a way. +Plantations and commerce, if properly attended to, are the surest means +of succeeding in the favourite object of man's great pursuit,--"money +making." This accounts for the avidity with which thousands seek New +Orleans, in spite of the yellow fever again making room for thousands in +rapid succession. + +[I] The whole course of the Mississippi exceeds, the Missouri included, +4200 miles. This latter is its principal tributary stream, and superior +in magnitude even to the Mississippi. + +[J] Below New Orleans there is no place well adapted for the site of a +large city. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and + Louisiana.--Creoles.--Anglo-Americans.--French.--Free People of + Colour.--Slaves. + + +At the time of the cession of Louisiana to the United States (1803), +this country with its capital was inhabited by Creoles--descendants of +French settlers. Many reasons as they may have to congratulate +themselves upon their admission into the great political Union, whether +considered in a religious or political point of view, there were, +however, several causes which contributed to render them disaffected to +the measure. This repugnance is far from being removed. The advantages +on both sides were equal, or perhaps greater on the part of the United +States. The central government and the generality of Americans behaved +towards Louisiana in a becoming manner. But there is in the character +of American freedom, especially in the deportment of an American +towards foreigners and strangers in his own country, something +repulsive. It is not the pride of a nobleman accustomed to be obeyed, +nor the natural pride of an Englishman, who carries his sulky temper +along with him, and finds fault with every thing: it is rather the pride +of an adventurer--of an upstart, who exults at his not being a runaway +himself, although the descendant of one. Louisiana immediately after its +cession, was admitted to the full enjoyment of all the advantages +connected with its prerogative, as one of the states of the Union, and +its white natives, the Creoles, were considered as citizens born of the +United States. But the moment the cession was made, crowds of needy +Yankees, and what is worse, Kentuckians, spread all over the country, +attracted by the hope of gain; the latter treating the inhabitants as +little better than a purchased property. Full of prejudice towards the +descendants of a nation, of which they knew little more than the +proverb, "French dog," they, without knowing or condescending to learn +their language, behaved towards these people as if the lands, as well as +the inhabitants, could be seized without ceremony. This was certainly +not the way of thinking, or the conduct of all the northern new comers, +there being amongst them many a useful mechanic, merchant, planter, or +lawyer; but the greater number came with a degree of presumption, which +was in an inverse ratio with their unbounded and absolute ignorance. The +creoles, with a proper sense of their own independence, naturally +retreated from the intercourse of these intruders. On the other hand, +the consequences of an oppressive colonial government, the natural +effects of an enervating and sultry climate, could not fail giving to +the character of the creoles, a certain tone of passiveness, which makes +them an object of interest. They are not capable either of violent +passions, or of strong exertions. Gentle and frugal, they abhor +drunkenness and gluttony. Their eyes are generally black; but without +fire or expression. Their countenances evince neither spirit nor +animation; they can boast of very few men of superior talents. Their +gait and figure are easy, and their colour generally pale. Though unable +to endure great hardships, they are far from being cowards, as the +events of the year 1815, and the numerous duels, sufficiently attest. +The drawbacks from their character are, an overruling passion for +frivolous amusements, an impatience of habit, a tendency for the +luxurious enjoyment of the other sex, without being very scrupulous in +their choice of either the black or the white race. Their greatest +defect, however, is their indifference towards the poor, and towards +their own slaves. They treat the former with cold contempt, and cannot +easily be induced to assist their fellow-creatures. In this respect they +are far inferior to their fellow-citizens of the north, whose example +they may follow with much advantage in many things. The Union has +already changed much, and the restless and active spirit of their +northern fellow-citizens has altered their character, which now partakes +much less of the Sybarite, than it formerly did; still, they can never +be brought to exercise a mechanical trade, which they consider as below +their dignity. The female sex of Louisiana, (the creoles), have in +general an interesting appearance. A black languishing eye, colour +rather too pale, figure of middle size, which partakes of _en bon +point_, and does not exhibit any waist, are the characteristics of the +fair sex. With a great deal of vivacity, they show, however, a proper +sense of decorum. Adultery is seldom known among the better classes, +notwithstanding the many grounds afforded to them by the infidelity of +their husbands. As wives and mothers, they are entitled to every praise; +they are more moderate in their expenses than the northern ladies, and +though always neat and elegantly dressed, they seldom go beyond +reasonable bounds. Several instances are known of their having displayed +a high degree of fortitude. In sickness and danger, they are the +inseparable assistants and companions of their husbands. In literary +education, however, they are extremely deficient; and nothing can be +more tiresome than a literary _tête a tête_ with a Creole lady. They +receive their education in the convent of the Ursalines, where they +learn reading, writing, some female works, and the piano-forte. It is +superfluous to observe, being descendants from the French, that they +are the best dancers in the United States. Americans from other parts of +the Union, may be considered as constituting about three-eighths of the +present population of the state, and of New Orleans. Brother Jonathan is +to be found in all parts of the Union, and properly speaking, nowhere at +home. After having settled in one place, at the distance of 1000 miles +from his late residence, cleared lands, reared houses, farms, &c., he +leaves his spot as soon as a better chance seems to offer itself. He is +an adventurer, who would as soon remove to Mexico, or New South Wales, +provided he could "make money" by the change. Most of those who settled +in Louisiana grew wealthy either as planters or merchants, and really +the wealthiest families of Louisiana are at present Americans from other +parts of the Union, who likewise hold the most important public +stations. The governors, as well as the members of congress, and +senators, have hitherto been Americans, from the very natural reason, +that the creoles could not speak the English language, although some +important offices are filled by the latter. Nothing can exceed or +surpass the suppleness of the Yankey; and the refined Frenchmen, with +all their dexterity, may still profit from them and their kindred. + +The emigrant French are numerous in New Orleans. Among them are many +very respectable merchants, some lawyers, physicians, &c., the greater +part, however, consists of adventurers, hair-dressers, dancing-masters, +performers, musicians, and the like. The French are of all men the least +valuable acquisition for a new state. Of a lavish and wanton temper, +they spend their time in trifles, which are of no importance to any but +themselves. Dancing, fighting, riding, and love-making, are the daily +occupation of these people. Their influence on a new and unsettled +state, whose inhabitants have no correct opinion of true politeness and +manners, is far from being advantageous. Without either religion, +morality, or even education, they pretend to be the leaders of the _bon +ton_, because they came from Paris, and they in general succeed. As for +religion and principles, except a sort of _point d'honneur_, they are +certainly a most contemptible set, and greatly contribute to promote +immorality. There are a great number of Germans in New Orleans. These +people, without being possessed of the smallest resources, embarked +eight or ten years ago, and after having lost one-half, or three-parts +of their comrades during the passage, they were sold as white slaves, or +as they are called, Redemptioners, the moment of their arrival. Thus +mixed with the negroes in the same kind of labour, they experience no +more consideration than the latter; and their conduct certainly deserves +no better treatment. Those who did not escape, were driven away by their +masters for their immoderate drinking; and all, with few exceptions, +were glad to get rid of such dregs. The watchmen and lamp-lighters are +Germans, and hundreds of these people fell victims to the fever, between +the years 1814 and 1822. The rest of the white population consists of +English, Irish, Spaniards, and some Italians, amongst whom are several +respectable houses. + +The free people of colour consist of emancipated slaves; but chiefly of +the offspring of an intercourse between the whites and blacks, the +cause of which is to be sought in the nature of the climate, where +sensual passions are so easily excited. Of these descendants, the +females in particular are very handsome, and generally destined for the +gratification of the wealthier class of the French and the creoles, as +their mothers had been before them. The American seldom or never +indulges in such unrestrained pleasures. He usually marries early, and +remains faithful to his wife. Of a more steady and religious turn, he +pays strict attention to decorum and appearances, with certain isolated +exceptions of course; but in general he is more solicitous and careful +of his public character than the Frenchman, or foreigner, who has seldom +any reputation to lose. + +The negroes form the lowest class. There are certainly found some +amongst them who are entitled to praise for their honesty and fidelity +towards their masters; but thousands, on the other hand, will exhibit +the vicious nature of a debased and slavish character. There is no +doubt, that a malignant and cruel disposition characterises, more or +less, this black race. Whether it be inborn, or the result of slavery, I +leave to others to decide. + +All that can be said in favour of emancipation, may be reduced in the +compass of these few words: In the present state of things, if the +general cultivation of Louisiana, and the southern states, is to proceed +successfully, emancipation is impossible. In this climate, no white +person could stand the labour; the act of emancipation itself, +treacherous and barbarous as the slaves are, would subject their former +masters to certain destruction and death. We are, indeed, very far +behind hand in the study of the human character, and of the different +gradations of the human species. Unjust, as it assuredly was, to traffic +in fellow-creatures, as though they were so many heads of cattle, it is +equally unjust now to infringe upon a property which has been +transmitted from generation to generation, and which time has +sanctioned, without adopting some method of public compensation. All +that should be required is, that the slaves be treated with humanity--a +law might be enacted to that effect. The slaves will then be improved, +and become ripe for a state of emancipation, which may be granted at a +future period, without danger or inconvenience to their masters. + +It is, however, to be regretted, that the slave population of Louisiana +are not so well treated as in the north. The cupidity of their masters, +and their solicitude to make a rapid fortune, subject those poor +wretches to an oppressive labour, which they are hardly able to endure. +They revolted in Louisiana on three occasions, and several white persons +fell victims to their vengeance; they were, however, easily subdued, and +the example set by the executions, contributed to restore tranquillity. +It is impossible to form an idea of the degree of jealousy with which +the southern population watch and defend their rights, touching this +point. A question upon the right of a slave, as a human being, is almost +one of life and death; and lawyers, whenever they presume to defend +slaves, and to hint at their rights, are in imminent danger of being +stoned like Jews. Not long ago, a gentleman of the bar, Mr. D--e, was +very near meeting this fate. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + Public Spirit.--Education.--State of Religious Worship.--Public + Entertainments, Theatres, Balls, &c. + + +Heterogeneous as this population may seem, and as it really is, in +manners, language, and principles, they all agree in one point--the +pursuit after--"money." Americans, English, French, Germans, Spaniards, +all come hither--to make money, and to stay here as long as money is to +be made. Half the inhabitants may be said to be regularly settled; the +rest are half-settlers. Merchants, store-keepers, remain only until +they have amassed a fortune answering their expectations, and then +remove to their former houses. Others reside here during the winter, to +carry on business, and retire to the north in the month of May. That is +the case with all the Yankee commission merchants. This has, of course, +a sensible and an extensive influence upon the public, and may explain +why New Orleans, though one of the wealthiest cities of the Union, is so +backward in mental improvement. Even the better Anglo-American families +disdain to spend their money in the country where they have earned it, +and prefer removing to the north. The institutions for education are +consequently inferior to those of any city of equal extent and less +wealth, such as Richmond, and even Albany. The only literary institution +in the state of Louisiana, the college of New Orleans, is now +established, and is intended to be revived at some distance from the +capital. Free schools are now (1826) formed in the city, after the +manner of the northern states, with a president and professors; and by +and bye they will be extended to the rest of the state. Another college, +still inferior to the above-mentioned, is superintended by the Catholic +clergy. Excepting the elements of reading, writing, mathematics, and +latin, it affords no intellectual information. The best of these +schools is kept by Mr. Shute, rector of the Episcopalian church, an +enlightened and clever man, who fully deserves the popularity he has +acquired. Reading, writing, geography, particular and universal history, +are taught under his tuition, and in his own rectory. This school, and +other private ones where the rudiments are taught, comprehend all the +establishments for education in the state. + +With respect to the female sex, the creoles are educated by the nuns; +the Protestant young ladies by some boarding-school mistresses, partly +French, partly Americans, who come from the north. The better classes of +the Anglo-Americans, however, prefer sending their daughters to a +northern establishment, where they remain for two years, and then return +to their homes. Among the charitable institutions must be mentioned the +Poydras Asylum for young orphan girls, founded in 1804, by Mr. Poydras. +The legislature voted 4000 dollars towards it. Sixty girls are now +educating in this asylum. Upon the same plan, is a second asylum for +boys, where, in 1825, forty were admitted. These, besides the hospital, +are the only public institutions for the benefit of the poor. New +Orleans has eight newspapers; among these the State, and two other +papers, are published in English and French, a fourth in the Spanish, +and the rest in the English. The best of them is the Louisiana +Advertiser. + +There is not a place in the Union where religion is so little attended +to as in New Orleans. For a population of 40,000 inhabitants, it has +only four churches; Philadelphia, with 120,000 inhabitants, reckons +upwards of eighty; New York upwards of sixty. The city of Pittsburgh, +with a population of 10,000 souls, has ten churches, far superior to +those in New Orleans. Among the Protestant churches, the high church is +best provided for, and the members of this congregation are said to be +liberal, which they are generally found to be. They have recently +finished a rectory for their minister, and show that liberality which so +eminently distinguishes them. Of the Presbyterians we have spoken +before. Though they would run ten times on a Sunday to church, and hear +even as many sermons, yet they neither pay their minister, who by the +bye is far from being an amiable character, nor redeem their church out +of the hands of Israel, but prefer keeping their money to contributing +towards such objects. + +The creoles, who are Catholics, seldom visit their church, and when they +do, it is only at Easter. They have a very learned bishop, named +Dubourgh, a Frenchman, who is not however very popular, and is spoken of +for his gallantries, though a man of sixty. It is whispered about that +there is a living proof of this. A more religious character is Pere +Antoine, a highly distinguished old Capuchin friar, enjoying universal +love and popularity. The manner in which I saw the Governor and the city +authorities, with the most respectable persons of the county, behave +towards him, does as much credit to them as to the object of their +consideration. + +Of the two theatres, the American is open during five, and the French +during eight months in the year. The American theatre has the advantage +of becoming more and more national and popular, although at present it +is only resorted to by the lower class of the American population; +boatmen, Kentuckians, Mississippi traders, and backwoods-men of every +description. The pieces are execrably performed. The late Charles Von +Weber would not have been much delighted at witnessing the performance +of his Der Freyshutz, here metamorphosed into the wild huntsmen of +Bohemia. Six violins, which played any thing but music, and some voices +far from being human, performed the opera, which was applauded; the +Kentuckians expressed their satisfaction in a hurrah, which made the +very walls tremble. The interior of the theatre has still a mean +appearance. The curtain consists of two sail cloths, and the horrible +smell of whiskey and tobacco is a sufficient drawback for any person who +would attempt to frequent this place of amusement. The French theatre +performs the old classic productions of Corneille, Racine, Voltaire, +with the addition of some new ones, such as Regulus, Marie Stuart, and +William Tell. The best performer of this theatre, is Madame Clauzel. + +Towards the close of December, the carnival commences; society balls, +masquerades, or routs, besides a number of private balls, are then the +order of the day. The first, the third, and the last masquerade, and the +society balls, are the most splendid. They are regularly attended by the +daughters of the merchants and planters, who at this time come to the +city. There is, however, nothing more tiresome than a masked ball in New +Orleans. Some young merchants, and sons of planters, took it into their +heads to assume the character of poor paddies, and they dressed +themselves accordingly. This would have been for the most unaccomplished +American or English Miss, a fair opportunity for displaying at least +some wit. But the creole Demoiselles, when addressed by their lovers, +had not a word to say, except, "Oh, we know that you are no Paddies--You +are very respectable--You are the wealthy C." Another would say, "Oh, I +know that you are not an Irishman--You are the rich Y." This was the +conversation all round. Still more tedious are the public balls given +in commemoration of the eighth of January, on the anniversary of the +birth-day of Washington, &c. Until last year, and owing to the shyness +of the creoles towards their new brothers, the Americans and creoles +stood with their ladies apart, neither speaking nor dancing with one +another. Last year both parties seemed willing to draw nearer to each +other. Even these entertainments, as well as more important affairs, are +very subordinate to the all-powerful desire of "making money." This is +the final object of every one, and on every occasion. Any pursuit of a +different tendency than that of gaining money, is neglected, and deemed +unworthy of consideration. That which every town of 2000 inhabitants is +now provided with, a reading-room and circulating library, you would +seek in vain at New Orleans. Though the Anglo-Americans attempted to +establish such an institution, which is indispensable in a great +commercial city, it failed through the unwillingness of the creoles to +trouble their heads with reading. Churches or theatres are not more +patronised. To improve the moral condition is far from their thoughts, +every one being bent upon--making money, as quickly as possible, in +order the sooner to leave the place. New Orleans, considering its +situation, should again be what it was lately, were it not for the +detestable selfishness which pervades all classes, and has established a +dominion over the mind, as painful as it is disgusting. The complaints +about luxury are unfounded. The wealthy inhabitants live by no means in +such high style as they do at New York, Boston, and even Richmond, upon +a less income. There is no cause for finding fault with their +extravagance, or their dissolute manners, not because they have better +moral principles, but because they are too selfish to indulge in +pleasures that would cost "money," and would mar their principal object, +which is to amass it. The American from the north, whilst he inhabits +New Orleans, lives in a style far inferior to that in which he indulges +at home; and even if he be a permanent settler, he chooses rather to go +to the north in order to spend his money there. Only three American +houses can be said to receive good company, the rest are creoles. The +living in New Orleans, however, is good, though expensive. Board and +lodging in a respectable house, will cost sixty dollars a month; in an +inferior one, forty. The proper season of business for strangers, and +those not accustomed to the climate, is the winter. In the summer, every +one retires to the north, or across the lake, only such persons +remaining as are compelled from circumstances to do so. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + The Climate of Louisiana.--The Yellow Fever. + + +That a country, the fourth part of which consists of marshes, stagnant +waters, rivers, and lakes, and which is so near the torrid zone, cannot +be altogether healthy, is not to be denied. Although Louisiana is not so +salubrious a country as the creoles or settlers inured to the climate, +would persuade us that it is; on the other hand it is not the seat of +the plague, or of continued disease, as the North Americans or Europeans +imagine. Louisiana is no doubt a most agreeable country during the +winter and spring. The former commences in December, and continues +through January. Rains and showers will sometimes fall, during several +successive weeks, snow very seldom. North and north-east winds prevail; +a south wind will occasionally change the temperature, on a sudden, from +a northern April day to the heat of summer. The coldest winter +experienced for twenty years past, was that of the year 1821; the +gutters were choked up with ice, and water exposed in buckets, froze to +the thickness of an inch and a half. Fahrenheit's thermometer fell to +20° below zero. In this year, the orange, lime, and even fig-trees were +destroyed by the frost. + +Towards the close of January the Mississippi rises, and the ice of the +Ohio breaks up. This river, seldom, however, causes an inundation. This +is generally reserved for the Missouri, the principal river that empties +itself into the Mississippi. With the month of February the spring +breaks forth in Louisiana. Frequent rains fall in this month, the +vegetation advances astonishingly, and the trees receive their new +foliage. On the 1st of March we had potatoes grown in the open fields, +pease, beans, and artichokes. South winds prevail alternately with +north-west winds. The month of March is undoubtedly the finest season in +Louisiana; there are sometimes night frosts, though scarcely felt by any +one except the creoles, and the equally tender orange flowers. The +thermometer is in this month at 68°-70°. At this time prevails a +disease, the influenza, which arises from the sudden alternations of +cold and warm weather; it has carried off several persons. It is always +necessary to wear cotton shirts, whether in cold or warm weather. +Towards the close of March, the fruit-trees have done blooming, the +forests are clad in their new verdure, and all nature bursts out in the +most exuberant vegetation; every thing develops itself in the country +with gigantic strides. Already the musquitoes are beginning to make +their troublesome appearance, and musquito bars become necessary. Still +the heat is moderate, being cooled by the north winds and the refreshing +waters of the Mississippi. May brings with it the heat of a northern +summer, moderated however, by cooling north and north-east breezes. The +thermometer is at 78° to 80°. At this season, frequent showers and +hurricanes coming from the south, rage with the utmost fury in those +extensive plains. With the month of June the heats become oppressive; +there is not a breath of air to be felt; the musquitos come in millions; +one is incessantly pursued by those troublesome insects. The worst, +however, is, that they will sometimes force their way through the +musquito bars. Nothing is more disagreeable than this buzzing sound, and +the pain occasioned by their sting; they keep you from sleeping the +whole night. Still they are not so troublesome as the millepedes, an +insect whose sting causes a most painful sensation. In the month of July +the heat increases. August, September, and October, are dangerous months +in New Orleans. A deep silence reigns during this time in the city, most +of the stores and magazines are shut up. No one is to be seen in the +streets in the day time except negroes and people of colour. No carriage +except the funeral hearse. At the approach of evening the doors open, +and the inhabitants pour forth, to enjoy the air, and to walk on the +Levee above and below the city. The yellow fever has not made its +appearance since 1822. It is not the extraordinary heat which causes +this baneful disease, the temperature seldom exceeding 100°. In the year +1825, when the thermometer rose in New York and Boston above 108°, it +was in New Orleans, no more than 97°. It is the pestilential miasmata +which rise from the swamps and marshes, and infect the air to a degree +which it is difficult to describe. These oppressive exhalations load the +air, and it is almost impossible to draw breath. If a breeze comes at +all, it is a south wind, which, from its baneful influence, exhausts the +last remaining force after throwing you into a dreadful state of +perspiration. The years 1811, 1814, and 1823, were the most terrible of +any for New Orleans. From sixty to eighty persons were buried every day, +and nothing was to be seen but coffins carried about on all sides. Whole +streets in the upper suburb, (inhabited chiefly by Americans and +Germans) were cleared of their inhabitants, and New Orleans was +literally one vast cemetery. Among the inhabitants, the poorer classes +were mostly exposed to the attacks of the unsparing and deadly disease, +as their situation did not permit them to stay at home; thus women were +for this reason, less exposed to its effects; and least of all the +wealthiest inhabitants, who were not compelled to quit their dwellings. +The creoles and others who were seasoned to the climate, were little +affected. The creole, mulatto, and negro women, are said to be the most +skilful in the cure of the disease. In 1822, hundreds of patients died +under the hands of the most experienced physicians, when these old women +commonly succeeded in restoring their own patients. Their preservatives +and medicines are as simple as they are efficacious, and every stranger +who intends to stay the summer in New Orleans, should make himself +acquainted with one of these women, in case a necessity should arise for +requiring their attendance. They give such ample proofs of their +superior skill, as to claim in this point a preference over the ablest +physicians. + +The inhabitants are in general forewarned of the approaching disease, by +the swarms of musquitoes; although they come in sufficient quantity +every summer, they make their appearance in infinitely greater numbers +previously to a yellow fever. + +This is said to have been the case on the three occasions already +mentioned. At such a time all business is of course suspended. The port +is empty, the stores are shut up. Those officers alone whose presence is +indispensable, or who have overcome the yellow fever, will remain with a +set of wretches, who, like beasts of prey feed upon the relics of the +dead, speculating upon the misery of their fellow creatures so far, as +not unfrequently to buy at auctions the very beds upon which they have +been known to expire in a few days afterwards. The first rain, succeeded +by a little frost, banishes the deadly guest, and every one returns to +his former business. + +It is to be hoped, that this scourge of the land, if it should not be +wholly extirpated, will at least become less prevalent for the future. +The police regulations adopted during the last four years, have proved +very effectual. Among these are a strict attention to cleanliness, +watering the streets by means of the gutters, shutting up the grog-shops +after nine o'clock; and removing from the city all the poor and +houseless people, at the expense of the corporation, as soon as the +least indication of approaching infection is perceived. These, and +several other wise regulations will, it is hoped, contribute greatly to +increase the population, and to give the new comers a firmer guarantee +for their lives, than they have hitherto found. When the plans in +contemplation shall have been carried into effect, and the swamps behind +the city drained, a measure the more beneficial, as the soil of these +swamps is beyond all imagination fertile; then the surrounding country, +and the city itself, will become as healthy as any other part of the +Union. With the increasing population, we have no doubt, that Louisiana +will present the same features, as Egypt in former days, bearing, as +it does, the most exact resemblance to that country. During six +months, and already at the present time, it is a delightful place, +successfully resorted to from the north, by persons in a weak state of +health. The mildness of the climate, which even during the two winter +months, is seldom interrupted by frost, the most luxuriant tropical +fruits--bananas, pine-apples, oranges, lemons, figs, cocoa-nuts, &c., +partly reared in the country, partly imported in ship loads from the +Havannah, a distance of only a few hundred miles; excellent oysters, +turtle of the best kind, arriving every hour; fish from the lake +Pontchartrain; game, venison of all sorts; vegetables of the finest +growth,--all these advantages give New Orleans a superiority over almost +every other place. Sobriety, temperance, and moderation in the use of +sensual enjoyments, and especially in the intercourse with the sex, with +a strict attention to the state of health, and an instant resort to the +necessary preservatives in case of derangement in the digestive +system,--such are the precautions that will best enable a stranger to +guard against the attacks of the disorders incident to this place. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.--Planters, Farmers, Merchants, and + Mechanics. + + +Whoever emigrates from a northern to a southern climate, experiences +more or less a change in his constitution; his blood is thinned, and in +a state of greater effervescence, and his frame weakened in consequence. +The least derangement in the digestive system in this case, produces a +bilious fever. + +The new comers emigrating to Louisiana, are either planters, farmers, +merchants, or mechanics. The former, being more or less wealthy, come +for the purpose of establishing themselves, and usually buy sugar or +cotton lands, on the banks of the Mississippi, or Red-river, which, +though in general healthy, are, on the other hand, a sure grave to those +who neglect taking the necessary precautions. Planters descend to +Louisiana in the winter months; but as the heat increases every moment, +and has a debilitating effect upon their bodies, accustomed to a cold +climate, they attempt to counterbalance this weakness by an excessive +use of spirituous liquors, to promote digestion. Notwithstanding bad +omens, and in spite of the advice of their more experienced neighbours, +their mania for making money keeps them there during the summer, and +they fall victims to their avidity for gain. + +Whoever intends to establish a plantation in Louisiana, has the free +choice between the low lands on the Mississippi, or the Red-river. There +are upwards of 200,000 acres of sugar lands still unoccupied. He may +settle himself on the banks of the above-mentioned rivers, without the +least fear, the yellow fever seldom or never penetrating to the +plantations. Thousands of planters live and continue there without +experiencing any attack of sickness. After having bought his lands, and +obtained possession, he may stay till the month of May, taking the +necessary measures for the improvement of the plantation, leave his +directions with his overseer, and remove to the north. His house, if +along the banks of the Mississippi, should be built not far from the +river, in order that he may enjoy the cooling freshness of its waters. +In the rear of his plantation, and about his house, he sows the seed of +sun-flowers, to preserve his slaves from the morning and night +exhalations of the swamps; a measure which, trifling as it may seem, +will have an incredible effect in improving the air. + +With a capital of 25,000 dollars, 5,500_l._ sterling, he may purchase at +the present time, 2,000 acres of land, for a sum of from 3 to 4,000 +dollars, and thirty stout slaves for 15,000 dollars; there will remain +7,000 for his first year's expenses. The establishment of a sugar +plantation amounts to not more than the above stated sum of 25,000 +dollars. The produce of the third year, if the plantation be properly +managed, amounts to 150,000 pounds of sugar, valued at 12,000 dollars, +besides the molasses, the sale of which will cover the household +expenses; each negro, therefore, yielding a clear annual income of 400 +dollars. + +Failures in sugar crops in plantations along the banks of the +Mississippi, never occur, except beyond 30° 30' of north latitude. The +planter, however, cannot expect any thing in the first year from his +sugar fields; the canes yielding produce only eighteen months after +having been planted. The planting takes place from August until +December, by means of eye-slips. The process at the sugar-houses is +sufficiently known. These plantations, if well managed and well attended +to, are, owing to the great and constant demand for sugar, the surest +way of realising a capital, though the management requires considerable +care and attention. + +Cotton plantations are not to be judged according to the same estimate. +A cotton plantation may now be established by means of a capital of +10,000 dollars. 3000 dollars for the purchase of 1500 or 2000 acres of +land, on the banks of the Mississippi, from Baton Rouge up to the +Walnut-hills, on both sides of the river; or what is still preferable, +on the banks of the Red-river. Ten slaves at 5000 dollars, leaves 2000 +for the first year's current expenses. The beginner will not find it +difficult to clear fifty acres in the first twelve months; and to raise +from twenty-five acres, thirty bales of cotton, the produce of which +will, with the crop of corn from the remaining twenty-five acres, keep +him for the first year, the cotton alone being worth 1500 dollars, +independently of the corn. The following year he may raise sixty bales, +giving an income of 3000 dollars, every slave thereby yielding about 300 +dollars; proceeding thus in a manner which in a few years more will +render his income equal to his original capital. + +There are still unappropriated above two millions of acres of cotton +lands, of the very first quality, in the state of Louisiana; and though +it sometimes happens that the plants are killed by the frosts, as was +the case in the spring of 1826, these accidents seldom affect the +profits. The management of a cotton plantation is by no means +difficult, as it differs but little from that bestowed upon Indian corn, +and requires only a strict superintendence over the negroes. + +The cultivation of indigo has latterly been neglected, though 200,000 +acres of land in the state of Louisiana are well adapted for it. This +neglect was occasioned by the injurious effects produced upon the +labourer by the watering of the plants, and the exhalations from them. + +The cultivation of rice is more extensive. There are 200,000 acres +unoccupied. Planters generally combine the cultivation of this plant +with that of cotton or sugar. Tobacco of a superior quality is reared +about Natchitoches and Alexandria; the produce is little inferior to +that of Cuba. The price of a stout male negro is 500 dollars; if a +mechanic, from 6 to 900 dollars; females from 350 to 400 dollars; so +that 5000 dollars will purchase five men, two of them mechanics, and +five stout women, and enable their master at once to set about a +plantation, which will, in the course of three years, double the capital +of the owner, without his exposing himself to any risk. + +The easy way in which the planters of Louisiana are found to accumulate +wealth, excites in every one the desire of pursuing the same road, +without having the necessary means at command. Hundreds of respectable +farmers have paid with their lives for a neglect of this truth. +Instigated by the anxiety to become rich, and unable withal to purchase +slaves, they were under the necessity of labouring for themselves. The +consequence was, they shortly fell victims to their mistaken notions. +One can only be seasoned by degrees to the climate of Louisiana. To +force the march of time and habit, is impossible. The more stout and +healthy the person, the greater the risk. People who, allured by the +prospect of wealth, would attempt to work in this climate as they were +used to do in the north, would fall sick and die, without having +provided for their children, who are then forced upon the charity of +strangers. There are many tracts of second-rate land, equal to land of +the best quality in the northern states, in the west and east of +Louisiana, which are perfectly healthy, and where farmers of less +property may buy lands, and establish labour and corn farms, or raise +cattle in abundance. Those who have proceeded in this way, which is more +proportioned to their means, have never failed to acquire in the course +of time, a large fortune, as by the open water communication the produce +can easily be conveyed to New Orleans, where, in the summer, they find a +ready and advantageous market. These parts have hitherto been too much +neglected, to which circumstance it is greatly owing that New Orleans, +at certain seasons, is almost destitute of provisions, when the waters +of the tributary rivers of the Mississippi, Ohio, &c., are low. + +A third class of settlers in Louisiana are merchants. New Orleans has +unfortunately the credit of being a place to which wealth flows in +streams, and it is consequently the resort of all adventurers from +Europe and America, who come hither in the expectation, that they have +only to be on the spot to make money. Thousands of these ill-fated +adventurers have lost their lives in consequence. It is true, that most +of the wealthy merchants were needy adventurers, who began with scarcely +a dollar in their pockets, as pedlars, who sold pins and glass beads to +the Indians. But the surest way for the merchant who wishes to begin +with a small capital, will always be to settle in one of the smaller +towns, Francisville, Alexandria, Natchitoches, Baton Rouge, &c. Those +who have followed this course grew wealthy in a short time. I admit +there is an exception with respect to such as have a sufficient capital +to begin business with in the city itself, or to embark in commercial +relation with Great Britain, the north of the Union, or the continent of +Europe. + +The commission trade is advantageous in the extreme; and the clear +income realised in commercial business by several merchants, amounts to +50,000 dollars a year. All the French, English, and Spaniards, who have +established themselves in this place, have become rich, especially if +the individuals of the latter nations were conversant with the French +language. + +For manufacturers, there is in New Orleans little prospect. In a slave +state, where of course hard labour is performed only by slaves, whose +food consists of Indian corn, and at the most, of salt meat, and their +dress of cotton trowsers, or a blanket rudely adapted to their shapes, +the mechanic cannot find sufficient customers. Half of the inhabitants +have no need of his assistance; and as he cannot renounce his habits of +living on wheat flour, fresh meat, &c., provisions which at certain +seasons are very dear in New Orleans, his existence there must be very +precarious. The charges are proportionably enormous. The price for the +making of a great coat, is from fourteen to sixteen dollars; of a coat, +from ten to twelve dollars. The greatest part of the inhabitants, +therefore, buy their own dresses ready made in the north. The wealthy +alone employ these mechanics. + +There are yet several trades which would answer well in New Orleans, +such as clever tailors, confectioners, &c. But as almost every article +is brought into this country, the mechanics have rather a poor chance of +succeeding, and if not provided with a sufficient capital, they are +exposed to great penury until they can find customers. This class of +people are very little respected, and hardly more so than the people of +colour in Louisiana. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + Geographical Features of the State of Louisiana.--Conclusion. + + +Louisiana lies under the same degree of north latitude as Egypt, and +bears a striking resemblance to that country. Their soil, their climate, +and their very rivers, exhibit the same features, with the exception, +that the Mississippi runs from north to south, whereas the Nile takes an +opposite course. Close to the eastern bank of the former, we find a +continued series of Cyprus, swamps, and lakes, sometimes intersected by +a tributary stream of the Mississippi, with elevated banks or hills. +Farther towards the east are large tracts of lands, with pinewoods +stretching towards the river Mobile, which resembles the Mississippi in +every thing, except in size. Further southward, between the Mississippi +and Mobile, we find the rivers Amite, Tickfah, Tangipao, Pearl, +Pascagola, emptying themselves into a chain of lakes and swamps, running +in a south-east direction from the Mississippi to the mouth of the +Mobile. Further to the westward is the Mississippi in its meandering +course, its banks lined with plantations from Natchez to New Orleans, +each plantation extending half a mile back to the swamps. South of New +Orleans, is another chain of swamps, lakes, and bayons, terminating in +the gulf of Mexico. West of the Mississippi, a multitude of rivers flow +in a thousand windings, lined with impenetrable forests of cyprus, +cotton trees, and cedars, intermixed with canebrack and the palmetta. In +this labyrinth of rivers, the Red-river, the Arkansas, the White-river, +and Tensaw rivers are seen meandering. Farther east are the immense +prairies of Opelausas, and Attacapas, interspersed here and there with +rising farms, forests along the banks of the Red-river, and more to the +westward the great prairies, the resort of innumerable buffaloes and of +every kind of game. The Red-river, like the Mississippi, forms an +impenetrable series of swamps and lakes. Beyond this river are seen +pinewoods, from which issues the Ouachitta, losing itself afterwards in +the Delta of the Mississippi. Beyond these pine woods, in a north +western direction, rise the Mazernes mountains, extending from the east +to west 200 miles, and forming the boundary line between east and west +Louisiana. To the north and west of the Red-river, the country is dry +and healthy, but of inferior quality; to the east we find a chain of +lakes; to the south another chain. In summer they dry up, thus affording +fine pasturage to buffaloes. In autumn, with the rising of the rivers, +they again fill with water. Southward is a continued lake, intermixed +with swamps, which terminate at last in the gulph of Mexico. + +Louisiana, though the smallest of the states and territories formed out +of the ancient Louisiana, is by far the most important, and the central +point of the western commonwealth. Its boundaries are, on the south, the +Gulph of Mexico; on the west, the Mexican province of Tecas; on the +north, the Arkansas territory, and the state of Mississippi; and on the +east, the state of Mississippi, and Mexico. The number of inhabitants +amounts to 190,000, 106,000 of whom are people of colour. The +constitution of the state inclines to Federal. The governor, the +senators, and the representatives, in order to be eligible, must be +possessed of landed property--the former to the amount of at least 5000 +dollars, the next 1000, and the latter 500. Every citizen of the state +is qualified to vote. The government in this, as well as in every other +state, is divided into three separate branches. The chief magistrate of +the state is elected for the term of four years. Under him he has a +secretary of state. The present governor is an Anglo-American; Mr. +Johnson, the secretary, is a Creole. + +The legislative branch is composed of the senators, and of the house of +representatives. The former consists of sixteen members, elected for the +term of four years. They choose from among themselves a president, who +takes the place of the governor, in case of the demise of the +latter.[K] The house of representatives consists of forty-four members, +headed by a speaker; the court of justice of three judges of the +district court, a supreme judge of the criminal court of New Orleans, +and eight district judges, with an equal number of district attorneys. +The sessions are held every Monday. The parish and county courts have +twenty-eight county or parish judges, twenty-six sheriffs, and 159 +lawyers, to assist them in their labours. In a political view, the +acquisition of Louisiana is no doubt the most important occurrence in +the United States since the revolution; and, considered altogether, it +may be called a second revolution. Independently of the pacific +acquisition of a country containing nearly a million and a half of +square miles, with the longest river in the world flowing through a +valley several thousand miles in length and breadth, their geographical +position is now secured, and they form, since the further acquisition +of Florida, a whole and compact body, with a coast extending upwards of +1000 miles along the gulph of Mexico, and 500 miles on the Pacific +ocean. Whether the vast increase of wealth amassed by most of those who +settled on the banks of the Mississippi will prove strong enough to +retain this political link unbroken, is very much to be doubted. It is +very clear that the inhabitants of the valley of the Mississippi, and +especially of Louisiana, entertain a feeling of estrangement from their +northern fellow citizens. + +[K] The governor of Louisiana has 5000 dollars a year: the governors of +other states either 2 or 3000 dollars. According to the American money, +four dollars forty-four cents make a pound: a dollar has 100 cents. + +With the exception of a number of respectable Americans, Louisiana and +the valley of the Mississippi have hitherto been the refuge of all +classes of foreigners, good and bad, who sought here an asylum from +oppression and poverty, or from the avenging arm of justice in their +native countries. Many have not succeeded in their expectations--many +have died--others returned, exasperated against a country which had +disappointed their hopes, because they expected to find superior beings, +and discovered that they were men neither worse nor better than their +habits, propensities, country, climate, and a thousand other +circumstances had made them. The fault was theirs. Though there exists +not, perhaps, a country in the world where a fortune can be made in an +easier way, yet it cannot be made without industry, steadiness, and a +small capital to begin with--things in which these people were mostly +deficient. And there is another circumstance not to be lost sight of. +Whoever changes his country should have before him a complete view and a +clear idea of the state in which he intends to settle, as well as of the +rest of the Union: he ought to depend upon his own means, on himself in +short, and not upon others. Upon no other terms will prosperity and +happiness attend the emigrant's exertions in the United States. The +foreign mechanic who, emigrating into the United States, selects the +states of New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio, will find sufficient +occupation, his trade respected, and his industry rewarded by wealth and +political consequence. The manufacturer with a moderate capital, will +choose Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and the like places. The merchant who is +possessed of 2 or 3000 dollars, and settles in Ohio, in the north +western part of Pennsylvania, or over in Illinois, will, if he be +prudent and steady, have no reason to complain of the Yankees. The +farmer, with a capital of from 3 to 4000 dollars, will fix upon the +state of Ohio, in preference to any other, especially if he comes +accompanied only by his own family, and is therefore obliged to rely on +the friendly assistance of his neighbours. He will there prefer the +lands adjacent to navigable rivers, or to the rise of the new canal. If +he goes beyond Ohio, he will find eligible situations in Illinois, and +in Missouri. Any one who can command a capital exceeding 10,000 dollars, +who is not incumbered with a large family, and whose mind does not +revolt at the idea of being the owner of slaves, will choose the state +of Mississippi, or of Louisiana, and realize there in a short time a +fortune beyond his most sanguine expectations. He has his choice there +of the unsold lands along the Mississippi, and Red-river, in the +parishes of Plaquemines or Bayon Bastier; in the interior, of La +Fourche, Iberville, Attacapas, Opelousas, Rapides, Nachitoches, +Concordia, New Feliciana, and all the way up the Mississippi, to +Walnut-hills, four hundred miles above New Orleans. All that has been +urged against the unhealthiness of the country may be answered in these +few words. Louisiana, though not at every season of the year equally +salubrious, is far healthier than Cuba, Jamaica, and the West Indies in +general. Thousands of people live free from the attacks of any kind of +fever. On the plantations there is not the least danger.--In New Orleans +the yellow fever has not appeared these four years past, and the place +is so far from being unhealthy now, that the mortality for the last +three years was less in this place than in Boston, New York and +Philadelphia. Cleanliness, sobriety, a strict attention to the digestive +system, and the avoiding of strong liquors, and exposure to heat, or to +the rising miasmata, will keep every one as healthy in Louisiana as any +where else. The neglect of proper precautions will cause as serious +inconvenience in Louisiana as in any other country. This is the real +condition of the state, and those acquainted with it will readily bear +testimony to the correctness of my opinion, that it holds out not only +to British emigrants, but also to capitalists of that country, +advantages far surpassing those of their own vast dominions in any +quarter of the globe. + +In Louisiana they should embark a part of their capital, not in land +speculations, or in buying extensive tracts, which they have to sell in +the course of time in small parcels, but in plantations. These are +sources of wealth far superior to the gold mines of Mexico, and are +guaranteed by a firm constitution, and by the character and the habits +of a liberal people, taken in the whole, whatever John Bull may have to +say against it. In this manner may the said John Bull still reap the +reward of his having formed and maintained the first settlements in the +United States, at a vast expense of blood and treasure. + +This would be the means of drawing closer the now rather relaxed ties +which formerly united him with his kinsman, for Brother Jonathan is +neither so bad as John Bull supposes him to be, nor so faultless as he +fancies himself.--_Medium tenuere beati._ + + +THE END. + + + + + TABLE + + OF THE + + STATES, COUNTIES, CITIES, TOWNS, AND VILLAGES. + + + _Pittsburgh_, county town of _Alleghany_ county. + + _Alleghany_ (river), _Monongehela_ (river). + + _Oeconomy_, Rapp's Settlement in Beaver county. + + _Zanesville_, capital of _Muskiagum_ county. + + _New Lancaster_, capital of _Fairfield_ county. + + _Columbus_, capital of the State of _Ohio_. + + _Chilicothe_, capital of the _Sciota_ county. + + _Franklintown_, capital of _Franklin_ county. + + _Cincinnati_, capital of _Hamilton_ county. + + _Newport_, capital of _Campbell_ county, in _Kentucky_. + + _Vevay_, capital of _New Switzerland_ county, in the State of + _Indiana_. + + _Madisonville_, capital of _Jefferson_ county. + + _Charlestown_, capital of _Clark_ county. + + _Jeffersonville_, capital of _Floyd_ county. + + _Clarkesville_ and _New Albany_, villages of _Floyd_ county. + + _Louisville_, capital of _Jefferson_ county, in _Kentucky_. + + _Shippingport_ and _Portland_, villages. + + _Troy_, capital of _Crawford_ county. + + _Owensborough_, capital of _Henderson_ county. + + _Harmony_, in _Indiana_, second settlement of _Rapp_, purchased + 1823, by _Owen_, of _Lanark_. + + _Shawneetown_, in the State of _Illinois_. + + _Fort Massai_, in the State of _Illinois_. + + _Golconda_, capital of _Pope_ county. + + _Vienna_, capital of _Johnson_ county. + + _America_, capital of _Alexander_ county. + + _Trinity_, village of _Alexander_. + + _Kaskakia_, _Cahokia_, towns of _Illinois_. + + _Vandalia_, capital of the State of _Illinois_. + + _Hamburgh_, village in _Illinois_. + + _Cape Girardeau_, capital of the county of the same name. + + _St. Genevieve_ and _Herculaneum_, towns of the State of _Missouri_. + + _City of St. Louis_, capital of _Missouri_ (the state). + + _New Madrid_, capital of _New Madrid_ county. + + _Tennessee_, State of + + _Nashville_, _Knoxville_, towns of _Tennessee_, and _New + Ereesborough_, capital of the State. + + _Hopefield_, capital of _Hempstead_ county. + + _St. Helena_, village of _Arkansas_ territory. + + _Vixburgh_, capital of _Warren_ county. + + _Warrington_, village of _Warren_ county. + + _Palmyra Plantations_, _Bruinsburgh_, _Natchez_ (city of), in the + State of _Mississippi_. + + _Gibsonport_, capital of _Gibson_ county. + + _Baton Rouge_, _Plaquemines_, _Manchac_, _Bayon_, _Tourche_, the + former the capital of the county, and the latter bayons. + + _New Orleans_ (city of), the capital of _Louisiana_. + +IN CHAPTER XIX. THE FOLLOWING RIVERS OCCUR. + + _Mobile_--the rivers _Amite_, _Tickfah_, _Tangipao_, _Pearl_, + _Pascaguala_, _Arkansas_, _White_ and _Red-River_, _Tensaw_. + + _Plaquemines_, _Interior of la Tourche_, _Iberville_, _Attacapas_, + _Opelousas_, _Rapides_, _Natchitoches_, _Concordia_, _Avoyelles_, + _New Feliciana_, _Parishes of Louisiana_. + +N.B. The Counties in the State of Louisiana, are called Parishes. + + + _Printed by Bradbury & Dent, Bolt-court, Fleet-street._ + + +Transcriber's Note + +Minor errors in punctuation are corrected silently. + +In the final table of place names, 'New Ereesborough' is referred to +as the state capital of Tennessee. This seems a corruption of +'Murfreesborough', which was the capital until 1826. + +The following issues, which were deemed printer's errors, and their +resolutions are described here: + +p. ii [t]hroughout] Added. + +p. 80 approach[e]d Added. + +p. 82 Baton [D/R]ouge Corrected. + +p. 99 hickor[i]y Removed. + +p. 108 backswood-man / backwoods-man Corrected. + +p. 206 Fran[s]cisville Removed. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Americans as They Are, by Charles Sealsfield + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICANS AS THEY ARE *** + +***** This file should be named 44268-8.txt or 44268-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/2/6/44268/ + +Produced by KD Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Americans as They Are + Described in a tour through the valley of the Mississippi + +Author: Charles Sealsfield + +Release Date: November 24, 2013 [EBook #44268] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICANS AS THEY ARE *** + + + + +Produced by KD Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="transnote"> +<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2> + +<p>Please note that the longitudes used in this text, which predates the +establishment of Greenwich as the reference, used the nation’s capitol, +Washington, D.C. (approx. W 77°) as its basis. Thus, Cincinnati, at +W 84° 30′ on p. 1, is placed at a longitude of 7° 31′. Also, on p. 33, +the location of the state of Indiana is mistakenly given using seconds +(″) of longitude, rather than minutes (′). These were corrected.</p> + +<p>The spelling of place names was fluid at the time and all are retained +here.</p> + +<p>Footnotes, which appeared on the bottom of pages, have been relocated +to the end of the text. They have been lettered consecutively from A to K, +and hyperlinked for ease of reference.</p> + +<p class="covernote">The cover of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in +the public domain.</p> + +<p>Please consult the transcriber’s <a href="#EndNote">end note</a> at the bottom of this text +for any other details.</p> +</div> + + + + +<h1><span class="smallest">THE</span><br /> + AMERICANS AS THEY ARE;<br /> + <span class="xs">DESCRIBED IN</span><br /> + <span class="smallest">A TOUR</span><br /> + <span class="smallest">THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.</span></h1> + +<p class="titlepage">BY THE AUTHOR OF<br /> + “AUSTRIA AS IT IS.”</p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">LONDON:<br /> + HURST, CHANCE, AND CO.<br /> + ST. PAUL’S CHURCH YARD.<br /> + 1828.</p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">LONDON:<br /> + Printed by Bradbury and Dent,<br /> + St. Dunstan’s-ct., Fleet-st.</p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>ADVERTISEMENT.</h2> + + +<p>The publication of this tour was intended for the year 1827. Several +circumstances have prevented it.</p> + +<p>The American is, as far as relates to his own country, justly supposed +to be prone to exaggeration. English travellers, on the contrary, are +apt to undervalue brother Jonathan and his country. The Author has twice +seen these countries, of whose present state he gives a sketch in the +following pages. He is far from claiming for his work any sort of +literary merit. Truth and practical observation are his chief points. +Whether his opinions and statements are correct, it remains for the +reader to judge, and experience to confirm.</p> + +<p class="dateline"><em>London, March, 1828.</em></p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_i" title="i"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>Upwards of half a century has now elapsed since the independence of the +United States became firmly established. During this period two great +questions have been solved, exposing the fallacies of human +calculations, which anticipated only present anarchy and ultimate +dissolution as the fate of the new Republics. The possibility of a +people governing themselves, and being prosperous and happy, time, the +sure ordeal of all projects, has at length demonstrated. Their political +infancy is over,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_ii" title="ii"></a> they are approaching towards manhood, and fully +sensible of their strength, their first magistrate has ventured to utter +those important words contained in his address of 1820: that +“notwithstanding their neutrality, they would consider any attempt on +the part of the European Powers, to extend their system to any portion +of <span class="fakesc">their</span> hemisphere, as dangerous to their peace and safety; and that +they could not admit of any projects of colonization on the part of +Europe.” Thus, for the first time, they have asserted their right of +taking a part <span class="fakesc">DE FACTO</span> in the great transactions of European Powers, and +pronounced their declaration in a tone, which has certainly contributed +to the abandonment of those intentions which were fast ripening into +execution.</p> + +<p>The important influence of American liberty throughout the civilised +world, has been already apparent; and more especially in France, in the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_iii" title="iii"></a> +South American revolutions, and in the commotions in Spain, Portugal, +Naples, and Piedmont. These owe their origin, not to any instigation on +the part of the United States, but to the influence of their example in +raising the standard of freedom, and more than all, to the success which +crowned their efforts. Great has been on the other hand, the influence +of European politics on the North American nation. A party, existing +since the revolution, and extending its ramifications over the whole +United States, is now growing into importance, and guided by the +principles of European diplomacy, is rooting itself deeper and deeper, +drawing within its ranks the wealthy, the enlightened, the dissatisfied; +thus adding every day to its strength. We see, in short, the principle +of monarchy developing itself in the United States, and though it is not +attempted to establish it by means of a revolution, which would +infallibly fail, there is a design to bring it about by that cunning,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_iv" title="iv"></a> +cautious, and I may add, American way, which must eventually succeed; +unless the spirit of freedom be sufficiently powerful to neutralize the +subtle poison in its progress, or to triumph over its revolutionary +results. There have occurred many changes in the United States within +the last ten years. The present rulers have succeeded in so amalgamating +opinions, that whatever may be said to the contrary, only two parties +are now in existence. These are the monarchists, who would become +governors, and the republicans, who would not be governed.</p> + +<p>The object proposed in the following pages has been to exhibit to the +eyes of the European world, the real state of American affairs, divested +of all prejudice, and all party spirit. Adams on the whole is a +favourite with Great Britain. This empire however, has no reason to +admire him; should his plans succeed, the cost to Great Britain would be +the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_v" title="v"></a> loss of her last possession in North America. But as long as the +American Republic continues united, this unwieldy mass of twenty-four +states can never become dangerous.</p> + +<p>Of the different orders of society, there is yet little to be said, but +they are developing themselves as fast as wealth, ambition, luxury, and +the sciences on the one side, and poverty, ignorance, and indirect +oppression on the other, will permit them. There, as every where else, +this is the natural course of things. To show the state of society in +general, and the relative bearings of the different classes to each +other, and thus to afford a clear idea of what the United States really +are, is the second object attempted in this work. To represent social +intercourse and prevailing habits in such a manner as to enable the +future emigrant to follow the prescribed track, and to settle with +security and advantage to himself and to his new country; to afford him +the means of judg<a class="pagenum" id="Page_vi" title="vi"></a>ing for himself, by giving him a complete view of +public and private life in general, as well as of each profession or +business in particular, is the third object here contemplated.</p> + +<p>The capitalist, the merchant, the farmer, the physician, the lawyer, the +mechanic, cannot fail, I trust, to find adequate information respecting +the course which, on their settling in the Union, will be the most +eligible to pursue. Farther explanation I think unnecessary. He who +would consider the following condensed picture of Trans-atlantic society +and manners insufficient, would not be better informed, if I were to +enlarge the work to twice its size. Such an objection would shew him to +be unfit to adventure in the character of a settler in a country where +so many snares will beset his path, and call for no small degree of +natural shrewdness and penetration.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_1">CHAPTER I.</a></p> + +<p>Cincinnati.—Parting glance at Ohio.—Its Government and +Inhabitants.</p> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_18">CHAPTER II.</a></p> + +<p>Tour through the state of Kentucky.—Bigbonelick.—Mammoths.—Two +Kentuckian Characters.—Kentuckian +Scenes.</p> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_31">CHAPTER III.</a></p> + +<p>Vevay.—Geographical Sketch of the state of Indiana—Madison.— +Charleston.—Jeffersonville.—Clarksville.—New Albany.—The Falls of +Ohio.</p> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_43">CHAPTER IV.</a></p> + +<p>Louisville.—Canal of Louisville.—Its Commerce.—Surrounding +Country.—Sketch of the state of Kentucky, and of its Inhabitants.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_53">CHAPTER V.</a></p> + +<p>A Keel-boat journey.—Description of the preparations.—Fall +of the Country.—Troy.—Lady Washington.—The River sport.— +Owensborough.—Henderson.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_66">CHAPTER VI.</a></p> + +<p>Mr. Owen’s of Lanark, formerly Rapp’s settlement.—Remarks on +it.—Keel-boat Scenes.—Cave in Rock.—Cumberland and +Tennessee rivers.—Fort Massai.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_80">CHAPTER VII.</a></p> + +<p>The Mississippi.—General Features of the state of Illinois, and of +its Inhabitants.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_91">CHAPTER VIII.</a></p> + +<p>Excursion to St. Louis.—Fall of the Country.—Sketch of the state of +Missouri.—Return to Trinity.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_99">CHAPTER IX.</a></p> + +<p>The state of Tennessee.—Steam boats on the Mississippi.—Flat Boats.</p> + + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_110">CHAPTER X.</a></p> + +<p>Scenery along the Mississippi.—Hopefield.—St. Helena.—Arkansas +Territory.—Spanish Moss.—Vixburgh.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_121">CHAPTER XI.</a></p> + +<p>The city of Natchez.—Excursion to Palmira.—Plantations.—The cotton +planter of the state of Mississippi.—Remarks.—Return to Natchez.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_144">CHAPTER XII.</a></p> + +<p>Arrival at New Orleans.—Cursory reflections.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_152">CHAPTER XIII.</a></p> + +<p>Topographical sketch of the City of New Orleans.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_163">CHAPTER XIV.</a></p> + +<p>The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_168">CHAPTER XV.</a></p> + +<p>Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and of +Louisiana.—Creoles.—Anglo Americans.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_179">CHAPTER XVI.</a></p> + +<p>Frenchmen.—Free people of colour.—Slaves.—Public spirit.— +Education.—State of religious worship.—Public entertainments.— +Theatres.—Balls, &c.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_189">CHAPTER XVII.</a></p> + +<p>The Climate of Louisiana.—The yellow fever.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_198">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></p> + +<p>Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.—Planters.—Farmers.—Merchants.— +Mechanics.</p> + +<p class="chapterhead"><a href="#Page_208">CHAPTER XIX.</a></p> + +<p>Geographical features of the state of Louisiana.—Conclusion.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p class="titlepage xlarge"><a class="pagenum" id="Page_1" title="1"></a>AMERICA.</p> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<h2><a id="CHAP_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="summary"> + Cincinnati.—Parting Glance at Ohio.—Character of its Government and + its Inhabitants.</p> + + +<p>The city of Cincinnati is the largest in the state of Ohio: for the last +eight years it has left even Pittsburgh far behind. It is situated in +39° 5′ 54″ north latitude, and 7° 31′ west longitude, on the second bank +of the Ohio, rising gradually and extending to the west, the north, and +the east, for a distance of several miles. The lower part of the city +below the new warehouse, is exposed, during the spring tides, to +inundations which are not, however, productive of serious consequences; +the whole mass of water turning to the Kentuckian<a class="pagenum" id="Page_2" title="2"></a> shore. The river is +here about a mile wide, and assumes the form of a half moon. When viewed +from the high banks, the mighty sheet of water, rolling down in a deep +bed, affords a splendid sight. In 1780, the spot where now stands one of +the prettiest towns of the Union, was a native forest. In that year, the +first attempt was made at forming a settlement in the country, by +erecting a blockhouse, which was called Fort Washington, and was +enlarged at a subsequent period. In the year 1788, Judge Symmes laid out +the town, whose occupants he drew from the New England States. +Successive attacks, however, of the Indians wearied them out, and the +greater part withdrew. The battle gained by General Wayne over these +natives, tranquillised the country; and after the year 1794, Cincinnati +rapidly improved. It became the capital of the western district, which +was erected into a territorial government. When Ohio was declared an +independent state, in the year 1800, Cincinnati continued to be the seat +of the legislature till 1806.</p> + +<p>Fort Washington has since made room for peaceful dwellings. Their number +is at present<a class="pagenum" id="Page_3" title="3"></a> 1560, with 12,000 inhabitants. The streets are regular, +broad, and mostly well paved. The main street, which runs the length of +a mile from the court-house down to the quay, is elegant.—Among the +public buildings, the court-house is constructed in an extremely simple +but noble style; the Episcopalian, the Catholic, and the Presbyterian +churches, the academy and the United States’ bank, are handsome +buildings. Besides these, are churches for Presbyterians, Lutherans, +Methodists, Baptists, Swedenborghians, Unitarians, a Lancasterian +school, the farmers’, the mechanics’, and the Cincinnati banks, a +reading room with a well provided library, five newspaper printing +offices;—among these papers are the Cincinnati Literary Gazette, and a +price current—and the land office for the southern part of the state. +The colonnade of the theatre is, however, a strange specimen of the +architectural genius of the backwoods. Among the manufacturing +establishments, the principal are,—the steam mill on the river, a +saw-mill, cloth and cotton manufactories, several steam engines, iron +and nail manufactories, all on the steam principle. Cincinnati carries +on an important trade with New<a class="pagenum" id="Page_4" title="4"></a> Orleans, and it may be considered as the +staple of the state. The produce of the whole state is brought to +Cincinnati, and shipped down the Ohio and Mississippi. The only +impediments to its uninterrupted trade, are the falls of the Ohio at +Louisville, which obstruct the navigation during eight months in the +year. These obstacles are now on the point of being removed. The exports +from Cincinnati are flour, whisky, salt, hams, pork, beef, dried and +fresh fruits, corn, &c.; the imports are cotton, sugar, rice, indigo, +tobacco, coffee, and spices. The manufactured goods are generally +brought in waggons from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and discharged +there. In order to improve the commerce of Cincinnati, an insurance +company has been formed. There is a committee established for the +inspection of vessels running between New Orleans and this place. There +are a number of steam and other boats building at the present time. For +the benefit of travellers, &c., a line of steam boats is established +between Cincinnati and Louisville; and they start regularly every second +day, performing the voyage of 115 miles to Louisville in twelve, and +back again in twenty hours.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_5" title="5"></a>There are in Cincinnati a great number of wholesale, commission, and +retail merchants; but the want of ready money is as much felt here as +anywhere else, and causes a stagnation of business. The inhabitants are +chiefly American born, with some admixture of Germans, French, and +Irish. As the former are mostly from the New England States, the general +character of the inhabitants has taken an adventurous turn, which is +conspicuous in their buildings. Most of the houses in the city are +elegant, many are truly beautiful; but they belong to the bank of the +United States, which possesses at least 200 of the finest houses in +Cincinnati. The building mania obtained such strong hold of the +inhabitants, that most of them forgot their actual means; and +accordingly, having drawn money from the bank which they were unable to +refund, they had at last to give up lots and buildings to the United +States’ bank. Though this city possesses in itself many advantages over +other towns of the Ohio, and has much the start of them in point of +commerce and manufactures, yet there is little expectation of its +increasing in the same proportion as it has hitherto done. Neither of +the canals which<a class="pagenum" id="Page_6" title="6"></a> are intended to join the Ohio, will come up as far as +this town. The great Ohio canal is to run near the mouth of the Sciota +river; the <em>Dayton</em> canal below Cincinnati; and these places will +attract a considerable part of the population. The third canal, which is +to connect the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and of the Ohio, will be +more advantageous to the towns of Upper Ohio, Marietta, Steubenville, +and Wheeling. Commerce will thus be more equally divided, and Cincinnati +cannot always expect to continue as it has hitherto been, the staple of +the trade to the southward of the Ohio. The merchant possessed of a +moderate capital, if he consult his interest, will not establish himself +at Cincinnati, but at one of the intermediate places of the +above-mentioned three canals. The farmer has eligible spots in the +Tuscarora valleys, about New Lancaster, Columbus, Franklintown, +Pickaway, Chilicathe, and especially in the Sandusky counties on lake +Erie. Mechanics, such as carpenters, cabinet makers, &c., will also find +these new settlements more advantageous markets for their industry than +the city of Cincinnati itself. The manufacturers, of every kind, will +choose either Cincinnati or Pitts<a class="pagenum" id="Page_7" title="7"></a>burgh, but still give the preference +to the former, in spite of its smoke and dirt, as the place most +favoured by natural position, which must necessarily become the first +manufacturing town of the Union, notwithstanding the well-known +inactivity of the Pennsylvanians. But as the state of Ohio must look to +its manufactures, unless it chooses to continue a loser by the exchange +of its raw produce; Cincinnati, whose manufactures have attained a high +degree of perfection, favoured as it is by its coal mines, its water +communication, and the fertility and consequent cheapness of the +necessaries of life, must always possess very great advantages. +Travellers arriving from the north, proceed to the south by way of +Louisville on board a steam boat; and coming from thence, they go either +to the eastward to Philadelphia by the mail stage, or by the same +conveyance northward, through Chilicathe and Columbus, to lake Erie, +where they embark for Buffalo.</p> + +<p>During my stay, on the twenty-fifth of October, a question of some +importance for the inhabitants of Cincinnati was to be decided.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_8" title="8"></a> It was +concerning a stricter police and its necessary regulations. The city +council, with the wealthier class of inhabitants, had been for some time +previous to the decision, engaged in preparing and gaining over the +multitude. I went to the court-house in company with Mr. Bama, a +wholesale merchant, and several gentlemen, to hear the speeches +delivered on both sides, and the result of the motion. It was four +o’clock when we arrived, and about 600 persons were assembled in and +outside of the court-house. The noise, however, was such, that it was +impossible to hear more than detached periods. At eight o’clock, when +almost dark, they had gone through the business, and the poll was about +to commence. The party for abridging public liberty was ordered to go +out on the left:—those who insisted on the preservation of the present +order of things, were to draw off to the right. On arriving before the +court-house, they ranged themselves in two separate ranks, each of which +was counted by the presiding judge. There was a majority of 72 votes in +favour of the party which upheld the present system, and the question +was, therefore, decided in favour of popular<a class="pagenum" id="Page_9" title="9"></a> liberty. I found here, as +well as everywhere else, that the freedom of a community is nowhere more +exposed to encroachments than in large towns, where dissipation and +occupations of every kind are likely to engross the attention of the +people, who leave the magistrates to do what they please. The city +council were on the point of obtaining the majority, had it not been for +the farmers whom the market-day had drawn to town. These, of course, did +not fail to open the eyes of the honest burghers; and the question was +accordingly negatived.</p> + +<p>The prevailing manners of society at Cincinnati, are those peculiar to +larger cities, without the formalities and mannerism of the eastern sea +ports. Freedom of thought prevails in a high degree, and toleration is +exercised without limitation. The women are considered very handsome; +their deportment is free from pride; but simple and unassuming as they +appear, they evince a high taste for literary and mental +accomplishments. The Literary Gazette owes its origin to their united +efforts. There is no doubt that the commanding situation of this +beautiful town, its ma<a class="pagenum" id="Page_10" title="10"></a>jestic river, its mild climate, which may be +compared to the south of France, and the liberal spirit of its +inhabitants, contribute to render this place, both in a physical and +moral point of view, one of the most eligible residences in the Union.</p> + +<p>As much, indeed, may be said of the state of Ohio in general. It +combines in itself all the elements that tend to make its inhabitants +the happiest people on the face of the earth. Nature has done every +thing in favour of this country. In point of fertility, it excels every +one of the thirteen old states; and, owing to its political +institutions, and the abolition of slavery, it has taken the lead among +those newly created.</p> + +<p>Ohio is bounded on the north by lake Erie, on the west by the state of +Indiana, on the south by the river Ohio, and on the east by +Pennsylvania, comprising an area of 4,000 square miles; it is divided +into 71 counties, and has a population of 72,000 souls. This state forms +the eastern extremity of the great valley of the Mississippi, which has +the Alleghany for its eastern, and the Rocky Mountains for its western +boundary, sinking<a class="pagenum" id="Page_11" title="11"></a> by degrees as it approaches the Mississippi, and +extending more than a thousand miles towards the south. The climate of +this state, which presents for the most part the form of an elevated +plain, running between the mountainous Pennsylvania and the swampy +Mississippi states, is temperate, extending from 38° 28′, to 72° 58′ +northern latitude, and from 3° 32′, to 7° 40′ west longitude. Its +temperature varies less than that of other states. Its soil is +inexhaustible; its fertility, especially in the northern and southern +parts, being truly astonishing; and though some portions have been +cultivated upwards of thirty years without being manured, the land still +yields the same quantity of produce. The northern inhabitants of the +state send their produce down to New York by lake Erie, and the Buffalo +canal; the southern find a market in Louisiana and New Orleans. The +middle part suffered greatly from the want of water communication, to +which they are now on the point of applying a remedy, in order to obtain +an intercourse with New York; which, as it is well known, has effected +by means of a canal, a water communication with lake Erie. The Ohions +commenced<a class="pagenum" id="Page_12" title="12"></a> a canal in the year 1825, beginning at Cleveland on the +shores of lake Erie, taking thence a southern course through Tuscarora +county at Zanesville, turning to the right six miles below Columbus, and +running down to the shores of the Ohio. It is intended to be completed +in the space of three years. The state of Ohio expects from this canal, +which if the pecuniary means be considered may be called a gigantic +undertaking, a ready market for its produce in the city and state of New +York; looking forward, at the same time, to become the staple for the +trade between New York and New Orleans. It cannot fail, however, to be +productive of still greater advantage to the United States in general, +and to the cities of New York and New Orleans in particular, which will +thus have the means of a land or water communication, over a space of +nearly 3,000 miles. The first idea of this canal originated with the +state of New York; the citizens of which, when they had finished their +own, encouraged those of Ohio to enter upon a similar undertaking. +Encouragement was not much wanting; the plan of joining the waters of +the Hudson and the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_13" title="13"></a> Mississippi was taken up with enthusiasm; canal +committees were formed; most of the towns in the state sent their +deputies, and after the customary debates, the resolution was adopted. +The only difficulty was to raise the requisite funds. New York offered +to defray the necessary expenses, if allowed the revenue arising from +the new canal, for a certain period. The pride of the Ohions revolted +against the proposition; they preferred raising a loan in New York. In +this respect the government of the state committed a great error. A loan +of three millions of dollars, and the necessary evils attendant upon it, +are certainly a heavy burthen to a new state, which can scarcely reckon +an existence of forty years, especially as the new canal may be +considered a continuation of the great one of New York, and as the +advantage resulting from it to the state can bear no comparison with +that which New York derives from its own.</p> + +<p>New York, already the most important commercial city of the Union, will, +after the completion of this canal, enjoy the trade of the western and +south-western states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ten<a class="pagenum" id="Page_14" title="14"></a>nessee, Mississippi, +&c.; and thus the Ohio canal will rather contribute to the +aggrandizement of New York, than to that of Ohio. Their debt, so out of +proportion with the resources of the state, made the people of Ohio +relax in their ardour for carrying this project into effect, and gave +rise to discontent against the administration of the state. But the same +case happened in New York, and the exultation of the inhabitants of +Ohio, when they see the work accomplished, will scarcely yield to that +which was manifested by the people of the former state. There is, +nevertheless, not any city in the state of Ohio to be compared with New +York, Philadelphia, or Boston, nor is it probable there will be. At the +same time this want is largely compensated by the absence of immorality +and luxury—evils necessarily attached to large and opulent +cities—which may be said to attract the heart’s blood of the country, +and send forth the very dregs of it in return. In Ohio, wealth is not +accumulated in one place, or in a few hands; it is visibly diffused over +the whole community. The country towns and villages are invariably +constructed in a more elegant and tasteful manner than those of +Pennsylvania, and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_15" title="15"></a> the Northern states. There is something grand in +their plan and execution, though the prevailing want or insufficiency of +means to carry them through, is still an obstacle in the way. The farms +and country houses are elegant; I saw hundreds of them, which no English +nobleman would be ashamed of. They are generally of brick, sometimes +of wood, and built in a tasteful style. The turnpike roads are in +excellent order. It is astonishing to see what has been done during a +few years, and under an increasing scarcity of money, by the mere dint +of industry. The traveller will seldom have reason to rail at bad roads +or bad taverns; I could only complain of one of the latter, which stands +upon a road that is seldom travelled. In every county town there are at +least two elegant inns, and the tables are loaded with such a variety of +venison and dishes of every kind, that even a <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">gourmand</em> could not +justly complain.</p> + +<p>The whole state bespeaks a wealthy condition, which, far removed from +riches, rests on the surest foundation—the fertility of the soil, and +the persevering industry of its cultivators.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_16" title="16"></a> Although behind-hand, +perhaps, with the Yankees in literary accomplishments, they are far more +liberal, and intelligent, being endowed with a strong and enterprising +mind. Crimes are here less frequently committed, the inhabitants +consisting of the most respectable classes of the eastern and foreign +states. Only men of moderate property came into the state; the wealthy +were deterred by the difficulties attending a new settlement; the +indigent by the impossibility of getting vacant lands, and thus the +state remained equally free from money-born aristocrats, (certainly the +worst in the world), and from beggars. Its form of government bears +internal evidence of this, the governor of Ohio having neither the +revenue, nor the power of the eastern governors. He is elected for the +term of two years. The constitution bespeaks independence and +liberality. The number of senators cannot exceed thirty, nor the +representatives seventy-two. The general assembly has the sole power of +enacting laws, the signature of the governor being in no case necessary. +The judges are chosen by the legislature for seven years, and the +justices of the peace for the term<a class="pagenum" id="Page_17" title="17"></a> of three years, by their respective +townships. The resolutions of their assembly are quite free from that +narrow-minded prejudice found in Pennsylvania and the southern states, +which sees in the law of Moses the only rule for direction, and loses +sight of that liberal spirit which pervades the law of Christ. The +inhabitants of Ohio are not, however, so religious as their neighbours, +the Pennsylvanians. Their ministers exercise little influence; and +numerous sects contribute greatly to lessen their authority, which is +certainly not the case in the north. The people of Ohio are equally free +from the uncultivated and rude character of the western American, and +from the innate wiliness of the Yankees. This state is not unlike a +vigorous and blooming youth, who is approaching to manhood, and whose +natural form and manner excite our just admiration.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_18" title="18"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Tour through Kentucky.—Bigbonelick.—Mammoths.—Two Kentuckian + Characters.—Kentuckian Scenes.</p> + + +<p>After a stay of six days in Cincinnati I departed; crossed the Ohio in +the ferryboat, and landed in the state of Kentucky, at Newport, a small +country town of Campbell county. It contains, besides the government +arsenal for the western states, a court-house, and about 100 buildings, +scattered irregularly upon the eminence. From thence to Bigbonelick, the +distance is 23 miles; the country is more hilly than on the other side +of the river; it is, however, fertile, the stratum being generally +limestone. The growth of timber is very fine; the trees are<a class="pagenum" id="Page_19" title="19"></a> beech, +sugar-maple, and sycamore. The contrast between Ohio and Kentucky is +striking, and the baneful influence of slavery is very soon discovered. +Instead of elegant farms, orchards, meadows, corn and wheat fields +carefully enclosed, you see patches planted with tobacco, the leaves +neglected; and instead of well-looking houses, a sort of double cabins, +like those inhabited in the north of Pennsylvania by the poorest +classes. In one part lives the family, in the other is the kitchen; +behind these, are the wretched cabins of the negroes, bearing a +resemblance to pigsties, with half a dozen black children playing about +them on the ground.</p> + +<p>About three o’clock I arrived at Bigbonelick, well known for its Mammoth +bones. The lands ten miles on this side of Bigbone are of an indifferent +character, dreary and mountainous. The valley of Bigbone is about a mile +long, and of equal breadth; it no doubt has been the scene of some great +convulsion of nature. The water is seen oozing forth from the many bogs, +and has a saltish taste, impregnated with saltpetre and sulphur. These<a class="pagenum" id="Page_20" title="20"></a> +quagmires are covered with a thin grass, which has the same taste. Their +depth is said to be unfathomable. Whether the Mammoth bones which are +found here, were brought into the valley by a convulsion of the earth, +by an inundation, or whether the animals sunk down when in search of +food, remains to be decided. The first two suppositions seem authorised +by the circumstance, that bones were found, not on their carcases, but +scattered, which could not be the case if they were swallowed up alive. +The same revolution of nature which carried elephants and palm-trees to +Siberia and Lapland, and the lions of Africa to the coast of Gibraltar, +may, in like manner, have brought these animals to Bigbonelick. The +tradition handed down to us by the Indians respecting them, is +remarkable. “In ancient times, it is said, a herd of these tremendous +animals came to the Bigbonelicks, and commenced an universal destruction +among the buffaloes, bears, and elks, which had been created for the +Indians. The Great Spirit looking down from above, became so enraged at +the sight, that taking some of his thunderbolts he descended, seated +himself on a neighbouring rock<a class="pagenum" id="Page_21" title="21"></a> which still bears the print of his +footsteps, and hurling down the bolts among the destroyers, killed them +all with the exception of the big bull, which, turning its front to the +bolts, shook them off; but being struck at last in the side, he turned +round, and with a tremendous leap bounded over the Ohio, the Wabash, the +Illinois, and the great lakes, beyond which he is still living at the +present day.”</p> + +<p>Some few weeks later, I spoke with an Indian trader at Trinity. +According to his account, he found in one of his excursions, traces of a +large animal, belonging to none of the species known to him, and equal +in size to the elephant. On making inquiries of an old Indian, the +latter ascribed the traces to an immense, but very rare animal, the race +of which was almost destroyed by the Great Spirit; there remaining but +very few on the other side of the lakes. He also pretended that he had +seen one of those animals: whether the tale of the Indian, or that of +the trader, a class of people somewhat prone to exaggeration, be true or +not, I am incapable of deciding. I afterwards met this man at New<a class="pagenum" id="Page_22" title="22"></a> +Orleans, and requested him to go along with me to one of my +acquaintances, in order to furnish further information on this subject, +and enable me to give publicity to it, but he pretended business, and +refused to accompany me. The researches which were undertaken here, were +amply rewarded. The greatest part of the early discoveries has been +transmitted to London; a fine collection is exhibiting in the Museum at +Philadelphia, and in the Levee at New Orleans.</p> + +<p>The road from Bigbonelick is, for the distance of ten miles, dreary and +the country barren. I arrived late at a farm-house, of rather a better +appearance, where I intended to stop the night. The first night’s +lodging convinced me but too plainly, that the inhabitants of this +state, justly called in New York, half horse and half alligator, had not +yet assumed a milder character. The farmer, or rather planter, was +absent with his wife; and his brother, who took care of the farm, was at +a horse race; an old man, however, with his daughter, answered my +application for a lodging, in the affirmative. I was supping upon slices +of bacon, roasted corn bread, and some milk,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_23" title="23"></a> when the brother of the +farmer returned from the races with his neighbour. Both had led horses +besides those on which they rode. Before dismounting they discharged +their pistols. Each of the Kentuckians had a pistol in his girdle, and a +poniard in the breast pocket. Before resuming my supper I was pressed to +take a dram. With a quart bottle in one hand, and with the other drawing +the remains of tobacco from his mouth, in rather a nauseous manner, the +host drank for half a minute out of the bottle; then took from the slave +the can with water, and handed the bottle to me, the mouth of which had +assumed, from the remains of the tobacco, a brownish colour. The +Kentuckian looked displeased when I wiped the bottle. I however took no +notice of him, but presented it, after having drunk, to his friend. We +sat down.</p> + +<p>“How far are you come to day?” asked the landlord.</p> + +<p>“From Cincinnati.”</p> + +<p>“You don’t live in Cincinnati, I guess, do you?”</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_024" title="024"></a>“No, sir.”</p> + +<p>“And where do you live?”</p> + +<p>“In Pennsylvania.”</p> + +<p>“A fine distance!” exclaimed my host, “I like the people of Pennsylvania +better than those G——d d——d Yankees, but still they are no +Kentuckians.” I gave my full and hearty assent.</p> + +<p>“The Kentuckians,” continued my landlord, “are astonishingly mighty +people; they are the very first people on earth!”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“They are immensely great, and wonderfully powerful people; ar’nt they?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“They are ten thousand times superior to any nation on earth.”</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_025" title="025"></a>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“How do you like Kentucky?”</p> + +<p>“Very well, sir; I travelled through it four years ago.”</p> + +<p>“G—d d—n my s—l t——e——l d——n!” roared he. “The Pennsylvanians +have not a square mile of land in their state, equal to our poor lands. +Bill,” turning now to his neighbour on the left, “Bill has been marked +in a mighty fine style. G—d d—n, &c., he blooded like a hog.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” replied the neighbour, “Sam has stabbed exceedingly well, I +presume. Bill has to wait four weeks before he may be on his legs again, +if he will be at all. G—d d—n! but to tell Isaac, his horse, which he +thinks so much of, is a poor beast compared with his—and so to give him +the lie. I would have knocked him down, come what might <em>out of it</em>. But +Dick and John!”—and now these two fellows broke out into roaring shouts +of horse laughter. “How<a class="pagenum" id="Page_26" title="26"></a> his eyes twinkled, he looked quite as squire +Toms, when laying all night over the bottle; I guess he never will be +able to set his eyes a-right.”</p> + +<p>“He does not see,” said the neighbour; “the one is quite out of its +socket, and Joe was obliged to carry him home.”</p> + +<p>“Why, the seconds are wonderfully lovely fellows, I warrant you; they +did not spoil the sport with interfering.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, they bore John an old grudge.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, certainly—it was a mighty fine sport; I would not for the world +have missed it. G—d d—n! Dick is a fine gouger—the second turn—John +down—and both thumbs in his eyes.—I presume you have races in +Pennsylvania?” turning to me.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“And fightings and gougings?”</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_027" title="027"></a>“No, sir.” With an expressive look towards his neighbour, he continued: +“Yes, the Pennsylvanians are a quiet, religious sort of people; they +don’t kill anything but their hogs, and prefer giving their money to +their parsons.” The evening passed in these and similar conversations, +of which the above are mere specimens; and it was eleven o’clock before +the interesting pair separated.</p> + +<p>Some miles below Mr. White’s farm, the road divides into two, the one +leading to Newcastle, the other to the Ohio. I stopped at a farm fifteen +miles from my former night’s lodging. The landlord was mounting his +horse for Newcastle; his wife sat in the kitchen, surrounded by eight +negro girls, all busy knitting and sewing. The girls seemed to be in +excellent spirits, and were tolerably well dressed; the house rather +indicated affluence, though it was far from possessing the order and +cleanliness of a few of only half its value in Ohio. It was a simple +brick house; but constructed without the least attention to the rules of +symmetry. The fields were in a very indifferent state. Behind the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_28" title="28"></a> +dwelling, were seen some negro infants at play, while an old negro woman +was preparing my breakfast. The family had thirty-five slaves, both +young and old, forming a capital of at least 10,000 dollars. “Was not I +a fool?” asked the open-hearted landlady, “to marry Mr. Forth, who had +but twelve slaves, and a plantation, with seven children; but they are +provided for;—whereas I had fourteen slaves, and a plantation too, +after my first husband’s decease, and no children at all.”—“I don’t +know,” was my reply, afraid of engaging the old lady in further +discussion. While descanting upon this theme, and on the advantages +resulting to her happy husband from a match so disparaging on her part, +I was allowed to take my breakfast, when some yells and hallooing called +us to the door. A troop of horsemen were passing. Two of the party had +each a negro slave running before him, secured by a rope fastened to an +iron collar. A tremendous horsewhip reminded them at intervals to +quicken their pace. The bloody backs and necks of these wretches, +bespoke a too frequent application of the lash. The third negro had, +however, the hardest lot. The rope of his<a class="pagenum" id="Page_29" title="29"></a> collar was fastened to the +saddle string of the third horseman, and the miserable creature had thus +no alternative left, but to keep an equal pace with the trotting horse, +or to be dragged through ditches, thorns, and copsewood. His feet and +legs, all covered with blood, exhibited a dreadful spectacle. The three +slaves had run away two days before, dreading transportation to +Mississippi or Louisiana. “Look here,” said Mrs. Forth, calling her +black girls, “what is done with the bad negroes, who run away from their +good masters!” With an indifference, and a laughing countenance, which +clearly shewed how accustomed these poor children were to the like +scenes, they expressed their sentiments at this disgusting conduct.</p> + +<p>The road from Mr. Forth’s plantation runs a considerable distance along +ridges, descending finally into the bottom lands along the Ohio. These +are exceedingly fertile. The growth of timber is extremely luxuriant. I +measured a sycamore of common size, and found it seventeen feet in +diameter; their height is truly astonishing. The soil is of a deep brown +colour, and where<a class="pagenum" id="Page_30" title="30"></a> it is turned up, proves to be blackish. The stratum +is generally limestone. I crossed the Ohio at Ghent, in Kentucky, +opposite to Vevay, in Indiana.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_31" title="31"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Vevay.—Geographical Sketch of the State of Indiana.—Madison.— + Charlestown—its Court.—Jeffersonville.—Clarksville.—New + Albany.—The Falls of the Ohio.</p> + + +<p>Vevay, in Indiana, became a settlement twenty years ago, by Swiss +emigrants, who obtained a grant of land, equal to 200 acres for each +family, under the condition of cultivating the vine; they accordingly +settled here, and laid out vineyards. The original settlers may have +amounted to thirty; others joined them afterwards, and in this manner +was founded the county town of New Switzerland, in Indiana, which +consists almost exclusively of these French and Swiss settlers. They +have their vineyards below the town, on the banks of the river Ohio. The +vines, how<a class="pagenum" id="Page_32" title="32"></a>ever, have degenerated, and the produce is an indifferent +beverage, resembling any thing but claret, as it had been represented. +Two of them have attempted to cultivate the river hills, and the +vineyards laid out there are rather of a better sort. The town is on the +decline; it has a court-house, and two stores very ill supplied. The +condition of these, and the absence of lawyers, are sure indications of +the poverty of the inhabitants, if broken windows, and doors falling +from their hinges, should leave any doubt on the subject; they are, +however, a merry set of people, and balls are held regularly every +month. In the evening arrived ten teams laden with fifty emigrants from +Kentucky, going to settle in Indiana; their reasons for doing this were +numerous. Although they had bought their lands in Kentucky twice over, +they had to give them up a third time, their titles having proved +invalid; but still they would have remained, had it not been for the +insolent behaviour of their more wealthy neighbours, who, in consequence +of these emigrants having no slaves, and being thus obliged to work for +themselves, not only treated them as slaves, but even encouraged their +own<a class="pagenum" id="Page_33" title="33"></a> blacks to give them every kind of annoyance, and to rob them—for +no other reason than their dislike to have paupers for neighbours.</p> + +<p>My landlord assured me that at least 200 waggons had passed from the +Kentucky side, through Vevay, during the present season, all full of +emigrants, discouraged from continuing among these lawless people.</p> + +<p>The state of Indiana, which I had now entered, begins below Cincinnati, +running down the big Miami westward to the big Wabash, which separates +this country from the Illinois. To the south, it is bounded by the Ohio; +to the north, by lake Michigan; thus extending from 37° 50′, to 42° 10′, +north latitude; and from 7° 40′, to 10° 47′, west longitude. Like the +state of Ohio, it belongs to the class coming within the range of the +great valley of the Mississippi. It exhibits nearly the same features as +the state of Ohio, with the exception, that it approaches nearer to the +Mississippi than its eastern neighbour, and is the second slope of the +eastern part of the valley of the Mississippi: it declines more than<a class="pagenum" id="Page_34" title="34"></a> +Ohio, being but 250 feet above lake Erie, and 210 feet above lake +Michigan, which is one hundred feet less in elevation than the state of +Ohio. Two ridges of mountains, or rather hills, traverse the country; +the Knobs, or Silver-hills, running ten miles below Louisville, in a +north-eastern direction, and the Illinois mountains appearing from the +west, and running to the north-east, where they fall to a level with the +high plains of lake Michigan. These hills have a perfect sameness. The +climate is rather milder than that of Ohio. Cotton and tobacco are +raised by the farmers in sufficient quantities for their home +consumption. The growth of timber is the same as in Ohio. The vallies +are interspersed with sycamores and beeches; and below the falls, with +maples, and cotton and walnut-trees. The hills are covered with beech, +sassafras, and logwood. This state, though not inferior to Ohio in +fertility, and taken in general, perhaps, superior to it, has one great +defect. It has no sufficient water communication, and thus the +inhabitants have no market for their produce. There is not in this state +any river of importance, the Ohio which washes its southern borders +excepted. A<a class="pagenum" id="Page_35" title="35"></a> scarcity of money therefore is more severely felt here, +than in any other state of the Union. This want of inter-communication, +added to the circumstance that the state of Ohio had already engrossed +the whole surplus population from the eastern states, had a prejudicial +effect upon Indiana, its original population being in general by no +means so respectable as that of Ohio. In the north-west it was peopled +by French emigrants, from Canada; in the south, on the banks of the +Ohio, and farther up, by Kentuckians, who fled from their country for +debt, or similar causes.</p> + +<p>The state thus became the refuge of adventurers and idlers of every +description. A proof of this may be seen in the character of its towns, +as well as in the nature of the improvements that have been carried on +in the country. The towns, though some of them had an earlier existence +than many in Ohio, are, in point of regularity, style of building, and +cleanliness, far inferior to those of the former state. The wandering +spirit of the inhabitants seems still to contend with the principle of +steadiness in the very construction of their buildings. They are mostly<a class="pagenum" id="Page_36" title="36"></a> +a rude set of people, just emerging from previous bad habits, from whom +such friendly assistance as honest neighbours afford, or mutual +intercourse and good will, can hardly be expected. The case is rather +different in the interior of the country, and on the Wabash, the finest +part of the state, where respectable settlements have been formed by +Americans from the east. Wherever the latter constitute the majority, +every necessary assistance may be expected.</p> + +<p>For adventurers of all descriptions, Indiana holds out allurements of +every kind. Numbers of Germans, French, and Irish, are scattered in the +towns, and over the country, carrying on the business of bakers, +grocers, store, grog shops, and tavern keepers. In time, these people +will become steady from necessity, and consequently prosperous. The +number of the inhabitants of Indiana amounts to 215,000. Its admission +into the Union as a sovereign state, dates from the year 1815 to 1816; +its constitution differs in some points from that of Ohio, and its +governor is elected for the term of three years.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_037" title="037"></a>Madisonville, the seat of justice for Jefferson-county, on the second +bank of the Ohio, fifty-seven miles above its falls, contains at present +180 dwelling-houses, a court-house, four stores, three inns, a printing +office—with 800 inhabitants, most of them Kentuckians. The innkeeper of +the tavern at which I alighted, does no credit to the character of this +people. He was engaged for some time in certain bank-note affairs, which +qualified him for an imprisonment of ten years; he escaped, however, by +the assistance of his legal friends, and of 1000 dollars. The +opportunity of testifying his gratitude to these gentlemen soon +presented itself. One of his neighbours, a boatman, had the misfortune +to possess a wife who attracted his attention. Her husband knowing the +temper of the man, resolved to sell all he had, and to move down to +Louisville. Some days before his intended departure, he met Sheets in +the street, and addressed him in these words: “Mr. Sheets, I ought to +chastise you for making such shameful proposals to my wife;” so saying, +he gently touched him with his cane. Sheets, without uttering a +syllable, drew his poniard, and stabbed him in the breast.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_38" title="38"></a> The +unfortunate husband fell, exclaiming, “Oh, God! I am a dead man!”—“Not +yet,” said Sheets, drawing his poniard out of the wound, and running it +a second time through his heart; “Now, my dear fellow, I guess we have +done.” This monster was seized and imprisoned, and his trial took place. +<em>His</em> countrymen took, as might be expected, a great interest in his +fate. With the assistance of 3000 dollars, he even this time escaped the +gallows. I read the issue of the trial, and the summons of the jury, in +the county paper of 1823, which was actually handed to me in the evening +by one of the guests. But a more remarkable circumstance is, that the +inhabitants continue to frequent his tavern. At first they stayed away +for some weeks; but in less than a month the affair was forgotten, and +his house is now visited as before.</p> + +<p>The road from Madison to Charleston, leads through a fertile country, in +some parts well cultivated. The distance from Madison is twenty-eight +miles. It is the chief town of Clark county, and seems to advance more +rapidly than Madison, the country about being pretty well<a class="pagenum" id="Page_39" title="39"></a> peopled, and +agriculture having made more progress than in any part of the state +through which I had travelled. I found it to contain 170 houses and 750 +inhabitants, five well stored tradesmen’s shops, a printing office, and +four inns. The town is about a mile distant from the river, on a high +plain. When I arrived, the court was going to adjourn, and I hastened to +the court-house. The presiding judge and his two associate judges were +in their tribune, and the parties seated on boards laid across the +stumps of trees. One of the lawyers having concluded his speech, the +defendant was called upon. The gentleman in question, whom I took for a +pedlar, stood close by my side in conversation with his party, holding +in his hand half an apple, his teeth having taken a firm bite of the +other half. At the moment his name was called, he walked with his mouth +full, up to the rostrum, and kept eating his apple with perfect +indifference. “Well,” interrupted the judge impatient of the delay; +“what have you to say against the charge? You know it is high time to +break up the court, and I must go home.” The gentleman at the bar now +pocketted his apple, and having thus<a class="pagenum" id="Page_40" title="40"></a> augmented the store of provision +which he probably kept by him, looked as if he carried two knapsacks +behind his coat. “It strikes me mightily,”—was the exordium of this +speech, which in point of elegance and conciseness was a true sample of +back-wood eloquence. Fortunately the speaker took the judge’s hint; in +less than half an hour he had done—in less than one hour the jurymen +returned a verdict, the county transactions were finished, and the court +broke up.</p> + +<p>From Charleston to Louisville, the distance is fourteen miles. The lands +are fertile. Several very well looking farms shew a higher degree of +cultivation, especially near Jeffersonville. There the road turns into +an extensive valley formed by the alluvions of the Ohio. Jeffersonville, +the seat of justice for Floyd-county, three quarters of a mile above +the falls of the Ohio, was laid out in 1802, and has since increased to +160 houses, among which are a bank, a Presbyterian church, a warehouse, +a cotton manufactory, a court-house, and an academy, with a land office, +for the disposal of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_41" title="41"></a> the United States’ lands. The commerce of the +inhabitants, 800 in number, is of some importance, though checked by the +vicinity of Louisville, and by the circumstance, that the falls on the +Indiana side are not to be approached, except at the highest rise. Two +miles below this town, is the village of Clarksville, laid out in 1783, +and forming part of the grant made to officers and soldiers of the +Illinois regiment. It contains sixty houses and 300 inhabitants. New +Albany, a mile below Clarksville, has a thousand inhabitants, and a +great deal of activity, owing to its manufactory of steam engines, its +saw mills, and the steam boats lying at anchor and generally repairing +there. It is a place of importance, and though hitherto the resort of +sailors, boatmen, and travellers, who go down the river in their own +boats, it is annually on the increase.</p> + +<p>The Ohio is generally crossed above the falls at Jeffersonville. The +sheet of water dammed up here by the natural ledge of rocks which forms +the falls, expands to 5,230 feet in breadth. The falls of the Ohio, +though they should not properly be called falls, cannot be seen when +cross<a class="pagenum" id="Page_42" title="42"></a>ing the river, and the waters do not pour like the falls of +Niagara over an horizontal rock down a considerable depth, but press +through a rocky bed, about a mile long, which spreads across the river, +and causes a decline of twenty-two feet in the course of two miles. When +the waters are high, the rocks and the falls disappear entirely. Seen +from Louisville at low water, they have by no means an imposing +appearance. The majestic and broad river branches off into several small +creeks, and assumes the form of mountain torrents forcing their way +through the ledge of rocks. When the river rises, and only three islands +are to be seen, the immense sheet of water rushing down the declivity at +the rate of thirteen miles an hour, must afford a magnificent spectacle. +At the time I saw it, the river was lower than it had been for a series +of years.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_43" title="43"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Louisville.—Canal of Louisville—its Commerce.—Surrounding + Country.—Sketch of the State of Kentucky and its Inhabitants, &c.</p> + + +<p>The road from the landing-place to Louisville, leads through one of the +finest and richest alluvial bottoms on the banks of the Ohio. They are +here about seventy feet above the level of the water, and sufficiently +high to protect the town from inundation, but there being no outlets for +stagnant waters and ponds, epidemic diseases are frequent. A lottery is +now established for the purpose of raising the necessary funds for +draining these nuisances. Louisville extends in an oblong square about a +mile down the river, and may be considered as the natural key to the +Upper and Lower Ohio, and the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_44" title="44"></a> most important staple for trade on this +river, not excepting the city of Cincinnati. The commodities coming +during the summer and autumn from southern states are landed here. +Travellers who arrive by water, whether from the north or south, engage +steam boats at this place either for New Orleans or for Cincinnati. +These advantages made the inhabitants less desirous of having a canal, +notwithstanding the solicitations of the states watered by the Ohio. The +Congress has, at last, interposed; the canal is now contemplated. +Probably this undertaking, in which not only the Upper states of the +river Ohio, but the Union at large, are very much interested, is already +commenced. By means of this canal, steam vessels will be enabled to +avoid the falls, and to proceed to the upper Ohio at every season of the +year. It is to be two miles and a half long; to open at the mouth of +Beargrasscreek and to terminate at Shippingport. The highest ground is +twenty-seven feet; upon an average twenty feet; and it is of a clayey +substance, bottomed upon a rock. The expences are estimated at about +200,000 dollars, a trifle compared with the object to be accomplished.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_045" title="045"></a>Louisville, the seat of justice for Jefferson county, in Kentucky, in +38° 8′ north latitude, is about half the size of Cincinnati, and lies +105 miles below that city, by the Kentucky road through Newcastle, and +125 miles by the Kentucky and Indiana road. It is 1500 miles northeast +of New Orleans. The town is laid out on a grand scale, the streets +running parallel with the river, and intersected by others at right +angles. The main street, about three quarters of a mile long, is +elegant; most of the houses are three stories high; those of the other +streets are of course inferior in size. The number of dwelling houses +amounts to 700, inhabited by 4,500 souls, exclusive of travellers and +boatmen. Louisville has no remarkable public buildings; the court-house +and the Presbyterian church are the best. Besides these, the +Episcopalians, Catholics, and Unitarians have their meeting houses. +There are now three banks, including a branch bank of the United States, +an insurance company, and four newspaper printing offices. A quay is now +constructing which will greatly contribute to the security of the middle +part of the town, opposite to the falls. The manufac<a class="pagenum" id="Page_46" title="46"></a>tories of +Louisville are important; and the distilleries and rope walks on a large +scale. Besides these there are soap, candle, cotton, glass, paper, and +engine manufactories, all on the same principle, with grist and saw +mills. The commerce of Louisville is still more important. Of the +hundred steam boats plying on the Mississippi and Ohio, fifty at least +are engaged during six months in the year in the trade with Louisville. +They descend to New Orleans in six days, returning in double the time. +Though the town is but half as large as Cincinnati, the credit of the +merchants is more substantial, and the inhabitants are in general more +wealthy. Luxury is carried to a higher pitch than in any other town on +this side of the Alleghany mountains. Here is the only billiard-table<a id="FNanchor_A" href="#Footnote_A" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> +to be met with between Philadelphia and St. Louis. The owner has to pay +a tax of 563 dollars—an enormous sum.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the circulating library, the reading-room, and several +houses where good so<a class="pagenum" id="Page_47" title="47"></a>ciety is to be met with, Louisville is not a +pleasant town to reside in, owing to the character of the majority of +its inhabitants, the Kentuckians. Louisville has an academy, but sends +its youth to the college of Bairdstown, thirty miles to the southwest, +where lectures are given by some French priests. Below Louisville, are +the two villages of Shippingport and Portland; the former is two miles +from the town, with 150 inhabitants, the latter at the distance of three +miles, with fifty inhabitants, mostly boatmen and keepers of grog shops, +for the lowest classes of people. The environs of Louisville are well +cultivated, Portland and Shippingport excepted, the inhabitants of which +are said to extend their notions of common property too far. Behind +Louisville the country is delightful; the houses and plantations vying +with each other in point of elegance and cultivation. The woods have +greatly disappeared, and for the distance of twenty miles, the roads are +lined in every direction with plantations. This town holds the rank of +the second order in Kentucky, a country which, in latter times, has +obtained a renown of somewhat ambiguous nature. It extends to the +south,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_48" title="48"></a> from the river Ohio, to the state of Tennessee, having for its +eastern boundary the state of Virginia; and to the west, the river +Mississippi, which separates it from the state of Missouri. It extends +from 36° 30′ to 39° 10′ north latitude, and from 4° 78' to 12° 20′ west +longitude. It embraces an area of 40,000 square miles. Though under a +southern degree of latitude, it enjoys a moderate temperature, which is +also less variable than in the more eastern states. The two great rivers +of the Mississippi and the Ohio, forming the boundary of this state, +secure to it no inconsiderable trade.</p> + +<p>The productions of this beautiful country might, if properly cultivated, +become inexhaustible sources of wealth and prosperity to its +inhabitants; tobacco is a staple article, excelling in quality even that +of Virginia, if properly managed: cotton thrives well in the southern +parts of the state. Corn yields from forty to ninety bushels; wheat from +thirty to sixty; melons, sweet potatoes, peaches, apples, plumbs, &c., +attain a superior degree of perfection. One of the principal articles of +trade is<a class="pagenum" id="Page_49" title="49"></a> hemp, the culture of which has been brought to a high state of +improvement; it constitutes one of the chief articles of export to New +Orleans. Kentucky has not such extensive plains as Ohio, but is equally +fertile, and less exposed to bilious and ague fevers. The stratum, which +is generally limestone, is a sure sign of inexhaustible fertility. Hills +alternating with valleys form landscapes, which though consisting of +native forests, are in the highest degree picturesque. There are parts +about Lexington and its environs, which nothing can exceed in beauty of +scenery. Even Louisville, with its three islands, the majestic Ohio, and +the surrounding little towns, possesses charms seldom rivalled in any +country. Kentucky is, without the least exaggeration, one of the finest +districts on the face of the earth. The climate is equal to that of the +south of France; fruits of every kind arrive at the highest perfection; +and it would be difficult to quit this country, did not the character of +the inhabitants lessen one’s regret at leaving it. But notwithstanding +these natural advantages, the population has not increased either in +wealth or numbers, in proportion to the more recent state<a class="pagenum" id="Page_50" title="50"></a> of Ohio. The +inhabitants consist chiefly of emigrants from Virginia, and North and +South Carolina, and of descendants from back-wood settlers—a proud, +fierce, and overbearing set of people. They established themselves under +a state of continual warfare with the Indians, who took their revenge by +communicating to their vanquishers their cruel and implacable spirit. +This, indeed, is their principal feature. A Kentuckian will wait three +or four weeks in the woods, for the moment of satiating his revenge; and +he seldom or never forgives. The men are of an athletic form, and there +may be found amongst them many models of truly masculine beauty. The +number of inhabitants is now 57,000, including 15,000 slaves. Planters +are among the most respectable class, and form the mass of the +population. Lawyers are next, or equal to them in rank, no less than the +merchants and manufacturers. Physicians and ministers are a degree +lower; and last of all, are those mechanics and farmers not possessed of +slaves. These are not treated better than the slaves themselves. The +constitution inclines towards federalism, landed property being +required<a class="pagenum" id="Page_51" title="51"></a> to qualify a man for a public station. Ministers, of whatever +form of worship, are wholly excluded from public offices. Kentucky is +not a country that could be recommended to new settlers; slavery; +insecure titles to land: the division of the courts of justice into two +parts, furiously opposed to each other; an executive, whose present +chief is a disgrace to his station, and whose son would be hung in +chains, had he been in Great Britain; the worst paper-currency, &c., are +serious warnings to every lover of peace and tranquillity. We abstain +from farther particulars, as our purpose is to give a characteristic +description of the Union, which would assuredly not gain by a faithful +representation of the state of things in this country, during the last +ten years. The Desha family, the emetic scene, the proceedings of the +legislature, and of the courts of justice, Sharp’s death, &c., are facts +which belong rather to the history of the tomahawk savages, than to that +of a civilised state. Passions must work with double power and effect, +where wealth, and arbitrary sway over a herd of slaves, and a warfare of +thirty years with savages, have sown the seeds of the most lawless<a class="pagenum" id="Page_52" title="52"></a> +arrogance, and an untameable spirit of revenge.</p> + +<p>The literary institutions, the Transylvanian university of Lexington, +and the college of Bairdstown, have hitherto exercised very little +influence over these fierce people. But a still worse feature observable +in them, is an utter disregard of religious principles. Ohio has its +sects, thereby evincing an interest in the performance of the highest of +human duties. The Kentuckian rails at these, and at every form of +worship; certainly a trait doubly afflicting and deplorable in a rising +state.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_53" title="53"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="summary">A Keel-boat Voyage—Description of the Preparations.—Face of the + Country.—Troy.—Lady Washington.—The River + Sport.—Owensborough.—Henderson.</p> + + +<p>The Ohio still continuing low, and there being no prospect of proceeding +to New Orleans by a steam boat, I resolved to embark on board a keel +boat, in company with several ladies and gentlemen, who were returning +to their plantations and their homes. The preparations in such a case, +are to dispose of horse and gig, where one does not choose going by land +through Nashville, and Natchez. There is not much pleasure to be derived +from a passage on board a keel boat—a machine, fifty feet long and ten +feet broad, shut up on every side; with two doors,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_54" title="54"></a> two and a half feet +high. It forms a species of wooden prison, containing commonly four +rooms; the first for the steward, the second a dining room, the third a +cabin for gentlemen, and the fourth a ladies’ cabin. Each of these +cabins was provided with an iron stove, one of which some days +afterwards was very near sending us all to heaven, in the manner which +the most Catholic king has been pleased to adopt in regard to us +heretics. On the sides were our births, in double rows, six feet in +length and two broad. In former times this manner of travelling was +generally resorted to on the Ohio and Mississippi; the application of +steam, however, has superseded these primitive conveyances, and I hope +to the regret of no one. Our passage to Trinity, 515 miles by water, +including provisions, &c., was twenty-five dollars. We were sure of +meeting there with steam boats. The company consisted of two ladies with +their families, returning to Louisiana; two others were going to +Yellow-banks, with several governesses, nieces, &c.; in all ten ladies, +with eleven gentlemen, considered a happy omen. Amongst the men were +three planters from Louisiana and Mississippi; three merchants,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_55" title="55"></a> one a +Yankee, the other a Kentuckian, the third a Frenchman; a lawyer, from +Tennessee; two physicians, one from the same state, the other from +Kentucky, with a Kentuckian six and a half feet high. Of these persons +the Kentuckian doctor was the most to be pitied. He was in the last +stage of a pulmonary affection, and expected relief from the mild +climate of Louisiana; but much as we did to alleviate the fate of this +man, whose perpetual cough was as insufferable to us, as the constant +fire he kept up in the stove, and which at last communicated to our +boat, the poor fellow died three days after his arrival at New Orleans. +Four individuals of less note joined the company, consisting of three +slave-drivers, and a Yankee who travelled to make his fortune. We +resigned ourselves to our lot, with as good a grace as we could, the +Frenchman excepted, who found fault with every thing but the dinner, +when he handled his knife and fork with uncommon activity. A captain, a +mate, and a steward, composed the officers, twelve oarmen formed the +crew, and forty slaves, who were to be transported to the states of +Mississippi and Louisiana, were a sort of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_56" title="56"></a> deck passengers, so that the +whole cargo, inside and out, amounted to ninety persons. As long as the +weather continued fine, the poor negroes had a tolerable lot, but when +afterwards it began to rain, and they continued on a deck seven and a +half feet broad, and forty-two long, without any covering over their +heads, or being able to move, our kitchen being likewise upon deck, +their situation became truly distressing, and one of the infants died +shortly afterwards; another, as I was informed, fell into the +Mississippi above Palmyra settlements.</p> + +<p>We took our meals in three divisions; the first consisting of the ladies +and five gentlemen, who were helped by the other six gentlemen; +afterwards the six remaining sat down with the three drivers, and the +Yankee; the latter personages were, however, excused from helping the +ladies. After them came the captain, with his boatmen. Our dinner was +very good, because we took the precaution of making it part of our +agreement that we should purchase such provisions as we thought proper. +Our breakfast at the hour of eight, consisted of pigeons, ducks, +sometimes opossum, roast<a class="pagenum" id="Page_57" title="57"></a> beef, chickens, pork cakes, coffee and tea. +Our dinner at three o’clock, in the same manner, with the addition of a +haunch of venison or a turkey. Our supper at six, was the same as our +breakfast. To fill up the intervals, we took at eleven a lunch, +consisting of a <em>doddy</em>; at nine at night we had a tea party given by +the ladies, and the said ten gentlemen alternately. We started the 7th +of November, at four o’clock in the afternoon, instead of nine in the +morning. The cause of this delay was the alteration which had to be made +in the births; for it appeared that two of the Kentuckians were +considerably longer than the space allotted to them. They were therefore +to be made more <em>lengthy</em> at the expense of the dining rooms. When every +thing was ready we started, heartily tired of this delay. We had taken +the precaution to provide ourselves with powder and shot, in order to +make shooting excursions, having a skiff along side the boat. The +landscape on both banks of the Ohio was still hilly, the shores varying +from bottom lands to moderate hills, thus forming a boundary line +between the interior of Kentucky which lay to our left, and Indiana and +the river lands<a class="pagenum" id="Page_58" title="58"></a> on our right. The cotton tree is almost the only one +here, with the exception of beeches and sycamores. The first do not +quite attain the height of the sycamore, but still they are seldom less +than 140 feet high. The forests assume a more southern character; the +shrub-grass, thistles and thorns, are stronger, and the vines of an +astonishing size. At several places we were unable to land from the +thickness of the natural hedges which lined the banks, presenting an +impenetrable barrier. Pigeons now appeared in flocks of thousands and +tens of thousands. On the morning of the following day we shot +seventy-five, and in the afternoon seventy, without any difficulty.</p> + +<p>Troy, the seat of justice for Crawford county, in Indiana, was the first +place we visited. It has a court-house, a printing-office, and about +sixty houses. The inhabitants seem rather indolent. On our asking for +apples, they demanded ten dollars for half a barrel; the price for a +whole one in Louisville being no more than three dollars. We advised +them to keep their apples, and to plant trees, which would enable them +to<a class="pagenum" id="Page_59" title="59"></a> raise some for themselves; and to put panes of glass in their +windows, instead of old newspapers. The surrounding country is beautiful +and fertile. Farms, however, become more scarce, and are in a state of +more primitive simplicity. A block cabin not unlike a stable, with as +many holes as there are logs in it, patches of ground planted with +tobacco, sweet potatoes, and some corn, are the sole ornaments of these +back-wood mansions. We purchased, below Troy, half a young bear, at the +rate of five cents per pound. Two others which were skinned, indicated +an abundance of these animals, and more application to the sport than +seems compatible with the proper cultivation of these regions. The +settlers have something of a savage appearance: their features are hard, +and the tone of their voice denotes a violent disposition. Our Frenchman +was bargaining for a turkey, with the farmer’s son, an athletic youth. +On being asked three dollars for it, the Frenchman turned round to Mr. +B., saying: “I suppose the Kentuckians take us for fools.” “What do you +say, stranger,” replied the youth, at the same time laying his heavy +hand across the shoulders of the poor Frenchman, in rather a rough +manner.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_60" title="60"></a> The latter looked as if thunderstruck, and retired in the true +style of the Great Nation, when they get a sound drubbing. We remarked +on his return, the pains he took to repress his feelings at the +coarseness of the Kentuckians. He was, however, discreet enough to keep +his peace, and he did very well; but his spirit was gone, and he never +afterwards undertook to make a bargain, except with old women, for a pot +of milk, or a dozen of eggs, &c.</p> + +<p>Below Lady Washington, or Hanging Rock, as it is called,—a bare +perpendicular rock a hundred feet above the water on the right side of +the river, the mountains, or rather hills, cease by degrees, and are +succeeded by a vast plain on both sides the high banks of the Ohio. We +had here the enjoyment of some sport on the water: a deer was crossing +the river, contracted in this place to about a thousand feet, when it +was discovered by three Kentuckians, who were going to do the same. Our +boat was about half a mile above the spot when we discovered the game. +Four of us leaped into the skiff in order to intercept it. The deer +continued its course towards the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_61" title="61"></a> Indiana side, and it was easy for us +to intercept its path. As soon as we were near enough, we aimed a blow +at it with our oars, having in the hurry forgotten our guns. The deer +then took the direction of the boat—we followed—the Kentuckians +approached from the other side: full thirty minutes elapsed before these +could come up with the animal and give it a blow. Though its strength +was on the decline, it did not relax its efforts, but advanced again +towards us without our being able to reach it. A second blow on the part +of the Kentuckians, who were more expert in handling their oars, seemed +to stun the noble animal; yet, summoning up its remaining strength, it +went up the stream on the Kentucky side, and reached the shore, but so +exhausted by long swimming and the two blows from the powerful +Kentuckians, that on landing it staggered and fell, without being able +to ascend the high bank. Instantly one of the Kentuckians rushed upon +it, cutting asunder its knee joints. The deer, taking a sudden turn, +made a plunge at the Kentuckian, tearing away part of his trowsers, and +lacerating his leg. So sudden was the last effort of this animal, that +but for the speedy arrival of his<a class="pagenum" id="Page_62" title="62"></a> companion, who had been assisting the +third Kentuckian in drawing the skiff closer to the shore, it would +infallibly have ripped up its aggressor’s bowels. The dirk of the second +Kentuckian ended <em>the sport</em>, which had terminated in a rather serious +way. By this time we had also reached the field of battle. “What do you +want, gentlemen?” said the wounded Kentuckian, accosting us with his +poniard in his hand. “Part of the deer, which you know you could not +have got without our assistance?” They first looked at our party of +four, then at our boat, which was already at the distance of a mile and +a half from us. The wounded man seating himself, asked again, “What part +do you choose?” “Half the deer, with the bowels, and tongue for our +ladies.” “Have you ladies on board your vessel?” “Yes, sir.” Without +uttering a word more, they skinned the venison, cleaned, and divided it. +We stepped aside meanwhile, collected a couple of dollars, and offered +them to the wounded man. He took the money, thanked us, and the other +two carried the venison to our boat. We parted after cordially shaking +hands. There was now an abundance of pigeons, venison, and bear’s flesh<a class="pagenum" id="Page_63" title="63"></a> +on board our boat; the latter, when young, is delicious, having a very +fine flavour, with rather a sweet and luscious taste. We were all +partial to it except the Frenchman, who most likely took us for a +species of these animals. But as thoughts are free, even in the most +despotic countries, he had the privilege of thinking, without daring to +utter a syllable—assuredly the severest punishment upon one of the +Great Nation. On the third day we lost part of our company, as two of +the ladies landed on the Yellow-banks, so called from the yellow colour +of the shores, which formerly gave the name to the county town of Davies +county, now Owensborough. It contains eighty buildings, including a +court-house, a newspaper printing office, and three stores. The +distance hence to Louisville, is 170 miles. From this village, down to +the mouth of the Green river, wild vines grow very luxuriantly, forming +a continued series of hedges. The grapes are used for wine, which is of +a hard taste, but not a bad flavour; if properly attended to they would +certainly yield an excellent produce. We gathered in a few minutes +abundance of grapes, and found them juicy and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_64" title="64"></a> very good. Near the mouth +of the Green river, and up its banks, are several ponds of bitumen, a +material which is used by the inhabitants for lamp oil. The country +abounds in saltpetre, and saltlicks. On the same side, sixty miles below +Owensborough, is laid out Henderson, the seat of justice for the county +of the same name. It contains 500 inhabitants, 90 dwellings, and a +courthouse. Some of the houses are in tolerable order, but the greatest +part in a shattered condition, and the town has a dirty appearance. The +Ohio forms a bend between Owensborough and Henderson, thus making the +distance by water sixty miles, which by land-travelling would not exceed +twenty. A species of the mistletoe here makes its appearance for the +first time. The trees are covered with bunches of this plant, its +foliage is yellow, the berries milk white, and so viscous as to serve +for bird lime; when falling they adhere to the branches, and strike root +in the bark of the trees.</p> + +<p>In the morning of the sixth day we arrived at Miller’s Ferry, twenty +miles above the mouth of the Wabash. As the Ohio makes a great bend<a class="pagenum" id="Page_65" title="65"></a> in +this place, and our navigation was very slow, Messrs. B——, R——, and +myself, determined on taking a tour to Harmony, now Owen’s settlement, +fifteen miles distant from the ferry. The guide we took led us through a +rich plain, with settlements scattered over it; the road was excellent, +though a mere path, and we arrived at half-past ten.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_66" title="66"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Mr. Owen’s of Lanark, formerly Rapp’s Settlement.—Remarks on + it.—Keel-boat Scenes.—Cave in Rock.—Cumberland and Tennessee + Rivers.—Fort Massai.</p> + + +<p>About a hundred and fifty houses, built on the Swabian plan, with the +exception of Mr. Rapp’s<a id="FNanchor_B" href="#Footnote_B" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> former residence—a handsome brick +house—presented themselves to our view. We were introduced to one of +the managers, a Mr. Shnee, formerly a <a class="pagenum" id="Page_67" title="67"></a>Lutheran minister, who entered +very soon into particulars respecting Mr. Owen’s ulterior views, in +rather a pompous manner. This settlement, which is about thirty miles +above the mouth of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_68" title="68"></a> the big Wabash, in Indiana, was first established by +Rapp, in the year 1817, and was now (in the year 1823), purchased by Mr. +Owen, of Lanark, for the sum of 150,000 dollars. The society is to be +established on a plan rather different from the one he has pursued in +Scotland, and on a larger scale. Mr. Owen has, it is said, the pecuniary +means as well as the ability to effect something of importance. A plan +was shown and sold to us, according to which a new building of colossal +dimensions is projected; and if Mr. Owen’s means should not fall short +of his good will, this edifice would certainly exhibit the <a class="pagenum" id="Page_69" title="69"></a>most +magnificent piece of architecture in the Union, the capitol at +Washington excepted. This palace, when finished, is to receive his +community. According to his views, as laid down in his publications, in +the lectures held by him at Washington and at New York, and as stated in +the verbal communications of the persons who represent him, he is about +to form a society, unshackled by all those fetters which religion, +education, prejudices, and manners have imposed upon the human species; +and his followers will exhibit to the world the novel and interesting +example of a community, which, laying aside every form of worship and +all religious belief in a supreme being, shall be capable of enjoying +the highest social happiness by no other means than the impulse of +innate egotism. It has been the object of Mr. Owen’s study to improve +this egotism in the most rational manner, and to bring it to the highest +degree of perfection; and in this sense he has published the +Constitution, which is to be adopted by the community. It is +distributed, if I recollect rightly, into three subdivisions, with +seventy or more articles.—Mechanics of every description—people who<a class="pagenum" id="Page_70" title="70"></a> +have learned any useful art,—are admitted into this community. Those +who pay 500 dollars, are free from any obligation to work. The time of +the members is divided between working, reading, and dancing. A ball is +given every day, and is regularly attended by the community. Divine +service, or worship of any kind, is entirely excluded; in lieu of it, +moreover, a ball is given on Sunday. The children are summoned to school +by beat of drum. A newspaper is published, chiefly treating of their own +affairs, and of the entertainments and the social regulations of the +community, amounting to about 500 members, of both sexes, composed +almost exclusively of adventurers of every nation, who expect joyful +days. The settlement has not improved since the purchase, and there +appeared to exist the greatest disorder and uncleanliness. This +community has since been dissolved as was to have been expected. The +Scotchman seems to have a very high notion of the power of egotism. He +is certainly not wrong in this point; but if he intends to give still +greater strength to a spirit which already works with too much effect in +the Union, it may be feared that he will soon snap the cords of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_71" title="71"></a> society +asunder. According to his notions, and those of his people, all the +legislators of ancient and modern times, religious as well as political, +were either fools or impostors, who went in quest of prosperity on a +mistaken principle, which he is now about to correct. Scotchmen, it is +known, are sometimes liable to adopt strange notions, in which they +always deem themselves infallible. I am acquainted with an honorable +president of the quarter-sessions, who, as a true Swedenborghian, is +fully convinced that he will preside again as judge in the other world, +and that the German farmers will be there the same fools they are here, +whom he may continue to cheat out of their property. Great Britain has +no cause to envy the United States this acquisition. We stayed at this +place about two hours, crossed the Wabash, and took the road to +Shawneetown, through part of Mr. Birkbeck’s settlement. The country is +highly cultivated, and the difference between the steady Englishman of +the Illinois side, and the rabble of Owen’s settlement, is clearly seen +in the style and character of the improvements carried on.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_72" title="72"></a>We arrived at Shawneetown, where our boat was waiting +for us, having travelled since seven o’clock in the morning a distance +of forty miles. We found our boat’s company in the utmost confusion. Our +ladies had hitherto given a regular tea party at nine o’clock, out of +their own stock of provisions. With the exception of guns, powder, shot, +some hundred cigars, a few bottles of wine, the gentlemen were furnished +with nothing. They went therefore to Shawneetown, a village twelve miles +below the mouth of the Wabash, with sixty houses, and 300 inhabitants, +of a very indifferent character, mostly labourers at the salt works of +the Saline river. The party however were not so fortunate as to procure +anything except a dried haunch of venison. On their return, the invalid +doctor missed the negro girl he had brought to wait upon him, intending +to sell her along with a male slave. She was gone. A search was +commenced, but the honest inhabitants declared, with many G—d d—ns, +that they did not know anything about her. The company discovered what +was wanting, and persuaded the physician to offer a reward for her +recovery. In less than half an hour, one of the worthy inhab<a class="pagenum" id="Page_73" title="73"></a>itants came +up with the run-away girl, leading her by a rope. He had shortly before +assured some of the inquirers, under the pledge of a round oath, of his +utter ignorance of the matter, whilst at the same time the slave was +concealed in his kitchen. The second physician from Tennessee had the +benevolent precaution of suggesting to the patient to keep himself cool. +But every advice was thrown away. The Kentuckian could not resist +striking the girl. With the utmost pain he raised himself up in his bed, +to give her blows, which did himself infinitely more harm. When called +upon to pay the reward of twenty dollars, his wrath rose to the highest +pitch, and if he had had strength we should have witnessed a strange +scene. He paid, however, and contented himself with binding her arms, +and fastening her to the door-post, from which she was released by the +following accident, which took place about eight o’clock, just as we +returned from our excursion. One of the planters, a Kentuckian by birth, +made a regular excursion, twice a day, to fetch milk and eggs for the +company. The captain refused to dispatch the skiff for him, but the rest +of the company sent it without asking the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_74" title="74"></a> captain’s leave. Some hours +after the Kentuckian’s return he heard of the captain’s refusal, and +immediately accused him of negligence, &c. The captain gave him the lie, +and hardly was the word spoken, when the Kentuckian rushed upon the +young man with a dirk in his hand. He was, however, prevented, when +turning round, he ran to the other side to fetch an axe, declaring at +the same time, with a G——d d——n, he would knock down any body who +dared to oppose him. I stood with Mr. B. at the door. A quarrel ensued, +and he was going to force it open, when several gentlemen came to our +assistance. During this riot the stove became heated to such a degree, +as unobserved by any one, to set fire to the wood beneath it, so that +the birth of our patient was in flames in a moment. Quarrelling, and +murderous thoughts gave way to the danger of being roasted alive. All +hands, even the Kentuckian, were assiduous in their endeavours to +extinguish the fire; but this could not be so easily accomplished, the +boat being extremely crowded. At last we succeeded; the poor doctor had +almost been forgotten, and was very near being burnt alive, had it not +been for his second<a class="pagenum" id="Page_75" title="75"></a> servant, who immediately laid hold of a bucket full +of water, and poured it over his master. The behaviour of this invalid +was strange beyond description, and shewed a degree of passion, at once +ludicrous and pitiable. “For heaven’s sake,” exclaimed he, “I am +roasting! no, I am drowning! the wretch has poured a whole bucket of +water over me. Come hither, rascal!” The servant was obliged to +approach, and tender his face to receive a box on the ear, certainly the +most harmless he ever got; the master at the same time reproaching him +with his villainy, and lamenting the consequences which this bath would +bring upon him, such as rheumatism, fever, &c. We stood astonished and +confounded at this man, the living image of a burnt-out volcano. “But +for heaven’s sake,” said Mr. B., “Doctor, you would have been roasted +alive but for your slave, and you have been the only cause of the fire, +by the unsupportable heat you kept up in the stove; you must not do that +again.” “He is my slave,” was the answer, “and should have stayed with +me, instead of listening to your ungentlemanly disputes; then the fire +would not have broken out.” We assented to this, and peace was fully +restored.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_076" title="076"></a>The next day we proceeded on our journey, having the state of Illinois +on our right, and Kentucky on our left. Thirteen miles below Saline +river we visited the cave of Rock Island. The limestone wall, 120 feet +high, runs for about half a mile along the right bank of the Ohio; +nearly at its end is the entrance to the cave. A few steps bring you at +once into the grotto, which is about sixty-five feet wide at the base, +narrowing as you ascend, and forming an arch, the span of which is from +twenty-five to thirty feet, extending to a length of 120 feet. Marine +shells, feathers, and bones of bears, turkies, and wild geese, afford +ample testimony that this place has not been visited by the curious +alone, but has been the resort of numerous families, which had taken +temporary refuge here.</p> + +<p>Our sporting excursions had generally pigeons, turkies, or opossums, for +their object; below the cave, in the rocks, wild geese and ducks become +very plentiful. Flocks of from forty to one hundred were flying over our +heads in every direction, and augmenting in numbers as we approached the +Mississippi. We shot this day seven geese and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_77" title="77"></a> ducks, and passed the +small villages of Cumberland, at the mouth of the river of that name, +and Smithland, three miles below. Both villages are now springing up. +The Cumberland is 720 feet wide at its mouth. The river Tennessee, +thirteen miles below, is 700 feet. Eleven miles lower down, on the +Illinois side, is fort Spassai, erected on a high bank and in a +commanding position, which overlooks the Ohio, here a mile wide. The +prospect for a distance of forty miles, is charming. The extraordinary +beauty of the river, which the French very properly called <em lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">la belle +rivière</em>, on both sides the majestic native forests, clad in their +autumnal foliage, here and there an island in the midst of the stream, +with its luxuriant growth of trees, not unlike enchanted gardens. The +charm which is diffused over the whole scene can scarcely be described. +The fort is garrisoned by a captain, with a company of regulars, who, +however, suffer much from swamps in the rear of the fort.</p> + +<p>On the two following days we passed the county towns of Golconda, the +seat of justice for Pope county; Vienna, for Johnson; and America, for<a class="pagenum" id="Page_78" title="78"></a> +Alexander county; villages which have nothing in common with the cities +of which they remind you but the name. They are inhabited by some +Kentuckians and loiterers, who spend part of their time in bringing down +the Mississippi the produce of the country, for the transport of which +they demand double wages, and are thus enabled to spend the rest of +their time sitting cross-legged over their whiskey. The ninth day, +about noon, we arrived at Trinity. I was heartily tired of this manner +of travelling, and resolved to wait here with Mr. B., and Mrs. Th—— +and family, for a steam-boat from St. Louis. The rest of the company +went on in the boat, after an hour’s stopping. Trinity, or as it was +formerly called, Cairo, is situated four and a half miles above the +junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, consisting only of a tavern and a +store, kept by a Mr. Bershoud. The inundations occurring regularly every +year, have hitherto prevented the formation of settlements at this +place. Though these inundations rise every year from four to ten feet +above the banks, as may be seen from the weeds remaining in clusters on +the trees, the inhabitants of these two houses have, if we except<a class="pagenum" id="Page_79" title="79"></a> the +trouble of transporting their effects and goods to the upper story, but +little to apprehend, the rise of the river being gradually slow, and its +power being lessened by its circuitous course, and by the trees on its +bank.</p> + +<p>From Trinity down to Baton Rouge, a distance of 900 miles, the houses +are constructed in such a manner as to be secured against accidents; the +foundations are stumps of trees, or low brick pillars, four feet high. +The houses are so built, or rather laid upon these pillars, as to allow +the water to pass beneath. Notwithstanding this precaution, the flood +generally reaches to the lower apartments, and passengers coming from +Trinity to New Orleans last February, had to get into the skiff sent for +them, through the window of the second story.</p> + +<p>From Trinity to the mouth of the Ohio, are reckoned four and a half +miles. We visited on the following morning, this remarkable spot, where +two of the most important rivers unite.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_80" title="80"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The Mississippi.—General Features of the State of Illinois and its +Inhabitants.</p> + + +<p>The nearer we approached the Mississippi, the lower the country became, +and the more imposing the scenery. By degrees the river Ohio loses its +blue tinge, taking from the mightier stream a milky colour, which +changes into a muddy white when very near the junction—this junction +itself is one of the most magnificent sights. On the left hand the Ohio, +half a mile wide, overpowered, as it were, by its mightier rival—in +front the more gigantic Mississippi, one mile and a half broad, rolling +down its vast volumes of water with incredible rapidity. Farther on, the +high banks of the state of Missouri, with some farm buildings of a +dimi<a class="pagenum" id="Page_81" title="81"></a>nutive appearance, owing to the great distance; in the back ground, +the colossal native forests of Missouri; and lastly, to the south, these +two rivers united and turning majestically to the south-west. The deep +silence which reigns in these regions, and which is interrupted only by +the rushing sound of the waves, and the immense mass of water, produce +the illusion that you are no longer standing upon firm ground; you are +fearful less the earth should give way to the powerful element, which, +pressed into so narrow a space, rolls on with irresistible force. I had +formerly seen the falls of Niagara; but this scene, taken in the proper +point of view, is in no respect inferior to that which they present. The +immense number of streams which empty into the Mississippi, and caused +it to be named, very appropriately, the <em>Father of Rivers</em>, render it +powerful throughout the year; it generally rises in February, and falls +in July. In September and October the autumnal rains begin; and they +continue to swell it through the winter. When it overflows its banks, +the Mississippi inundates the country on both sides, for an extent of +from forty-five to fifty miles, thus forming an immense lake. From the +mouth of the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_82" title="82"></a> Ohio to Walnut hills, in the state of Mississippi, the +difference between the lowest water and the highest inundation, is +generally sixteen feet. The nearer it approaches the gulph of Mexico, +the less is the flood. The water leaving its bed on the west side never +returns, but forms into lakes and marshes. On the east side they find +resistance from the high lands, that follow the meanderings of the +river. Above Natchez, the river inundates the lands for a space of +thirty miles. At Baton Rouge, the high lands take on a sudden a +south-eastern direction, while the river turns to the south-west, thus +leaving the waters to form the eastern swamps of Louisiana. It rises to +thirty feet at that place; whilst at New Orleans it scarcely attains the +height of twelve feet, and at the mouth no difference between a rise and +fall is perceptible. Whoever comes to the Mississippi with the +expectation of beholding a sea-like river flowing quietly along, will +find himself disappointed. The magnitude of this river does not consist +in its width but in its depth, and the immense quantity of water it +pours out into the sea. At the mouth of the Ohio it is a mile and a half +wide. This moderate breadth rather diminishes<a class="pagenum" id="Page_83" title="83"></a> as it proceeds in its +course. At New Orleans, after receiving the waters of some great +tributary streams, it is not more than a mile in width, and in some +places three quarters of a mile. Its depth, however, continues to +increase; below the Ohio it is reckoned to be from thirty-five to fifty +feet deep. Below the Arkansas to Natchez, from 100 to 150. From Natchez +to New Orleans, from 150 to 250 feet. At its mouth, owing to the sand +bar at the Paliseter, the depth greatly diminishes, and it is well known +that vessels drawing eighteen feet of water can hardly enter the mouth +of the stream. The waters of the Mississippi are not clear at any period +of the year. This was the second time I saw it, when it was said to be +very low; still its waters were of a muddy turbid appearance. When +rising it changes to a muddy yellow. A glass filled with water from the +Mississippi, deposits in a quarter of an hour a mass of mud equal to one +tenth of the whole contents. But when clear, it is excellent for +drinking, and superior to any I have tasted. It is generally used by +those who inhabit its banks.</p> + +<p>The accommodations in Trinity are comfort<a class="pagenum" id="Page_84" title="84"></a>able, and the tables are well +furnished, but the prices exorbitant. It cannot, however, be expected to +be otherwise, owing to the new settlers, whose anxiety never permits +them to neglect an opportunity of improving their means on their first +outset. We found this to be the case on all occasions. Whenever some of +our passengers made purchases of trifles, such as cigars, &c., they had +to pay five times as much as in Louisville. It is therefore advisable to +provide oneself with every thing, when travelling in these backwoods; +the generality of the settlers on these banks being needy adventurers, +partly foreigners, partly Kentuckians, who, with a capital of not quite +100 dollars, with which they purchase some goods in New Orleans, begin +their commercial career, and may be seen with both hands in their +pockets, their legs on the table or chimney-piece, and cigars in their +mouths, selling their goods for five hundred per cent above prime cost. +Towards the north on the banks of the Mississippi, the settlers are +generally Frenchmen, who now assume by degrees the American manners and +language. Many of them are wealthy store-keepers, merchants, and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_85" title="85"></a> +farmers; but for the most part, however, a lightfooted kind of people, +who, from their fathers, have inherited frivolity, and from their +mothers, Indian women, uncleanliness. The towns of Kaskakia, Cahokia, +&c., as well as several villages up the Mississippi to the Prairie des +Chiens, owe their origin to them. The solid class of inhabitants live on +the big and little Wabash, and between these two rivers and the +Illinois. This is, no doubt, the finest part of the state, and one of +the most delightful countries on the face of the earth. It is mostly +inhabited by Americans and Englishmen. Agriculture, the breeding of +cattle, and improvements of every kind, are making rapid progress. The +settlements in Bond, Crawford, Edward’s, Franklin, and White Counties, +are to be considered as forming the main substance of the state. A +number of elegant towns have arisen in the space of a few years: among +others, Vandalia, the capital, and for these three years past the seat +of government, with a state house and a projected university, for which +36,000 acres of land have been assigned. An excellent spirit is +acknowledged to prevail among the inhabitants of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_86" title="86"></a> this district. Still, +however, the style of architecture—if the laying of logs or of bricks +upon each other deserves this name—the manners, the attempted +improvements, every thing announces a new land, which has only a few +years since started into political existence, and the settlers of which +do not yet evince any anxiety for the comforts of life. Illinois has now +80,000 inhabitants, 1500 of whom are people of colour; the rest are +Americans, English, French, and a German settlement about Vandalia. The +state was received into the Union in the year 1818. The constitution, +with a governor and a secretary at its head, resembles that of the state +of Ohio. In the year 1824, the question was again brought forward +concerning the possession of slaves: it was, however, negatived, and we +hope it will never be pressed upon the people. The state is much +indebted in every point to the late Mr. Birkbeck, who died too soon for +the welfare of his adopted country. He was considered as the father of +the state, and whenever he could gain over a useful citizen, he spared +no expense, and sacrificed a considerable part of his property in this +manner. The people of Illinois, in acknow<a class="pagenum" id="Page_87" title="87"></a>ledgment of his services, had +chosen him for secretary of the state, in which character he died in +1825. He was generally known under the name of Emperor of the Prairies, +from the vast extent of natural meadows belonging to his lands. It is to +be regretted, however, that Mr. Birkbeck was not acquainted with the +country about Trinity. His large capital and the number of hands who +joined him, would no doubt succeed in establishing a settlement here. +This will sooner or later take place, and will eventually render it one +of the finest towns in the United States, as the advantages of its +situation are incalculable. Illinois is, in point of commerce, more +advantageously situated than any of the Ohio states; being bounded on +the west by the river Mississippi, which forms the line between this +state and that of Missouri, to the east by the big Wabash, and to the +south by the Ohio, the river Illinois running through it with some +smaller rivers; thus affording it an open navigation to the north-west, +the west, the south, and the east. Towards the north the banks of the +Upper Mississippi form a range of hills which join the Illinois +mountains to the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_88" title="88"></a> east, and lowering by degrees lose themselves in the +plains of lakes Huron and Michigan. The country is, on the whole, less +elevated than Indiana, and forms the last slope of the northern valley +of the Mississippi, the hills being intersected by a number of valleys, +plains, prairies, and marshes. The fertility of this state is +extraordinary, surpassing that of Indiana and Ohio. In beauty, variety +of scenery, and fertility, it may vie with the most celebrated +countries. Wheat thrives only on high land, the soil of the valleys +being too rich. Corn gives for every bushel a hundred. Tobacco planted +in Illinois, if well managed, is found to be superior to that of +Kentucky and Virginia. Rice and indigo grow wild, their cultivation +being neglected for want of hands. Pecans, a product of the West Indies, +grow in abundance in the native forests. This state having a temperate +climate, possesses many of the southern products. The timber is of +colossal magnitude. Sycamores and cotton trees of an immense height, +walnut, pecan trees, honey-locusts and maples, cover the surface of this +country, and are the surest indications of an exceedingly rich soil. The +most fertile<a class="pagenum" id="Page_89" title="89"></a> parts of the state are the bottom lands along the +Mississippi, Illinois, and the big and little Wabash. The country is +complained of as being sickly. There is no doubt that a state which +abounds in rivers, marshes, and ponds, must be subject to epidemic +diseases, but the climate being temperate the fault lies very much with +the settlers and the inhabitants themselves. The settler who chooses for +his dwelling-house a spot on an eminence, and far from the marshes, +taking at the same time the necessary precautions in point of dress, +cleanliness, and the choice of victuals and beverage, may live without +fear in these countries. All agree in this opinion, and I have myself +experienced the correctness of it. The greatest part, however, of the +new comers and inhabitants live upon milk or stagnant water taken from +the first pond they meet with on their way, with a few slices of bacon. +Their wardrobe consists of a single shirt, which is worn till it falls +to pieces. It cannot, therefore, be matter of astonishment if agues and +bilious fevers spread over the country, and even in this case a quart of +corn brandy is their prescription.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_90" title="90"></a> This being the general mode of +living, and we may add of dying, among the lower classes, disease must +necessarily spread its ravages with more rapidity.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_91" title="91"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Excursion to St. Louis.—Face of the Country.—Sketch of the State of +Missouri.—Return to Trinity.</p> + + +<p>The steam-boat, the Pioneer, having come up to Trinity the following +day, on its way to St. Louis, Mr. B. and I resolved to take a trip to +the latter place, as the best chance that offered to get away as soon as +possible. We started at ten o’clock in the morning, turned round the +fork, and ascended the muddy Mississippi. The first town we saw was +Hamburgh, on the Illinois side, consisting of nineteen frame dwellings +and cabins, and four stores. On the left, in the state of Missouri, is +Cape Girardeau. The settlement mostly consists of Frenchmen, and German +Redemptioners. The town has not a very inviting<a class="pagenum" id="Page_92" title="92"></a> appearance. One hundred +and six miles above the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, we landed +at St. Genevieve to take in wood. This town is the principal mart for +the Burton mines; it has a Catholic chapel, twenty stores, a printing +office, 250 houses, and 1600 inhabitants. Twenty-four miles farther up +the same side, is Herculaneum, with 300 inhabitants, a court-house, and +a printing office. The town had been laid out and peopled by +Kentuckians. There are several villages on the right and left bank, and +some good-looking farms. On the third day, at twelve o’clock, we reached +the town of St. Louis, 170 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and +thirteen miles below the junction of the Mississippi, and the Missouri. +This town extends, in a truly picturesque situation, in 38° 33′ north +latitude, and 12° 58′ west longitude, for the length of two miles along +the river, in three parallel streets, rising one above the other in the +form of terraces, on a stratum of limestone. The houses are for the most +part built of this material, and surrounded with gardens. The number of +buildings amounts to 620, that of the inhabitants to 5000. Its principal +buildings are, a Catholic, and two Pro<a class="pagenum" id="Page_93" title="93"></a>testant churches, a branch bank +of the United States, and the bank of St. Louis, the courthouse, the +government-house, an academy, and a theatre; besides these, there are a +number of wholesale and retail stores, two printing offices, and an +abundance of coffee-shops, billiard-tables, and dancing-rooms. The trade +of St. Louis is not so extensive as that of Louisville, and less liable +to interruption, as the navigation is not impeded at any season of the +year, the Mississippi, being at all times navigable for the largest +vessels. An exception, indeed, occurred in 1802, when the Ohio and other +rivers were almost dried up. The inhabitants of St. Louis and of +Missouri, have therefore a never-failing channel for carrying their +produce to market. This they generally do, when the rivers which empty +themselves into the Mississippi, are so low that they have no +apprehension of finding any competition in New Orleans. Last year, the +market of New Orleans was almost exclusively supplied with produce from +St. Louis and Missouri. Eighty dollars was the general price for a +bullock, which at a later period would not have obtained twenty-five +dollars; flour was at eight dollars, whereas,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_94" title="94"></a> two months afterwards, +abundance could be had for two and a half dollars. In the same +proportion they sold every other article. It is this circumstance which +contributes to the wealth of St. Louis, and of Missouri in general, to +the detriment, on the other hand, of the Ohio States, Kentucky, Indiana, +and Ohio. At the time of our arrival at St. Louis, there were in its +port, five steam vessels, and thirty-five other boats. St. Louis is a +sort of New Orleans on a smaller scale; in both places are to be found a +number of coffee-houses and dancing rooms. The French are seen engaged +in the same amusements and passions that formerly characterised the +creoles of Louisiana, with the exception, that the trade with the +Indians has given to the French backwoods-men of St. Louis, a rather +malicious and dishonest turn—a fault from which the creoles of +Louisiana are free, owing to the greater respectability of their +visitors and settlers, from Europe, and from the north of the Union. The +majority of the inhabitants of this town, as well as of the state, +consists of people descended from the French, of Kentuckians, and +foreigners of every description—Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Irish, +&c. Ken<a class="pagenum" id="Page_95" title="95"></a>tucky manners are fashionable. Not long before my arrival, there +occurred a specimen of this, in an open assault and duel between two +individuals in the public street. For the last five years, men of +property and respectability, attracted by the superior advantages of the +situation, have settled at St. Louis, and their example and influence +have been conducive of some good to public morals. The enterprising +spirit of the Americans is remarkable, even in this place and state. +Within the twenty-three years that have elapsed since the cession of +this country (part of the former Louisiana) to the Union, much more has +been achieved in every point of view, than during the sixty years +preceding, when it was in possession of France and Spain. Streets, +villages, settlements, towns, and farms, have sprung up in every +direction; the population has augmented from 20,000 to 84,000 +inhabitants; and if they are not superior in wealth to their neighbours, +it is certainly to be attributed to their want of industry, and to their +passing the greater part of their time in grog-shops, or in +dancing-companies, according to the prevailing custom. Slavery, which is +introduced here, though so ill<a class="pagenum" id="Page_96" title="96"></a> adapted to a northern state, contributes +not a little to the aristocratic notions of the people, the least of +whom, if he can call himself the master of one slave, would be ashamed +to put his hand to any work. Still there is more ready money among the +inhabitants, than in any of the western states, and prices are demanded +accordingly. Cattle that fetch in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, ten +dollars per head, are sold in Missouri for twenty-five dollars, and so +in proportion. The country about St. Louis to the north, south, and +west, consists of prairies, extending fifteen miles in every direction, +with some very handsome farm houses, and numerous herds of cattle. +Though in the same degree of northern latitude as the city of +Washington, the climate is more severe, owing to the two rivers Missouri +and Mississippi, whose waters coming from northern countries greatly +contribute to cool the air. The cultivation of tobacco has not +succeeded, and the produce chiefly consists of wheat, corn and +cattle;—equally important is the profit from the lead mines, and the +fur trade. The most improved settlements are those along the +Mississippi, and on the Missouri they are beginning to be formed.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_097" title="097"></a>Missouri was received into the Union in 1821, and is, with the exception +of Virginia, the largest state of the Union, its area exceeding 60,000 +square miles. To the north and west it borders on the Missouri +territory; towards the east the Mississippi is the boundary between this +state, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; the Arkansas territory lies to +the south. It extends from 36° to 40° 25′ north latitude, and from 12° +50′ to 18° 10′ west longitude. The country forms an elevated plain, +sloping considerably to the south, where it is crossed by the Ozark +mountains. Marshes and mountains prevail more in the southern parts, +high plains in the northern. Along the Mississippi and Missouri, the +bottom lands are generally extremely fertile. The soils, however, cannot +be altogether compared with that of Illinois. The possession of slaves +is allowed by the constitution of this state, and their number amounts +to 10,000; that of the rest of the inhabitants to 70,000. The form of +government approaches very nearly that of Kentucky. We remained one day +at St. Louis, and returned in the steam-boat, General Brown, to Trinity, +where we took on board the ladies and some new passengers,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_98" title="98"></a> returning +from thence to the Mississippi. We passed several small islands, and a +large one (Wolf’s Island), and landed at New Madrid at midnight, for the +purpose of taking in wood. This place is the seat of justice for the +county of the same name; it has, however, no court-house, and is a +rather wretched looking place, containing about thirty log and shattered +farm houses, with 180 inhabitants, Spaniards, French, and Italians. The +two stores being open, we visited them. They were but poorly provided, +having about a dozen cotton handkerchiefs, one barrel of whiskey, and a +heap of furs. Two Indians were stretched on the ground before the door, +and in a sound sleep, with their guns by their side. The Mississippi is +continually encroaching upon the town, and has already swept away many +intended streets, as the inhabitants say, obliging them to move back to +their no small disappointment. The surrounding country is highly +fertile, and in the rear of the town there are several well cultivated +cotton and rice plantations. A rich plain stretches along to the west, +behind New Madrid, as far as the waters of Sherrimack.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_99" title="99"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The State of Tennessee.—Steam-boats on the Mississippi.—Flat-boats.</p> + + +<p>We had now passed the western extremity of Kentucky, and had the state +of Tennessee on our left. The eastern banks of the Mississippi, viz. on +the Tennessee side, are throughout lower than the western or Missouri +shores; presenting a series of marshes from which cypress trees and +canebrack seem just emerging, lining them for hundreds of miles to the +southward. Farther eastward, towards the rivers Tennessee and +Cumberland, the soil is overgrown with sugar-maples, sycamore trees, +walnuts, and honey-locusts; the mountains with white and live oak and +hickory. The eastern part of the state resembles North<a class="pagenum" id="Page_100" title="100"></a> Carolina. The +middle part is by far the best. Cotton and tobacco are staple articles. +Rice is cultivated with success. Hemp is not considered of the same +quality as the Kentuckian, the climate being too warm. The tropical +fruits, such as figs, thrive well; chesnuts are superior to those of the +other states. Melons, peaches, and apples, are abundant. Tennessee is +considered altogether a rich and fertile land. The inhabitants are +liberal, noble hearted, and noted for their good conduct towards +strangers. Several foreigners settled in the state, have attained a high +degree of wealth and prosperity. There is no state in the Union where +slavery has had less pernicious effects upon the character of the +people. The inhabitants are mostly descendants of emigrants from North +Carolina, and their hospitality is without bounds. This state extends, +in an oblong square, from the shores of the Mississippi towards Virginia +and North Carolina, in 35° to 36° 30′ north latitude, and 4° 26′ to 13° +5′ west longitude. It is bounded on the east by Virginia and North +Carolina; on the south by Georgia, Albania, and Mississippi; on the west +by the river Mississippi, and on the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_101" title="101"></a> north by Kentucky, comprising +altogether 40,000 square miles. East Tennessee partakes more of the +sandy character of North Carolina. West Tennessee of the marshes of the +Mississippi valley. Its principal rivers are the Cumberland and +Tennessee, with the Mississippi on the west, where however, with the +exception of some very small settlements, there are no improvements of +any kind. The canal proposed by Governor Troup, of Georgia, to Governor +Carrott, of Tennessee, which is to bring this state into immediate +connection with the Atlantic, will have a very beneficial effect, these +two rivers being navigable for steam-boats only during three months in +the year, and New Orleans being the only market for Tennessee. +Notwithstanding its straitened commerce, the state is rapidly improving, +and several of its towns, though not large are yet very elegant. The +chief wealth of the state, however, consists in the plantations, and the +farmer and planter live in a style, which at least in point of eating, +cannot be exceeded by the wealthiest nobleman in any country. Among the +towns of the state, Nashville holds the first rank. This town occupies a +commanding situa<a class="pagenum" id="Page_102" title="102"></a>tion, on a solid cliff of rocks on the south side of +the Cumberland, 200 feet above the level of the banks. The river is +navigable here during three months in the year for steam-boats of 300 +tons burthen. Besides the court-house, three churches, two banks, +including a branch bank of the United States, three printing offices, +and a great number of wholesale and retail merchants, there is the seat +of the district court for the western part of Tennessee. Several +literary institutions, such as Cumberland college, a ladies’ school, and +reading-room with a public library, are evident proofs of a liberal +spirit. This spirit is combined with unbounded hospitality. There is a +number of houses, such as those of Governor Carrott, Major General +Jackson, &c., where every respectable stranger is welcome, and may be +sure of meeting with a select company. The surrounding country is +beautiful, cotton plantations lining the banks of the river, and +extending in every direction hither. The wealthier inhabitants generally +retire during the summer months, from the stifling heats prevailing on +the barren rocks upon which Nashville stands. Knoxville in east +Tennessee, with 400 houses and 2,500 inhabi<a class="pagenum" id="Page_103" title="103"></a>tants, is of less +importance; it is the seat of the supreme district court for east +Tennessee, and has a bank, a college, and two churches. The country +about Knoxville is far inferior to that round Nashville. The capital of +Tennessee, Murfreesborough, has 1500 inhabitants, with a state-house, a +bank, two printing-offices, &c. It communicates by water with Nashville, +through Stonecreek. The situation seems not to be very judiciously +chosen for a chief town. This was the state of things four years ago, +when I passed through the place; but doubtless it has since +proportionably increased. Our company being on this occasion of a less +mixed, and a less troublesome character, we sailed down the majestic +father of rivers, with minds well disposed to acknowledge our +obligations to Mr. Fulton, for his happy idea of applying the power of +steam to navigation. The settlers of the Mississippi valley, are in duty +bound to raise a monument to the memory of a man, who has effected in +their mode of conveyance so adventurous, and so successful a change. Not +ten years have elapsed since the inhabitants of the west were used to +toil like<a class="pagenum" id="Page_104" title="104"></a> beasts of burden, in order to ascend the stream for a +distance of ten or fifteen miles a day; and when in 1802, some boats +belonging to Mr. R., of Nashville, arrived from New Orleans in +eighty-seven days, this passage was considered the <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">ne plus ultra</em> of +quick travelling by water, and was instantly made known throughout the +Union. A passenger now performs the same voyage in five days, sitting +all the while in a comfortable state-room, which in point of fitting-up +vies with the most elegant parlours, writing letters, or reading the +newspapers, and if tired of these occupations, paying visits to the +ladies, if he be permitted to do so; or otherwise pacing the deck, where +his less fortunate fellow passengers are hanging in hammocks—an +indication to many of what may be their future state. There is certainly +not any nation that can boast of a greater disposition for travelling, +than Brother Jonathan; and there is again nobody more at home than he, +whether in a tavern, or on board a vessel; as he is in the habit of +considering a tavern, a vessel, or a steam-boat, as a kind of public +property. Yet on board a vessel, or a steam-boat, he is very tractable. +The great difference of fare between<a class="pagenum" id="Page_105" title="105"></a> a cabin and a deck passage, from +Louisville to New Orleans, being for the former forty dollars, and for +the latter eight dollars, contributes to establish a distinction in this +assemblage of people, placing those who are found too light in the upper +house, and the more weighty in the lower. The first have to find +themselves, the others are provided with every thing in a manner which +shows that private institutions for the benefit of the public, are +certainly more patronised here than in most other countries. If the +pecuniary resources of the citizen of the United States do not reach a +very low ebb, he will certainly choose the cabin, his pride forbidding +him to mix with the rabble, though the expence may fall too heavy upon +him. That economical refinement which the French evince on these +occasions, is not to be seen in America. When I proceeded four months +ago from Havre to Rouen, in the Duchess of Angouleme steam-boat, among +the 100 passengers who were on board, more than fifty well-looking +people were seen unpacking their bundles, and regaling themselves with +their contents—bread, chicken, cutlets, wine, &c., &c., a frugality +which will hardly be found to contribute to the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_106" title="106"></a> improvement of a spirit +of enterprise. The Americans would be ashamed of this kind of parsimony, +which must ever impede all public undertakings. Owing to this cause, the +American steam-boats are in point of elegance superior to those of other +nations; and none but the English are able to compete with them. The +furniture, carpets, beds, &c., are throughout elegant, and in good +condition. Some of the new steam-boats are provided with small rooms, +each containing two births, which passengers may use for their +accommodation in shaving, dressing, &c. The general regulations are +suspended above the side board in a gilt frame, and are as binding as a +law. They prohibit speaking to the pilot during the passage—visiting +the ladies’ state-room, without their consent—lying down upon the bed +with shoes or boots on—smoking cigars in the state-room—and playing at +cards after ten o’clock. The first transgression is punished with a +fine; if repeated, the transgressor is sent ashore. The fare is +excellent, and the breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, are provided with +such a multiplicity of dishes, and even dainties, as would satisfy the +most refined appetite.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_107" title="107"></a> The beverage consists of rum, gin, brandy, +claret, to be taken at pleasure during meals; but out of that time they +are to be paid for. Distressing accidents will of course occasionally +occur; the last of this kind was of a truly heart-rending nature: it +happened four years ago, above Walnut-hills, in the steam-boat +Tennessee. The night was tempestuous, the rain fell in torrents, and the +captain, instead of landing and waiting until the weather cleared up, +lost his senses, and ran on a sawyer<a id="FNanchor_C" href="#Footnote_C" class="fnanchor">[C]</a>. The steam-boat was not sixty +feet distant from the bank, which could not be distinguished, and she +went down in a few seconds, together with 110 passengers, save a few who +by accident reached the shore. Since that time, although steam-boats +have sunk, no such loss of lives has occurred. This, however, is not to +be compared with the hardships, the toils, the loss of health and life, +to which the navigators of flat and keel-boats were formerly, and are +<a class="pagenum" id="Page_108" title="108"></a> still exposed, when going down the Mississippi. +Nothing more uncouth than these flat-boats was ever sent forth from the +hands of a carpenter. They are built of rude timber and planks, sixty +feet in length, and twenty-five feet in breadth, and so unmanageable, +that only the strong arm of a backwoodsman can keep them from running +upon planters[<a id="FNanchor_D" href="#Footnote_D" class="fnanchor">[D]</a>, sawyers, wooden-islands, and all the Scyllas and +Charybdes, that are to be met with on the voyage. We found numbers of +them along the Ohio, detained by low water; and from St. Louis down to +New Orleans, sometimes fifteen, twenty, and thirty together. Their +uncouth appearance, the boisterous and fierce manners of their crews, +the immense distance they have already proceeded, make them truly +objects of interest. One of these flat-boats is from the Upper Ohio, +laden with pine-boards, planks, rye, whisky, flour; close to it, another +from the falls of the Ohio, with corn in the ear and bulk, apples, +peaches;<a class="pagenum" id="Page_109" title="109"></a> a third, with hemp, tobacco, and cotton. In the fourth you may +find horses regularly stabled together; in the next, cattle from the +mouth of the Missouri; a sixth will have hogs, poultry, turkeys; and in +a seventh you see peeping out of the holes, the woolly heads of slaves +transported from Virginia and Kentucky, to the human flesh mart at New +Orleans. They have come thousands of miles, and still have to proceed a +thousand more, before they arrive at their place of destination.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_110" title="110"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Scenery along the Mississippi.—Hopefield.—St. Helena.—Arkansas + Territory.—Spanish Moss.—Vixburgh.</p> + + +<p>We pursued our course at the rate of ten miles an hour, passing the +Chickasaw Bluffs, Memphis, a small settlement on the Tennessee side, and +a number of smaller and larger islands, from two to six miles in length, +but seldom more than one in breadth. The sediment of the Mississippi is +continually forming new sand banks, at the same time that its +irresistible power carries away old ones. That river was, as I have +already mentioned, very low, and the numerous sand banks on both sides +contracted its channel into a bed scarcely more than half a mile broad. +On these banks numberless flocks of wild ducks, geese,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_111" title="111"></a> cranes, swans, +and pelicans, stationed themselves in rows, extending sometimes a mile +in length. As soon as the steam boat approaches, dashing through the +water with the noise of thunder, and vomiting forth columns of smoke, +they fly up in masses resembling clouds, and retire to their covers in +the marshes and ponds contiguous to the banks of the Mississippi. They +abound most 150 miles above Natchez, and hundreds of thousands are seen +crossing the river in every direction. The scenery in view is an immense +valley, with banks sixty feet above the water, forests of colossal trees +on both sides, and the vast expanse of waters rolling with a velocity +the more surprising, as the country stretches in a continued plain, with +scarcely any perceptible decline. The rural scenery of the regions +consists of detached cabins raised on huge stumps of trees; instead of +windows there are the natural apertures of the logs joined together; in +front of them woodstacks, for the use of the steam boats; ten or twelve +deer, bear, or fox skins drying in the open air; some turkies and hogs, +scattered over a corn patch, &c. Farms, or plantations, properly so +called, are seldom to be met with here; the chief object of these +settlers<a class="pagenum" id="Page_112" title="112"></a> being the breed of cattle and poultry, for the use of +steam-boats. The only trace of agriculture is a small tract of cotton +field, which the settlers endeavour to improve.</p> + +<p>We stayed an hour and a half in Hopefield, opposite to the Chickasaw +Bluffs, the chief village of Hempstead county, with ten houses. There +are two taverns, such as may be expected in these parts, a store and a +post office. Two hours later we saw the mouth of the Wolf river; the +beautiful President’s island, ten miles long, which with its colossal +forests presents an imposing sight, with several small islands in its +train. Among these is the Battle island, taking its name from a battle +fought here between two Kentuckians, who compelled their captain to land +them, and returned after half an hour, the one with his nose bitten off, +the other with his eyes scooped out of their sockets! This night we +arrived in the county town of St. Helena, ninety-five miles above the +mouth of the Arkansas. The place was laid out a few years ago, and bids +fair to become of some importance, from the extreme scarcity of spots +adapted for towns on the banks<a class="pagenum" id="Page_113" title="113"></a> of the Mississippi. The village is +situated a quarter of a mile from the west bank. The cabin houses are +built upon dwarfish round hills, resembling sugar loaves. Viewed from a +distance they have a handsome appearance, which, however, considerably +diminishes on approaching nearer to them. The spot is quite broken land. +Two hundred yards further up, a ridge eighty feet above the level of the +water, extends about a quarter of a mile, and six other houses are built +upon it, amongst which is a tavern and store, with few articles besides +a barrel of whisky for their Indian guests. A heap of furs, of every +description, indicates that this trade is a very lucrative one. About +thirty miles to the westward are the military lands, granted as a reward +to the soldiers who served in the last war; only a few of them have come +to settle on these grants. The distance from the eastern cities being so +immense, the expenses of the journey, compared with the object they were +about to attain, were so great, that most of them remained in the east.</p> + +<p>On the following morning we passed the mouth of the White river, and +thirteen miles<a class="pagenum" id="Page_114" title="114"></a> lower down the river Arkansas, a beautiful, wide, and +very important stream, next in size to the Ohio, which after a course of +2,500 miles, 900 of which are navigable for steam-boats, empties itself +into the Mississippi at this place. From this river the territory of +Arkansas has taken its name. It was formerly part of Louisiana, then of +Missouri, and has since 1819, been separated from the latter, and now +forms a distinct territory extending from 33° to 36° north latitude, and +from 11° 45′ to 23° west longitude. Its area is computed to be above +100,000 square miles. With the exception of a few towns, such as +Arkopolis, Post Arkansas, Little-rock, &c., and some other settlements +of less note, it is not otherwise known than from the reports of the +expeditions sent into the interior at various times. According to their +accounts it differs in some essential points from the eastern states. +The eastern part of this vast territory bears the character of the +Mississippi valley, and abounds in well wooded plains, prairies, and +marshes, in alternate succession, the latter occupying almost +exclusively the tract of land situated between the rivers Arkansas and +St. Francis towards<a class="pagenum" id="Page_115" title="115"></a> the Ozark mountains. There the country rises; rocks +and mountains become visible, announcing the approach to the Rocky +mountains. Between these and the Ozark mountains are vast plains covered +with salt crusts, imparting to the rivers flowing through the country a +brackish taste. There have also been discovered valleys competing in +point of fertility with the valley of the Mississippi; eminences covered +for a distance of many miles with vines, whose grapes are said to be +equal to the best produce of the Cape. In other places are vast plains, +which owing to their stratum being gravel, produce but a short and dry +grape, without any trees. The territory in the interior contains +important mineral and vegetable treasures. The Volcanos, the Hotsprings, +the Ouachitta lake, and other natural wonders, will soon attract general +attention. From what was related to me by an eye witness who bestowed +all his attention on them, they are undoubtedly of the first importance. +The springs are six in number, and they are situated about ten miles +from the Ouachitta, near a volcano. Their temperature being 150°, the +use which visitors make of them consists in exposing them<a class="pagenum" id="Page_116" title="116"></a>selves to the +vapour. They are impregnated with carbonic acid, muriate of soda, and a +small quantity of iron and calcareous matter. Hitherto, besides Indians +and hunters, but few persons resorted to them until the last two years, +when several gentlemen went thither for the recovery of their health. +But the present total want of ready money in these deserted parts has +prevented a more rapid improvement. The population amounts to 18,000 +souls, 2,000 of whom are slaves. Mental improvement is here sought for +in vain. The American reads his Bible, and if opportunity offers, he +visits once a year a Methodist Missionary. The French care as little for +one as for the other. Colleges, academies, or literary institutions +there are none, but in Post Arkansas, Arkopolis, and Little-rock, +schools are established. Those cannot be expected from a country without +any political importance, and with a population scattered over such an +immense extent. An extract from a newspaper published in Arkopolis, +which I found in St. Helena, may give some idea of the honourables of +these parts: “Mr. White respectfully begs leave to announce himself as +candidate for their Representative, &c.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_117" title="117"></a>—N.B. Tailoring business done +in the best manner, and at the shortest notice!!”</p> + +<p>Arkansas has hitherto been the refuge for poor adventurers, foreigners, +French soldiers, German redemptioners, with a few respectable American +families; men of fortune preferring the state of Mississippi or +Louisiana, where society and the comforts of life can be found with less +difficulty. It is certain, however, that the western part of this +territory is healthier than the western states of Alabama, Georgia, and +Mississippi, and that the Rocky and Ozark chain, running from east to +west, obviates one great evil—the sudden change of temperature, caused +by the want of high mountains to resist the power of the north and south +winds.</p> + +<p>A traveller who first visits the valley of the Mississippi, is led to +believe that the waters of this immense river rise above the trees along +its banks, leaving the branches covered with weeds and mud when they +retire to their bed. It is Spanish moss or Tellandsea which presents +that appearance to the traveller. It is firmly rooted<a class="pagenum" id="Page_118" title="118"></a> in the apertures +of the bark, and hangs down from the trees, not unlike long rough +beards. This plant has a yellow blossom, and a pod containing the seed. +It is found along the coast of the Mississippi, from St. Helena to below +New Orleans, and is universally applied to all those purposes for which +curled hair is used in the north. It is gathered from the trees with +long hooks, afterwards put into water for a few days in order to rot the +outer part, and then dried. The substance obtained by this simple +process is a fine black fibre resembling horse hair. A mattrass stuffed +in this manner may serve for a year, if not wetted; it then becomes +dusty and requires that the moss should be taken out, beaten, and the +mattress filled again, by which means it becomes more elastic than it +was before.</p> + +<p>We passed several settlements and islands, the mouth of the Yazoo +rivers, and on the third day we arrived at Vixburgh, or Walnut-hills. We +were now 600 miles from the mouth of the Ohio, and in that whole +distance had not seen either a hill or mountain, with the exception of a +few mole-hills at St. Helena, which rose, perhaps,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_119" title="119"></a> to the height of +twenty or twenty-five feet above the endless plain. The first objects +which interrupt the sameness of this grand but rather uniform scenery, +are the Walnut-hills, on the east bank of the river, in the state of +Mississippi. They rise singly and perfectly detached. There may be eight +or nine in number, with a small house on the top of each. Close to the +landing-place is the warehouse of Mr. Brown; and farther back, some +merchant’s stores, and two taverns. Half a mile from the bank rises a +ridge about four miles long, and 300 feet high. This hill, +notwithstanding its inconvenient situation, will probably be selected +for the site of part of Vixburgh town, which was laid out two years ago, +and is now the seat of justice for Warren county. It has already fifty +houses and three stores. Several steam-boats are regularly employed in +the cotton trade. As there is not a single place on the banks of the +Mississippi, where a town of some extent could be built without being +exposed to the floods, Vixburgh must very soon become a place of great +importance for the upper part of the state of Mississippi. The +surrounding country begins to be<a class="pagenum" id="Page_120" title="120"></a> rapidly settled; and civilization, +which is almost extinct for more than a 1000 miles up the Mississippi +and the Ohio, here resumes its power, and increases the farther you +descend towards New Orleans.</p> + +<p>On the following day we passed Warrington, Palmyra, Davies’, Judge +Smith’s settlements, the Grand and Petit Golfe, and Gruinsburgh, and +arrived at five o’clock in the evening at Natchez.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_121" title="121"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The Town of Natchez.—Excursion to Palmyra Plantations.—The Cotton + Planters of the State of Mississippi.—Sketch of the State of + Mississippi.—Return to Natchez.</p> + + +<p>Rain, and a subsequent frost, had a week before our arrival dispelled +that scourge of the south—the yellow fever. The inhabitants had +returned from the places of safety, to which they had fled in every +direction, and intercourse was again re-established, the town having +resumed all the activity I had found in it three years before. The road +to the town, properly so called, leads through a suburb, known by the +name of Low Natchez, consisting of some warehouses and shops of every +description. This place deserves, in every respect, the epithet of Low +Natchez,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_122" title="122"></a> being a true Gomorrha, and containing an assemblage of the +lowest characters. Although fifteen years ago, a great part of the bluff +buried in its fall, several of these wretches, and every rainy season +exposes the survivors to the same fate, yet they seem unconscious of +their danger. The road ascends to the town on both sides of these liquor +shops, built as it were on the brink of a precipice. Natchez is situated +on a hill, 250 feet above the level of the water. The prospect from this +hill, or bluff, as it is called, is beautiful. At your feet you behold +this nest of sinners, close to it four or five steam-boats, and thirty +or forty keel and flat-boats anchoring in the port, with the bustle and +noise attendant on these wandering arks. On the opposite bank of the +Mississippi, which is here one mile and a quarter wide, you see the +county town of Concordia, and on both sides of this little town, +numerous plantations, with the stately mansion of the wealthy cotton +planter, and the numerous cabins of his black dependents; and in the +background, the whole scenery is girded by an immense ring of cypress +forests, which seem, as it were, to bury themselves in the flats below +the Mississippi. To the right<a class="pagenum" id="Page_123" title="123"></a> and left a charming elevated plain +extends, with numerous gardens, which, though it was then the end of +November, still preserved their verdure, faded, indeed, into an autumnal +hue. In the rear is the town of Natchez, of moderate dimensions; but +elegant and regular as far as the broken ground would admit. The +dwelling-houses, several of them with colonnades, exhibit throughout a +high degree of wealth. The court-house, an academy, the United States’ +branch bank, and the bank of Natchez, three churches, three newspaper +printing offices, one of which publishes a literary journal (the Ariel), +a library and reading-room, are the public institutions, and they are +very liberally patronised. Neither during my former journey, nor in the +present visit, could I discover any foundation for the charge of +narrowness of mind, which is made against the inhabitants. Their number +amounts to 3,540, and their houses to 600. They are mostly planters, +merchants, lawyers, and physicians, of Anglo-American extraction, with +the exception of ten or twelve German families.</p> + +<p>Natchez is considered as a port, and on this<a class="pagenum" id="Page_124" title="124"></a> ground the representative +of the state obtained the most useless grant of money ever made—1500 +dollars—for the purpose of erecting a light-house, at a place 410 miles +distant from the sea. This town had been considered a healthier spot +than New Orleans, until the two last years, when it was repeatedly +visited by the yellow-fever, from which New Orleans remained free. It is +yet doubtful whether this evil is to be ascribed to the dissolute life +prevailing in lower Natchez, or to the oppressive heat which prevails on +these high plains. The distance, however, from the cooling current of +the Mississippi, short as it is, and the unwholesome rain-water, which +is used for drinking, must contribute to create bilious fevers. The +great pecuniary resources which the inhabitants of Natchez have at +command, would make it an easy matter for them to obtain their water for +drinking from the Mississippi, in the same manner as the inhabitants of +Philadelphia have raised the waters of Schuylkill. The country about +Natchez is an extensive and elevated plain, 200 feet above the level of +the Mississippi, stretching 130 miles from north to south, and about +forty miles to the eastward. Although a<a class="pagenum" id="Page_125" title="125"></a> fertile tract of land, it is +far inferior to the Mississippi bottom-lands. The upland cotton grown +upon it, is inferior in quantity and quality to that of Mississippi +growth. The soil, however, produces corn, vegetables, plumbs, peaches, +and figs in abundance. I stayed two days in Natchez, and rode with a +friend to the distance of fifty-five miles above Natchez, on the +Mississippi, passing through Gibsonport, twenty-five miles from Natchez, +and six miles from the Mississippi, a town having a court-house, a +newspaper printing office, and about sixty houses, with 1100 +inhabitants. The following day we arrived at Messrs. D.’s plantation. +These two brothers having purchased, three years ago, 6500 acres of +land, at the rate of two dollars an acre, landed with their slaves at +their new purchase, from their former residence in Kentucky. The lands +being a complete wilderness, their first occupation was to raise cabins +for themselves and their slaves. This was accomplished in four weeks. +They succeeded during the first year in clearing fifty acres of land, +twenty-five of which were sown in the month of February with cotton +seed, the rest with corn. This was was sufficient to defray<a class="pagenum" id="Page_126" title="126"></a> the expense +of the first year. The clearing of woods, however, in this country, if +not canebrack bottom, is not so easy a matter as in the northern states. +Numerous shrubs, thistles, and thorns, of an immense size, form hedges, +which it is almost impossible to penetrate. To these obstructions may be +added, snakes, muskitoes, and in the marshes, alligators, which, though +not so dangerous as the Egyptian crocodile, are still a great annoyance. +The trees are here destroyed in the same manner as in the north, by +killing them. Shrubs, underwood, canebrack, are burnt, and the corn or +cotton is planted instead. This is the work of the negroes, who labour +under the superintendence of their masters, or, if he be a wealthy man, +of his overseer. In the months of June or July, the ground is ploughed +or turned up; the weeds and shrubs are cleared away, as is done in the +case of Indian corn; the cultivation of cotton, though more troublesome, +being conducted much in the same manner. In the month of October, the +cotton begins to ripen, the buds open, and the white flower appears. The +present is the season for gathering cotton. Three kinds of cotton seeds +are now sown in the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_127" title="127"></a> southern states; the green, the black, and the +Mexican seed, which latter is considered to be the best. Of the green +seed cotton, a slave may gather 150 pounds a day, of the other two +kinds, the utmost that can be collected is 100 pounds. The buds are +broken from the plants, and the cotton, with the seed, taken out and put +into round baskets, which when filled are brought into the cotton yard, +and spread along planks, for the purpose of drying. The cotton is from +thence carried to the cotton gin, the machinery of which is put into +motion by three or four horses. The cotton is thrown between a cylinder +moving round a projecting saw; by this process the seed is separated +from the cotton, which is then thrown back into a large receptacle, and +afterwards pressed into bales. These are laid in stores and kept ready +for shipping, in steam or flat boats to Natchez or New Orleans. The two +brothers in this, the third, year from the date of their establishment, +raised 200 bales of cotton from 200 acres of cleared land. According to +their own estimation, and from what I know, they might have raised 350 +bales, had it not been for a disaster which befel them in the spring<a class="pagenum" id="Page_128" title="128"></a> of +the year 1825. They were visited with a hurricane, which lifted their +dwelling-house from the ground, carried it to a considerable distance +and completely destroyed it, with the entire furniture. Mr. D——, who +was at the plantation at the time, had great difficulty in escaping with +his wife and child, though not without a fractured leg, from the effects +of which he was still suffering. Not even a chair had been spared. The +immense trees torn up by the roots and still lying in every direction +upon the ground, the shattered cabins of his negroes, every thing +presented indications of the havoc made in this disastrous night. +Happily no human life was lost. This misfortune had, of course, +considerably retarded the improvements in progress, and thrown them back +for at least a twelvemonth. Still the planters calculated this year upon +a profit of 10,000 dollars from their plantation; 4000 dollars may be +deducted from this for household and other necessary expenses, leaving a +clear profit of 6000 dollars. The original capital of the two brothers +consisted, (including the value of their slaves), of 20,000 dollars. +They paid half the purchase<a class="pagenum" id="Page_129" title="129"></a> money when they took possession, and the +rest in the present year. Their plantation is now worth 60,000 dollars. +In the state of Mississippi, the principal article of cultivation is +cotton, as it is the staple article of its commerce; corn and the +breeding of cattle are considered as secondary objects, though many +plantations reckon from 100 to 300 head of cattle, which have a free +range in the vast forests in quest of food. Only those intended for +fattening are kept at home and fed with cotton seed, which in a few +weeks will make them exceedingly fat. Turkeys and poultry in general are +found in abundance, and constitute with firewood the articles which are +sold to steam-boats passing on their way. Indian corn supplies in these +parts the place of rye or wheat. The slaves live exclusively on corn +bread; their masters vary it with wheat cakes. Wheat, flour, whiskey, +articles of dress, sacking, and blankets, come from the north, or from +New Orleans. The dress of the planter during the summer months consists +of a linen jacket, pantaloons of the same, Monroe boots, and a straw +hat. During the winter he wears a cotton shirt and a cloth dress. That<a class="pagenum" id="Page_130" title="130"></a> +of his slaves during summer is a coarse cotton shirt and trowsers, with +shoes called mocasins. In winter they are furnished with cotton +trowsers, and a coat made of a woollen blanket. The females have dresses +of the same materials. The manner of living of the southern planter +differs little from that of the northern; he likes his doddy, which the +northern planter or farmer is also known to be fond of; he lives on +wheat cakes or Indian corn bread, and superintends his slaves at their +work, as the northern does his hands. Of the effeminate and luxurious +style in which the southern planters are said to indulge—of their +pretended fondness for female slaves, without whose assistance they +cannot find their beds, I have never had any proofs, though in both my +journeys I have not passed less than a year in Mississippi and +Louisiana, and know one half of the plantations. The American planter +lives in a higher style than his northern fellow citizen: this is quite +natural, considering that his income is very large, and his taxes +trifling. His chief expense, however, consists in his travels or summer +excursions to the north, where he is pleased to shew his<a class="pagenum" id="Page_131" title="131"></a> southern +magnificence in a display of pompous dissipation. This fault, with few +exceptions, is general with southern planters. They save at home, and +renounce the very comforts of life in order to have the means of +spending more money during the summer at Saratoga, Boston, or New York. +The slave always rises at five o’clock, and works till seven, then +breakfasts—generally upon soup with corn bread, baked on a pan, and +eaten warm with a piece of bacon or salt-meat. Their tasks are assigned +to them by the master of the plantation, or if he has been settled for +some years, by an overseer. Part of the negroes are engaged in the +cotton gin, others in carpenters’ or in cabinet work, each plantation +having two or three mechanics among the slaves. A third part works in +the cotton or corn fields. The females have likewise their tasks. One or +two of the girls are housemaids; two more are cooks, one for the white, +the other for the black family. The old negro women have the washing +assigned to them. The dinner of the slaves consists of corn bread, a +pudding of the same stuff, and salt or fresh meat. It is usual to give +them a piece of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_132" title="132"></a> meat, in order to keep them in good condition. The +supper is of corn bread again, and a soup without meat. They seldom get +any whiskey, and tavern keepers are prohibited by law from selling it to +them. The first transgression is punished with a fine, the second with +the loss of the tavern licence. On Sundays the slaves are exempt from +working for their master, and permitted to attend to their family or +their own concerns. Many of them are seen gleaning the cotton fields, +collecting this way from eighty to a hundred pounds of cotton in one +day. They are not, however, so well treated as in the northern slave +states, where they are rather considered as domestics, who in many cases +would not exchange their condition for that liberty which is enjoyed by +the German peasantry. The northern slave is, for this reason, extremely +afraid of transportation, which is a sort of punishment. The southern +blacks frequently run away, and there is not a newspaper published, in +which some escapes are not announced. The Anglo-Americans, however, +treat their slaves throughout better than the French and their +descendants, with whom the wretched blacks,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_133" title="133"></a> (their general allowance +being ten ears of Indian corn a day), experience a treatment in few +respects better than that of a beast. The principle upon which the +French descendant acts, is, that the slave ought to repay him in three +years the expense of his purchase. But, strange to say, the worst of all +are the free people of colour, who are equally permitted to possess +slaves. To be transferred into the hands of their own race, is the most +dreadful thing which can happen to a slave. Formal marriages rarely take +place between slaves: if the negro youth feels himself attracted by the +charms of a black beauty, their master allows them to cohabit. If the +female slave is on a distant plantation, the youth is permitted to see +her, provided he be trustworthy, and not suspected of an intention to +effect his escape. The children belong to the mother, or rather to her +master, who is not permitted to dispose of them before they are ten +years of age. The punishment which masters are allowed to inflict on +their slaves at home, is a flogging of thirty-nine lashes. The huts of +these people are of rough logs; lower down the river they are of regular +carpenter’s work. The<a class="pagenum" id="Page_134" title="134"></a> mansions of the American planters are in the easy +American style—sometimes frame, mostly, however, brick-houses, +constructed on four piles in the manner already described. Below +Natchez, the dwelling houses of the planters are in the old-fashioned +Spanish style, with immense roofs, but comfortable and adapted to the +climate. The windows are high and provided with shutters. They have a +summer dining room to the north, open on all sides so as to admit of a +free current of air. In the southern parts, the planter is the most +respectable and wealthy inhabitant. He lives contented, though his +domestic peace is sometimes troubled by the accidents inseparable from +the state of bondage in which his black family is kept. If he manages +his affairs well, for which very little is wanting beyond common sense +and activity, he cannot fail to become wealthy in a few years. I am +acquainted with several gentlemen, who settled in these states ten years +ago, with a capital of from 10 to 20,000 dollars. They are worth now at +least 100,000 dollars. The great difference between these plantations +and the northern farms, is the ready mart they are sure to find, and the +high price they obtain for<a class="pagenum" id="Page_135" title="135"></a> their produce. Though the prices of cotton +are considerably reduced, yet the profit which is derived from a capital +employed in a plantation is superior to any other. The price of a +well-conditioned plantation is enormous. I can instance Mr. B., who +having inherited one half of a plantation, bought the other half for +32,000 dollars. The failures in crops are of very rare occurrence in +these parts, and generally in the fourth year after a plantation has +been begun, the produce is equal to the capital employed in the +establishment. The management of these plantations requires by no means +a very enterprising turn of mind. I know some ladies who have +established cotton plantations, and raise from four to five hundred +bales a year, being assisted only by their overseer. Mrs. Barrow, Mrs. +Hook, &c., &c., are instances in proof of what I advance. Those who are +unable to bear the summer heats, or are not inured to the climate, +reside in the north, leaving a trusty overseer in charge of the +plantation. The distance from Natchez to Louisville or Cincinnati, +between 11 and 1200 miles, may be performed in nine or ten days. The +journey is a pleasant one, and is amply rewarded by the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_136" title="136"></a> purchases which +planters generally make in the north for themselves, their families, and +their slaves. Indolence, luxury, and effeminacy, are vices that are but +seldom to be met with in the American planter. He does not yield to the +northern farmer in activity or industry. He cannot work in person +without exposing himself to a bilious fever; but this is not necessary; +the superintendence of his affairs is a sufficient occupation for him. +In this state I found matters: after a serious and practical +investigation, and much experience, I can pronounce it to be a safer way +of employing a moderate capital in an advantageous manner, than any +other which offers itself in the United States.</p> + +<p>There can scarcely be a country where there is greater facility for +hunting than in these parts. Mr. D. being still lame from his late +accident, was obliged to remain at home, but he provided us with a +guide, in the person of the overseer of the Palmyra plantation, five +miles above Mr. D.’s settlement. We mounted our horses, and arrived in a +few minutes on the outside of the cotton-fields, a tract of canebrack +bottom, ex<a class="pagenum" id="Page_137" title="137"></a>tending about ten miles, where we expected to start a deer or +a bear. We had not ridden above half an hour when we discovered a bear, +which was killed. We proceeded afterwards to a marsh two miles behind +the plantation, the resort of flocks of ducks and wild geese. We found +about 300 of them, and having shot nine returned home. The bear was +found to be a young one, weighing 150 pounds:—its flesh was excellent. +These animals, as well as every description of game, are found in such +prodigious numbers, that our landlord thought it not worth while sending +his slaves such a distance for the ducks and geese we had shot in the +pond; and they were, therefore, left for birds of prey to feast upon. +The following day we made a shooting excursion with the overseer of +Palmyra plantation. After partaking of some refreshments at his +dwelling, we proceeded in his company. He superintends the plantation of +Mrs. Turner, for an annual salary of 1500 dollars, with board, lodging, +&c.; a sum which would be considered in the north as a first rate +salary, suitable to any gentleman. Seven wild turkeys were the spoils of +this day; we divided them equally amongst us,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_138" title="138"></a> reserving the seventh to +be roasted at Warrington for our dinner. Warrington, formerly the seat +of justice for Warren county, which is now transferred to Vixburgh, +though situated sixty feet above the water level of the Mississippi, is +regularly inundated by the spring floods. This town is on the decline, +owing to the removal of the seat of justice. It contains 200 +inhabitants, with forty houses, five of which are built of brick, the +rest of wood. Two lawyers, who are now on the move, two taverns, and two +stores, are to be found here. The two store-keepers, who were extremely +poor when they first settled here, eight years ago, are now worth above +20,000 dollars; one of them is going to establish a plantation. We +returned in good time, being here at a distance of twenty miles from the +plantation. Although the tract of country we came through is extremely +fertile, yet there is a great difference in the soil. The plantation of +Mr. D——, has undoubtedly the advantage over the six which came under +our notice; his cotton is of a superior quality. The richness of the +soil depends on the stratum. The best is considered to be that which is +found to have three or four feet of river sediment on a red<a class="pagenum" id="Page_139" title="139"></a> brownish +earth; where sand or gravel forms the stratum, the land, though fertile, +is not of so durable a quality. The growth of timber is generally the +surest mode of ascertaining the nature of the soil; we measured on the +plantation of Major Davis, some sycamores torn up by the hurricane, +which were not less than 200 feet in length; and cotton trees of 170 +feet. Where such a gigantic vegetation is seen, one may rely on the +fertility and inexhaustible quality of the soil. Our guide gave me a +proof of this: in one of his fields, he raised tobacco for ten +successive years, without doing more than ploughing the earth; the +produce, instead of diminishing, has rather increased both in quantity +and quality. One can hardly conceive how a soil, apparently sandy, can +be of a nature so inexhaustibly productive; the overflowing of the +Mississippi, and the sediment left on the banks, account, however, +sufficiently for it.</p> + +<p>The following day we took leave of our hospitable landlord, and +returned. The country we passed through is one continued range of the +most beautiful forests, opening some times to<a class="pagenum" id="Page_140" title="140"></a> give place to a rising +plantation. I counted between Palmyra and Natchez, twenty-five.</p> + +<p>The State of Mississippi was received into the Union in the year 1817. +It extends from 30° 10′ to 35° north latitude, and from 11° 30′ to 14° +32′ west longitude; and is bounded on the north by Tennessee, on the +west by Arkansas and Louisiana, on the south by Louisiana and the gulf +of Mexico, and on the east by Alabama. It comprises +an area of 15,000 square miles. Though this state has acquired, this ten +years past, a political existence, and in point of fertility is far +superior to Missouri and Indiana, yet its population has not increased +in the same proportion;—it does not exceed 80,000 souls, including +34,000 slaves. The emigrants to Mississippi, are either men of fortune, +or needy adventurers. The middle classes, having from 2 to 3,000 dollars +property, seldom chose to settle there, having no prospect of succeeding +by dint of personal industry. The fatigue and labour in these hot and +sultry climates, can only be borne by slaves; a white man who should +attempt the same labour which kept him<a class="pagenum" id="Page_141" title="141"></a> stout and hearty in the north, +would soon be overcome by the heat of the climate. Most of the +respectable settlers are therefore from Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, +the Carolinas, and Kentucky; having sold their property there, and +emigrated with their slaves into this country. The North American, +properly so called, from New England, New York, &c., seldom ventures so +far. Owing to this cause, the towns in Mississippi and Louisiana, are +neither so elegant nor so wealthy as those of the north. With the +exception of places of commerce, such as New Orleans and Natchez, the +towns of the state of Mississippi cannot be compared to those of other +states of more recent date. These smaller towns of Mississippi and +Louisiana, are generally inhabited by mechanics, tradesmen, +tavern-keepers, and the poorer classes of the people. Those who have any +fortune, prefer laying it out on plantations,—a sure and infallible +source of wealth, and the most respectable occupation in the country. +Merchants who have succeeded in making a fortune in these small towns, +remove to more convenient places. The traveller who judges of the wealth +of the country<a class="pagenum" id="Page_142" title="142"></a> from the mean appearance of these villages and towns, +would be greatly mistaken. In order to form a correct opinion he must +visit the plantations, and he will be surprised at the high degree of +prosperity and comfort enjoyed by the possessors.</p> + +<p>After a stay of three days in Natchez, I took a passage on board the +steam-boat Helen MacGregor, which had lately returned from New Orleans +to Walnut hills, and was on its way to the capital of +Louisiana. The intercourse between Natchez and New Orleans is by water, +travellers naturally preferring this easy and comfortable mode of +conveyance by steam-boats to land journeys, rendered disagreeable by the +wretchedness of the roads, and the still worse condition of the +generality of inns. This evil has been occasioned by the former +hospitality of the French creoles. Any one calling at a plantation was +sure of a welcome reception. This hospitality has ceased, and the most +respectable traveller is now likely to have the door shut in his face, +owing to the misconduct of the Kentuckians. It was the practice of these +gentlemen to call<a class="pagenum" id="Page_143" title="143"></a> on their rambles at these plantations, where plenty +of rum and brandy, with other accommodations, could be had for nothing. +They behaved with an arrogance and presumption almost incredible, not +unfrequently calling the creoles in their own houses French dogs, and +knocking them down if they presumed to shew the least displeasure. These +people are the horror of all creoles, who when they wish to describe the +highest degree of barbarity, designate it by the name of Kentuckian. The +worst of it is that the creoles, who are far from being eminent +scholars, comprehend the whole north under the appellation of Kentucky. +We started from Natchez at nine o’clock in the evening, took in 300 +bales of cotton at Bayon Sarah<a id="FNanchor_E" href="#Footnote_E" class="fnanchor">[E]</a>, and some firewood a few miles below, +and then passed Baton Rouge, the Bayons Plaquimines, Manchac, Tourche, +both sides of the river being lined with beautiful plantations, and +arrived on Sunday, at four o’clock, above New Orleans.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_144" title="144"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Arrival at New Orleans.—Cursory Reflections.</p> + + +<p>It is certainly mournful for a traveller to dwell among the monuments of +Pompeii, of Herculaneum, and of Rome. There, if he feels at all, he +feels among these wrecks of past grandeur, that he is nothing. A totally +different sensation possesses the mind on entering an American city. In +these man beholds what he can contend with, and what he can accomplish, +when his strength is not checked by the arbitrary will of a despot. New +Orleans, the wet grave<a id="FNanchor_F" href="#Footnote_F" class="fnanchor">[F]</a>, <a class="pagenum" id="Page_145" title="145"></a>where the hopes of thousands are buried; for +eighty years the wretched asylum for the outcasts of France and Spain, +who could not venture 100 paces beyond its gates without utterly sinking +to the breast in mud, or being attacked by alligators; has become in the +space of twenty-three years one of the most beautiful cities of the +Union, inhabited by 40,000 persons, who trade with half the world. The +view is splendid beyond description, when you pass down the stream, +which is here a mile broad, rolls its immense volume of waters in a bed +above 200 feet deep, and as if conscious of its strength, appears to +look quietly on the bustle of the habitations of man. Both its banks are +lined with charming sugar plantations, from the midst of which rises the +airy mansion of the wealthy planter, surrounded with orange, banana, +lime, and fig trees, the growth of a climate approaching to the torrid +zone. In the rear you discover the cabins of the negroes and the +sugar-houses, and just at the entrance of the port, groups of smaller +houses, as if erected for the purpose of concealing the prospect of the +town. As soon as the steam-boats pass these out posts, New<a class="pagenum" id="Page_146" title="146"></a> Orleans, in +the form of a half moon, appears in all its splendour. The river runs +for a distance of four or five miles in a southern direction; here it +suddenly takes an eastern course, which it pursues for the space of two +miles, thus forming a semicircular bend. A single glance exhibits to +view the harbour, the vessels at anchor, together with the city, +situated as it were at the feet of the passenger. The first object that +presents itself is the dirty and uncouth backwoods flat boat. Hams, ears +of corn, apples, whiskey barrels, are strewed upon it, or are fixed to +poles to direct the attention of the buyers. Close by are the rather +more decent keel-boats, with cotton, furs, whiskey, flour; next the +elegant steam-boat, which by its hissing and repeated sounds, announces +either its arrival or departure, and sends forth immense columns of +black smoke, that form into long clouds above the city. Farther on are +the smaller merchant vessels, the sloops and schooners from the +Havannah, Vera Cruz, Tampico; then the brigs; and lastly, the elegant +ships appearing like a forest of masts<a id="FNanchor_G" href="#Footnote_G" class="fnanchor">[G]</a>.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_147" title="147"></a>What in Philadelphia and even in New York is dispersed in several +points, is here offered at once to the eye—a truly enchanting prospect. +Most of the steam-boats were kept back by the lowness of the Ohio, at +Cincinnati, Louisville, and Nashville; we landed, therefore, close to +the shore without encountering any impediment. In a moment our state +room was filled with five or six clerks, from the newspaper printing +offices, and a dozen negroes; the former to inspect the log-book of the +steam-boat, and to lay before their subscribers the names of the goods, +and of the passengers arrived; the latter to offer their services in +carrying our trunks. After labouring to climb over the mountains of +cotton bales which obstructed our passage, we went on shore. The city +had increased beyond expectation, within the last four years. More than +700 brick houses had been erected; a new street (the Levee), was already +half finished; the houses throughout were solid, and more or less in an +elegant style. It was on a Sunday that we arrived; the shops, the stores +of the French and creoles, were open as usual, and if there were fewer +buyers than on other days, the coffee<a class="pagenum" id="Page_148" title="148"></a>houses, grog-shops, and the +<em lang="la" xml:lang="la">estaminets</em>, as they are called, of the French and German inhabitants, +exhibited a more noisy scene. A kind of music, accompanied with human, +or rather inhuman voices, resounded in almost every direction. This +little respect paid to the Sabbath is a relic of the French revolution +and of Buonaparte, for whom the French and the creoles of Louisiana have +an unlimited respect, imitating him as poor minds generally do, as far +as they are able, in his bad qualities, his contempt of venerable +customs, and his egotism, and leaving his great deeds and the noble +traits in his character to the imitation of others better qualified to +appreciate them.</p> + +<p>To a new comer, accustomed in the north to the dignified and quiet +keeping of the Sabbath, this appears very shocking. The Anglo-Americans, +with few exceptions, remain even here faithful to their ancient custom +of keeping the Sabbath holy. I had many opportunities of appreciating +the importance of the keeping of the Sabbath, particularly in new +states. A well regulated observance of this day is productive of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_149" title="149"></a> +incalculable benefits, and though it is sometimes carried too far in the +northern states, as is certainly the case in Pennsylvania and New +England, still the public ought firmly to maintain this institution in +full force. The man who provides in six days for his personal wants, may +dedicate the seventh to the improvement of his mind; and this he can +only accomplish by abstaining from all trifling amusements. In a +despotic monarchy the case is different; there the government has no +doubt every reason for allowing its slaves, after six toilsome days of +labour, the indulgence of twenty-four hours of amusement, that they may +forget themselves and their fate in the dissipation of dancing, smoking, +and drinking. The case ought to be otherwise in a republic, where even +the poor constitute, or are about to constitute, part of the sovereign +body. These ought to remember to what purposes they are destined, and +not to allow themselves, under any circumstances, to be the dupes of +others. The keeping of the Sabbath is their surest safeguard. If there +were no opportunities offered for dancing, their sons and their +daughters would<a class="pagenum" id="Page_150" title="150"></a> stay at home, either reading their Bible, or attending +to other appropriate intellectual occupations, and learning in this +manner their rights and duties, and those of other people. The American +has not deviated in this respect from his English kinsman. If you enter +his dwelling on the Sabbath, you will find the family, old and young, +quietly sitting down, the Bible in hand, thus preparing themselves for +the toils and hardships to come, and acquiring the firmness and +confidence so necessary in human life; a confidence, which we so justly +admire in the British nation; as far distant from the bravado of the +French, as the unfeeling and base stupidity of the Russians; and which +never displays itself in brighter colours than in the hour of danger. We +are in this manner enabled to account for those high traits of character +in moments full of peril—traits not surpassed in the most brilliant and +the most virtuous epochs of Greece or of Rome. A single fact will speak +volumes—the Kent East Indiaman, burning and going down in the bay of +Biscay, in 1825. Ladies, gentlemen, officers, and soldiers, all on board +exhibited a magnanimity of heart, and a<a class="pagenum" id="Page_151" title="151"></a> truly Christian heroism, which +must fill even the most rancorous enemies of the British people with +admiration and regard. What a different picture would have been +presented to us, if half a regiment of Bonaparte’s soldiers had been on +board the ship!</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_152" title="152"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Topographical Sketch of the City of New Orleans.</p> + + +<p>The city of New Orleans occupies an oblong area, extending 3960 feet +along the eastern bank of Mississippi, embracing six squares, 319 feet +in length, and of equal breadth. Above and below this parallelogram are +the suburbs. Higher up is the suburb of St. Mary, still belonging to the +city corporation; farther up, the suburbs Duplantier, Soulel, La Course, +L’Annunciation, and Religieuses; below, the suburbs of Marigny, Daunois, +and Clouet; in the rear, St. Claude and Johnsburgh. The seven streets, +named Levee, Chartres-street, Royal-street, Bourbon, Burgundy, Toulouse, +and Rampart, run parallel with the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_153" title="153"></a> river, and are intersected at right +angles by twelve others, running from the banks of the Mississippi, +called the Levee, in the direction of the swamps, the +Custom-house-street, Brenville, Conti, St. Louis, and Toulouse. The +city, with the exception of Levee and Rampart-streets, is paved, an +improvement which occasions great expense to the corporation, as the +stones are imported; flags, however, are not wanting even in the most +distant suburbs. The ground on which New Orleans is built, is a plain, +descending about seven feet from the banks of the river, towards the +swamps; and it is lower than the level of the Mississippi. It is secured +by a levee, which would afford very little resistance 400 miles higher +up; but here, where numerous bayons and natural channels have carried +off part of the waters to the gulf of Mexico, it answers every purpose. +About the city, the breadth of this plain is half a mile, and above it +three-quarters of a mile, terminating in the back-ground in impenetrable +swamps. The city and suburbs are lighted with reflecting lamps, +suspended in the middle of the streets. Between the pavement and the +road, gutters are<a class="pagenum" id="Page_154" title="154"></a> made for the purpose of carrying off the filth into +the swamps, of refreshing the air with the water of the Mississippi, +with which these gutters communicate, and of allaying the dust during +the hot season. There are now about 6000 buildings, large and small, in +New Orleans. In the first mentioned three streets, and the greater part +of the upper suburb, the houses are throughout of brick; some are +plastered over to preserve them from the influence of the sultry +climate. Though building materials of every kind are imported, and +consequently very dear, yet the houses are rapidly changing from the +uncouth Spanish style, to more elegant forms. The new houses are mostly +three stories high, with balconies, and a summer-room with blinds. In +the lower suburbs, frame houses, with Spanish roofs, are still +prevalent. Two-thirds of the private buildings may at present be said to +rival those of northern cities, of an equal population. The public +edifices, however, are far inferior to those of the former, both in +style and execution. The most prominent is the cathedral, in the middle +of the town, separated from the bank of the Mississippi, by the parade +ground. It is of Spanish architecture,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_155" title="155"></a> with a façade of seventy feet, +and a depth of 120, having on each side a steeple, and a small cupola in +the centre, which gives an air of dignity to a heavy and +ill-proportioned structure. All illusion, however, is dispelled on +entering the church. The Catholics had the strange notion of painting +the interior, taking for this purpose the most glaring colours that can +be found—green and purple. The church is painted over in fresco, with +these colours, and presents at one view a curious taste of the creoles. +The interior is not overloaded with decorations, as Catholic churches +generally are. The high altar, and two side ones, are, with an organ, +its only ornaments. Two tombs contain the remains of Baron Carondolet +and Mr. Marigny. On one side of the cathedral is the city-hall, and on +the other, the Presbytire. The former, erected in 1795, presents a +façade of 108 feet, in which the meetings of the city council are held. +The Presbytire, 114 in front, was built in 1813, and is the seat of the +supreme District Court, and of the Criminal Court of New Orleans. These +two edifices, and the cathedral between them, form together a dignified +whole. The government-house, at the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_156" title="156"></a> corner of Toulouse and +Levee-streets, is an old and decaying edifice, where the legislature of +the state holds its meetings. In point of situation, (among grog shops), +and of style, it may be considered the poorest state-house in the Union.</p> + +<p>The Protestants have three churches. The Episcopalian, at the corner of +Bourbon and Canal-streets, is an octagon edifice, with a cupola, in bad +taste. Out of gratitude to the late governor Clayborne, the inhabitants +have erected in the church-yard, a monument to his memory, with the +following inscription:</p> + +<div class="center"> + THE<br /> + CITIZENS OF NEW ORLEANS,<br /> + TO<br /> + TESTIFY THEIR RESPECT FOR THE VIRTUES<br /> + OF<br /> + W. C. C. CLAYBORNE,<br /> + LATE<br /> + GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA,<br /> + HAVE<br /> + ERECTED THIS MONUMENT. +</div> + +<p>The Presbyterian church, in the suburb of St. Mary, is a simple, but +chaste building, the expense of which amounted to 55,000 dollars. The<a class="pagenum" id="Page_157" title="157"></a> +congregation being unwilling to defray the cost of its erection, it was +sold by the sheriff, and is now the property of Mr. Levy, an Israelite, +who leases it out to the congregation for 1500 dollars. The Methodist +church is a frame building, erected in 1826.</p> + +<p>The public hospital, in Canal-street, consists of two square buildings, +with wards for fever maladies; for dysentery; one for chronic diseases; +another for females; a third for convalescents; a bathing-room, an +apothecary’s-room, and a room for the physicians and assistants. Out of +1842 patients who were received into this hospital in the year 1824, 500 +died, and the rest were discharged; out of 1700 received in 1825, 271 +died, the others recovered. The accommodations in this house seem to be +respectable; it has one thing, however, in common with all hospitals, +that no one is tempted to return to it a second time.</p> + +<p>There are now four banks in New Orleans; the United States Bank, with a +capital of one million of dollars; the Bank of the State, the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_158" title="158"></a> Louisiana +Bank, and the Bank of New Orleans, each having likewise a capital of one +million of dollars. The insurance offices are five in number: the +Louisiana State Insurance Company, with a capital of 400,000 dollars; +the Fire Insurance Company, with 300,000; the Mississippi and Marine +Insurance Company, with 200,000; and the London Phoenix Insurance +Company. New Orleans has no less than six masonic lodges, including the +grand lodge of Louisiana; a French and an American theatre. The latter +was built by a Mr. Caldwell, from Nashville, in Tennessee, who has also +the management of it. It has the advantage in point of architecture, and +the French theatre in the selectness of its audience. Close to the +latter are the ball-rooms, where are given the only masked balls in the +United States. Among the public buildings may be reckoned the three +market halls, for the sale of provisions of every kind; one of them is +in the city, the two others on the upper and lower suburbs, on the +Levee.</p> + +<p>The nuns have removed two miles below the town, and this convent is now +the residence of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_159" title="159"></a> the Roman Catholic bishop. In the chapel divine +service is performed; this chapel, and the cathedral, are the places of +worship belonging to the Catholics.</p> + +<p>The cotton-pressing establishments deserve to be mentioned. These are +now nine in number; the most important is that of Mr. Rilieux, at the +corner of Poydras-street. It has three presses; one worked by steam, +another by an hydraulic machine, and the third by horsepower. For the +security of cotton bales, eight wells, a fire-engine, &c., are within +the range of buildings; the expenses of which amounted to 150,000 +dollars. The cotton press formerly belonged to a German commission +merchant, who failed in consequence of his extravagant cotton +speculations; it is simple, but of solid construction. It can receive +10,000 bales. The expenses of the building amounted to 90,000 dollars. +Besides these are the presses of Shiff, a Jew from Germany, Debays, +Lorger, &c. A steam saw-mill on the bank of the Mississippi, in the +upper suburb, with a few iron foundries,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_160" title="160"></a> are the only manufacturies in +New Orleans; every thing being imported from the north.</p> + +<p>Carondolots canal is in the rear of the town, towards the marshes. The +entrance is a basin, containing from thirty to fifty small vessels, and +opening into a canal, or rather a ditch, which has been cut through the +swamps, in order to join the Bayon St. John with New Orleans.</p> + +<p>Small vessels drawing no more than six feet of water, arrive from Mobile +and Pensacola<a id="FNanchor_H" href="#Footnote_H" class="fnanchor">[H]</a>, through lake Pont Chartrain, Bayon St. John, and the +above-mentioned canal at New Orleans, performing only a third of the way +they would otherwise have to make by going up the Mississippi. They are +in general freighted with wood, planks, bricks, cotton, &c.; and take in +goods in return. This canal, which is of great importance for the part +of the city lying contiguous to the swamps, was commenced by Baron +Carondolet, but given up at a subsequent time, <a class="pagenum" id="Page_161" title="161"></a>and resumed in the year +1815. Its cost was trifling compared with the advantages resulting to +this city, and the salutary effects it must have in draining off part of +the swamps.</p> + +<p>The president of the city council is a mayor, or Maire, a creole. His +police regulations deserve every praise, and New Orleans, which less +than fifteen years ago was the lurking hole of every assassin, is now in +point of security not inferior to any other city. The revenues of the +city corporation amount to 150,000 dollars, which are, however, found to +be insufficient, and loans are resorted to in order to cover the +expenses.</p> + +<p>When the United States took possession of New Orleans, this town +consisted of 1000 houses, and 8000 inhabitants, black and white. In the +year 1820, it amounted to near 27,000; namely, 8000 white males, 5314 +white females, 1500 foreigners, 2500 men, and 400 women of colour, 3000 +male, and 4,500 female slaves; the population of the parish being then +14,000. In the year 1821, the population was 29,000; in 1822<a class="pagenum" id="Page_162" title="162"></a> it had +risen to 32,000; in the present year 1826, it amounts to upwards of +40,000; to be distinguished as follows: 14,500 white males, and 7500 +white females, 1300 foreigners, 3690 free men, and 800 free women of +colour, 5500 male, and 6300 female slaves. The population of the parish +is 15,000.</p> + +<p>As New Orleans, notwithstanding its being 109 miles distant from the +sea, is considered as a seaport, all the officers necessarily connected +with a place of that description reside there, as well as consuls from +every nation, having commercial intercourse with it;—from England, +Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Hamburgh, the Netherlands, France, +Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, with others from the Southern Republics.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_163" title="163"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view.</p> + + +<p>New Orleans groaned for a long time under the yoke of the most wretched +tyranny; its crowned possessors so far from doing any thing towards the +improvement of a plan which, considered in a commercial light, has not +its equal on the face of the earth, contributed as much as was in their +power to circumscribe it. After two hours rain, every kind of +communication in the city itself was quite impracticable; paving or +lighting the streets was of course out of the question; assassinations +were of almost daily occurrence: but this was not all—the place was to +be a fortress in spite of common sense. It was thought proper to +surround it with a wall eighteen feet wide and pal<a class="pagenum" id="Page_164" title="164"></a>lisadoes, five +bastions, and redoubts, upon which some old cannon were mounted, perhaps +for the purpose of keeping the Indians at a proper distance. The +Americans pulled down those pitiful circumvallations which could have no +other effect than to impede commerce, and erected others in a situation +where they are likely to be of more advantage—along the passes of the +Mississippi and of lake Pontchartrain. The city has improved in an +astonishing degree during the twenty-three years that it has been +incorporated with the United States; indeed much more in proportion than +any other town of the Union, in spite of the yellow fever, the deadly +miasmata, and the myriads of musquitoes; and it has now become one of +the most elegant and wealthy cities of the republic. If, however, we +consider its situation, it is susceptible of still greater improvements, +and it must eventually become, what nature destined it to be, the first +commercial city, and the emporium of America, notwithstanding the +concurrence of many unfavourable circumstances, and the gross +selfishness of its inhabitants. The incredible fertility of Louisiana,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_165" title="165"></a> +the Egypt of the west, and the fertility of the states of the valley of +the Mississippi in general, which can be duly appreciated only by +personal observation, must render New Orleans one of the most +flourishing cities in the world. There is not a spot on the globe that +presents a more favourable situation for trade. Standing on the extreme +point of the longest river in the world, New Orleans commands all the +commerce of the immense territory of the Mississippi, being the staple +pointed out by nature for the countries watered by this stream, or by +its tributaries—a territory exceeding a million of square miles. You +may travel on board a steam-boat of 300 tons and upwards for an extent +of 1000 miles from New Orleans up the Red river; 1500 miles up the +Arkansas river; 3000 miles up the Missouri and its branches; 1700 miles +on the Mississippi to the falls of St. Anthony; the same distance from +New Orleans up the Illinois; 1200 miles to the north-east from New +Orleans on the big Wabash; 1300 on the Tennessee; 1300 on the +Cumberland, and 2300 miles on the Ohio up to Pittsburgh. Thus New +Orleans has in its rear this immense territory,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_166" title="166"></a> with a river 4200 miles +long, (including the Missouri)<a id="FNanchor_I" href="#Footnote_I" class="fnanchor">[I]</a>; besides the water communication which +is about to be completed between New York and the river Ohio. The coast +of Mexico, the West India islands, and the half of America to the south, +the rest of America on its left, and the continent of Europe beyond the +Atlantic. New Orleans is beyond a doubt the most important commercial +point on the face of the earth<a id="FNanchor_J" href="#Footnote_J" class="fnanchor">[J]</a>. Although the states along the +Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, the +territories of Missouri, and Arkansas, undoubtedly the finest part of +the Union, have not yet a population of 3,000,000 inhabitants, their +trade with New Orleans may be estimated by the fact, that not less than +1500 keel and flat boats, with nearly a hundred steam vessels, are +engaged every year in the trade with this city. The capital laid out on +these steam-boats amounts alone to above two million of dollars. The +number of vessels that clear out is upward <a class="pagenum" id="Page_167" title="167"></a>of 1000, which export more +than 200,000 bales of cotton, 25,000 hogsheads of sugar, 17,000 +hogsheads of tobacco, about 1250 tons of lead, with a considerable +quantity of rice, furs, &c. Besides these staple articles, the produce +of the northern states is exported to Mexico, the West Indies, the +Havannah, and South America. The commerce of New Orleans increases +regularly every year in proportion with the improvements in its own +state, and in those of the Mississippi. The wealth accruing to the +country and to the city from this commerce, is out of proportion with +the number of inhabitants. There are many families who, in the course of +a few years, have accumulated a property yielding an income of 50,000 +dollars, and 25,000 is the usual income of respectable planters. No +other place offers such chances for making a fortune in so easy a way. +Plantations and commerce, if properly attended to, are the surest means +of succeeding in the favourite object of man’s great pursuit,—“money +making.” This accounts for the avidity with which thousands seek New +Orleans, in spite of the yellow fever again making room for thousands in +rapid succession.</p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_168" title="168"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and + Louisiana.—Creoles.—Anglo-Americans.—French.—Free People of + Colour.—Slaves.</p> + + +<p>At the time of the cession of Louisiana to the United States (1803), +this country with its capital was inhabited by Creoles—descendants of +French settlers. Many reasons as they may have to congratulate +themselves upon their admission into the great political Union, whether +considered in a religious or political point of view, there were, +however, several causes which contributed to render them disaffected to +the measure. This repugnance is far from being removed. The advantages +on both sides were equal, or perhaps greater on the part of the United +States.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_169" title="169"></a> The central government and the generality of Americans behaved +towards Louisiana in a becoming manner. But there is in the character of +American freedom, especially in the deportment of an American towards +foreigners and strangers in his own country, something repulsive. It is +not the pride of a nobleman accustomed to be obeyed, nor the natural +pride of an Englishman, who carries his sulky temper along with him, and +finds fault with every thing: it is rather the pride of an +adventurer—of an upstart, who exults at his not being a runaway +himself, although the descendant of one. Louisiana immediately after its +cession, was admitted to the full enjoyment of all the advantages +connected with its prerogative, as one of the states of the Union, and +its white natives, the Creoles, were considered as citizens born of the +United States. But the moment the cession was made, crowds of needy +Yankees, and what is worse, Kentuckians, spread all over the country, +attracted by the hope of gain; the latter treating the inhabitants as +little better than a purchased property. Full of prejudice towards the +descendants of a nation, of which they knew little<a class="pagenum" id="Page_170" title="170"></a> more than the +proverb, “French dog,” they, without knowing or condescending to learn +their language, behaved towards these people as if the lands, as well as +the inhabitants, could be seized without ceremony. This was certainly +not the way of thinking, or the conduct of all the northern new comers, +there being amongst them many a useful mechanic, merchant, planter, or +lawyer; but the greater number came with a degree of presumption, which +was in an inverse ratio with their unbounded and absolute ignorance. The +creoles, with a proper sense of their own independence, naturally +retreated from the intercourse of these intruders. On the other hand, +the consequences of an oppressive colonial government, the natural +effects of an enervating and sultry climate, could not fail giving to +the character of the creoles, a certain tone of passiveness, which makes +them an object of interest. They are not capable either of violent +passions, or of strong exertions. Gentle and frugal, they abhor +drunkenness and gluttony. Their eyes are generally black; but without +fire or expression. Their countenances evince neither spirit nor +animation; they can boast of very<a class="pagenum" id="Page_171" title="171"></a> few men of superior talents. Their +gait and figure are easy, and their colour generally pale. Though unable +to endure great hardships, they are far from being cowards, as the +events of the year 1815, and the numerous duels, sufficiently attest. +The drawbacks from their character are, an overruling passion for +frivolous amusements, an impatience of habit, a tendency for the +luxurious enjoyment of the other sex, without being very scrupulous in +their choice of either the black or the white race. Their greatest +defect, however, is their indifference towards the poor, and towards +their own slaves. They treat the former with cold contempt, and cannot +easily be induced to assist their fellow-creatures. In this respect they +are far inferior to their fellow-citizens of the north, whose example +they may follow with much advantage in many things. The Union has +already changed much, and the restless and active spirit of their +northern fellow-citizens has altered their character, which now partakes +much less of the Sybarite, than it formerly did; still, they can never +be brought to exercise a mechanical trade, which they consider as below +their dignity. The female sex<a class="pagenum" id="Page_172" title="172"></a> of Louisiana, (the creoles), have in +general an interesting appearance. A black languishing eye, colour +rather too pale, figure of middle size, which partakes of <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">en bon +point</em>, and does not exhibit any waist, are the characteristics of the +fair sex. With a great deal of vivacity, they show, however, a proper +sense of decorum. Adultery is seldom known among the better classes, +notwithstanding the many grounds afforded to them by the infidelity of +their husbands. As wives and mothers, they are entitled to every praise; +they are more moderate in their expenses than the northern ladies, and +though always neat and elegantly dressed, they seldom go beyond +reasonable bounds. Several instances are known of their having displayed +a high degree of fortitude. In sickness and danger, they are the +inseparable assistants and companions of their husbands. In literary +education, however, they are extremely deficient; and nothing can be +more tiresome than a literary <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">tête a tête</em> with a Creole lady. They +receive their education in the convent of the Ursalines, where they +learn reading, writing, some female works, and the piano-forte. It is +superfluous to ob<a class="pagenum" id="Page_173" title="173"></a>serve, being descendants from the French, that they +are the best dancers in the United States. Americans from other parts of +the Union, may be considered as constituting about three-eighths of the +present population of the state, and of New Orleans. Brother Jonathan is +to be found in all parts of the Union, and properly speaking, nowhere at +home. After having settled in one place, at the distance of 1000 miles +from his late residence, cleared lands, reared houses, farms, &c., he +leaves his spot as soon as a better chance seems to offer itself. He is +an adventurer, who would as soon remove to Mexico, or New South Wales, +provided he could “make money” by the change. Most of those who settled +in Louisiana grew wealthy either as planters or merchants, and really +the wealthiest families of Louisiana are at present Americans from other +parts of the Union, who likewise hold the most important public +stations. The governors, as well as the members of congress, and +senators, have hitherto been Americans, from the very natural reason, +that the creoles could not speak the English language, although some +important offices are filled by the latter.<a class="pagenum" id="Page_174" title="174"></a> Nothing can exceed or +surpass the suppleness of the Yankey; and the refined Frenchmen, with +all their dexterity, may still profit from them and their kindred.</p> + +<p>The emigrant French are numerous in New Orleans. Among them are many +very respectable merchants, some lawyers, physicians, &c., the greater +part, however, consists of adventurers, hair-dressers, dancing-masters, +performers, musicians, and the like. The French are of all men the least +valuable acquisition for a new state. Of a lavish and wanton temper, +they spend their time in trifles, which are of no importance to any but +themselves. Dancing, fighting, riding, and love-making, are the daily +occupation of these people. Their influence on a new and unsettled +state, whose inhabitants have no correct opinion of true politeness and +manners, is far from being advantageous. Without either religion, +morality, or even education, they pretend to be the leaders of the <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">bon +ton</em>, because they came from Paris, and they in general succeed. As for +religion and principles, except a sort of <em lang="la" xml:lang="la">point d’honneur</em>, they are +certainly a most<a class="pagenum" id="Page_175" title="175"></a> contemptible set, and greatly contribute to promote +immorality. There are a great number of Germans in New Orleans. These +people, without being possessed of the smallest resources, embarked +eight or ten years ago, and after having lost one-half, or three-parts +of their comrades during the passage, they were sold as white slaves, or +as they are called, Redemptioners, the moment of their arrival. Thus +mixed with the negroes in the same kind of labour, they experience no +more consideration than the latter; and their conduct certainly deserves +no better treatment. Those who did not escape, were driven away by their +masters for their immoderate drinking; and all, with few exceptions, +were glad to get rid of such dregs. The watchmen and lamp-lighters are +Germans, and hundreds of these people fell victims to the fever, between +the years 1814 and 1822. The rest of the white population consists of +English, Irish, Spaniards, and some Italians, amongst whom are several +respectable houses.</p> + +<p>The free people of colour consist of emancipated slaves; but chiefly of +the offspring of an<a class="pagenum" id="Page_176" title="176"></a> intercourse between the whites and blacks, the +cause of which is to be sought in the nature of the climate, where +sensual passions are so easily excited. Of these descendants, the +females in particular are very handsome, and generally destined for the +gratification of the wealthier class of the French and the creoles, as +their mothers had been before them. The American seldom or never +indulges in such unrestrained pleasures. He usually marries early, and +remains faithful to his wife. Of a more steady and religious turn, he +pays strict attention to decorum and appearances, with certain isolated +exceptions of course; but in general he is more solicitous and careful +of his public character than the Frenchman, or foreigner, who has seldom +any reputation to lose.</p> + +<p>The negroes form the lowest class. There are certainly found some +amongst them who are entitled to praise for their honesty and fidelity +towards their masters; but thousands, on the other hand, will exhibit +the vicious nature of a debased and slavish character. There is no +doubt, that a malignant and cruel disposition<a class="pagenum" id="Page_177" title="177"></a> characterises, more or +less, this black race. Whether it be inborn, or the result of slavery, I +leave to others to decide.</p> + +<p>All that can be said in favour of emancipation, may be reduced in the +compass of these few words: In the present state of things, if the +general cultivation of Louisiana, and the southern states, is to proceed +successfully, emancipation is impossible. In this climate, no white +person could stand the labour; the act of emancipation itself, +treacherous and barbarous as the slaves are, would subject their former +masters to certain destruction and death. We are, indeed, very far +behind hand in the study of the human character, and of the different +gradations of the human species. Unjust, as it assuredly was, to traffic +in fellow-creatures, as though they were so many heads of cattle, it is +equally unjust now to infringe upon a property which has been +transmitted from generation to generation, and which time has +sanctioned, without adopting some method of public compensation. All +that should be required is, that the slaves be treated with humanity—a +law might be enacted to that effect. The slaves<a class="pagenum" id="Page_178" title="178"></a> will then be improved, +and become ripe for a state of emancipation, which may be granted at a +future period, without danger or inconvenience to their masters.</p> + +<p>It is, however, to be regretted, that the slave population of Louisiana +are not so well treated as in the north. The cupidity of their masters, +and their solicitude to make a rapid fortune, subject those poor +wretches to an oppressive labour, which they are hardly able to endure. +They revolted in Louisiana on three occasions, and several white persons +fell victims to their vengeance; they were, however, easily subdued, and +the example set by the executions, contributed to restore tranquillity. +It is impossible to form an idea of the degree of jealousy with which +the southern population watch and defend their rights, touching this +point. A question upon the right of a slave, as a human being, is almost +one of life and death; and lawyers, whenever they presume to defend +slaves, and to hint at their rights, are in imminent danger of being +stoned like Jews. Not long ago, a gentleman of the bar, Mr. D—e, was +very near meeting this fate.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_179" title="179"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Public Spirit.—Education.—State of Religious Worship.—Public + Entertainments, Theatres, Balls, &c.</p> + + +<p>Heterogeneous as this population may seem, and as it really is, in +manners, language, and principles, they all agree in one point—the +pursuit after—“money.” Americans, English, French, Germans, Spaniards, +all come hither—to make money, and to stay here as long as money is to +be made. Half the inhabitants may be said to be regularly settled; the +rest are half-settlers. Merchants, store-keepers, remain only until +they have amassed a fortune answering their expectations, and then +remove to their former houses. Others reside here during the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_180" title="180"></a> winter, to +carry on business, and retire to the north in the month of May. That is +the case with all the Yankee commission merchants. This has, of course, +a sensible and an extensive influence upon the public, and may explain +why New Orleans, though one of the wealthiest cities of the Union, is so +backward in mental improvement. Even the better Anglo-American families +disdain to spend their money in the country where they have earned it, +and prefer removing to the north. The institutions for education are +consequently inferior to those of any city of equal extent and less +wealth, such as Richmond, and even Albany. The only literary institution +in the state of Louisiana, the college of New Orleans, is now +established, and is intended to be revived at some distance from the +capital. Free schools are now (1826) formed in the city, after the +manner of the northern states, with a president and professors; and by +and bye they will be extended to the rest of the state. Another college, +still inferior to the above-mentioned, is superintended by the Catholic +clergy. Excepting the elements of reading, writing, mathematics, and +latin, it affords<a class="pagenum" id="Page_181" title="181"></a> no intellectual information. The best of these +schools is kept by Mr. Shute, rector of the Episcopalian church, an +enlightened and clever man, who fully deserves the popularity he has +acquired. Reading, writing, geography, particular and universal history, +are taught under his tuition, and in his own rectory. This school, and +other private ones where the rudiments are taught, comprehend all the +establishments for education in the state.</p> + +<p>With respect to the female sex, the creoles are educated by the nuns; +the Protestant young ladies by some boarding-school mistresses, partly +French, partly Americans, who come from the north. The better classes of +the Anglo-Americans, however, prefer sending their daughters to a +northern establishment, where they remain for two years, and then return +to their homes. Among the charitable institutions must be mentioned the +Poydras Asylum for young orphan girls, founded in 1804, by Mr. Poydras. +The legislature voted 4000 dollars towards it. Sixty girls are now +educating in this asylum. Upon the same plan, is a second asylum for +boys,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_182" title="182"></a> where, in 1825, forty were admitted. These, besides the hospital, +are the only public institutions for the benefit of the poor. New +Orleans has eight newspapers; among these the State, and two other +papers, are published in English and French, a fourth in the Spanish, +and the rest in the English. The best of them is the Louisiana +Advertiser.</p> + +<p>There is not a place in the Union where religion is so little attended +to as in New Orleans. For a population of 40,000 inhabitants, it has +only four churches; Philadelphia, with 120,000 inhabitants, reckons +upwards of eighty; New York upwards of sixty. The city of Pittsburgh, +with a population of 10,000 souls, has ten churches, far superior to +those in New Orleans. Among the Protestant churches, the high church is +best provided for, and the members of this congregation are said to be +liberal, which they are generally found to be. They have recently +finished a rectory for their minister, and show that liberality which so +eminently distinguishes them. Of the Presbyterians we have spoken +before. Though they<a class="pagenum" id="Page_183" title="183"></a> would run ten times on a Sunday to church, and hear +even as many sermons, yet they neither pay their minister, who by the +bye is far from being an amiable character, nor redeem their church out +of the hands of Israel, but prefer keeping their money to contributing +towards such objects.</p> + +<p>The creoles, who are Catholics, seldom visit their church, and when they +do, it is only at Easter. They have a very learned bishop, named +Dubourgh, a Frenchman, who is not however very popular, and is spoken of +for his gallantries, though a man of sixty. It is whispered about that +there is a living proof of this. A more religious character is Pere +Antoine, a highly distinguished old Capuchin friar, enjoying universal +love and popularity. The manner in which I saw the Governor and the city +authorities, with the most respectable persons of the county, behave +towards him, does as much credit to them as to the object of their +consideration.</p> + +<p>Of the two theatres, the American is open<a class="pagenum" id="Page_184" title="184"></a> during five, and the French +during eight months in the year. The American theatre has the advantage +of becoming more and more national and popular, although at present it +is only resorted to by the lower class of the American population; +boatmen, Kentuckians, Mississippi traders, and backwoods-men of every +description. The pieces are execrably performed. The late Charles Von +Weber would not have been much delighted at witnessing the performance +of his Der Freyshutz, here metamorphosed into the wild huntsmen of +Bohemia. Six violins, which played any thing but music, and some voices +far from being human, performed the opera, which was applauded; the +Kentuckians expressed their satisfaction in a hurrah, which made the +very walls tremble. The interior of the theatre has still a mean +appearance. The curtain consists of two sail cloths, and the horrible +smell of whiskey and tobacco is a sufficient drawback for any person who +would attempt to frequent this place of amusement. The French theatre +performs the old classic productions of Corneille, Racine, Voltaire, +with the addition of some new ones, such as Regulus, Marie Stuart, and +William<a class="pagenum" id="Page_185" title="185"></a> Tell. The best performer of this theatre, is Madame Clauzel.</p> + +<p>Towards the close of December, the carnival commences; society balls, +masquerades, or routs, besides a number of private balls, are then the +order of the day. The first, the third, and the last masquerade, and the +society balls, are the most splendid. They are regularly attended by the +daughters of the merchants and planters, who at this time come to the +city. There is, however, nothing more tiresome than a masked ball in New +Orleans. Some young merchants, and sons of planters, took it into their +heads to assume the character of poor paddies, and they dressed +themselves accordingly. This would have been for the most unaccomplished +American or English Miss, a fair opportunity for displaying at least +some wit. But the creole Demoiselles, when addressed by their lovers, +had not a word to say, except, “Oh, we know that you are no Paddies—You +are very respectable—You are the wealthy C.” Another would say, “Oh, I +know that you are not an Irishman—You are the rich Y.” This was the +conversation all round. Still<a class="pagenum" id="Page_186" title="186"></a> more tedious are the public balls given +in commemoration of the eighth of January, on the anniversary of the +birth-day of Washington, &c. Until last year, and owing to the shyness +of the creoles towards their new brothers, the Americans and creoles +stood with their ladies apart, neither speaking nor dancing with one +another. Last year both parties seemed willing to draw nearer to each +other. Even these entertainments, as well as more important affairs, are +very subordinate to the all-powerful desire of “making money.” This is +the final object of every one, and on every occasion. Any pursuit of a +different tendency than that of gaining money, is neglected, and deemed +unworthy of consideration. That which every town of 2000 inhabitants is +now provided with, a reading-room and circulating library, you would +seek in vain at New Orleans. Though the Anglo-Americans attempted to +establish such an institution, which is indispensable in a great +commercial city, it failed through the unwillingness of the creoles to +trouble their heads with reading. Churches or theatres are not more +patronised. To improve the moral condition is far from their thoughts, +every one<a class="pagenum" id="Page_187" title="187"></a> being bent upon—making money, as quickly as possible, in +order the sooner to leave the place. New Orleans, considering its +situation, should again be what it was lately, were it not for the +detestable selfishness which pervades all classes, and has established a +dominion over the mind, as painful as it is disgusting. The complaints +about luxury are unfounded. The wealthy inhabitants live by no means in +such high style as they do at New York, Boston, and even Richmond, upon +a less income. There is no cause for finding fault with their +extravagance, or their dissolute manners, not because they have better +moral principles, but because they are too selfish to indulge in +pleasures that would cost “money,” and would mar their principal object, +which is to amass it. The American from the north, whilst he inhabits +New Orleans, lives in a style far inferior to that in which he indulges +at home; and even if he be a permanent settler, he chooses rather to go +to the north in order to spend his money there. Only three American +houses can be said to receive good company, the rest are creoles. The +living in New Orleans, however, is good, though ex<a class="pagenum" id="Page_188" title="188"></a>pensive. Board and +lodging in a respectable house, will cost sixty dollars a month; in an +inferior one, forty. The proper season of business for strangers, and +those not accustomed to the climate, is the winter. In the summer, every +one retires to the north, or across the lake, only such persons +remaining as are compelled from circumstances to do so.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_189" title="189"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">The Climate of Louisiana.—The Yellow Fever.</p> + + +<p>That a country, the fourth part of which consists of marshes, stagnant +waters, rivers, and lakes, and which is so near the torrid zone, cannot +be altogether healthy, is not to be denied. Although Louisiana is not so +salubrious a country as the creoles or settlers inured to the climate, +would persuade us that it is; on the other hand it is not the seat of +the plague, or of continued disease, as the North Americans or Europeans +imagine. Louisiana is no doubt a most agreeable country during the +winter and spring. The former commences in December, and continues +through January. Rains and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_190" title="190"></a> showers will sometimes fall, during several +successive weeks, snow very seldom. North and north-east winds prevail; +a south wind will occasionally change the temperature, on a sudden, from +a northern April day to the heat of summer. The coldest winter +experienced for twenty years past, was that of the year 1821; the +gutters were choked up with ice, and water exposed in buckets, froze to +the thickness of an inch and a half. Fahrenheit’s thermometer fell to +20° below zero. In this year, the orange, lime, and even fig-trees were +destroyed by the frost.</p> + +<p>Towards the close of January the Mississippi rises, and the ice of the +Ohio breaks up. This river, seldom, however, causes an inundation. This +is generally reserved for the Missouri, the principal river that empties +itself into the Mississippi. With the month of February the spring +breaks forth in Louisiana. Frequent rains fall in this month, the +vegetation advances astonishingly, and the trees receive their new +foliage. On the 1st of March we had potatoes grown in the open fields, +pease, beans, and artichokes. South winds prevail alternately<a class="pagenum" id="Page_191" title="191"></a> with +north-west winds. The month of March is undoubtedly the finest season in +Louisiana; there are sometimes night frosts, though scarcely felt by any +one except the creoles, and the equally tender orange flowers. The +thermometer is in this month at 68°–70°. At this time prevails a +disease, the influenza, which arises from the sudden alternations of +cold and warm weather; it has carried off several persons. It is always +necessary to wear cotton shirts, whether in cold or warm weather. +Towards the close of March, the fruit-trees have done blooming, the +forests are clad in their new verdure, and all nature bursts out in the +most exuberant vegetation; every thing develops itself in the country +with gigantic strides. Already the musquitoes are beginning to make +their troublesome appearance, and musquito bars become necessary. Still +the heat is moderate, being cooled by the north winds and the refreshing +waters of the Mississippi. May brings with it the heat of a northern +summer, moderated however, by cooling north and north-east breezes. The +thermometer is at 78° to 80°. At this season, frequent showers and +hurricanes<a class="pagenum" id="Page_192" title="192"></a> coming from the south, rage with the utmost fury in those +extensive plains. With the month of June the heats become oppressive; +there is not a breath of air to be felt; the musquitos come in millions; +one is incessantly pursued by those troublesome insects. The worst, +however, is, that they will sometimes force their way through the +musquito bars. Nothing is more disagreeable than this buzzing sound, and +the pain occasioned by their sting; they keep you from sleeping the +whole night. Still they are not so troublesome as the millepedes, an +insect whose sting causes a most painful sensation. In the month of July +the heat increases. August, September, and October, are dangerous months +in New Orleans. A deep silence reigns during this time in the city, most +of the stores and magazines are shut up. No one is to be seen in the +streets in the day time except negroes and people of colour. No carriage +except the funeral hearse. At the approach of evening the doors open, +and the inhabitants pour forth, to enjoy the air, and to walk on the +Levee above and below the city. The yellow fever has not made its +appearance since 1822. It is not the<a class="pagenum" id="Page_193" title="193"></a> extraordinary heat which causes +this baneful disease, the temperature seldom exceeding 100°. In the year +1825, when the thermometer rose in New York and Boston above 108°, it +was in New Orleans, no more than 97°. It is the pestilential miasmata +which rise from the swamps and marshes, and infect the air to a degree +which it is difficult to describe. These oppressive exhalations load the +air, and it is almost impossible to draw breath. If a breeze comes at +all, it is a south wind, which, from its baneful influence, exhausts the +last remaining force after throwing you into a dreadful state of +perspiration. The years 1811, 1814, and 1823, were the most terrible of +any for New Orleans. From sixty to eighty persons were buried every day, +and nothing was to be seen but coffins carried about on all sides. Whole +streets in the upper suburb, (inhabited chiefly by Americans and +Germans) were cleared of their inhabitants, and New Orleans was +literally one vast cemetery. Among the inhabitants, the poorer classes +were mostly exposed to the attacks of the unsparing and deadly disease, +as their situation did not permit them to stay at home; thus women were<a class="pagenum" id="Page_194" title="194"></a> +for this reason, less exposed to its effects; and least of all the +wealthiest inhabitants, who were not compelled to quit their dwellings. +The creoles and others who were seasoned to the climate, were little +affected. The creole, mulatto, and negro women, are said to be the most +skilful in the cure of the disease. In 1822, hundreds of patients died +under the hands of the most experienced physicians, when these old women +commonly succeeded in restoring their own patients. Their preservatives +and medicines are as simple as they are efficacious, and every stranger +who intends to stay the summer in New Orleans, should make himself +acquainted with one of these women, in case a necessity should arise for +requiring their attendance. They give such ample proofs of their +superior skill, as to claim in this point a preference over the ablest +physicians.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants are in general forewarned of the approaching disease, by +the swarms of musquitoes; although they come in sufficient quantity +every summer, they make their appearance in infinitely greater numbers +previously to a yellow fever.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_195" title="195"></a>This is said to have been the case on the three occasions already +mentioned. At such a time all business is of course suspended. The port +is empty, the stores are shut up. Those officers alone whose presence is +indispensable, or who have overcome the yellow fever, will remain with a +set of wretches, who, like beasts of prey feed upon the relics of the +dead, speculating upon the misery of their fellow creatures so far, as +not unfrequently to buy at auctions the very beds upon which they have +been known to expire in a few days afterwards. The first rain, succeeded +by a little frost, banishes the deadly guest, and every one returns to +his former business.</p> + +<p>It is to be hoped, that this scourge of the land, if it should not be +wholly extirpated, will at least become less prevalent for the future. +The police regulations adopted during the last four years, have proved +very effectual. Among these are a strict attention to cleanliness, +watering the streets by means of the gutters, shutting up the grog-shops +after nine o’clock; and removing<a class="pagenum" id="Page_196" title="196"></a> from the city all the poor and +houseless people, at the expense of the corporation, as soon as the +least indication of approaching infection is perceived. These, and +several other wise regulations will, it is hoped, contribute greatly to +increase the population, and to give the new comers a firmer guarantee +for their lives, than they have hitherto found. When the plans in +contemplation shall have been carried into effect, and the swamps behind +the city drained, a measure the more beneficial, as the soil of these +swamps is beyond all imagination fertile; then the surrounding country, +and the city itself, will become as healthy as any other part of the +Union. With the increasing population, we have no doubt, that Louisiana +will present the same features, as Egypt in former days, bearing, as it +does, the most exact resemblance to that country. During six months, and +already at the present time, it is a delightful place, successfully +resorted to from the north, by persons in a weak state of health. +The mildness of the climate, which even during the two winter months, +is seldom interrupted by frost, the most luxuriant tropical +fruits—bananas, pine-apples,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_197" title="197"></a> oranges, lemons, figs, cocoa-nuts, &c., +partly reared in the country, partly imported in ship loads from the +Havannah, a distance of only a few hundred miles; excellent oysters, +turtle of the best kind, arriving every hour; fish from the lake +Pontchartrain; game, venison of all sorts; vegetables of the finest +growth,—all these advantages give New Orleans a superiority over almost +every other place. Sobriety, temperance, and moderation in the use of +sensual enjoyments, and especially in the intercourse with the sex, with +a strict attention to the state of health, and an instant resort to the +necessary preservatives in case of derangement in the digestive +system,—such are the precautions that will best enable a stranger to +guard against the attacks of the disorders incident to this place.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_198" title="198"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.—Planters, Farmers, Merchants, and + Mechanics.</p> + + +<p>Whoever emigrates from a northern to a southern climate, experiences +more or less a change in his constitution; his blood is thinned, and in +a state of greater effervescence, and his frame weakened in consequence. +The least derangement in the digestive system in this case, produces a +bilious fever.</p> + +<p>The new comers emigrating to Louisiana, are either planters, farmers, +merchants, or mechanics. The former, being more or less wealthy, come +for the purpose of establishing themselves, and usually buy sugar or +cotton<a class="pagenum" id="Page_199" title="199"></a> lands, on the banks of the Mississippi, or Red-river, which, +though in general healthy, are, on the other hand, a sure grave to those +who neglect taking the necessary precautions. Planters descend to +Louisiana in the winter months; but as the heat increases every moment, +and has a debilitating effect upon their bodies, accustomed to a cold +climate, they attempt to counterbalance this weakness by an excessive +use of spirituous liquors, to promote digestion. Notwithstanding bad +omens, and in spite of the advice of their more experienced neighbours, +their mania for making money keeps them there during the summer, and +they fall victims to their avidity for gain.</p> + +<p>Whoever intends to establish a plantation in Louisiana, has the free +choice between the low lands on the Mississippi, or the Red-river. There +are upwards of 200,000 acres of sugar lands still unoccupied. He may +settle himself on the banks of the above-mentioned rivers, without the +least fear, the yellow fever seldom or never penetrating to the +plantations. Thousands of planters live and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_200" title="200"></a> continue there without +experiencing any attack of sickness. After having bought his lands, and +obtained possession, he may stay till the month of May, taking the +necessary measures for the improvement of the plantation, leave his +directions with his overseer, and remove to the north. His house, if +along the banks of the Mississippi, should be built not far from the +river, in order that he may enjoy the cooling freshness of its waters. +In the rear of his plantation, and about his house, he sows the seed of +sun-flowers, to preserve his slaves from the morning and night +exhalations of the swamps; a measure which, trifling as it may seem, +will have an incredible effect in improving the air.</p> + +<p>With a capital of 25,000 dollars, 5,500<em>l.</em> sterling, he may purchase at +the present time, 2,000 acres of land, for a sum of from 3 to 4,000 +dollars, and thirty stout slaves for 15,000 dollars; there will remain +7,000 for his first year’s expenses. The establishment of a sugar +plantation amounts to not more than the above stated sum of 25,000 +dollars. The pro<a class="pagenum" id="Page_201" title="201"></a>duce of the third year, if the plantation be properly +managed, amounts to 150,000 pounds of sugar, valued at 12,000 dollars, +besides the molasses, the sale of which will cover the household +expenses; each negro, therefore, yielding a clear annual income of 400 +dollars.</p> + +<p>Failures in sugar crops in plantations along the banks of the +Mississippi, never occur, except beyond 30° 30′ of north latitude. The +planter, however, cannot expect any thing in the first year from his +sugar fields; the canes yielding produce only eighteen months after +having been planted. The planting takes place from August until +December, by means of eye-slips. The process at the sugar-houses is +sufficiently known. These plantations, if well managed and well attended +to, are, owing to the great and constant demand for sugar, the surest +way of realising a capital, though the management requires considerable +care and attention.</p> + +<p>Cotton plantations are not to be judged according to the same estimate. +A cotton plantation may now be established by means of a capital of +10,000 dollars. 3000 dollars for the purchase<a class="pagenum" id="Page_202" title="202"></a> of 1500 or 2000 acres of +land, on the banks of the Mississippi, from Baton Rouge up to the +Walnut-hills, on both sides of the river; or what is still preferable, +on the banks of the Red-river. Ten slaves at 5000 dollars, leaves 2000 +for the first year’s current expenses. The beginner will not find it +difficult to clear fifty acres in the first twelve months; and to raise +from twenty-five acres, thirty bales of cotton, the produce of which +will, with the crop of corn from the remaining twenty-five acres, keep +him for the first year, the cotton alone being worth 1500 dollars, +independently of the corn. The following year he may raise sixty bales, +giving an income of 3000 dollars, every slave thereby yielding about 300 +dollars; proceeding thus in a manner which in a few years more will +render his income equal to his original capital.</p> + +<p>There are still unappropriated above two millions of acres of cotton +lands, of the very first quality, in the state of Louisiana; and though +it sometimes happens that the plants are killed by the frosts, as was +the case in the spring of 1826, these accidents seldom affect the +profits. The management of a cotton plantation is by<a class="pagenum" id="Page_203" title="203"></a> no means +difficult, as it differs but little from that bestowed upon Indian corn, +and requires only a strict superintendence over the negroes.</p> + +<p>The cultivation of indigo has latterly been neglected, though 200,000 +acres of land in the state of Louisiana are well adapted for it. This +neglect was occasioned by the injurious effects produced upon the +labourer by the watering of the plants, and the exhalations from them.</p> + +<p>The cultivation of rice is more extensive. There are 200,000 acres +unoccupied. Planters generally combine the cultivation of this plant +with that of cotton or sugar. Tobacco of a superior quality is reared +about Natchitoches and Alexandria; the produce is little inferior to +that of Cuba. The price of a stout male negro is 500 dollars; if a +mechanic, from 6 to 900 dollars; females from 350 to 400 dollars; so +that 5000 dollars will purchase five men, two of them mechanics, and +five stout women, and enable their master at once to set about a +plantation, which will, in the course of three years, double the capital +of the owner, without his exposing himself to any risk.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_204" title="204"></a>The easy way in which the planters of Louisiana are found to accumulate +wealth, excites in every one the desire of pursuing the same road, +without having the necessary means at command. Hundreds of respectable +farmers have paid with their lives for a neglect of this truth. +Instigated by the anxiety to become rich, and unable withal to purchase +slaves, they were under the necessity of labouring for themselves. The +consequence was, they shortly fell victims to their mistaken notions. +One can only be seasoned by degrees to the climate of Louisiana. To +force the march of time and habit, is impossible. The more stout and +healthy the person, the greater the risk. People who, allured by the +prospect of wealth, would attempt to work in this climate as they were +used to do in the north, would fall sick and die, without having +provided for their children, who are then forced upon the charity of +strangers. There are many tracts of second-rate land, equal to land of +the best quality in the northern states, in the west and east of +Louisiana, which are perfectly healthy, and where farmers of less +property may buy lands, and establish labour and corn farms,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_205" title="205"></a> or raise +cattle in abundance. Those who have proceeded in this way, which is more +proportioned to their means, have never failed to acquire in the course +of time, a large fortune, as by the open water communication the produce +can easily be conveyed to New Orleans, where, in the summer, they find a +ready and advantageous market. These parts have hitherto been too much +neglected, to which circumstance it is greatly owing that New Orleans, +at certain seasons, is almost destitute of provisions, when the waters +of the tributary rivers of the Mississippi, Ohio, &c., are low.</p> + +<p>A third class of settlers in Louisiana are merchants. New Orleans has +unfortunately the credit of being a place to which wealth flows in +streams, and it is consequently the resort of all adventurers from +Europe and America, who come hither in the expectation, that they have +only to be on the spot to make money. Thousands of these ill-fated +adventurers have lost their lives in consequence. It is true, that most +of the wealthy merchants were needy adventurers, who began with scarcely +a dollar in their pockets,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_206" title="206"></a> as pedlars, who sold pins and glass beads to +the Indians. But the surest way for the merchant who wishes to begin +with a small capital, will always be to settle in one of the smaller +towns, Francisville, Alexandria, Natchitoches, Baton Rouge, &c. Those +who have followed this course grew wealthy in a short time. I admit +there is an exception with respect to such as have a sufficient capital +to begin business with in the city itself, or to embark in commercial +relation with Great Britain, the north of the Union, or the continent of +Europe.</p> + +<p>The commission trade is advantageous in the extreme; and the clear +income realised in commercial business by several merchants, amounts to +50,000 dollars a year. All the French, English, and Spaniards, who have +established themselves in this place, have become rich, especially if +the individuals of the latter nations were conversant with the French +language.</p> + +<p>For manufacturers, there is in New Orleans little prospect. In a slave +state, where of course hard labour is performed only by slaves, whose +food consists of Indian corn, and at the most,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_207" title="207"></a> of salt meat, and their +dress of cotton trowsers, or a blanket rudely adapted to their shapes, +the mechanic cannot find sufficient customers. Half of the inhabitants +have no need of his assistance; and as he cannot renounce his habits of +living on wheat flour, fresh meat, &c., provisions which at certain +seasons are very dear in New Orleans, his existence there must be very +precarious. The charges are proportionably enormous. The price for the +making of a great coat, is from fourteen to sixteen dollars; of a coat, +from ten to twelve dollars. The greatest part of the inhabitants, +therefore, buy their own dresses ready made in the north. The wealthy +alone employ these mechanics.</p> + +<p>There are yet several trades which would answer well in New Orleans, +such as clever tailors, confectioners, &c. But as almost every article +is brought into this country, the mechanics have rather a poor chance of +succeeding, and if not provided with a sufficient capital, they are +exposed to great penury until they can find customers. This class of +people are very little respected, and hardly more so than the people of +colour in Louisiana.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_208" title="208"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p class="summary">Geographical Features of the State of Louisiana.—Conclusion.</p> + + +<p>Louisiana lies under the same degree of north latitude as Egypt, and +bears a striking resemblance to that country. Their soil, their climate, +and their very rivers, exhibit the same features, with the exception, +that the Mississippi runs from north to south, whereas the Nile takes an +opposite course. Close to the eastern bank of the former, we find a +continued series of Cyprus, swamps, and lakes, sometimes intersected by +a tributary stream of the Mississippi, with elevated banks or hills. +Farther towards the east are large tracts of lands, with pinewoods +stretching towards the river Mobile, which resembles<a class="pagenum" id="Page_209" title="209"></a> the Mississippi in +every thing, except in size. Further southward, between the Mississippi +and Mobile, we find the rivers Amite, Tickfah, Tangipao, Pearl, +Pascagola, emptying themselves into a chain of lakes and swamps, running +in a south-east direction from the Mississippi to the mouth of the +Mobile. Further to the westward is the Mississippi in its meandering +course, its banks lined with plantations from Natchez to New Orleans, +each plantation extending half a mile back to the swamps. South of New +Orleans, is another chain of swamps, lakes, and bayons, terminating in +the gulf of Mexico. West of the Mississippi, a multitude of rivers flow +in a thousand windings, lined with impenetrable forests of cyprus, +cotton trees, and cedars, intermixed with canebrack and the palmetta. In +this labyrinth of rivers, the Red-river, the Arkansas, the White-river, +and Tensaw rivers are seen meandering. Farther east are the immense +prairies of Opelausas, and Attacapas, interspersed here and there with +rising farms, forests along the banks of the Red-river, and more to the +westward the great prairies, the resort of innumerable buffaloes and<a class="pagenum" id="Page_210" title="210"></a> of +every kind of game. The Red-river, like the Mississippi, forms an +impenetrable series of swamps and lakes. Beyond this river are seen +pinewoods, from which issues the Ouachitta, losing itself afterwards in +the Delta of the Mississippi. Beyond these pine woods, in a north +western direction, rise the Mazernes mountains, extending from the east +to west 200 miles, and forming the boundary line between east and west +Louisiana. To the north and west of the Red-river, the country is dry +and healthy, but of inferior quality; to the east we find a chain of +lakes; to the south another chain. In summer they dry up, thus affording +fine pasturage to buffaloes. In autumn, with the rising of the rivers, +they again fill with water. Southward is a continued lake, intermixed +with swamps, which terminate at last in the gulph of Mexico.</p> + +<p>Louisiana, though the smallest of the states and territories formed out +of the ancient Louisiana, is by far the most important, and the central +point of the western commonwealth. Its boundaries are, on the south, the +Gulph of Mexico;<a class="pagenum" id="Page_211" title="211"></a> on the west, the Mexican province of Tecas; on the +north, the Arkansas territory, and the state of Mississippi; and on the +east, the state of Mississippi, and Mexico. The number of inhabitants +amounts to 190,000, 106,000 of whom are people of colour. The +constitution of the state inclines to Federal. The governor, the +senators, and the representatives, in order to be eligible, must be +possessed of landed property—the former to the amount of at least 5000 +dollars, the next 1000, and the latter 500. Every citizen of the state +is qualified to vote. The government in this, as well as in every other +state, is divided into three separate branches. The chief magistrate of +the state is elected for the term of four years. Under him he has a +secretary of state. The present governor is an Anglo-American; Mr. +Johnson, the secretary, is a Creole.</p> + +<p>The legislative branch is composed of the senators, and of the house of +representatives. The former consists of sixteen members, elected for the +term of four years. They choose from among themselves a president, who +takes the place of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_212" title="212"></a> the governor, in case of the demise of the +latter.<a id="FNanchor_K" href="#Footnote_K" class="fnanchor">[K]</a> The house of representatives consists of forty-four members, +headed by a speaker; the court of justice of three judges of the +district court, a supreme judge of the criminal court of New Orleans, +and eight district judges, with an equal number of district attorneys. +The sessions are held every Monday. The parish and county courts have +twenty-eight county or parish judges, twenty-six sheriffs, and 159 +lawyers, to assist them in their labours. In a political view, the +acquisition of Louisiana is no doubt the most important occurrence in +the United States since the revolution; and, considered altogether, it +may be called a second revolution. Independently of the pacific +acquisition of a country containing nearly a million and a half of +square miles, with the longest river in the world flowing through a +valley several thousand miles in length and breadth, their geographical +position is now <a class="pagenum" id="Page_213" title="213"></a>secured, and they form, since the further acquisition +of Florida, a whole and compact body, with a coast extending upwards of +1000 miles along the gulph of Mexico, and 500 miles on the Pacific +ocean. Whether the vast increase of wealth amassed by most of those who +settled on the banks of the Mississippi will prove strong enough to +retain this political link unbroken, is very much to be doubted. It is +very clear that the inhabitants of the valley of the Mississippi, and +especially of Louisiana, entertain a feeling of estrangement from their +northern fellow citizens.</p> + +<p>With the exception of a number of respectable Americans, Louisiana and +the valley of the Mississippi have hitherto been the refuge of all +classes of foreigners, good and bad, who sought here an asylum from +oppression and poverty, or from the avenging arm of justice in their +native countries. Many have not succeeded in their expectations—many +have died—others returned, exasperated against a country which had +disappointed their hopes, because they expected to find superior beings, +and discovered that they<a class="pagenum" id="Page_214" title="214"></a> were men neither worse nor better than their +habits, propensities, country, climate, and a thousand other +circumstances had made them. The fault was theirs. Though there exists +not, perhaps, a country in the world where a fortune can be made in an +easier way, yet it cannot be made without industry, steadiness, and a +small capital to begin with—things in which these people were mostly +deficient. And there is another circumstance not to be lost sight of. +Whoever changes his country should have before him a complete view and a +clear idea of the state in which he intends to settle, as well as of the +rest of the Union: he ought to depend upon his own means, on himself in +short, and not upon others. Upon no other terms will prosperity and +happiness attend the emigrant’s exertions in the United States. The +foreign mechanic who, emigrating into the United States, selects the +states of New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio, will find sufficient +occupation, his trade respected, and his industry rewarded by wealth and +political consequence. The manufacturer with a moderate capital, will +choose Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and the like places. The merchant<a class="pagenum" id="Page_215" title="215"></a> who is +possessed of 2 or 3000 dollars, and settles in Ohio, in the north +western part of Pennsylvania, or over in Illinois, will, if he be +prudent and steady, have no reason to complain of the Yankees. The +farmer, with a capital of from 3 to 4000 dollars, will fix upon the +state of Ohio, in preference to any other, especially if he comes +accompanied only by his own family, and is therefore obliged to rely on +the friendly assistance of his neighbours. He will there prefer the +lands adjacent to navigable rivers, or to the rise of the new canal. If +he goes beyond Ohio, he will find eligible situations in Illinois, and +in Missouri. Any one who can command a capital exceeding 10,000 dollars, +who is not incumbered with a large family, and whose mind does not +revolt at the idea of being the owner of slaves, will choose the state +of Mississippi, or of Louisiana, and realize there in a short time a +fortune beyond his most sanguine expectations. He has his choice there +of the unsold lands along the Mississippi, and Red-river, in the +parishes of Plaquemines or Bayon Bastier; in the interior, of La +Fourche, Iberville, Attacapas, Opelousas,<a class="pagenum" id="Page_216" title="216"></a> Rapides, Nachitoches, +Concordia, New Feliciana, and all the way up the Mississippi, to +Walnut-hills, four hundred miles above New Orleans. All that has been +urged against the unhealthiness of the country may be answered in these +few words. Louisiana, though not at every season of the year equally +salubrious, is far healthier than Cuba, Jamaica, and the West Indies in +general. Thousands of people live free from the attacks of any kind of +fever. On the plantations there is not the least danger.—In New Orleans +the yellow fever has not appeared these four years past, and the place +is so far from being unhealthy now, that the mortality for the last +three years was less in this place than in Boston, New York and +Philadelphia. Cleanliness, sobriety, a strict attention to the digestive +system, and the avoiding of strong liquors, and exposure to heat, or to +the rising miasmata, will keep every one as healthy in Louisiana as any +where else. The neglect of proper precautions will cause as serious +inconvenience in Louisiana as in any other country. This is the real +condition of the state, and those acquainted with it will readily bear +testimony to the correctness of<a class="pagenum" id="Page_217" title="217"></a> my opinion, that it holds out not only +to British emigrants, but also to capitalists of that country, +advantages far surpassing those of their own vast dominions in any +quarter of the globe.</p> + +<p>In Louisiana they should embark a part of their capital, not in land +speculations, or in buying extensive tracts, which they have to sell in +the course of time in small parcels, but in plantations. These are +sources of wealth far superior to the gold mines of Mexico, and are +guaranteed by a firm constitution, and by the character and the habits +of a liberal people, taken in the whole, whatever John Bull may have to +say against it. In this manner may the said John Bull still reap the +reward of his having formed and maintained the first settlements in the +United States, at a vast expense of blood and treasure.</p> + +<p>This would be the means of drawing closer the now rather relaxed ties +which formerly united him with his kinsman, for Brother Jonathan is<a class="pagenum" id="Page_218" title="218"></a> +neither so bad as John Bull supposes him to be, nor so faultless as he +fancies himself.—<em lang="la" xml:lang="la">Medium tenuere beati.</em></p> + + +<p class="center">THE END.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a class="pagenum" id="Page_219" title="219"></a>TABLE<br /> + +<span class="smaller">OF THE</span><br /> + +<span class="smaller">STATES, COUNTIES, CITIES, TOWNS, AND VILLAGES.</span></h2> + + +<div class="hang"> + + <p><em>Pittsburgh</em>, county town of <em>Alleghany</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Alleghany</em> (river), <em>Monongehela</em> (river).</p> + + <p><em>Oeconomy</em>, Rapp’s Settlement in Beaver county.</p> + + <p><em>Zanesville</em>, capital of <em>Muskiagum</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>New Lancaster</em>, capital of <em>Fairfield</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Columbus</em>, capital of the State of <em>Ohio</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Chilicothe</em>, capital of the <em>Sciota</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Franklintown</em>, capital of <em>Franklin</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Cincinnati</em>, capital of <em>Hamilton</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Newport</em>, capital of <em>Campbell</em> county, in <em>Kentucky</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Vevay</em>, capital of <em>New Switzerland</em> county, in the State of + <em>Indiana</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Madisonville</em>, capital of <em>Jefferson</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Charlestown</em>, capital of <em>Clark</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Jeffersonville</em>, capital of <em>Floyd</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Clarkesville</em> and <em>New Albany</em>, villages of <em>Floyd</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Louisville</em>, capital of <em>Jefferson</em> county, in <em>Kentucky</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Shippingport</em> and <em>Portland</em>, villages.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="Page_220" title="220"></a><em>Troy</em>, capital of <em>Crawford</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Owensborough</em>, capital of <em>Henderson</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Harmony</em>, in <em>Indiana</em>, second settlement of <em>Rapp</em>, purchased + 1823, by <em>Owen</em>, of <em>Lanark</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Shawneetown</em>, in the State of <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Fort Massai</em>, in the State of <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Golconda</em>, capital of <em>Pope</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Vienna</em>, capital of <em>Johnson</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>America</em>, capital of <em>Alexander</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Trinity</em>, village of <em>Alexander</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Kaskakia</em>, <em>Cahokia</em>, towns of <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Vandalia</em>, capital of the State of <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Hamburgh</em>, village in <em>Illinois</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Cape Girardeau</em>, capital of the county of the same name.</p> + + <p><em>St. Genevieve</em> and <em>Herculaneum</em>, towns of the State of <em>Missouri</em>.</p> + + <p><em>City of St. Louis</em>, capital of <em>Missouri</em> (the state).</p> + + <p><em>New Madrid</em>, capital of <em>New Madrid</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Tennessee</em>, State of</p> + + <p><em>Nashville</em>, <em>Knoxville</em>, towns of <em>Tennessee</em>, and <em>New + Ereesborough</em>, capital of the State.</p> + + <p><em>Hopefield</em>, capital of <em>Hempstead</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>St. Helena</em>, village of <em>Arkansas</em> territory.</p> + + <p><em>Vixburgh</em>, capital of <em>Warren</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Warrington</em>, village of <em>Warren</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Palmyra Plantations</em>, <em>Bruinsburgh</em>, <em>Natchez</em> (city of), in the + State of <em>Mississippi</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Gibsonport</em>, capital of <em>Gibson</em> county.</p> + + <p><em>Baton Rouge</em>, <em>Plaquemines</em>, <em>Manchac</em>, <em>Bayon</em>, <em>Tourche</em>, the + former the capital of the county, and the latter bayons.</p> + + <p><em>New Orleans</em> (city of), the capital of <em>Louisiana</em>.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">In Chapter xix. the following Rivers occur.</span></p> + +<div class="hang"> + + <p><em>Mobile</em>—the rivers <em>Amite</em>, <em>Tickfah</em>, <em>Tangipao</em>, <em>Pearl</em>, + <em>Pascaguala</em>, <em>Arkansas</em>, <em>White</em> and <em>Red-River</em>, <em>Tensaw</em>.</p> + + <p><em>Plaquemines</em>, <em>Interior of la Tourche</em>, <em>Iberville</em>, <em>Attacapas</em>, + <em>Opelousas</em>, <em>Rapides</em>, <em>Natchitoches</em>, <em>Concordia</em>, <em>Avoyelles</em>, + <em>New Feliciana</em>, <em>Parishes of Louisiana</em>.</p> + +</div> + +<p>N.B. The Counties in the State of Louisiana, are called Parishes.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> +<p class="center"> + <em>Printed by Bradbury & Dent, Bolt-court, Fleet-street.</em> +</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<h2><a id="FOOTNOTES"></a>Footnotes</h2> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_A" href="#FNanchor_A"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> +Of course this billiard table is not mentioned as a matter +of importance, but merely to give a characteristic idea of the state of +society in these parts.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_B" href="#FNanchor_B"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> +Eighteen miles from Pittsburgh on the road to Beaver, the +new and third settlement of the Swabian separatists, called Economy, was +established two years ago by Rapp, a man celebrated in the Union for his +rustic sagacity. This man affords an instance of what persevering +industry, united with sound sense, may effect.—When he arrived with his +400 followers from Germany, twenty years ago, their capital amounted to +35,000 dollars; and so poor were they at first, that their leader could +not find credit for a barrel of salt. They are now worth at least a +million of dollars. Their new settlement promises to thrive, and to +become superior to those which they sold in Buttler County, +Pennsylvania, and in Indiana on the Wabash. Nothing can exceed the +authority exercised by this man over his flock. He unites both the +spiritual and temporal power in his own person. He has with him a kind +of Vice-Dictator in the person of his adopted son, (who is married to +his daughter), and a council of twelve elders, who manage the domestic +affairs of the community, now amounting to 1000 souls. When he was yet +residing in Old Harmony, twenty-eight miles north of Pittsburgh, the +bridge constructed over a creek which passes by the village, wanted +repair. It was winter time; the ice seemed thick enough to allow of +walking across. The creek, however, was deep, and 100 feet wide: Master +Rapp, notwithstanding, ventured upon it, intending to come up to the +pier. He was scarcely in the middle of the river, when the ice gave way. +A number of his followers being assembled on the shores, were eager to +assist him.—“Do you think,” hallooed Rapp, “that the Lord will withdraw +his hands from his elect, and that I need your help?” The poor fellows +immediately dropped the boards, but at the same time Master Rapp sunk +deeper into the creek. The danger at last conquered his shame and his +confidence in supernatural aid, and he called lustily for assistance. +Notwithstanding the cries of the American by-standers, “You d—d fools, +let the tyrant go down, you will have his money, you will be free,” they +immediately threw boards on the ice, went up to him, and took him out of +the water, amidst shouts of laughter from the unbelieving Americans. On +the following Sunday he preached them a sermon, purporting that the Lord +had visited their sins upon him, and that their disobedience to his +commands was the cause of his sinking. The poor dupes literally believed +all this, promised obedience, and both parties were satisfied. Several +of his followers left him, being shocked at his law of celibacy, but +such was his ascendancy over the female part of the community, that they +chose rather to leave their husbands than their father Rapp, as they +call him. Last year, however (1826), he abolished this kind of celibacy, +hitherto so strictly observed, and on the 4th of July, eighteen couples +were permitted to marry. This settlement is one of the finest villages +in the west of Pennsylvania. A manufactory of steam engines, extensive +parks of deer, two elks, and a magnificent palace for himself, +splendidly furnished, show that he knows how to avail himself of his +increasing wealth. The inhabitants of Pittsburgh make frequent +excursions to this settlement, and though his manners savour of the +Swabian peasant, yet his wealth and his hospitality have considerably +diminished the contempt in which he was formerly held by the +Anglo-Americans.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_C" href="#FNanchor_C"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> +Sawyers are bodies of trees fixed in the river, which yield +to the pressure of the current, disappearing and appearing by turns +above water, like the rotatory motion of the saw-mill, from which they +have derived their name. They sometimes point up the stream, sometimes +in the contrary direction. A steam-boat running on a sawyer, cannot +escape destruction.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_D" href="#FNanchor_D"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> +Planters are large bodies of trees, firmly fixed by their +roots to the bottom of the river, in a perpendicular manner, and rising +no more than a foot above the surface at low water. They are so firmly +rooted, as to be unmoved by the shock of steam-boats running upon +them.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_E" href="#FNanchor_E"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> +Bayons, outlets of the Mississippi, formed by nature. They +are in great numbers, and carry its waters to the gulph of Mexico. +Without these outlets, New Orleans would be destroyed by the spring +floods in a few hours.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_F" href="#FNanchor_F"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> +In New Orleans, water is found two feet below the surface. +Those who cannot afford to procure a vault for their dead, are literally +compelled to deposit them in the water.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_G" href="#FNanchor_G"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> +The whole number of vessels then in port was 100 schooners, +brigs, and ships.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_H" href="#FNanchor_H"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> +Pensacola has been established as a port for the United +States navy: 1825–1826.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_I" href="#FNanchor_I"><span class="label">[I]</span></a> +The whole course of the Mississippi exceeds, the Missouri +included, 4200 miles. This latter is its principal tributary stream, and +superior in magnitude even to the Mississippi.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_J" href="#FNanchor_J"><span class="label">[J]</span></a> +Below New Orleans there is no place well adapted for the +site of a large city.</p> + +<p><a id="Footnote_K" href="#FNanchor_K"><span class="label">[K]</span></a> +The governor of Louisiana has 5000 dollars a year: the +governors of other states either 2 or 3000 dollars. According to the +American money, four dollars forty-four cents make a pound: a dollar has +100 cents.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="transnote"> + +<h2><a id="EndNote"></a>Transcriber’s Note</h2> + +<p>Minor errors in punctuation are corrected silently.</p> + +<p>In the final table of place names, ‘New Ereesborough’ is referred to +as the state capital of Tennessee. This seems a corruption of +‘Murfreesborough’, which was the capital until 1826.</p> + +<p>The following issues, which were deemed printer’s errors, and their resolutions +are described here:</p> + +<table id="errata" summary="errata"> + <tr><td>p. ii</td><td>[t]hroughout]</td><td>Added.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 80</td><td>approach[e]d</td><td>Added.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 82</td><td>Baton [D/R]ouge</td><td>Corrected.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 99</td><td>hickor[i]y</td><td>Removed.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 108</td><td>backswood-man / backwoods-man</td><td>Corrected.</td></tr> + + <tr><td>p. 206</td><td>Fran[s]cisville</td><td>Removed.</td></tr> + +</table> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Americans as They Are, by Charles Sealsfield + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICANS AS THEY ARE *** + +***** This file should be named 44268-h.htm or 44268-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/2/6/44268/ + +Produced by KD Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Americans as They Are + Described in a tour through the valley of the Mississippi + +Author: Charles Sealsfield + +Release Date: November 24, 2013 [EBook #44268] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICANS AS THEY ARE *** + + + + +Produced by KD Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Some typographical features could not be reproduced in this version. +Italics are therefore delimited with the underscore character as +_italic_. Any words or phrases appearing in mixed case using small +capital letters, are shifted to all upper case. + +Please note that the longitudes used in this text, which predates the +establishment of Greenwich as the reference, used the nation's capitol, +Washington, D.C. (approx. W 77 deg.) as its basis. Thus, Cincinnati, at +W 84 deg. 30' on p. 1, is placed at a longitude of 7 deg. 31'. Also, on p. 33, +the location of the state of Indiana is mistakenly given using seconds +(") of longitude, rather than minutes ('). These were corrected. + +The spelling of place names was fluid at the time and all are retained +here. + +Footnotes, which appeared on the bottom of pages, have been relocated +to follow the paragraph where they are referenced. They have been +lettered consecutively from A to K for ease of reference. + +Please consult the transcriber's end note at the bottom of this text +for any other details. + + + + + THE + AMERICANS AS THEY ARE; + DESCRIBED IN + A TOUR + THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. + + BY THE AUTHOR OF + "AUSTRIA AS IT IS." + + LONDON: + HURST, CHANCE, AND CO. + ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. + 1828. + + + + + LONDON: + Printed by Bradbury and Dent, + St. Dunstan's-ct., Fleet-st. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +The publication of this tour was intended for the year 1827. Several +circumstances have prevented it. + +The American is, as far as relates to his own country, justly supposed +to be prone to exaggeration. English travellers, on the contrary, are +apt to undervalue brother Jonathan and his country. The Author has twice +seen these countries, of whose present state he gives a sketch in the +following pages. He is far from claiming for his work any sort of +literary merit. Truth and practical observation are his chief points. +Whether his opinions and statements are correct, it remains for the +reader to judge, and experience to confirm. + + _London, March, 1828._ + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Upwards of half a century has now elapsed since the independence of +the United States became firmly established. During this period two +great questions have been solved, exposing the fallacies of human +calculations, which anticipated only present anarchy and ultimate +dissolution as the fate of the new Republics. The possibility of a +people governing themselves, and being prosperous and happy, time, the +sure ordeal of all projects, has at length demonstrated. Their political +infancy is over, they are approaching towards manhood, and fully +sensible of their strength, their first magistrate has ventured to +utter those important words contained in his address of 1820: that +"notwithstanding their neutrality, they would consider any attempt on +the part of the European Powers, to extend their system to any portion +of THEIR hemisphere, as dangerous to their peace and safety; and that +they could not admit of any projects of colonization on the part of +Europe." Thus, for the first time, they have asserted their right of +taking a part DE FACTO in the great transactions of European Powers, and +pronounced their declaration in a tone, which has certainly contributed +to the abandonment of those intentions which were fast ripening into +execution. + +The important influence of American liberty throughout the civilised +world, has been already apparent; and more especially in France, in the +South American revolutions, and in the commotions in Spain, Portugal, +Naples, and Piedmont. These owe their origin, not to any instigation on +the part of the United States, but to the influence of their example in +raising the standard of freedom, and more than all, to the success which +crowned their efforts. Great has been on the other hand, the influence +of European politics on the North American nation. A party, existing +since the revolution, and extending its ramifications over the whole +United States, is now growing into importance, and guided by the +principles of European diplomacy, is rooting itself deeper and deeper, +drawing within its ranks the wealthy, the enlightened, the dissatisfied; +thus adding every day to its strength. We see, in short, the principle +of monarchy developing itself in the United States, and though it is not +attempted to establish it by means of a revolution, which would +infallibly fail, there is a design to bring it about by that cunning, +cautious, and I may add, American way, which must eventually succeed; +unless the spirit of freedom be sufficiently powerful to neutralize the +subtle poison in its progress, or to triumph over its revolutionary +results. There have occurred many changes in the United States within +the last ten years. The present rulers have succeeded in so amalgamating +opinions, that whatever may be said to the contrary, only two parties +are now in existence. These are the monarchists, who would become +governors, and the republicans, who would not be governed. + +The object proposed in the following pages has been to exhibit to the +eyes of the European world, the real state of American affairs, divested +of all prejudice, and all party spirit. Adams on the whole is a +favourite with Great Britain. This empire however, has no reason to +admire him; should his plans succeed, the cost to Great Britain would be +the loss of her last possession in North America. But as long as the +American Republic continues united, this unwieldy mass of twenty-four +states can never become dangerous. + +Of the different orders of society, there is yet little to be said, but +they are developing themselves as fast as wealth, ambition, luxury, and +the sciences on the one side, and poverty, ignorance, and indirect +oppression on the other, will permit them. There, as every where else, +this is the natural course of things. To show the state of society in +general, and the relative bearings of the different classes to each +other, and thus to afford a clear idea of what the United States really +are, is the second object attempted in this work. To represent social +intercourse and prevailing habits in such a manner as to enable the +future emigrant to follow the prescribed track, and to settle with +security and advantage to himself and to his new country; to afford him +the means of judging for himself, by giving him a complete view of +public and private life in general, as well as of each profession or +business in particular, is the third object here contemplated. + +The capitalist, the merchant, the farmer, the physician, the lawyer, the +mechanic, cannot fail, I trust, to find adequate information respecting +the course which, on their settling in the Union, will be the most +eligible to pursue. Farther explanation I think unnecessary. He who +would consider the following condensed picture of Trans-atlantic society +and manners insufficient, would not be better informed, if I were to +enlarge the work to twice its size. Such an objection would shew him to +be unfit to adventure in the character of a settler in a country where +so many snares will beset his path, and call for no small degree of +natural shrewdness and penetration. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +Cincinnati.--Parting glance at Ohio.--Its Government and +Inhabitants. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Tour through the state of Kentucky.--Bigbonelick.--Mammoths.--Two +Kentuckian Characters.--Kentuckian +Scenes. + + +CHAPTER III. + +Vevay.--Geographical Sketch of the state of Indiana--Madison.-- +Charleston.--Jeffersonville.--Clarksville.--New Albany.--The Falls of +Ohio. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Louisville.--Canal of Louisville.--Its Commerce.--Surrounding +Country.--Sketch of the state of Kentucky, and of its Inhabitants. + + +CHAPTER V. + +A Keel-boat journey.--Description of the preparations.--Fall +of the Country.--Troy.--Lady Washington.--The River sport.-- +Owensborough.--Henderson. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Mr. Owen's of Lanark, formerly Rapp's settlement.--Remarks on +it.--Keel-boat Scenes.--Cave in Rock.--Cumberland and +Tennessee rivers.--Fort Massai. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Mississippi.--General Features of the state of Illinois, and of +its Inhabitants. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Excursion to St. Louis.--Fall of the Country.--Sketch of the state of +Missouri.--Return to Trinity. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The state of Tennessee.--Steam boats on the Mississippi.--Flat Boats. + + +CHAPTER X. + +Scenery along the Mississippi.--Hopefield.--St. Helena.--Arkansas +Territory.--Spanish Moss.--Vixburgh. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The city of Natchez.--Excursion to Palmira.--Plantations.--The cotton +planter of the state of Mississippi.--Remarks.--Return to Natchez. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Arrival at New Orleans.--Cursory reflections. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Topographical sketch of the City of New Orleans. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and of +Louisiana.--Creoles.--Anglo Americans. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Frenchmen.--Free people of colour.--Slaves.--Public spirit.-- +Education.--State of religious worship.--Public entertainments.-- +Theatres.--Balls, &c. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The Climate of Louisiana.--The yellow fever. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.--Planters.--Farmers.--Merchants.-- +Mechanics. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +Geographical features of the state of Louisiana.--Conclusion. + + + + +AMERICA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Cincinnati.--Parting Glance at Ohio.--Character of its Government and + its Inhabitants. + + +The city of Cincinnati is the largest in the state of Ohio: for the last +eight years it has left even Pittsburgh far behind. It is situated in +39 deg. 5' 54" north latitude, and 7 deg. 31' west longitude, on the second bank +of the Ohio, rising gradually and extending to the west, the north, and +the east, for a distance of several miles. The lower part of the city +below the new warehouse, is exposed, during the spring tides, to +inundations which are not, however, productive of serious consequences; +the whole mass of water turning to the Kentuckian shore. The river is +here about a mile wide, and assumes the form of a half moon. When viewed +from the high banks, the mighty sheet of water, rolling down in a deep +bed, affords a splendid sight. In 1780, the spot where now stands one of +the prettiest towns of the Union, was a native forest. In that year, the +first attempt was made at forming a settlement in the country, by +erecting a blockhouse, which was called Fort Washington, and was +enlarged at a subsequent period. In the year 1788, Judge Symmes laid out +the town, whose occupants he drew from the New England States. +Successive attacks, however, of the Indians wearied them out, and the +greater part withdrew. The battle gained by General Wayne over these +natives, tranquillised the country; and after the year 1794, Cincinnati +rapidly improved. It became the capital of the western district, which +was erected into a territorial government. When Ohio was declared an +independent state, in the year 1800, Cincinnati continued to be the seat +of the legislature till 1806. + +Fort Washington has since made room for peaceful dwellings. Their number +is at present 1560, with 12,000 inhabitants. The streets are regular, +broad, and mostly well paved. The main street, which runs the length of +a mile from the court-house down to the quay, is elegant.--Among the +public buildings, the court-house is constructed in an extremely simple +but noble style; the Episcopalian, the Catholic, and the Presbyterian +churches, the academy and the United States' bank, are handsome +buildings. Besides these, are churches for Presbyterians, Lutherans, +Methodists, Baptists, Swedenborghians, Unitarians, a Lancasterian +school, the farmers', the mechanics', and the Cincinnati banks, a +reading room with a well provided library, five newspaper printing +offices;--among these papers are the Cincinnati Literary Gazette, and a +price current--and the land office for the southern part of the state. +The colonnade of the theatre is, however, a strange specimen of the +architectural genius of the backwoods. Among the manufacturing +establishments, the principal are,--the steam mill on the river, a +saw-mill, cloth and cotton manufactories, several steam engines, iron +and nail manufactories, all on the steam principle. Cincinnati carries +on an important trade with New Orleans, and it may be considered as the +staple of the state. The produce of the whole state is brought to +Cincinnati, and shipped down the Ohio and Mississippi. The only +impediments to its uninterrupted trade, are the falls of the Ohio at +Louisville, which obstruct the navigation during eight months in the +year. These obstacles are now on the point of being removed. The exports +from Cincinnati are flour, whisky, salt, hams, pork, beef, dried and +fresh fruits, corn, &c.; the imports are cotton, sugar, rice, indigo, +tobacco, coffee, and spices. The manufactured goods are generally +brought in waggons from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and discharged +there. In order to improve the commerce of Cincinnati, an insurance +company has been formed. There is a committee established for the +inspection of vessels running between New Orleans and this place. There +are a number of steam and other boats building at the present time. For +the benefit of travellers, &c., a line of steam boats is established +between Cincinnati and Louisville; and they start regularly every second +day, performing the voyage of 115 miles to Louisville in twelve, and +back again in twenty hours. + +There are in Cincinnati a great number of wholesale, commission, and +retail merchants; but the want of ready money is as much felt here as +anywhere else, and causes a stagnation of business. The inhabitants are +chiefly American born, with some admixture of Germans, French, and +Irish. As the former are mostly from the New England States, the general +character of the inhabitants has taken an adventurous turn, which is +conspicuous in their buildings. Most of the houses in the city are +elegant, many are truly beautiful; but they belong to the bank of the +United States, which possesses at least 200 of the finest houses in +Cincinnati. The building mania obtained such strong hold of the +inhabitants, that most of them forgot their actual means; and +accordingly, having drawn money from the bank which they were unable to +refund, they had at last to give up lots and buildings to the United +States' bank. Though this city possesses in itself many advantages over +other towns of the Ohio, and has much the start of them in point of +commerce and manufactures, yet there is little expectation of its +increasing in the same proportion as it has hitherto done. Neither of +the canals which are intended to join the Ohio, will come up as far as +this town. The great Ohio canal is to run near the mouth of the Sciota +river; the _Dayton_ canal below Cincinnati; and these places will +attract a considerable part of the population. The third canal, which is +to connect the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and of the Ohio, will be +more advantageous to the towns of Upper Ohio, Marietta, Steubenville, +and Wheeling. Commerce will thus be more equally divided, and Cincinnati +cannot always expect to continue as it has hitherto been, the staple +of the trade to the southward of the Ohio. The merchant possessed +of a moderate capital, if he consult his interest, will not establish +himself at Cincinnati, but at one of the intermediate places of the +above-mentioned three canals. The farmer has eligible spots in the +Tuscarora valleys, about New Lancaster, Columbus, Franklintown, +Pickaway, Chilicathe, and especially in the Sandusky counties on lake +Erie. Mechanics, such as carpenters, cabinet makers, &c., will also find +these new settlements more advantageous markets for their industry than +the city of Cincinnati itself. The manufacturers, of every kind, will +choose either Cincinnati or Pittsburgh, but still give the preference +to the former, in spite of its smoke and dirt, as the place most +favoured by natural position, which must necessarily become the first +manufacturing town of the Union, notwithstanding the well-known +inactivity of the Pennsylvanians. But as the state of Ohio must look to +its manufactures, unless it chooses to continue a loser by the exchange +of its raw produce; Cincinnati, whose manufactures have attained a high +degree of perfection, favoured as it is by its coal mines, its water +communication, and the fertility and consequent cheapness of the +necessaries of life, must always possess very great advantages. +Travellers arriving from the north, proceed to the south by way of +Louisville on board a steam boat; and coming from thence, they go either +to the eastward to Philadelphia by the mail stage, or by the same +conveyance northward, through Chilicathe and Columbus, to lake Erie, +where they embark for Buffalo. + +During my stay, on the twenty-fifth of October, a question of some +importance for the inhabitants of Cincinnati was to be decided. It was +concerning a stricter police and its necessary regulations. The city +council, with the wealthier class of inhabitants, had been for some time +previous to the decision, engaged in preparing and gaining over the +multitude. I went to the court-house in company with Mr. Bama, a +wholesale merchant, and several gentlemen, to hear the speeches +delivered on both sides, and the result of the motion. It was four +o'clock when we arrived, and about 600 persons were assembled in and +outside of the court-house. The noise, however, was such, that it was +impossible to hear more than detached periods. At eight o'clock, when +almost dark, they had gone through the business, and the poll was about +to commence. The party for abridging public liberty was ordered to go +out on the left:--those who insisted on the preservation of the present +order of things, were to draw off to the right. On arriving before the +court-house, they ranged themselves in two separate ranks, each of which +was counted by the presiding judge. There was a majority of 72 votes in +favour of the party which upheld the present system, and the question +was, therefore, decided in favour of popular liberty. I found here, as +well as everywhere else, that the freedom of a community is nowhere more +exposed to encroachments than in large towns, where dissipation and +occupations of every kind are likely to engross the attention of the +people, who leave the magistrates to do what they please. The city +council were on the point of obtaining the majority, had it not been for +the farmers whom the market-day had drawn to town. These, of course, did +not fail to open the eyes of the honest burghers; and the question was +accordingly negatived. + +The prevailing manners of society at Cincinnati, are those peculiar to +larger cities, without the formalities and mannerism of the eastern sea +ports. Freedom of thought prevails in a high degree, and toleration is +exercised without limitation. The women are considered very handsome; +their deportment is free from pride; but simple and unassuming as +they appear, they evince a high taste for literary and mental +accomplishments. The Literary Gazette owes its origin to their united +efforts. There is no doubt that the commanding situation of this +beautiful town, its majestic river, its mild climate, which may be +compared to the south of France, and the liberal spirit of its +inhabitants, contribute to render this place, both in a physical and +moral point of view, one of the most eligible residences in the Union. + +As much, indeed, may be said of the state of Ohio in general. It +combines in itself all the elements that tend to make its inhabitants +the happiest people on the face of the earth. Nature has done every +thing in favour of this country. In point of fertility, it excels +every one of the thirteen old states; and, owing to its political +institutions, and the abolition of slavery, it has taken the lead among +those newly created. + +Ohio is bounded on the north by lake Erie, on the west by the state +of Indiana, on the south by the river Ohio, and on the east by +Pennsylvania, comprising an area of 4,000 square miles; it is divided +into 71 counties, and has a population of 72,000 souls. This state forms +the eastern extremity of the great valley of the Mississippi, which has +the Alleghany for its eastern, and the Rocky Mountains for its western +boundary, sinking by degrees as it approaches the Mississippi, and +extending more than a thousand miles towards the south. The climate of +this state, which presents for the most part the form of an elevated +plain, running between the mountainous Pennsylvania and the swampy +Mississippi states, is temperate, extending from 38 deg. 28', to 72 deg. 58' +northern latitude, and from 3 deg. 32', to 7 deg. 40' west longitude. Its +temperature varies less than that of other states. Its soil is +inexhaustible; its fertility, especially in the northern and southern +parts, being truly astonishing; and though some portions have been +cultivated upwards of thirty years without being manured, the land still +yields the same quantity of produce. The northern inhabitants of the +state send their produce down to New York by lake Erie, and the Buffalo +canal; the southern find a market in Louisiana and New Orleans. The +middle part suffered greatly from the want of water communication, to +which they are now on the point of applying a remedy, in order to obtain +an intercourse with New York; which, as it is well known, has effected +by means of a canal, a water communication with lake Erie. The Ohions +commenced a canal in the year 1825, beginning at Cleveland on the +shores of lake Erie, taking thence a southern course through Tuscarora +county at Zanesville, turning to the right six miles below Columbus, and +running down to the shores of the Ohio. It is intended to be completed +in the space of three years. The state of Ohio expects from this canal, +which if the pecuniary means be considered may be called a gigantic +undertaking, a ready market for its produce in the city and state of New +York; looking forward, at the same time, to become the staple for the +trade between New York and New Orleans. It cannot fail, however, to be +productive of still greater advantage to the United States in general, +and to the cities of New York and New Orleans in particular, which will +thus have the means of a land or water communication, over a space of +nearly 3,000 miles. The first idea of this canal originated with the +state of New York; the citizens of which, when they had finished their +own, encouraged those of Ohio to enter upon a similar undertaking. +Encouragement was not much wanting; the plan of joining the waters of +the Hudson and the Mississippi was taken up with enthusiasm; canal +committees were formed; most of the towns in the state sent their +deputies, and after the customary debates, the resolution was adopted. +The only difficulty was to raise the requisite funds. New York offered +to defray the necessary expenses, if allowed the revenue arising from +the new canal, for a certain period. The pride of the Ohions revolted +against the proposition; they preferred raising a loan in New York. In +this respect the government of the state committed a great error. A loan +of three millions of dollars, and the necessary evils attendant upon it, +are certainly a heavy burthen to a new state, which can scarcely reckon +an existence of forty years, especially as the new canal may be +considered a continuation of the great one of New York, and as the +advantage resulting from it to the state can bear no comparison with +that which New York derives from its own. + +New York, already the most important commercial city of the Union, +will, after the completion of this canal, enjoy the trade of the +western and south-western states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, +Mississippi, &c.; and thus the Ohio canal will rather contribute to the +aggrandizement of New York, than to that of Ohio. Their debt, so out of +proportion with the resources of the state, made the people of Ohio +relax in their ardour for carrying this project into effect, and gave +rise to discontent against the administration of the state. But the same +case happened in New York, and the exultation of the inhabitants of +Ohio, when they see the work accomplished, will scarcely yield to that +which was manifested by the people of the former state. There is, +nevertheless, not any city in the state of Ohio to be compared with New +York, Philadelphia, or Boston, nor is it probable there will be. At +the same time this want is largely compensated by the absence of +immorality and luxury--evils necessarily attached to large and opulent +cities--which may be said to attract the heart's blood of the country, +and send forth the very dregs of it in return. In Ohio, wealth is not +accumulated in one place, or in a few hands; it is visibly diffused over +the whole community. The country towns and villages are invariably +constructed in a more elegant and tasteful manner than those of +Pennsylvania, and the Northern states. There is something grand in +their plan and execution, though the prevailing want or insufficiency of +means to carry them through, is still an obstacle in the way. The farms +and country houses are elegant; I saw hundreds of them, which no English +nobleman would be ashamed of. They are generally of brick, sometimes +of wood, and built in a tasteful style. The turnpike roads are in +excellent order. It is astonishing to see what has been done during a +few years, and under an increasing scarcity of money, by the mere dint +of industry. The traveller will seldom have reason to rail at bad roads +or bad taverns; I could only complain of one of the latter, which stands +upon a road that is seldom travelled. In every county town there are at +least two elegant inns, and the tables are loaded with such a variety of +venison and dishes of every kind, that even a _gourmand_ could not +justly complain. + +The whole state bespeaks a wealthy condition, which, far removed from +riches, rests on the surest foundation--the fertility of the soil, and +the persevering industry of its cultivators. Although behind-hand, +perhaps, with the Yankees in literary accomplishments, they are far more +liberal, and intelligent, being endowed with a strong and enterprising +mind. Crimes are here less frequently committed, the inhabitants +consisting of the most respectable classes of the eastern and foreign +states. Only men of moderate property came into the state; the wealthy +were deterred by the difficulties attending a new settlement; the +indigent by the impossibility of getting vacant lands, and thus the +state remained equally free from money-born aristocrats, (certainly the +worst in the world), and from beggars. Its form of government bears +internal evidence of this, the governor of Ohio having neither the +revenue, nor the power of the eastern governors. He is elected for the +term of two years. The constitution bespeaks independence and +liberality. The number of senators cannot exceed thirty, nor the +representatives seventy-two. The general assembly has the sole power of +enacting laws, the signature of the governor being in no case necessary. +The judges are chosen by the legislature for seven years, and the +justices of the peace for the term of three years, by their respective +townships. The resolutions of their assembly are quite free from that +narrow-minded prejudice found in Pennsylvania and the southern states, +which sees in the law of Moses the only rule for direction, and loses +sight of that liberal spirit which pervades the law of Christ. The +inhabitants of Ohio are not, however, so religious as their neighbours, +the Pennsylvanians. Their ministers exercise little influence; and +numerous sects contribute greatly to lessen their authority, which is +certainly not the case in the north. The people of Ohio are equally free +from the uncultivated and rude character of the western American, and +from the innate wiliness of the Yankees. This state is not unlike a +vigorous and blooming youth, who is approaching to manhood, and whose +natural form and manner excite our just admiration. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Tour through Kentucky.--Bigbonelick.--Mammoths.--Two Kentuckian + Characters.--Kentuckian Scenes. + + +After a stay of six days in Cincinnati I departed; crossed the Ohio in +the ferryboat, and landed in the state of Kentucky, at Newport, a small +country town of Campbell county. It contains, besides the government +arsenal for the western states, a court-house, and about 100 buildings, +scattered irregularly upon the eminence. From thence to Bigbonelick, the +distance is 23 miles; the country is more hilly than on the other side +of the river; it is, however, fertile, the stratum being generally +limestone. The growth of timber is very fine; the trees are beech, +sugar-maple, and sycamore. The contrast between Ohio and Kentucky is +striking, and the baneful influence of slavery is very soon discovered. +Instead of elegant farms, orchards, meadows, corn and wheat fields +carefully enclosed, you see patches planted with tobacco, the leaves +neglected; and instead of well-looking houses, a sort of double cabins, +like those inhabited in the north of Pennsylvania by the poorest +classes. In one part lives the family, in the other is the kitchen; +behind these, are the wretched cabins of the negroes, bearing a +resemblance to pigsties, with half a dozen black children playing about +them on the ground. + +About three o'clock I arrived at Bigbonelick, well known for its Mammoth +bones. The lands ten miles on this side of Bigbone are of an indifferent +character, dreary and mountainous. The valley of Bigbone is about a mile +long, and of equal breadth; it no doubt has been the scene of some great +convulsion of nature. The water is seen oozing forth from the many bogs, +and has a saltish taste, impregnated with saltpetre and sulphur. These +quagmires are covered with a thin grass, which has the same taste. Their +depth is said to be unfathomable. Whether the Mammoth bones which are +found here, were brought into the valley by a convulsion of the earth, +by an inundation, or whether the animals sunk down when in search of +food, remains to be decided. The first two suppositions seem authorised +by the circumstance, that bones were found, not on their carcases, but +scattered, which could not be the case if they were swallowed up alive. +The same revolution of nature which carried elephants and palm-trees to +Siberia and Lapland, and the lions of Africa to the coast of Gibraltar, +may, in like manner, have brought these animals to Bigbonelick. The +tradition handed down to us by the Indians respecting them, is +remarkable. "In ancient times, it is said, a herd of these tremendous +animals came to the Bigbonelicks, and commenced an universal destruction +among the buffaloes, bears, and elks, which had been created for the +Indians. The Great Spirit looking down from above, became so enraged at +the sight, that taking some of his thunderbolts he descended, seated +himself on a neighbouring rock which still bears the print of his +footsteps, and hurling down the bolts among the destroyers, killed them +all with the exception of the big bull, which, turning its front to the +bolts, shook them off; but being struck at last in the side, he turned +round, and with a tremendous leap bounded over the Ohio, the Wabash, the +Illinois, and the great lakes, beyond which he is still living at the +present day." + +Some few weeks later, I spoke with an Indian trader at Trinity. +According to his account, he found in one of his excursions, traces of a +large animal, belonging to none of the species known to him, and equal +in size to the elephant. On making inquiries of an old Indian, the +latter ascribed the traces to an immense, but very rare animal, the +race of which was almost destroyed by the Great Spirit; there remaining +but very few on the other side of the lakes. He also pretended that +he had seen one of those animals: whether the tale of the Indian, or +that of the trader, a class of people somewhat prone to exaggeration, +be true or not, I am incapable of deciding. I afterwards met this +man at New Orleans, and requested him to go along with me to one of my +acquaintances, in order to furnish further information on this subject, +and enable me to give publicity to it, but he pretended business, and +refused to accompany me. The researches which were undertaken here, were +amply rewarded. The greatest part of the early discoveries has been +transmitted to London; a fine collection is exhibiting in the Museum at +Philadelphia, and in the Levee at New Orleans. + +The road from Bigbonelick is, for the distance of ten miles, dreary and +the country barren. I arrived late at a farm-house, of rather a better +appearance, where I intended to stop the night. The first night's +lodging convinced me but too plainly, that the inhabitants of this +state, justly called in New York, half horse and half alligator, had not +yet assumed a milder character. The farmer, or rather planter, was +absent with his wife; and his brother, who took care of the farm, was at +a horse race; an old man, however, with his daughter, answered my +application for a lodging, in the affirmative. I was supping upon slices +of bacon, roasted corn bread, and some milk, when the brother of the +farmer returned from the races with his neighbour. Both had led horses +besides those on which they rode. Before dismounting they discharged +their pistols. Each of the Kentuckians had a pistol in his girdle, and a +poniard in the breast pocket. Before resuming my supper I was pressed to +take a dram. With a quart bottle in one hand, and with the other drawing +the remains of tobacco from his mouth, in rather a nauseous manner, the +host drank for half a minute out of the bottle; then took from the slave +the can with water, and handed the bottle to me, the mouth of which had +assumed, from the remains of the tobacco, a brownish colour. The +Kentuckian looked displeased when I wiped the bottle. I however took no +notice of him, but presented it, after having drunk, to his friend. We +sat down. + +"How far are you come to day?" asked the landlord. + +"From Cincinnati." + +"You don't live in Cincinnati, I guess, do you?" + +"No, sir." + +"And where do you live?" + +"In Pennsylvania." + +"A fine distance!" exclaimed my host, "I like the people of Pennsylvania +better than those G----d d----d Yankees, but still they are no +Kentuckians." I gave my full and hearty assent. + +"The Kentuckians," continued my landlord, "are astonishingly mighty +people; they are the very first people on earth!" + +"Yes, sir." + +"They are immensely great, and wonderfully powerful people; ar'nt they?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"They are ten thousand times superior to any nation on earth." + +"Yes, sir." + +"How do you like Kentucky?" + +"Very well, sir; I travelled through it four years ago." + +"G--d d--n my s--l t----e----l d----n!" roared he. "The Pennsylvanians +have not a square mile of land in their state, equal to our poor lands. +Bill," turning now to his neighbour on the left, "Bill has been marked +in a mighty fine style. G--d d--n, &c., he blooded like a hog." + +"Yes," replied the neighbour, "Sam has stabbed exceedingly well, I +presume. Bill has to wait four weeks before he may be on his legs again, +if he will be at all. G--d d--n! but to tell Isaac, his horse, which he +thinks so much of, is a poor beast compared with his--and so to give him +the lie. I would have knocked him down, come what might _out of it_. But +Dick and John!"--and now these two fellows broke out into roaring shouts +of horse laughter. "How his eyes twinkled, he looked quite as squire +Toms, when laying all night over the bottle; I guess he never will be +able to set his eyes a-right." + +"He does not see," said the neighbour; "the one is quite out of its +socket, and Joe was obliged to carry him home." + +"Why, the seconds are wonderfully lovely fellows, I warrant you; they +did not spoil the sport with interfering." + +"Yes, they bore John an old grudge." + +"Oh, certainly--it was a mighty fine sport; I would not for the world +have missed it. G--d d--n! Dick is a fine gouger--the second turn--John +down--and both thumbs in his eyes.--I presume you have races in +Pennsylvania?" turning to me. + +"Yes, sir." + +"And fightings and gougings?" + +"No, sir." With an expressive look towards his neighbour, he continued: +"Yes, the Pennsylvanians are a quiet, religious sort of people; they +don't kill anything but their hogs, and prefer giving their money to +their parsons." The evening passed in these and similar conversations, +of which the above are mere specimens; and it was eleven o'clock before +the interesting pair separated. + +Some miles below Mr. White's farm, the road divides into two, the one +leading to Newcastle, the other to the Ohio. I stopped at a farm fifteen +miles from my former night's lodging. The landlord was mounting his +horse for Newcastle; his wife sat in the kitchen, surrounded by eight +negro girls, all busy knitting and sewing. The girls seemed to be in +excellent spirits, and were tolerably well dressed; the house rather +indicated affluence, though it was far from possessing the order and +cleanliness of a few of only half its value in Ohio. It was a simple +brick house; but constructed without the least attention to the rules of +symmetry. The fields were in a very indifferent state. Behind the +dwelling, were seen some negro infants at play, while an old negro woman +was preparing my breakfast. The family had thirty-five slaves, both +young and old, forming a capital of at least 10,000 dollars. "Was not I +a fool?" asked the open-hearted landlady, "to marry Mr. Forth, who had +but twelve slaves, and a plantation, with seven children; but they are +provided for;--whereas I had fourteen slaves, and a plantation too, +after my first husband's decease, and no children at all."--"I don't +know," was my reply, afraid of engaging the old lady in further +discussion. While descanting upon this theme, and on the advantages +resulting to her happy husband from a match so disparaging on her part, +I was allowed to take my breakfast, when some yells and hallooing called +us to the door. A troop of horsemen were passing. Two of the party had +each a negro slave running before him, secured by a rope fastened to an +iron collar. A tremendous horsewhip reminded them at intervals to +quicken their pace. The bloody backs and necks of these wretches, +bespoke a too frequent application of the lash. The third negro had, +however, the hardest lot. The rope of his collar was fastened to the +saddle string of the third horseman, and the miserable creature had thus +no alternative left, but to keep an equal pace with the trotting horse, +or to be dragged through ditches, thorns, and copsewood. His feet and +legs, all covered with blood, exhibited a dreadful spectacle. The three +slaves had run away two days before, dreading transportation to +Mississippi or Louisiana. "Look here," said Mrs. Forth, calling her +black girls, "what is done with the bad negroes, who run away from their +good masters!" With an indifference, and a laughing countenance, which +clearly shewed how accustomed these poor children were to the like +scenes, they expressed their sentiments at this disgusting conduct. + +The road from Mr. Forth's plantation runs a considerable distance along +ridges, descending finally into the bottom lands along the Ohio. These +are exceedingly fertile. The growth of timber is extremely luxuriant. I +measured a sycamore of common size, and found it seventeen feet in +diameter; their height is truly astonishing. The soil is of a deep brown +colour, and where it is turned up, proves to be blackish. The stratum +is generally limestone. I crossed the Ohio at Ghent, in Kentucky, +opposite to Vevay, in Indiana. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Vevay.--Geographical Sketch of the State of Indiana.--Madison.-- + Charlestown--its Court.--Jeffersonville.--Clarksville.--New + Albany.--The Falls of the Ohio. + + +Vevay, in Indiana, became a settlement twenty years ago, by Swiss +emigrants, who obtained a grant of land, equal to 200 acres for each +family, under the condition of cultivating the vine; they accordingly +settled here, and laid out vineyards. The original settlers may have +amounted to thirty; others joined them afterwards, and in this manner +was founded the county town of New Switzerland, in Indiana, which +consists almost exclusively of these French and Swiss settlers. They +have their vineyards below the town, on the banks of the river Ohio. The +vines, however, have degenerated, and the produce is an indifferent +beverage, resembling any thing but claret, as it had been represented. +Two of them have attempted to cultivate the river hills, and the +vineyards laid out there are rather of a better sort. The town is on the +decline; it has a court-house, and two stores very ill supplied. The +condition of these, and the absence of lawyers, are sure indications of +the poverty of the inhabitants, if broken windows, and doors falling +from their hinges, should leave any doubt on the subject; they are, +however, a merry set of people, and balls are held regularly every +month. In the evening arrived ten teams laden with fifty emigrants from +Kentucky, going to settle in Indiana; their reasons for doing this were +numerous. Although they had bought their lands in Kentucky twice over, +they had to give them up a third time, their titles having proved +invalid; but still they would have remained, had it not been for the +insolent behaviour of their more wealthy neighbours, who, in consequence +of these emigrants having no slaves, and being thus obliged to work for +themselves, not only treated them as slaves, but even encouraged their +own blacks to give them every kind of annoyance, and to rob them--for +no other reason than their dislike to have paupers for neighbours. + +My landlord assured me that at least 200 waggons had passed from the +Kentucky side, through Vevay, during the present season, all full of +emigrants, discouraged from continuing among these lawless people. + +The state of Indiana, which I had now entered, begins below Cincinnati, +running down the big Miami westward to the big Wabash, which separates +this country from the Illinois. To the south, it is bounded by the Ohio; +to the north, by lake Michigan; thus extending from 37 deg. 50', to 42 deg. 10', +north latitude; and from 7 deg. 40', to 10 deg. 47', west longitude. Like the +state of Ohio, it belongs to the class coming within the range of the +great valley of the Mississippi. It exhibits nearly the same features as +the state of Ohio, with the exception, that it approaches nearer to the +Mississippi than its eastern neighbour, and is the second slope of the +eastern part of the valley of the Mississippi: it declines more than +Ohio, being but 250 feet above lake Erie, and 210 feet above lake +Michigan, which is one hundred feet less in elevation than the state of +Ohio. Two ridges of mountains, or rather hills, traverse the country; +the Knobs, or Silver-hills, running ten miles below Louisville, in a +north-eastern direction, and the Illinois mountains appearing from the +west, and running to the north-east, where they fall to a level with the +high plains of lake Michigan. These hills have a perfect sameness. The +climate is rather milder than that of Ohio. Cotton and tobacco are +raised by the farmers in sufficient quantities for their home +consumption. The growth of timber is the same as in Ohio. The vallies +are interspersed with sycamores and beeches; and below the falls, with +maples, and cotton and walnut-trees. The hills are covered with beech, +sassafras, and logwood. This state, though not inferior to Ohio in +fertility, and taken in general, perhaps, superior to it, has one great +defect. It has no sufficient water communication, and thus the +inhabitants have no market for their produce. There is not in this state +any river of importance, the Ohio which washes its southern borders +excepted. A scarcity of money therefore is more severely felt here, +than in any other state of the Union. This want of inter-communication, +added to the circumstance that the state of Ohio had already engrossed +the whole surplus population from the eastern states, had a prejudicial +effect upon Indiana, its original population being in general by no +means so respectable as that of Ohio. In the north-west it was peopled +by French emigrants, from Canada; in the south, on the banks of the +Ohio, and farther up, by Kentuckians, who fled from their country for +debt, or similar causes. + +The state thus became the refuge of adventurers and idlers of every +description. A proof of this may be seen in the character of its towns, +as well as in the nature of the improvements that have been carried on +in the country. The towns, though some of them had an earlier existence +than many in Ohio, are, in point of regularity, style of building, and +cleanliness, far inferior to those of the former state. The wandering +spirit of the inhabitants seems still to contend with the principle of +steadiness in the very construction of their buildings. They are mostly +a rude set of people, just emerging from previous bad habits, from whom +such friendly assistance as honest neighbours afford, or mutual +intercourse and good will, can hardly be expected. The case is rather +different in the interior of the country, and on the Wabash, the finest +part of the state, where respectable settlements have been formed by +Americans from the east. Wherever the latter constitute the majority, +every necessary assistance may be expected. + +For adventurers of all descriptions, Indiana holds out allurements of +every kind. Numbers of Germans, French, and Irish, are scattered in the +towns, and over the country, carrying on the business of bakers, +grocers, store, grog shops, and tavern keepers. In time, these people +will become steady from necessity, and consequently prosperous. The +number of the inhabitants of Indiana amounts to 215,000. Its admission +into the Union as a sovereign state, dates from the year 1815 to 1816; +its constitution differs in some points from that of Ohio, and its +governor is elected for the term of three years. + +Madisonville, the seat of justice for Jefferson-county, on the second +bank of the Ohio, fifty-seven miles above its falls, contains at present +180 dwelling-houses, a court-house, four stores, three inns, a printing +office--with 800 inhabitants, most of them Kentuckians. The innkeeper of +the tavern at which I alighted, does no credit to the character of this +people. He was engaged for some time in certain bank-note affairs, which +qualified him for an imprisonment of ten years; he escaped, however, by +the assistance of his legal friends, and of 1000 dollars. The +opportunity of testifying his gratitude to these gentlemen soon +presented itself. One of his neighbours, a boatman, had the misfortune +to possess a wife who attracted his attention. Her husband knowing the +temper of the man, resolved to sell all he had, and to move down to +Louisville. Some days before his intended departure, he met Sheets in +the street, and addressed him in these words: "Mr. Sheets, I ought to +chastise you for making such shameful proposals to my wife;" so saying, +he gently touched him with his cane. Sheets, without uttering a +syllable, drew his poniard, and stabbed him in the breast. The +unfortunate husband fell, exclaiming, "Oh, God! I am a dead man!"--"Not +yet," said Sheets, drawing his poniard out of the wound, and running it +a second time through his heart; "Now, my dear fellow, I guess we have +done." This monster was seized and imprisoned, and his trial took place. +_His_ countrymen took, as might be expected, a great interest in his +fate. With the assistance of 3000 dollars, he even this time escaped the +gallows. I read the issue of the trial, and the summons of the jury, in +the county paper of 1823, which was actually handed to me in the evening +by one of the guests. But a more remarkable circumstance is, that the +inhabitants continue to frequent his tavern. At first they stayed away +for some weeks; but in less than a month the affair was forgotten, and +his house is now visited as before. + +The road from Madison to Charleston, leads through a fertile country, in +some parts well cultivated. The distance from Madison is twenty-eight +miles. It is the chief town of Clark county, and seems to advance more +rapidly than Madison, the country about being pretty well peopled, and +agriculture having made more progress than in any part of the state +through which I had travelled. I found it to contain 170 houses and 750 +inhabitants, five well stored tradesmen's shops, a printing office, and +four inns. The town is about a mile distant from the river, on a high +plain. When I arrived, the court was going to adjourn, and I hastened to +the court-house. The presiding judge and his two associate judges were +in their tribune, and the parties seated on boards laid across the +stumps of trees. One of the lawyers having concluded his speech, the +defendant was called upon. The gentleman in question, whom I took for a +pedlar, stood close by my side in conversation with his party, holding +in his hand half an apple, his teeth having taken a firm bite of the +other half. At the moment his name was called, he walked with his mouth +full, up to the rostrum, and kept eating his apple with perfect +indifference. "Well," interrupted the judge impatient of the delay; +"what have you to say against the charge? You know it is high time to +break up the court, and I must go home." The gentleman at the bar now +pocketted his apple, and having thus augmented the store of provision +which he probably kept by him, looked as if he carried two knapsacks +behind his coat. "It strikes me mightily,"--was the exordium of this +speech, which in point of elegance and conciseness was a true sample of +back-wood eloquence. Fortunately the speaker took the judge's hint; in +less than half an hour he had done--in less than one hour the jurymen +returned a verdict, the county transactions were finished, and the court +broke up. + +From Charleston to Louisville, the distance is fourteen miles. The lands +are fertile. Several very well looking farms shew a higher degree of +cultivation, especially near Jeffersonville. There the road turns into +an extensive valley formed by the alluvions of the Ohio. Jeffersonville, +the seat of justice for Floyd-county, three quarters of a mile above +the falls of the Ohio, was laid out in 1802, and has since increased to +160 houses, among which are a bank, a Presbyterian church, a warehouse, +a cotton manufactory, a court-house, and an academy, with a land office, +for the disposal of the United States' lands. The commerce of the +inhabitants, 800 in number, is of some importance, though checked by the +vicinity of Louisville, and by the circumstance, that the falls on the +Indiana side are not to be approached, except at the highest rise. Two +miles below this town, is the village of Clarksville, laid out in 1783, +and forming part of the grant made to officers and soldiers of the +Illinois regiment. It contains sixty houses and 300 inhabitants. New +Albany, a mile below Clarksville, has a thousand inhabitants, and a +great deal of activity, owing to its manufactory of steam engines, its +saw mills, and the steam boats lying at anchor and generally repairing +there. It is a place of importance, and though hitherto the resort of +sailors, boatmen, and travellers, who go down the river in their own +boats, it is annually on the increase. + +The Ohio is generally crossed above the falls at Jeffersonville. The +sheet of water dammed up here by the natural ledge of rocks which forms +the falls, expands to 5,230 feet in breadth. The falls of the Ohio, +though they should not properly be called falls, cannot be seen when +crossing the river, and the waters do not pour like the falls of +Niagara over an horizontal rock down a considerable depth, but press +through a rocky bed, about a mile long, which spreads across the river, +and causes a decline of twenty-two feet in the course of two miles. When +the waters are high, the rocks and the falls disappear entirely. Seen +from Louisville at low water, they have by no means an imposing +appearance. The majestic and broad river branches off into several small +creeks, and assumes the form of mountain torrents forcing their way +through the ledge of rocks. When the river rises, and only three islands +are to be seen, the immense sheet of water rushing down the declivity at +the rate of thirteen miles an hour, must afford a magnificent spectacle. +At the time I saw it, the river was lower than it had been for a series +of years. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Louisville.--Canal of Louisville--its Commerce.--Surrounding + Country.--Sketch of the State of Kentucky and its Inhabitants, &c. + + +The road from the landing-place to Louisville, leads through one of the +finest and richest alluvial bottoms on the banks of the Ohio. They are +here about seventy feet above the level of the water, and sufficiently +high to protect the town from inundation, but there being no outlets for +stagnant waters and ponds, epidemic diseases are frequent. A lottery is +now established for the purpose of raising the necessary funds for +draining these nuisances. Louisville extends in an oblong square about a +mile down the river, and may be considered as the natural key to the +Upper and Lower Ohio, and the most important staple for trade on this +river, not excepting the city of Cincinnati. The commodities coming +during the summer and autumn from southern states are landed here. +Travellers who arrive by water, whether from the north or south, engage +steam boats at this place either for New Orleans or for Cincinnati. +These advantages made the inhabitants less desirous of having a canal, +notwithstanding the solicitations of the states watered by the Ohio. The +Congress has, at last, interposed; the canal is now contemplated. +Probably this undertaking, in which not only the Upper states of the +river Ohio, but the Union at large, are very much interested, is already +commenced. By means of this canal, steam vessels will be enabled to +avoid the falls, and to proceed to the upper Ohio at every season of the +year. It is to be two miles and a half long; to open at the mouth of +Beargrasscreek and to terminate at Shippingport. The highest ground is +twenty-seven feet; upon an average twenty feet; and it is of a clayey +substance, bottomed upon a rock. The expences are estimated at about +200,000 dollars, a trifle compared with the object to be accomplished. + +Louisville, the seat of justice for Jefferson county, in Kentucky, in +38 deg. 8' north latitude, is about half the size of Cincinnati, and lies +105 miles below that city, by the Kentucky road through Newcastle, and +125 miles by the Kentucky and Indiana road. It is 1500 miles northeast +of New Orleans. The town is laid out on a grand scale, the streets +running parallel with the river, and intersected by others at right +angles. The main street, about three quarters of a mile long, is +elegant; most of the houses are three stories high; those of the other +streets are of course inferior in size. The number of dwelling houses +amounts to 700, inhabited by 4,500 souls, exclusive of travellers +and boatmen. Louisville has no remarkable public buildings; the +court-house and the Presbyterian church are the best. Besides these, +the Episcopalians, Catholics, and Unitarians have their meeting houses. +There are now three banks, including a branch bank of the United States, +an insurance company, and four newspaper printing offices. A quay is now +constructing which will greatly contribute to the security of the middle +part of the town, opposite to the falls. The manufactories of +Louisville are important; and the distilleries and rope walks on a large +scale. Besides these there are soap, candle, cotton, glass, paper, and +engine manufactories, all on the same principle, with grist and saw +mills. The commerce of Louisville is still more important. Of the +hundred steam boats plying on the Mississippi and Ohio, fifty at least +are engaged during six months in the year in the trade with Louisville. +They descend to New Orleans in six days, returning in double the time. +Though the town is but half as large as Cincinnati, the credit of the +merchants is more substantial, and the inhabitants are in general more +wealthy. Luxury is carried to a higher pitch than in any other town on +this side of the Alleghany mountains. Here is the only billiard-table[A] +to be met with between Philadelphia and St. Louis. The owner has to pay +a tax of 563 dollars--an enormous sum. + +[A] Of course this billiard table is not mentioned as a matter of +importance, but merely to give a characteristic idea of the state of +society in these parts. + +Notwithstanding the circulating library, the reading-room, and several +houses where good society is to be met with, Louisville is not a +pleasant town to reside in, owing to the character of the majority of +its inhabitants, the Kentuckians. Louisville has an academy, but sends +its youth to the college of Bairdstown, thirty miles to the southwest, +where lectures are given by some French priests. Below Louisville, are +the two villages of Shippingport and Portland; the former is two miles +from the town, with 150 inhabitants, the latter at the distance of three +miles, with fifty inhabitants, mostly boatmen and keepers of grog shops, +for the lowest classes of people. The environs of Louisville are well +cultivated, Portland and Shippingport excepted, the inhabitants of which +are said to extend their notions of common property too far. Behind +Louisville the country is delightful; the houses and plantations vying +with each other in point of elegance and cultivation. The woods have +greatly disappeared, and for the distance of twenty miles, the roads are +lined in every direction with plantations. This town holds the rank of +the second order in Kentucky, a country which, in latter times, has +obtained a renown of somewhat ambiguous nature. It extends to the +south, from the river Ohio, to the state of Tennessee, having for its +eastern boundary the state of Virginia; and to the west, the river +Mississippi, which separates it from the state of Missouri. It extends +from 36 deg. 30' to 39 deg. 10' north latitude, and from 4 deg. 78' to 12 deg. 20' west +longitude. It embraces an area of 40,000 square miles. Though under a +southern degree of latitude, it enjoys a moderate temperature, which is +also less variable than in the more eastern states. The two great rivers +of the Mississippi and the Ohio, forming the boundary of this state, +secure to it no inconsiderable trade. + +The productions of this beautiful country might, if properly cultivated, +become inexhaustible sources of wealth and prosperity to its inhabitants; +tobacco is a staple article, excelling in quality even that of Virginia, +if properly managed: cotton thrives well in the southern parts of the +state. Corn yields from forty to ninety bushels; wheat from thirty to +sixty; melons, sweet potatoes, peaches, apples, plumbs, &c., attain +a superior degree of perfection. One of the principal articles of +trade is hemp, the culture of which has been brought to a high state of +improvement; it constitutes one of the chief articles of export to New +Orleans. Kentucky has not such extensive plains as Ohio, but is equally +fertile, and less exposed to bilious and ague fevers. The stratum, which +is generally limestone, is a sure sign of inexhaustible fertility. Hills +alternating with valleys form landscapes, which though consisting of +native forests, are in the highest degree picturesque. There are parts +about Lexington and its environs, which nothing can exceed in beauty of +scenery. Even Louisville, with its three islands, the majestic Ohio, and +the surrounding little towns, possesses charms seldom rivalled in any +country. Kentucky is, without the least exaggeration, one of the finest +districts on the face of the earth. The climate is equal to that of the +south of France; fruits of every kind arrive at the highest perfection; +and it would be difficult to quit this country, did not the character of +the inhabitants lessen one's regret at leaving it. But notwithstanding +these natural advantages, the population has not increased either in +wealth or numbers, in proportion to the more recent state of Ohio. The +inhabitants consist chiefly of emigrants from Virginia, and North and +South Carolina, and of descendants from back-wood settlers--a proud, +fierce, and overbearing set of people. They established themselves under +a state of continual warfare with the Indians, who took their revenge by +communicating to their vanquishers their cruel and implacable spirit. +This, indeed, is their principal feature. A Kentuckian will wait three +or four weeks in the woods, for the moment of satiating his revenge; and +he seldom or never forgives. The men are of an athletic form, and there +may be found amongst them many models of truly masculine beauty. The +number of inhabitants is now 57,000, including 15,000 slaves. Planters +are among the most respectable class, and form the mass of the +population. Lawyers are next, or equal to them in rank, no less than the +merchants and manufacturers. Physicians and ministers are a degree +lower; and last of all, are those mechanics and farmers not possessed of +slaves. These are not treated better than the slaves themselves. The +constitution inclines towards federalism, landed property being +required to qualify a man for a public station. Ministers, of whatever +form of worship, are wholly excluded from public offices. Kentucky is +not a country that could be recommended to new settlers; slavery; +insecure titles to land: the division of the courts of justice into two +parts, furiously opposed to each other; an executive, whose present +chief is a disgrace to his station, and whose son would be hung in +chains, had he been in Great Britain; the worst paper-currency, &c., are +serious warnings to every lover of peace and tranquillity. We abstain +from farther particulars, as our purpose is to give a characteristic +description of the Union, which would assuredly not gain by a faithful +representation of the state of things in this country, during the last +ten years. The Desha family, the emetic scene, the proceedings of the +legislature, and of the courts of justice, Sharp's death, &c., are facts +which belong rather to the history of the tomahawk savages, than to that +of a civilised state. Passions must work with double power and effect, +where wealth, and arbitrary sway over a herd of slaves, and a warfare of +thirty years with savages, have sown the seeds of the most lawless +arrogance, and an untameable spirit of revenge. + +The literary institutions, the Transylvanian university of Lexington, +and the college of Bairdstown, have hitherto exercised very little +influence over these fierce people. But a still worse feature observable +in them, is an utter disregard of religious principles. Ohio has its +sects, thereby evincing an interest in the performance of the highest of +human duties. The Kentuckian rails at these, and at every form of +worship; certainly a trait doubly afflicting and deplorable in a rising +state. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + A Keel-boat Voyage--Description of the Preparations.--Face of the + Country.--Troy.--Lady Washington.--The River + Sport.--Owensborough.--Henderson. + + +The Ohio still continuing low, and there being no prospect of proceeding +to New Orleans by a steam boat, I resolved to embark on board a keel +boat, in company with several ladies and gentlemen, who were returning +to their plantations and their homes. The preparations in such a case, +are to dispose of horse and gig, where one does not choose going by land +through Nashville, and Natchez. There is not much pleasure to be derived +from a passage on board a keel boat--a machine, fifty feet long and ten +feet broad, shut up on every side; with two doors, two and a half feet +high. It forms a species of wooden prison, containing commonly four +rooms; the first for the steward, the second a dining room, the third a +cabin for gentlemen, and the fourth a ladies' cabin. Each of these +cabins was provided with an iron stove, one of which some days +afterwards was very near sending us all to heaven, in the manner which +the most Catholic king has been pleased to adopt in regard to us +heretics. On the sides were our births, in double rows, six feet in +length and two broad. In former times this manner of travelling was +generally resorted to on the Ohio and Mississippi; the application of +steam, however, has superseded these primitive conveyances, and I hope +to the regret of no one. Our passage to Trinity, 515 miles by water, +including provisions, &c., was twenty-five dollars. We were sure of +meeting there with steam boats. The company consisted of two ladies with +their families, returning to Louisiana; two others were going to +Yellow-banks, with several governesses, nieces, &c.; in all ten ladies, +with eleven gentlemen, considered a happy omen. Amongst the men were +three planters from Louisiana and Mississippi; three merchants, one a +Yankee, the other a Kentuckian, the third a Frenchman; a lawyer, from +Tennessee; two physicians, one from the same state, the other from +Kentucky, with a Kentuckian six and a half feet high. Of these persons +the Kentuckian doctor was the most to be pitied. He was in the last +stage of a pulmonary affection, and expected relief from the mild +climate of Louisiana; but much as we did to alleviate the fate of this +man, whose perpetual cough was as insufferable to us, as the constant +fire he kept up in the stove, and which at last communicated to our +boat, the poor fellow died three days after his arrival at New Orleans. +Four individuals of less note joined the company, consisting of three +slave-drivers, and a Yankee who travelled to make his fortune. We +resigned ourselves to our lot, with as good a grace as we could, the +Frenchman excepted, who found fault with every thing but the dinner, +when he handled his knife and fork with uncommon activity. A captain, a +mate, and a steward, composed the officers, twelve oarmen formed the +crew, and forty slaves, who were to be transported to the states of +Mississippi and Louisiana, were a sort of deck passengers, so that the +whole cargo, inside and out, amounted to ninety persons. As long as the +weather continued fine, the poor negroes had a tolerable lot, but when +afterwards it began to rain, and they continued on a deck seven and a +half feet broad, and forty-two long, without any covering over their +heads, or being able to move, our kitchen being likewise upon deck, +their situation became truly distressing, and one of the infants died +shortly afterwards; another, as I was informed, fell into the +Mississippi above Palmyra settlements. + +We took our meals in three divisions; the first consisting of the ladies +and five gentlemen, who were helped by the other six gentlemen; +afterwards the six remaining sat down with the three drivers, and the +Yankee; the latter personages were, however, excused from helping the +ladies. After them came the captain, with his boatmen. Our dinner was +very good, because we took the precaution of making it part of our +agreement that we should purchase such provisions as we thought proper. +Our breakfast at the hour of eight, consisted of pigeons, ducks, +sometimes opossum, roast beef, chickens, pork cakes, coffee and tea. +Our dinner at three o'clock, in the same manner, with the addition of a +haunch of venison or a turkey. Our supper at six, was the same as our +breakfast. To fill up the intervals, we took at eleven a lunch, +consisting of a _doddy_; at nine at night we had a tea party given by +the ladies, and the said ten gentlemen alternately. We started the 7th +of November, at four o'clock in the afternoon, instead of nine in the +morning. The cause of this delay was the alteration which had to be made +in the births; for it appeared that two of the Kentuckians were +considerably longer than the space allotted to them. They were therefore +to be made more _lengthy_ at the expense of the dining rooms. When every +thing was ready we started, heartily tired of this delay. We had taken +the precaution to provide ourselves with powder and shot, in order to +make shooting excursions, having a skiff along side the boat. The +landscape on both banks of the Ohio was still hilly, the shores varying +from bottom lands to moderate hills, thus forming a boundary line +between the interior of Kentucky which lay to our left, and Indiana and +the river lands on our right. The cotton tree is almost the only one +here, with the exception of beeches and sycamores. The first do not +quite attain the height of the sycamore, but still they are seldom less +than 140 feet high. The forests assume a more southern character; the +shrub-grass, thistles and thorns, are stronger, and the vines of an +astonishing size. At several places we were unable to land from the +thickness of the natural hedges which lined the banks, presenting an +impenetrable barrier. Pigeons now appeared in flocks of thousands and +tens of thousands. On the morning of the following day we shot +seventy-five, and in the afternoon seventy, without any difficulty. + +Troy, the seat of justice for Crawford county, in Indiana, was the first +place we visited. It has a court-house, a printing-office, and about +sixty houses. The inhabitants seem rather indolent. On our asking for +apples, they demanded ten dollars for half a barrel; the price for a +whole one in Louisville being no more than three dollars. We advised +them to keep their apples, and to plant trees, which would enable them +to raise some for themselves; and to put panes of glass in their +windows, instead of old newspapers. The surrounding country is beautiful +and fertile. Farms, however, become more scarce, and are in a state of +more primitive simplicity. A block cabin not unlike a stable, with as +many holes as there are logs in it, patches of ground planted with +tobacco, sweet potatoes, and some corn, are the sole ornaments of these +back-wood mansions. We purchased, below Troy, half a young bear, at the +rate of five cents per pound. Two others which were skinned, indicated +an abundance of these animals, and more application to the sport than +seems compatible with the proper cultivation of these regions. The +settlers have something of a savage appearance: their features are hard, +and the tone of their voice denotes a violent disposition. Our Frenchman +was bargaining for a turkey, with the farmer's son, an athletic youth. +On being asked three dollars for it, the Frenchman turned round to Mr. +B., saying: "I suppose the Kentuckians take us for fools." "What do you +say, stranger," replied the youth, at the same time laying his heavy +hand across the shoulders of the poor Frenchman, in rather a rough +manner. The latter looked as if thunderstruck, and retired in the true +style of the Great Nation, when they get a sound drubbing. We remarked +on his return, the pains he took to repress his feelings at the +coarseness of the Kentuckians. He was, however, discreet enough to keep +his peace, and he did very well; but his spirit was gone, and he never +afterwards undertook to make a bargain, except with old women, for a pot +of milk, or a dozen of eggs, &c. + +Below Lady Washington, or Hanging Rock, as it is called,--a bare +perpendicular rock a hundred feet above the water on the right side of +the river, the mountains, or rather hills, cease by degrees, and are +succeeded by a vast plain on both sides the high banks of the Ohio. We +had here the enjoyment of some sport on the water: a deer was crossing +the river, contracted in this place to about a thousand feet, when it +was discovered by three Kentuckians, who were going to do the same. Our +boat was about half a mile above the spot when we discovered the game. +Four of us leaped into the skiff in order to intercept it. The deer +continued its course towards the Indiana side, and it was easy for us +to intercept its path. As soon as we were near enough, we aimed a blow +at it with our oars, having in the hurry forgotten our guns. The deer +then took the direction of the boat--we followed--the Kentuckians +approached from the other side: full thirty minutes elapsed before these +could come up with the animal and give it a blow. Though its strength +was on the decline, it did not relax its efforts, but advanced again +towards us without our being able to reach it. A second blow on the part +of the Kentuckians, who were more expert in handling their oars, seemed +to stun the noble animal; yet, summoning up its remaining strength, it +went up the stream on the Kentucky side, and reached the shore, but so +exhausted by long swimming and the two blows from the powerful +Kentuckians, that on landing it staggered and fell, without being able +to ascend the high bank. Instantly one of the Kentuckians rushed upon +it, cutting asunder its knee joints. The deer, taking a sudden turn, +made a plunge at the Kentuckian, tearing away part of his trowsers, and +lacerating his leg. So sudden was the last effort of this animal, that +but for the speedy arrival of his companion, who had been assisting the +third Kentuckian in drawing the skiff closer to the shore, it would +infallibly have ripped up its aggressor's bowels. The dirk of the second +Kentuckian ended _the sport_, which had terminated in a rather serious +way. By this time we had also reached the field of battle. "What do you +want, gentlemen?" said the wounded Kentuckian, accosting us with his +poniard in his hand. "Part of the deer, which you know you could not +have got without our assistance?" They first looked at our party of +four, then at our boat, which was already at the distance of a mile and +a half from us. The wounded man seating himself, asked again, "What part +do you choose?" "Half the deer, with the bowels, and tongue for our +ladies." "Have you ladies on board your vessel?" "Yes, sir." Without +uttering a word more, they skinned the venison, cleaned, and divided it. +We stepped aside meanwhile, collected a couple of dollars, and offered +them to the wounded man. He took the money, thanked us, and the other +two carried the venison to our boat. We parted after cordially shaking +hands. There was now an abundance of pigeons, venison, and bear's flesh +on board our boat; the latter, when young, is delicious, having a very +fine flavour, with rather a sweet and luscious taste. We were all +partial to it except the Frenchman, who most likely took us for a +species of these animals. But as thoughts are free, even in the most +despotic countries, he had the privilege of thinking, without daring to +utter a syllable--assuredly the severest punishment upon one of the +Great Nation. On the third day we lost part of our company, as two of +the ladies landed on the Yellow-banks, so called from the yellow colour +of the shores, which formerly gave the name to the county town of Davies +county, now Owensborough. It contains eighty buildings, including a +court-house, a newspaper printing office, and three stores. The +distance hence to Louisville, is 170 miles. From this village, down to +the mouth of the Green river, wild vines grow very luxuriantly, forming +a continued series of hedges. The grapes are used for wine, which is of +a hard taste, but not a bad flavour; if properly attended to they would +certainly yield an excellent produce. We gathered in a few minutes +abundance of grapes, and found them juicy and very good. Near the mouth +of the Green river, and up its banks, are several ponds of bitumen, a +material which is used by the inhabitants for lamp oil. The country +abounds in saltpetre, and saltlicks. On the same side, sixty miles below +Owensborough, is laid out Henderson, the seat of justice for the county +of the same name. It contains 500 inhabitants, 90 dwellings, and a +courthouse. Some of the houses are in tolerable order, but the greatest +part in a shattered condition, and the town has a dirty appearance. The +Ohio forms a bend between Owensborough and Henderson, thus making the +distance by water sixty miles, which by land-travelling would not exceed +twenty. A species of the mistletoe here makes its appearance for the +first time. The trees are covered with bunches of this plant, its +foliage is yellow, the berries milk white, and so viscous as to serve +for bird lime; when falling they adhere to the branches, and strike root +in the bark of the trees. + +In the morning of the sixth day we arrived at Miller's Ferry, twenty +miles above the mouth of the Wabash. As the Ohio makes a great bend in +this place, and our navigation was very slow, Messrs. B----, R----, and +myself, determined on taking a tour to Harmony, now Owen's settlement, +fifteen miles distant from the ferry. The guide we took led us through a +rich plain, with settlements scattered over it; the road was excellent, +though a mere path, and we arrived at half-past ten. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + Mr. Owen's of Lanark, formerly Rapp's Settlement.--Remarks on + it.--Keel-boat Scenes.--Cave in Rock.--Cumberland and Tennessee + Rivers.--Fort Massai. + + +About a hundred and fifty houses, built on the Swabian plan, with the +exception of Mr. Rapp's[B] former residence--a handsome brick +house--presented themselves to our view. We were introduced to one of +the managers, a Mr. Shnee, formerly a Lutheran minister, who entered +very soon into particulars respecting Mr. Owen's ulterior views, in +rather a pompous manner. This settlement, which is about thirty miles +above the mouth of the big Wabash, in Indiana, was first established by +Rapp, in the year 1817, and was now (in the year 1823), purchased by Mr. +Owen, of Lanark, for the sum of 150,000 dollars. The society is to be +established on a plan rather different from the one he has pursued in +Scotland, and on a larger scale. Mr. Owen has, it is said, the pecuniary +means as well as the ability to effect something of importance. A plan +was shown and sold to us, according to which a new building of colossal +dimensions is projected; and if Mr. Owen's means should not fall short +of his good will, this edifice would certainly exhibit the most +magnificent piece of architecture in the Union, the capitol at +Washington excepted. This palace, when finished, is to receive his +community. According to his views, as laid down in his publications, in +the lectures held by him at Washington and at New York, and as stated in +the verbal communications of the persons who represent him, he is about +to form a society, unshackled by all those fetters which religion, +education, prejudices, and manners have imposed upon the human species; +and his followers will exhibit to the world the novel and interesting +example of a community, which, laying aside every form of worship and +all religious belief in a supreme being, shall be capable of enjoying +the highest social happiness by no other means than the impulse of +innate egotism. It has been the object of Mr. Owen's study to improve +this egotism in the most rational manner, and to bring it to the highest +degree of perfection; and in this sense he has published the +Constitution, which is to be adopted by the community. It is +distributed, if I recollect rightly, into three subdivisions, with +seventy or more articles.--Mechanics of every description--people who +have learned any useful art,--are admitted into this community. Those +who pay 500 dollars, are free from any obligation to work. The time of +the members is divided between working, reading, and dancing. A ball is +given every day, and is regularly attended by the community. Divine +service, or worship of any kind, is entirely excluded; in lieu of it, +moreover, a ball is given on Sunday. The children are summoned to school +by beat of drum. A newspaper is published, chiefly treating of their own +affairs, and of the entertainments and the social regulations of the +community, amounting to about 500 members, of both sexes, composed +almost exclusively of adventurers of every nation, who expect joyful +days. The settlement has not improved since the purchase, and there +appeared to exist the greatest disorder and uncleanliness. This +community has since been dissolved as was to have been expected. The +Scotchman seems to have a very high notion of the power of egotism. He +is certainly not wrong in this point; but if he intends to give still +greater strength to a spirit which already works with too much effect in +the Union, it may be feared that he will soon snap the cords of society +asunder. According to his notions, and those of his people, all the +legislators of ancient and modern times, religious as well as political, +were either fools or impostors, who went in quest of prosperity on a +mistaken principle, which he is now about to correct. Scotchmen, it is +known, are sometimes liable to adopt strange notions, in which they +always deem themselves infallible. I am acquainted with an honorable +president of the quarter-sessions, who, as a true Swedenborghian, is +fully convinced that he will preside again as judge in the other world, +and that the German farmers will be there the same fools they are here, +whom he may continue to cheat out of their property. Great Britain has +no cause to envy the United States this acquisition. We stayed at this +place about two hours, crossed the Wabash, and took the road to +Shawneetown, through part of Mr. Birkbeck's settlement. The country is +highly cultivated, and the difference between the steady Englishman of +the Illinois side, and the rabble of Owen's settlement, is clearly seen +in the style and character of the improvements carried on. + +[B] Eighteen miles from Pittsburgh on the road to Beaver, the new and +third settlement of the Swabian separatists, called Economy, was +established two years ago by Rapp, a man celebrated in the Union for his +rustic sagacity. This man affords an instance of what persevering +industry, united with sound sense, may effect.--When he arrived with his +400 followers from Germany, twenty years ago, their capital amounted +to 35,000 dollars; and so poor were they at first, that their leader +could not find credit for a barrel of salt. They are now worth at +least a million of dollars. Their new settlement promises to thrive, +and to become superior to those which they sold in Buttler County, +Pennsylvania, and in Indiana on the Wabash. Nothing can exceed the +authority exercised by this man over his flock. He unites both the +spiritual and temporal power in his own person. He has with him a kind +of Vice-Dictator in the person of his adopted son, (who is married to +his daughter), and a council of twelve elders, who manage the domestic +affairs of the community, now amounting to 1000 souls. When he was yet +residing in Old Harmony, twenty-eight miles north of Pittsburgh, the +bridge constructed over a creek which passes by the village, wanted +repair. It was winter time; the ice seemed thick enough to allow of +walking across. The creek, however, was deep, and 100 feet wide: Master +Rapp, notwithstanding, ventured upon it, intending to come up to the +pier. He was scarcely in the middle of the river, when the ice gave way. +A number of his followers being assembled on the shores, were eager to +assist him.--"Do you think," hallooed Rapp, "that the Lord will withdraw +his hands from his elect, and that I need your help?" The poor fellows +immediately dropped the boards, but at the same time Master Rapp sunk +deeper into the creek. The danger at last conquered his shame and his +confidence in supernatural aid, and he called lustily for assistance. +Notwithstanding the cries of the American by-standers, "You d--d fools, +let the tyrant go down, you will have his money, you will be free," they +immediately threw boards on the ice, went up to him, and took him out of +the water, amidst shouts of laughter from the unbelieving Americans. On +the following Sunday he preached them a sermon, purporting that the Lord +had visited their sins upon him, and that their disobedience to his +commands was the cause of his sinking. The poor dupes literally believed +all this, promised obedience, and both parties were satisfied. Several +of his followers left him, being shocked at his law of celibacy, but +such was his ascendancy over the female part of the community, that +they chose rather to leave their husbands than their father Rapp, as +they call him. Last year, however (1826), he abolished this kind of +celibacy, hitherto so strictly observed, and on the 4th of July, +eighteen couples were permitted to marry. This settlement is one of the +finest villages in the west of Pennsylvania. A manufactory of steam +engines, extensive parks of deer, two elks, and a magnificent palace +for himself, splendidly furnished, show that he knows how to avail +himself of his increasing wealth. The inhabitants of Pittsburgh make +frequent excursions to this settlement, and though his manners savour +of the Swabian peasant, yet his wealth and his hospitality have +considerably diminished the contempt in which he was formerly held by +the Anglo-Americans. We arrived at Shawneetown, where our boat was +waiting for us, having travelled since seven o'clock in the morning a +distance of forty miles. We found our boat's company in the utmost +confusion. Our ladies had hitherto given a regular tea party at nine +o'clock, out of their own stock of provisions. With the exception of +guns, powder, shot, some hundred cigars, a few bottles of wine, the +gentlemen were furnished with nothing. They went therefore to +Shawneetown, a village twelve miles below the mouth of the Wabash, with +sixty houses, and 300 inhabitants, of a very indifferent character, +mostly labourers at the salt works of the Saline river. The party +however were not so fortunate as to procure anything except a dried +haunch of venison. On their return, the invalid doctor missed the +negro girl he had brought to wait upon him, intending to sell her +along with a male slave. She was gone. A search was commenced, +but the honest inhabitants declared, with many G--d d--ns, that +they did not know anything about her. The company discovered what +was wanting, and persuaded the physician to offer a reward for her +recovery. In less than half an hour, one of the worthy inhabitants came +up with the run-away girl, leading her by a rope. He had shortly before +assured some of the inquirers, under the pledge of a round oath, of his +utter ignorance of the matter, whilst at the same time the slave was +concealed in his kitchen. The second physician from Tennessee had the +benevolent precaution of suggesting to the patient to keep himself cool. +But every advice was thrown away. The Kentuckian could not resist +striking the girl. With the utmost pain he raised himself up in his bed, +to give her blows, which did himself infinitely more harm. When called +upon to pay the reward of twenty dollars, his wrath rose to the highest +pitch, and if he had had strength we should have witnessed a strange +scene. He paid, however, and contented himself with binding her arms, +and fastening her to the door-post, from which she was released by the +following accident, which took place about eight o'clock, just as we +returned from our excursion. One of the planters, a Kentuckian by birth, +made a regular excursion, twice a day, to fetch milk and eggs for the +company. The captain refused to dispatch the skiff for him, but the rest +of the company sent it without asking the captain's leave. Some hours +after the Kentuckian's return he heard of the captain's refusal, and +immediately accused him of negligence, &c. The captain gave him the lie, +and hardly was the word spoken, when the Kentuckian rushed upon the +young man with a dirk in his hand. He was, however, prevented, when +turning round, he ran to the other side to fetch an axe, declaring at +the same time, with a G----d d----n, he would knock down any body who +dared to oppose him. I stood with Mr. B. at the door. A quarrel ensued, +and he was going to force it open, when several gentlemen came to our +assistance. During this riot the stove became heated to such a degree, +as unobserved by any one, to set fire to the wood beneath it, so that +the birth of our patient was in flames in a moment. Quarrelling, and +murderous thoughts gave way to the danger of being roasted alive. All +hands, even the Kentuckian, were assiduous in their endeavours to +extinguish the fire; but this could not be so easily accomplished, the +boat being extremely crowded. At last we succeeded; the poor doctor had +almost been forgotten, and was very near being burnt alive, had it not +been for his second servant, who immediately laid hold of a bucket full +of water, and poured it over his master. The behaviour of this invalid +was strange beyond description, and shewed a degree of passion, at once +ludicrous and pitiable. "For heaven's sake," exclaimed he, "I am +roasting! no, I am drowning! the wretch has poured a whole bucket of +water over me. Come hither, rascal!" The servant was obliged to +approach, and tender his face to receive a box on the ear, certainly the +most harmless he ever got; the master at the same time reproaching him +with his villainy, and lamenting the consequences which this bath would +bring upon him, such as rheumatism, fever, &c. We stood astonished and +confounded at this man, the living image of a burnt-out volcano. "But +for heaven's sake," said Mr. B., "Doctor, you would have been roasted +alive but for your slave, and you have been the only cause of the fire, +by the unsupportable heat you kept up in the stove; you must not do that +again." "He is my slave," was the answer, "and should have stayed with +me, instead of listening to your ungentlemanly disputes; then the fire +would not have broken out." We assented to this, and peace was fully +restored. + +The next day we proceeded on our journey, having the state of Illinois +on our right, and Kentucky on our left. Thirteen miles below Saline +river we visited the cave of Rock Island. The limestone wall, 120 feet +high, runs for about half a mile along the right bank of the Ohio; +nearly at its end is the entrance to the cave. A few steps bring you at +once into the grotto, which is about sixty-five feet wide at the base, +narrowing as you ascend, and forming an arch, the span of which is from +twenty-five to thirty feet, extending to a length of 120 feet. Marine +shells, feathers, and bones of bears, turkies, and wild geese, afford +ample testimony that this place has not been visited by the curious +alone, but has been the resort of numerous families, which had taken +temporary refuge here. + +Our sporting excursions had generally pigeons, turkies, or opossums, for +their object; below the cave, in the rocks, wild geese and ducks become +very plentiful. Flocks of from forty to one hundred were flying over our +heads in every direction, and augmenting in numbers as we approached the +Mississippi. We shot this day seven geese and ducks, and passed the +small villages of Cumberland, at the mouth of the river of that name, +and Smithland, three miles below. Both villages are now springing up. +The Cumberland is 720 feet wide at its mouth. The river Tennessee, +thirteen miles below, is 700 feet. Eleven miles lower down, on the +Illinois side, is fort Spassai, erected on a high bank and in a +commanding position, which overlooks the Ohio, here a mile wide. The +prospect for a distance of forty miles, is charming. The extraordinary +beauty of the river, which the French very properly called _la belle +riviere_, on both sides the majestic native forests, clad in their +autumnal foliage, here and there an island in the midst of the stream, +with its luxuriant growth of trees, not unlike enchanted gardens. The +charm which is diffused over the whole scene can scarcely be described. +The fort is garrisoned by a captain, with a company of regulars, who, +however, suffer much from swamps in the rear of the fort. + +On the two following days we passed the county towns of Golconda, the +seat of justice for Pope county; Vienna, for Johnson; and America, for +Alexander county; villages which have nothing in common with the cities +of which they remind you but the name. They are inhabited by some +Kentuckians and loiterers, who spend part of their time in bringing down +the Mississippi the produce of the country, for the transport of which +they demand double wages, and are thus enabled to spend the rest of +their time sitting cross-legged over their whiskey. The ninth day, +about noon, we arrived at Trinity. I was heartily tired of this manner +of travelling, and resolved to wait here with Mr. B., and Mrs. Th---- +and family, for a steam-boat from St. Louis. The rest of the company +went on in the boat, after an hour's stopping. Trinity, or as it was +formerly called, Cairo, is situated four and a half miles above the +junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, consisting only of a tavern and a +store, kept by a Mr. Bershoud. The inundations occurring regularly every +year, have hitherto prevented the formation of settlements at this +place. Though these inundations rise every year from four to ten feet +above the banks, as may be seen from the weeds remaining in clusters on +the trees, the inhabitants of these two houses have, if we except the +trouble of transporting their effects and goods to the upper story, but +little to apprehend, the rise of the river being gradually slow, and its +power being lessened by its circuitous course, and by the trees on its +bank. + +From Trinity down to Baton Rouge, a distance of 900 miles, the houses +are constructed in such a manner as to be secured against accidents; the +foundations are stumps of trees, or low brick pillars, four feet high. +The houses are so built, or rather laid upon these pillars, as to allow +the water to pass beneath. Notwithstanding this precaution, the flood +generally reaches to the lower apartments, and passengers coming from +Trinity to New Orleans last February, had to get into the skiff sent for +them, through the window of the second story. + +From Trinity to the mouth of the Ohio, are reckoned four and a half +miles. We visited on the following morning, this remarkable spot, where +two of the most important rivers unite. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Mississippi.--General Features of the State of Illinois and its +Inhabitants. + + +The nearer we approached the Mississippi, the lower the country became, +and the more imposing the scenery. By degrees the river Ohio loses its +blue tinge, taking from the mightier stream a milky colour, which +changes into a muddy white when very near the junction--this junction +itself is one of the most magnificent sights. On the left hand the Ohio, +half a mile wide, overpowered, as it were, by its mightier rival--in +front the more gigantic Mississippi, one mile and a half broad, rolling +down its vast volumes of water with incredible rapidity. Farther on, the +high banks of the state of Missouri, with some farm buildings of a +diminutive appearance, owing to the great distance; in the back ground, +the colossal native forests of Missouri; and lastly, to the south, these +two rivers united and turning majestically to the south-west. The deep +silence which reigns in these regions, and which is interrupted only by +the rushing sound of the waves, and the immense mass of water, produce +the illusion that you are no longer standing upon firm ground; you are +fearful less the earth should give way to the powerful element, which, +pressed into so narrow a space, rolls on with irresistible force. I had +formerly seen the falls of Niagara; but this scene, taken in the proper +point of view, is in no respect inferior to that which they present. The +immense number of streams which empty into the Mississippi, and caused +it to be named, very appropriately, the _Father of Rivers_, render it +powerful throughout the year; it generally rises in February, and falls +in July. In September and October the autumnal rains begin; and they +continue to swell it through the winter. When it overflows its banks, +the Mississippi inundates the country on both sides, for an extent of +from forty-five to fifty miles, thus forming an immense lake. From the +mouth of the Ohio to Walnut hills, in the state of Mississippi, the +difference between the lowest water and the highest inundation, is +generally sixteen feet. The nearer it approaches the gulph of Mexico, +the less is the flood. The water leaving its bed on the west side never +returns, but forms into lakes and marshes. On the east side they find +resistance from the high lands, that follow the meanderings of the +river. Above Natchez, the river inundates the lands for a space of +thirty miles. At Baton Rouge, the high lands take on a sudden a +south-eastern direction, while the river turns to the south-west, thus +leaving the waters to form the eastern swamps of Louisiana. It rises to +thirty feet at that place; whilst at New Orleans it scarcely attains the +height of twelve feet, and at the mouth no difference between a rise and +fall is perceptible. Whoever comes to the Mississippi with the +expectation of beholding a sea-like river flowing quietly along, will +find himself disappointed. The magnitude of this river does not consist +in its width but in its depth, and the immense quantity of water it +pours out into the sea. At the mouth of the Ohio it is a mile and a half +wide. This moderate breadth rather diminishes as it proceeds in its +course. At New Orleans, after receiving the waters of some great +tributary streams, it is not more than a mile in width, and in some +places three quarters of a mile. Its depth, however, continues to +increase; below the Ohio it is reckoned to be from thirty-five to fifty +feet deep. Below the Arkansas to Natchez, from 100 to 150. From Natchez +to New Orleans, from 150 to 250 feet. At its mouth, owing to the sand +bar at the Paliseter, the depth greatly diminishes, and it is well known +that vessels drawing eighteen feet of water can hardly enter the mouth +of the stream. The waters of the Mississippi are not clear at any period +of the year. This was the second time I saw it, when it was said to be +very low; still its waters were of a muddy turbid appearance. When +rising it changes to a muddy yellow. A glass filled with water from the +Mississippi, deposits in a quarter of an hour a mass of mud equal to one +tenth of the whole contents. But when clear, it is excellent for +drinking, and superior to any I have tasted. It is generally used by +those who inhabit its banks. + +The accommodations in Trinity are comfortable, and the tables are well +furnished, but the prices exorbitant. It cannot, however, be expected to +be otherwise, owing to the new settlers, whose anxiety never permits +them to neglect an opportunity of improving their means on their first +outset. We found this to be the case on all occasions. Whenever some of +our passengers made purchases of trifles, such as cigars, &c., they had +to pay five times as much as in Louisville. It is therefore advisable to +provide oneself with every thing, when travelling in these backwoods; +the generality of the settlers on these banks being needy adventurers, +partly foreigners, partly Kentuckians, who, with a capital of not quite +100 dollars, with which they purchase some goods in New Orleans, begin +their commercial career, and may be seen with both hands in their +pockets, their legs on the table or chimney-piece, and cigars in their +mouths, selling their goods for five hundred per cent above prime cost. +Towards the north on the banks of the Mississippi, the settlers are +generally Frenchmen, who now assume by degrees the American manners and +language. Many of them are wealthy store-keepers, merchants, and +farmers; but for the most part, however, a lightfooted kind of people, +who, from their fathers, have inherited frivolity, and from their +mothers, Indian women, uncleanliness. The towns of Kaskakia, Cahokia, +&c., as well as several villages up the Mississippi to the Prairie des +Chiens, owe their origin to them. The solid class of inhabitants live on +the big and little Wabash, and between these two rivers and the +Illinois. This is, no doubt, the finest part of the state, and one of +the most delightful countries on the face of the earth. It is mostly +inhabited by Americans and Englishmen. Agriculture, the breeding of +cattle, and improvements of every kind, are making rapid progress. The +settlements in Bond, Crawford, Edward's, Franklin, and White Counties, +are to be considered as forming the main substance of the state. A +number of elegant towns have arisen in the space of a few years: among +others, Vandalia, the capital, and for these three years past the seat +of government, with a state house and a projected university, for which +36,000 acres of land have been assigned. An excellent spirit is +acknowledged to prevail among the inhabitants of this district. Still, +however, the style of architecture--if the laying of logs or of bricks +upon each other deserves this name--the manners, the attempted +improvements, every thing announces a new land, which has only a few +years since started into political existence, and the settlers of which +do not yet evince any anxiety for the comforts of life. Illinois has now +80,000 inhabitants, 1500 of whom are people of colour; the rest are +Americans, English, French, and a German settlement about Vandalia. The +state was received into the Union in the year 1818. The constitution, +with a governor and a secretary at its head, resembles that of the state +of Ohio. In the year 1824, the question was again brought forward +concerning the possession of slaves: it was, however, negatived, and we +hope it will never be pressed upon the people. The state is much +indebted in every point to the late Mr. Birkbeck, who died too soon for +the welfare of his adopted country. He was considered as the father of +the state, and whenever he could gain over a useful citizen, he spared +no expense, and sacrificed a considerable part of his property in this +manner. The people of Illinois, in acknowledgment of his services, had +chosen him for secretary of the state, in which character he died in +1825. He was generally known under the name of Emperor of the Prairies, +from the vast extent of natural meadows belonging to his lands. It is to +be regretted, however, that Mr. Birkbeck was not acquainted with the +country about Trinity. His large capital and the number of hands who +joined him, would no doubt succeed in establishing a settlement here. +This will sooner or later take place, and will eventually render it one +of the finest towns in the United States, as the advantages of its +situation are incalculable. Illinois is, in point of commerce, more +advantageously situated than any of the Ohio states; being bounded on +the west by the river Mississippi, which forms the line between this +state and that of Missouri, to the east by the big Wabash, and to the +south by the Ohio, the river Illinois running through it with some +smaller rivers; thus affording it an open navigation to the north-west, +the west, the south, and the east. Towards the north the banks of the +Upper Mississippi form a range of hills which join the Illinois +mountains to the east, and lowering by degrees lose themselves in the +plains of lakes Huron and Michigan. The country is, on the whole, less +elevated than Indiana, and forms the last slope of the northern valley +of the Mississippi, the hills being intersected by a number of valleys, +plains, prairies, and marshes. The fertility of this state is +extraordinary, surpassing that of Indiana and Ohio. In beauty, variety +of scenery, and fertility, it may vie with the most celebrated +countries. Wheat thrives only on high land, the soil of the valleys +being too rich. Corn gives for every bushel a hundred. Tobacco planted +in Illinois, if well managed, is found to be superior to that of +Kentucky and Virginia. Rice and indigo grow wild, their cultivation +being neglected for want of hands. Pecans, a product of the West Indies, +grow in abundance in the native forests. This state having a temperate +climate, possesses many of the southern products. The timber is of +colossal magnitude. Sycamores and cotton trees of an immense height, +walnut, pecan trees, honey-locusts and maples, cover the surface of this +country, and are the surest indications of an exceedingly rich soil. The +most fertile parts of the state are the bottom lands along the +Mississippi, Illinois, and the big and little Wabash. The country is +complained of as being sickly. There is no doubt that a state which +abounds in rivers, marshes, and ponds, must be subject to epidemic +diseases, but the climate being temperate the fault lies very much with +the settlers and the inhabitants themselves. The settler who chooses for +his dwelling-house a spot on an eminence, and far from the marshes, +taking at the same time the necessary precautions in point of dress, +cleanliness, and the choice of victuals and beverage, may live without +fear in these countries. All agree in this opinion, and I have myself +experienced the correctness of it. The greatest part, however, of the +new comers and inhabitants live upon milk or stagnant water taken from +the first pond they meet with on their way, with a few slices of bacon. +Their wardrobe consists of a single shirt, which is worn till it falls +to pieces. It cannot, therefore, be matter of astonishment if agues and +bilious fevers spread over the country, and even in this case a quart of +corn brandy is their prescription. This being the general mode of +living, and we may add of dying, among the lower classes, disease must +necessarily spread its ravages with more rapidity. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Excursion to St. Louis.--Face of the Country.--Sketch of the State of +Missouri.--Return to Trinity. + + +The steam-boat, the Pioneer, having come up to Trinity the following +day, on its way to St. Louis, Mr. B. and I resolved to take a trip to +the latter place, as the best chance that offered to get away as soon as +possible. We started at ten o'clock in the morning, turned round the +fork, and ascended the muddy Mississippi. The first town we saw was +Hamburgh, on the Illinois side, consisting of nineteen frame dwellings +and cabins, and four stores. On the left, in the state of Missouri, is +Cape Girardeau. The settlement mostly consists of Frenchmen, and German +Redemptioners. The town has not a very inviting appearance. One hundred +and six miles above the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, we landed +at St. Genevieve to take in wood. This town is the principal mart for +the Burton mines; it has a Catholic chapel, twenty stores, a printing +office, 250 houses, and 1600 inhabitants. Twenty-four miles farther up +the same side, is Herculaneum, with 300 inhabitants, a court-house, +and a printing office. The town had been laid out and peopled by +Kentuckians. There are several villages on the right and left bank, and +some good-looking farms. On the third day, at twelve o'clock, we reached +the town of St. Louis, 170 miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and +thirteen miles below the junction of the Mississippi, and the Missouri. +This town extends, in a truly picturesque situation, in 38 deg. 33' north +latitude, and 12 deg. 58' west longitude, for the length of two miles along +the river, in three parallel streets, rising one above the other in the +form of terraces, on a stratum of limestone. The houses are for the most +part built of this material, and surrounded with gardens. The number of +buildings amounts to 620, that of the inhabitants to 5000. Its principal +buildings are, a Catholic, and two Protestant churches, a branch bank +of the United States, and the bank of St. Louis, the courthouse, the +government-house, an academy, and a theatre; besides these, there are a +number of wholesale and retail stores, two printing offices, and an +abundance of coffee-shops, billiard-tables, and dancing-rooms. The trade +of St. Louis is not so extensive as that of Louisville, and less liable +to interruption, as the navigation is not impeded at any season of the +year, the Mississippi, being at all times navigable for the largest +vessels. An exception, indeed, occurred in 1802, when the Ohio and other +rivers were almost dried up. The inhabitants of St. Louis and of +Missouri, have therefore a never-failing channel for carrying their +produce to market. This they generally do, when the rivers which empty +themselves into the Mississippi, are so low that they have no +apprehension of finding any competition in New Orleans. Last year, the +market of New Orleans was almost exclusively supplied with produce from +St. Louis and Missouri. Eighty dollars was the general price for a +bullock, which at a later period would not have obtained twenty-five +dollars; flour was at eight dollars, whereas, two months afterwards, +abundance could be had for two and a half dollars. In the same +proportion they sold every other article. It is this circumstance which +contributes to the wealth of St. Louis, and of Missouri in general, to +the detriment, on the other hand, of the Ohio States, Kentucky, Indiana, +and Ohio. At the time of our arrival at St. Louis, there were in its +port, five steam vessels, and thirty-five other boats. St. Louis is a +sort of New Orleans on a smaller scale; in both places are to be found a +number of coffee-houses and dancing rooms. The French are seen engaged +in the same amusements and passions that formerly characterised the +creoles of Louisiana, with the exception, that the trade with the +Indians has given to the French backwoods-men of St. Louis, a rather +malicious and dishonest turn--a fault from which the creoles of +Louisiana are free, owing to the greater respectability of their +visitors and settlers, from Europe, and from the north of the Union. The +majority of the inhabitants of this town, as well as of the state, +consists of people descended from the French, of Kentuckians, and +foreigners of every description--Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Irish, +&c. Kentucky manners are fashionable. Not long before my arrival, there +occurred a specimen of this, in an open assault and duel between two +individuals in the public street. For the last five years, men of +property and respectability, attracted by the superior advantages of the +situation, have settled at St. Louis, and their example and influence +have been conducive of some good to public morals. The enterprising +spirit of the Americans is remarkable, even in this place and state. +Within the twenty-three years that have elapsed since the cession of +this country (part of the former Louisiana) to the Union, much more has +been achieved in every point of view, than during the sixty years +preceding, when it was in possession of France and Spain. Streets, +villages, settlements, towns, and farms, have sprung up in every +direction; the population has augmented from 20,000 to 84,000 +inhabitants; and if they are not superior in wealth to their neighbours, +it is certainly to be attributed to their want of industry, and to +their passing the greater part of their time in grog-shops, or in +dancing-companies, according to the prevailing custom. Slavery, which is +introduced here, though so ill adapted to a northern state, contributes +not a little to the aristocratic notions of the people, the least of +whom, if he can call himself the master of one slave, would be ashamed +to put his hand to any work. Still there is more ready money among the +inhabitants, than in any of the western states, and prices are demanded +accordingly. Cattle that fetch in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, ten +dollars per head, are sold in Missouri for twenty-five dollars, and so +in proportion. The country about St. Louis to the north, south, and +west, consists of prairies, extending fifteen miles in every direction, +with some very handsome farm houses, and numerous herds of cattle. +Though in the same degree of northern latitude as the city of +Washington, the climate is more severe, owing to the two rivers Missouri +and Mississippi, whose waters coming from northern countries greatly +contribute to cool the air. The cultivation of tobacco has not +succeeded, and the produce chiefly consists of wheat, corn and +cattle;--equally important is the profit from the lead mines, and +the fur trade. The most improved settlements are those along the +Mississippi, and on the Missouri they are beginning to be formed. + +Missouri was received into the Union in 1821, and is, with the exception +of Virginia, the largest state of the Union, its area exceeding 60,000 +square miles. To the north and west it borders on the Missouri +territory; towards the east the Mississippi is the boundary between this +state, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; the Arkansas territory lies to +the south. It extends from 36 deg. to 40 deg. 25' north latitude, and from 12 deg. +50' to 18 deg. 10' west longitude. The country forms an elevated plain, +sloping considerably to the south, where it is crossed by the Ozark +mountains. Marshes and mountains prevail more in the southern parts, +high plains in the northern. Along the Mississippi and Missouri, the +bottom lands are generally extremely fertile. The soils, however, cannot +be altogether compared with that of Illinois. The possession of slaves +is allowed by the constitution of this state, and their number amounts +to 10,000; that of the rest of the inhabitants to 70,000. The form of +government approaches very nearly that of Kentucky. We remained one day +at St. Louis, and returned in the steam-boat, General Brown, to Trinity, +where we took on board the ladies and some new passengers, returning +from thence to the Mississippi. We passed several small islands, and a +large one (Wolf's Island), and landed at New Madrid at midnight, for the +purpose of taking in wood. This place is the seat of justice for the +county of the same name; it has, however, no court-house, and is a +rather wretched looking place, containing about thirty log and shattered +farm houses, with 180 inhabitants, Spaniards, French, and Italians. The +two stores being open, we visited them. They were but poorly provided, +having about a dozen cotton handkerchiefs, one barrel of whiskey, and a +heap of furs. Two Indians were stretched on the ground before the door, +and in a sound sleep, with their guns by their side. The Mississippi is +continually encroaching upon the town, and has already swept away many +intended streets, as the inhabitants say, obliging them to move back to +their no small disappointment. The surrounding country is highly +fertile, and in the rear of the town there are several well cultivated +cotton and rice plantations. A rich plain stretches along to the west, +behind New Madrid, as far as the waters of Sherrimack. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The State of Tennessee.--Steam-boats on the Mississippi.--Flat-boats. + + +We had now passed the western extremity of Kentucky, and had the state +of Tennessee on our left. The eastern banks of the Mississippi, viz. on +the Tennessee side, are throughout lower than the western or Missouri +shores; presenting a series of marshes from which cypress trees and +canebrack seem just emerging, lining them for hundreds of miles to the +southward. Farther eastward, towards the rivers Tennessee and +Cumberland, the soil is overgrown with sugar-maples, sycamore trees, +walnuts, and honey-locusts; the mountains with white and live oak and +hickory. The eastern part of the state resembles North Carolina. The +middle part is by far the best. Cotton and tobacco are staple articles. +Rice is cultivated with success. Hemp is not considered of the same +quality as the Kentuckian, the climate being too warm. The tropical +fruits, such as figs, thrive well; chesnuts are superior to those of the +other states. Melons, peaches, and apples, are abundant. Tennessee is +considered altogether a rich and fertile land. The inhabitants are +liberal, noble hearted, and noted for their good conduct towards +strangers. Several foreigners settled in the state, have attained a high +degree of wealth and prosperity. There is no state in the Union where +slavery has had less pernicious effects upon the character of the +people. The inhabitants are mostly descendants of emigrants from North +Carolina, and their hospitality is without bounds. This state extends, +in an oblong square, from the shores of the Mississippi towards Virginia +and North Carolina, in 35 deg. to 36 deg. 30' north latitude, and 4 deg. 26' to 13 deg. +5' west longitude. It is bounded on the east by Virginia and North +Carolina; on the south by Georgia, Albania, and Mississippi; on the west +by the river Mississippi, and on the north by Kentucky, comprising +altogether 40,000 square miles. East Tennessee partakes more of the +sandy character of North Carolina. West Tennessee of the marshes of the +Mississippi valley. Its principal rivers are the Cumberland and +Tennessee, with the Mississippi on the west, where however, with the +exception of some very small settlements, there are no improvements of +any kind. The canal proposed by Governor Troup, of Georgia, to Governor +Carrott, of Tennessee, which is to bring this state into immediate +connection with the Atlantic, will have a very beneficial effect, these +two rivers being navigable for steam-boats only during three months in +the year, and New Orleans being the only market for Tennessee. +Notwithstanding its straitened commerce, the state is rapidly improving, +and several of its towns, though not large are yet very elegant. The +chief wealth of the state, however, consists in the plantations, and the +farmer and planter live in a style, which at least in point of eating, +cannot be exceeded by the wealthiest nobleman in any country. Among the +towns of the state, Nashville holds the first rank. This town occupies a +commanding situation, on a solid cliff of rocks on the south side of +the Cumberland, 200 feet above the level of the banks. The river is +navigable here during three months in the year for steam-boats of 300 +tons burthen. Besides the court-house, three churches, two banks, +including a branch bank of the United States, three printing offices, +and a great number of wholesale and retail merchants, there is the seat +of the district court for the western part of Tennessee. Several +literary institutions, such as Cumberland college, a ladies' school, and +reading-room with a public library, are evident proofs of a liberal +spirit. This spirit is combined with unbounded hospitality. There is a +number of houses, such as those of Governor Carrott, Major General +Jackson, &c., where every respectable stranger is welcome, and may be +sure of meeting with a select company. The surrounding country is +beautiful, cotton plantations lining the banks of the river, and +extending in every direction hither. The wealthier inhabitants generally +retire during the summer months, from the stifling heats prevailing +on the barren rocks upon which Nashville stands. Knoxville in +east Tennessee, with 400 houses and 2,500 inhabitants, is of less +importance; it is the seat of the supreme district court for east +Tennessee, and has a bank, a college, and two churches. The country +about Knoxville is far inferior to that round Nashville. The capital of +Tennessee, Murfreesborough, has 1500 inhabitants, with a state-house, a +bank, two printing-offices, &c. It communicates by water with Nashville, +through Stonecreek. The situation seems not to be very judiciously +chosen for a chief town. This was the state of things four years +ago, when I passed through the place; but doubtless it has since +proportionably increased. Our company being on this occasion of a less +mixed, and a less troublesome character, we sailed down the majestic +father of rivers, with minds well disposed to acknowledge our +obligations to Mr. Fulton, for his happy idea of applying the power of +steam to navigation. The settlers of the Mississippi valley, are in duty +bound to raise a monument to the memory of a man, who has effected in +their mode of conveyance so adventurous, and so successful a change. Not +ten years have elapsed since the inhabitants of the west were used to +toil like beasts of burden, in order to ascend the stream for a +distance of ten or fifteen miles a day; and when in 1802, some boats +belonging to Mr. R., of Nashville, arrived from New Orleans in +eighty-seven days, this passage was considered the _ne plus ultra_ of +quick travelling by water, and was instantly made known throughout the +Union. A passenger now performs the same voyage in five days, sitting +all the while in a comfortable state-room, which in point of fitting-up +vies with the most elegant parlours, writing letters, or reading the +newspapers, and if tired of these occupations, paying visits to the +ladies, if he be permitted to do so; or otherwise pacing the deck, where +his less fortunate fellow passengers are hanging in hammocks--an +indication to many of what may be their future state. There is certainly +not any nation that can boast of a greater disposition for travelling, +than Brother Jonathan; and there is again nobody more at home than he, +whether in a tavern, or on board a vessel; as he is in the habit of +considering a tavern, a vessel, or a steam-boat, as a kind of public +property. Yet on board a vessel, or a steam-boat, he is very tractable. +The great difference of fare between a cabin and a deck passage, from +Louisville to New Orleans, being for the former forty dollars, and for +the latter eight dollars, contributes to establish a distinction in this +assemblage of people, placing those who are found too light in the upper +house, and the more weighty in the lower. The first have to find +themselves, the others are provided with every thing in a manner which +shows that private institutions for the benefit of the public, are +certainly more patronised here than in most other countries. If the +pecuniary resources of the citizen of the United States do not reach a +very low ebb, he will certainly choose the cabin, his pride forbidding +him to mix with the rabble, though the expence may fall too heavy upon +him. That economical refinement which the French evince on these +occasions, is not to be seen in America. When I proceeded four months +ago from Havre to Rouen, in the Duchess of Angouleme steam-boat, among +the 100 passengers who were on board, more than fifty well-looking +people were seen unpacking their bundles, and regaling themselves with +their contents--bread, chicken, cutlets, wine, &c., &c., a frugality +which will hardly be found to contribute to the improvement of a spirit +of enterprise. The Americans would be ashamed of this kind of parsimony, +which must ever impede all public undertakings. Owing to this cause, the +American steam-boats are in point of elegance superior to those of other +nations; and none but the English are able to compete with them. The +furniture, carpets, beds, &c., are throughout elegant, and in good +condition. Some of the new steam-boats are provided with small rooms, +each containing two births, which passengers may use for their +accommodation in shaving, dressing, &c. The general regulations are +suspended above the side board in a gilt frame, and are as binding as a +law. They prohibit speaking to the pilot during the passage--visiting +the ladies' state-room, without their consent--lying down upon the bed +with shoes or boots on--smoking cigars in the state-room--and playing at +cards after ten o'clock. The first transgression is punished with a +fine; if repeated, the transgressor is sent ashore. The fare is +excellent, and the breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, are provided with +such a multiplicity of dishes, and even dainties, as would satisfy the +most refined appetite. The beverage consists of rum, gin, brandy, +claret, to be taken at pleasure during meals; but out of that time they +are to be paid for. Distressing accidents will of course occasionally +occur; the last of this kind was of a truly heart-rending nature: it +happened four years ago, above Walnut-hills, in the steam-boat +Tennessee. The night was tempestuous, the rain fell in torrents, and the +captain, instead of landing and waiting until the weather cleared up, +lost his senses, and ran on a sawyer[C]. The steam-boat was not sixty +feet distant from the bank, which could not be distinguished, and she +went down in a few seconds, together with 110 passengers, save a few who +by accident reached the shore. Since that time, although steam-boats +have sunk, no such loss of lives has occurred. This, however, is not to +be compared with the hardships, the toils, the loss of health and life, +to which the navigators of flat and keel-boats were formerly, and are +still exposed, when going down the Mississippi. Nothing more uncouth +than these flat-boats was ever sent forth from the hands of a carpenter. +They are built of rude timber and planks, sixty feet in length, and +twenty-five feet in breadth, and so unmanageable, that only the strong +arm of a backwoodsman can keep them from running upon planters[D], +sawyers, wooden-islands, and all the Scyllas and Charybdes, that are to +be met with on the voyage. We found numbers of them along the Ohio, +detained by low water; and from St. Louis down to New Orleans, sometimes +fifteen, twenty, and thirty together. Their uncouth appearance, the +boisterous and fierce manners of their crews, the immense distance they +have already proceeded, make them truly objects of interest. One of +these flat-boats is from the Upper Ohio, laden with pine-boards, planks, +rye, whisky, flour; close to it, another from the falls of the Ohio, +with corn in the ear and bulk, apples, peaches; a third, with hemp, +tobacco, and cotton. In the fourth you may find horses regularly stabled +together; in the next, cattle from the mouth of the Missouri; a sixth +will have hogs, poultry, turkeys; and in a seventh you see peeping out +of the holes, the woolly heads of slaves transported from Virginia and +Kentucky, to the human flesh mart at New Orleans. They have come +thousands of miles, and still have to proceed a thousand more, before +they arrive at their place of destination. + +[C] Sawyers are bodies of trees fixed in the river, which yield to the +pressure of the current, disappearing and appearing by turns above +water, like the rotatory motion of the saw-mill, from which they have +derived their name. They sometimes point up the stream, sometimes in the +contrary direction. A steam-boat running on a sawyer, cannot escape +destruction. + +[D] Planters are large bodies of trees, firmly fixed by their roots to +the bottom of the river, in a perpendicular manner, and rising no more +than a foot above the surface at low water. They are so firmly rooted, +as to be unmoved by the shock of steam-boats running upon them. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Scenery along the Mississippi.--Hopefield.--St. Helena.--Arkansas + Territory.--Spanish Moss.--Vixburgh. + + +We pursued our course at the rate of ten miles an hour, passing the +Chickasaw Bluffs, Memphis, a small settlement on the Tennessee side, and +a number of smaller and larger islands, from two to six miles in length, +but seldom more than one in breadth. The sediment of the Mississippi is +continually forming new sand banks, at the same time that its +irresistible power carries away old ones. That river was, as I have +already mentioned, very low, and the numerous sand banks on both sides +contracted its channel into a bed scarcely more than half a mile broad. +On these banks numberless flocks of wild ducks, geese, cranes, swans, +and pelicans, stationed themselves in rows, extending sometimes a mile +in length. As soon as the steam boat approaches, dashing through the +water with the noise of thunder, and vomiting forth columns of smoke, +they fly up in masses resembling clouds, and retire to their covers in +the marshes and ponds contiguous to the banks of the Mississippi. They +abound most 150 miles above Natchez, and hundreds of thousands are seen +crossing the river in every direction. The scenery in view is an immense +valley, with banks sixty feet above the water, forests of colossal trees +on both sides, and the vast expanse of waters rolling with a velocity +the more surprising, as the country stretches in a continued plain, with +scarcely any perceptible decline. The rural scenery of the regions +consists of detached cabins raised on huge stumps of trees; instead of +windows there are the natural apertures of the logs joined together; in +front of them woodstacks, for the use of the steam boats; ten or twelve +deer, bear, or fox skins drying in the open air; some turkies and hogs, +scattered over a corn patch, &c. Farms, or plantations, properly so +called, are seldom to be met with here; the chief object of these +settlers being the breed of cattle and poultry, for the use of +steam-boats. The only trace of agriculture is a small tract of cotton +field, which the settlers endeavour to improve. + +We stayed an hour and a half in Hopefield, opposite to the Chickasaw +Bluffs, the chief village of Hempstead county, with ten houses. There +are two taverns, such as may be expected in these parts, a store and a +post office. Two hours later we saw the mouth of the Wolf river; the +beautiful President's island, ten miles long, which with its colossal +forests presents an imposing sight, with several small islands in its +train. Among these is the Battle island, taking its name from a battle +fought here between two Kentuckians, who compelled their captain to land +them, and returned after half an hour, the one with his nose bitten off, +the other with his eyes scooped out of their sockets! This night we +arrived in the county town of St. Helena, ninety-five miles above the +mouth of the Arkansas. The place was laid out a few years ago, and bids +fair to become of some importance, from the extreme scarcity of spots +adapted for towns on the banks of the Mississippi. The village is +situated a quarter of a mile from the west bank. The cabin houses are +built upon dwarfish round hills, resembling sugar loaves. Viewed from a +distance they have a handsome appearance, which, however, considerably +diminishes on approaching nearer to them. The spot is quite broken land. +Two hundred yards further up, a ridge eighty feet above the level of the +water, extends about a quarter of a mile, and six other houses are built +upon it, amongst which is a tavern and store, with few articles besides +a barrel of whisky for their Indian guests. A heap of furs, of every +description, indicates that this trade is a very lucrative one. About +thirty miles to the westward are the military lands, granted as a reward +to the soldiers who served in the last war; only a few of them have come +to settle on these grants. The distance from the eastern cities being so +immense, the expenses of the journey, compared with the object they were +about to attain, were so great, that most of them remained in the east. + +On the following morning we passed the mouth of the White river, and +thirteen miles lower down the river Arkansas, a beautiful, wide, and +very important stream, next in size to the Ohio, which after a course of +2,500 miles, 900 of which are navigable for steam-boats, empties itself +into the Mississippi at this place. From this river the territory of +Arkansas has taken its name. It was formerly part of Louisiana, then of +Missouri, and has since 1819, been separated from the latter, and now +forms a distinct territory extending from 33 deg. to 36 deg. north latitude, and +from 11 deg. 45' to 23 deg. west longitude. Its area is computed to be above +100,000 square miles. With the exception of a few towns, such as +Arkopolis, Post Arkansas, Little-rock, &c., and some other settlements +of less note, it is not otherwise known than from the reports of the +expeditions sent into the interior at various times. According to their +accounts it differs in some essential points from the eastern states. +The eastern part of this vast territory bears the character of the +Mississippi valley, and abounds in well wooded plains, prairies, and +marshes, in alternate succession, the latter occupying almost +exclusively the tract of land situated between the rivers Arkansas and +St. Francis towards the Ozark mountains. There the country rises; rocks +and mountains become visible, announcing the approach to the Rocky +mountains. Between these and the Ozark mountains are vast plains covered +with salt crusts, imparting to the rivers flowing through the country a +brackish taste. There have also been discovered valleys competing in +point of fertility with the valley of the Mississippi; eminences covered +for a distance of many miles with vines, whose grapes are said to be +equal to the best produce of the Cape. In other places are vast plains, +which owing to their stratum being gravel, produce but a short and dry +grape, without any trees. The territory in the interior contains +important mineral and vegetable treasures. The Volcanos, the Hotsprings, +the Ouachitta lake, and other natural wonders, will soon attract general +attention. From what was related to me by an eye witness who bestowed +all his attention on them, they are undoubtedly of the first importance. +The springs are six in number, and they are situated about ten miles +from the Ouachitta, near a volcano. Their temperature being 150 deg., the +use which visitors make of them consists in exposing themselves to the +vapour. They are impregnated with carbonic acid, muriate of soda, and a +small quantity of iron and calcareous matter. Hitherto, besides Indians +and hunters, but few persons resorted to them until the last two years, +when several gentlemen went thither for the recovery of their health. +But the present total want of ready money in these deserted parts has +prevented a more rapid improvement. The population amounts to 18,000 +souls, 2,000 of whom are slaves. Mental improvement is here sought for +in vain. The American reads his Bible, and if opportunity offers, he +visits once a year a Methodist Missionary. The French care as little for +one as for the other. Colleges, academies, or literary institutions +there are none, but in Post Arkansas, Arkopolis, and Little-rock, +schools are established. Those cannot be expected from a country without +any political importance, and with a population scattered over such an +immense extent. An extract from a newspaper published in Arkopolis, +which I found in St. Helena, may give some idea of the honourables of +these parts: "Mr. White respectfully begs leave to announce himself as +candidate for their Representative, &c.--N.B. Tailoring business done +in the best manner, and at the shortest notice!!" + +Arkansas has hitherto been the refuge for poor adventurers, foreigners, +French soldiers, German redemptioners, with a few respectable American +families; men of fortune preferring the state of Mississippi or +Louisiana, where society and the comforts of life can be found with less +difficulty. It is certain, however, that the western part of this +territory is healthier than the western states of Alabama, Georgia, and +Mississippi, and that the Rocky and Ozark chain, running from east to +west, obviates one great evil--the sudden change of temperature, caused +by the want of high mountains to resist the power of the north and south +winds. + +A traveller who first visits the valley of the Mississippi, is led to +believe that the waters of this immense river rise above the trees along +its banks, leaving the branches covered with weeds and mud when they +retire to their bed. It is Spanish moss or Tellandsea which presents +that appearance to the traveller. It is firmly rooted in the apertures +of the bark, and hangs down from the trees, not unlike long rough +beards. This plant has a yellow blossom, and a pod containing the seed. +It is found along the coast of the Mississippi, from St. Helena to below +New Orleans, and is universally applied to all those purposes for which +curled hair is used in the north. It is gathered from the trees with +long hooks, afterwards put into water for a few days in order to rot the +outer part, and then dried. The substance obtained by this simple +process is a fine black fibre resembling horse hair. A mattrass stuffed +in this manner may serve for a year, if not wetted; it then becomes +dusty and requires that the moss should be taken out, beaten, and the +mattress filled again, by which means it becomes more elastic than it +was before. + +We passed several settlements and islands, the mouth of the Yazoo +rivers, and on the third day we arrived at Vixburgh, or Walnut-hills. We +were now 600 miles from the mouth of the Ohio, and in that whole +distance had not seen either a hill or mountain, with the exception of a +few mole-hills at St. Helena, which rose, perhaps, to the height of +twenty or twenty-five feet above the endless plain. The first objects +which interrupt the sameness of this grand but rather uniform scenery, +are the Walnut-hills, on the east bank of the river, in the state of +Mississippi. They rise singly and perfectly detached. There may be +eight or nine in number, with a small house on the top of each. Close +to the landing-place is the warehouse of Mr. Brown; and farther back, +some merchant's stores, and two taverns. Half a mile from the bank +rises a ridge about four miles long, and 300 feet high. This hill, +notwithstanding its inconvenient situation, will probably be selected +for the site of part of Vixburgh town, which was laid out two years ago, +and is now the seat of justice for Warren county. It has already fifty +houses and three stores. Several steam-boats are regularly employed in +the cotton trade. As there is not a single place on the banks of the +Mississippi, where a town of some extent could be built without being +exposed to the floods, Vixburgh must very soon become a place of great +importance for the upper part of the state of Mississippi. The +surrounding country begins to be rapidly settled; and civilization, +which is almost extinct for more than a 1000 miles up the Mississippi +and the Ohio, here resumes its power, and increases the farther you +descend towards New Orleans. + +On the following day we passed Warrington, Palmyra, Davies', Judge +Smith's settlements, the Grand and Petit Golfe, and Gruinsburgh, and +arrived at five o'clock in the evening at Natchez. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + The Town of Natchez.--Excursion to Palmyra Plantations.--The Cotton + Planters of the State of Mississippi.--Sketch of the State of + Mississippi.--Return to Natchez. + + +Rain, and a subsequent frost, had a week before our arrival dispelled +that scourge of the south--the yellow fever. The inhabitants had +returned from the places of safety, to which they had fled in every +direction, and intercourse was again re-established, the town having +resumed all the activity I had found in it three years before. The road +to the town, properly so called, leads through a suburb, known by the +name of Low Natchez, consisting of some warehouses and shops of every +description. This place deserves, in every respect, the epithet of Low +Natchez, being a true Gomorrha, and containing an assemblage of the +lowest characters. Although fifteen years ago, a great part of the bluff +buried in its fall, several of these wretches, and every rainy season +exposes the survivors to the same fate, yet they seem unconscious of +their danger. The road ascends to the town on both sides of these liquor +shops, built as it were on the brink of a precipice. Natchez is situated +on a hill, 250 feet above the level of the water. The prospect from this +hill, or bluff, as it is called, is beautiful. At your feet you behold +this nest of sinners, close to it four or five steam-boats, and thirty +or forty keel and flat-boats anchoring in the port, with the bustle and +noise attendant on these wandering arks. On the opposite bank of the +Mississippi, which is here one mile and a quarter wide, you see the +county town of Concordia, and on both sides of this little town, +numerous plantations, with the stately mansion of the wealthy cotton +planter, and the numerous cabins of his black dependents; and in the +background, the whole scenery is girded by an immense ring of cypress +forests, which seem, as it were, to bury themselves in the flats below +the Mississippi. To the right and left a charming elevated plain +extends, with numerous gardens, which, though it was then the end of +November, still preserved their verdure, faded, indeed, into an autumnal +hue. In the rear is the town of Natchez, of moderate dimensions; but +elegant and regular as far as the broken ground would admit. The +dwelling-houses, several of them with colonnades, exhibit throughout a +high degree of wealth. The court-house, an academy, the United States' +branch bank, and the bank of Natchez, three churches, three newspaper +printing offices, one of which publishes a literary journal (the Ariel), +a library and reading-room, are the public institutions, and they are +very liberally patronised. Neither during my former journey, nor in the +present visit, could I discover any foundation for the charge of +narrowness of mind, which is made against the inhabitants. Their number +amounts to 3,540, and their houses to 600. They are mostly planters, +merchants, lawyers, and physicians, of Anglo-American extraction, with +the exception of ten or twelve German families. + +Natchez is considered as a port, and on this ground the representative +of the state obtained the most useless grant of money ever made--1500 +dollars--for the purpose of erecting a light-house, at a place 410 miles +distant from the sea. This town had been considered a healthier spot +than New Orleans, until the two last years, when it was repeatedly +visited by the yellow-fever, from which New Orleans remained free. It is +yet doubtful whether this evil is to be ascribed to the dissolute life +prevailing in lower Natchez, or to the oppressive heat which prevails on +these high plains. The distance, however, from the cooling current of +the Mississippi, short as it is, and the unwholesome rain-water, which +is used for drinking, must contribute to create bilious fevers. The +great pecuniary resources which the inhabitants of Natchez have at +command, would make it an easy matter for them to obtain their water for +drinking from the Mississippi, in the same manner as the inhabitants of +Philadelphia have raised the waters of Schuylkill. The country about +Natchez is an extensive and elevated plain, 200 feet above the level of +the Mississippi, stretching 130 miles from north to south, and about +forty miles to the eastward. Although a fertile tract of land, it is +far inferior to the Mississippi bottom-lands. The upland cotton grown +upon it, is inferior in quantity and quality to that of Mississippi +growth. The soil, however, produces corn, vegetables, plumbs, peaches, +and figs in abundance. I stayed two days in Natchez, and rode with a +friend to the distance of fifty-five miles above Natchez, on the +Mississippi, passing through Gibsonport, twenty-five miles from Natchez, +and six miles from the Mississippi, a town having a court-house, +a newspaper printing office, and about sixty houses, with 1100 +inhabitants. The following day we arrived at Messrs. D.'s plantation. +These two brothers having purchased, three years ago, 6500 acres of +land, at the rate of two dollars an acre, landed with their slaves at +their new purchase, from their former residence in Kentucky. The lands +being a complete wilderness, their first occupation was to raise cabins +for themselves and their slaves. This was accomplished in four weeks. +They succeeded during the first year in clearing fifty acres of land, +twenty-five of which were sown in the month of February with cotton +seed, the rest with corn. This was was sufficient to defray the expense +of the first year. The clearing of woods, however, in this country, if +not canebrack bottom, is not so easy a matter as in the northern states. +Numerous shrubs, thistles, and thorns, of an immense size, form hedges, +which it is almost impossible to penetrate. To these obstructions may be +added, snakes, muskitoes, and in the marshes, alligators, which, though +not so dangerous as the Egyptian crocodile, are still a great annoyance. +The trees are here destroyed in the same manner as in the north, by +killing them. Shrubs, underwood, canebrack, are burnt, and the corn or +cotton is planted instead. This is the work of the negroes, who labour +under the superintendence of their masters, or, if he be a wealthy man, +of his overseer. In the months of June or July, the ground is ploughed +or turned up; the weeds and shrubs are cleared away, as is done in the +case of Indian corn; the cultivation of cotton, though more troublesome, +being conducted much in the same manner. In the month of October, the +cotton begins to ripen, the buds open, and the white flower appears. The +present is the season for gathering cotton. Three kinds of cotton seeds +are now sown in the southern states; the green, the black, and the +Mexican seed, which latter is considered to be the best. Of the green +seed cotton, a slave may gather 150 pounds a day, of the other two +kinds, the utmost that can be collected is 100 pounds. The buds are +broken from the plants, and the cotton, with the seed, taken out and put +into round baskets, which when filled are brought into the cotton yard, +and spread along planks, for the purpose of drying. The cotton is from +thence carried to the cotton gin, the machinery of which is put into +motion by three or four horses. The cotton is thrown between a cylinder +moving round a projecting saw; by this process the seed is separated +from the cotton, which is then thrown back into a large receptacle, and +afterwards pressed into bales. These are laid in stores and kept ready +for shipping, in steam or flat boats to Natchez or New Orleans. The two +brothers in this, the third, year from the date of their establishment, +raised 200 bales of cotton from 200 acres of cleared land. According to +their own estimation, and from what I know, they might have raised 350 +bales, had it not been for a disaster which befel them in the spring of +the year 1825. They were visited with a hurricane, which lifted their +dwelling-house from the ground, carried it to a considerable distance +and completely destroyed it, with the entire furniture. Mr. D----, who +was at the plantation at the time, had great difficulty in escaping with +his wife and child, though not without a fractured leg, from the effects +of which he was still suffering. Not even a chair had been spared. The +immense trees torn up by the roots and still lying in every direction +upon the ground, the shattered cabins of his negroes, every thing +presented indications of the havoc made in this disastrous night. +Happily no human life was lost. This misfortune had, of course, +considerably retarded the improvements in progress, and thrown them back +for at least a twelvemonth. Still the planters calculated this year upon +a profit of 10,000 dollars from their plantation; 4000 dollars may be +deducted from this for household and other necessary expenses, leaving a +clear profit of 6000 dollars. The original capital of the two brothers +consisted, (including the value of their slaves), of 20,000 dollars. +They paid half the purchase money when they took possession, and the +rest in the present year. Their plantation is now worth 60,000 dollars. +In the state of Mississippi, the principal article of cultivation is +cotton, as it is the staple article of its commerce; corn and the +breeding of cattle are considered as secondary objects, though many +plantations reckon from 100 to 300 head of cattle, which have a free +range in the vast forests in quest of food. Only those intended for +fattening are kept at home and fed with cotton seed, which in a few +weeks will make them exceedingly fat. Turkeys and poultry in general are +found in abundance, and constitute with firewood the articles which are +sold to steam-boats passing on their way. Indian corn supplies in these +parts the place of rye or wheat. The slaves live exclusively on corn +bread; their masters vary it with wheat cakes. Wheat, flour, whiskey, +articles of dress, sacking, and blankets, come from the north, or from +New Orleans. The dress of the planter during the summer months consists +of a linen jacket, pantaloons of the same, Monroe boots, and a straw +hat. During the winter he wears a cotton shirt and a cloth dress. That +of his slaves during summer is a coarse cotton shirt and trowsers, with +shoes called mocasins. In winter they are furnished with cotton +trowsers, and a coat made of a woollen blanket. The females have dresses +of the same materials. The manner of living of the southern planter +differs little from that of the northern; he likes his doddy, which the +northern planter or farmer is also known to be fond of; he lives on +wheat cakes or Indian corn bread, and superintends his slaves at their +work, as the northern does his hands. Of the effeminate and luxurious +style in which the southern planters are said to indulge--of their +pretended fondness for female slaves, without whose assistance they +cannot find their beds, I have never had any proofs, though in both my +journeys I have not passed less than a year in Mississippi and +Louisiana, and know one half of the plantations. The American planter +lives in a higher style than his northern fellow citizen: this is quite +natural, considering that his income is very large, and his taxes +trifling. His chief expense, however, consists in his travels or summer +excursions to the north, where he is pleased to shew his southern +magnificence in a display of pompous dissipation. This fault, with few +exceptions, is general with southern planters. They save at home, and +renounce the very comforts of life in order to have the means of +spending more money during the summer at Saratoga, Boston, or New York. +The slave always rises at five o'clock, and works till seven, then +breakfasts--generally upon soup with corn bread, baked on a pan, and +eaten warm with a piece of bacon or salt-meat. Their tasks are assigned +to them by the master of the plantation, or if he has been settled for +some years, by an overseer. Part of the negroes are engaged in the +cotton gin, others in carpenters' or in cabinet work, each plantation +having two or three mechanics among the slaves. A third part works in +the cotton or corn fields. The females have likewise their tasks. One or +two of the girls are housemaids; two more are cooks, one for the white, +the other for the black family. The old negro women have the washing +assigned to them. The dinner of the slaves consists of corn bread, a +pudding of the same stuff, and salt or fresh meat. It is usual to give +them a piece of meat, in order to keep them in good condition. The +supper is of corn bread again, and a soup without meat. They seldom get +any whiskey, and tavern keepers are prohibited by law from selling it to +them. The first transgression is punished with a fine, the second with +the loss of the tavern licence. On Sundays the slaves are exempt from +working for their master, and permitted to attend to their family or +their own concerns. Many of them are seen gleaning the cotton fields, +collecting this way from eighty to a hundred pounds of cotton in one +day. They are not, however, so well treated as in the northern slave +states, where they are rather considered as domestics, who in many cases +would not exchange their condition for that liberty which is enjoyed by +the German peasantry. The northern slave is, for this reason, extremely +afraid of transportation, which is a sort of punishment. The southern +blacks frequently run away, and there is not a newspaper published, in +which some escapes are not announced. The Anglo-Americans, however, +treat their slaves throughout better than the French and their +descendants, with whom the wretched blacks, (their general allowance +being ten ears of Indian corn a day), experience a treatment in few +respects better than that of a beast. The principle upon which the +French descendant acts, is, that the slave ought to repay him in three +years the expense of his purchase. But, strange to say, the worst of all +are the free people of colour, who are equally permitted to possess +slaves. To be transferred into the hands of their own race, is the most +dreadful thing which can happen to a slave. Formal marriages rarely take +place between slaves: if the negro youth feels himself attracted by the +charms of a black beauty, their master allows them to cohabit. If the +female slave is on a distant plantation, the youth is permitted to see +her, provided he be trustworthy, and not suspected of an intention to +effect his escape. The children belong to the mother, or rather to her +master, who is not permitted to dispose of them before they are ten +years of age. The punishment which masters are allowed to inflict on +their slaves at home, is a flogging of thirty-nine lashes. The huts of +these people are of rough logs; lower down the river they are of regular +carpenter's work. The mansions of the American planters are in the easy +American style--sometimes frame, mostly, however, brick-houses, +constructed on four piles in the manner already described. Below +Natchez, the dwelling houses of the planters are in the old-fashioned +Spanish style, with immense roofs, but comfortable and adapted to the +climate. The windows are high and provided with shutters. They have a +summer dining room to the north, open on all sides so as to admit of a +free current of air. In the southern parts, the planter is the most +respectable and wealthy inhabitant. He lives contented, though his +domestic peace is sometimes troubled by the accidents inseparable from +the state of bondage in which his black family is kept. If he manages +his affairs well, for which very little is wanting beyond common sense +and activity, he cannot fail to become wealthy in a few years. I am +acquainted with several gentlemen, who settled in these states ten years +ago, with a capital of from 10 to 20,000 dollars. They are worth now at +least 100,000 dollars. The great difference between these plantations +and the northern farms, is the ready mart they are sure to find, and the +high price they obtain for their produce. Though the prices of cotton +are considerably reduced, yet the profit which is derived from a capital +employed in a plantation is superior to any other. The price of a +well-conditioned plantation is enormous. I can instance Mr. B., who +having inherited one half of a plantation, bought the other half for +32,000 dollars. The failures in crops are of very rare occurrence in +these parts, and generally in the fourth year after a plantation has +been begun, the produce is equal to the capital employed in the +establishment. The management of these plantations requires by no means +a very enterprising turn of mind. I know some ladies who have +established cotton plantations, and raise from four to five hundred +bales a year, being assisted only by their overseer. Mrs. Barrow, Mrs. +Hook, &c., &c., are instances in proof of what I advance. Those who are +unable to bear the summer heats, or are not inured to the climate, +reside in the north, leaving a trusty overseer in charge of the +plantation. The distance from Natchez to Louisville or Cincinnati, +between 11 and 1200 miles, may be performed in nine or ten days. The +journey is a pleasant one, and is amply rewarded by the purchases which +planters generally make in the north for themselves, their families, and +their slaves. Indolence, luxury, and effeminacy, are vices that are but +seldom to be met with in the American planter. He does not yield to the +northern farmer in activity or industry. He cannot work in person +without exposing himself to a bilious fever; but this is not necessary; +the superintendence of his affairs is a sufficient occupation for +him. In this state I found matters: after a serious and practical +investigation, and much experience, I can pronounce it to be a safer way +of employing a moderate capital in an advantageous manner, than any +other which offers itself in the United States. + +There can scarcely be a country where there is greater facility for +hunting than in these parts. Mr. D. being still lame from his late +accident, was obliged to remain at home, but he provided us with a +guide, in the person of the overseer of the Palmyra plantation, five +miles above Mr. D.'s settlement. We mounted our horses, and arrived in a +few minutes on the outside of the cotton-fields, a tract of canebrack +bottom, extending about ten miles, where we expected to start a deer or +a bear. We had not ridden above half an hour when we discovered a bear, +which was killed. We proceeded afterwards to a marsh two miles behind +the plantation, the resort of flocks of ducks and wild geese. We found +about 300 of them, and having shot nine returned home. The bear was +found to be a young one, weighing 150 pounds:--its flesh was excellent. +These animals, as well as every description of game, are found in such +prodigious numbers, that our landlord thought it not worth while sending +his slaves such a distance for the ducks and geese we had shot in the +pond; and they were, therefore, left for birds of prey to feast upon. +The following day we made a shooting excursion with the overseer of +Palmyra plantation. After partaking of some refreshments at his +dwelling, we proceeded in his company. He superintends the plantation of +Mrs. Turner, for an annual salary of 1500 dollars, with board, lodging, +&c.; a sum which would be considered in the north as a first rate +salary, suitable to any gentleman. Seven wild turkeys were the spoils of +this day; we divided them equally amongst us, reserving the seventh to +be roasted at Warrington for our dinner. Warrington, formerly the seat +of justice for Warren county, which is now transferred to Vixburgh, +though situated sixty feet above the water level of the Mississippi, is +regularly inundated by the spring floods. This town is on the decline, +owing to the removal of the seat of justice. It contains 200 +inhabitants, with forty houses, five of which are built of brick, the +rest of wood. Two lawyers, who are now on the move, two taverns, and two +stores, are to be found here. The two store-keepers, who were extremely +poor when they first settled here, eight years ago, are now worth above +20,000 dollars; one of them is going to establish a plantation. We +returned in good time, being here at a distance of twenty miles from the +plantation. Although the tract of country we came through is extremely +fertile, yet there is a great difference in the soil. The plantation of +Mr. D----, has undoubtedly the advantage over the six which came under +our notice; his cotton is of a superior quality. The richness of the +soil depends on the stratum. The best is considered to be that which is +found to have three or four feet of river sediment on a red brownish +earth; where sand or gravel forms the stratum, the land, though fertile, +is not of so durable a quality. The growth of timber is generally the +surest mode of ascertaining the nature of the soil; we measured on the +plantation of Major Davis, some sycamores torn up by the hurricane, +which were not less than 200 feet in length; and cotton trees of 170 +feet. Where such a gigantic vegetation is seen, one may rely on the +fertility and inexhaustible quality of the soil. Our guide gave me a +proof of this: in one of his fields, he raised tobacco for ten +successive years, without doing more than ploughing the earth; the +produce, instead of diminishing, has rather increased both in quantity +and quality. One can hardly conceive how a soil, apparently sandy, can +be of a nature so inexhaustibly productive; the overflowing of the +Mississippi, and the sediment left on the banks, account, however, +sufficiently for it. + +The following day we took leave of our hospitable landlord, and +returned. The country we passed through is one continued range of the +most beautiful forests, opening some times to give place to a rising +plantation. I counted between Palmyra and Natchez, twenty-five. + +The State of Mississippi was received into the Union in the year +1817. It extends from 30 deg. 10' to 35 deg. north latitude, and from 11 deg. 30' +to 14 deg. 32' west longitude; and is bounded on the north by Tennessee, +on the west by Arkansas and Louisiana, on the south by Louisiana +and the gulf of Mexico, and on the east by Alabama. It comprises an +area of 15,000 square miles. Though this state has acquired, this +ten years past, a political existence, and in point of fertility is +far superior to Missouri and Indiana, yet its population has not +increased in the same proportion;--it does not exceed 80,000 souls, +including 34,000 slaves. The emigrants to Mississippi, are either men +of fortune, or needy adventurers. The middle classes, having from 2 +to 3,000 dollars property, seldom chose to settle there, having no +prospect of succeeding by dint of personal industry. The fatigue and +labour in these hot and sultry climates, can only be borne by slaves; +a white man who should attempt the same labour which kept him stout +and hearty in the north, would soon be overcome by the heat of the +climate. Most of the respectable settlers are therefore from Virginia, +Tennessee, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Kentucky; having sold their +property there, and emigrated with their slaves into this country. The +North American, properly so called, from New England, New York, &c., +seldom ventures so far. Owing to this cause, the towns in Mississippi +and Louisiana, are neither so elegant nor so wealthy as those of the +north. With the exception of places of commerce, such as New Orleans +and Natchez, the towns of the state of Mississippi cannot be compared +to those of other states of more recent date. These smaller towns +of Mississippi and Louisiana, are generally inhabited by mechanics, +tradesmen, tavern-keepers, and the poorer classes of the people. Those +who have any fortune, prefer laying it out on plantations,--a sure and +infallible source of wealth, and the most respectable occupation in +the country. Merchants who have succeeded in making a fortune in these +small towns, remove to more convenient places. The traveller who judges +of the wealth of the country from the mean appearance of these villages +and towns, would be greatly mistaken. In order to form a correct +opinion he must visit the plantations, and he will be surprised at the +high degree of prosperity and comfort enjoyed by the possessors. + +After a stay of three days in Natchez, I took a passage on board the +steam-boat Helen MacGregor, which had lately returned from New Orleans +to Walnut hills, and was on its way to the capital of Louisiana. The +intercourse between Natchez and New Orleans is by water, travellers +naturally preferring this easy and comfortable mode of conveyance by +steam-boats to land journeys, rendered disagreeable by the wretchedness +of the roads, and the still worse condition of the generality of +inns. This evil has been occasioned by the former hospitality of the +French creoles. Any one calling at a plantation was sure of a welcome +reception. This hospitality has ceased, and the most respectable +traveller is now likely to have the door shut in his face, owing to the +misconduct of the Kentuckians. It was the practice of these gentlemen +to call on their rambles at these plantations, where plenty of rum +and brandy, with other accommodations, could be had for nothing. They +behaved with an arrogance and presumption almost incredible, not +unfrequently calling the creoles in their own houses French dogs, and +knocking them down if they presumed to shew the least displeasure. +These people are the horror of all creoles, who when they wish to +describe the highest degree of barbarity, designate it by the name of +Kentuckian. The worst of it is that the creoles, who are far from being +eminent scholars, comprehend the whole north under the appellation +of Kentucky. We started from Natchez at nine o'clock in the evening, +took in 300 bales of cotton at Bayon Sarah[E], and some firewood a +few miles below, and then passed Baton Rouge, the Bayons Plaquimines, +Manchac, Tourche, both sides of the river being lined with beautiful +plantations, and arrived on Sunday, at four o'clock, above New Orleans. + +[E] Bayons, outlets of the Mississippi, formed by nature. They are in +great numbers, and carry its waters to the gulph of Mexico. Without +these outlets, New Orleans would be destroyed by the spring floods in a +few hours. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Arrival at New Orleans.--Cursory Reflections. + + +It is certainly mournful for a traveller to dwell among the monuments of +Pompeii, of Herculaneum, and of Rome. There, if he feels at all, he +feels among these wrecks of past grandeur, that he is nothing. A totally +different sensation possesses the mind on entering an American city. In +these man beholds what he can contend with, and what he can accomplish, +when his strength is not checked by the arbitrary will of a despot. New +Orleans, the wet grave[F], where the hopes of thousands are buried; for +eighty years the wretched asylum for the outcasts of France and Spain, +who could not venture 100 paces beyond its gates without utterly sinking +to the breast in mud, or being attacked by alligators; has become in the +space of twenty-three years one of the most beautiful cities of the +Union, inhabited by 40,000 persons, who trade with half the world. The +view is splendid beyond description, when you pass down the stream, +which is here a mile broad, rolls its immense volume of waters in a bed +above 200 feet deep, and as if conscious of its strength, appears to +look quietly on the bustle of the habitations of man. Both its banks are +lined with charming sugar plantations, from the midst of which rises the +airy mansion of the wealthy planter, surrounded with orange, banana, +lime, and fig trees, the growth of a climate approaching to the torrid +zone. In the rear you discover the cabins of the negroes and the +sugar-houses, and just at the entrance of the port, groups of smaller +houses, as if erected for the purpose of concealing the prospect of the +town. As soon as the steam-boats pass these out posts, New Orleans, in +the form of a half moon, appears in all its splendour. The river runs +for a distance of four or five miles in a southern direction; here it +suddenly takes an eastern course, which it pursues for the space of two +miles, thus forming a semicircular bend. A single glance exhibits to +view the harbour, the vessels at anchor, together with the city, +situated as it were at the feet of the passenger. The first object that +presents itself is the dirty and uncouth backwoods flat boat. Hams, ears +of corn, apples, whiskey barrels, are strewed upon it, or are fixed to +poles to direct the attention of the buyers. Close by are the rather +more decent keel-boats, with cotton, furs, whiskey, flour; next the +elegant steam-boat, which by its hissing and repeated sounds, announces +either its arrival or departure, and sends forth immense columns of +black smoke, that form into long clouds above the city. Farther on are +the smaller merchant vessels, the sloops and schooners from the +Havannah, Vera Cruz, Tampico; then the brigs; and lastly, the elegant +ships appearing like a forest of masts[G]. + +[F] In New Orleans, water is found two feet below the surface. Those who +cannot afford to procure a vault for their dead, are literally compelled +to deposit them in the water. + +[G] The whole number of vessels then in port was 100 schooners, brigs, +and ships. + +What in Philadelphia and even in New York is dispersed in several +points, is here offered at once to the eye--a truly enchanting prospect. +Most of the steam-boats were kept back by the lowness of the Ohio, at +Cincinnati, Louisville, and Nashville; we landed, therefore, close to +the shore without encountering any impediment. In a moment our state +room was filled with five or six clerks, from the newspaper printing +offices, and a dozen negroes; the former to inspect the log-book of the +steam-boat, and to lay before their subscribers the names of the goods, +and of the passengers arrived; the latter to offer their services in +carrying our trunks. After labouring to climb over the mountains of +cotton bales which obstructed our passage, we went on shore. The city +had increased beyond expectation, within the last four years. More than +700 brick houses had been erected; a new street (the Levee), was already +half finished; the houses throughout were solid, and more or less in an +elegant style. It was on a Sunday that we arrived; the shops, the stores +of the French and creoles, were open as usual, and if there were fewer +buyers than on other days, the coffeehouses, grog-shops, and the +_estaminets_, as they are called, of the French and German inhabitants, +exhibited a more noisy scene. A kind of music, accompanied with human, +or rather inhuman voices, resounded in almost every direction. This +little respect paid to the Sabbath is a relic of the French revolution +and of Buonaparte, for whom the French and the creoles of Louisiana have +an unlimited respect, imitating him as poor minds generally do, as far +as they are able, in his bad qualities, his contempt of venerable +customs, and his egotism, and leaving his great deeds and the noble +traits in his character to the imitation of others better qualified to +appreciate them. + +To a new comer, accustomed in the north to the dignified and quiet +keeping of the Sabbath, this appears very shocking. The Anglo-Americans, +with few exceptions, remain even here faithful to their ancient custom +of keeping the Sabbath holy. I had many opportunities of appreciating +the importance of the keeping of the Sabbath, particularly in new +states. A well regulated observance of this day is productive of +incalculable benefits, and though it is sometimes carried too far in the +northern states, as is certainly the case in Pennsylvania and New +England, still the public ought firmly to maintain this institution in +full force. The man who provides in six days for his personal wants, may +dedicate the seventh to the improvement of his mind; and this he can +only accomplish by abstaining from all trifling amusements. In a +despotic monarchy the case is different; there the government has no +doubt every reason for allowing its slaves, after six toilsome days of +labour, the indulgence of twenty-four hours of amusement, that they may +forget themselves and their fate in the dissipation of dancing, smoking, +and drinking. The case ought to be otherwise in a republic, where even +the poor constitute, or are about to constitute, part of the sovereign +body. These ought to remember to what purposes they are destined, and +not to allow themselves, under any circumstances, to be the dupes of +others. The keeping of the Sabbath is their surest safeguard. If there +were no opportunities offered for dancing, their sons and their +daughters would stay at home, either reading their Bible, or attending +to other appropriate intellectual occupations, and learning in this +manner their rights and duties, and those of other people. The American +has not deviated in this respect from his English kinsman. If you enter +his dwelling on the Sabbath, you will find the family, old and young, +quietly sitting down, the Bible in hand, thus preparing themselves for +the toils and hardships to come, and acquiring the firmness and +confidence so necessary in human life; a confidence, which we so justly +admire in the British nation; as far distant from the bravado of the +French, as the unfeeling and base stupidity of the Russians; and which +never displays itself in brighter colours than in the hour of danger. We +are in this manner enabled to account for those high traits of character +in moments full of peril--traits not surpassed in the most brilliant and +the most virtuous epochs of Greece or of Rome. A single fact will speak +volumes--the Kent East Indiaman, burning and going down in the bay of +Biscay, in 1825. Ladies, gentlemen, officers, and soldiers, all on board +exhibited a magnanimity of heart, and a truly Christian heroism, which +must fill even the most rancorous enemies of the British people with +admiration and regard. What a different picture would have been +presented to us, if half a regiment of Bonaparte's soldiers had been on +board the ship! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Topographical Sketch of the City of New Orleans. + + +The city of New Orleans occupies an oblong area, extending 3960 feet +along the eastern bank of Mississippi, embracing six squares, 319 feet +in length, and of equal breadth. Above and below this parallelogram are +the suburbs. Higher up is the suburb of St. Mary, still belonging to +the city corporation; farther up, the suburbs Duplantier, Soulel, La +Course, L'Annunciation, and Religieuses; below, the suburbs of Marigny, +Daunois, and Clouet; in the rear, St. Claude and Johnsburgh. The seven +streets, named Levee, Chartres-street, Royal-street, Bourbon, Burgundy, +Toulouse, and Rampart, run parallel with the river, and are intersected +at right angles by twelve others, running from the banks of the +Mississippi, called the Levee, in the direction of the swamps, the +Custom-house-street, Brenville, Conti, St. Louis, and Toulouse. The +city, with the exception of Levee and Rampart-streets, is paved, an +improvement which occasions great expense to the corporation, as the +stones are imported; flags, however, are not wanting even in the most +distant suburbs. The ground on which New Orleans is built, is a plain, +descending about seven feet from the banks of the river, towards the +swamps; and it is lower than the level of the Mississippi. It is secured +by a levee, which would afford very little resistance 400 miles higher +up; but here, where numerous bayons and natural channels have carried +off part of the waters to the gulf of Mexico, it answers every purpose. +About the city, the breadth of this plain is half a mile, and above it +three-quarters of a mile, terminating in the back-ground in impenetrable +swamps. The city and suburbs are lighted with reflecting lamps, +suspended in the middle of the streets. Between the pavement and the +road, gutters are made for the purpose of carrying off the filth into +the swamps, of refreshing the air with the water of the Mississippi, +with which these gutters communicate, and of allaying the dust during +the hot season. There are now about 6000 buildings, large and small, in +New Orleans. In the first mentioned three streets, and the greater part +of the upper suburb, the houses are throughout of brick; some are +plastered over to preserve them from the influence of the sultry +climate. Though building materials of every kind are imported, and +consequently very dear, yet the houses are rapidly changing from the +uncouth Spanish style, to more elegant forms. The new houses are mostly +three stories high, with balconies, and a summer-room with blinds. In +the lower suburbs, frame houses, with Spanish roofs, are still +prevalent. Two-thirds of the private buildings may at present be said +to rival those of northern cities, of an equal population. The public +edifices, however, are far inferior to those of the former, both in +style and execution. The most prominent is the cathedral, in the +middle of the town, separated from the bank of the Mississippi, +by the parade ground. It is of Spanish architecture, with a facade of +seventy feet, and a depth of 120, having on each side a steeple, and a +small cupola in the centre, which gives an air of dignity to a heavy and +ill-proportioned structure. All illusion, however, is dispelled on +entering the church. The Catholics had the strange notion of painting +the interior, taking for this purpose the most glaring colours that can +be found--green and purple. The church is painted over in fresco, with +these colours, and presents at one view a curious taste of the creoles. +The interior is not overloaded with decorations, as Catholic churches +generally are. The high altar, and two side ones, are, with an organ, +its only ornaments. Two tombs contain the remains of Baron Carondolet +and Mr. Marigny. On one side of the cathedral is the city-hall, and on +the other, the Presbytire. The former, erected in 1795, presents a +facade of 108 feet, in which the meetings of the city council are held. +The Presbytire, 114 in front, was built in 1813, and is the seat of +the supreme District Court, and of the Criminal Court of New Orleans. +These two edifices, and the cathedral between them, form together a +dignified whole. The government-house, at the corner of Toulouse and +Levee-streets, is an old and decaying edifice, where the legislature of +the state holds its meetings. In point of situation, (among grog shops), +and of style, it may be considered the poorest state-house in the Union. + +The Protestants have three churches. The Episcopalian, at the corner of +Bourbon and Canal-streets, is an octagon edifice, with a cupola, in bad +taste. Out of gratitude to the late governor Clayborne, the inhabitants +have erected in the church-yard, a monument to his memory, with the +following inscription: + + THE + CITIZENS OF NEW ORLEANS, + TO + TESTIFY THEIR RESPECT FOR THE VIRTUES + OF + W. C. C. CLAYBORNE, + LATE + GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA, + HAVE + ERECTED THIS MONUMENT. + +The Presbyterian church, in the suburb of St. Mary, is a simple, but +chaste building, the expense of which amounted to 55,000 dollars. The +congregation being unwilling to defray the cost of its erection, it was +sold by the sheriff, and is now the property of Mr. Levy, an Israelite, +who leases it out to the congregation for 1500 dollars. The Methodist +church is a frame building, erected in 1826. + +The public hospital, in Canal-street, consists of two square buildings, +with wards for fever maladies; for dysentery; one for chronic diseases; +another for females; a third for convalescents; a bathing-room, an +apothecary's-room, and a room for the physicians and assistants. Out of +1842 patients who were received into this hospital in the year 1824, 500 +died, and the rest were discharged; out of 1700 received in 1825, 271 +died, the others recovered. The accommodations in this house seem to be +respectable; it has one thing, however, in common with all hospitals, +that no one is tempted to return to it a second time. + +There are now four banks in New Orleans; the United States Bank, with a +capital of one million of dollars; the Bank of the State, the Louisiana +Bank, and the Bank of New Orleans, each having likewise a capital of one +million of dollars. The insurance offices are five in number: the +Louisiana State Insurance Company, with a capital of 400,000 dollars; +the Fire Insurance Company, with 300,000; the Mississippi and Marine +Insurance Company, with 200,000; and the London Phoenix Insurance +Company. New Orleans has no less than six masonic lodges, including the +grand lodge of Louisiana; a French and an American theatre. The latter +was built by a Mr. Caldwell, from Nashville, in Tennessee, who has also +the management of it. It has the advantage in point of architecture, and +the French theatre in the selectness of its audience. Close to the +latter are the ball-rooms, where are given the only masked balls in the +United States. Among the public buildings may be reckoned the three +market halls, for the sale of provisions of every kind; one of them is +in the city, the two others on the upper and lower suburbs, on the +Levee. + +The nuns have removed two miles below the town, and this convent is now +the residence of the Roman Catholic bishop. In the chapel divine +service is performed; this chapel, and the cathedral, are the places of +worship belonging to the Catholics. + +The cotton-pressing establishments deserve to be mentioned. These are +now nine in number; the most important is that of Mr. Rilieux, at the +corner of Poydras-street. It has three presses; one worked by steam, +another by an hydraulic machine, and the third by horsepower. For the +security of cotton bales, eight wells, a fire-engine, &c., are within +the range of buildings; the expenses of which amounted to 150,000 +dollars. The cotton press formerly belonged to a German commission +merchant, who failed in consequence of his extravagant cotton +speculations; it is simple, but of solid construction. It can receive +10,000 bales. The expenses of the building amounted to 90,000 dollars. +Besides these are the presses of Shiff, a Jew from Germany, Debays, +Lorger, &c. A steam saw-mill on the bank of the Mississippi, in the +upper suburb, with a few iron foundries, are the only manufacturies in +New Orleans; every thing being imported from the north. + +Carondolots canal is in the rear of the town, towards the marshes. The +entrance is a basin, containing from thirty to fifty small vessels, and +opening into a canal, or rather a ditch, which has been cut through the +swamps, in order to join the Bayon St. John with New Orleans. + +Small vessels drawing no more than six feet of water, arrive from Mobile +and Pensacola[H], through lake Pont Chartrain, Bayon St. John, and the +above-mentioned canal at New Orleans, performing only a third of the way +they would otherwise have to make by going up the Mississippi. They are +in general freighted with wood, planks, bricks, cotton, &c.; and take in +goods in return. This canal, which is of great importance for the part +of the city lying contiguous to the swamps, was commenced by Baron +Carondolet, but given up at a subsequent time, and resumed in the year +1815. Its cost was trifling compared with the advantages resulting to +this city, and the salutary effects it must have in draining off part of +the swamps. + +[H] Pensacola has been established as a port for the United States navy: +1825-1826. + +The president of the city council is a mayor, or Maire, a creole. His +police regulations deserve every praise, and New Orleans, which less +than fifteen years ago was the lurking hole of every assassin, is now in +point of security not inferior to any other city. The revenues of the +city corporation amount to 150,000 dollars, which are, however, found to +be insufficient, and loans are resorted to in order to cover the +expenses. + +When the United States took possession of New Orleans, this town +consisted of 1000 houses, and 8000 inhabitants, black and white. In the +year 1820, it amounted to near 27,000; namely, 8000 white males, 5314 +white females, 1500 foreigners, 2500 men, and 400 women of colour, 3000 +male, and 4,500 female slaves; the population of the parish being then +14,000. In the year 1821, the population was 29,000; in 1822 it had +risen to 32,000; in the present year 1826, it amounts to upwards of +40,000; to be distinguished as follows: 14,500 white males, and 7500 +white females, 1300 foreigners, 3690 free men, and 800 free women of +colour, 5500 male, and 6300 female slaves. The population of the parish +is 15,000. + +As New Orleans, notwithstanding its being 109 miles distant from the +sea, is considered as a seaport, all the officers necessarily connected +with a place of that description reside there, as well as consuls from +every nation, having commercial intercourse with it;--from England, +Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Hamburgh, the Netherlands, France, +Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, with others from the Southern Republics. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view. + + +New Orleans groaned for a long time under the yoke of the most wretched +tyranny; its crowned possessors so far from doing any thing towards the +improvement of a plan which, considered in a commercial light, has not +its equal on the face of the earth, contributed as much as was in their +power to circumscribe it. After two hours rain, every kind of +communication in the city itself was quite impracticable; paving or +lighting the streets was of course out of the question; assassinations +were of almost daily occurrence: but this was not all--the place was to +be a fortress in spite of common sense. It was thought proper to +surround it with a wall eighteen feet wide and pallisadoes, five +bastions, and redoubts, upon which some old cannon were mounted, perhaps +for the purpose of keeping the Indians at a proper distance. The +Americans pulled down those pitiful circumvallations which could have no +other effect than to impede commerce, and erected others in a situation +where they are likely to be of more advantage--along the passes of the +Mississippi and of lake Pontchartrain. The city has improved in an +astonishing degree during the twenty-three years that it has been +incorporated with the United States; indeed much more in proportion than +any other town of the Union, in spite of the yellow fever, the deadly +miasmata, and the myriads of musquitoes; and it has now become one of +the most elegant and wealthy cities of the republic. If, however, we +consider its situation, it is susceptible of still greater improvements, +and it must eventually become, what nature destined it to be, the first +commercial city, and the emporium of America, notwithstanding the +concurrence of many unfavourable circumstances, and the gross +selfishness of its inhabitants. The incredible fertility of Louisiana, +the Egypt of the west, and the fertility of the states of the valley of +the Mississippi in general, which can be duly appreciated only by +personal observation, must render New Orleans one of the most +flourishing cities in the world. There is not a spot on the globe that +presents a more favourable situation for trade. Standing on the extreme +point of the longest river in the world, New Orleans commands all the +commerce of the immense territory of the Mississippi, being the staple +pointed out by nature for the countries watered by this stream, or by +its tributaries--a territory exceeding a million of square miles. You +may travel on board a steam-boat of 300 tons and upwards for an extent +of 1000 miles from New Orleans up the Red river; 1500 miles up the +Arkansas river; 3000 miles up the Missouri and its branches; 1700 miles +on the Mississippi to the falls of St. Anthony; the same distance from +New Orleans up the Illinois; 1200 miles to the north-east from New +Orleans on the big Wabash; 1300 on the Tennessee; 1300 on the +Cumberland, and 2300 miles on the Ohio up to Pittsburgh. Thus New +Orleans has in its rear this immense territory, with a river 4200 miles +long, (including the Missouri)[I]; besides the water communication which +is about to be completed between New York and the river Ohio. The coast +of Mexico, the West India islands, and the half of America to the south, +the rest of America on its left, and the continent of Europe beyond the +Atlantic. New Orleans is beyond a doubt the most important commercial +point on the face of the earth[J]. Although the states along the +Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, the +territories of Missouri, and Arkansas, undoubtedly the finest part of +the Union, have not yet a population of 3,000,000 inhabitants, their +trade with New Orleans may be estimated by the fact, that not less than +1500 keel and flat boats, with nearly a hundred steam vessels, are +engaged every year in the trade with this city. The capital laid out on +these steam-boats amounts alone to above two million of dollars. The +number of vessels that clear out is upward of 1000, which export more +than 200,000 bales of cotton, 25,000 hogsheads of sugar, 17,000 +hogsheads of tobacco, about 1250 tons of lead, with a considerable +quantity of rice, furs, &c. Besides these staple articles, the produce +of the northern states is exported to Mexico, the West Indies, the +Havannah, and South America. The commerce of New Orleans increases +regularly every year in proportion with the improvements in its own +state, and in those of the Mississippi. The wealth accruing to the +country and to the city from this commerce, is out of proportion with +the number of inhabitants. There are many families who, in the course of +a few years, have accumulated a property yielding an income of 50,000 +dollars, and 25,000 is the usual income of respectable planters. No +other place offers such chances for making a fortune in so easy a way. +Plantations and commerce, if properly attended to, are the surest means +of succeeding in the favourite object of man's great pursuit,--"money +making." This accounts for the avidity with which thousands seek New +Orleans, in spite of the yellow fever again making room for thousands in +rapid succession. + +[I] The whole course of the Mississippi exceeds, the Missouri included, +4200 miles. This latter is its principal tributary stream, and superior +in magnitude even to the Mississippi. + +[J] Below New Orleans there is no place well adapted for the site of a +large city. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + Characteristic features of the Inhabitants of New Orleans and + Louisiana.--Creoles.--Anglo-Americans.--French.--Free People of + Colour.--Slaves. + + +At the time of the cession of Louisiana to the United States (1803), +this country with its capital was inhabited by Creoles--descendants of +French settlers. Many reasons as they may have to congratulate +themselves upon their admission into the great political Union, whether +considered in a religious or political point of view, there were, +however, several causes which contributed to render them disaffected to +the measure. This repugnance is far from being removed. The advantages +on both sides were equal, or perhaps greater on the part of the United +States. The central government and the generality of Americans behaved +towards Louisiana in a becoming manner. But there is in the character +of American freedom, especially in the deportment of an American +towards foreigners and strangers in his own country, something +repulsive. It is not the pride of a nobleman accustomed to be obeyed, +nor the natural pride of an Englishman, who carries his sulky temper +along with him, and finds fault with every thing: it is rather the pride +of an adventurer--of an upstart, who exults at his not being a runaway +himself, although the descendant of one. Louisiana immediately after its +cession, was admitted to the full enjoyment of all the advantages +connected with its prerogative, as one of the states of the Union, and +its white natives, the Creoles, were considered as citizens born of the +United States. But the moment the cession was made, crowds of needy +Yankees, and what is worse, Kentuckians, spread all over the country, +attracted by the hope of gain; the latter treating the inhabitants as +little better than a purchased property. Full of prejudice towards the +descendants of a nation, of which they knew little more than the +proverb, "French dog," they, without knowing or condescending to learn +their language, behaved towards these people as if the lands, as well as +the inhabitants, could be seized without ceremony. This was certainly +not the way of thinking, or the conduct of all the northern new comers, +there being amongst them many a useful mechanic, merchant, planter, or +lawyer; but the greater number came with a degree of presumption, which +was in an inverse ratio with their unbounded and absolute ignorance. The +creoles, with a proper sense of their own independence, naturally +retreated from the intercourse of these intruders. On the other hand, +the consequences of an oppressive colonial government, the natural +effects of an enervating and sultry climate, could not fail giving to +the character of the creoles, a certain tone of passiveness, which makes +them an object of interest. They are not capable either of violent +passions, or of strong exertions. Gentle and frugal, they abhor +drunkenness and gluttony. Their eyes are generally black; but without +fire or expression. Their countenances evince neither spirit nor +animation; they can boast of very few men of superior talents. Their +gait and figure are easy, and their colour generally pale. Though unable +to endure great hardships, they are far from being cowards, as the +events of the year 1815, and the numerous duels, sufficiently attest. +The drawbacks from their character are, an overruling passion for +frivolous amusements, an impatience of habit, a tendency for the +luxurious enjoyment of the other sex, without being very scrupulous in +their choice of either the black or the white race. Their greatest +defect, however, is their indifference towards the poor, and towards +their own slaves. They treat the former with cold contempt, and cannot +easily be induced to assist their fellow-creatures. In this respect they +are far inferior to their fellow-citizens of the north, whose example +they may follow with much advantage in many things. The Union has +already changed much, and the restless and active spirit of their +northern fellow-citizens has altered their character, which now partakes +much less of the Sybarite, than it formerly did; still, they can never +be brought to exercise a mechanical trade, which they consider as below +their dignity. The female sex of Louisiana, (the creoles), have in +general an interesting appearance. A black languishing eye, colour +rather too pale, figure of middle size, which partakes of _en bon +point_, and does not exhibit any waist, are the characteristics of the +fair sex. With a great deal of vivacity, they show, however, a proper +sense of decorum. Adultery is seldom known among the better classes, +notwithstanding the many grounds afforded to them by the infidelity of +their husbands. As wives and mothers, they are entitled to every praise; +they are more moderate in their expenses than the northern ladies, and +though always neat and elegantly dressed, they seldom go beyond +reasonable bounds. Several instances are known of their having displayed +a high degree of fortitude. In sickness and danger, they are the +inseparable assistants and companions of their husbands. In literary +education, however, they are extremely deficient; and nothing can be +more tiresome than a literary _tete a tete_ with a Creole lady. They +receive their education in the convent of the Ursalines, where they +learn reading, writing, some female works, and the piano-forte. It is +superfluous to observe, being descendants from the French, that they +are the best dancers in the United States. Americans from other parts of +the Union, may be considered as constituting about three-eighths of the +present population of the state, and of New Orleans. Brother Jonathan is +to be found in all parts of the Union, and properly speaking, nowhere at +home. After having settled in one place, at the distance of 1000 miles +from his late residence, cleared lands, reared houses, farms, &c., he +leaves his spot as soon as a better chance seems to offer itself. He is +an adventurer, who would as soon remove to Mexico, or New South Wales, +provided he could "make money" by the change. Most of those who settled +in Louisiana grew wealthy either as planters or merchants, and really +the wealthiest families of Louisiana are at present Americans from other +parts of the Union, who likewise hold the most important public +stations. The governors, as well as the members of congress, and +senators, have hitherto been Americans, from the very natural reason, +that the creoles could not speak the English language, although some +important offices are filled by the latter. Nothing can exceed or +surpass the suppleness of the Yankey; and the refined Frenchmen, with +all their dexterity, may still profit from them and their kindred. + +The emigrant French are numerous in New Orleans. Among them are many +very respectable merchants, some lawyers, physicians, &c., the greater +part, however, consists of adventurers, hair-dressers, dancing-masters, +performers, musicians, and the like. The French are of all men the least +valuable acquisition for a new state. Of a lavish and wanton temper, +they spend their time in trifles, which are of no importance to any but +themselves. Dancing, fighting, riding, and love-making, are the daily +occupation of these people. Their influence on a new and unsettled +state, whose inhabitants have no correct opinion of true politeness and +manners, is far from being advantageous. Without either religion, +morality, or even education, they pretend to be the leaders of the _bon +ton_, because they came from Paris, and they in general succeed. As for +religion and principles, except a sort of _point d'honneur_, they are +certainly a most contemptible set, and greatly contribute to promote +immorality. There are a great number of Germans in New Orleans. These +people, without being possessed of the smallest resources, embarked +eight or ten years ago, and after having lost one-half, or three-parts +of their comrades during the passage, they were sold as white slaves, or +as they are called, Redemptioners, the moment of their arrival. Thus +mixed with the negroes in the same kind of labour, they experience no +more consideration than the latter; and their conduct certainly deserves +no better treatment. Those who did not escape, were driven away by their +masters for their immoderate drinking; and all, with few exceptions, +were glad to get rid of such dregs. The watchmen and lamp-lighters are +Germans, and hundreds of these people fell victims to the fever, between +the years 1814 and 1822. The rest of the white population consists of +English, Irish, Spaniards, and some Italians, amongst whom are several +respectable houses. + +The free people of colour consist of emancipated slaves; but chiefly of +the offspring of an intercourse between the whites and blacks, the +cause of which is to be sought in the nature of the climate, where +sensual passions are so easily excited. Of these descendants, the +females in particular are very handsome, and generally destined for the +gratification of the wealthier class of the French and the creoles, as +their mothers had been before them. The American seldom or never +indulges in such unrestrained pleasures. He usually marries early, and +remains faithful to his wife. Of a more steady and religious turn, he +pays strict attention to decorum and appearances, with certain isolated +exceptions of course; but in general he is more solicitous and careful +of his public character than the Frenchman, or foreigner, who has seldom +any reputation to lose. + +The negroes form the lowest class. There are certainly found some +amongst them who are entitled to praise for their honesty and fidelity +towards their masters; but thousands, on the other hand, will exhibit +the vicious nature of a debased and slavish character. There is no +doubt, that a malignant and cruel disposition characterises, more or +less, this black race. Whether it be inborn, or the result of slavery, I +leave to others to decide. + +All that can be said in favour of emancipation, may be reduced in the +compass of these few words: In the present state of things, if the +general cultivation of Louisiana, and the southern states, is to proceed +successfully, emancipation is impossible. In this climate, no white +person could stand the labour; the act of emancipation itself, +treacherous and barbarous as the slaves are, would subject their former +masters to certain destruction and death. We are, indeed, very far +behind hand in the study of the human character, and of the different +gradations of the human species. Unjust, as it assuredly was, to traffic +in fellow-creatures, as though they were so many heads of cattle, it is +equally unjust now to infringe upon a property which has been +transmitted from generation to generation, and which time has +sanctioned, without adopting some method of public compensation. All +that should be required is, that the slaves be treated with humanity--a +law might be enacted to that effect. The slaves will then be improved, +and become ripe for a state of emancipation, which may be granted at a +future period, without danger or inconvenience to their masters. + +It is, however, to be regretted, that the slave population of Louisiana +are not so well treated as in the north. The cupidity of their masters, +and their solicitude to make a rapid fortune, subject those poor +wretches to an oppressive labour, which they are hardly able to endure. +They revolted in Louisiana on three occasions, and several white persons +fell victims to their vengeance; they were, however, easily subdued, and +the example set by the executions, contributed to restore tranquillity. +It is impossible to form an idea of the degree of jealousy with which +the southern population watch and defend their rights, touching this +point. A question upon the right of a slave, as a human being, is almost +one of life and death; and lawyers, whenever they presume to defend +slaves, and to hint at their rights, are in imminent danger of being +stoned like Jews. Not long ago, a gentleman of the bar, Mr. D--e, was +very near meeting this fate. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + Public Spirit.--Education.--State of Religious Worship.--Public + Entertainments, Theatres, Balls, &c. + + +Heterogeneous as this population may seem, and as it really is, in +manners, language, and principles, they all agree in one point--the +pursuit after--"money." Americans, English, French, Germans, Spaniards, +all come hither--to make money, and to stay here as long as money is to +be made. Half the inhabitants may be said to be regularly settled; the +rest are half-settlers. Merchants, store-keepers, remain only until +they have amassed a fortune answering their expectations, and then +remove to their former houses. Others reside here during the winter, to +carry on business, and retire to the north in the month of May. That is +the case with all the Yankee commission merchants. This has, of course, +a sensible and an extensive influence upon the public, and may explain +why New Orleans, though one of the wealthiest cities of the Union, is so +backward in mental improvement. Even the better Anglo-American families +disdain to spend their money in the country where they have earned it, +and prefer removing to the north. The institutions for education are +consequently inferior to those of any city of equal extent and less +wealth, such as Richmond, and even Albany. The only literary institution +in the state of Louisiana, the college of New Orleans, is now +established, and is intended to be revived at some distance from the +capital. Free schools are now (1826) formed in the city, after the +manner of the northern states, with a president and professors; and by +and bye they will be extended to the rest of the state. Another college, +still inferior to the above-mentioned, is superintended by the Catholic +clergy. Excepting the elements of reading, writing, mathematics, and +latin, it affords no intellectual information. The best of these +schools is kept by Mr. Shute, rector of the Episcopalian church, an +enlightened and clever man, who fully deserves the popularity he has +acquired. Reading, writing, geography, particular and universal history, +are taught under his tuition, and in his own rectory. This school, and +other private ones where the rudiments are taught, comprehend all the +establishments for education in the state. + +With respect to the female sex, the creoles are educated by the nuns; +the Protestant young ladies by some boarding-school mistresses, partly +French, partly Americans, who come from the north. The better classes of +the Anglo-Americans, however, prefer sending their daughters to a +northern establishment, where they remain for two years, and then return +to their homes. Among the charitable institutions must be mentioned the +Poydras Asylum for young orphan girls, founded in 1804, by Mr. Poydras. +The legislature voted 4000 dollars towards it. Sixty girls are now +educating in this asylum. Upon the same plan, is a second asylum for +boys, where, in 1825, forty were admitted. These, besides the hospital, +are the only public institutions for the benefit of the poor. New +Orleans has eight newspapers; among these the State, and two other +papers, are published in English and French, a fourth in the Spanish, +and the rest in the English. The best of them is the Louisiana +Advertiser. + +There is not a place in the Union where religion is so little attended +to as in New Orleans. For a population of 40,000 inhabitants, it has +only four churches; Philadelphia, with 120,000 inhabitants, reckons +upwards of eighty; New York upwards of sixty. The city of Pittsburgh, +with a population of 10,000 souls, has ten churches, far superior to +those in New Orleans. Among the Protestant churches, the high church is +best provided for, and the members of this congregation are said to be +liberal, which they are generally found to be. They have recently +finished a rectory for their minister, and show that liberality which so +eminently distinguishes them. Of the Presbyterians we have spoken +before. Though they would run ten times on a Sunday to church, and hear +even as many sermons, yet they neither pay their minister, who by the +bye is far from being an amiable character, nor redeem their church out +of the hands of Israel, but prefer keeping their money to contributing +towards such objects. + +The creoles, who are Catholics, seldom visit their church, and when they +do, it is only at Easter. They have a very learned bishop, named +Dubourgh, a Frenchman, who is not however very popular, and is spoken of +for his gallantries, though a man of sixty. It is whispered about that +there is a living proof of this. A more religious character is Pere +Antoine, a highly distinguished old Capuchin friar, enjoying universal +love and popularity. The manner in which I saw the Governor and the city +authorities, with the most respectable persons of the county, behave +towards him, does as much credit to them as to the object of their +consideration. + +Of the two theatres, the American is open during five, and the French +during eight months in the year. The American theatre has the advantage +of becoming more and more national and popular, although at present it +is only resorted to by the lower class of the American population; +boatmen, Kentuckians, Mississippi traders, and backwoods-men of every +description. The pieces are execrably performed. The late Charles Von +Weber would not have been much delighted at witnessing the performance +of his Der Freyshutz, here metamorphosed into the wild huntsmen of +Bohemia. Six violins, which played any thing but music, and some voices +far from being human, performed the opera, which was applauded; the +Kentuckians expressed their satisfaction in a hurrah, which made the +very walls tremble. The interior of the theatre has still a mean +appearance. The curtain consists of two sail cloths, and the horrible +smell of whiskey and tobacco is a sufficient drawback for any person who +would attempt to frequent this place of amusement. The French theatre +performs the old classic productions of Corneille, Racine, Voltaire, +with the addition of some new ones, such as Regulus, Marie Stuart, and +William Tell. The best performer of this theatre, is Madame Clauzel. + +Towards the close of December, the carnival commences; society balls, +masquerades, or routs, besides a number of private balls, are then the +order of the day. The first, the third, and the last masquerade, and the +society balls, are the most splendid. They are regularly attended by the +daughters of the merchants and planters, who at this time come to the +city. There is, however, nothing more tiresome than a masked ball in New +Orleans. Some young merchants, and sons of planters, took it into their +heads to assume the character of poor paddies, and they dressed +themselves accordingly. This would have been for the most unaccomplished +American or English Miss, a fair opportunity for displaying at least +some wit. But the creole Demoiselles, when addressed by their lovers, +had not a word to say, except, "Oh, we know that you are no Paddies--You +are very respectable--You are the wealthy C." Another would say, "Oh, I +know that you are not an Irishman--You are the rich Y." This was the +conversation all round. Still more tedious are the public balls given +in commemoration of the eighth of January, on the anniversary of the +birth-day of Washington, &c. Until last year, and owing to the shyness +of the creoles towards their new brothers, the Americans and creoles +stood with their ladies apart, neither speaking nor dancing with one +another. Last year both parties seemed willing to draw nearer to each +other. Even these entertainments, as well as more important affairs, are +very subordinate to the all-powerful desire of "making money." This is +the final object of every one, and on every occasion. Any pursuit of a +different tendency than that of gaining money, is neglected, and deemed +unworthy of consideration. That which every town of 2000 inhabitants is +now provided with, a reading-room and circulating library, you would +seek in vain at New Orleans. Though the Anglo-Americans attempted to +establish such an institution, which is indispensable in a great +commercial city, it failed through the unwillingness of the creoles to +trouble their heads with reading. Churches or theatres are not more +patronised. To improve the moral condition is far from their thoughts, +every one being bent upon--making money, as quickly as possible, in +order the sooner to leave the place. New Orleans, considering its +situation, should again be what it was lately, were it not for the +detestable selfishness which pervades all classes, and has established a +dominion over the mind, as painful as it is disgusting. The complaints +about luxury are unfounded. The wealthy inhabitants live by no means in +such high style as they do at New York, Boston, and even Richmond, upon +a less income. There is no cause for finding fault with their +extravagance, or their dissolute manners, not because they have better +moral principles, but because they are too selfish to indulge in +pleasures that would cost "money," and would mar their principal object, +which is to amass it. The American from the north, whilst he inhabits +New Orleans, lives in a style far inferior to that in which he indulges +at home; and even if he be a permanent settler, he chooses rather to go +to the north in order to spend his money there. Only three American +houses can be said to receive good company, the rest are creoles. The +living in New Orleans, however, is good, though expensive. Board and +lodging in a respectable house, will cost sixty dollars a month; in an +inferior one, forty. The proper season of business for strangers, and +those not accustomed to the climate, is the winter. In the summer, every +one retires to the north, or across the lake, only such persons +remaining as are compelled from circumstances to do so. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + The Climate of Louisiana.--The Yellow Fever. + + +That a country, the fourth part of which consists of marshes, stagnant +waters, rivers, and lakes, and which is so near the torrid zone, cannot +be altogether healthy, is not to be denied. Although Louisiana is not so +salubrious a country as the creoles or settlers inured to the climate, +would persuade us that it is; on the other hand it is not the seat of +the plague, or of continued disease, as the North Americans or Europeans +imagine. Louisiana is no doubt a most agreeable country during the +winter and spring. The former commences in December, and continues +through January. Rains and showers will sometimes fall, during several +successive weeks, snow very seldom. North and north-east winds prevail; +a south wind will occasionally change the temperature, on a sudden, from +a northern April day to the heat of summer. The coldest winter +experienced for twenty years past, was that of the year 1821; the +gutters were choked up with ice, and water exposed in buckets, froze to +the thickness of an inch and a half. Fahrenheit's thermometer fell to +20 deg. below zero. In this year, the orange, lime, and even fig-trees were +destroyed by the frost. + +Towards the close of January the Mississippi rises, and the ice of the +Ohio breaks up. This river, seldom, however, causes an inundation. This +is generally reserved for the Missouri, the principal river that empties +itself into the Mississippi. With the month of February the spring +breaks forth in Louisiana. Frequent rains fall in this month, the +vegetation advances astonishingly, and the trees receive their new +foliage. On the 1st of March we had potatoes grown in the open fields, +pease, beans, and artichokes. South winds prevail alternately with +north-west winds. The month of March is undoubtedly the finest season in +Louisiana; there are sometimes night frosts, though scarcely felt by any +one except the creoles, and the equally tender orange flowers. The +thermometer is in this month at 68 deg.-70 deg. At this time prevails a +disease, the influenza, which arises from the sudden alternations of +cold and warm weather; it has carried off several persons. It is always +necessary to wear cotton shirts, whether in cold or warm weather. +Towards the close of March, the fruit-trees have done blooming, the +forests are clad in their new verdure, and all nature bursts out in the +most exuberant vegetation; every thing develops itself in the country +with gigantic strides. Already the musquitoes are beginning to make +their troublesome appearance, and musquito bars become necessary. Still +the heat is moderate, being cooled by the north winds and the refreshing +waters of the Mississippi. May brings with it the heat of a northern +summer, moderated however, by cooling north and north-east breezes. The +thermometer is at 78 deg. to 80 deg. At this season, frequent showers and +hurricanes coming from the south, rage with the utmost fury in those +extensive plains. With the month of June the heats become oppressive; +there is not a breath of air to be felt; the musquitos come in millions; +one is incessantly pursued by those troublesome insects. The worst, +however, is, that they will sometimes force their way through the +musquito bars. Nothing is more disagreeable than this buzzing sound, and +the pain occasioned by their sting; they keep you from sleeping the +whole night. Still they are not so troublesome as the millepedes, an +insect whose sting causes a most painful sensation. In the month of July +the heat increases. August, September, and October, are dangerous months +in New Orleans. A deep silence reigns during this time in the city, most +of the stores and magazines are shut up. No one is to be seen in the +streets in the day time except negroes and people of colour. No carriage +except the funeral hearse. At the approach of evening the doors open, +and the inhabitants pour forth, to enjoy the air, and to walk on the +Levee above and below the city. The yellow fever has not made its +appearance since 1822. It is not the extraordinary heat which causes +this baneful disease, the temperature seldom exceeding 100 deg. In the year +1825, when the thermometer rose in New York and Boston above 108 deg., it +was in New Orleans, no more than 97 deg. It is the pestilential miasmata +which rise from the swamps and marshes, and infect the air to a degree +which it is difficult to describe. These oppressive exhalations load the +air, and it is almost impossible to draw breath. If a breeze comes at +all, it is a south wind, which, from its baneful influence, exhausts the +last remaining force after throwing you into a dreadful state of +perspiration. The years 1811, 1814, and 1823, were the most terrible of +any for New Orleans. From sixty to eighty persons were buried every day, +and nothing was to be seen but coffins carried about on all sides. Whole +streets in the upper suburb, (inhabited chiefly by Americans and +Germans) were cleared of their inhabitants, and New Orleans was +literally one vast cemetery. Among the inhabitants, the poorer classes +were mostly exposed to the attacks of the unsparing and deadly disease, +as their situation did not permit them to stay at home; thus women were +for this reason, less exposed to its effects; and least of all the +wealthiest inhabitants, who were not compelled to quit their dwellings. +The creoles and others who were seasoned to the climate, were little +affected. The creole, mulatto, and negro women, are said to be the most +skilful in the cure of the disease. In 1822, hundreds of patients died +under the hands of the most experienced physicians, when these old women +commonly succeeded in restoring their own patients. Their preservatives +and medicines are as simple as they are efficacious, and every stranger +who intends to stay the summer in New Orleans, should make himself +acquainted with one of these women, in case a necessity should arise for +requiring their attendance. They give such ample proofs of their +superior skill, as to claim in this point a preference over the ablest +physicians. + +The inhabitants are in general forewarned of the approaching disease, by +the swarms of musquitoes; although they come in sufficient quantity +every summer, they make their appearance in infinitely greater numbers +previously to a yellow fever. + +This is said to have been the case on the three occasions already +mentioned. At such a time all business is of course suspended. The port +is empty, the stores are shut up. Those officers alone whose presence is +indispensable, or who have overcome the yellow fever, will remain with a +set of wretches, who, like beasts of prey feed upon the relics of the +dead, speculating upon the misery of their fellow creatures so far, as +not unfrequently to buy at auctions the very beds upon which they have +been known to expire in a few days afterwards. The first rain, succeeded +by a little frost, banishes the deadly guest, and every one returns to +his former business. + +It is to be hoped, that this scourge of the land, if it should not be +wholly extirpated, will at least become less prevalent for the future. +The police regulations adopted during the last four years, have proved +very effectual. Among these are a strict attention to cleanliness, +watering the streets by means of the gutters, shutting up the grog-shops +after nine o'clock; and removing from the city all the poor and +houseless people, at the expense of the corporation, as soon as the +least indication of approaching infection is perceived. These, and +several other wise regulations will, it is hoped, contribute greatly to +increase the population, and to give the new comers a firmer guarantee +for their lives, than they have hitherto found. When the plans in +contemplation shall have been carried into effect, and the swamps behind +the city drained, a measure the more beneficial, as the soil of these +swamps is beyond all imagination fertile; then the surrounding country, +and the city itself, will become as healthy as any other part of the +Union. With the increasing population, we have no doubt, that Louisiana +will present the same features, as Egypt in former days, bearing, as +it does, the most exact resemblance to that country. During six +months, and already at the present time, it is a delightful place, +successfully resorted to from the north, by persons in a weak state of +health. The mildness of the climate, which even during the two winter +months, is seldom interrupted by frost, the most luxuriant tropical +fruits--bananas, pine-apples, oranges, lemons, figs, cocoa-nuts, &c., +partly reared in the country, partly imported in ship loads from the +Havannah, a distance of only a few hundred miles; excellent oysters, +turtle of the best kind, arriving every hour; fish from the lake +Pontchartrain; game, venison of all sorts; vegetables of the finest +growth,--all these advantages give New Orleans a superiority over almost +every other place. Sobriety, temperance, and moderation in the use of +sensual enjoyments, and especially in the intercourse with the sex, with +a strict attention to the state of health, and an instant resort to the +necessary preservatives in case of derangement in the digestive +system,--such are the precautions that will best enable a stranger to +guard against the attacks of the disorders incident to this place. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + Hints for Emigrants to Louisiana.--Planters, Farmers, Merchants, and + Mechanics. + + +Whoever emigrates from a northern to a southern climate, experiences +more or less a change in his constitution; his blood is thinned, and in +a state of greater effervescence, and his frame weakened in consequence. +The least derangement in the digestive system in this case, produces a +bilious fever. + +The new comers emigrating to Louisiana, are either planters, farmers, +merchants, or mechanics. The former, being more or less wealthy, come +for the purpose of establishing themselves, and usually buy sugar or +cotton lands, on the banks of the Mississippi, or Red-river, which, +though in general healthy, are, on the other hand, a sure grave to those +who neglect taking the necessary precautions. Planters descend to +Louisiana in the winter months; but as the heat increases every moment, +and has a debilitating effect upon their bodies, accustomed to a cold +climate, they attempt to counterbalance this weakness by an excessive +use of spirituous liquors, to promote digestion. Notwithstanding bad +omens, and in spite of the advice of their more experienced neighbours, +their mania for making money keeps them there during the summer, and +they fall victims to their avidity for gain. + +Whoever intends to establish a plantation in Louisiana, has the free +choice between the low lands on the Mississippi, or the Red-river. There +are upwards of 200,000 acres of sugar lands still unoccupied. He may +settle himself on the banks of the above-mentioned rivers, without the +least fear, the yellow fever seldom or never penetrating to the +plantations. Thousands of planters live and continue there without +experiencing any attack of sickness. After having bought his lands, and +obtained possession, he may stay till the month of May, taking the +necessary measures for the improvement of the plantation, leave his +directions with his overseer, and remove to the north. His house, if +along the banks of the Mississippi, should be built not far from the +river, in order that he may enjoy the cooling freshness of its waters. +In the rear of his plantation, and about his house, he sows the seed of +sun-flowers, to preserve his slaves from the morning and night +exhalations of the swamps; a measure which, trifling as it may seem, +will have an incredible effect in improving the air. + +With a capital of 25,000 dollars, 5,500_l._ sterling, he may purchase at +the present time, 2,000 acres of land, for a sum of from 3 to 4,000 +dollars, and thirty stout slaves for 15,000 dollars; there will remain +7,000 for his first year's expenses. The establishment of a sugar +plantation amounts to not more than the above stated sum of 25,000 +dollars. The produce of the third year, if the plantation be properly +managed, amounts to 150,000 pounds of sugar, valued at 12,000 dollars, +besides the molasses, the sale of which will cover the household +expenses; each negro, therefore, yielding a clear annual income of 400 +dollars. + +Failures in sugar crops in plantations along the banks of the +Mississippi, never occur, except beyond 30 deg. 30' of north latitude. The +planter, however, cannot expect any thing in the first year from his +sugar fields; the canes yielding produce only eighteen months after +having been planted. The planting takes place from August until +December, by means of eye-slips. The process at the sugar-houses is +sufficiently known. These plantations, if well managed and well attended +to, are, owing to the great and constant demand for sugar, the surest +way of realising a capital, though the management requires considerable +care and attention. + +Cotton plantations are not to be judged according to the same estimate. +A cotton plantation may now be established by means of a capital of +10,000 dollars. 3000 dollars for the purchase of 1500 or 2000 acres of +land, on the banks of the Mississippi, from Baton Rouge up to the +Walnut-hills, on both sides of the river; or what is still preferable, +on the banks of the Red-river. Ten slaves at 5000 dollars, leaves 2000 +for the first year's current expenses. The beginner will not find it +difficult to clear fifty acres in the first twelve months; and to raise +from twenty-five acres, thirty bales of cotton, the produce of which +will, with the crop of corn from the remaining twenty-five acres, keep +him for the first year, the cotton alone being worth 1500 dollars, +independently of the corn. The following year he may raise sixty bales, +giving an income of 3000 dollars, every slave thereby yielding about 300 +dollars; proceeding thus in a manner which in a few years more will +render his income equal to his original capital. + +There are still unappropriated above two millions of acres of cotton +lands, of the very first quality, in the state of Louisiana; and though +it sometimes happens that the plants are killed by the frosts, as was +the case in the spring of 1826, these accidents seldom affect the +profits. The management of a cotton plantation is by no means +difficult, as it differs but little from that bestowed upon Indian corn, +and requires only a strict superintendence over the negroes. + +The cultivation of indigo has latterly been neglected, though 200,000 +acres of land in the state of Louisiana are well adapted for it. This +neglect was occasioned by the injurious effects produced upon the +labourer by the watering of the plants, and the exhalations from them. + +The cultivation of rice is more extensive. There are 200,000 acres +unoccupied. Planters generally combine the cultivation of this plant +with that of cotton or sugar. Tobacco of a superior quality is reared +about Natchitoches and Alexandria; the produce is little inferior to +that of Cuba. The price of a stout male negro is 500 dollars; if a +mechanic, from 6 to 900 dollars; females from 350 to 400 dollars; so +that 5000 dollars will purchase five men, two of them mechanics, and +five stout women, and enable their master at once to set about a +plantation, which will, in the course of three years, double the capital +of the owner, without his exposing himself to any risk. + +The easy way in which the planters of Louisiana are found to accumulate +wealth, excites in every one the desire of pursuing the same road, +without having the necessary means at command. Hundreds of respectable +farmers have paid with their lives for a neglect of this truth. +Instigated by the anxiety to become rich, and unable withal to purchase +slaves, they were under the necessity of labouring for themselves. The +consequence was, they shortly fell victims to their mistaken notions. +One can only be seasoned by degrees to the climate of Louisiana. To +force the march of time and habit, is impossible. The more stout and +healthy the person, the greater the risk. People who, allured by the +prospect of wealth, would attempt to work in this climate as they were +used to do in the north, would fall sick and die, without having +provided for their children, who are then forced upon the charity of +strangers. There are many tracts of second-rate land, equal to land of +the best quality in the northern states, in the west and east of +Louisiana, which are perfectly healthy, and where farmers of less +property may buy lands, and establish labour and corn farms, or raise +cattle in abundance. Those who have proceeded in this way, which is more +proportioned to their means, have never failed to acquire in the course +of time, a large fortune, as by the open water communication the produce +can easily be conveyed to New Orleans, where, in the summer, they find a +ready and advantageous market. These parts have hitherto been too much +neglected, to which circumstance it is greatly owing that New Orleans, +at certain seasons, is almost destitute of provisions, when the waters +of the tributary rivers of the Mississippi, Ohio, &c., are low. + +A third class of settlers in Louisiana are merchants. New Orleans has +unfortunately the credit of being a place to which wealth flows in +streams, and it is consequently the resort of all adventurers from +Europe and America, who come hither in the expectation, that they have +only to be on the spot to make money. Thousands of these ill-fated +adventurers have lost their lives in consequence. It is true, that most +of the wealthy merchants were needy adventurers, who began with scarcely +a dollar in their pockets, as pedlars, who sold pins and glass beads to +the Indians. But the surest way for the merchant who wishes to begin +with a small capital, will always be to settle in one of the smaller +towns, Francisville, Alexandria, Natchitoches, Baton Rouge, &c. Those +who have followed this course grew wealthy in a short time. I admit +there is an exception with respect to such as have a sufficient capital +to begin business with in the city itself, or to embark in commercial +relation with Great Britain, the north of the Union, or the continent of +Europe. + +The commission trade is advantageous in the extreme; and the clear +income realised in commercial business by several merchants, amounts to +50,000 dollars a year. All the French, English, and Spaniards, who have +established themselves in this place, have become rich, especially if +the individuals of the latter nations were conversant with the French +language. + +For manufacturers, there is in New Orleans little prospect. In a slave +state, where of course hard labour is performed only by slaves, whose +food consists of Indian corn, and at the most, of salt meat, and their +dress of cotton trowsers, or a blanket rudely adapted to their shapes, +the mechanic cannot find sufficient customers. Half of the inhabitants +have no need of his assistance; and as he cannot renounce his habits of +living on wheat flour, fresh meat, &c., provisions which at certain +seasons are very dear in New Orleans, his existence there must be very +precarious. The charges are proportionably enormous. The price for the +making of a great coat, is from fourteen to sixteen dollars; of a coat, +from ten to twelve dollars. The greatest part of the inhabitants, +therefore, buy their own dresses ready made in the north. The wealthy +alone employ these mechanics. + +There are yet several trades which would answer well in New Orleans, +such as clever tailors, confectioners, &c. But as almost every article +is brought into this country, the mechanics have rather a poor chance of +succeeding, and if not provided with a sufficient capital, they are +exposed to great penury until they can find customers. This class of +people are very little respected, and hardly more so than the people of +colour in Louisiana. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + Geographical Features of the State of Louisiana.--Conclusion. + + +Louisiana lies under the same degree of north latitude as Egypt, and +bears a striking resemblance to that country. Their soil, their climate, +and their very rivers, exhibit the same features, with the exception, +that the Mississippi runs from north to south, whereas the Nile takes an +opposite course. Close to the eastern bank of the former, we find a +continued series of Cyprus, swamps, and lakes, sometimes intersected by +a tributary stream of the Mississippi, with elevated banks or hills. +Farther towards the east are large tracts of lands, with pinewoods +stretching towards the river Mobile, which resembles the Mississippi in +every thing, except in size. Further southward, between the Mississippi +and Mobile, we find the rivers Amite, Tickfah, Tangipao, Pearl, +Pascagola, emptying themselves into a chain of lakes and swamps, running +in a south-east direction from the Mississippi to the mouth of the +Mobile. Further to the westward is the Mississippi in its meandering +course, its banks lined with plantations from Natchez to New Orleans, +each plantation extending half a mile back to the swamps. South of New +Orleans, is another chain of swamps, lakes, and bayons, terminating in +the gulf of Mexico. West of the Mississippi, a multitude of rivers flow +in a thousand windings, lined with impenetrable forests of cyprus, +cotton trees, and cedars, intermixed with canebrack and the palmetta. In +this labyrinth of rivers, the Red-river, the Arkansas, the White-river, +and Tensaw rivers are seen meandering. Farther east are the immense +prairies of Opelausas, and Attacapas, interspersed here and there with +rising farms, forests along the banks of the Red-river, and more to the +westward the great prairies, the resort of innumerable buffaloes and of +every kind of game. The Red-river, like the Mississippi, forms an +impenetrable series of swamps and lakes. Beyond this river are seen +pinewoods, from which issues the Ouachitta, losing itself afterwards in +the Delta of the Mississippi. Beyond these pine woods, in a north +western direction, rise the Mazernes mountains, extending from the east +to west 200 miles, and forming the boundary line between east and west +Louisiana. To the north and west of the Red-river, the country is dry +and healthy, but of inferior quality; to the east we find a chain of +lakes; to the south another chain. In summer they dry up, thus affording +fine pasturage to buffaloes. In autumn, with the rising of the rivers, +they again fill with water. Southward is a continued lake, intermixed +with swamps, which terminate at last in the gulph of Mexico. + +Louisiana, though the smallest of the states and territories formed out +of the ancient Louisiana, is by far the most important, and the central +point of the western commonwealth. Its boundaries are, on the south, the +Gulph of Mexico; on the west, the Mexican province of Tecas; on the +north, the Arkansas territory, and the state of Mississippi; and on the +east, the state of Mississippi, and Mexico. The number of inhabitants +amounts to 190,000, 106,000 of whom are people of colour. The +constitution of the state inclines to Federal. The governor, the +senators, and the representatives, in order to be eligible, must be +possessed of landed property--the former to the amount of at least 5000 +dollars, the next 1000, and the latter 500. Every citizen of the state +is qualified to vote. The government in this, as well as in every other +state, is divided into three separate branches. The chief magistrate of +the state is elected for the term of four years. Under him he has a +secretary of state. The present governor is an Anglo-American; Mr. +Johnson, the secretary, is a Creole. + +The legislative branch is composed of the senators, and of the house of +representatives. The former consists of sixteen members, elected for the +term of four years. They choose from among themselves a president, who +takes the place of the governor, in case of the demise of the +latter.[K] The house of representatives consists of forty-four members, +headed by a speaker; the court of justice of three judges of the +district court, a supreme judge of the criminal court of New Orleans, +and eight district judges, with an equal number of district attorneys. +The sessions are held every Monday. The parish and county courts have +twenty-eight county or parish judges, twenty-six sheriffs, and 159 +lawyers, to assist them in their labours. In a political view, the +acquisition of Louisiana is no doubt the most important occurrence in +the United States since the revolution; and, considered altogether, it +may be called a second revolution. Independently of the pacific +acquisition of a country containing nearly a million and a half of +square miles, with the longest river in the world flowing through a +valley several thousand miles in length and breadth, their geographical +position is now secured, and they form, since the further acquisition +of Florida, a whole and compact body, with a coast extending upwards of +1000 miles along the gulph of Mexico, and 500 miles on the Pacific +ocean. Whether the vast increase of wealth amassed by most of those who +settled on the banks of the Mississippi will prove strong enough to +retain this political link unbroken, is very much to be doubted. It is +very clear that the inhabitants of the valley of the Mississippi, and +especially of Louisiana, entertain a feeling of estrangement from their +northern fellow citizens. + +[K] The governor of Louisiana has 5000 dollars a year: the governors of +other states either 2 or 3000 dollars. According to the American money, +four dollars forty-four cents make a pound: a dollar has 100 cents. + +With the exception of a number of respectable Americans, Louisiana and +the valley of the Mississippi have hitherto been the refuge of all +classes of foreigners, good and bad, who sought here an asylum from +oppression and poverty, or from the avenging arm of justice in their +native countries. Many have not succeeded in their expectations--many +have died--others returned, exasperated against a country which had +disappointed their hopes, because they expected to find superior beings, +and discovered that they were men neither worse nor better than their +habits, propensities, country, climate, and a thousand other +circumstances had made them. The fault was theirs. Though there exists +not, perhaps, a country in the world where a fortune can be made in an +easier way, yet it cannot be made without industry, steadiness, and a +small capital to begin with--things in which these people were mostly +deficient. And there is another circumstance not to be lost sight of. +Whoever changes his country should have before him a complete view and a +clear idea of the state in which he intends to settle, as well as of the +rest of the Union: he ought to depend upon his own means, on himself in +short, and not upon others. Upon no other terms will prosperity and +happiness attend the emigrant's exertions in the United States. The +foreign mechanic who, emigrating into the United States, selects the +states of New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio, will find sufficient +occupation, his trade respected, and his industry rewarded by wealth and +political consequence. The manufacturer with a moderate capital, will +choose Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and the like places. The merchant who is +possessed of 2 or 3000 dollars, and settles in Ohio, in the north +western part of Pennsylvania, or over in Illinois, will, if he be +prudent and steady, have no reason to complain of the Yankees. The +farmer, with a capital of from 3 to 4000 dollars, will fix upon the +state of Ohio, in preference to any other, especially if he comes +accompanied only by his own family, and is therefore obliged to rely on +the friendly assistance of his neighbours. He will there prefer the +lands adjacent to navigable rivers, or to the rise of the new canal. If +he goes beyond Ohio, he will find eligible situations in Illinois, and +in Missouri. Any one who can command a capital exceeding 10,000 dollars, +who is not incumbered with a large family, and whose mind does not +revolt at the idea of being the owner of slaves, will choose the state +of Mississippi, or of Louisiana, and realize there in a short time a +fortune beyond his most sanguine expectations. He has his choice there +of the unsold lands along the Mississippi, and Red-river, in the +parishes of Plaquemines or Bayon Bastier; in the interior, of La +Fourche, Iberville, Attacapas, Opelousas, Rapides, Nachitoches, +Concordia, New Feliciana, and all the way up the Mississippi, to +Walnut-hills, four hundred miles above New Orleans. All that has been +urged against the unhealthiness of the country may be answered in these +few words. Louisiana, though not at every season of the year equally +salubrious, is far healthier than Cuba, Jamaica, and the West Indies in +general. Thousands of people live free from the attacks of any kind of +fever. On the plantations there is not the least danger.--In New Orleans +the yellow fever has not appeared these four years past, and the place +is so far from being unhealthy now, that the mortality for the last +three years was less in this place than in Boston, New York and +Philadelphia. Cleanliness, sobriety, a strict attention to the digestive +system, and the avoiding of strong liquors, and exposure to heat, or to +the rising miasmata, will keep every one as healthy in Louisiana as any +where else. The neglect of proper precautions will cause as serious +inconvenience in Louisiana as in any other country. This is the real +condition of the state, and those acquainted with it will readily bear +testimony to the correctness of my opinion, that it holds out not only +to British emigrants, but also to capitalists of that country, +advantages far surpassing those of their own vast dominions in any +quarter of the globe. + +In Louisiana they should embark a part of their capital, not in land +speculations, or in buying extensive tracts, which they have to sell in +the course of time in small parcels, but in plantations. These are +sources of wealth far superior to the gold mines of Mexico, and are +guaranteed by a firm constitution, and by the character and the habits +of a liberal people, taken in the whole, whatever John Bull may have to +say against it. In this manner may the said John Bull still reap the +reward of his having formed and maintained the first settlements in the +United States, at a vast expense of blood and treasure. + +This would be the means of drawing closer the now rather relaxed ties +which formerly united him with his kinsman, for Brother Jonathan is +neither so bad as John Bull supposes him to be, nor so faultless as he +fancies himself.--_Medium tenuere beati._ + + +THE END. + + + + + TABLE + + OF THE + + STATES, COUNTIES, CITIES, TOWNS, AND VILLAGES. + + + _Pittsburgh_, county town of _Alleghany_ county. + + _Alleghany_ (river), _Monongehela_ (river). + + _Oeconomy_, Rapp's Settlement in Beaver county. + + _Zanesville_, capital of _Muskiagum_ county. + + _New Lancaster_, capital of _Fairfield_ county. + + _Columbus_, capital of the State of _Ohio_. + + _Chilicothe_, capital of the _Sciota_ county. + + _Franklintown_, capital of _Franklin_ county. + + _Cincinnati_, capital of _Hamilton_ county. + + _Newport_, capital of _Campbell_ county, in _Kentucky_. + + _Vevay_, capital of _New Switzerland_ county, in the State of + _Indiana_. + + _Madisonville_, capital of _Jefferson_ county. + + _Charlestown_, capital of _Clark_ county. + + _Jeffersonville_, capital of _Floyd_ county. + + _Clarkesville_ and _New Albany_, villages of _Floyd_ county. + + _Louisville_, capital of _Jefferson_ county, in _Kentucky_. + + _Shippingport_ and _Portland_, villages. + + _Troy_, capital of _Crawford_ county. + + _Owensborough_, capital of _Henderson_ county. + + _Harmony_, in _Indiana_, second settlement of _Rapp_, purchased + 1823, by _Owen_, of _Lanark_. + + _Shawneetown_, in the State of _Illinois_. + + _Fort Massai_, in the State of _Illinois_. + + _Golconda_, capital of _Pope_ county. + + _Vienna_, capital of _Johnson_ county. + + _America_, capital of _Alexander_ county. + + _Trinity_, village of _Alexander_. + + _Kaskakia_, _Cahokia_, towns of _Illinois_. + + _Vandalia_, capital of the State of _Illinois_. + + _Hamburgh_, village in _Illinois_. + + _Cape Girardeau_, capital of the county of the same name. + + _St. Genevieve_ and _Herculaneum_, towns of the State of _Missouri_. + + _City of St. Louis_, capital of _Missouri_ (the state). + + _New Madrid_, capital of _New Madrid_ county. + + _Tennessee_, State of + + _Nashville_, _Knoxville_, towns of _Tennessee_, and _New + Ereesborough_, capital of the State. + + _Hopefield_, capital of _Hempstead_ county. + + _St. Helena_, village of _Arkansas_ territory. + + _Vixburgh_, capital of _Warren_ county. + + _Warrington_, village of _Warren_ county. + + _Palmyra Plantations_, _Bruinsburgh_, _Natchez_ (city of), in the + State of _Mississippi_. + + _Gibsonport_, capital of _Gibson_ county. + + _Baton Rouge_, _Plaquemines_, _Manchac_, _Bayon_, _Tourche_, the + former the capital of the county, and the latter bayons. + + _New Orleans_ (city of), the capital of _Louisiana_. + +IN CHAPTER XIX. THE FOLLOWING RIVERS OCCUR. + + _Mobile_--the rivers _Amite_, _Tickfah_, _Tangipao_, _Pearl_, + _Pascaguala_, _Arkansas_, _White_ and _Red-River_, _Tensaw_. + + _Plaquemines_, _Interior of la Tourche_, _Iberville_, _Attacapas_, + _Opelousas_, _Rapides_, _Natchitoches_, _Concordia_, _Avoyelles_, + _New Feliciana_, _Parishes of Louisiana_. + +N.B. The Counties in the State of Louisiana, are called Parishes. + + + _Printed by Bradbury & Dent, Bolt-court, Fleet-street._ + + +Transcriber's Note + +Minor errors in punctuation are corrected silently. + +In the final table of place names, 'New Ereesborough' is referred to +as the state capital of Tennessee. This seems a corruption of +'Murfreesborough', which was the capital until 1826. + +The following issues, which were deemed printer's errors, and their +resolutions are described here: + +p. ii [t]hroughout] Added. + +p. 80 approach[e]d Added. + +p. 82 Baton [D/R]ouge Corrected. + +p. 99 hickor[i]y Removed. + +p. 108 backswood-man / backwoods-man Corrected. + +p. 206 Fran[s]cisville Removed. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Americans as They Are, by Charles Sealsfield + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICANS AS THEY ARE *** + +***** This file should be named 44268.txt or 44268.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/2/6/44268/ + +Produced by KD Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from +images generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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