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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Four Months in a Sneak-Box, by Nathaniel H. Bishop
+(#2 in our series by Nathaniel H. Bishop)
+
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+
+Title: Four Months in a Sneak-Box
+
+Author: Nathaniel H. Bishop
+
+Release Date: May, 2004  [EBook #5686]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on August 7, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, FOUR MONTHS IN A SNEAK-BOX ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by Bruce Miller
+
+
+
+
+FOUR MONTHS IN A SNEAK-BOX.
+
+A BOAT VOYAGE OF 2600 MILES DOWN THE OHIO
+AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS, AND ALONG
+THE GULF OF MEXICO.
+
+BY
+NATHANIEL H. BISHOP
+
+AUTHOR OF "A THOUSAND MILES' WALK ACROSS SOUTH AMERICA," AND "VOYAGE
+OF THE PAPER CANOE."
+
+
+TO THE
+OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
+OF THE
+LIGHT HOUSE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES
+This Book is Dedicated
+BY ONE WHO HAS LEARNED TO RESPECT THEIR
+HONEST, INTELLIGENT AND EFFICIENT LABORS
+IN SERVING THEIR GOVERNMENT, THEIR
+COUNTRYMEN, AND MANKIND
+GENERALLY.
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+EIGHTEEN months ago the author gave to the public his "VOYAGE OF THE
+PAPER CANOE:--A GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNEY OF 2500 MILES FROM QUEBEC TO THE
+GULF OF MEXICO, DURING THE YEARS 1874-5."
+
+The kind reception by the American press of the author's first journey
+to the great southern sea, and its republication in Great Britain and
+in France within so short a time of its appearance in the United
+States, have encouraged him to give the public a companion volume,--
+"FOUR MONTHS IN A SNEAK-BOX,"--which is a relation of the experiences
+of a second cruise to the Gulf of Mexico, but by a different route
+from that followed in the "VOYAGE OF THE PAPER CANOE." This time the
+author procured one of the smallest and most comfortable of boats--a
+purely American model, developed by the bay-men of the New Jersey
+coast of the United States, and recently introduced to the gunning
+fraternity as the BARNEGAT SNEAK-BOX. This curious and stanch little
+craft, though only twelve feet in length, proved a most comfortable
+and serviceable home while the author rowed in it more than 2600 miles
+down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and along the coast of the Gulf
+of Mexico, until he reached the goal of his voyage--the mouth of the
+wild Suwanee River--which was the terminus of his "VOYAGE OF THE PAPER
+CANOE."
+
+The maps which illustrate the contours of the coast of the Gulf of
+Mexico, like those in the other volume, are the most reliable ever
+given to the public, having been drawn and engraved, by contract for
+the work, by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Bureau.
+
+LAKE GEORGE, WARREN CO.,
+NEW YORK STATE,
+
+SEPTEMBER 1st, 1879.
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER I.
+THE BOAT FOR THE VOYAGE.
+CANOES FOR SHALLOW STREAMS AND FREQUENT PORTAGES.-- SNEAK-BOXES FOR
+DEEP WATERCOURSES.-- HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE BARNEGAT SNEAK-
+BOX.-- A WALK DOWN EEL STREET TO MANAHAWKEN MARSHES.-- HONEST GEORGE,
+THE BOAT-BUILDER.-- THE BUILDING OF THE SNEAK-BOX "CENTENNIAL
+REPUBLIC."-- ITS TRANSPORTATION TO THE OHIO RIVER.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+SOURCES OF THE OHIO RIVER.
+DESCRIPTION OF THE MONONGAHELA AND ALLEGHANY RIVERS.-- THE OHIO
+RIVER.-- EXPLORATION OF CAVELIER DE LA SALLE.-- NAMES GIVEN BY ANCIENT
+CARTOGRAPHERS TO THE OHIO.-- ROUTES OF THE ABORIGINES FROM THE GREAT
+LAKES TO THE OHIO RIVER.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+FROM PITTSBURGH TO BLENNERHASSET'S ISLAND.
+THE START FOR THE GULF.-- CAUGHT IN THE ICE-RAFT.-- CAMPING ON THE
+OHIO.-- THE GRAVE CREEK MOUND.-- AN INDIAN SEPULCHRE.--
+BLENNERHASSET'S ISLAND.-- AARON BURR'S CONSPIRACY.-- A RUINED FAMILY.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+FROM BLENNERHASSET'S ISLAND TO CINCINNATI.
+RIVER CAMPS.-- THE SHANTY-BOATS AND RIVER MIGRANTS.-- VARIOUS
+EXPERIENCES.-- ARRIVAL AT CINCINNATI.-- THE SNEAK-BOX FROZEN UP IN
+PLEASANT RUN.-- A TAILOR'S FAMILY.-- A NIGHT UNDER A GERMAN COVERLET.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+FROM CINCINNATI TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
+CINCINNATI.-- MUSIC AND PORK IN PORKOPOLIS.-- THE BIG BONE LICK OF
+FOSSIL ELEPHANTS.-- COLONEL CROGHAN'S VISIT TO THE LICK.-- PORTAGE
+AROUND THE "FALLS," AT LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.-- STUCK IN THE MUD.-- THE
+FIRST STEAMBOAT OF THE WEST.-- VICTOR HUGO ON THE SITUATION.-- A
+FREEBOOTER'S DEN.-- WHOOPING AND SAND-HILL CRANES.-- THE SNEAK-BOX
+ENTERS THE MISSISSIPPI.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+DESCENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
+LEAVE CAIRO, ILLINOIS.-- THE LONGEST RIVER IN THE WORLD.-- BOOK
+GEOGRAPHY AND BOAT GEOGRAPHY.-- CHICKASAW BLUFF.-- MEETING WITH THE
+PARAKEETS.-- FORT DONALDSON.-- EARTHQUAKES AND LAKES.-- WEIRD BEAUTY
+OF REELFOOT LAKE.-- JOE ECKEL'S BAR.-- SHANTY-BOAT COOKING.-- FORT
+PILLOW.-- MEMPHIS.-- A NEGRO JUSTICE.-- "DE COMMON LAW OB
+MISSISSIPPI."
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+DESCENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI TO NEW ORLEANS.
+A FLATBOAT BOUND FOR TEXAS.-- A FLAT-MAN ON RIVER PHYSICS.-- ADRIFT
+AND ASLEEP.-- SEEKING THE EARTH'S LITTLE MOON.-- VICKSBURGH.--
+JEFFERSON DAVIS'S COTTON PLANTATION, AND ITS NEGRO OWNER.-- DYING IN
+HIS BOAT.-- HOW TO CIVILIZE CHINESE.-- A SWIM OF ONE HUNDRED AND
+TWENTY MILES ON THE MISSISSIPPI.-- TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN THE WATER.--
+ARRIVAL IN THE CRESCENT CITY.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+NEW ORLEANS.
+BIENVILLE AND THE CITY OF THE PAST.-- FRENCH AND SPANISH RULE IN THE
+NEW WORLD.-- LOUISIANA CEDED TO THE UNITED STATES.-- CAPTAIN EADS AND
+HIS JETTIES.-- TRANSPORTATION OF CEREALS TO EUROPE.-- CHARLES MORGAN.-
+- CREOLE TYPES OF CITIZENS.-- LEVEES AND CRAWFISH.-- DRAINAGE OF THE
+CITY INTO LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+ON THE GULF OF MEXICO.
+LEAVE NEW ORLEANS.-- THE ROUGHS AT WORK.-- DETAINED AT NEW BASIN.--
+SADDLES INTRODUCES HIMSELF.-- CAMPING AT LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN.-- THE
+LIGHT-HOUSE OF POINT AUX HERBES.-- THE RIGOLETS.-- MARSHES AND
+MOSQUITOES.-- IMPORTANT USE OF THE MOSQUITO AND BLOW-FLY.-- ST.
+JOSEPH'S LIGHT.-- AN EXCITING PULL TO BAY ST. LOUIS.-- A LIGHT-KEEPER
+LOST IN THE SEA.-- BATTLE OF THE SHARKS.-- BILOXI.-- THE WATER-CRESS
+GARDEN.-- LITTLE JENNIE.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+FROM BILOXI TO CAPE SAN BLAS.
+POINTS ON THE GULF COAST.-- MOBILE BAY.-- THE HERMIT OF DAUPHINE
+ISLAND.-- BON SECOURS BAY.-- A CRACKER'S DAUGHTER.-- THE PORTAGE TO
+THE PERDIDO.-- THE PORTAGE FROM THE PERDIDO TO BIG LAGOON.-- PENSACOLA
+BAY.-- SANTA ROSA ISLAND.-- A NEW LONDON FISHERMAN.-- CATCHING THE
+POMPANO.-- A NEGRO PREACHER AND WHITE SINNERS.-- A DAY AND A NIGHT
+WITH A MURDERER.-- ST. ANDREW'S SOUND.-- ARRIVAL AT CAPE SAN BLAS.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+FROM CAPE SAN BLAS TO ST. MARKS.
+A PORTAGE ACROSS CAPE SAN BLAS.-- THE COW-HUNTERS.-- A VISIT TO THE
+LIGHT-HOUSE.-- ONCE MORE ON THE SEA.-- PORTAGE INTO ST. VINCENT'S
+SOUND.-- APALACHICOLA.-- ST. GEORGE'S SOUND AND OCKLOCKONY RIVER.--
+ARRIVAL AT ST. MARKS.-- THE NEGRO POSTMASTER.-- A PHILANTHROPIST AND
+HIS NEIGHBORS.-- A CONTINUOUS AND PROTECTED WATER-WAY FROM THE
+MISSISSIPPI TO THE ATLANTIC COAST.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+FROM ST. MARKS TO THE SUWANEE RIVER.
+ALONG THE COAST.-- SADDLES BREAKS DOWN.-- A REFUGE WITH THE
+FISHERMEN.-- CAMP IN THE PALM FOREST.-- PARTING WITH SADDLES.-- OUR
+NEIGHBOR THE ALLIGATOR.-- DISCOVERY OF THE TRUE CROCODILE IN AMERICA.-
+- THE DEVIL'S WOOD-PILE.-- DEADMAN'S BAY.-- BOWLEGS POINT.-- THE COAST
+SURVEY CAMP.-- A DAY ABOARD THE "READY."-- THE SUWANEE RIVER.-- THE
+END.
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+DRAWN BY F. T. MERRILL. ENGRAVED BY JOHN ANDREW & SON.
+
+SHANTY-BOATS--THE CHAMPION FLOATERS OF THE
+                  WEST....... FRONTISPIECE.
+DIAGRAM OF PARTS OF BOAT...14
+INDIAN IN CANOE...28
+THE START--HEAD OF THE OHIO RIVER  ...31
+COAL-STOVE. . .39
+INDIAN MOUND AT MOUNDSVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA...54
+A NIGHT UNDER A GERMAN COVERLET...78
+POPULAR IDEA OF THE NESTING OF CRANES...111
+STERN-WHEEL WESTERN TOW-BOAT PUSHING FLATBOATS...114
+MEETING WITH THE PARAKEETS...125
+DYING IN HIS BOAT...177
+BOYTON DESCENDING THE MISSISSIPPI...187
+NEW ORLEANS ROUGHS AMUSING THEMSELVES...214
+ARRIVAL AT THE GULF OF MEXICO--CAMP MOSQUITO...239
+THE PORTAGE ACROSS CROOKED ISLAND...269
+SADDLES BREAKS DOWN...292
+PARTING WITH SADDLES...302
+LAST NIGHT ON THE GULF OF MEXICO...322
+
+
+LIST OF MAPS
+
+DRAWN AND ENGRAVED BY THE UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY
+BUREAU
+TO ILLUSTRATE N. H. BISHOP'S BOAT VOYAGES.
+
+
+1. GENERAL MAP OF ROUTES FOLLOWED BY THE AUTHOR DURING HIS TWO VOYAGES
+MADE TO THE GULF OF MEXICO, IN THE YEARS 1874-6.....OPPOSITE PAGE 1
+
+GUIDE MAPS OF ROUTE FOLLOWED
+
+IN DUCK-BOAT "CENTENNIAL REPUBLIC," ALONG THE GULF OF MEXICO, IN 1876
+
+
+2. FROM NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, TO MOBILE BAY, ALABAMA. . . .OPPOSITE
+209
+
+3. FROM MOBILE BAY, ALABAMA, TO CAPE SAN BLAS, FLORIDA. . . .OPPOSITE
+247
+
+4. FROM CAPE SAN BLAS, FLORIDA, TO CEDAR KEYS, FLORIDA. . . .OPPOSITE
+273
+
+
+MAP SHOWING RIVER AND PORTAGE ROUTES
+
+
+ACROSS FLORIDA FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.
+
+
+5. ROUTE FOLLOWED BY THE AUTHOR IN PAPER CANOE "MARIA THERESA," IN
+1875. . . . OPPOSITE 319
+
+
+[MAP OF ROUTES FOLLOWED BY N. H. BISHOP IN PAPER CANOE "MARIA THERESA"
+AND DUCK-BOAT "CENTENNIAL REPUBLIC" 1874-1876]
+
+Four Months in a Sneak-Box
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE BOAT FOR THE VOYAGE
+
+CANOES FOR SHALLOW STREAMS AND FREQUENT PORTAGES.-- SNEAK-BOXES FOR
+DEEP WATERCOURSES.-- HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE BARNEGAT SNEAK-
+BOX.-- A WALK DOWN EEL STREET TO MANAHAWKEN MARSHES.-- HONEST GEORGE,
+THE BOAT-BUILDER.-- THE BUILDING OF THE SNEAK-BOX "CENTENNIAL
+REPUBLIC."-- ITS TRANSPORTATION TO THE OHIO RIVER.
+
+
+
+THE READER who patiently followed the author in his long "VOYAGE OF
+THE PAPER CANOE," from the high latitude of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
+to the warmer regions of the Gulf of Mexico, may desire to know the
+reasons which impelled the canoeist to exchange his light, graceful,
+and swift paper craft for the comical-looking but more commodious and
+comfortable Barnegat sneak-box, or duck-boat. Having navigated more
+than eight thousand miles in sail-boats, row-boats, and canoes, upon
+the fresh and salt watercourses of the North American continent
+(usually without a companion), a hard-earned experience has taught me
+that while the light, frail canoe is indispensable for exploring
+shallow streams, for shooting rapids, and for making long portages
+from one watercourse to another, the deeper and more continuous water-
+ways may be more comfortably traversed in a stronger and heavier boat,
+which offers many of the advantages of a portable home.
+
+To find such a boat--one that possessed many desirable points in a
+small hull--had been with me a study of years. I commenced to search
+for it in my boyhood--twenty-five years ago; and though I have
+carefully examined numerous small boats while travelling in seven
+foreign countries, and have studied the models of miniature craft in
+museums, and at exhibitions of marine architecture, I failed to
+discover the object of my desire, until, on the sea-shore of New
+Jersey, I saw for the first time what is known among gunners as the
+Barnegat sneak-box.
+
+Having owned, and thoroughly tested in the waters of Barnegat and
+Little Egg Harbor bays, five of these boats, I became convinced that
+their claims for the good-will of the boating fraternity had not been
+over-estimated; so when I planned my second voyage from northern
+America to the Gulf of Mexico, and selected the great water-courses of
+the west and south (the Ohio and Mississippi rivers) as the route to
+be explored and studied, I chose the Barnegat sneak-box as the most
+comfortable model combined with other advantages for a voyager's use.
+The sneak-box offered ample stowage capacity, while canoes built to
+hold one person were not large enough to carry the amount of baggage
+necessary for the voyage; for I was to avoid hotels and towns, to live
+in my boat day and night, to carry an ample stock of provisions, and
+to travel in as comfortable a manner as possible. In fact, I adopted a
+very home-like boat, which, though only twelve feet long, four feet
+wide, and thirteen inches deep, was strong, stiff, dry, and safe; a
+craft that could be sailed or rowed, as wind, weather, or inclination
+might dictate,--the weight of which hardly exceeded two hundred
+pounds,--and could be conveniently transported from one stream to
+another in an ordinary wagon.
+
+A Nautilus, or any improved type of canoe, would have been lighter and
+more easily transported, and could have been paddled at a higher speed
+with the same effort expended in rowing the heavier sneak-box; but the
+canoe did not offer the peculiar advantages of comfort and freedom of
+bodily motion possessed by its unique fellow-craft. Experienced
+canoeists agree that a canoe of fourteen feet in length, which weighs
+only seventy pounds, if built of wood, bark, canvas, or paper, when
+out of the water and resting upon the ground, or even when bedded on
+some soft material, like grass or rushes, cannot support the sleeping
+weight of the canoeist for many successive nights without becoming
+strained.
+
+Light indeed must be the weight and slender and elastic the form of
+the man who can sleep many nights comfortably in a seventy-pound canoe
+without injuring it. Cedar canoes, after being subjected to such use
+for some time, generally become leaky; so, to avoid this disaster, the
+canoeist, when threatened with wet weather, is forced to the
+disagreeable task of troubling some private householder for a shelter,
+or run the risk of injuring his boat by packing himself away in its
+narrow, coffin-like quarters and dreaming that he is a sardine, while
+his restless weight is every moment straining his delicate canoe, and
+visions of future leaks arise to disturb his tranquillity.
+
+The one great advantage possessed by a canoe is its lightness.
+Canoeists dwell upon the importance of the LIGHT WEIGHT of their
+canoes, and the ease with which they can be carried. If the canoeist
+is to sleep in his delicate craft while making a long journey, she
+must be made much heavier than the perfected models now in use in this
+country, many of which are under seventy-five pounds' weight. This
+additional weight is at once fatal to speed, and becomes burdensome
+when the canoeist is forced to carry his canoe upon his OWN shoulders
+over a portage. A sneak-box built to carry one person weighs about
+three times as much as a well-built cedar canoe.
+
+This remarkable little boat has a history which does not reach very
+far back into the present century. With the assistance of Mr. William
+Errickson of Barnegat, and Dr. William P. Haywood of West Creek, Ocean
+County, New Jersey, I have been able to rescue from oblivion and bring
+to the light of day a correct history of the Barnegat sneak-box.
+
+Captain Hazelton Seaman, of West Creek village, New Jersey, a boat-
+builder and an expert shooter of wild-fowl, about the year 1836,
+conceived the idea of constructing for his own use a low-decked boat,
+or gunning-punt, in which, when its deck was covered with sedge, he
+could secrete himself from the wild-fowl while gunning in Barnegat and
+Little Egg Harbor bays.
+
+It was important that the boat should be sufficiently light to enable
+a single sportsman to pull her from the water on to the low points of
+the bay shores. During the winter months, when the great marshes were
+at times incrusted with snow, and the shallow creeks covered with
+ice,--obstacles which must be crossed to reach the open waters of the
+sound,--it would be necessary to use her as a sled, to effect which
+end a pair of light oaken strips were screwed to the bottom of the
+sneak-box, when she could be easily pushed by the gunner, and the
+transportation of the oars, sail, blankets, guns, ammunition, and
+provisions (all of which stowed under the hatch and locked up as
+snugly as if in a strong chest) became a very simple matter. While
+secreted in his boat, on the watch for fowl, with his craft hidden by
+a covering of grass or sedge, the gunner could approach within
+shooting-distance of a flock of unsuspicious ducks; and this being
+done in a sneaking manner (though Mr. Seaman named the result of his
+first effort the "Devil's Coffin" the bay-men gave her the sobriquet
+of "SNEAK-BOX"; and this name she has retained to the present day.
+
+Since Captain Seaman built his "Devil's Coffin," forty years ago, the
+model has been improved by various builders, until it is believed that
+it has almost attained perfection. The boat has no sheer, and sets low
+in the water. This lack of sheer is supplied by a light canvas apron
+which is tacked to the deck, and presents, when stretched upward by a
+stick two feet in length, a convex surface to a head sea. The water
+which breaks upon the deck, forward of the cockpit, is turned off at
+the sides of the boat in almost the same manner as a snow-plough
+clears a railroad track of snow. The apron also protects the head and
+shoulders of the rower from cold head winds.
+
+The first sneak-box built by Captain Seaman had a piece of canvas
+stretched upon an oaken hoop, so fastened to the deck that when a head
+sea struck the bow, the hoop and canvas were forced upward so as to
+throw the water off its sides, thus effectually preventing its ingress
+into the hold of the craft. The improved apron originated with Mr.
+John Crammer, Jr., a short time after Captain Seaman built the first
+sneak-box. The second sneak-box was constructed by Mr. Crammer; and
+afterwards Mr. Samuel Perine, an old and much respected bay-man, of
+Barnegat, built the third one. The last two men have finished their
+voyage of life, but "Uncle Haze,"--as he is familiarly called by his
+many admirers,--the originator of the tiny craft which may well be
+called multum in parvo, and which carried me, its single occupant,
+safely and comfortably twenty-six hundred miles, from Pittsburgh to
+Cedar Keys, still lives at West Creek, builds yachts as well as he
+does sneak-boxes, and puts to the blush younger gunners by the energy
+displayed and success attained in the vigorous pursuit of wildfowl
+shooting in the bays which fringe the coast of Ocean County, New
+Jersey.
+
+A few years since, this ingenious man invented an improvement on the
+marine life-saving car, which has been adopted by the United States
+government; and during the year 1875 he constructed a new ducking-punt
+with a low paddle-wheel at its stern, for the purpose of more easily
+and secretly approaching flocks of wild-fowl.
+
+The peculiar advantages of the sneak-box were known to but few of the
+hunting and shooting fraternity, and, with the exception of an
+occasional visitor, were used only by the oystermen, fishermen, and
+wild-fowl shooters of Barnegat and Little Egg Harbor bays, until the
+New Jersey Southern Railroad and its connecting branches penetrated to
+the eastern shores of New Jersey, when educated amateur sportsmen from
+the cities quickly recognized in the little gunning-punt all they had
+long desired to combine in one small boat.
+
+Mr. Charles Hallock, in his paper the "Forest and Stream," of April
+23, 1874, gave drawings and a description of the sneak-box, and fairly
+presented its claims to public favor.
+
+The sneak-box is not a monopoly of any particular builder, but it
+requires peculiar talent to build one,--the kind of talent which
+enables one man to cut out a perfect axe-handle, while the master-
+carpenter finds it difficult to accomplish the same thing. The best
+yacht-builders in Ocean County generally fail in modelling a sneak-
+box, while many second-rate mechanics along the shore, who could not
+possibly construct a yacht that would sail well, can make a perfect
+sneak-box, or gunning-skiff. All this may be accounted for by
+recognizing the fact that the water-lines of the sneak-box are
+peculiar, and differ materially from those of row-boats, sailboats,
+and yachts. Having a spoon-shaped bottom and bow, the sneak-box moves
+rather over the water than through it, and this peculiarity, together
+with its broad beam, gives the boat such stiffness that two persons
+may stand upright in her while she is moving through the water, and
+troll their lines while fishing, or discharge their guns, without
+careening the boat; a valuable advantage not possessed by our best
+cruising canoes.
+
+The boat sails well on the wind, though hard to pull against a strong
+head sea. A fin-shaped centre-board takes the place of a keel. It can
+be quickly removed from the trunk, or centre-board well, and stored
+under the deck. The flatness of her floor permits the sneak-box to run
+in very shallow water while being rowed or when sailing before the
+wind without the centre-board. Some of these boats, carrying a weight
+of three hundred pounds, will float in four to six inches of water.
+
+The favorite material for boat-building in the United States is white
+cedar (Cupressus thyoides), which grows in dense forests in the swamps
+along the coast of New Jersey, as well as in other parts of North
+America. The wood is both white and brown, soft, fine-grained, and
+very light and durable. No wood used in boat-building can compare with
+the white cedar in resisting the changes from a wet to a dry state,
+and vice versa. The tree grows tall and straight. The lower part of
+the trunk with the diverging roots furnish knee timbers and carlines
+for the sneak-box. The ribs or timbers, and the carlines, are usually
+1 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches in dimension, and are placed about ten inches
+apart. The frame above and below is covered with half-inch cedar
+sheathing, which is not less than six inches in width. The boat is
+strong enough to support a heavy man upon its deck, and when well
+built will rank next to the seamless paper boats of Mr. Waters of
+Troy, and the seamless wooden canoes of Messrs. Herald, Gordon &
+Stephenson, of the province of Ontario, Canada, in freedom from
+leakage.
+
+During a cruise of twenty-six hundred miles not one drop of water
+leaked through the seams of the Centennial Republic. Her under
+planking was nicely joined, and the seams calked with cotton wicking,
+and afterwards filled with white-lead paint and putty. The deck
+planks, of seven inches width, were not joined, but were tongued and
+grooved, the tongues and grooves being well covered with a thick coat
+of white-lead paint.
+
+The item of cost is another thing to be considered in regard to this
+boat. The usual cost of a first-class canoe of seventy pounds' weight,
+built after the model of the Rob Roy or Nautilus, with all its
+belongings, is about one hundred and twenty-five dollars; and these
+figures deter many a young man from enjoying the ennobling and
+healthful exercise of canoeing. A first-class sneak-box, with spars,
+sail, oars, anchor, &c., can be obtained for seventy-five dollars, and
+if several were ordered by a club they could probably be bought for
+sixty-five dollars each. The price of a sneak-box, as ordinarily built
+in Ocean County, New Jersey, is about forty dollars. The Centennial
+Republic cost about seventy-five dollars, and a city boat-builder
+would not duplicate her for less than one hundred and twenty-five
+dollars. The builders of the sneak-boxes have not yet acquired the art
+of overcharging their customers; they do not expect to receive more
+than one dollar and fifty cents or two dollars per day for their
+labor; and some of them are even so unwise as to risk their reputation
+by offering to furnish these boats for twenty-five dollars each. Such
+a craft, after a little hard usage, would leak as badly as most cedar
+canoes, and would be totally unfit for the trials of a long cruise.
+
+[Diagram of Sneak-Box "Centennial Republic"]
+
+The diagram given of the Centennial Republic will enable the reader of
+aquatic proclivities to understand the general principles upon which
+these boats are built. As they should be rated as third-class freight
+on railroads, it is more economical for the amateur to purchase a
+first-class boat at Barnegat, Manahawken, or West Creek, in Ocean
+County, New Jersey, along the Tuckerton Railroad, than to have a
+workman elsewhere, and one unacquainted with this peculiar model,
+experiment upon its construction at the purchaser's cost, and perhaps
+loss.
+
+One bright morning, in the early part of the fall of 1875, I trudged
+on foot down one of the level roads which lead from the village of
+Manahawken through the swamps to the edge of the extensive salt
+marshes that fringe the shores of the bay. This road bore the
+euphonious name of Eel Street,--so named by the boys of the town. When
+about half-way from its end, I turned off to the right, and followed a
+wooded lane to the house of an honest surf-man, Captain George Bogart,
+who had recently left his old home on the beach, beside the restless
+waves of the Atlantic, and had resumed his avocation as a sneak-box
+builder.
+
+The house and its small fields of low, arable land were environed on
+three sides by dense cedar and whortleberry swamps, but on the eastern
+boundary of the farm the broad salt marshes opened to the view, and
+beyond their limit were the salt waters of the bay, which were shut in
+from the ocean by a long, narrow, sandy island, known to the fishermen
+and wreckers as Long Beach,--the low, white sand-dunes of which were
+lifted above the horizon, and seemed suspended in the air as by a
+mirage. Across the wide, savanna-like plains came in gentle breezes
+the tonic breath of the sea, while hundreds, aye, thousands of
+mosquitoes settled quietly upon me, and quickly presented their bills.
+
+In this sequestered nook, far from the bustle of the town, I found
+"Honest George," so much occupied in the construction of a sneak-box,
+under the shade of spreading willows, as to be wholly unconscious of
+the presence of the myriads of phlebotomists which covered every
+available inch of his person exposed to their attacks. The appropriate
+surroundings of a surf-man's house were here, scattered on every side
+in delightful confusion. There were piles of old rigging, iron bolts
+and rings, tarred parcelling, and cabin-doors,--in fact, all the
+spoils that a treacherous sea had thrown upon the beach; a sea so
+disastrous to many, but so friendly to the Barnegat wrecker,--who, by
+the way, is not so black a character as Mistress Rumor paints him. A
+tar-like odor everywhere prevailed, and I wondered, while breathing
+this wholesome air, why this surf-man of daring and renown had left
+his proper place upon the beach near the life-saving station, where
+his valuable experience, brave heart, and strong, brawny arms were
+needed to rescue from the ocean's grasp the poor victims of misfortune
+whose dead bodies are washed upon the hard strand of the Jersey shores
+every year from the wrecks of the many vessels which pound out their
+existence upon the dreaded coast of Barnegat? A question easily
+answered,--political preferment. His place had been filled by a man
+who had never pulled an oar in the surf, but had followed the
+occupation of a tradesman.
+
+Thus Honest George, rejected by "the service," had left the beach, and
+crossing the wide bays to the main land, had taken up his abode under
+the willows by the marshes, but not too far from his natural element,
+for he could even now, while he hammered away on his sneak-boxes, hear
+the ceaseless moaning of the sea.
+
+A verbal contract was soon made, and George agreed to build me for
+twenty-five dollars the best boat that had ever left his shop; he to
+do all the work upon the hull and spars, while the future owner was to
+supply all the materials at his own cost. The oars and sail were not
+included in the contract, but were made by other parties. In November,
+when I settled all the bills of construction, cost of materials, oar-
+locks, oars, spars, sail, anchor, &c., the sum-total did not exceed
+seventy-five dollars; and when the accounts of more than twenty boats
+and canoes built for me had been looked over, I concluded that the
+little craft, constructed by the surf-man, was, for the amount it cost
+and the advantages it gave me, the best investment I had ever made in
+things that float upon the water. Without a name painted upon her
+hull, and, like the "Maria Theresa" paper canoe, without a flag to
+decorate her, but with spars, sail, oars, rudder, anchor, cushions,
+blankets, cooking-kit, and double-barrelled gun, with ammunition
+securely locked under the hatch, the Centennial Republic, my future
+travelling companion, was ready by the middle of November for the
+descent of the western rivers to the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+Captain George Bogart, attentive to the last to his pet craft,
+affectionately sewed her up in a covering of burlap, to protect her
+smooth surface from scratches during the transit over railroads. The
+two light oaken strips, which had been screwed to the bottom of the
+boat, kept the hull secure from injury by contact with nails, bolt-
+heads, &c., while she was being carried in the freight-cars of the
+Tuckerton, New Jersey, Southern and Pennsylvania railroads to
+Philadelphia, where she was delivered to the freight agent of the
+Pennsylvania Railroad, to be sent to Pittsburgh, at the head of the
+Ohio River.
+
+Here I must speak of a subject full of interest to all owners of
+boats, hoping that when our large corporations have their attention
+drawn to the fact they will make some provision for it. There appears
+to be no fixed freighting tariff established for boats, and the
+aquatic tourist is placed at the mercy of agents who too frequently,
+in their zeal for the interests of their employers, heavily tax the
+owner of the craft. The agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad in
+Philadelphia was sorely puzzled to know what to charge for a BOAT. He
+had loaded thousands of cars for Pittsburgh, but could find only one
+precedent to guide him. "We took a boat once to Pittsburgh," he said,
+"for twenty-five dollars, and yours should be charged the same." The
+shipping-clerk of a mercantile house, who had overheard the
+conversation, interrupted the agent with a loud laugh. "A charge of
+twenty-five dollars freight on a little thing like that! WHY, MAN,
+THAT SUM IS NEARLY HALF HER VALUE! How LARGE was the boat you shipped
+last fall to Pittsburgh for twenty-five dollars?" "Oh, about twice the
+size of this one," answered the agent; "but, size or no size, a boat's
+a boat, and we handle so few of them that we have no special tariff on
+them." "But," said the clerk, "you can easily and honestly establish a
+tariff if you will treat a boat as you do all other freight of the
+same class. Now, for instance, how do common boats rank, as first or
+third class freight?" "Third class, I should think," slowly responded
+the agent. "Ease your conscience, my friend," continued the clerk, "by
+weighing the boat, and charging the usual tariff rate for third class
+freight."
+
+The boat, with its cargo still locked up inside, was put upon the
+scales, and the total weight was three hundred and ten pounds, for
+which a charge of seventy-two cents per one hundred pounds was made,
+and the boat placed on some barrels in a car. Thus did the common-
+sense and business-like arrangement of the friendly clerk secure for
+me the freight charge of two dollars and twenty-three cents, instead
+of twenty-five dollars, on a little boat for its carriage three
+hundred and fifty-three miles to Pittsburgh, and saved me not only
+from a pecuniary loss, but also from the uncomfortable feeling of
+being imposed upon.
+
+In these days of canoe and boat voyages, when portages by rail are a
+necessary evil, a fixed tariff for such freight would save dollars and
+tempers, and some action in the matter is anxiously looked for by all
+interested parties.
+
+I gave a parting look at my little craft snugly ensconced upon the top
+of a pile of barrels, and smiled as I turned away, thinking how
+precious she had already become to me, and philosophizing upon the
+strange genus, man, who could so readily twine his affections about an
+inanimate object. Upon consideration, it did not seem so strange a
+thing, however, for did not this boat represent the work of brains and
+hands for a generation past? Was it not the result of the study and
+hard-earned experiences of many men for many years? Men whose humble
+lives had been spent along the rough coast in daily struggles with the
+storms of ocean and of life? Many of them now slept in obscure graves,
+some in the deep sea, others under the tender, green turf; but here
+was the concentration of their ideas, the ultimatum of their labors,
+and I inwardly resolved, that, since to me was given the enjoyment, to
+them should be the honor, and that it should be through no fault of
+her captain if the Centennial Republic did not before many months
+reach her far-distant point of destination, twenty-six hundred miles
+away, on the white strands of the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SOURCES OF THE OHIO RIVER
+
+DESCRIPTION OF THE MONONGAHELA AND ALLEGHANY RIVERS.-- THE OHIO
+RIVER.-- EXPLORATION OF CAVELIER DE LA SALLE.-- NAMES GIVEN BY ANCIENT
+CARTOGRAPHERS TO THE OHIO.-- ROUTES OF THE ABORIGINES FROM THE GREAT
+LAKES TO THE OHIO RIVER.
+
+THE southerly branch of the Ohio River, and one of its chief
+affluents, is made by the union of the West Fork and Tygart Valley
+rivers, in the county of Marion, state of Virginia, the united waters
+of which flow north into Pennsylvania as the Monongahela River, and is
+there joined by the Cheat River, its principal tributary. The
+Monongahela unites with the Alleghany to form the Ohio, at Pittsburgh,
+Pennsylvania. The length of the Monongahela, without computing that of
+its tributaries, is about one hundred and fifty miles; but if we
+include its eastern fork, the Tygart Valley River, which flows from
+Randolph County, Virginia, the whole length of this tributary of the
+Ohio may exceed three hundred miles. It has a width at its union with
+the Alleghany of nearly one-fourth of a mile, and a depth of water
+sufficient for large steamboats to ascend sixty miles, to Brownsville,
+Pennsylvania, while light-draught vessels can reach its head, at
+Fairmont, Virginia.
+
+The northern branch of the Ohio, known as the Alleghany River, has a
+length of four hundred miles, and its source is in the county of
+Potter, in northern Pennsylvania. It takes a very circuitous course
+through a portion of New York state, and re-enters Pennsylvania
+flowing through a hilly region, and at the flourishing city of
+Pittsburgh mingles its waters with its southern sister, the
+Monongahela.
+
+The region traversed by the Alleghany is wild and mountainous, rich in
+pine forests, coal, and petroleum oil; and the extraction from its
+rocky beds of the last-named article is so enormous in quantity, that
+at the present time more than four million barrels of oil are awaiting
+shipment in the oil districts of Pennsylvania. The smaller steamboats
+can ascend the river to Olean, about two hundred and fifty miles above
+Pittsburgh. At Olean, the river has a breadth of twenty rods.
+
+In consequence of its high latitude, the clear waters of the Alleghany
+usually freeze over by the 25th of December, after having transported
+upon its current the season's work, from the numerous saw-mills of the
+great wilderness through which it flows, in the form of rafts
+consisting of two hundred million feet of excellent lumber.
+
+The Ohio River has a width of about half a mile below Pittsburgh, and
+this is its medial breadth along its winding course to its mouth at
+Cairo; but in places it narrows to less than twenty-five hundred feet,
+while it frequently widens to more than a mile. A geographical writer
+says, that, "In tracing the Ohio to its source, we must regard the
+Alleghany as its proper continuation. A boat may start with sufficient
+water within seven miles of Lake Erie, in sight sometimes of the sails
+which whiten the approach to the harbor of Buffalo, and float securely
+down the Conewango, or Cassadaga, to the Alleghany, down the Alleghany
+to the Ohio, and thence uninterruptedly to the Gulf of Mexico."
+
+There are grave reasons for doubting that part of the statement which
+refers to a boat starting from a point within seven miles of Lake
+Erie. It is to be hoped that some member of the New York Canoe Club
+will explore the route mentioned, and give the results of his
+investigations to the public. He would need a canoe light enough to be
+easily carried upon the shoulders of one man, with the aid of the
+canoeist's indispensable assistant--the canoe-yoke.
+
+It will be seen that the Ohio with its affluents drains an immense
+extent of country composed of portions of seven large states of the
+Union, rich in agricultural wealth, in timber, iron, coal, petroleum,
+salt, clays, and building-stone. The rainfall of the Ohio Valley is so
+great as to give the river a mean discharge at its mouth (according to
+the report of the United States government engineers) of one hundred
+and fifty-eight thousand cubic feet per second. This is the drainage
+of an area embracing two hundred and fourteen thousand square miles.
+
+The head of the Ohio River, at Pittsburgh, has an elevation of eleven
+hundred and fifty feet above the sea, while in the long descent to its
+mouth there is a gradual fall of only four hundred feet; hence its
+current, excepting during the seasons of freshets, is more gentle and
+uniform than that of any other North American river of equal length.
+During half the year the depth of water is sufficient to float
+steamboats of the largest class along its entire length. Between the
+lowest stage of water, in the month of September, and the highest, in
+March, there is sometimes a range of fifty feet in depth. The spring
+freshets in the tributaries will cause the waters of the great river
+to rise twelve feet in twelve hours. During the season of low water
+the current of the Ohio is so slow, as flatboat-men have informed me,
+that their boats are carried by the flow of the stream only ten miles
+in a day. The most shallow portion of the river is between Troy and
+Evansville. Troy is twelve miles below the historic Blennerhasset's
+Island, which lies between the states of Ohio and Virginia. Here the
+water sometimes shoals to a depth of only two feet.
+
+Robert Cavelier de la Salle is credited with having made the discovery
+of the Ohio River. From the St. Lawrence country he went to Onondaga,
+and reaching a tributary of the Ohio River, he descended the great
+stream to the "Fa1ls," at Louisville, Kentucky. His men having
+deserted him, he returned alone to Lake Erie. This exploration of the
+Ohio was made in the winter of 1669-70, or in the following spring.
+
+The director of the Dpt des Cartes of the Marine and Colonies, at
+Paris, in 1872 possessed a rich mass of historical documents, the
+collection of which had covered thirty years of his life. This
+material related chiefly to the French rule in North America, and its
+owner had offered to dispose of it to the French government on
+condition that the entire collection should be published. The French
+government was, however, only willing to publish parts of the whole,
+and the director retained possession of his property. Through the
+efforts of Mr. Francis Parkman, the truthful American historian,
+supported by friends, an appropriation was made by Congress, in 1873,
+for the purchase and publication of this valuable collection of the
+French director; and it is now the property of the United States
+government. All that relates to the Sieur de la Salle--his journals
+and letters--has been published in the original French, in three large
+volumes of six hundred pages each. La Salle discovered the Ohio, yet
+the possession of the rich historical matter referred to throws but
+little light upon the details of this important event. The discoverer-
+-of the great west, in an address to Frontenac, the governor of
+Canada, made in 1677, asserted that he had discovered the Ohio, and
+had descended it to a fall which obstructed it. This locality is now
+known as the "Falls of the Ohio," at Louisville, Kentucky.
+
+The second manuscript map of Galine'e, made about the year 1672, has
+upon it this inscription: "River Ohio, so called by the Iroquois on
+account of its beauty, which the Sieur de la Salle descended." It was
+probably the interpretation of the Iroquois word Ohio which caused the
+French frequently to designate this noble stream as "La belle
+rivire."
+
+A little later the missionary Marquette designed a map, upon which he
+calls the Ohio the "Ouabouskiaou." Louis Joliet's first map gives the
+Ohio without a name, but supplies its place with an inscription
+stating that La Salle had descended it. In Joliet's second map he
+calls the Ohio "Ouboustikou."
+
+After the missionaries and other explorers had given to the world the
+knowledge possessed at that early day of the great west, a young and
+talented engineer of the French government, living in Quebec, and
+named Jean Baptiste Louis Franquelin, completed, in 1684, the most
+elaborate map of the times, a carefully traced copy of which, through
+the courtesy of Mr. Francis Parkman, I have been allowed to examine.
+The original map of Franquelin has recently disappeared, and is
+supposed to have been destroyed. This map is described in the appendix
+to Mr. Parkman's "Discovery of the Great West," as being "six feet
+long and four and a half wide." On it, the Ohio is called "Fleuve St.
+Louis, ou Chucagoa, ou Casquinampogamou;" but the appellation of
+"River St. Louis" was dropped very soon after the appearance of
+Franquelin's map, and to the present time it justly retains the
+Iroquois name given it by its brave discoverer La Salle.
+
+It would be interesting to know by which of the routes used by the
+Indians in those early days La Salle travelled to the Ohio. After the
+existence of the Ohio was made known, the first route made use of in
+reaching that river by the coureurs de bois and other French
+travellers from Canada, was that from the southern shore of Lake Erie,
+from a point near where the town of Westfield now stands, across the
+wilderness by portage southward about nine miles to Chautaugue Lake.
+These parties used light bark canoes, which were easily carried upon
+the shoulders of men whenever a "carry" between the two streams became
+necessary. The canoes were paddled on the lake to its southern end,
+out of which flowed a shallow brook, which afforded water enough in
+places to float the frail craft. The shoal water, and the obstructions
+made by fallen trees, necessitated frequent portages. This wild and
+tortuous stream led the voyagers to the Alleghany River, where an
+ample depth of water and a propitious current carried them into the
+Ohio.
+
+The French, finding this a laborious and tedious route, abandoned it
+for a better one. Where the town of Erie now stands, on the southern
+shore of the lake of the same name, a small stream flows from the
+southward into that inland sea. Opposite its mouth is Presque Isle,
+which protects the locality from the north winds, and, acting as a
+barrier to the turbulent waves, offers to the mariner a safe port of
+refuge behind its shores. The French ascended the little stream, and
+from its banks made a short portage to the Rivire des boeuf, or some
+tributary of French Creek, and descended it to the Alleghany and the
+Ohio. This Erie and French River route finally became the military
+highway of the Canadians to the Ohio Valley, and may be called the
+second route from Lake Erie.
+
+The third route to the Ohio from Lake Erie commenced at the extreme
+southwestern end of that inland sea. The voyagers entered Maumee Bay
+and ascended the Maumee River, hauling their birch canoes around the
+rapids between Maumee City and Perrysburgh, and between Providence and
+Grand Rapids. Surmounting these obstacles, they reached the site of
+Fort Wayne, where the St. Joseph and St. Mary rivers unite, and make,
+according to the author of the "History of the Maumee Valley," the
+"Maumee," or "Mother of Waters," as interpreted from the Indian
+tongue. At this point, when ninety-eight miles from Lake Erie, the
+travellers were forced to make a portage of a mile and a half to a
+branch called Little River, which they descended to the Wabash, which
+stream, in the early days of French exploration, was thought to be the
+main river of the Ohio system. The Wabash is now the boundary line for
+a distance of two hundred miles between the states of Indiana and
+Illinois. Following the Wabash, the voyager would enter the Ohio River
+about one hundred and forty miles above its junction with the
+Mississippi.
+
+The great Indian diplomatist, "Little Turtle," in making a treaty
+speech in 1795, when confronting Anthony Wayne, insisted that the Fort
+Wayne portage was the "key or gateway" of the tribes having
+communication with the inland chain of lakes and the gulf coast. It is
+now claimed by many persons that this was the principal and favorite
+route of communication between the high and low latitudes followed by
+the savages hundreds of years before Europeans commenced the
+exploration of the great west.
+
+There was a fourth route from the north to the tributaries of the
+Ohio, which was used by the Seneca Indians frequently, though rarely
+by the whites. It was further east than the three already described.
+The Genesee River flows into Lake Ontario about midway between its
+eastern shores and the longitude of the eastern end of Lake Erie. In
+using this fourth route, the savages followed the Genesee, and made a
+portage to some one of the affluents of the Alleghany to reach the
+Ohio River.
+
+[Indian in canoe]
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+FROM PITTSBURGH TO BLENNERHASSET'S ISLAND
+
+
+THE START FOR THE GULF.-- CAUGHT IN THE ICE-RAFT.-- CAMPING ON THE
+OHIO.-- THE GRAVE CREEK MOUND.-- AN INDIAN SEPULCHRE.--
+BLENNERHASSET'S ISLAND.-- AARON BURR'S CONSPIRACY.-- A RUINED FAMILY.
+
+UPON arriving at Pittsburgh, on the morning of December 2d, 1875,
+after a dreary night's ride by rail from the Atlantic coast, I found
+my boat--it having preceded me--safely perched upon a pile of barrels
+in the freight-house of the railroad company, which was conveniently
+situated within a few rods of the muddy waters of the Monongahela.
+
+The sneak-box, with the necessary stores for the cruise, was
+transported to the river's side, and as it was already a little past
+noon, and only a few hours of daylight left me, prudence demanded an
+instant departure in search of a more retired camping-ground than that
+afforded by the great city and its neighboring towns, with the united
+population of one hundred and eighty thousand souls. There was not one
+friend to give me a cheering word, the happy remembrance of which
+might encourage me all through my lonely voyage to the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+The little street Arabs fought among themselves for the empty
+provision-boxes left upon the bank as I pushed my well-freighted boat
+out upon the whirling current that caught it in its strong embrace,
+and, like a true friend, never deserted or lured it into danger while
+I trusted to its vigorous help for more than two thousand miles, until
+the land of the orange and sugar-cane was reached, and its fresh,
+sweet waters were exchanged for the restless and treacherous waves of
+the briny sea. Ah, great river, you were indeed, of all material
+things, my truest friend for many a day!
+
+The rains in the south had filled the gulches of the Virginia
+mountains, the sources of the Monongahela, and it now exhibited a
+great degree of turbulence. I was not then aware of the tumultuous
+state of the sister tributary, the Alleghany, on the other side of the
+city. I supposed that its upper affluents, congealed during the late
+cold weather, were quietly enjoying a winter's nap under the heavy
+coat in which Jack Frost had robed them. I expected to have an easy
+and uninterrupted passage down the river in advance of floating ice;
+and, so congratulating myself, I drew near to the confluence of the
+Monongahela and Alleghany, from the union of which the great Ohio has
+its birth, and rolls steadily across the country a thousand miles to
+the mightier Mississippi.
+
+The current of the Monongahela, as it flowed from the south, covered
+with mists rising into the wintry air,--for the temperature was but a
+few degrees above zero,--had not a particle of ice upon its turbid
+bosom.
+
+I rowed gayly on, pleased with the auspicious beginning of the voyage,
+hoping at the close of the month to be at the mouth of the river, and
+far enough south to escape any inconvenience from a sudden freezing of
+its surface, for along its course between its source at Pittsburgh and
+its debouchure at Cairo the Ohio makes only two hundred and twelve
+miles of southing,--a difference of about two and a half degrees of
+latitude. It is not surprising, therefore, that this river during
+exceedingly cold winters sometimes freezes over for a few days, from
+the state of Pennsylvania to its junction with the Mississippi.
+
+In a few minutes my boat had passed nearly the whole length of the
+Pittsburgh shore, when suddenly, upon looking over my shoulder, I
+beheld the river covered with an ice-raft, which was passing out of
+the Alleghany, and which completely blocked the Ohio from shore to
+shore. French Creek, Oil Creek, and all the other tributaries of the
+Alleghany, had burst from their icy barriers, thrown off the wintry
+coat of mail, and were pouring their combined wrath into the Ohio.
+
+This unforeseen trouble had to be met without much time for
+calculating the results of entering the ice-pack. A light canoe would
+have been ground to pieces in the multitude of icy cakes, but the
+half-inch skin of soft but elastic white swamp-cedar of the decked
+sneak-box, with its light oaken runner-strips firmly screwed to its
+bottom, was fully able to cope with the difficulty; so I pressed the
+boat into the floating ice, and by dint of hard work forced her
+several rods beyond the eddies, and fairly into the steady flow of the
+strong current of the river.
+
+[The start--head of the Ohio River.]
+
+There was nothing more to be done to expedite the journey, so I sat
+down in the little hold, and, wrapped comfortably in blankets, watched
+the progress made by the receding points of interest upon the high
+banks of the stream. Towards night some channel-ways opened in the
+pack, and, seizing upon the opportunity, I rowed along the ice-bound
+lanes until dusk, when happily a chance was offered for leaving the
+frosty surroundings, and the duck-boat was soon resting on a shelving,
+pebbly strand on the left bank of the river, two miles above the
+little village of Freedom.
+
+The rapid current had carried me twenty-two miles in four hours and a
+half.
+
+Not having slept for thirty-six hours, or eaten since morning, I was
+well prepared physically to retire at an early hour. A few minutes
+sufficed to securely stake my boat, to prevent her being carried off
+by a sudden rise in the river during my slumbers; a few moments more
+were occupied in arranging the thin hair cushions and a thick cotton
+coverlet upon the floor of the boat. The bag which contained my
+wardrobe, consisting of a blue flannel suit, &c., served for a pillow.
+A heavy shawl and two thin blankets furnished sufficient covering for
+the bed. Bread and butter, with Shakers' peach-sauce, and a generous
+slice of Wilson's compressed beef, a tin of water from the icy
+reservoir that flowed past my boat and within reach of my arm, all
+contributed to furnish a most satisfactory meal, and a half hour
+afterwards, when a soft, damp fog settled down upon the land, the
+atmosphere became so quiet that the rubbing of every ice-cake against
+the shore could be distinctly heard as I sank into a sweeter slumber
+than I had ever experienced in the most luxurious bed of the daintiest
+of guest-chambers, for my apartment, though small, was comfortable,
+and with the hatch securely closed, I was safe from invasion by man or
+beast, and enjoyed the well-earned repose with a full feeling of
+security. The owl softly winnowed the air with his feathery pinions as
+he searched for his prey along the beach, sending forth an occasional
+to-hoot! as he rested for a moment on the leafless branches of an old
+tree, reminding me to take a peep at the night, and to inquire "what
+its signs of promise" were.
+
+All was silence and security; but even while I thought that here at
+least Nature ruled supreme, Art sent to my listening ear, upon the
+dense night air, the shrill whistle of the steam-freighter, trying to
+enter the ice-pack several miles down the river.
+
+So the peaceful night wore away, and in the early dawn, enveloped in a
+thick fog, I hastily dispatched a cold breakfast, and at half-past
+eight o'clock pushed off into the floating ice, which became more and
+more disintegrated and less troublesome as the day advanced. The use
+of the soft bituminous coal in the towns along the river, and also by
+the steamboats navigating it, filled the valley with clouds of smoke.
+These clouds rested upon everything. Your five senses were fully aware
+of the presence of the disagreeable, impalpable something surrounding
+you. Eyes, ears, taste, touch, and smell, each felt the presence.
+Smoky towns along the banks gave smoky views. Smoky chimneys rose high
+above the smoky foundries and forges, where smoke-begrimed men toiled
+day and night in the smoky atmosphere. Ah, how I sighed for a glimpse
+of God's blessed sunlight! and even while I gazed saw in memory the
+bright pure valleys of the north-east; the sparkling waters of lakes
+George and Champlain, and the majestic scenery, with the life-giving
+atmosphere, of the Adirondacks. The contrast seemed to increase the
+smoke, and no cheerfulness was added to the scene by the dismal-
+looking holes in the mountain-sides I now passed. They were the
+entrances to mines from which the bituminous coal was taken. Some of
+them were being actively worked, and long, trough-like shoots were
+used to send the coal by its own gravity from the entrance of the mine
+to the hold of the barge or coal-ark at the steam-boat landing. Some
+of these mines were worked by three men and a horse. The horse drew
+the coal on a little car along the horizontal gallery from the heart
+of the mountain to the light of day.
+
+During the second day the current of the Ohio became less violent. I
+fought a passage among the ice-cakes, and whenever openings appeared
+rowed briskly along the sides of the chilly raft, with the intent of
+getting below the frosty zone as soon as possible.
+
+About half-past eight o'clock in the evening, when some distance above
+King's Creek, the struggling starlight enabled me to push my boat on
+to a muddy flat, destined soon to be overflowed, but offering me a
+secure resting-place for a few hours. Upon peeping out of my warm nest
+under the hatch the next day, it was a cause of great satisfaction to
+note that a rise in the temperature had taken place, and that the ice
+was disappearing by degrees.
+
+An open-air toilet, and a breakfast of about the temperature of a
+family refrigerator, with sundry other inconveniences, made me wish
+for just enough hot water to remove a little of the begriming results
+of the smoky atmosphere through which I had rowed.
+
+At eleven o'clock, A. M., the first bridge that spans the Ohio River
+was passed. It was at Steubenville, and the property of the Pan-Handle
+Railroad.
+
+Soon after four o'clock in the afternoon the busy manufacturing city
+of Wheeling, West Virginia, with its great suspension bridge crossing
+the river to the state of Ohio, loomed into sight.
+
+This city of Wheeling, on the left bank of the river, some eighty
+miles from Pittsburgh, was the most impressive sight of that dreary
+day's row. Above its masses of brick walls hung a dense cloud of
+smoke, into which shot the flames emitted from the numerous chimneys
+of forges, glass-works, and factories, which made it the busy place it
+was. Ever and anon came the deafening sound of the trip-hammer, the
+rap-a-tap-tap of the rivet-headers' tools striking upon the heavy
+boiler-plates; the screeching of steam-whistles; the babel of men's
+voices; the clanging of deep-toned bells. Each in turn striking upon
+my ear, seemed as a whole to furnish sufficient noise-tonic for even
+the most ardent upholder of that remedy, and to serve as a type for a
+second Inferno, promising to vie with Dante's own. Yet with all this
+din and dirt, this ever-present cloud of blackness settling down each
+hour upon clean and unclean in a sooty coating, I was told that
+hundreds of families of wealth and refinement, whose circumstances
+enabled them to select a home where they pleased, lingered here,
+apparently well satisfied with their surroundings. We are, indeed, the
+children of habit, and singularly adaptable. It is, perhaps, best that
+it should be so, but I thought, as I brushed off the thin layer of
+soot with which the Wheeling cloud of enterprise had discolored the
+pure white deck of my little craft, that if this was civilization and
+enterprise, I should rather take a little less of those two
+commodities and a little more of cleanliness and quiet.
+
+At Wheeling I left the last of the ice-drifts, but now observed a new
+feature on the river's surface. It was a floating coat of oil from the
+petroleum regions, and it followed me many a mile down the stream.
+
+The river being now free from ice, numerous crafts passed me, and
+among them many steam-boats with their immense stern-wheels beating
+the water, being so constructed for shallow streams. They were
+ascending the current, and pushing their "tows" of two, four, and six
+long, wide coal-barges fastened in pairs in front of them. How the
+pilots of these stern-wheel freighters managed to guide these heavily
+loaded barges against the treacherous current was a mystery to me.
+
+It suddenly grew dark, and wishing to be secure from molestation by
+steamboats, I ran into a narrow creek, with high, muddy banks, which
+were so steep and so slippery that my boat slid into the water as fast
+as I could haul her on to the shore. This difficulty was overcome by
+digging with my oar a bed for her to rest in, and she soon settled
+into the damp ooze, where she quietly remained until morning.
+
+[Coal-oil stove.]
+
+During this part of my journey particularly, the need of a small coal-
+oil stove was felt, as the usual custom of making a camp-fire could
+not be followed for many days on the upper Ohio River. The rains had
+wet the fire-wood, which in a settled and cultivated country is found
+only in small quantities on the banks of the stream. The driftwood
+thrown up by the river was almost saturated with water, and the damp,
+wild trees of the swamp afforded only green wood.
+
+In a less settled country, or where there is an old forest growth, as
+along the lower Ohio and upon the banks of the Mississippi, fallen
+trees, with resinous, dry hearts, can be found; and even during a
+heavy fall of rain a skilful use of the axe will bring out these
+ancient interiors to cheer the voyager's heart by affording him
+excellent fuel for his camp-fire.
+
+The recently perfected coal-oil stove does not give out disagreeable
+odors when the petroleum used is refined, like that known in the
+market as Pratt's Astral Oil. This brand of oil does not contain
+naphtha, the existence of which in the partially refined oils is the
+cause of so many dangerous explosions of kerosene lamps.
+
+Recent experiences with coal-oil burners lead me to adopt, for camp
+use, the No.0 single-wick stove of the "Florence Machine Co.," whose
+excellent wares attracted so much attention at the Centennial
+Exhibition in Philadelphia. The No. 0 Florence stove will sustain the
+weight of one hundred and fifty pounds, and is one of the few
+absolutely safe oil stoves, with perfect combustion, and no unpleasant
+odor or gas. This statement presupposes that the wicks are wiped along
+the burnt edges after being used, and that a certain degree of
+cleanliness is observed in the care of the oil cistern. I do not stand
+alone in my appreciation of this faithful little stove, for the
+company sold forty thousand of them in one year. In Johnson's
+Universal Cyclopdia, Dr. L. P. Brockett, of Brooklyn, N.Y., expresses
+himself in the most enthusiastic terms in regard to this stove. He
+says: "For summer use it will be a great boon to the thousands of
+women whose lives have been made bitter and wretched by confinement in
+close and intensely heated kitchens; in many cases it will give health
+for disease, strength for weakness, cheerfulness for depression, and
+profound thankfulness in place of gloom and despair."
+
+Boatmen and canoeists should never travel without one of these
+indispensable comforts. Alcohol stoves are small, and the fuel used
+too expensive, as well as difficult to obtain, while good coal-oil can
+now be had even on the borders of the remote wilderness. The economy
+of its use is wonderful. A heat sufficient to boil a gallon of water
+in thirty minutes can be sustained for ten hours at the cost of three
+cents.
+
+For lack of one of these little blessings--which the prejudice of
+friends had influenced me to leave behind--my daily meals for the
+first two or three weeks generally consisted of cold, cooked canned
+beef, bread and butter, canned fruits, and cold river water. The
+absence of hot coffee and other stimulants did not affect my appetite,
+nor the enjoyment of the morning and evening repasts, cold and
+untempting as they were. The vigorous day's row in the open air, the
+sweet slumbers that followed it at night in a well-ventilated
+apartment, a simple, unexciting life, the mental rest from vexatious
+business cares, all proved superior to any tonic a physician could
+prescribe, and I became more rugged as I grew accustomed to the duties
+of an oarsman, and gained several pounds avoirdupois by the time I
+ended the row of twenty-six hundred miles and landed on the sunny
+shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+Sunday broke upon me a sunless day. The water of the creek was too
+muddy to drink, and the rain began to fall in torrents. I had
+anticipated a season of rest and quiet in camp, with a bright fire to
+cheer the lonely hours of my frosty sojourn on the Ohio, but there was
+not a piece of dry wood to be found, and it became necessary to change
+my position for a more propitious locality; so I rowed down the stream
+twelve miles, to Big Grave Creek, below which, and on the left bank of
+the Ohio, is the town of Moundsville. One of the interesting features
+of this place is its frontage on a channel possessing a depth of
+fifteen feet of water even in the dryest seasons. Wheeling, at the
+same time of the year, can claim but seven feet. Here, also, is the
+great Indian mound from which it derives its name.
+
+The resting-place of my craft was upon a muddy slope in the rear of a
+citizen's yard which faced the river; but when the storm ended, on
+Monday morning, my personal effects were hidden from the gaze of
+idlers by securely locking the hatch, which was done with the same
+facility with which one locks his trunk--and the former occupant was
+at liberty to visit the "Big Grave."
+
+I walked through the muddy streets of the uninteresting village to the
+conspicuous monument of the aboriginal inhabitant of the river's
+margin. It was a conical hill, situated within the limits of the town,
+and known to students of American pre-historic races as the "Grave
+Creek Mound." This particular creation of a lost race is the most
+important of the numerous works of the Mound Builders which are found
+throughout the Ohio Valley. Its circumference at the base is nine
+hundred feet, and its height seventy feet. In 1838 the location was
+owned by Mr. Tomlinson, who penetrated to the centre of the mound by
+excavating a passage on a level with the foundation of the structure.
+He then sank a shaft from the apex to intercept the ground passage.
+Mr. Tomlinson's statement is as follows:
+
+"At the distance of one hundred and eleven feet we came to a vault
+which had been excavated before the mound was commenced, eight by
+twelve feet, and seven in depth. Along each side, and across the ends,
+upright timbers had been placed, which supported timbers thrown across
+the vault as a ceiling. These timbers were covered with loose unhewn
+stone common to the neighborhood. The timbers had rotted, and had
+tumbled into the vault. In this vault were two human skeletons, one of
+which had no ornaments; the other was surrounded by six hundred and
+fifty ivory (shell) beads, and an ivory (bone) ornament six inches
+long. In sinking the shaft, at thirty-four feet above the first, or
+bottom vault, a similar one was found, enclosing a skeleton which had
+been decorated with a profusion of shell beads, copper rings, and
+plates of mica."
+
+Dr. Clemmens, who was much interested in the work of exploration here,
+says: "At a distance of twelve or fifteen feet were found numerous
+layers composed of charcoal and burnt bones. On reaching the lower
+vault from the top, it was determined to enlarge it for the
+accommodation of visitors, when ten more skeletons were discovered.
+This mound was supposed to be the tomb of a royal personage."
+
+At the time of my visit, the ground was covered with a grassy sod, and
+large trees arose from its sloping sides. The horizontal passage was
+kept in a safe state by a lining of bricks, and I walked through it
+into the heart of the Indian sepulchre. It was a damp, dark, weird
+interior; but the perpendicular shaft, which ascended to the apex,
+kept up an uninterrupted current of air. I found it anything but a
+pleasant place in which to linger, and soon retraced my steps to the
+boat, where I once more embarked upon the ceaseless current, and kept
+upon my winding course, praying for even one glimpse of the sun, whose
+face had been veiled from my sight during the entire voyage, save for
+one brief moment when the brightness burst from the surrounding gloom
+only to be instantly eclipsed, and making all seem, by contrast, more
+dismal than ever.
+
+It would not interest the general reader to give a description of the
+few cities and many small villages that were passed during the descent
+of the Ohio. Few of these places possess even a local interest, and
+the eye soon wearies of the air of monotony found in them all. Even
+the guide-books dispose of these villages with a little dry detail,
+and rarely recommend the tourist to visit one of them.
+
+One feature may be, however, remarked in descending the Ohio, and that
+is the ambition displayed by the pioneers of civilization in the west
+in naming hamlets and towns--which, with few exceptions, are still of
+little importance--after the great cities of the older parts of the
+United States, and also of foreign lands. These names, which occupy
+such important positions on the maps, excite the imagination of the
+traveller, and when the reality comes into view, and he enters their
+narrow limits, the commonplace architecture and generally unattractive
+surroundings have a most depressing effect, and he sighs, "What's in a
+name?" We find upon the map the name and appearance of a city, but it
+proves to be the most uninteresting of villages, though known as
+Amsterdam. We also find many towns of the Hudson duplicated in name on
+the Ohio, and pass Troy, Albany, Newburg, and New York. The cities of
+Great Britain are in many instances perpetuated by the names of
+Aberdeen, Manchester, Dover, Portsmouth, Liverpool, and London; while
+other nations are represented by Rome, Carthage, Ghent, Warsaw,
+Moscow, Gallipolis, Bethlehem, and Cairo. Strangely sandwiched with
+these old names we find the southern states represented, as in
+Augusta, Charleston, &c.; while the Indian names Miami, Guyandot,
+Paducah, Wabash, and Kanawha are thrown in for variety.
+
+In the evening I sought the shelter of an island on the left side of
+the river, about three miles above Sisterville, which proved to be a
+restful camping-place during the dark night that settled down upon the
+surrounding country.
+
+Tuesday being a rainy day, I was forced by the inclemency of the
+weather to seek for better quarters in a retired creek about three
+miles above the thriving town of Marietta, so named in honor of Maria
+Antoinette of Austria.
+
+The country was now becoming more pleasing in character, and many of
+the islands, as I floated past them on the current, gave evidence of
+great fertility where cultivation had been bestowed upon them. Some of
+these islands were connected to one shore of the river by low dams,
+carelessly constructed of stones, their purpose being to deepen the
+channel upon the opposite side by diverting a considerable volume of
+water into it. When the water is very low, the tops of these dams can
+be seen, and must, of course, be avoided by boatmen; but when the Ohio
+increases its depth of water, these artificial aids to navigation are
+submerged, and even steamboats float securely over them.
+
+On Wednesday the river began to rise, in consequence of the heavy
+rains; so, with an increased current, the duck-boat left her quarters
+about eleven o'clock in the forenoon. Early in the afternoon,
+Parkersburgh, situated at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, in
+Virginia, came into view. This is the outlet of the petroleum region
+of West Virginia, and is opposite the little village of Belpr, which
+is in the state of Ohio. These towns are connected by a massive iron
+bridge, built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.
+
+Two miles below Belpr lay the beautiful island, formerly the home of
+Blennerhasset, an English gentleman of Irish descent, of whom a most
+interesting account was given in a late number of Harper's Magazine.
+Mr. Blennerhasset came to New York in 1797, with his wife and one
+child, hoping to find in America freedom of opinion and action denied
+him at home, as his relations and friends were all royalists, and
+opposed to the republican principles he had imbibed. Here, on this
+sunny island, under the grand old trees, he built a stately mansion,
+where wealth and culture, combined with all things rich and rare from
+the old world, made an Eden for all who entered it.
+
+Ten negro servants were bought to minister to the daily needs of the
+household. Over forty thousand dollars in gold were spent upon the
+buildings and grounds. A telescope of high power to assist in his
+researches, books of every description, musical instruments, chemical
+and philosophical apparatus, everything, in fact, that could add to
+the progress and comfort of an intellectual man, was here collected.
+Docks were built, and a miniature fleet moored in the soft waters of
+the ever-flowing Ohio. Nature had begun, Blennerhasset finished; and
+we cannot wonder when we read of the best families in the neighboring
+country going often thirty and forty miles to partake of the generous
+hospitality here offered them. Mrs. Blennerhasset, endowed by nature
+with beauty and winsome manners, was always a charming and attractive
+hostess, as well as a true wife and mother.
+
+For eight years Blennerhasset lived upon his island, enjoying more
+than is accorded to the lot of most mortals; but the story of his
+position, his intelligence, his wealth, his wonderful social influence
+upon those around him, reached at length the ear of one who marked him
+for his prey.
+
+Aaron Burr had been chosen vice-president of the United States in
+1800, with Thomas Jefferson as president; but in 1804, when Jefferson
+was re-elected, Burr was not. The brain of this brilliant but ill-
+balanced and unprincipled man was ever rife with ambitious schemes,
+and the taste of political power in his position as vice-president of
+the United States seemed to have driven him towards the accomplishment
+of one of the boldest and most extravagant dreams he ever imagined.
+Mexico he thought could be wrested from Spain, and the then almost
+unpeopled valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi taken from the United
+States. This fair region, with its fertile soil and varied climate,
+should be blended into one empire. On the north, the Great Lakes
+should be his boundary line, while the Gulf of Mexico should lave with
+its salt waters his southern shores. The high cliffs of the Rocky
+Mountains should protect the western boundary, and on the east the
+towering Alleghanies form a barrier to invading foe.
+
+Such was the dream, and a fair one it was. Of this new empire, Aaron
+Burr would of course be Imperator; and the ways and means for its
+establishment must be found. The distant Blennerhasset seemed to point
+to the happy termination of at least some of the difficulties. His
+wealth, if not his personal influence, must be gained, and no man was
+better suited to win his point than the fascinating Aaron Burr. We
+will not enter into the plans of the artful insinuator made to enlist
+the sympathies of the unsuspecting Englishman, but we must ever feel
+sure that the cloven foot was well concealed until the last, for
+Blennerhasset loved the land of his adoption, and would not have
+listened to any plan for its impoverishment. His means were given
+lavishly for the aid of the new colony, as Burr called it, and his
+personal influence made use of in enlisting recruits. Arms were
+furnished, and the Indian foe given as an excuse for this measure.
+
+Burr during this time resided at Marietta, on the right bank of the
+river, fifteen miles above Blennerhasset's Island. He occupied himself
+in overseeing the building of fifteen large bateaux in which to
+transport his colony. Ten of these flat-bottomed boats were forty feet
+long, ten feet wide, and two and a half feet deep. The ends of the
+boats were similar, so that they could be pushed up or down stream.
+One boat was luxuriously fitted up, and intended to transport Mr.
+Blennerhasset and family, proving most conclusively that he knew
+nothing of any treasonable scheme against the United States.
+
+The boats were intended to carry five hundred men, and the energy of
+Colonel Burr had engaged nearly the whole number. The El Dorado held
+out to these young men was painted in the most brilliant hues of
+Burr's eloquence. He told them that Jefferson, who was popular with
+them all, approved the plan. That they were to take possession of the
+immense grant purchased of Baron Bastrop, but that in case of a war
+between the United States and Spain, which might at any time occur, as
+the Mexicans were very weary of the Spanish yoke, Congress would send
+an army to protect the settlers and help Mexico, so that a new empire
+would be founded of a democratic type, and the settlers finding all on
+an equality, would be enabled to enrich themselves beyond all former
+precedent.
+
+About this time rumors were circulated that Aaron Burr was plotting
+some mischief against the United States. Jefferson himself became
+alarmed, knowing as he so well did the ambition of Burr and his
+unprincipled character. A secret agent was sent to make inquiries in
+regard to the doings at Blennerhasset's Island and Marietta. This
+agent, Mr. John Graham, was assured by Mr. Blennerhasset that nothing
+was intended save the peaceful establishment of a colony on the banks
+of the Washita.
+
+Various reports still continued to greet the public ear, and of such a
+nature as to make Blennerhasset's name disliked. Some said treason was
+lurking, and blamed him for it. He was openly spoken of as the
+accomplice of Burr. The legislature of Ohio even made a law to
+suppress all expeditions found armed, and to seize all boats and
+provisions belonging to such expeditions. The governor was ready at a
+moment's notice to call out the state militia. A cannon was placed on
+the river-bank at Marietta, and strict orders given to examine every
+boat that descended the stream.
+
+Mr. Blennerhasset had no idea of resisting the authorities, and gave
+up the whole scheme, determined to meet his heavy losses as best he
+might.
+
+Four boats, with about thirty men, had been landed upon
+Blennerhasset's Island a short time before these rigorous measures had
+been taken. They were under the care of Mr. Tyler, one of Burr's
+agents from New York, and he did all in his power to urge
+Blennerhasset not to retire at so critical a moment. It was, however,
+too late to avert calamity, and the unfortunate family was doomed to
+misfortune.
+
+The alarming intelligence now reached the island that the Wood County
+militia was en route for that place, that the boats would be seized,
+the men taken prisoners, and probably the mansion burned, as the most
+desperate characters in the surrounding country had volunteered for
+the attack. Urged by his friends, Blennerhasset and the few men with
+him escaped by the boats. His flight was not a moment too soon, for
+having been branded as a traitor, no one knows what might have
+befallen him had the lawless men who arrived immediately after his
+departure found him in their power. Colonel Phelps, the commander of
+the militia, started in pursuit, and the remainder of his men, with no
+one to restrain them, gave full play to their savage feelings. Seven
+days of riot followed. They took possession of the house, broke into
+the cellars, and drank the choice wines, until, more like beasts than
+men, they made havoc of the rich accumulation of years. Everything was
+destroyed. The paintings, the ornaments, rare glass and china, family
+silver, furniture, and, worst vandalism of all, the flames were fed
+with the choicest volumes, many of which never could be duplicated,
+for the value of Blennerhasset's library was known through all the
+country.
+
+Mrs. Blennerhasset had remained upon the island during this week of
+terror, hoping by her presence to restrain the lawless band, but the
+brave woman was at last obliged to fly with her two little sons,
+taking refuge on one of the flat river boats sent by a friend to
+afford her a way of escape.
+
+Mr. Blennerhasset was afterwards arrested for treason, but no evidence
+could be found against him, and he was never brought to trial. He
+invested the little means left him in a cotton plantation near
+Natchez, where, with his devoted wife, he tried to retrieve his fallen
+fortunes. The second war with England rendered his plantation
+worthless, and returning by way of Montreal to his native land, he
+died a broken-hearted man, leaving his wife in destitute
+circumstances. An attempt was made by her friends to obtain some
+return for the destruction of their property from the United States
+government, but all proved of no avail, and she who had always been
+surrounded by wealth and luxury, was, during her last hours, dependent
+upon the charity of a society of Irish ladies in New York city, who
+with tenderness nursed her unto the end, and then took upon themselves
+the expenses of her interment.
+
+Such is the sad story of Blennerhasset and his wife; and I thought, as
+I quietly moored my boat in a little creek that mingled its current
+with the great river, near the lower end of the island which was once
+such a happy home, of the uncertainty of all earthly prosperity, and
+the necessity there was for making the most of the present,--which
+last idea sent a sleepy sailor hastily under his hatch.
+
+[Indian mound, at Moundsville, West Virginia.]
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FROM BLENNERHASSET'S ISLAND TO CINCINNATI
+
+RIVER CAMPS.-- THE SHANTY-BOATS AND RIVER MIGRANTS.-- VARIOUS
+EXPERIENCES.-- ARRIVAL AT CINCINNATI.-- THE SNEAK-BOX FROZEN UP IN
+PLEASANT RUN.-- A TAILOR'S FAMILY.-- A NIGHT UNDER A GERMAN COVERLET.
+
+ABOUT this time the selection of resting places for the night became
+an important feature of the voyage. It was easy to draw the little
+craft out of the water on to a smooth, shelving beach, but such places
+did not always appear at the proper time for ending the day's rowing.
+The banks were frequently precipitous, and, destitute of beaches,
+frowned down upon the lonely voyager in anything but a hospitable
+manner. There were also present two elements antagonistic to my peace
+of mind. One was the night steamer, which, as it struggled up stream,
+coursing along shore to avoid the strong current, sent swashy waves to
+disturb my dreams by pitching my little craft about in the roughest
+manner. A light canoe could easily have been carried further inland,
+out of reach of the unwelcome waves, and would, so far as that went,
+have made a more quiet resting-place than the heavy duck-boat; but
+then, on the other hand, a sleeping-apartment in a canoe would have
+lacked the roominess and security of the sneak-box.
+
+After the first few nights' camping on the Ohio, I naturally took to
+the channelless side of one of the numerous islands which dot the
+river's surface, or, what was still better, penetrated into the wild-
+looking creeks and rivers, more than one hundred of which enter the
+parent stream along the thousand miles of its course. Here, in these
+secluded nooks, I found security from the steamer's swash.
+
+The second objectionable element on the Ohio was the presence of
+tramps, rough boatmen, and scoundrels of all kinds. In fact, the Ohio
+and Mississippi rivers are the grand highway of the West for a large
+class of vagabonds. One of these fellows will steal something of value
+from a farm near the river, seize the first bateau, or skiff, he can
+find, cross the stream, and descend it for fifty or a hundred miles.
+He will then abandon the stolen boat if he cannot sell it, ship as
+working-hand upon the first steamer or coal-ark he happens to meet,
+descend the river still further, and so escape detection.
+
+To avoid these rough characters, as well as the drunken crews of
+shanty-boats, it was necessary always to enter the night's camping-
+ground unobserved; but when once secreted on the wooded shore of some
+friendly creek, covered by the dusky shades of night, I felt perfectly
+safe, and had no fear of a night attack from any one. Securely shut in
+my strong box, with a hatchet and a Colt's revolver by my side, and a
+double-barrelled gun, carefully charged, snugly stowed under the deck,
+the intruder would have been in danger, and not the occupant of the
+sneak-box.
+
+The hatch, or cover, which rested upon the stern of the boat during
+rowing-hours, was at night dropped over the hold, or well, in such a
+way as to give plenty of ventilation, and still, at the same time, to
+be easily and instantly removed in case of need.
+
+I must not fail here to mention one characteristic feature possessed
+by the sneak-box which gives it an advantage over every other boat I
+have examined. Its deck is nowhere level, and if a person attempts to
+step upon it while it is afloat, his foot touches the periphery of a
+circle, and the spoon-shaped, keelless, little craft flies out as if
+by magic from under the pressure of the foot, and without further
+warning the luckless intruder falls into the water.
+
+At the summer watering-places in Barnegat Bay it used to be a great
+source of amusement to the boatmen to tie a sneak-box to a landing,
+and wait quietly near by to see the city boys attempt to get into her.
+Instead of stepping safely and easily into the hold, they would
+invariably step upon the rounded deck, when away would shoot the
+slippery craft, and the unsuccessful boarder would fall into two feet
+of water, to the great amusement of his comrades. When once inside of
+the sneak-box, it becomes the stiffest and steadiest of crafts. Two
+men can stand upright upon the flooring of the hold and paddle her
+along rapidly, with very little careening to right or left.
+
+By far the most interesting and peculiar features of a winter's row
+down the Ohio are the life-studies offered by the occupants of the
+numerous shanty-boats daily encountered. They are sometimes called,
+and justly too, family-boats, and serve as the winter homes of a
+singular class of people, carrying their passengers and cargoes from
+the icy region of the Ohio to New Orleans. Their annual descent of the
+river resembles the migration of birds, and we invariably find those
+of a feather flocking together. It would be hard to trace these
+creatures to their lair; but the Alleghany and Monongahela region,
+with the towns of the upper Ohio, may be said to furnish most of them.
+Let them come from where they may (and we feel sure none will quarrel
+for the honor of calling them citizens), the fall of the leaf seems to
+be the signal for looking up winter-quarters, and the river with its
+swift current the inviting path to warmer suns and an easy life.
+
+The shanty-boatman looks to the river not only for his life, but also
+for the means of making that life pleasant; so he fishes in the stream
+for floating lumber in the form of boards, planks, and scantling for
+framing to build his home. It is soon ready. A scow, or flatboat,
+about twenty feet long by ten or twelve wide, is roughly constructed.
+It is made of two-inch planks spiked together. These scows are calked
+with oakum and rags, and the seams are made water-tight with pitch or
+tar. A small, low house is built upon the boat, and covers about two-
+thirds of it, leaving a cockpit at each end, in which the crews work
+the sweeps, or oars, which govern the motions of the shanty-boat. If
+the proprietor of the boat has a family, he puts its members on
+board,--not forgetting the pet dogs and cats,--with a small stock of
+salt pork, bacon, flour, potatoes, molasses, salt, and coffee. An old
+cooking-stove is set up in the shanty, and its sheet-iron pipe,
+projecting through the roof, makes a chimney a superfluity. Rough
+bunks, or berths, are constructed for sleeping-quarters; but if the
+family are the happy possessors of any furniture, it is put on board,
+and adds greatly to their respectability. A number of steel traps,
+with the usual double-barrelled gun, or rifle, and a good supply of
+ammunition, constitute the most important supplies of the shanty-boat,
+and are never forgotten. Of these family-boats alone I passed over two
+hundred on the Ohio.
+
+This rude, unpainted structure, with its door at each end of the
+shanty, and a few windows relieving the barrenness of its sides, makes
+a very comfortable home for its rough occupants.
+
+If the shanty-man be a widower or a bachelor, or even if he be a
+married man laboring under the belief that his wife and he are not
+true affinities, and that there is more war in the house than is good
+for the peace of the household, he looks about for a housekeeper. She
+must be some congenial spirit, who will fry his bacon and wash his
+shirts without murmuring. Having found one whom he fondly thinks will
+"fill the bill," he next proceeds to picture to her vivid imagination
+the delights of "drifting." "Nothing to do," he says, "but to float
+with the current, and eat fresh pork, and take a hand at euchre." The
+woods, he tells her, are full of hogs. They shall fall an easy prey to
+his unfailing gun, and after them, when further south, the golden
+orange shall delight her thirsty soul, while all the sugar-cane she
+can chew shall be gathered for her. Add to these the luxury of plenty
+of snuff with which to rub her dainty gums, with the promise of
+tobacco enough to keep her pipe always full, and it will be hard to
+find among this class a fair one with sufficient strength of mind to
+resist such an offer; so she promises to keep house for him as long as
+the shanty-boat holds together.
+
+Her embarkation is characteristic. Whatever her attire, the bonnet is
+there, gay with flowers; a pack of cards is tightly grasped in her
+hand; while a worn, old trunk, tied with a cord and fondly called a
+"saratoga," is hoisted on board; and so, for better or for worse, she
+goes forth to meet her fate, or, as she expresses it, "to find luck."
+
+More than one quarrel usually occurs during the descent of the
+Mississippi, and by the time New Orleans is reached the shanty-boatman
+sets his quondam housekeeper adrift, where, in the swift current of
+life, she is caught by kindred spirits, and being introduced to city
+society as the Northern Lily, or Pittsburgh Rose, is soon lost to
+sight, and never returns to the far distant up-river country.
+
+Another shanty-boat is built by a party of young men suffering from
+impecuniosity. They are "out of a job," and to them the charms of an
+independent life on the river is irresistible. Having pooled their few
+dollars to build their floating home, they descend to New Orleans as
+negro minstrels, trappers, or thieves, as necessity may demand.
+
+Cobblers set afloat their establishments, calling attention to the
+fact by the creaking sign of a boot; and here on the rushing river a
+man can have his heel tapped as easily as on shore.
+
+Tin-smiths, agents and repairers of sewing machines, grocers, saloon-
+keepers, barbers, and every trade indeed is here represented on these
+floating dens. I saw one circus-boat with a ring twenty-five feet in
+diameter upon it, in which a troop of horsemen, acrobats, and flying
+trapze artists performed while their boat was tied to a landing.
+
+The occupants of the shanty-boats float upon the stream with the
+current, rarely doing any rowing with their heavy sweeps. They keep
+steadily on their course till a milder climate is reached, when they
+work their clumsy craft into some little creek or river, and securely
+fasten it to the bank. The men set their well-baited steel traps along
+the wooded watercourse for mink, coons, and foxes. They give their
+whole attention to these traps, and in the course of a winter secure
+many skins. While in the Mississippi country, however, they find other
+game, and feast upon the hogs of the woods' people. To prevent
+detection, the skin, with the swine-herd's peculiar mark upon it, is
+stripped off and buried.
+
+When engaged in the precarious occupation of hog-stealing, the shanty-
+man is careful to keep a goodly number of the skins of wild animals
+stretched upon the outside walls of his cabin, so that visitors to his
+boat may be led to imagine that he is an industrious and legitimate
+trapper, of high-toned feelings, and one "who wouldn't stick a man's
+hog for no money." If there be a religious meeting in the vicinity of
+the shanty-boat, the whole family attend it with alacrity, and prove
+that their BELIEF in honest doctrines is a very different thing from
+their daily PRACTICE of the same. They join with vigor in the
+shoutings, and their "amens" drown all others, while their excitable
+natures, worked upon by the wild eloquence of the backwoods' preacher,
+seem to give evidence of a firm desire to lead Christian lives, and
+the spectator is often deceived by their apparent earnestness and
+sincerity. Such ideas are, however, quickly dispelled by a visit to a
+shanty-boat, and a glimpse of these people "at home."
+
+The great fleet of shanty-boats does not begin to reach New Orleans
+until the approach of spring. Once there, they find a market for the
+skins of the animals trapped during the winter, and these being sold
+for cash, the trapper disposes of his boat for a nominal sum to some
+one in need of cheap firewood, and purchasing lower-deck tickets for
+Cairo, or Pittsburgh, at from four to six dollars per head, places his
+family upon an up-river steamer, and returns with the spring birds to
+the Ohio River, to rent a small piece of ground for the season, where
+he can "make a crop of corn," and raise some cabbage and potatoes,
+upon which to subsist until it be time to repeat his southern
+migration.
+
+In this descent of the river, many persons, who have clubbed together
+to meet the expenses of a shanty-boat life for the first time, and who
+are of a sentimental turn of mind, look upon the voyage as a romantic
+era in their lives. Visions of basking in the sunlight, feasting, and
+sleeping, dance before their benighted eyes; for they are not all of
+the low, ignorant class I have described. Professors, teachers,
+musicians, all drift at times down the river; and one is often
+startled at finding in the apparently rough crew men who seem worthy
+of a better fate. To these the river experiences are generally new,
+and the ribald jokes and low river slang, with the ever-accompanying
+cheap corn-whiskey and the nightly riots over cutthroat euchre, must
+be at first a revelation. Hundreds of these low fellows will swear to
+you that the world owes them a living, and that they mean to have it;
+that they are gentlemen, and therefore cannot work. They pay a good
+price for their indolence, as the neglect of their craft and their
+loose ideas of navigation seldom fail to bring them to grief before
+they even reach the Mississippi at Cairo. Their heavy, flat-bottomed
+boat gets impaled upon a snag or the sharp top of a sawyer; and as the
+luckless craft spins round with the current, a hole is punched through
+the bottom, the water rushes in and takes possession, driving the
+inexperienced crew to the little boat usually carried in tow for any
+emergency.
+
+Into this boat the shanty-men hastily store their guns, whiskey, and
+such property as they can save from the wreck, and making for the
+shore, hold a council of war.
+
+There, in the swift current, lies the centre of their hopes, quickly
+settling in the deep water, soon to be seen no more. The fact now
+seems to dawn upon them for the first time that a little seamanship is
+needed even in descending a river, that with a little care their
+Noah's Ark might have been kept afloat, and the treacherous "bob
+sawyer" avoided. This trap for careless sailors is a tree, with its
+roots held in the river's bottom, and its broken top bobbing up and
+down with the undulations of the current. Boatmen give it the
+euphonious title of "bob sawyer" because of the bobbing and sawing
+motions imparted to it by the pulsations of the water.
+
+Destitute of means, these children of circumstance resolve never to
+say die. Their ship has gone down, but their pride is left, and they
+will not go home till they have "done" the river; and so, repairing to
+the first landing, they ship in pairs upon freighters descending the
+stream. Some months later they return to their homes with seedy
+habiliments but an enlarged experience, sadder but wiser men.
+
+And so the great flood of river life goes on, and out of this annual
+custom of shanty-boat migration a peculiar phase of American character
+is developed, a curious set of educated and illiterate nomads, as
+restless and unprofitable a class of inhabitants as can be found in
+all the great West.
+
+After leaving my camp near Blennerhasset's Island, on December 9, the
+features of the landscape changed. The hills lost their altitude, and
+seemed farther back from the water, while the river itself appeared to
+widen. Snow squalls filled the air, and the thought of a comfortable
+camping-ground for the night was a welcome one. About dusk I retired
+into the first creek above Letart's Landing, on the left bank of the
+Ohio, where I spent the night. The next forenoon I entered a region of
+salt wells, with a number of flourishing little towns scattered here
+and there upon the borders of the stream. One of these, called
+Hartford City, had a well eleven hundred and seventy feet in depth.
+From another well in the vicinity both oil and salt-water were raised
+by means of a steam-pump. These oil-wells were half a mile back of the
+river. Coal-mines were frequently passed in this neighborhood on both
+sides of the Ohio.
+
+After dark I was fortunate enough to find a camping-place in a low
+swamp on the right bank of the stream, in the vicinity of which was a
+gloomy-looking, deserted house. I climbed the slippery bank with my
+cooking kit upon my back, and finding some refuse wood in what had
+once been a kitchen, made a fire, and enjoyed the first meal I had
+been able to cook in camp since the voyage was commenced.
+
+Cold winds whistled round me all night, but the snug nest in my boat
+was warm and cheerful, for I lighted my candle, and by its dear flame
+made up my daily "log." There were, of course, some inconveniences in
+regard to lighting so low-studded a chamber. It was important to have
+a candle of not more than two inches in length, so that the flame
+should not go too near the roof of my domicile. Then the space being
+small, my literary labors were of necessity performed in a reclining
+position; while lying upon my side, my shoulder almost touched the
+carlines of the hatch above.
+
+Saturday was as raw and blustering as the previous day, so hastily
+breakfasting upon the remains of my supper,--COLD chocolate, COLD
+corned beef, and COLD crackers,--I determined to get into a milder
+region as soon as possible.
+
+As I rowed down the stream, the peculiar appearance of the Barnegat
+sneak-box attracted the attention of the men on board the coal-barges,
+shanty-boats, &c., and they invariably crowded to the side I passed,
+besieging me with questions of every description, such as, "Say,
+stranger, where did you steal that pumpkin-seed looking boat from?"
+"How much did she cost, any way?" "Ain't ye afeard some steamboat will
+swash the life out of her?" On several occasions I raised the water-
+apron, and explained how the little sneak-box shed the water that
+washed over her bows, when these rough fellows seemed much impressed
+with the excellent qualities of the boat, and frankly acknowledged
+that "it might pay a fellow to steal one if there was a good show for
+such a trick."
+
+At three o'clock P. M. I passed the town of Guyandot, which is
+situated on the left bank of the Ohio, at its junction with the Big
+Guyandot. Three miles below Guyandot is the growing city of
+Huntington, the Ohio River terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio
+Railroad, which has a total length of four hundred and sixty-five
+miles, exclusive of six private branches. The Atlantic coast terminus
+is on the James River, Chesapeake Bay.
+
+The snow squalls now became so frequent, and the atmosphere was so
+chilly and penetrating, that I was driven from the swashy waves of the
+troubled Ohio, and eagerly sought refuge in Fourfold Creek, about a
+league below Huntington, where the high, wooded banks of the little
+tributary offered me protection and rest.
+
+At an early hour the next morning I was conscious of a change of
+temperature. It was growing colder. A keen wind whistled through the
+tree-tops. I was alarmed at the prospect of having my boat fastened in
+the creek by the congealing of its waters, so I pushed out upon the
+Ohio and hastened towards a warmer climate as fast as oars, muscles,
+and a friendly current would carry me. The shanty-boatmen had informed
+me that the Ohio might freeze up in a single night, in places, even as
+near its mouth as Cairo. I did not, however, feel so much alarmed in
+regard to the river as I did about its tributaries. The Ohio was not
+likely to remain sealed up for more than a few days at a time, but the
+creeks, my harbors of refuge, my lodging-places, might remain frozen
+up for a long time, and put me to serious inconvenience.
+
+About ten o'clock A. M. the duck-boat crossed the mouth of the Big
+Sandy River, the limit of Virginia, and I floated along the shores of
+the grand old state of Kentucky on the left, while the immense state
+of Ohio still skirted the right bank of the river.
+
+The agricultural features of the Ohio valley had been increasing in
+attractiveness with the descent of the stream. The high bottom-lands
+of the valley exhibited signs of careful cultivation, while
+substantial brick houses here and there dotted the landscape.
+Interspersed with these were the inevitable log-cabins and dingy
+hovels, speaking plainly of the poverty and shiftlessness of some of
+the inhabitants.
+
+At four P. M. I could endure the cold no longer, and when a beautiful
+creek with wooded shores, which divided fine farms, opened invitingly
+before me on the Kentucky side, I quickly entered it, and moored the
+sneak-box to an ancient sycamore whose trunk rose out of the water
+twelve feet from shore. I was not a moment too soon in leaving the
+wide river, for as I quietly supped on my cold bread and meat, which
+needed no better sauce than my daily increasing appetite to make it
+tempting, the wind increased to a tempest, and screeched and howled
+through the forest with such wintry blasts that I was glad to creep
+under my hatch before dark.
+
+On Monday, December 13, the violent wind storm continuing, I remained
+all day in my box, writing letters and watching the scuds flying over
+the tops of high trees. At noon a party of hunters, with a small pack
+of hounds, came abruptly upon my camp. Though boys only, they carried
+shot-guns, and expectorated enough tobacco-juice to pass for the type
+of western manhood. They chatted pleasantly round my boat, though each
+sentence that fell from their lips was emphasized by its accompanying
+oath. I asked them the name of the creek, when one replied, "Why,
+boss, you don't call this a CREEK, do you? Why, there is twenty foot
+of water in it. It's the Tiger River, and comes a heap of a long way "
+Another said, "Look here, cap'n, I wouldn't travel alone in that 'ere
+little skiff, for when you're in camp any feller might put a ball into
+you from a high bank." "Yes," added another, "there is plenty o' folks
+along the river that would do it, too."
+
+As my camp had become known, I acted upon the friendly hint of the
+boy-hunters, and took my departure the next day at an early hour,
+following the left bank of the river, which afforded me a lee shore.
+As I dashed through the swashy waves, with the apron of the boat
+securely set to keep the water from wetting my back, the sun in all
+its grandeur parted the clouds and lighted up the landscape until
+everything partook of its brightness. This was the second time in two
+weeks that the God of Day had asserted his supremacy, and his advent
+was fully appreciated.
+
+Two miles below Portsmouth, Ohio, I encountered a solitary voyager in
+a skiff, shooting mallards about the mouths of the creeks, and having
+discovered that he was a gentleman, I intrusted my mail to his
+keeping, and pushed on to a little creek beyond Rome, where, thanks to
+good fortune, some dry wood was discovered. A bright blaze was soon
+lighting up the darkness of the thicket into which I had drawn my
+boat, and the hot supper, now cooked in camp, and served without
+ceremony, was duly relished.
+
+The deck of the boat was covered with a thin coating of ice, and as
+the wind went down the temperature continued to fall until six o'clock
+in the morning, when I considered it unsafe to linger a moment longer
+in the creek, the surface of which was already frozen over, and the
+ice becoming thicker every hour. An oar served to break a passage-way
+from the creek to the Ohio, which I descended in a blustering wind,
+being frequently driven to seek shelter under the lee afforded by
+points of land.
+
+At sunset I reached Maysville, where the celebrated Daniel Boone, the
+pioneer of Kentucky backwoods life, once lived; and as the wind began
+to fall, I pulled into a fine creek about four miles below the
+village, having made twenty-nine miles under most discouraging
+circumstances. The river was here, as elsewhere, lighted by small
+hand-lanterns hung upon posts. The lights were, however, so dull, and,
+where the channel was not devious, at such long intervals, that they
+only added to the gloom.
+
+As the wind generally rose and fell with the sun, it became necessary
+to adopt a new plan to expedite my voyage, and the river being usually
+smooth at dawn of day, an early start was an imperative duty. At four
+o'clock in the morning the duck-boat was under way, her captain
+cheered by the hope of arriving in Cincinnati, the great city of the
+Ohio valley, by sunset. I plied my oars vigorously all day, and when
+darkness settled upon the land, was rewarded for my exertions by
+having my little craft shoot under the first bridge that connects
+Cincinnati with Kentucky. Here steamers, coal-barges, and river craft
+of every description lined the Ohio as well as the Kentucky shore.
+Iron cages filled with burning coals were suspended from cranes
+erected upon flatboats for the purpose of lighting the river, which
+was most effectually done, the unwonted brilliancy giving to the busy
+scene a strange weirdness, and making a picture never to be forgotten.
+
+The swift current now carried me under the suspension-bridge which
+connects Cincinnati and Covington, and my boat entered the dark area
+below, when suddenly the river was clouded in snow, as fierce squalls
+came up the stream, and I eagerly scanned the high, dark banks to find
+some inlet to serve as harbor for the night. It was very dark, and I
+hugged the Kentucky shore as closely as I dared. Suddenly a gleam of
+light, like a break in a fog-bank, opened upon my craft, and the dim
+outlines of the sides of a gorge in the high coast caught my eye. It
+was not necessary to row into the cleft in the hillside, for a fierce
+blast of the tempest blew me into the little creek; nor was my
+progress stayed until the sneak-box was driven several rods into its
+dark interior, and entangled in the branches of a fallen tree.
+
+In the blinding snowfall it was impossible to discern anything upon
+the steep banks of the little creek which had fairly forced its
+hospitality upon me; so, carefully fastening my painter to the fallen
+tree, I hastily disappeared below my hatch. During the night the
+mercury fell to six degrees above zero, but my quarters were so
+comfortable that little inconvenience from the cold was experienced
+until morning, when I attempted to make my toilet with an open hatch.
+Then I discovered the unpleasant fact that my boat was securely frozen
+up in the waters of the creek! Being without a stove, and finding that
+my canned provisions--not having been wrapped in several coverings
+like their owner, and having no power to convert oxygen into fuel for
+warmth--were solidifying, I locked my hatch, and scrambled up the high
+banks to seek the comforts of that civilization which I had so gladly
+left behind when I embarked at a point five hundred miles further up
+the river, thinking as I went what a contrary mortal man was, myself
+among the number, for I was as eager now to find my human brother as I
+had been to turn my back upon him a short time before. The poetry of
+solitude was frozen into prose, and the low temperature around me made
+life under a roof seem attractive for the time being, though, judging
+from the general aspect of things, there was not much to look forward
+to, in either a social or comfortable light, in my immediate vicinity.
+I was, however, too cold and too hungry to be dainty, and felt like
+Dickens's Mrs. Bloss, that I "must have nourishment."
+
+A turnpike crossed the ravine a few rods from my boat, and the
+tollgate-keeper informed me that I was frozen up in Pleasant Run, near
+which were several small houses. Upon application for "boarding"
+accommodations I discovered that breakfast at Pleasant Run was a
+movable feast, that some had already taken it at seven A. M., and that
+others would not have it ready till three P. M. This was anything but
+encouraging to a cold and hungry man; but I at length obtained
+admission to the house of a German tailor, and, explaining my
+condition, offered to pay him liberally for the privilege of becoming
+his guest until the cold snap was over. He examined me closely, and
+having made, as it were, a mental inventory of my features, dress,
+&c., exclaimed, "Mine friend, in dese times nobody knows who's which.
+I say, sar, nobody knows who's what. Fellers land here and eats mine
+grub, and den shoves off dere poats, and nevar says 'tank you, sar,'
+for mine grub. Since de confederate war all men is skamps, I does
+fully pelieve. I fights twenty-doo pattles for de Union, nots for de
+monish, but because I likes de free government; but it is imbossible
+to feeds all de beebles what lands at Pleasant Run."
+
+I assured this patriotic tailor and adopted citizen that I would pay
+him well for the trouble of boarding me, but he answered in a surly
+way:
+
+"Dat's vat dey all says. It's to be all pay, but dey eats up de sour-
+crout and de fresh pork, and drinks de coffee, and ven I looks for de
+monish, de gentlemens has disappeared down de rivver. Now you don't
+looks as much rascal as some of dem does, and as it ish cold to-day, I
+vill make dish corntract mid you. You shall stay here till de cold
+goes away, and you shall hab de pest I've got for twenty-five cents a
+meal, but you shall pays me de twenty-five cents a meal down in
+advance, beforehand."
+
+"Here is a character," I thought, "a new type to study, and perhaps,
+after all, being frozen up in Pleasant Run may not be a fact to
+regret."
+
+My landlord's proposition was at once accepted, and I offered to pay
+him for three meals in advance, to which he replied, "Dat dree pays at
+one time was not in de corntract." "You have forgotten one point," I
+said, addressing him as he led me to the kitchen, where "mine frau"
+was up to her elbows in work. "And what ish dat?" he asked, rather
+suspiciously eying me. "You have not fixed a price for my lodgings."
+"De use of de peddothes costs me notting, so I never charges for de
+lodgings wen de boarder WASHES himself every day," answered mine host.
+Having settled this point, and ordered his wife, in commanding terms,
+"to gib dish man his breakfast," he withdrew. The woman treated me
+very kindly, apologizing for her husband's exacting demands by
+assuring me that "Nobody knows WHO'S when nowadays. Seems as if
+everybody had got 'moralized by de war." The coffee the good lady made
+me, though thoroughly boiled, was excellent, and I complimented her
+upon it. "Yes," she replied, "my coffee IS coffee. De 'Merican beeble
+forgets de coffee wen dey makes it, and puts all water. Oh, wishy-
+washy is 'Merican coffee. It's like peas and beans ground up. De
+German beebles won't drink de stuff."
+
+A generous repast of sausage, fresh pork, good bread, butter, and
+coffee, was placed before me, when the tailor returned with darkened
+brow, and rudely demanded the whereabouts of my boat. "I looks
+everywhere," he said, "and don't finds de poat. Hab you one poat, or
+hab you not?" I carefully described the exact location of the sneak-
+box in the rear of the tollgate-house, when he hastily disappeared.
+The old lady and I had fully discussed the wishy-washy coffee
+question, when mine host returned. This time he wore a pleasant
+countenance, and took me into his shop, where he introduced me to
+three of his apprentices. At night I was given a bed in an unfinished
+attic, under a shingled roof, which was not even ceiled, so the
+constant draughts of air whistling through the interstices overhead
+and at the sides of my apartment, kept up a ventilation more perfect
+than was desirable; and I should have suffered from the cold had it
+not been for my German coverlet, which was a feather-bed about twenty
+inches in thickness. It, of course, half smothered me, but there
+seemed no choice between that and freezing to death, so I patiently
+accepted my fate.
+
+[A night under a German coverlet.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+FROM CINCINNATI TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
+
+CINCINNATI.-- MUSIC AND PORK IN PORKOPOLIS.-- THE BIG BONE LICK OF
+FOSSIL ELEPHANTS.-- COLONEL CROGHAN'S VISIT TO THE LICK.-- PORTAGE
+AROUND THE "FALLS," AT LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.-- STUCK IN THE MUD.-- THE
+FIRST STEAMBOAT OF THE WEST.-- VICTOR HUGO ON THE SITUATION.-- A
+FREEBOOTER'S DEN.-- WHOOPING AND SAND-HILL CRANES.-- THE SNEAK-BOX
+ENTERS THE MISSISSIPPI.--
+
+THE next day being Saturday, and the mercury still standing at seven
+degrees above zero, I walked to Covington, and crossed the suspension-
+bridge to Cincinnati. It was the season of the year when the vast
+pork-packing establishments were in full blast, and the amount of work
+done spoke well for western enterprise.
+
+Pork-raising and pork-packing is one of the great industries of the
+Ohio valley, and the Cincinnati and Louisville merchants have control
+of the largest portion of the business growing out of it.
+
+When a stranger visits the pork-packing establishments of Cincinnati
+he marvels at the immensity and celerity of the various manipulations,
+which commence with the killing of a squealing pig, and the
+transformation of his hogship, in a few minutes, into a well-cleaned
+animal, hanging up to cool in a store-room, from which he is taken a
+little later and immediately cut up and packed in barrels for market.
+The reader may have a distaste for statistics, but I cannot impress
+upon him the magnitude of this great industry without giving a few
+reliable figures.
+
+The number of hogs packed in Cincinnati during the past twenty-one
+years, from 1853 to 1875, was 9,242,972. While Cincinnati was at work
+on one season's crop of pork of 632,302 pigs, her rival, Chicago, on
+the shore of Lake Michigan, killed and packed in the same time her
+crop of 2,501,285 animals.
+
+The "Twenty-ninth Annual Report of the Cincinnati Price Current,"
+published while the author has been writing this chapter, shows what
+our country can do in supplying meat for foreign as well as home
+markets. The states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin,
+Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky, and
+Tennessee, contributed to the packing establishments between November
+1, 1877, and March 1, 1878, during the winter season of six months,
+6,505,446 hogs; and during the summer season, from March 1 to November
+1, 2,543,120 animals,--making a one year's total of 9,048,566 pigs,
+which averaged a net weight, when dressed, of two hundred and twenty-
+six pounds. Thus the weight of meat alone packed in one year was
+2,044,975,916 pounds. Add to this the crop of California, Oregon, and
+Canada of the same year, and the total swells to 12,301,589 hogs, duly
+registered as having been killed by the pork-packers, and there still
+remain uncounted all the pigs killed in thirty-eight states by farmers
+for their own and neighbors' consumption.
+
+This annual crop of pork a jocund professor once described as "a
+prodigious mass of heavy carburetted hydrogen gas and scrofula;" but
+the chemists of our day would more properly stigmatize it as a vast
+quantity of Luzic, Myristic, Palmitic, Margaric, and Stearic acids in
+combination with glycerine and fibre.
+
+A western savant, having investigated the parasites existing in hogs,
+affirms that in western pork, eight animals out of every one hundred
+are affected by that muscle-boring pest so dangerous to those who have
+eaten the infected meat, and so well known to all students as the
+Trichina spiralis. The distinguished writer Letheby says of this
+parasite: "As found in the human subject (after death) it is usually
+in the encysted state, when it has passed beyond its dangerous
+condition, and has become harmless. In most cases, when thus
+discovered, there is no record of its action, and therefore it was
+once thought to be an innocent visitor; but we now know that while it
+was free, (that is, before nature had barricaded it up in the little
+cyst,) its presence was the cause of frightful disorders, killing
+about fifty per centum of its victims in terrible agony. The young
+worms having hatched in the body of man, migrate to the numerous
+muscles, causing the most excruciating pain, so that the patient,
+fearing to move his inflamed muscles, would lie motionless upon his
+back, and if he did not die in this state of the disorder, nature came
+to the rescue and imprisoned the creature by surrounding it with a
+fibrous cyst, where it lives for years, being ready at any moment to
+acquire activity when it is swallowed and released from its cell."
+
+Another parasite found in the muscles of the pig is known as the
+Cysticercus cellulosus, and the animals afflicted by it are said to
+have the measles. This larva of the tapeworm exists in the pig in
+little sacs not larger than a pin's head, and can be seen by the naked
+eye. The strong brine of the packer does not kill them, and I have
+known them to be taken alive from a boiled ham. The great heat of
+frying alone renders them harmless. When partially-cooked, measly pork
+is eaten by man, the gastric juice of the stomach dissolves the
+membranous sac which contains the living larva, and the animal soon
+passes into the intestines, where, clinging by its hooks, it holds on
+with wonderful tenacity, rapidly sending out joint after joint, until
+the perfect tapeworm sometimes attains a length of thirty feet.
+
+Let us hope, for the credit of humanity, that these facts are not
+generally known, for man has ills enough without incurring the risks
+of such a diet. If pork must form a staple, let the genealogical tree
+of his pigship be carefully sought after, and let the would-be
+consumer ask the question considered so important in a certain river-
+bounded city of Pennsylvania, "Who was his grandfather?"
+
+In the year 1800 Cincinnati was a little pioneer settlement of seven
+hundred and fifty men, women, and children. Her census of 1880 will
+not fall far short of a quarter of a million. She contributes more
+than her share to feed the world, and is, strange to say, as
+celebrated for the terpsichorean art as for her pork. Even Boston must
+yield her the palm as a musical centre, and give to the inhabitants of
+the once rough western city the credit due them for their versatility
+of talent, and the ease with which they render Beethoven, or "take a
+turn in pork," as occasion may demand, many of the music-loving
+citizens being engaged at times in a commercial way with this staple.
+
+Having obtained at a bookstore a copy of Lloyd's Map of the
+Mississippi River, I returned to the tailor's, where I was greeted in
+the most kindly manner, and informed that the young lady of the house,
+the only daughter of my host, had voluntarily left home to visit some
+city relations, that I might occupy her comfortably furnished room,
+with the open fireplace, which was now filled with blazing wood, and
+sending forth a genial glow into the heavily-curtained apartment. When
+I protested against this promotion in the social scale, and refused to
+deprive the young lady of her room, I was informed that she knew "WHO
+WAS WHO," and had insisted upon leaving her room that a gentleman
+might be properly entertained in it. From this time my now agreeable
+host stoutly refused to accept payment in advance for my daily
+rations, while, with his family and apprentices, he took up his
+quarters each evening in my new room, relating his experiences during
+the war, and giving me many original ideas.
+
+It grew warmer, but the ice of the creek in which my boat lay did not
+melt. The water was, however, falling, and it became necessary to cut
+out the sneak-box, and slide her over the ice into the unfrozen Ohio.
+My host had become alarmed, and kept an anxious eye upon the boat. "De
+peoples knows de poat is here, and some of dem hab told others about
+it. If you don't hide her down de rivver to-night, she will be stolen
+by de rivver thieves." I was thus forced to leave these kind people,
+who about noon escorted me to the duck-boat, and showered upon me
+their best wishes for a prosperous voyage. It was a glorious
+afternoon, and the sun poured all his wealth of light and cheerfulness
+upon the valley.
+
+Late in the day I passed the mouth of the Big Miami River. Indiana was
+on the right, while Kentucky still skirted the left bank of the river.
+The state of Ohio had furnished the Ohio River with a margin for four
+hundred and seventy-five miles. The Little Miami River joins the Ohio
+six miles above Cincinnati; the Big Miami enters it twenty miles below
+the city. These streams flow through rich farming regions, but they
+are not navigable. After passing the town of Aurora, which is six
+miles below the Big Miami, I caught sight of the mouth of a creek,
+whose thickets of trees, in the gloom of the fast approaching night,
+almost hid from view the outlines of a forlorn-looking shanty-boat.
+Clouds of smoke, with the bright glare of the fire, shot out of the
+rusty stove-pipe in the roof, but I soon discovered that it was the
+abode of one who attended strictly to his own business, and expected
+the same behavior from his neighbors. So, saying good evening to this
+man of solitary habits, I quickly rowed past his floating hermitage
+into the darkness of the neighboring swamp. I soon put my own home in
+order, ate my supper, and retired, feeling happy in the thought that I
+should before long reach a climate where my out-door life would not be
+attended with so many inconveniences.
+
+The next day a milder but damper atmosphere greeted me. By noon I had
+rowed twenty-two miles, and was off the mouth of Big Bone Lick Creek,
+in Kentucky. Two miles from the mouth of this creek are some springs,
+the waters of which are charged with sulphur and salt. The most
+interesting feature of this locality was the fact that here were
+buried in one vast bed the fossil bones of "The Mastodon and the
+Arctic Elephant." Formerly these prehistoric relics of a departed
+fauna were scattered over the surface of the earth. The first mention
+of this locality was made, I think, by a French explorer in 1649. It
+is again referred to by a British subject in 1765. A rare copy of a
+private journal kept by this early explorer of the Ohio, Colonel
+George Croghan, was published in G. W. Featherstonhaugh's "American
+Journal of Geology," of December, 1831. This monthly publication ended
+with its first year's existence. Only five copies of this number were
+known to be in print three years since, when Professor Thomas, of
+Mount Holly, New Jersey, encouraged the issue of a reprint of one
+hundred copies, from which some of our public libraries have been
+supplied.
+
+This Colonel George Croghan, in company with deputies from the Seneca,
+Shawnesse, and Delaware nations, left Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh), in two
+bateaux, on the 15th of May, 1765, bound on a mission to the Indian
+tribes of the Ohio valley. On the 29th of the month the expedition
+reached the Little Miami River. Colonel Croghan there commences his
+account of the Big Bone Lick region. He says: "May 30th we passed the
+Great Miami River, about thirty miles from the little river of that
+name, and in the EVENING arrived at the place WHERE THE ELEPHANTS'
+BONES ARE FOUND, when we encamped, intending to take a view of the
+place next morning. This day we came about seventy miles. The country
+on both sides level, and rich bottoms, well watered. May 31st. Early
+in the morning we went to the great Lick, where those bones are only
+found, about four miles from the river, on the south-east side. In our
+way we passed through a fine-timbered, clear wood: we passed into a
+large road, which the buffaloes have beaten, spacious enough for two
+wagons to go abreast, and leading straight into the Lick. It appears
+that there are vast quantities of these bones lying five or six feet
+under ground, which we discovered in the bank at the edge of the Lick.
+We found here two tusks above six feet long; we carried one, with some
+other bones, to our boat, and set off."
+
+In relation to the aboriginal inhabitants of the country of the Ohio
+valley, it is interesting to note that the "Six Nations" held six of
+the gates to New York, and were strong because they were united, for
+Colonel Croghan's enumeration of them shows that they had only two
+thousand one hundred and twenty fighting-men, and were never supported
+by more than about two thousand warriors from tributary tribes, when
+at war with the whites.
+
+That the Iroquois, with their adopted children, have not lost in
+numbers up to the present day, is a curious fact. About six thousand
+of the descendants of the "Six Nations" are at Forestville, Wisconsin,
+on government reservations; and the official agent reports that nearly
+two thousand of them can read and write; that they have twenty-nine
+day schools, and two manual-labor schools; that they cultivate their
+lands so diligently that they pay all the expenses of their living.
+They are reported as advancing in church discipline, growing in
+temperance; and are making rapid progress towards a complete
+civilization.
+
+These six thousand, with other descendants of the Iroquois in Canada,
+will no doubt make up a total equal in number to the members of the
+old "Indian Confederacy," so graphically pictured in the glowing pages
+of Mr. Francis Parkman, the reliable historian, who has given us such
+vivid descriptions of the French rule in America as have called forth
+the unqualified praise of students of American history on both sides
+of the Atlantic.
+
+Having rowed forty-three miles in twelve hours, I reached the town of
+Vevay, Indiana, which was first settled by a Swiss colony, to whom
+Congress granted lands for the purpose of encouraging grape-culture.
+Keeping close under the banks of the river, I entered a little creek a
+mile below the village, where a night, restful as usual, was passed.
+
+On Tuesday I rose with the moon, though it was as late as five o'clock
+in the morning; but, although fertile farms were stretched along the
+river's bank, and the land gave every sign of careful culture, it was
+anything but an enjoyable day, as the rain fell in almost
+uninterrupted showers from eight o'clock A. M. until dusk, when I was
+glad to find an inviting creek on the Kentucky shore, about one mile
+below Bethlehem, and had the great satisfaction of logging thirty-
+eight miles as the day's run.
+
+It was necessary to make an early start the next day, as I must run
+the falls of the Ohio at Louisville, Kentucky, or make a portage round
+them. The river was enveloped in fog; but I followed the shore
+closely, hour after hour, until the sun dispelled the mists, and my
+little duck-boat ran in among the barges at the great Kentucky city.
+Here, at Louisville, is the only barrier to safe navigation on the
+Ohio River. These so-called Falls of the Ohio are in fact rapids which
+almost disappear when the river is at its full height. At such times,
+steam-boats, with skilful pilots aboard, safely follow the channel,
+which avoids the rocks of the river. During the low stage of the
+water, navigation is entirely suspended. The fall of the current is
+twenty-three feet in two miles. To avoid this descent, in low water,
+and to allow vessels to ascend the river at all times, a canal was
+excavated along the left shore of the rapids from Louisville to
+Shippingsport, a distance of two miles and a half. It was a stupendous
+enterprise, as the passage was cut almost the entire distance through
+the solid rock, and in some places to the great depth of forty feet.
+
+On the 25th of September, 1816, when Louisville had a population of
+three thousand inhabitants, her first steamboat, the Washington, left
+the young city for New Orleans. A second trip was commenced by the
+Washington on March 3, 1817. The whole time consumed by the voyage
+from Louisville to New Orleans, including the return trip, was forty-
+one days. The now confident Captain Shreve, of the Washington,
+predicted that steamboats would be built which could make the passage
+to New Orleans in ten days. I have been a passenger on a steamboat
+which ascended the strong currents of the river from New Orleans to
+Louisville in five days; while the once pioneer hamlet now boasts a
+population exceeding one hundred thousand souls.
+
+As the bow of my little craft grounded upon the city levee, a crowd of
+good-natured men gathered round to examine her. From them I
+ascertained that the descent of the rapids could not be made without a
+pilot; and as the limited quarters of the sneak-box would not allow
+any addition to her passenger-list, a portage round the falls became a
+necessity. The canal was not to be thought of as it would have been a
+troublesome matter, without special passes from some official, to have
+obtained the privilege of passing through with so small a boat. The
+crowd cheerfully lifted the sneak-box into an express-wagon, and
+fifteen minutes after reaching Louisville I was en route for Portland,
+mailing letters as I passed through the city. The portage was made in
+about an hour. At sunset the little boat was launched in the Ohio, and
+I felt that I had returned to an old friend. The expressman entered
+with entire sympathy into the voyage, and could not be prevailed upon
+to accept more than a dollar and a half for transporting the boat and
+her captain four miles.
+
+When night came on, and no friendly creek offered me shelter, I pushed
+the boat into a soft, muddy flat of willows, which fringed a portion
+of the Kentucky shore, where there was just enough water to float the
+sneak-box. The passing steamers during the night sent swashy waves
+into my lair, which kept me in constant fear of a ducking, and gave me
+anything but a peaceful night. This was, however, all forgotten the
+next morning, when the startling discovery was made that the river had
+fallen during the night and left me in a quagmire, from which it
+seemed at first impossible to extricate myself.
+
+The boat was imbedded in the mud, which was so soft and slimy that it
+would not support my weight when I attempted to step upon it for the
+purpose of pushing my little craft into the water, which had receded
+only a few feet from my camp. I tried pushing With my oak oar; but it
+sunk into the mire almost out of sight. Then a small watch-tackle was
+rigged, one block fastened to the boat, the other to the limb of a
+willow which projected over the water. The result of this was a
+successful downward movement of the willow, but the boat remained in
+statu quo, the soft mud holding it as though it possessed the sucking
+powers of a cuttlefish.
+
+I could not reach the firm shore, for the willow brush would not
+support my weight. There was no assistance to be looked for from
+fellow-voyagers, as the river-craft seemed to follow the channel of
+the opposite shore; and my camp could not be seen from the river, as I
+had taken pains to hide myself in the thicket of young willows from
+all curious eyes. There was no hope that my voice would penetrate to
+the other side of the stream, neither could I reach the water beyond
+the soft ooze. Being well provisioned, however, it would be an easy
+matter to await the rise of the river; and if no friendly freshet sent
+me the required assistance, the winds would harden the ooze in a few
+days so that it would bear my weight, and enable me to escape from my
+bonds of mud.
+
+While partaking of a light breakfast, an idea suddenly presented
+itself to my mind. I had frequently built crossways over treacherous
+swamps. Why not mattress the muddy flat? Standing upon the deck of my
+boat, I grasped every twig and bough of willow I could reach, and
+making a mattress of them, about two feet square and a few inches
+thick, on the surface of the mud at the stern of my craft, I placed
+upon it the hatch-cover of my boat. Standing upon this, the sneak-box
+was relieved of my weight, and by dint of persevering effort the after
+part was successful]y lifted, and the heavy burden slowly worked out
+of its tenacious bed, and moved two or three feet nearer the water. By
+shifting the willow mattress nearer the boat, which was now ON the
+surface of the mud, and not IN it, my floating home was soon again
+upon the current, and its captain had a new experience, which, though
+dearly bought, would teach him to avoid in future a camp on a soft
+flat when a river was falling.
+
+A foggy day followed my departure from the unfortunate camp of
+willows; but through the mist I caught glimpses of the fine lands of
+the Kentucky farmers, with the grand old trees shading their
+comfortable homes. In the drizzle I had passed French's Creek, and
+after dark ran upon a stony beach, where, high and dry upon the bank,
+was a shanty-boat, which had been converted into a landing-house, and
+was occupied by two men who received the freight left there by passing
+steamers. The locality was six miles below Brandenburg, Kentucky, and
+was known as "Richardson's Landing." Having rowed forty miles since
+morning, I "turned in" soon after drawing my boat upon the shelving
+strand, anticipating a quiet night.
+
+At midnight a loud noise, accompanied with bright flashes of light,
+warned me of the approach of a steamboat. She soon after ran her bow
+hard on to the beach, within a few feet of my boat. Though the rain
+was falling in torrents, the passengers crowded upon the upper deck to
+examine the snow-white, peculiarly shaped craft, or "skiff" as they
+called it, which lay upon the bank, little suspecting that her owner
+was snugly stowed beneath her deck. I suddenly threw up the hatch and
+sat upright, while the strong glare of light from the steamer's
+furnaces brought out every detail of the boat's interior.
+
+This sudden apparition struck the crowd with surprise, and, as is
+usual upon such an occasion in western America, the whole company
+showered a fire of raillery and "chaff" upon me, to which, on account
+of the heavy rain, I could not reply, but, dropping backward into my
+bed, drew the hatch into its place. The good-natured crowd would not
+permit me to escape so easily. Calling the entire ship's company from
+the state-rooms and cabins to join them, they used every artifice in
+their power to induce me to show my head above the deck of my boat.
+One shouted, "Here, you deck-hand, don't cut that man's rope; it's
+mean to steal a fellow's painter!" Another cried, "Don't put that
+heavy plank against that little skiff!" Suspecting their game,
+however, I kept under cover during the fifteen minutes' stay of the
+boat, when, moving off; they all shouted a jolly farewell, which
+mingled in the darkness with the hoarse whistle of the steamer, while
+the night air echoed with cries of; "Snug as a bug in a rug;" "I never
+seed the like afore;" "He'll git used to livin'in a coffin afore he
+needs one," &c.
+
+The reader who may have looked heretofore upon swamps and gloomy
+creeks as too lonely for camping-grounds, may now appreciate the
+necessity for selecting such places, and understand why a voyager
+prefers the security of the wilderness to the annoying curiosity of
+his fellow-man.
+
+The rains of the past two days had swollen the Kentucky River, which
+enters the Ohio above Louisville, as well as the Salt River, which I
+had passed twenty miles below that city, besides many other branches,
+so that the main stream was now rapidly rising. After leaving
+Richardson's Landing, the rain continued to fall, and as each
+tributary, affected by the freshet, poured logs, fallen trees, fence-
+rails, stumps from clearings, and even occasionally a small frame
+shanty, into the Ohio, there was a floating raft of these materials
+miles in length. Sometimes an unlucky shanty-boat was caught in an
+eddy by the mass of floating timber, and at once becoming an integral
+portion of the whole, would float with the great raft for two or three
+days. The owners, being in the mean time unable to free themselves
+from their prison-like surroundings, made the best of the blockade,
+and their fires burned all the brighter, while the enlivening music of
+the fiddle, and the hilarity induced by frequent potions of corn
+whiskey, with the inevitable games of cards, made all "merry as a
+marriage bell," as they floated down the river.
+
+In the evening, a little creek below Alton was reached, which
+sheltered me during the night. Soon the rain ceased, and the stars
+shone kindly upon my lonely camp. I left the creek at half-past four
+o'clock in the morning. The water had risen two feet and a half in ten
+hours, and the broad river was in places covered from shore to shore
+with drift stuff; which made my course a devious one, and the little
+duck-boat had many a narrow escape in my attempts to avoid the
+floating mass. The booming of guns along the shore reminded me that it
+was Christmas, and, in imagination, I pictured to myself the many
+happy families in the valley enjoying their Christmas cheer. The
+contrast between their condition and mine was great, for I could not
+even find enough dry wood to cook my simple camp-fare.
+
+An hour before sunset, while skirting the Indiana shore, I passed a
+little village called Batesville, and soon after came to the mouth of
+a crooked creek, out of which, borne on the flood of a freshet, came a
+long, narrow line of drift stuff. Just within the mouth of the creek,
+in a deep indenture of the high bank, a shanty-boat was snugly lashed
+to the trees. A young man stood in the open doorway of the cabin,
+washing dishes, and as I passed he kindly wished me a "Merry
+Christmas," inviting me on board. He eagerly inspected the sneak-box,
+and pronounced it one of the prettiest "tricks" afloat. "How my father
+and brother would like to see you and your boat!" exclaimed he. "Can't
+you tie up here, just under yonder p'int on the bank? There's an eddy
+there, and the drift won't work in enough to trouble you."
+
+The invitation so kindly given was accepted, and with the assistance
+of my new acquaintance my boat was worked against the strong current
+into a curve of the bank, and there securely fastened. I set to work
+about my house-keeping cares, and had my cabin comfortably arranged
+for the night, when I was hailed from the shanty-boat to "come
+aboard." Entering the rough cabin, a surprise greeted me, for a table
+stood in the centre of the room, covered with a clean white cloth, and
+groaning under the weight of such a variety of appetizing dishes as I
+had not seen for many a day.
+
+"I thought," said the boy, "that you hadn't had much Christmas to-day,
+being as you're away from your folks; and we had a royal dinner, and
+there's lots left fur you--so help yourself." He then explained that
+his father and brother had gone to a shooting-match on the other side
+of the river; and when I expressed my astonishment at the excellent
+fare, which, upon closer acquaintance, proved to be of a dainty nature
+(game and delicate pastry making a menu rather peculiar for a shanty-
+boat), he informed me that his brother had been first cook on a big
+passenger steamer, and had received good wages; but their mother died,
+and their father married a second time, and--Here the young fellow
+paused, evidently considering how much of their private life he should
+show to a stranger. "Well," he continued, "our new mother liked cities
+better than flatboats, and father's a good quiet man, who likes to
+live in peace with every one, so he lets mother live in Arkansas, and
+he stays on the shanty-boat. We boys joined him, fur he's a good old
+fellow, and we have all that's going. We git plenty of cat-fish,
+buffalo-fish, yellow perch, and bass, and sell them at the little
+towns along the river. Then in summer we hire a high flat ashore,--not
+a flatboat,--I mean a bit of land along the river, and raise a crop of
+corn, 'taters, and cabbage. We have plenty of shooting, and don't git
+much fever 'n ager."
+
+I had rowed fifty-three miles that day, and did ample justice to the
+Christmas dinner on the flatboat. The father and brother joined us in
+the evening, and gave me much good advice in regard to river
+navigation. The rain fell heavily before midnight, and they insisted
+that I should share one of their beds in the boat; but as small
+streams of water were trickling through the roof of the shanty, and my
+little craft was water-tight, I declined the kindly offer, and bade
+them good-night.
+
+The next day being Sunday, I again visited my new acquaintances upon
+the shanty-boat, and gathered from their varied experiences much of
+the river's lore. The rain continued, accompanied with lightning and
+thunder, during the entire day, so that Monday's sun was indeed
+welcome; and with kind farewells on all sides I broke camp and
+descended the current with the now almost continuous raft of drift-
+wood. For several hours a sewing-machine repair-shop and a
+photographic gallery floated with me.
+
+The creeks were now so swollen from the heavy rains, and so full of
+drift-wood, that my usual retreat into some creek seemed cut off; so I
+ran under the sheltered side of "Three Mile Island," below Newburg,
+Indiana. The climate was daily improving, and I no longer feared an
+ice blockade; but a new difficulty arose. The heavy rafts of timber
+threatened to shut me in my camp. At dusk, all might be open water;
+but at break of day "a change came o'er the spirit of my dream," and
+heavy blockades of timber rafts made it no easy matter to escape.
+There were times when, shut in behind these barriers, I looked out
+upon the river with envious eyes at the steamboats steadily plodding
+up stream against the current, keeping free of the rafts by the skill
+of their pilots; and thoughts of the genius and perseverance of the
+inventors of these peculiar craft crowded my mind.
+
+In these days of successful application of mechanical inventions, but
+few persons can realize the amount of distrust and opposition against
+which a Watts or a Fulton had to contend while forcing upon an
+illiberal and unappreciative public the valuable results of their busy
+brains and fertile genius. It is well for us who now enjoy these
+blessings,--the utilized ideas of a lifetime of unrequited labors,--to
+look back upon the epoch of history so full of gloom for the men to
+whom we owe so much.
+
+At the beginning of the present century the navigation of the Ohio was
+limited to canoes, bateaux, scows, rafts, arks, and the rudest models
+of sailing-boats. The ever downward course of the strong current must
+be stemmed in ascending the river. Against this powerful resistance
+upon tortuous streams, wind, as a motor, was found to be only
+partially successful, and for sure and rapid transit between
+settlements along the banks of great waterways a most discouraging
+failure. Down-river journeys were easily made, but the up-river or
+return trip was a very slow and unsatisfactory affair, excepting to
+those who travelled in light canoes.
+
+The influx of population to the fertile Ohio valley, and the settling
+up of the rich bottoms of the Mississippi, demanded a more expeditious
+system of communication. The necessities of the people called loudly
+for this improvement, but at the same time their prejudices and
+ignorance prevented them from aiding or encouraging any such plans.
+The hour came at length for the delivery of the people of the great
+West, and with it the man. Fulton, aided by Watts, offered to solve
+the problem by unravelling rather than by cutting the "Gordian knot."
+It was whispered through the wilderness that a fire-ship, called the
+"Clermont," built by a crazy speculator named Fulton, had started from
+New York, and, steaming up the Hudson, had forced itself against the
+current one hundred and fifty miles to Albany, in thirty-six hours.
+This was in September, 1807.
+
+The fool and the fool's fire-ship became the butt of all sensible
+people in Europe as well as in America. Victor Hugo remarks that, "In
+the year 1807, when the first steamboat of Fulton, commanded by
+Livingston, furnished with one of Watts's engines sent from England,
+and manoeuvred, besides her ordinary crew, by two Frenchmen only,
+Andr Michaux and another, made her first voyage from New York to
+Albany, it happened that she set sail on the 17th of August. The
+ministers took up this important fact, and in numberless chapels
+preachers were heard calling down a malediction on the machine, and
+declaring that this number seventeen was no other than the total of
+the ten horns and seven heads of the beasts in the Apocalypse. In
+America they invoked against the steamboat the beast from the book of
+Revelation; in Europe, the reptile of the book of Genesis. The SAVANS
+had rejected steamboats as impossible; the PRIESTS had anathematized
+them as impious; SCIENCE had condemned, and RELIGION consigned them to
+perdition."
+
+"In the archipelago of the British Channel islands," this learned
+author goes on to say, "the first steamboat which made its appearance
+received the name of the 'Devil Boat.' In the eyes of these worthy
+fishermen, once Catholics, now Calvinists, but always bigots, it
+seemed to be a portion of the infernal regions which had been somehow
+set afloat. A local preacher selected for his discourse the question
+of, 'Whether man has the right to make fire and water work together
+when God had divided them.' (Gen. ch. i. v.4.) No; this beast composed
+of iron and fire did not resemble leviathan! Was it not an attempt to
+bring chaos again into the universe?"
+
+So much for young America, and so much for old mother England! Now
+listen, men and women of to-day, to the wisdom of France--scientific
+France. "A mad notion, a gross delusion, an absurdity!" Such was the
+verdict of the Academy of Sciences when consulted by Napoleon on the
+subject of steamboats early in the present century.
+
+It seems scarcely credible now that all this transpired in the days of
+our fathers, not so very long ago. Time is a great leveller. Education
+of the head as well as of the heart has liberalized the pulpit, and
+the man of theoretical science to-day would not dare to stake his
+reputation by denying any apparently well-established theory, while
+the inventors of telephones, perpetual-motion motors, &c., are gladly
+hailed as leaders in the march of progress so dear to every American
+heart. The pulpit is now on the side of honest science, and the savant
+teaches great truths, while the public mind is being educated to
+receive and utilize the heretofore concealed or undeveloped mysteries
+of a wise and generous Creator, who has taught his children that they
+must labor in order to possess.
+
+The Clermont was the pioneer steamer of the Hudson River, and its
+trial trip was made in 1807. The first steamboat which descended the
+Ohio and Mississippi rivers was christened the New Orleans." It was
+designed and built by Mr. N.J. Roosevelt, and commenced its voyage
+from Pittsburgh in September, 1811. The bold proprietor of this
+enterprise, with his wife, Mrs. Lydia M. Roosevelt, accompanied the
+captain, engineer, pilot, six hands, two female servants, a man
+waiter, a cook, and a large Newfoundland dog, to the end of the
+voyage. The friends of this lady--the first woman who descended the
+great rivers of the West in a steamboat--used every argument they
+could offer to dissuade her from undertaking what was considered a
+dangerous experiment, an absolute folly. The good wife, however, clung
+to her husband, and accepted the risks, preferring to be drowned or
+blown up, as her friends predicted, rather than to desert her better-
+half in his hour of trial. A few weeks would decide his success or
+failure, and she would be at his side to condole or rejoice with him,
+as the case might be.
+
+The citizens of Pittsburgh gathered upon the banks of the Monongahela
+to witness the inception of the enterprise which was to change the
+whole destiny of the West. One can imagine the criticisms flung at the
+departing steamer as she left her moorings and boldly faced her fate.
+As the curious craft was borne along the current of the river, the
+Indians attempted to approach her, bent upon hostile attempts, and
+once a party of them pursued the boat in hot chase, but their
+endurance was not equal to that of steam. These children of the forest
+gazed upon the snorting, fire-breathing monster with undisguised awe,
+and called it "Penelore"--the fire-canoe. They imagined it to have
+close relationship with the comet that they believed had produced the
+earthquakes of that year. The voyage of the "New Orleans" was a
+romantic reality in two ways. The wonderful experiment was proved a
+success, and its originator won his laurel wreath; while the bold
+captain of the fire-ship, falling in love with one of the
+chambermaids, won a wife.
+
+The river's travel now became somewhat monotonous. I had reached a low
+country, heavily wooded in places, and was entering the great prairie
+region of Illinois. Having left my island camp by starlight on Tuesday
+morning, and having rowed steadily all day until dusk, I passed the
+wild-looking mouth of the Wabash River, and went into camp behind an
+island, logging with pleasure my day's run at sixty-seven miles. I was
+now only one hundred and forty-two miles from the mouth of the Ohio,
+and with the rising and rapidly increasing current there were only a
+few hours' travel between me and the Mississippi.
+
+Wednesday morning, December 29th, I discovered that the river had
+risen two feet during the night, and the stump of the tree to which I
+had moored my boat was submerged. The river was wide and the banks
+covered with heavy forests, with clearings here and there, which
+afforded attractive vistas of prairies in the background. I passed a
+bold, stratified crag, covered with a little growth of cedars. These
+adventurous trees, growing out of the crevices of the rock, formed a
+picturesque covering for its rough surface. A cavern, about thirty
+feet in width, penetrated a short distance into the rock. This natural
+curiosity bore the name of "Cave-in-Rock," and was, in 1801, the
+rendezvous of a band of outlaws, who lived by plundering the boats
+going up and down the river, oftentimes adding the crime of murder to
+their other misdeeds. Just below the cliff nestled a little village
+also called "Cave-in-Rock."
+
+Wild birds flew about me on all sides, and had I cared to linger I
+might have had a good bag of game. This was not, however, a gunning
+cruise, and the temptation was set aside as inconsistent with the
+systematic pulling which alone would take me to my goal. The birds
+were left for my quondam friends of the shanty-boat, they being the
+happy possessors of more TIME than they could well handle, and the
+killing of it the aim of their existence.
+
+The soft shores of alluvium were constantly caving and falling into
+the river, bringing down tons of earth and tall forest-trees. The
+latter, after freeing their roots of the soil, would be swept out into
+the stream as contributions to the great floating raft of drift-wood,
+a large portion of which was destined to a long voyage, for much of
+this floating forest is carried into the Gulf of Mexico, and travels
+over many hundreds of miles of salt water, until it is washed up on to
+the strands of the isles of the sea or the beaches of the continent.
+
+Having tied up for the night to a low bank, with no thought of danger,
+it was startling, to say the least, to have an avalanche of earth from
+the bank above deposit itself upon my boat, so effectually sealing
+down my hatch-cover that it seemed at first impossible to break from
+my prison. After repeated trials I succeeded in dislodging the mass,
+and, thankful to escape premature interment, at once pushed off in
+search of a better camp.
+
+A creek soon appeared, but its entrance was barred by a large tree
+which had fallen across its mouth. My heavy hatchet now proved a
+friend in need, and putting my boat close to the tree, I went
+systematically to work, and soon cut out a section five feet in
+length. Entering through this gateway, my labors were rewarded by
+finding upon the bank some dry fence-rails, with which a rude kitchen
+was soon constructed to protect me from the wind while preparing my
+meal. The unusual luxury of a fire brightened the weird scene, and the
+flames shot upward, cheering the lone voyager and frightening the owls
+and coons from their accustomed lairs. The strong current had been of
+great assistance, for that night my log registered sixty-two miles for
+the day's row.
+
+Leaving the creek the next morning by starlight, I passed large flocks
+of geese and ducks, while Whooping-cranes (Grus Americanus) and Sand-
+hill cranes (Grus Canadensis), in little flocks, dotted the grassy
+prairies, or flew from one swamp to another, filling the air with
+their startling cries. Both these species are found associated in
+flocks upon the cultivated prairie farms, where they pillage the grain
+and vegetable fields of the farmer. Their habits are somewhat similar,
+though the whooping-crane is the most wary of the two. The adult
+Whooping-cranes are white, the younger birds of a brownish color. This
+species is larger than the Sand-hill Crane, the latter having a total
+length of from forty to forty-two inches. The Sand-hill species may be
+distinguished from the Whooping-crane by its slate-blue color. The
+cackling, whooping, and screaming voices of an assembled multitude of
+these birds cannot be described. They can be heard for miles upon the
+open plains. These birds are found in Florida and along the Gulf coast
+as well as over large areas of the northern states. They feed upon
+soft roots, which they excavate from the swamps, and upon bugs and
+reptiles of all kinds. It requires the most cautious stalking on the
+part of the hunter to get within gunshot of them, and when so
+approached the Whooping-crane is usually the first of the two species
+which takes to the wing. The social customs of these birds are most
+entertaining to the observer who may lie hidden in the grass and watch
+them through a glass. Their tall, angular figures, made up of so much
+wing, leg, neck, and bill, counterpoised by so little body, incline
+the spectator to look upon them as ornithological caricatures. After
+balancing himself upon one foot for an hour, with the other drawn up
+close to his scanty robe of feathers, and his head poised in a most
+contemplative attitude, one of these queer birds will suddenly turn a
+somersault, and, returning to his previous posture, continue his
+cogitations as though nothing had interrupted his reflections. With
+wings spread, they slowly winnow the air, rising or hopping from the
+ground a few feet at a time, then whirling in circles upon their toes,
+as though going through the mazes of a dance. Their most popular
+diversion seems to be the game of leap-frog, and their long legs being
+specially adapted to this sport, they achieve a wonderful success. One
+of the birds quietly assumes a squatting position upon the ground,
+when his sportive companions hop in turn over his expectant head. They
+then pirouette, turn somersaults, and go through various exercises
+with the skill of gymnasts. Their sportive proclivities seem to have
+no bounds; and being true humorists, they preserve through their
+gambols a ridiculously sedate appearance. Popular accounts of the
+nidification of these birds are frequently untrue. We are told that
+they build their cone-shaped nests of mud, sticks, and grass in
+shallow water, in colonies, and that their nests, BEING PLACED ON
+RAFTS of buoyant material, float about in the bayous, and are
+propelled and guided at the will of the sitting bird by the use of her
+long legs and feet as oars. The position of the bird upon the nest is
+also ludicrously depicted. It is described as sitting astride the
+nest, with the toes touching the ground; and to add still more
+comicality to the picture, it is asserted that the limbs are often
+thrust out horizontally behind the bird. The results of close
+observations prove that these accounts are in keeping with many others
+related by parlor naturalists. The cranes sit upon their nests like
+other birds, with their feet drawn up close to the body. The mound-
+shaped nests are built of sticks, grass, and mud, and usually placed
+in a shallow pond or partially submerged swamp, while at times a
+grassy hassock furnishes the foundation of the structure. In the
+saucer-shaped top of the nest two eggs are deposited, upon which the
+bird sits most assiduously, having no time at this season for aquatic
+amusements, such as paddling about with her nest.
+
+[Popular idea of the nesting of cranes.]
+
+The young birds are most hilarious babies, for they inherit the social
+qualities of their parents, and are ready to play or fight with each
+other before they are fairly out of the nest. A close observer of
+their habits writes from the prairies of Indiana: "When the young get
+a little strength they attack each other with great fury, and can only
+be made to desist by the parent bird separating them, and taking one
+under its fostering care, and holding them at a respectable distance
+until they reach crane-hood, when they seem to make up in joyous
+hilarity for the quarrelsome proclivities of youth."
+
+Like geese and ducks, cranes winter in one locality so long as the
+ponds are open, but the first cold snap that freezes their swamp
+drives them two or three degrees further south. From this migration
+they soon return to their old haunts, the first thawing of the ice
+being the signal.
+
+The mouths of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers were passed, and the
+Ohio, widening in places until it seemed like a lake, assumed a new
+grandeur as it approached the Mississippi. Three miles below
+Wilkinsonville, but on the Kentucky side, I stole into a dark creek
+and rested until the next morning, Friday, December 31st, which was to
+be my last day on the Ohio River.
+
+I entered a long reach in the river soon after nine o'clock on Friday
+morning, and could plainly see the town of Cairo, resting upon the
+flat prairies in the distance. The now yellow, muddy current of the
+Ohio rolled along the great railroad dike, which had cost one million
+dollars to erect, and formed a barrier strong enough to resist the
+rushing waters of the freshets. Across the southern apex of this
+prairie city could be seen the "Father of Waters," its wide surface
+bounded on the west by the wilderness. A few moments more, and my
+little craft was whirled into its rapid, eddying current; and with the
+boat's prow now pointed southward, I commenced, as it were, a life of
+new experiences as I descended the great river, where each day I was
+to feel the genial influences of a warmer climate.
+
+The thought of entering warm and sunny regions was, indeed, welcome to
+a man who had forced his way through rafts of ice, under cloudy skies,
+through a smoky atmosphere, and had partaken of food of the same
+chilling temperature for so many days. This prospect of a genial
+clime, with the more comfortable camping and rowing it was sure to
+bring, gave new vigor to my arms, daily growing stronger with their
+task, and each long, steady pull TOLD as it swept me down the river.
+
+The faithful sneak-box had carried me more than a thousand miles since
+I entered her at Pittsburgh. This, of course, includes the various
+detours made in searching for camping-grounds, frequent crossings of
+the wide river to avoid drift stuff; &c. The descent of the Ohio had
+occupied about twenty-nine days, but many hours had been lost by
+storms keeping me in camp, and other unavoidable delays. As an offset
+to these stoppages, it must be remembered that the current, increased
+by freshets, was with me, and to it, as much as to the industrious
+arms of the rower, must be given the credit for the long route gone
+over in so short a time, by so small a boat.
+
+[Stern-wheel Western tow-boat pushing flatboats.]
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+DESCENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
+
+LEAVE CAIRO, ILLINOIS.-- THE LONGEST RIVER IN THE WORLD.-- BOOK
+GEOGRAPHY AND BOAT GEOGRAPHY.-- CHICKASAW BLUFF.-- MEETING WITH THE
+PARAKEETS.-- FORT DONALDSON.-- EARTHQUAKES AND LAKES.-- WEIRD BEAUTY
+OF REELFOOT LAKE.-- JOE ECKEL'S BAR.-- SHANTY-BOAT COOKING.-- FORT
+PILLOW.-- MEMPHIS.-- A NEGRO JUSTICE.-- "DE COMMON LAW OB
+MISSISSIPPI."
+
+MY floating home was now upon the broad Mississippi, which text-book
+geographers still insist upon calling "the Father of Waters--the
+largest river in North America." Its current was about one-third
+faster than that of its tributary, the Ohio. Its banks were covered
+with heavy forests, and for miles along its course the great
+wilderness was broken only by the half-tilled lands of the cotton-
+planter.
+
+From Cairo southward the river is very tortuous, turning back upon
+itself as if imitating the convolutions of a crawling serpent, and
+following a channel of more than eleven hundred and fifty miles before
+its waters unite with those of the Gulf of Mexico. This country
+between the mouth of the Ohio and the Gulf of Mexico is truly the
+delta of the Mississippi, for the river north of Cairo cuts through
+table-lands, and is confined to its old bed; but below the mouth of
+the Ohio the great river persistently seeks for new channels, and, as
+we approach New Orleans, we discover branches which carry off a
+considerable portion of its water to the Gulf coast in southwestern
+Louisiana.
+
+It is always with some degree of hesitation that I introduce
+geographical details into my books, as I well know that a taste for
+the study of physical geography has not been developed among my
+countrymen. Where among all our colleges is there a well-supported
+chair of physical geography occupied by an American? We sometimes hear
+of a "Professor of Geology and Physical Geography," but the last is
+only a sort of appendage--a tail--to the former. When a student of
+American geography begins the study in earnest, he discovers that our
+geographies are insufficient, are filled with errors, and that our
+maps possess a greater number of inaccuracies than truths. When he
+goes into the field to study the physical geography of his native
+land, he is forced to go through the disagreeable process of
+unlearning all he has been taught from the poor textbooks of stay-at-
+home travellers and closet students, whose compilations have burdened
+his mind with errors. In despair he turns to the topographical charts
+and maps of the "United States Coast and Geodetic Survey," and of the
+"Engineer Corps of the United States Army," and in the truthful and
+interesting results of the practical labors of trained observers he
+takes courage as he enters anew his field of study. The cartographer
+of the shop economically constructs his unreliable maps to supply a
+cheap demand; and strange to say, though the results of the government
+surveys are freely at his disposal, he rarely makes use of them. It
+costs too much to alter the old map-plates, and but few persons will
+feel sufficiently interested to criticise the faults of his latest
+edition.
+
+"How do you get the interior details?" I once asked the agent of one
+of the largest map establishments in the United States. "Oh," he
+answered, "when we cannot get township details from local surveys, we
+sling them in anyhow." An error once taught from our geographies and
+maps will remain an error for a generation, and our text-book
+geographers will continue to repeat it, for they do not travel over
+the countries they describe, and rarely adopt the results of
+scientific investigation. The most unpopular study in the schools of
+the United States is that of the geography of our country. It does not
+amount merely to a feeling of indifference, but in some colleges to a
+positive prejudice. The chief mountain-climbing club of America,
+counting among its members some of the best minds of our day, was
+confronted by this very prejudice. "If you introduce the study of
+physical geography in connection with the explorations of mountains, I
+will not join your association," said a gentleman living almost within
+the shadow of the buildings of our oldest university.
+
+A committee of Chinese who called upon the school authorities of a
+Pacific-coast city, several years since, respectfully petitioned that
+"you will not waste the time of our children in teaching them
+geography. You say the world is ROUND; some of us say it is FLAT. What
+difference does it make to our business if it be round or flat? The
+study of geography will not help us to make money. It may do for
+Melican man, but it is not good for Chinese."
+
+I once knew a chairman of the school trustees in a town in New Jersey
+to remove his daughters from the public school simply because the
+teacher insisted that it was his duty to instruct his pupils in the
+study of geography. "My boys may go to sea some day, and then
+geography may be of service to them," said this chairman to the
+teacher, "but if my daughters study it they will waste their time. Of
+what use can geography be to girls who will never command a vessel?"
+
+While conscious that I may inflict an uninteresting chapter upon my
+reader who may have accompanied me with a commendable degree of
+patience so far upon my lonely voyage, I nevertheless feel it a duty
+to place on record a few facts that are well known to scientific men,
+if not to the writers of popular geographies, regarding the existence
+within the boundaries of our own country of the longest river in the
+world. It is time that the recognition of this fact should be
+established in every school in the United States. As this is a very
+important subject, let us examine it in detail.
+
+THE MISSOURI IS THE LONGEST RIVER IN THE WORLD, AND THE MISSISSIPPI IS
+ONLY A BRANCH OF IT. The Mississippi River joins its current with that
+of the Missouri about two hundred miles above the mouth of the Ohio;
+consequently, as we are now to allow the largest stream (the Missouri)
+to bear its name from its source all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, it
+follows that the Ohio flows into the Missouri and not into the
+Mississippi River. The Missouri, and NOT the Mississippi, is the main
+stream of what has been called the Mississippi Basin. The Missouri,
+when taken from its fountain-heads of the Gallatin, Madison, and Red
+Rock lakes, or, if we take the Jefferson Fork as the principal
+tributary, has a length, from its source to its union with the
+Mississippi, of above three thousand miles. The United States
+Topographical Engineers have credited it with a length of two thousand
+nine hundred and eight miles, when divested of some of these tributary
+extensions. The same good authority gives the Mississippi a length of
+thirteen hundred and thirty miles from its source to its junction with
+the Missouri.
+
+At this junction of the two rivers the Missouri has a mean discharge
+of one hundred and twenty thousand cubic feet of water per second, or
+one-seventh greater than that of the Mississippi, which has a mean
+discharge of one hundred and five thousand cubic feet per second. The
+Missouri drains five hundred and eighteen thousand square miles of
+territory, while the Mississippi drains only one hundred and sixty-
+nine thousand square miles. While the latter river has by far the
+greatest rainfall, the Missouri discharges the largest amount of
+water, and at the point of union of the two streams is from fifteen to
+seventeen hundred miles the longer of the two. Therefore, according to
+natural laws, the Missouri is the main stream, and the smaller and
+shorter Mississippi is only a branch of it. From the junction of the
+two rivers the current, increased by numerous tributaries, follows a
+crooked channel some thirteen hundred and fifty-five miles to the Gulf
+of Mexico. The Missouri, therefore, has a total length of four
+thousand three hundred and sixty-three miles, without counting some of
+its highest sources.
+
+The learned Professor A. Guyot, in a treatise on physical geography,
+written for "A. J. Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas of the
+World," informs us that the Amazon River, the great drainer of the
+eastern Andes, is three thousand five hundred and fifty miles long,
+and is the LONGEST RIVER IN THE WORLD.
+
+According to the figures used by me in reference to the Missouri and
+Mississippi, and which are the results of actual observations made by
+competent engineers, the reader will find, notwithstanding the
+statements made by our best geographers in regard to the length of the
+Amazon, that there is one river within the confines of our country
+which is eight hundred and thirteen miles longer than the Amazon, and
+is the longest though not the widest river in the world. The rivers of
+what is now called the Mississippi Basin drain one million two hundred
+and forty-four thousand square miles of territory, while the broader
+Amazon, with its many tributaries, drains the much larger area of two
+million two hundred and seventy-five thousand square miles.
+
+A century after the Spaniard, De Soto, had discovered the lower
+Mississippi, and had been interred in its bed, a French interpreter,
+of "Three Rivers," on the northern bank of the St. Lawrence River,
+named Jean Nicollet, explored one of the northern tributaries of the
+Mississippi. This was about the year 1639.
+
+It was reserved for La Salle to make the first thorough exploration of
+the Mississippi. A few months after he had returned, alone, from his
+examination of the Ohio as far as the falls at Louisville, in 1669-70,
+this undaunted man followed the Great Lakes of the north to the
+western shore of Lake Michigan, and making a portage to a river,
+"evidently the Illinois," traversed it to its intersection with
+another river, "flowing from the north-west to the south-east," which
+river must have been the Mississippi, and which it is affirmed La
+Salle descended to the thirty-sixth degree of latitude, when he became
+convinced that this unexplored stream discharged itself, not into the
+Gulf of California, but into the Gulf of Mexico. So La Salle was the
+discoverer of the Illinois as well as of the Ohio; and during his
+subsequent visits to the Mississippi gave that river a thorough
+exploration.
+
+My entrance to the Mississippi River was marked by the advent of
+severe squalls of wind and rain, which drove me about noon to the
+shelter of Island No. 1, where I dined, and where in half an hour the
+sun came out in all its glory. Many peculiar features of the
+Mississippi attracted my notice. Sand bars appeared above the water,
+and large flocks of ducks and geese rested upon them. Later, the high
+Chickasaw Bluff, the first and highest of a series which rise at
+intervals, like islands out of the low bottoms as far south as
+Natchez, came into view on the left side of the river. The mound-
+builders of past ages used these natural fortresses to hold at bay the
+fierce tribes of the north, and long afterward this Chickasaw Bluff
+played a conspicuous part in the civil war between the states.
+Columbus, a small village, and the terminus of a railroad, is at the
+foot of the heights.
+
+A little lower down, and opposite Chalk Bluff, was a heavily wooded
+island, a part of the territory of the state of Illinois, and known as
+Wolf Island, or Island No. 5. At five o'clock in the afternoon I ran
+into a little thoroughfare on the eastern side of this island, and
+moored the duck-boat under its muddy banks. The wind increased to a
+gale before morning, and kept me through the entire day, and until the
+following morning, an unwilling captive. Reading and cooking helped to
+while away the heavy hours, but having burned up all the dry wood I
+could find, I was forced to seek other quarters, which were found in a
+romantic stream that flowed out of a swamp and joined the Mississippi
+just one mile above Hickman, on the Kentucky side. Having passed a
+comfortable night, and making an early start without breakfast, I
+rowed rapidly over a smooth current to the stream called Bayou du
+Chien Creek, in which I made a very attractive camp among the giant
+sycamores, sweet-gums, and cotton-woods. The warm sunshine penetrated
+into this sheltered spot, while the wind had fallen to a gentle
+zephyr, and came in refreshing puffs through the lofty trees. Here
+birds were numerous, and briskly hopped about my fire while I made an
+omelet and boiled some wheaten grits.
+
+[Meeting with the parakeets.]
+
+In this retired haunt of the birds I remained through the whole of
+that sunny Sunday, cooking my three meals, and reading my Bible, as
+became a civilized man. While enjoying this immunity from the
+disturbing elements of the great public thoroughfare, the river,
+curious cries were borne upon the wind above the tall tree-tops like
+the chattering calls of parrots, to which my ear had become accustomed
+in the tropical forests of Cuba. As the noise grew louder with the
+approach of a feathered flock of visitors, and the screams of the
+birds became more discordant, I peered through the branches of the
+forest to catch a glimpse of what I had searched for through many
+hundred miles of wilderness since my boyhood, but what had so far
+eluded my eager eyes. I felt certain these strange cries must come
+from the Carolina Parrot, or Parakeet (Conurus Carolinensis), which,
+though once numerous in all the country west of the Alleghanies as far
+north as the southern shores of the Great Lakes, has so rapidly
+diminished in number since 1825, that we find it only as an occasional
+inhabitant of the middle states south of the Ohio River. In fact, this
+species is now chiefly confined to Florida, western Louisiana, Texas,
+Arkansas, and the Indian Territory. That careful and reliable
+ornithologist, Dr. Elliot Coues, seems to doubt whether it is now
+entitled to a place in the avi-fauna of South Carolina, where it was
+once found in large flocks.
+
+The birds soon reached the locality of my camp, and circling through
+the clear, warm atmosphere above the tree-tops, they gradually settled
+lower and lower, suspiciously scanning my fire, screaming as though
+their little throats would burst, while the sunlight seemed to fill
+the air with the reflections of the green, gold, and carmine of their
+brilliant plumage. They dropped into the foliage of the grove, and for
+a moment were as quiet as though life had departed from them, while I
+kept close to my hiding-place behind an immense fallen tree, from
+beneath which I could watch my feathery guests.
+
+The bodies of the adult birds were emerald green, with bright blue
+reflections. The heads were yellow, excepting the forehead and cheeks,
+which were scarlet. The large, thick, and hooked bill was white, as
+well as the bare orbital space around the eye. The feet were a light
+flesh-color. The length from tip of bill to end of tail was about
+fourteen inches. The young birds could be easily distinguished from
+the adults by their short tails and the uniform coat of green, while
+in some cases the frontlet of scarlet was just beginning to show
+itself. The adult males were longer than the females.
+
+The Carolina Parrot does not put on its bright-yellow hues until the
+second season, and its most brilliant tints do not come to perfection
+until the bird is fully two years old. They feed upon the seeds of the
+cockle-burrs, which grow in abandoned fields of the planter, as well
+as upon fruits of all kinds, much of which they waste in their
+uneconomical method of eating. The low alluvial bottom-lands of the
+river, where pecan and beech nuts abound, are their favorite hunting-
+grounds.
+
+It is singular that Alexander Wilson, and, in fact, all the
+naturalists, except Audubon, who have written about this interesting
+bird, have failed to examine its nest and eggs. By the unsatisfactory
+manner in which Audubon refers to the nidification of this parakeet,
+one is led to believe that even he did not become personally
+acquainted with its breeding habits.
+
+The offer by Mr. Maynard of one dollar for every parrot's egg
+delivered to him, induced a Florida cracker to cut a path into a dense
+cypress swamp at Dunn's Lake, about the middle of the month of June.
+The hunter was occupied three days in the enterprise, and returned
+much disgusted with the job. He had found the nests of the parakeets
+in the hollow cypress-trees of the swamp, but he was too late to
+secure the eggs, as they were hatched, and the nests filled with young
+birds. The number of young in each nest seemed to leave no doubt of
+the fact of several adults nesting in one hole. Probably the eggs are
+laid about the last of May.
+
+These birds are extremely gregarious, and have been seen at sunset to
+cluster upon the trunk of a gigantic cypress like a swarm of bees. One
+after another slowly crawls through a hole into the cavity until it is
+filled up, while those who are not so fortunate as to obtain entrance,
+or reserved seats, cling to the outside of the trunk with their claws,
+and keep their position through the night chiefly by hooking the tip
+of the upper mandible of the beak into the bark of the tree. The
+backwoodsmen confidently assert that they have found as many as twenty
+eggs of a greenish white in a single hollow of a cypress-tree; and as
+it is generally supposed, judging from the known habits of other
+species of this genus, that the Carolina Parrot lays only two eggs,
+but few naturalists doubt that these birds nest in companies. It is a
+very difficult task to find the nests of parrots in the West Indies,
+some of them building in the hollowed top of the dead trunk of a royal
+palm which has been denuded of its branches; and there, upon the
+unprotected summit of a single column eighty feet in height, without
+any shelter from tropical storms, the Cuban Parrot rears its young.
+
+The Carolina Parrot is the only one of this species which may truly be
+said to be a permanent resident of our country. The Mexican species
+are sometimes met with along the southwestern boundaries of the United
+States, but they emigrate only a few miles northward of their own
+regions. The salt-licks in the great button-wood bottoms along the
+Mississippi were once the favorite resorts of these birds, and they
+delighted to drink the saline water. It is to be regretted that so
+interesting a bird should have been so ruthlessly slaughtered where
+they were once so numerous. Only the young birds are fit to eat, but
+we read in the accounts of our pioneer naturalists that from eight to
+twenty birds were often killed by the single discharge of a gun, and
+that as the survivors would again and again return to the lurking-
+place of their destroyer, attracted by the distressing cries of their
+wounded comrades, the unfeeling sportsman would continue his work of
+destruction until more than half of a large flock would be
+exterminated. This interesting parakeet may, during the next century,
+pass out of existence, and be known to our descendants as the Great
+Auk (Alca impennis) is now known to us, as a very rare specimen in the
+museums of natural history.
+
+On Monday, January 3, I rowed out of the Bayou du Chien, and soon
+reached the town of Hickman, Kentucky, where I invested in a basketful
+of mince-pies, that deleterious compound so dear to every American
+heart. A large flatboat, built upon the most primitive principles, and
+without cabin of any kind, was leaving the landing, evidently bound on
+a fishing-cruise, for her hold was filled with long nets and barrels
+of provisions. A large roll of canvas, to be used as a protection
+against rain, was stowed in one end of the odd craft, while at the
+other end was a large and very rusty cooking-stove, with a joint of
+pipe rising above it. The crew of fishermen labored at a pair of long
+sweeps until the flat reached the strong current, when they took in
+their oars, and, clustering about the stove, filled their pipes, and
+were soon reclining at their ease on the pile of nets, apparently as
+well satisfied with their tub as Diogenes was with his. As I rowed
+past them, they roused themselves into some semblance of interest, and
+gazed upon the little white boat, so like a pumpkin-seed in shape,
+which soon passed from their view as it disappeared down the wide
+Mississippi.
+
+There was something in the appearance of that rough flatboat that made
+me wish I had hailed her quiet crew; for, strange to say, they did not
+send after me a shower of slang phrases and uncouth criticisms, the
+usual prelude to conversation among flatboat-men when they desire to
+cultivate the acquaintance of a fellow-voyager. In fact, it was rather
+startling not to have the usual greeting, and I wondered why I heard
+no friendly expressions, such as, "Here, you river thief, haul
+alongside and report yourself! Whar did you come from? Come and take a
+pull at the bottle! It's prime stuff, I tell ye; will kill a man at
+forty paces," &c. The rusty stove was as strong an attraction as the
+quiet crew, as I thought how convenient it would be to run alongside
+of the old boat and utilize it for my culinary purposes. The unwonted
+silence, however, proved conclusively that some refined instinct,
+unknown to the usual crews of such boats, governed these voyagers, and
+I feared to intrude upon so dignified a party.
+
+Descending a long straight reach, after making a run of twenty-three
+miles, I crossed the limits of Kentucky, and, entering Tennessee, saw
+on its shore, in a deep bend of the river, the site of a
+fortification, while opposite to it lay the low Island No. 10. Both of
+these places were full of interest, being the scenes of conflict in
+our civil war. The little white sneak-box glided down another long
+bend, over the wrecks of seven steamboats, and passed New Madrid, on
+the Missouri shore. The mouth of Reelfoot Bayou then opened before me,
+a creek which conducts the waters from the weird recesses of one of
+the most interesting lakes in America,--a lake which was the immediate
+result of a disastrous series of disturbances generally referred to as
+the New Madrid earthquakes, and which took place in 1811-13. Much of
+the country in the vicinity of New Madrid and Fort Donaldson was
+involved in these serious shocks. Swamps were upheaved and converted
+into dry uplands, while cultivated uplands were depressed below the
+average water level, and became swamps or ponds of water. 'The
+inhabitants, deprived of their little farms, were reduced to such a
+stage of suffering as to call for aid from government, and new lands
+were granted them in place of their fields which had sunk out of
+sight. Hundreds of square miles of territory were lost during the two
+years of terrestrial convulsions.
+
+The most interesting effect of the subsidence of the land was the
+creation of Reelfoot Lake, the fluvial entrance to which is from the
+tortuous Mississippi some forty-five miles below Hickman, Kentucky.
+The northern portion of the lake is west of and a short distance from
+Fort Donaldson, about twenty miles from Hickman, by the river route.
+As Reelfoot Lake possesses the peculiar flora and characteristics of a
+multitude of other swamp-lakes throughout the wilderness of the lower
+Mississippi valley, I cannot better describe them all than by giving
+to the reader a description of that lake, written by an intelligent
+observer who visited the locality in 1874.
+
+"Nothing," he says, "could well exceed the singularity of the view
+that meets the eye as one comes out of the shadows of the forest on to
+the border of this sheet of water. From the marshy shore spreads out
+the vast extent of the seemingly level carpet of vegetation,--a mat of
+plants, studded over with a host of beautiful flowers; through this
+green prairie runs a maze of water-ways, some just wide enough for a
+pirogue, some widening into pools of darkened water. All over this
+expanse rise the trunks of gigantic cypresses, shorn of all their
+limbs, and left like great obelisks, scattered so thickly that the
+distance is lost in the forest of spires. Some are whitened and some
+blackened by decay and fire; many rise to a hundred feet or more above
+the lake. The branches are all gone, save in a few more gigantic
+forms, whose fantastic remnants of the old forest arches add to the
+illusion of monumental ruin which forces itself on the mind. The
+singularity of the general effect is quite matched by the wonder of
+the detail.
+
+"Taking the solitary dug-out canoe, or pirogue, as it is called in the
+vernacular, we paddled out into the tangle of water-paths. The green
+carpet, studded with yellow and white, that we saw from the shores,
+resolved itself into a marvellously beautiful and varied vegetation.
+From the tangle of curious forms the eye selects two noble flowers:
+our familiar northern water-lily, grown to a royal form, its flowers
+ten inches broad, and its floating pads near a foot across; and
+another grander flower, the Wampapin lily, the queen of American
+flowers. It is worth a long journey to see this shy denizen of our
+swamps in its full beauty. From the midst of its great floating
+leaves, which are two feet or more in diameter, rise two large leaves
+borne upon stout foot-stalks that bring them a yard above the water;
+from between these elevated leaves rises to a still greater height the
+stem of the flower. The corolla itself is a gold-colored cup a foot in
+diameter, lily-like in a general way, but with a large pestle-shaped
+ovary rising in the centre of the flower, in which are planted a
+number of large seeds, the 'pins' of Wampapin. These huge golden cups
+are poised on their stems, and wave in the breeze above great wheel-
+like leaves, while the innumerable white lilies fill in the spaces
+between, and enrich the air with their perfume.
+
+"Slowly we crept through the tangled paths until we were beyond the
+sight of shore, in the perfect silence of this vast ruined temple, on
+every side the endless obelisks of the decaying cypress, and as far as
+the eye could see were ranged the numberless nodding bells of the
+yellow lilies, and the still-eyed white stars below them. While we
+waited in the coming evening, the silence was so deep, the whir of a
+bald eagle's wings, as he swept through the air, was audible from
+afar. The lonely creature sat on the peak of one of the wooden towers
+over our boat, and looked curiously down upon us. The waters seemed
+full of fish, and, indeed, the lake has much celebrity as a place for
+such game. We could see them creeping through the mazes of the water-
+forest, in a slow, blind way, not a bit like the dance of the northern
+creatures of the active waters of our mountain streams.
+
+"There is something of forgetfulness in such a scene, a sense of a
+world far away, with no path back to it. One might fall to eating our
+Wampapin lily, as did the Chickasaws of old, and find in it the all-
+forgetting lotus, for it is, indeed, the brother of the lotus of the
+Nile. We do not know how far these forgotten savages found the mystic
+influence of the Nilotic lotus in these queenly flowers of the swamps,
+but tradition says that they ate not only the seeds, but the bulbous
+roots, which the natives aver are quite edible. So we, too, can claim
+a lotus-eating race, and are even able to try the soul-subduing powers
+of the plant at our will.
+
+"There is something in the weight of life and death in these swamps
+that subdues the mind, and makes the steps we take fall as in a dream.
+It was not easy to fix a basis for memory with the pencil, and
+recollection shapes a vast sensation of strangeness, a feeling as if
+one had trod for a moment beyond the brink of time, rather than any
+distinct images."
+
+At sunset I came upon Joe Eckel's Bar,--not the fluvial establishment
+so much resorted to by people ashore,--but a genuine Mississippi
+sandbar, or shoal, which was covered with two feet of water, and
+afforded lodgment for a heavy raft of trees that had floated upon it.
+The island was also partly submerged, but I found a cove with a sandy
+beach on its lower end; and running into the little bay, I staked the
+boat in one foot of water, much to the annoyance of flocks of wild-
+fowl which circled about me at intervals all night. The current had
+been turbid during the day, and to supply myself with drinking-water
+it was necessary to fill a can from the river and wait for the
+sediment to precipitate itself before it was fit for use. Fifty-six
+miles were logged for the day's row.
+
+In the morning Joe Eckel's Bar was alive with geese and ducks,
+cackling a lusty farewell as I pushed through the drift stuff and
+resumed my voyage down the swelling river.
+
+The reaches were usually five miles in length, though some of them
+were very much longer. Sometimes deposits of sand and vegetable matter
+will build up a small island adjacent to a large one, and then a dense
+thicket of cotton-wood brush takes possession of it, and assists
+materially in resisting the encroachments of the current. These
+little, low islands, covered with thickets, are called tow-heads, and
+the maps of the Engineer Corps of the United States distinguish them
+from the originally numbered islands in the following manner: "Island
+No. 18," and "Tow Head of Island No.18."
+
+In addition to the numbered islands, which commence with Island No. 1,
+below the mouth of the Ohio, and end with Island No. 125, above the
+inlet to Bayou La Fourche, in Louisiana, there are many which have
+been named after their owners. During one generation a planter may
+live upon a peninsula comprising many thousand acres, with his cotton-
+fields and houses fronting on the Mississippi. The treacherous current
+of this river may suddenly cut a new way across his estate inland at a
+distance of two miles from his home. As the gradual change goes on, he
+looks from the windows of his house upon a new scene. He no longer has
+the rapid flowing river, enlivened by the passage of steamboats and
+other craft; but before him is a sombre bayou, or crescent-shaped
+lake, whose muddy waters are almost motionless. He was the proprietor
+of Needham's Point, he is now the owner of Needham's Island, and lives
+in the quiet atmosphere of the backwoods of Tennessee.
+
+This day's row carried me past heavily-wooded shores, cotton-fields
+with some of the cotton still unpicked; past the limits of Missouri on
+the left side, and into the wild state of Arkansas at Island No. 21. I
+finally camped on Island No. 26, in a half submerged thicket, after a
+row of fifty-eight miles.
+
+As there were many flat and shanty boats floating southward, I adopted
+a plan by means of which my dinners were frequently cooked with little
+trouble to myself or others. About an hour before noon I gazed about
+within the narrow horizon for one of those floating habitations, and
+rowing alongside, engaged in conversation with its occupants. The men
+would tell what success they had had in collecting the skins of wild
+animals (though silent upon the subject of pig-stealing), while the
+women would talk of the homes they had left, and sigh for the
+refinements and comforts of "city life," by which they meant their
+former existence in some small town on the upper river. While we were
+exchanging our budgets of information I would obtain the consent of
+the presiding goddess of the boat to stew my ambrosia upon her stove,
+the sneak-box floating the while alongside its tub-like companion.
+Many a half hour was spent in this way; and, besides the comfort of a
+hot dinner, there were advantages afforded for the study of characters
+not to be found elsewhere.
+
+These peculiar boats, so often encountered, found refuge in the
+frequent cut-offs behind the many islands of the river; for besides
+those islands which have been numbered, new ones are forming every
+year. At times, when the water is very high, the current will cut a
+new route across the low isthmus, or neck, of a peninsula, around
+which sweeps a long reach of the main channel, leaving the tortuous
+bend which it has deserted to be gradually filled up with snags,
+deposits of alluvium, and finally to be carpeted with a vegetable
+growth. In some cases, as the stream works away to the eastward or
+westward, it remains an inland crescent-shaped lake, numbers of which
+are to be found in the wilderness many miles from the parent stream. I
+have known the channel of the Mississippi to be shortened twenty miles
+during a freshet, and a steam-boat which had followed the great ox-bow
+bend in ascending the river, on its return trip shot through the new
+cut-off of a few hundred feet in length, upon fifteen feet of water
+where a fortnight before a forest had been growing.
+
+The area of land on both sides of the Mississippi subjected to annual
+overflow, like the country surrounding the Nile, in Egypt, is very
+large. There are localities thirty or forty miles away from the river
+where the height of the overflow of the previous year is plainly
+registered upon the trunks of the trees by a coating of yellow mud,
+which sometimes reaches as high as a man's head. This great region
+possesses vast tracts of rich land, as well as millions of acres of
+low swamps and bayou bottoms.
+
+The traveller, the hunter, the zologist, and the botanist can all
+find here in these rich river bottoms a ready reward for any
+inconveniences experienced on the route. Strange types of half-
+civilized whites, game enough to satisfy the most rapacious, beast and
+bird of peculiar species, and over all the immense forests of cypress,
+sweet-gums, Spanish-oaks, tulip-trees, sycamores, cotton-woods, white-
+oaks, &c., while the most delicate wild-flowers "waste their sweetness
+on the desert air." Across all this natural beauty the whisper of
+desolation casts a cloud, for here during most of the year arises the
+health-destroying malaria.
+
+Upon the high lands the squatter builds his log cabin, and makes his
+clearing where the rich soil and warm sun assist his rude agricultural
+labors, and he is rewarded with a large crop of maize and sweet
+potatoes. These, with bacon from his herd of wandering pigs, give
+sustenance to his family of children, who, hatless and bonnetless,
+roam through the woods until the sun bleaches their hair to the color
+of flax. With tobacco, whiskey, and ammunition for himself, and an
+ample supply of snuff for his wife, he drags out an indolent
+existence; but he is the pioneer of American civilization, and as he
+migrates every few years to a more western wilderness, his lands are
+frequently occupied by a more intelligent and industrious class, and
+his improvements are improved upon. The new-comer, with greater
+ambition and more ample means, raises cotton instead of corn, and
+depends upon the Ohio valley for a supply of that cereal.
+
+Wednesday, January 5th, was a sunny and windy day. The Arkansas shores
+afforded me a protection from the wind as I rowed down towards Fort
+Pillow, which, according to the map of the United States Engineer
+Corps, is situated upon Chickasaw Bluff No. 1, though some writers and
+map-makers designate the Columbus Bluff, below the mouth of the Ohio,
+as the first Chickasaw Bluff. The site of Fort Pillow is about thirty
+feet above the water. It commands the low country opposite, and two
+reaches of the river for a long distance. A little below the fort, on
+the right bank of the river, was an extensive cotton-field, still
+white with the flossy cellulose. Here I landed under the shady trees,
+and gathered cotton, the result of peaceful labor. Truly had the sword
+been beaten into the ploughshare, and the spear into a pruning-hook,
+for above me frowned down Fort Pillow, the scene of the terrible negro
+massacre in our late war. Now the same sun shone so brightly upon the
+graves scattered here and there, and warmed into life the harvest sown
+in peace.
+
+At intervals I caught glimpses of negro cabins, with their clearings,
+and their little crops of cotton glistening in the sun. The island
+tow-heads and sand-bars were numerous, and in places the Mississippi
+broadened into lake-like areas, while the yellow current, now heavily
+charged with mud, arose in height every hour. The climate was growing
+delightful. It was like a June day in the northern states. Each soft
+breeze of the balmy atmosphere seemed to say, as I felt its strange,
+fascinating influence, "You are nearing the goal!" The shadows of the
+twilight found me safely ensconced behind the lower end of Island No.
+33, where in the bayou between it and the Tennessee shore I lazily
+watched fair Luna softly emerging from the clouds, and lending to the
+grand old woods her tender light.
+
+I proceeded southward the next day, rowing comfortably after having
+divested myself of all superfluous apparel. The negroes, on their one-
+horse plantations, gave a hearty hail as I passed, but I noted here a
+feature I had remarked when upon my "Voyage of the Paper Canoe," on
+the eastern coast. It was the silence in which these people worked.
+The merry song of the darky was no longer heard as in the "auld lang
+syne." Then he was the slave of a white master. Now he is the slave of
+responsibilities and cares which press heavily upon his heretofore
+unthinking nature. To-day he has a future IF he can make it.
+
+During the day, a lone woman on a shanty-boat, which was securely
+fastened to an old stump, volunteered much information in regard "her
+man," and the money he expected to receive for the skins he had been
+collecting during the winter. She said he would get in New Orleans
+thirty-five cents apiece for his coon-skins, one dollar for minks, and
+one dollar and a half each for beaver and otter skins. She informed me
+that the sunken country below Memphis, on the Arkansas side, was full
+of deer and bears.
+
+By rowing briskly I was able to pass Memphis, the principal river port
+of Tennessee, at five o'clock in the afternoon. This flourishing city
+is situated upon one of the Chickasaw bluffs, thirty feet above the
+river. At the base of the bluff a bed of sandstone projects into the
+water, it being the only known stratum of rock along the river between
+Cairo and the Gulf. From the Ohio River to Vicksburg, a distance of
+six hundred miles, it is asserted that there is no other site for a
+commercial city: so Memphis, though isolated, enjoys this advantage,
+which has, in fact, made her the busy cotton-shipping port she is to-
+day. Her population is about forty thousand. As Memphis is connected
+by railroads with the towns and villages of all the back country, in
+addition to her water advantages, she may be called the business
+centre of an immense area of cultivated land. The view of the city
+from the river is striking. Her esplanade, several hundred feet in
+width, sweeps along the bluffs and is covered with large warehouses.
+
+Pushing steadily southward, I looked out anxiously for a good camping-
+ground for the night, feeling that a rest had been well earned, for I
+had rowed sixty-one miles that day. Soon after passing Horn Lake Bend,
+the thickets of Crow Island attracted my attention, for along the
+muddy, crumbling bank the mast of a little sloop arose from the water,
+and a few feet inland the bright blaze of a camp-fire shone through
+the mists of evening. A cheery hail of; "I say, stranger, pull in, and
+tie up here," came from a group of three roughly-clad men, who were
+bending over the coals, busily engaged in frying salt pork and
+potatoes. The swift current forced me into an eddy close to the camp.
+One of the men caught my painter, and drew me close under the lee of
+their roughly constructed sloop of about two tons' burden. When seated
+by the bright fire, "the boys" told me their history. They were out of
+work; so, investing sixty dollars in an old sloop, putting on board a
+barrel of pork, a barrel of flour, some potatoes, coffee, salt, and
+molasses, (which cargo was to last three months,) they started to cut
+canes in the canebrakes of White River, Arkansas. These canes were to
+be utilized as fishing-poles, and being carefully assorted and
+fastened into bundles, were to be shipped to Cincinnati by steamer,
+and from there by rail to Cleveland, Ohio, where Mr. Farrar, their
+consignee, would dispose of them for the party. They had come down the
+Mississippi from Keokuk, Iowa, having left that place December 13th,
+and had experienced various delays, having several times been frozen
+up in creeks. They would be able to cut, during the winter, twenty-
+five thousand fishing-rods, enough, one would think, to clear the
+streams of all the finny tribe. Mr. F. C. Stirling, of Painesville,
+Ohio, was the principal of the party, and I found him an unusually
+intelligent young man. He had passed the previous winter alone upon
+White River in an experimental sort of way, and had succeeded in
+obtaining the finest lot of fishing-rods that had ever been sent
+north.
+
+There was so much to be talked about, and so many experiences in
+voyaging to be exchanged, that we decided to remain that night on Crow
+Island, as there was not much risk of. my being deluged by the passing
+steamers, for it was evident that the steamboat channel hugged the
+bank of the opposite side of the river. I took ashore chocolate,
+canned milk, white sugar, and some of the Hickman mince-pies, while
+the boys rolled logs of wood on to the fire, and buried potatoes in
+the hot ashes. Stirling went to work at bread-making, and putting his
+dough in one of those flat-bottomed, three-legged, iron-covered
+vessels, which my reader will now recognize as the bake-pan, or Dutch
+oven, placed it on the coals, and loaded its cover with hot embers.
+The potatoes were soon baked, and possessed a mealiness not usually
+found in those served up by the family cook. Stirling's bread was a
+success, and my chocolate disappeared down the throats of the hearty
+western boys as fast as its scalding temperature would admit.
+
+Stirling told me of his life during the previous winter in the swamps
+of White River. On one occasion, a steamer having lost her anchor near
+his locality, the captain of the boat offered to reward Stirling
+liberally if he would recover the lost property; so, while the captain
+was making his up-river trip, the Ohio boy worked industriously
+dredging for the cable. He found it; and under-running the heavy rope,
+raised it and the anchor. When the steamer returned to Beteley's
+Landing, Stirling delivered the anchor and coil of rope to the
+captain, who, intending to defraud the young man of the promised
+reward, ordered the mate to "cast off the lines." The gong had
+signalled the engineer to get under way, but not quick enough to
+escape the young salvage-owner, who grasped the coil of rope and
+dragged it ashore, shouting to the captain, "You may keep your anchor,
+but I will keep your cable as salvage, to which I am entitled for my
+trouble in saving your property."
+
+A few days later, Stirling, wishing to know whether he could legally
+hold his salvage fees, paddled down to Bolivia, a small town in the
+state of Mississippi, to obtain legal advice in regard to the matter.
+The white people referred him to a negro justice of the peace, whom
+they assured him "had more law-larnin' than any white man in the
+diggings, and is the honestest nigger in these parts." Being ushered
+into the presence of a dignified negro, the cutter of fishing-poles
+informed the "justice" that he desired legal advice in a case of
+salvage.
+
+"Dat's rite, dat's berry good, sah," said the negro; "now you jes' set
+rite down he'ar, and macadimize de case to me. I gibs ebery man
+justice--no turnin' to de rite or de leff hand."
+
+Stirling stated the facts, the colored justice puckering up his shiny
+brow, and his whole countenance expressing perplexity. "I want to
+know," said the possessor of the cable, "whether I can legally hold on
+to the coil of rope; use it or sell it for my own benefit, without
+being sued by the captain, who broke his agreement with me."
+
+The colored man attempted to consult a volume containing a digest of
+laws; but being an indifferent reader, he handed it to Stirling,
+saying, "Now you, sah, jes look froo de book and find de larnin' on de
+case." Having carefully consulted the book, Stirling declared he found
+nothing that covered the salvage question in regard to cables and
+anchors. "Nuffin at all? nuffin at all?" asked the justice, seriously.
+
+"Now let me rest de case a moment fur perspection." As he pondered on
+a case which could not be decided by precedent, an idea seemed to
+lighten his sable features, for he straightened himself up and
+exclaimed, "Den I will gib you an opinion. Dis court will apply de
+common law ob de state ob Mississippi; and dis is it: 'What you hab,
+dat you keep!' DIS is de teachings ob de bar, de bench, and de code."
+
+Having received this august opinion, Stirling paddled back in his dug-
+out canoe to the swamps of Arkansas, much amused, if not impressed,
+with the negro's simple method of successfully disposing of a case, so
+unlike the usual procrastinating customs which fetter the courts
+presided over by learned white men.
+
+Early on the following day I left the camp of the Ohio boys, for their
+progress was assisted by a large sail, and it would have been
+impossible for me to have kept up with them. They also travelled by
+night as well as by day, keeping one man at the helm while the others
+slept. At the lower end of Crow Island I left the state of Tennessee
+and entered the confines of Mississippi, having Arkansas still on my
+right hand.
+
+During part of the afternoon I accompanied a flatboat-man and his
+family as far as Island No. 60, where we ran into a little bayou for
+the night. There was a rowdy settlement here, and many rough fellows
+were in the streets, shouting and fighting; but as I entered the bayou
+after dark, and secreted myself in the half submerged swamp, no one
+knew of my being there: so I felt safe from insult. The owner of the
+flatboat with whom I had entered the bayou intended to fish for the
+settlement. He was an old trapper, and informed me that bears were
+still abundant in parts of Alabama. He said the Canada Goose bred in
+small numbers in the lakes of the back country. His experiences with
+human nature found expression in his advice to me when I parted from
+him the next morning. "Don't leave your boat alone for half an hour in
+these parts, stranger. Niggers is bad, and some white folks too."
+Promising my new friend to look out for number one, I waved an adieu
+to him and his, and went on my solitary way.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+DESCENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI TO NEW ORLEANS
+
+A FLATBOAT BOUND FOR TEXAS.-- A FLAT-MAN ON RIVER PHYSICS.-- ADRIFT
+AND ASLEEP.-- SEEKING THE EARTH'S LITTLE MOON.-- VICKSBURGH.--
+JEFFERSON DAVIS'S COTTON PLANTATION, AND ITS NEGRO OWNER.-- DYING IN
+HIS BOAT.-- HOW TO CIVILIZE CHINESE.-- A SWIM OF ONE HUNDRED AND
+TWENTY MILES ON THE MISSISSIPPI.-- TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN THE WATER.--
+ARRIVAL IN THE CRESCENT CITY.
+
+DURING the afternoon, while rowing out of the cut-off behind an
+island, I caught sight of a flatboat floating in the contour of a
+distant bend. There was something familiar in her appearance, and, as
+I drew nearer, I recognized the pile of nets, the rusty stove, and the
+civil but silent crew. She was the same flat which had left Hickman,
+Kentucky, the morning I had departed from that town with my basket of
+pies. This time the crew seemed like old friends. River life makes all
+men equal. A pleasant hail now greeted me, and the duck-boat was soon
+moored to the side of the flat. As we floated along with the current,
+sipping our coffee, the captain told me his history. The war had
+reduced him from affluence to poverty, and in order to support his
+family, he had built a scow and penetrated the weird waters of
+Reelfoot Lake, from which he was able, for several years, to supply
+the citizens of Hickman with excellent fish. The enterprise was a
+novelty at that time, and there being no competition, he made four
+thousand dollars the first year. After that others went into the
+business, and it became profitless. His mind was now bent upon a new
+field. Hearing that the people of northern Texas were destitute of a
+regular fish-market, he had provisioned his flat for a winter's
+campaign, and intended floating with his men down to the mouth of Red
+River, where he would be towed by a steamer through the state of
+Louisiana to the northeastern end of Texas. There entering Caddo Lake,
+which is from fifty to sixty miles long, and where game, ducks, and
+fish abound, he would camp upon the shores and set his nets. The
+railroads which penetrated that section would afford means for the
+rapid distribution of his fish.
+
+The party, anxious to arrive at their scene of action, floated night
+and day. The society of an educated man was so delightful at the time
+that I remained beside the flat all night. A lantern was hung above
+the bow of the boat to show the pilots of steamers our position.
+Whenever one of these disturbers of our peace passed the flat, I was
+obliged to cast off and pull into the stream, as the swash would
+almost ingulf me if I remained tied to the side of the large boat. I
+could only sleep by snatches, for just as I would be dropping off into
+the land of Nod, the watch upon the flat would call out, "Here comes
+another steamer," which was the signal for me to take to my oars.
+
+The next day was Sunday, but the flat kept on her way. I cooked my
+meals upon the rusty stove, and we floated side by side, conversing
+hour after hour. The low banks of the river showed the presence of
+levees, or artificial dikes, built to keep out the freshets. Upon
+these dikes the grass was putting forth its tender blades, and the
+willows were bursting into leaf. We passed White River and the
+Arkansas, both of which pour their waters out of the great wilderness
+of the state of Arkansas. Below the mouth of the last-named river was
+the town of Napoleon, with its deserted houses, the most forlorn
+aspect that had yet met my eye. The banks were caving into the river
+day by day. Houses had fallen into the current, which was undermining
+the town. Here and there chimneys were standing in solitude, the
+buildings having been torn down and removed to other localities to
+save them from the insatiable maw of the river. These pointed upward
+like so many warning cenotaphs of the river's treachery, and
+contrasted strongly in the mind's eye with the many happy family
+circles which had once gathered at their bases around the cheerful
+hearths.
+
+About ten o'clock in the forenoon the proprietor of the flatboat
+decided, as it was Sunday, to run into a bend of the river and tie up
+for the day. That night the banks caved in so frequently that I was in
+danger of being entombed in my sneak-box; and I rejoiced when morning
+came and the dangerous quarters were left behind. My flatboat
+companions made known to me a curious feature of river physics well
+known to the great floating population of the western streams. If you
+start with a flat-boat or raft of timber from any point on the Ohio or
+Mississippi rivers at the moment a rise in the water takes place, and
+continue floating night and day without interruption, you will in a
+few days overrun the effects of the rise, or freshet, and get below
+it. A little later you will discover, at some point a few hundred
+miles down-stream, that the river is just commencing to swell, as the
+result of the freshet upon which you originally started.
+
+During Tuesday and Wednesday of January 11 and 12, I was at times with
+the flat, and at times miles away from it. Near Skipwith Landing,
+Mississippi, we passed large and well-cultivated cotton-plantations,
+but the river country in its vicinity was almost a wilderness.
+
+My sleep had been much broken by night-travelling, and about nine
+o'clock on Wednesday evening I fastened my boat to the flat, and
+determined to have two or three hours of refreshing slumber. An hour's
+peaceful rest followed, and then a snorting, screeching stern-wheel
+steamer crossed the river with its tow of barges, and demoralized all
+my surroundings, driving me against the flat, and shooting water over
+the deck of my craft. Only half awake, I cast off from the flat, and
+thought that I was rowing down-river as usual; but I had dropped back
+into my nest just for one moment, and was in the land of Nod. I felt
+in my sleep that I was floating down the Mississippi. I was conscious
+that I had left the flatboat, and that steamers, snags, and eddies
+must be looked out for, or disaster would come quickly upon me.
+
+I knew I was asleep, and tried to rouse myself. I seemed to be
+watching the moon, which shone with silver glory upon the glistening
+waters, and made the dark forests, rising wall-like on the banks, even
+darker by comparison. Then I seemed to enter the fields of astronomy,
+moving through the atmosphere still pulling at my oars. My mental
+vision stretched across the Atlantic, and enveloped the old
+astronomical observatory of the French city of Toulouse. It was the
+hour of sunset, and the learned Director Petit was at his post
+carefully adjusting his telescope, eager with the hope of identifying
+an undiscovered meteorite, the presence of which had been suggested by
+certain disturbances among the celestial bodies. The savant carefully
+pointed his instrument to the neighboring regions of the setting sun,
+when suddenly I saw him start, and heard him mutter, like a
+philosopher of old, "Eureka, I have found it!" Only a ray of light had
+flashed across the field of his telescope as an asteroid shot into the
+gloam of the sun. Its movements were so rapid, its disappearance so
+sudden, that it was impossible to obtain another glimpse of the
+unknown body. The god of day had enveloped the satellite in curtains
+of powerful light, so that no eye but that of its Creator could gaze
+again that night upon the little stranger which had been seen for the
+first time by man.
+
+The astronomer moved away from his instrument and the wonderful
+machinery that had guided it in its search for the asteroid, slowly
+muttering. "The sun robbed me of a second sight of my discovery, yet
+only at this hour can I hope to get a glimpse of it. The difficulties
+attending this observation are the tremendous velocity with which it
+travels, its very small mass, and the rapidity with which, at the hour
+of sunset, it passes into the shadow of the earth. I will, however,
+calculate its orbit, and search for it again; for I have this evening
+seen what no human eye has ever beheld, I HAVE SEEN THE EARTH'S LITTLE
+MOON." While I watched, entranced, the astronomer, aided by his
+assistants, labored over multitudes of figures hour after hour, day
+after day; and from these computations an orbit was constructed for
+the Little Moon.
+
+Their work was finished; and as they left the observatory, a shadow,
+which had thrown its dark outlines here and there about the professor
+during his investigations, assumed the proportions of a man; and I saw
+for an instant the brilliant French writer, Jules Verne, while a voice
+in the musical language of France fell upon my ear: "Ah, Monsieur, it
+IS true, then, and we have a second moon, which must revolve round our
+planet once in three hours and twenty minutes, at a distance of only
+four thousand six hundred and fifty miles from our terrestrial
+abiding-place!"
+
+Then the professor and his figures faded out of my vision; and I
+seemed to be observing a little moon revolving with lightning rapidity
+round the earth, while I felt that I had, in some way, been sucked
+into its orbit, and was whirling around with it. Suddenly, with a keen
+sense of danger pervading my whole nervous system, I awoke. Yes, it
+was a dream! I was in my boat, gazing up into the serene heavens,
+where the larger moon was tranquilly following her orbit, while I was
+being whirled round in a strong eddy under a high bank of the river,
+with the giant trees frowning down upon me as though rebuking a
+careless boatman for being caught napping. And where was the flat? I
+gazed across the wide river into the quiet atmosphere now full of the
+bright light of the moon,--but no boat could be seen; and from the
+wild forest alone came back an echo to my shouts of "Flatboat, ahoy!"
+For hours I rowed in search of my compagnon de voyage.
+
+As I hurried along the reaches of the river, every island cut-off,
+every tow-head, and every nigger-head, was inspected. I even peered
+into the mouths of dark bayous, thinking the party might have tied up
+to await my arrival, as the larger and deeper craft floated faster
+than my little boat. All search, however, proved fruitless. No flat
+could be seen. My endeavors to find my quondam friends had been so
+absorbing that things above my line of vision were not observed, when
+suddenly the bright moonlight revealed to my astonished eyes a lofty
+city apparently suspended in the heavens. By the aid of a candle and
+my map I discovered that the city and fortifications of Vicksburgh
+were close at hand, and that it was four o'clock in the morning.
+
+My first view of Vicksburgh was over a long, low point of land, across
+the base of which was excavated, during the investment of the city by
+United States troops in the late war, "General Grant's Cut-off." By
+using this cut-off, light-draught gunboats could ascend or descend the
+river without passing near the batteries of the fortified city. This
+point, or peninsula, which the Union forces held, is on the Louisiana
+shore, opposite Vicksburgh. A year or two after I passed that
+interesting locality, a Natchez newspaper, in describing the change
+made in the channel of the Mississippi River, said that "St. Joseph
+and Rodney have been left inland; Vicksburgh is left on a lake; Delta
+will soon be washed away; a cut-off has been made at Grand Gulf, and
+by another season Port Gibson and Claiborne County will have no
+landing."
+
+Floating quietly in my little boat, and gazing at the city upon the
+heights, I thought of the bloody scenes there enacted, and of the
+statement made that "three hundred tons of lead, mostly bullets, had
+been collected in and around the town since the close of the war."
+This lead, it has been asserted, would make nine million six hundred
+thousand ounce-balls. Of course, in this statement there is no mention
+of the lead buried deep in the earth, and that lost in the river.
+
+Entering a great bend, the swift current swept me so rapidly past
+Vicksburgh that a few moments later I was among the islands and tow-
+heads of the river. At noon the plantation of Mr. Jefferson Davis was
+passed. It was situated twenty-five miles below Vicksburgh, and prior
+to February, 1867, was on a long peninsula with the estate of Colonel
+Joseph E. Davis and one belonging to Messrs. Quitman and Farrar. Then
+came the overwhelming river, sweeping across a narrow neck of land,
+and transforming the cotton-plantations into an island territory. In
+the old days of slavery, Colonel Joseph E. Davis, brother of the ex-
+president of the late Confederate States, had a body-servant named Ben
+Montgomery. He was the manager of his master's estates while a slave,
+and was so industrious and honest in all his dealings, and so
+successful in business, that after the war he was able to purchase his
+master's plantation for three hundred and fifty thousand dollars in
+gold.
+
+While I lingered in the Davis cut-off to lunch, a boat-load of white
+men passed me on their way to the plantation of Jefferson Davis, which
+they said had also been purchased by Ben Montgomery of its former
+owner, who then resided in Memphis. One of the men said: "Mr. Davis
+will convey the property to Ben Montgomery as soon as he makes one
+more payment, and Ben told me he was about ready to close the
+transaction."
+
+Montgomery was described as being fairly educated, and possessing the
+presence and address of a gentleman. His neighbors credited him with
+being "a right smart good nigger." It is a singular fact that these
+large landed estates should have become the property of the former
+slave so soon after the war. Ben Montgomery died recently, leaving an
+example to his colored brethren worthy of their imitation.
+
+From Davis's Cut-off I followed Big Black Island Bend and Hard Times
+Bend, past the now silent batteries of Grand Gulf, down to the town of
+Rodney. I went ashore near the old plantation of an ex-president
+(General Taylor) of the United States, being attracted by a lot of dry
+drift-wood which promised a blazing fire. While cooking my rice and
+slowly developing an omelet, I calculated upon the chances of finding
+the lost flatboat. It was now evident that she was behind, not in
+advance of me. It was about four o'clock, and I determined to await
+her arrival. At half-past six o'clock clouds had obscured the sky, and
+it was impossible to see across the water, but I continued to watch
+and listen for the flat. The current was strongest on my side of the
+river, and I felt certain the boat would follow it and pass close to
+my camp. Her lantern and blazing stove-pipe would reveal her presence.
+Suddenly a man coughed within a few rods of the shore, and out of the
+gloom appeared the dark outlines of the fisherman's craft, but like a
+phantom ship, it instantly disappeared. It was but the work of a
+moment to embark and follow the vanishing flat. I soon overhauled it,
+and received a warm welcome from its occupants, who had supposed that
+after the steamer had driven me from them I had sought refuge in a
+creek to make up my lost hours of sleep. We floated side by side all
+night, disturbed but once, and then by the powerful steamer Robert
+Lee, which unceremoniously threw about a pail of water over me,
+gratuitously washing my blankets.
+
+The next day, January 13, we passed Natchez, Mississippi, about four
+o'clock A. M. This city, founded by D'Iberville in 1700, is
+geographically divided into two parts. "Natchez on the Hill" is
+situated on a bluff two hundred feet above the river, while "Natchez
+under the Hill " is at the base of the cliff, and from its levee
+vessels sail for foreign as well as for American ports. Its inland and
+foreign trade is extensive, though it has a population of only ten or
+twelve thousand. The aspect of the country was changing as we
+approached New Orleans. Fine plantations, protected by levees, now
+lined the river-banks, while the forests of dense green, heavily
+draped with Spanish moss, threw dark shadows on the watery path.
+
+We arrived at the mouth of the Red River about dark, and my companions
+were fortunate enough to find a steamer at the landing, the captain of
+which promised to take them in tow to their distant goal. We parted
+like old friends; and as I rowed in darkness down the Mississippi I
+heard the shrill whistle of the steamer which was dragging my
+companions up the current of Red River into the high lands of
+Louisiana.
+
+Up Red River, three miles from its mouth, a stream branches off to the
+south, and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. This is the Atchafalaya
+Bayou. At Plaquemine, about one hundred and thirty miles below Red
+River, and on the west bank of the Mississippi, another bayou conducts
+a portion of the water from the main stream into Grand River, which,
+with other western Louisiana watercourses, empties into the Gulf of
+Mexico. There is a third western outlet from the parent stream at
+Donaldsonville, eighty-one miles above New Orleans, known as the Bayou
+La Fourche, which flows through one of the richest sugar-producing
+sections of the state. Dotted here and there along the shores of this
+bayou are the picturesque homes of the planters, made more attractive
+by the semi-tropical vegetation, the clustering vines, blooming roses,
+and bright green turf than they could ever be from mere architectural
+beauty, while their continuous course along the shore gives the idea
+of a long and prosperous village.
+
+The guide-books of the Mississippi describe the Bayou Manchac as an
+outlet to the Mississippi on the left, or east bank, below Baton
+Rouge, and the statement is repeatedly made that steamboats can go
+through this bayou into the Amite River, and down that river to Lake
+Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico, leaving, by this route, the city
+of New Orleans to the west. This is, however, far from the truth, as I
+shall presently show, for it had been my intention to descend the
+Bayou Manchac, and follow D'Iberville's ancient route to the sea. I
+soon found that the accomplishment of my plan was impossible, as the
+dry bottom of the bayou was FIFTEEN FEET ABOVE the water of the
+Mississippi.
+
+Pursuing my solitary way, I rowed across the Mississippi, and skirted
+the shore in search of a camp where I could sleep until the moon
+arose, which would be soon after midnight. During the afternoon I had
+crossed the southern boundary of the state of Mississippi, and now the
+river ran through the state of Louisiana all the way to the sea.
+
+About nine o'clock I found a little bayou in the dark woods, and
+moored my boat to a snag which protruded its head above the still
+waters of the tarn. The old trees that closely encircled my nocturnal
+quarters were fringed with the inevitable Spanish moss, and gave a
+most funereal aspect to the surroundings. The mournful hootings of the
+owls added to the doleful and weird character of the place. I was,
+however, too sleepy to waste much sentiment upon the gloomy walls of
+my apartment, and was soon lost to all sublunary things. These dark
+pockets of the swamps, these earthly Hades, are famous resting-places
+for those who know the untenable nature of ghosts, and who have become
+the possessors of healthy nerves by avoiding the poisonous influences
+of coal-gas in furnace-heated houses, the vitiated air of crowded
+rooms, and other detrimental effects of a city life. In such a camp
+the voyager need fear no intrusion upon his privacy, for the
+superstitions rife among men will prevent even Paul Pry from
+penetrating such recesses during the wee sma' hours. Of course such a
+camp would be safe only during the winter months, as at other seasons
+the invidious foe, malaria, would inevitably mark for its victim the
+man who slept beneath such deadly shades.
+
+At midnight the light of the moon illuminated my dark quarters, and I
+stole noiselessly out of the bayou into the river, rowing until
+sunrise, when the small port of Bayou Sara was passed. It was soon
+left in the dim distance, and the little white boat floated ten miles
+down a nearly straight reach in the river to the frowning heights of
+Port Hudson, a place that figured prominently during the late war.
+
+The country round Port Hudson is thickly settled by descendants of the
+old Acadians, who came down the great rivers from Canada in the early
+days of Louisiana's history. Entering the mouth of the False River, on
+the west bank of the Mississippi, the traveller will penetrate the
+heart of an old and interesting Acadian settlement. If his mind be
+full of poetic fancies, and his eyes in search of Gabriels and
+Evangelines as he travels along this part of the Mississippi, his ears
+will be startled by the unmistakable Yankee names that are given him
+as representing the proprietors of the various estates he passes. Here
+and there the old French names appear; but in almost every such
+instance its possessor is a bachelor, and with him its musical accents
+will die away. Searching into the cause of this patent fact, I
+discovered that the creole women, descendants of the old Acadians,
+appreciated the sterling qualities of the Anglo-Saxon race, and found
+in them their ideals, leaving in a state of single blessedness the
+more indolent, and perhaps less persuasive, creole gentlemen. The
+results of these marriages are the gradual extinction of old family
+names; and in the not very far future the romance connected with these
+people will be a thing of the past, and the traveller, instead of
+thinking--
+
+"This is the little village famed of yore,
+with meadows rich in flocks, and plenteous grain,
+whose peasants knelt beside each vine-clad door,
+As the sweet Angelus rose over the plain,"
+will be introduced to Mrs. Hezekiah Skinner, and partake of her baked
+beans.
+
+
+My informant in these matters was an educated creole gentleman, and I
+must have the honesty to give his remarks in regard to these
+persistent "Yankees," who, he said, "were always successful with the
+fair maidens, but invariably selected those who owned fine
+plantations, having in love, as well as in war, an eye to the main
+chance."
+
+About the middle of the afternoon I ran the sneak-box on to the
+sloping levee of Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana; and, locking
+the hatch, went to the post-office for letters, and to the stores for
+provisions. Returning to the levee, I found a good-natured crowd had
+taken possession of my boat, and at once availed myself of the local
+information in regard to the chances of a passage through Bayou
+Manchac, which was only fifteen miles below the town. Each told a
+different story. One gentleman said, "You will have to get four
+niggers to lift your boat over the levee of Mr. Walker's plantation,
+and put it into Bayou Manchac, which is about one hundred yards from
+the banks of the Mississippi. Its mouth was filled up a long time ago,
+but when once in the bayou you can float down to the Amite River, and
+so on to the Gulf." Another voice contradicted this statement,
+exclaiming, "Why, the bayou is dried up for a distance of at least
+eight miles from its head." At this point a well-dressed gentleman
+advanced, and quietly said: "I live on the Bayou Manchac, and can
+assure you that after you have hauled your boat through the Woodstock
+Plantation of the Walker family, you will find water enough in the
+bayou to float down upon to the Amite River."
+
+The crowd now became fully alive to the discussion of the geography of
+their locality. Each man who favored me with an opinion on the Manchac
+question contradicted his neighbor; which was only a renewal of old
+experiences, for I always found LOCAL knowledge of geography and
+distances of little value. As the debate ran high, I thought of
+D'Iberville, who had thoroughly explored the short bayou several
+generations before, and who might now have enlightened these people in
+regard to a stream that ran through their own lands. D'Iberville was,
+however, born in Canada, and probably had more time to look into such
+matters, or he would not have travelled several thousand miles to
+explore Louisiana.
+
+I thanked the company for their interest in the discussion, which,
+like the questions before a debating society, had ended only in
+opinions. I promised to let them know the truth of the matter if I
+visited Baton Rouge again, and pushing out into the current, pulled
+towards Woodstock Plantation, where I arrived soon after dark; but
+fearing to land on account of the dogs, whose reception of a stranger
+in the dark was, to say the least, unceremonious, I tied up to a high
+bank, and "turned in" for the night.
+
+Having left the wilderness and its protecting creeks and islands, I
+was destined to feel all the annoyances attending a camper in a
+cultivated and settled region. The steamboats tossed me about all
+night, so that morning was indeed welcome, and having refreshed myself
+with a dip and a djener, I climbed the bank, and was rewarded with
+the sight of a noble mansion, with its gardens of blooming roses, and
+lawns of bright green grass. This was the Woodstock Plantation, of
+which I had heard so much. I leisurely approached the large
+establishment, breathing an atmosphere laden with the fragrance of
+roses and orange-blossoms, which seemed to grow sweeter with every
+step. Finding an old negro, I sent my card to his master, with the
+request for information in regard to the Bayou Manchac. The young
+proprietor soon appeared with the "Report of the Secretary of War,"
+27th Congress, 3d session, page 21. December 30, 1842. This pamphlet
+informed me that the bayou was filled up at its mouth by order of the
+government, in answer to a petition from the planters of the lower
+country along the bayou and Amite River, to prevent the overflow of
+their cane-fields during freshets in the Mississippi River. We walked
+to a shallow depression near the house. It was dry, and carpeted with
+short grass. "This," said Mr. Walker, "is the Bayou Manchac which
+D'Iberville descended in his boat after having explored the
+Mississippi probably as far as Red River. The bed of the bayou is now
+fifteen feet above the present stage of water in the Mississippi." A
+field-hand was then called, who was said to be the best geographer in
+those parts, white or black.
+
+"Tell this gentleman what you know of the Bayou Manchac," said Mr.
+Walker, addressing the negro.
+
+"Well, sah!" the darky replied, "I jus hab looked at yer boat. Four ob
+us can hf him ober de levee, an' put him on de cart. Den wees mus done
+cart him FOURTEEN miles 'long de Bayou Manchac to get to whar de
+warter is plenty fur him to float in. Dar is some places nearer dan
+dat, 'bout twelve miles off whar dar is SOME warter, but de warter am
+in little spots, an' den you go on furder, an' dar is no warter fur de
+boat. Den all de way dar is trees dat falls across de bayou. Boss, you
+mus go all de fourteen miles to get to de warter, sure sartin."
+
+Mr. Walker informed me that for fourteen miles down the bayou the fall
+was six feet to the mile. At that distance from the Mississippi, sloop
+navigation commenced at a point called Hampton's Landing, from which
+it was about six miles to the Amite River. The Amite River was
+navigated by light-draught vessels from Lake Pontchartrain. The region
+about the Amite River possesses rich bottom-lands, and many of the
+descendants of the original French settlers of Louisiana own
+plantations along its banks.
+
+Mr. Walker then pointed to a long point of land some miles down the
+river, upon which the fertile fields of a plantation lay like patches
+of bright green velvet in the morning sun, and said: "Below that point
+a neighbor of mine found one of your northern boatmen dying in his
+boat. He rowed all the way from Philadelphia on a bet, and if he had
+reached New Orleans would have won his five thousand dollars, but he
+died when only ninety-five miles from the city, and was buried by
+Adonis Le Blanc on that plantation."
+
+I had heard the story before. It had been told me by the river
+boatmen, and the newspapers of the country had also repeated it. The
+common version of it was, that a poor man, desirous of supporting his
+large family of children, had undertaken to row on a bet from
+Philadelphia to New Orleans. If successful, he was to receive five
+thousand dollars. The kind-hearted people along the river had shown
+much sympathy for Mr. John C. Cloud in his praiseworthy attempts to
+support his suffering family, and at any time during his voyage quite
+a liberal sum of money might have been collected from these generous
+men and women to aid him in his endeavor. There was, however,
+something he preferred to money, and with which he was lavishly
+supplied, as we shall see hereafter.
+
+So much for rumor. Now let us examine facts. A short time before Mr.
+Cloud's death, two reporters of a western paper attempted to row to
+New Orleans in a small boat, but met with an untimely end, being run
+down by a steamboat. Their fate and Mr. Cloud's were quoted as
+precedents to all canoeists and boatmen, and quite a feeling against
+this healthful exercise was growing among the people. Several editors
+of popular newspapers added to the excitement by warnings and
+forebodings. Believing that some imprudence had been the cause of Mr.
+Cloud's death, and forming my opinion of him from the fact of his
+undertaking such a voyage in August,--the season when the swamps are
+full of malaria,--I took the trouble to investigate the case, and made
+some discoveries which would have startled the sympathetic friends of
+this unfortunate man.
+
+One of the first things that came to light was the fact that Mr. Cloud
+was not a married man. His family was a creation of his imagination,
+and a most successful means of securing the sympathy and ready aid of
+those he met during his voyage, though his daily progress shows that
+neither sympathy nor money were what he craved, but that WHISKEY alone
+would "fill the bill!"
+
+Mr. Cloud had once been a sailor in the United States navy, but having
+retired from the cruel sea, he became an actor in such plays as
+"Black-eyed Susan" in one of the variety theatres in Philadelphia. Mr.
+Charles D. Jones, of that city, who was connected with theatrical
+enterprises, and knew Mr. Cloud well, was one day surprised by the
+latter gentleman, who declared he had a "bright idea," and only wanted
+a friend to stand by him to make it a sure thing. He proposed to row
+from Philadelphia to New Orleans in a small boat. Mr. Jones was to act
+as his travelling agent, going on in advance, and informing the people
+of the coming of the great oarsman. When Mr. Cloud should arrive in
+any populous river-town, a theatrical performance was to be given, the
+boatman of course to be the "star." Mr. Jones was to furnish the
+capital for all this, while Mr. Cloud was to share with his manager
+the profits of the exhibitions.
+
+A light Delaware River skiff, pointed at each end, was purchased, and
+Mr. Cloud left Philadelphia in the month of August, promising his
+friend to arrive in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in twelve or fourteen
+days. After waiting a few days to enable Mr. Cloud to get fairly
+started upon his voyage, which was to be made principally by canals to
+the Alleghany River, the manager went to Pittsburgh with letters of
+introduction to the editors of that busy city. The representatives of
+the press kindly seconded Mr. Jones in advertising the coming of the
+great oarsman. Mr. Cloud was expected to appear in front of Pittsburgh
+on a certain day. A hall was engaged for his performance in the
+evening. An immense amount of enthusiasm was worked up among the
+people of the city and the neighboring towns. Having done his duty to
+his colleague, Mr. Jones anxiously awaited the expected telegram from
+Cloud, announcing his approach to the city. No word came from the
+oarsman; and in vain the manager telegraphed to the various towns
+along the route through which Mr. Cloud must have passed.
+
+On the day that had been settled upon for the arrival of the boat
+before Pittsburgh, a large concourse of visitors gathered along the
+river-banks. Even the mayor of the city was present in his carriage
+among the expectant crowd. The clock struck the hour of noon, but the
+little Delaware skiff was nowhere to be seen; and, as the sun declined
+from the zenith, the people gradually dispersed, muttering, "Another
+humbug!"
+
+At midnight Mr. Jones retired in anything but an amiable mood. His
+professional honor had been wounded, and his industrious labors lost.
+Where was Cloud? Had the poor fellow been murdered? What was his fate,
+and why did he not come up to time? Revolving these questions in his
+mind, the manager fell asleep; but he was roused before five o'clock
+in the morning by a servant knocking at his door to inform him that
+his "star" was in Alleghany City, opposite Pittsburgh. Mr. Jones went
+to look up his man, and found him in a state of intoxication in a
+drinking-saloon. A hard-looking set of fellows were perambulating the
+streets, bawling at the top of their voices, "Arrival of John C.
+Cloud, the great oarsman! Photographs for sale! only twenty-five
+cents!"
+
+When the intoxicated boatman had returned to a conversational state of
+mind, he explained that he had actually rowed as far as Harrisburgh,
+Pennsylvania, where he had been most generously entertained at the
+liquor saloons, and had been so fortunate as to make the acquaintance
+of some "good fellows" who had engaged to travel in advance of his
+boat, and sell his photographs, sharing with him in the profits of
+such sales. He had made his voyage from Harrisburgh to Alleghany City
+by rail, his boat being safely stowed in a car, and tenderly watched
+over by the red-shirted "good fellows" who had so generously taken him
+under their wing. The "great oarsman" had, in fact, rowed just about
+one-third of the distance between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
+
+The disgusted manager left his man in charge of the new managers, and
+going at once to the editors, explained how he had been duped, and
+begged to be "let down gently" before the public. These gentlemen not
+only acceded to the request, but even offered to get up a "benefit"
+for Mr. Jones, who declined the honor, and waited only long enough in
+the city to see Mr. Cloud with his boat and whiskey fade out of sight
+down the Ohio, when he returned to Philadelphia considerably lighter
+in pocket, having provided funds for purchasing the boat and other
+necessaries, and full of righteous indignation against Mr. Cloud and
+his "bright idea."
+
+The little skiff went on its way down the Ohio, and was met with
+enthusiasm at each landing. The citizens of Hickman, Kentucky,
+described the voyage of Mr. Cloud as one continuous ovation. Five
+thousand people gathered along the banks below that town to welcome
+"the poor northern man who was rowing to New Orleans on a five-
+thousand-dollar bet, hoping to win his wager that he might have means
+to support his large family of children." One old gentleman seemed to
+have his doubts about the truth of this statement, "for," said he,
+"when the celebrated oarsman appeared, and landed, he repaired
+immediately to a low drinking-saloon, and announced that he was the
+greatest oarsman in America," &c.
+
+The "boys" about the town subscribed a fund, and invested it in five
+gallons of whiskey, which Cloud took aboard his skiff when he
+departed. He plainly stated that the conditions of the bet prevented
+his sleeping under a roof while on his way; so he curled himself up in
+his blankets and slept on the veranda floors. The man must have had
+great powers of endurance, or he could not have rowed so long in the
+hot sun at that malarious season of the year. His chief sustenance was
+whiskey; and at one town, near Cairo, I was assured by the best
+authority, ten gallons of that fiery liquor were stowed away in his
+skiff. Such disregard of nature's laws soon told upon the plucky
+fellow, and his voyage came to an end when almost in sight of his
+goal. The malaria he was breathing and the whiskey he was drinking set
+fire to his blood, and the fatal congestive chills were the inevitable
+result.
+
+The papers of New Orleans had announced the approach of the great
+oarsman, and the planters were ready to give him a cordial welcome,
+when one day a man who was walking near the shore of the Mississippi,
+in the parish of Iberville, and looking out upon the river, saw a boat
+of a peculiar model whirling around in the eddies. He at once launched
+his boat and pushed out to the object which had excited his curiosity.
+Stretched upon the bottom of the strange craft was a man dressed in
+the garb of a northern boatman. At first he appeared to be dead; but a
+careful examination showed that life was not yet extinct. The unknown
+man was carried to the nearest plantation, and there, among strangers
+whose hearts beat kindly for the unfortunate boatman, John C. Cloud
+expired without uttering one word. The coroner,
+
+[Dying in his boat.]
+Mr. Adonis Le Blanc, found upon the person of the dead man a
+memorandum-book which told of the distances made each day upon the
+river, while the entries of the closing days showed how the keeper of
+the log had suffered from the "heavy shakes" occasioned by the malaria
+and his own imprudence. The story of the cruise was recorded on the
+boat. Men and women had written their names inside the frail shell,
+with the dates of her arrival at different localities along the route.
+I afterwards examined the boat at Biloxi, on the Gulf of Mexico, where
+it was kept as a curiosity in the boat-house of a citizen of New
+Orleans.
+
+
+They buried the unfortunate man upon the plantation, and Mr. Clay
+Gourrier took charge of his effects. The most remarkable thing about
+this rowing match was the credulity of the people along the route.
+They accepted Cloud's statement without stopping to consider that if
+there were any truth in it, the other side, with their five thousand
+dollars at stake, would surely take some interest in the matter, and
+have men posted along the route to see that the bet was fairly won.
+The fact that no bet had been made never seemed to dawn upon them;
+but, like too many, they sympathized without reasoning.
+
+Being forced to abandon all hopes of taking the Bayou Manchac and the
+interesting country of the Acadians in my route southward, I rowed
+down the river, past the curious old town of Plaquemine, and by four
+o'clock in the afternoon commenced to search for an island or creek
+where a good camping-ground for Sunday might be found. The buildings
+of White Castle Plantation soon arose on the right bank, and as I
+approached the little cooperage-shop of the large estate, which was
+near the water, a kindly hail came from the master-cooper and his
+assistant. Acceding to their desire "to look at the boat," I let the
+two men drag her ashore, and while they examined the craft, I studied
+the representatives of two very different types of laboring-men. One
+was from Madison, Indiana; the other belonged to the poor white class
+of the south. We built a fire near the boat, and passed half the night
+in conversation.
+
+These men gave me much valuable information about Louisiana. The
+southern cooper had lived much among the bayous and swamps of that
+region of the state subjected to overflow. He was an original
+character, and never so happy as when living a Robinson Crusoe life in
+the woods. His favorite expression seemed to be, "Oh, shucks!" and his
+yarns were so interlarded with this exclamation, that in giving one of
+his stories I must ask the reader to imagine that expressive utterance
+about every other word. Affectionately hugging his knee, and
+generously expectorating as he made a transfer of his quid from one
+side of his mouth to the other, he said:
+
+"A fellow don't always want company in the woods. If you have a
+pardner, he ort to be jes like yourself, or you'll be sartin to fall
+out. I was riving out shingles and coopers' stock once with a pardner,
+and times got mighty hard, sowe turned fishermen. There was some piles
+standing in Plaquemine Bayou, and the drift stuff collected round them
+and made a sort of little island. Me and Bill Bates went to work and
+rived out some lengths of cypress, and built a snug shanty on top of
+the piles. As it wasn't real estate we was on, nobody couldn't drive
+us off; so we fished for the Plaquemine folks.
+
+"By-and-by a king-snake swimmed over to our island, and tuck up his
+abode in a hole in a log. The cuss got kind of affectionate, and after
+a while crawled right into our hut to catch flies and other varmin. At
+last he got so tame he'd let me scratch his back. Then he tuck to our
+moss bed, and used up a considerable portion of his time there. Bill
+Bates hadn't the manners of a hog, and he kept a-droppin' hints to me,
+every few days, that he'd 'drap into that snake some night and squeeze
+the life out of him.' This made me mad, and I nat'rally tuck the
+snake's part, particularly as he would gobble up and crush the neck of
+every water-snake that cum ashore on our island. One thing led to
+another, till Bill Bates swore he'd kill my snake. Sez I to him,
+'Billum,' (I always called him Billum when I MEANT BIZNESS,) 'ef you
+hurt a hair of the head of my snake, I'll hop on to you.' That settled
+our pardnership. Bill Bates knowed what I meant, and he gathered up
+his traps and skedaddled.
+
+"Then I went to New Orleans, and out to Lake Pontchartrain, to fish
+for market. A lot of cussed Chinese was in the bizness, and when they
+found COARSE fish in their nets, they'd kill 'em and heave 'em
+overboard. Now, no man's got a rite to waste anything, so we fishermen
+begun to pay sum attention to the opium-smokers in good arnest."
+
+Here I interrupted the speaker to ask him if it would be safe for me
+to travel alone through the fishing-grounds of these Chinese.
+
+"Oh, shucks! safe enuf now," he answered. "Once they was a bad set;
+but a change has cum over 'em--they're CIVILIZED now."
+
+A vision of schools and earnest missionary work was before me while I
+asked HOW their civilization had been accomplished.
+
+"Shucks! WE dun it--WE WHITE FISHERMEN civilized 'em," was the
+emphatic reply; "and not a bit too soon either, for the wasteful
+cusses got so bad they wasn't satisfied with chucking dead fish
+overboard, but would go on to the prairies, and after using the grass
+cabins we WHITE fishermen had built to go into in bad weather, the
+bloody furiners would burn them up to bother us. They thort they'd
+drive us teetotally out of the diggins; so we thort it was time to
+CIVILIZE 'em. We hid in the long grass fur a few nights and watched
+the cusses. One morning a Chinaman was found dead in a cabin. Pretty
+soon after, one or two others was found floatin' round loose, in the
+same way; and after that lesson or two the fellers got CIVILIZED; and
+you needn't fear goin' among 'em now, fur they're harmless as kittens.
+They don't kill coarse fish now fur the fun of it. Oh, shucks! there's
+nothin' like a little healthy CIVILIZATION fur Chinamen and Injuns.
+They both needs it, and, any way, this is a WHITE MAN'S country."
+
+"And what of negroes?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, the niggers is good enuf, ef you let 'em alone. The Carpet-
+baggers from up north has filled their heads with all kinds of stuff,
+so now they think, nat'rally enuf, that they ought to be office-
+holders, when they can't read or write no more than I can. I'd like to
+take a hand CIVILIZING some of them Carpet-baggers! They needs it more
+than the Chinamen or Injuns."
+
+During part of the evening, Mr. Sewall, the nephew of the owner of the
+plantation, was with us round our camp-fire. We spoke of Longfellow's
+Evangeline, the bay-tree, and Atchafalaya River, which he assured me
+was slowly widening its current, and would in time, perhaps, become
+the main river of the basin, and finally deprive the Mississippi of a
+large portion of its waters. From his boyhood he had watched the
+falling in of the banks with the widening and increasing of the
+strength of the current of the Atchafalaya Bayou. Once it was
+impassable for steamers; but a little dredging opened the way, while
+the Mississippi and Red rivers had both contributed to its volume of
+water until it had deepened sufficiently for United States gunboats to
+ascend it during the late war. It follows the shortest course from the
+mouth of Red River to the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+I left White Castle Plantation early on Monday morning, when I
+discovered a lot of fine sweet-potatoes stowed away in the hold of my
+boat. The northern cooper had purchased them during the night, and
+having too much delicacy to speak of his gift, secreted them in the
+boat. I fully appreciated this kind act, knowing it to be a mark of
+the poor man's sympathy for his northern countryman. The levee for
+miles was lined with negroes and white men gathering a harvest of
+firewood from the drift stuff. One old negro, catching sight of my
+boat, called out to his companion, "Randal, look at dat boat! De
+longer we libs, de mor you sees. What sort o' queer boat is she?"
+
+Twenty miles below White Castle Plantation is the valuable sugar
+estate called Houmas, the property of General Wade Hampton and Colonel
+J. T. Preston. General Hampton does not reside upon his plantation,
+but makes Georgia his home. Beyond Houmas the parish of St. James
+skirts the river for twenty miles. Three miles back from the river, on
+the left side of the Mississippi, and fifty-five miles from New
+Orleans, is the little settlement of Grand Point, the place most famed
+in St. James for perique tobacco. The first settler who had the
+hardihood to enter these solitudes was named Maximilian Roussel. He
+purchased a small tract of land from the government, and in the year
+1824 shouldered his axe and camping-utensils, and started for his new
+domain. He soon built a hut, and at once began the laborious task of
+clearing his land, which was located in a dense cypress swamp, alive
+with wild beasts and alligators. A rough house was completed at the
+end of a year, and into it Roussel moved his family, consisting of a
+wife and four children. Here "he lived till he died," as it has been
+expressively said.
+
+Octave and Louis, two of his sons, and both now grandfathers, still
+live on the old place, and are highly respected. Only a few years ago
+the old homestead echoed to the voices of five of Roussel's sons, with
+their families; but death has taken two, one has removed, and two only
+now remain to relate the history of the almost unimaginable hardships
+encountered by the old and hardy pioneer.
+
+There are at present nineteen families in the settlement, and they are
+all engaged in the cultivation of perique tobacco. An average farm on
+Grant Point consists of eight acres, and the average yield of
+manufactured tobacco is four hundred pounds to the acre. These simple-
+hearted people seem to be very happy and content. They have no saloons
+or stores of any kind, but their place is well filled with a neat
+Catholic church and a substantial school-house. Every man, woman, and
+child is a devout Roman Catholic, and in their daily intercourse with
+each other the stranger among them hears a patois something like the
+French language. The whole of the land cultivated by these people
+would not make more than an average farm in the north, while compared
+with the vast sugar estates on every side of it the dimensions are
+infinitesimal.
+
+Villages were now picturesquely grouped along the shores, the most
+conspicuous feature in each being the large Catholic church, showing
+the religious belief of the people. Curious little stores were perched
+behind the now high banks of the levee. The signs over the doors bore
+such inscriptions as, "The Red Store," "The White Store," "St. John's
+Store," "Poor Family Store," &c. Busy life was seen on every side, but
+here, as elsewhere in the south, men seemed always to have time to
+give a civil answer to any necessary inquiries.
+
+Only a month after I had descended this part of the river, Captain
+Boyton, clothed in his famous swimming-suit, paddled his way down the
+current from Bayou Goula to New Orleans, a distance of one hundred
+miles. The incidents of this curious voyage are now a part of the
+river's history, and this seems the place for the brave captain to
+tell his story. He says:
+
+"I arrived at Bayou Goula on the 'Bismarck,' about six o'clock on
+Thursday morning; and, after considerable delay, succeeded in
+obtaining quarters at the Buena Vista Hotel in that village. At that
+point I engaged the services of a colored man named Brown, to pilot me
+down the river. At ten o'clock I took a breakfast, consisting of five
+eggs, bread, and a glass of beer, and ate nothing else during the day.
+At five o'clock precisely I took to the water and began my trip down
+to the city of New Orleans--a trip which proved to be a much more
+arduous one than I had anticipated, in consequence of the want of
+buoyancy in the water, the terrible counter-currents, and the large
+amount of drift-wood. It was some time before I could master the
+difficulty about the drift-wood, and at one time I was so annoyed and
+bruised by the floating debris, that I became somewhat apprehensive
+about the success of my enterprise. In some of the strong eddies
+particularly the logs played such fantastic tricks, rolling over and
+over with their jagged limbs and again standing upon their ends, that
+I feared I must either be carried under, or have my dress stripped
+completely off. By constant watching, however, I was enabled to steer
+out of harm's way and to keep steadily moving down the stream.
+
+"Above Donaldsonville I was met by a fleet of boats filled with
+spectators, who accompanied me down to that point, which I reached
+about eight o'clock in the evening. The town was illuminated, and the
+citizens tendered me a polite invitation to land and take supper; but
+of course I was obliged to decline, accepting in lieu a drink and a
+sandwich. Of the sandwich I ate only the bread.
+
+[Boyton descending the Mississippi.]
+
+"Below Donaldsonville I was caught in the great eddy. It was about
+four o'clock in the morning when I got into it, and it was good
+daylight before I succeeded in getting out again into the down-stream
+current. It was a singular sensation, this going round and round over
+the same ground, so to speak, and for the life of me I could not
+understand how I seemed now and then to be passing the same
+plantation-houses and familiar landmarks. The skiff which accompanied
+me was also in the same predicament, sometimes pulling up and
+sometimes pulling down stream. I tried to guide myself by the north
+star, but before I was aware of it that luminary, which ought to have
+kept directly in my front, would pop up, as it were, behind me, and
+destroy all my calculations. When daylight came, however, and the fog
+lifted sufficiently, I was able to paddle out into the middle of the
+stream, and keep down it once again.
+
+"Early in the morning, above Bonnet Carre, I asked several persons on
+shore for some coffee, but most of them seemed too much excited to
+attend to this pressing want of mine. At last a gentleman who spoke
+French got his wife to go and get me a cup of coffee, after drinking
+which I felt greatly refreshed. The sandwich and drink at
+Donaldsonville, and this cup of coffee next morning, were the only
+things in the shape of refreshments which I took during the twenty-
+four hours' voyage. At times I was almost certain I was being attacked
+by alligators, and thought I should have to use the knife with which I
+always go armed, but it only proved to be the annoying drift-wood in
+which I would become fearfully entangled. I only suffered from the
+cold in my feet. These I warmed, however, after the sun came out, by
+inflating the lower part of my dress, and holding them up out of the
+water.
+
+"The banks all along the way were crowded with people to see me pass
+down. At one point, when I had allowed the air to escape from the
+lower part of my dress, and was going along rapidly, with nothing
+showing above water but my head and my paddle, I met a skiff, which
+contained a negro man and woman, who were crossing the river. The
+woman became fearfully alarmed, and her screams could have been heard
+for miles away. The man pulled for dear life, the woman in the stern
+acting the cockswain, and urging the boat forward in the funniest
+manner possible.
+
+"While in the great eddy I drifted into an immense flock of ducks, and
+but for the noise made by those in the skiff I could easily have
+caught several of them, as they were not at all disturbed by my
+presence, but swam leisurely all about me.
+
+"At the Red Church, the wind blowing up against the current kicked up
+a nasty sea, which gave me a great deal of trouble. By sinking down
+very low, however, and allowing only my head above water, and taking
+the shower-bath as it came upon me continuously, I was enabled to keep
+up my headway down stream. When at my best speed I easily kept ahead
+of the boats, going sometimes at the rate of seven miles an hour
+without difficulty.
+
+"This feat was a much more arduous one than my trip across the English
+Channel. Then I only slept two hours, and was up again, feeling all
+right; but when this thing was over I slept all night, had a
+refreshing bath, and still suffered from fatigue, to say nothing of my
+swollen wrists and neck-glands."
+
+Having finished his remarkable voyage successfully, Captain Boyton
+concluded that his life-saving dress had been fully tested in America,
+and determined to rest on his laurels, and avoid Mississippi debris in
+future. In consequence of being caught in the eddy below
+Donaldsonville, this great swimmer estimated the distance he traversed
+from Bayou Goula to New Orleans as fully one hundred and twenty miles.
+[* footnote: Since this voyage ended, Captain Boyton has, in the same
+manner, successfully descended the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers
+from Cairo to New Orleans.]
+
+About dusk I rowed into a grove of young willows, on the left bank of
+the river, on the Shepard Plantation. My boat was soon securely
+fastened to a tree, and having partaken of my frugal meal I retired. A
+comfortable night's rest was, however, out of the question, for the
+passing steamers tossed me about in a most unceremonious manner,
+seeming to me in my dreams to be chanting for their lullaby, "Rock-a-
+by baby on the tree-top." Indeed, the baby on the tree-top was in an
+enviable position compared with my kaleidoscopic movements among the
+swashy seas. Many visions were before me that night, of the numerous
+little sufferers who are daily slung backwards and forwards in those
+pernicious instruments of torture called cradles.
+
+Memory brought also another picture I hoped it had been my good
+fortune to forget. It was a scene on the veranda of a country house.
+Five sisters, all pretty girls, whose grace arid vivacity I had often
+admired, were there, each in her rocking-chair, and each swinging to
+and fro, as though perpetual motion had been discovered. Why must an
+American woman have a rocking-chair? In no other country in the world,
+excepting among the creoles of South America, is this awkward piece of
+furniture so popular. Burn the cradles and taboo the graceless
+rocking-chair, and our children will have steadier heads and our women
+learn the attractive grace of quiet ease.
+
+The following day I struggled against head winds and swashy seas,
+until their combined forces proved too much for me, and succumbing as
+amiably as possible under the circumstances, the little white boat was
+run ashore on the Picou Plantation, where the coast was fortunately
+low. The rain and wind held me prisoner there until midnight, when,
+with a rising moon to cheer me, I forced a passage through the
+blockade of driftwood, and being once more on the river, waved an
+adieu to my last camp on the Mississippi.
+
+I was now only thirty-seven miles from New Orleans. Rowing rapidly
+down the broad river, now shrouded in gloom, with the fleecy scuds
+flying overhead in the stormy firmament, I fully realized that I was
+soon to leave the noble stream which had borne me so long and so
+safely upon its bosom. A thunder-shower rose in the west--its massive
+blackness lighted by the vivid flashes which played over its surface.
+The houses of the planters along the river's bank were enveloped in
+foliage, and the air was so redolent with the fragrance of flowers
+that I seemed to be floating through an Eden. The wind and the clouds
+disappeared together, and a glorious sunrise gave promise of a perfect
+day. With the light came life. Where all had been silent and restful,
+man and beast now made known their presence. The rising sun seemed to
+be the signal for taking hold where they had let go the night before.
+The crowing of cocks, the cries of plantation hands, the hungry neigh
+of horses, the hundred and one sounds of this work-a-day world,
+greeted my ears, while my eyes, taking a rapid survey of the
+surrounding steamers, coal-arks, and barges of every description,
+carried quickly to my brain the intelligence that I was near the
+Crescent City of the Gulf. Soon forests of masts rose upon the
+horizon, for there were vessels of all nations ranged along the levee
+of this once prosperous city.
+
+Anxious to escape the officious kindness always encountered about the
+docks of southern cities, I peered about, hoping to find some quiet
+corner in which to moor my floating home. Near the foot of Louisiana
+Avenue I saw the fine boat-house of the "Southern Boat Club," and
+being pleasantly hailed by one of its members, hove to, and told him
+of my perplexity. With the ever ready hospitality of a southerner, he
+assured me that the boat-house was at my disposal; and calling a
+friend to assist, we easily hauled the duck-boat out of the water, up
+the inclined plane, into her new quarters.
+
+The row upon the Mississippi from its junction with the Ohio down to
+New Orleans, including many stoppages, had occupied nineteen days, and
+had been accelerated by considerable night voyaging. The flow of the
+Mississippi was about one third faster than that of the Ohio. Lloyd's
+River Map gives the distance from the mouth of the Ohio to the centre
+of New Orleans as ten hundred and fifty-five miles, but the surveys of
+the United States Engineer Corps make this crooked route ten hundred
+and twenty miles only.
+
+My floating home being now in good hands, its captain turned his back
+on the water, and took a turn on land, leaving the river bounded by
+its narrow horizon, but teeming with a strange, nomadic life, the
+various types of which afforded a field where much gleaning would end
+in but a scanty harvest of good. Already my ears caught, in fancy, the
+sound of the restless waves of the briny waters of the Gulf of Mexico,
+and my spirits rose at the prospect of the broader experiences about
+to be encountered.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+NEW ORLEANS
+
+BIENVILLE AND THE CITY OF THE PAST.-- FRENCH AND SPANISH RULE IN THE
+NEW WORLD.-- LOUISIANA CEDED TO THE UNITED STATES.-- CAPTAIN EADS AND
+HIS JETTIES.-- TRANSPORTATION OF CEREALS TO EUROPE.-- CHARLES MORGAN.-
+- CREOLE TYPES OF CITIZENS.-- LEVEES AND CRAWFISH.-- DRAINAGE OF THE
+CITY INTO LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN.
+
+THIS was my fifth visit to New Orleans, and walking through its quaint
+streets I observed many changes of an undesirable nature, the
+inevitable consequences of political misrule. As the past of the city
+loomed up before me, the various scenes of bloodshed, crime, and
+misery enacted, shifted like pictures in a panorama before my mind's
+eye. I saw far back in the distance an indomitable man, faint and
+discouraged, after the terrible sufferings of a winter at a bleak fort
+in the wilderness, drag his weary limbs to the spot where New Orleans
+now stands, and defiantly unfurling the flag of France, determined to
+establish the capital of Louisiana on the treacherous banks of the
+Mississippi. Such was Bienville, the hardy son of a Canadian father.
+
+A little later we have the New Orleans of 1723. It is a low swamp,
+overgrown with ragged forests, and cut up into a thousand islands by
+ruts and pools of stagnant water. There is a small cleared space along
+the river's channel but even this being only partly reclaimed from the
+surrounding marsh, is often inundated. It is cut up into square
+patches, round each of which runs a ditch of black mud and refuse,
+which, lying exposed to the rays of an almost tropical sun, sends
+forth unwholesome odors, and invites pestilence.
+
+There is a palisade around the city, and a great moat; and here, with
+the tall, green grasses growing up to their humble doors, live
+graceful ladies and noble gentlemen, representatives of that nation so
+famed for finesse of manner and stately grace. It is an odd picture
+this rough doorway, surrounded with reeds and swamps, mud and misery,
+and crowned with the beauty of a fair French maiden, who steps
+daintily, with Parisian ease, upon the highway of the new world.
+
+She is not, however, alone in her exile. Along the banks of the
+Mississippi, for miles beyond the city, stretch the fertile
+plantations of the representatives of aristocratic French families.
+The rich lands are worked by negro slaves, who, fresh from the African
+coast, walk erect before their masters, being strangers to the abject,
+crouching gait which a century of slavery afterwards imposes upon
+them. No worship save the Catholic is allowed, and to remind the
+people of their duty wooden crosses are erected on every side.
+
+The next picture of New Orleans is in 1792. It has passed into other
+hands now, for the king of France has ceded it, with the territory of
+Louisiana, to his cousin of Spain, and has in fact, with a single
+stroke of the pen, stripped himself of possessions extending from the
+mouth of the Mississippi to the St. Lawrence. The type of civilization
+is now changed, and we see things moving in the iron groove of Spanish
+bigotry. The very architecture changes with the new rule, and the
+houses seem grim and fortress-like, while the cadaverous-cheeked
+Spaniard stands in the gloom with his hand upon his sword, one of the
+six thousand souls now within this ill-drained city. Successive
+Spanish governors hold their sway under the Spanish king; and then the
+Spaniard goes his way.
+
+Spanish civilization cannot take so firm a hold in New Orleans as the
+French, and many privately pray for the old banner, until at last
+France herself determines to again possess her old territory. Spain,
+knowing opposition to be useless, and heartily sick of this distant
+colony, so hard to govern and so near the quarrelsome Americans, who
+seem ready to fulfil their threat of taking New Orleans by force if
+their commercial interests are interfered with, yields a ready assent.
+The city becomes the property of Napoleon the Great; but hardly have
+the papers been signed, when, in 1803, it is ceded to the United
+States. Half a generation later the conflicting national elements are
+settled into something like harmony, and the state of Louisiana has a
+population of fifty thousand souls.
+
+In 1812 war is declared between Great Britain and the United States.
+Soon after, General Andrew Jackson wins a victory over the English on
+the lowlands near New Orleans, when, with the raw troops of the river
+states, he drives off; and sends home, fifteen thousand skilled
+British soldiers. Bowing his laurel-crowned head before the crowd
+assembled to do him honor, the brave American general receives the
+benediction of the venerable abb, while his memory is kept ever fresh
+in the public mind by the grand equestrian statue which now stands a
+monument to his prowess.
+
+But the New Orleans of to-day is not like any of these we have seen.
+The Crescent City has passed beyond the knowledge of even Jackson
+himself, and most startled would the old general be could he now walk
+its busy streets. Rising steadily, though slowly, from the effects of
+the civil war, her position as a port insures a glorious future. Much,
+of course, depends upon the success of Captain Eads in keeping open a
+deep channel from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of
+Mexico. This great river deposits a large amount of alluvium at its
+North-east, South-east, South, and South-west Passes, which are the
+principal mouths of the Mississippi. When the light alluvium held in
+suspension in the fresh water of the river meets the denser briny
+water of the Gulf, it is precipitated to the bottom, and builds up a
+shoal, or bar, upon which vessels drawing sixteen feet of water, in
+the deepest channel, frequently stick fast for weeks at a time. In
+consequence of these bars, so frequently forming, deep sea-going
+vessels run the risk of most unprofitable delay in ascending the river
+to New Orleans.
+
+Captain Eads, the projector of the great St. Louis bridge, which cost
+some seven or more millions of dollars, has succeeded, by narrowing
+and confining the river's current at the South Pass by means of
+artificial jetties, in scouring out the channel from a depth of about
+seven feet to one of more than twenty feet. Thus the most shoal pass
+has already become the deepest entrance to the Mississippi. If the
+results of Captain Eads's most wonderful success can be maintained,
+New Orleans will be able to support a fleet of European steamers,
+while the cereals and cotton of the river basins tributary to New
+Orleans will be exported from that city directly to Europe, instead of
+being subjected to a costly transportation by rail across the country
+to New York, Baltimore, and other Atlantic ports. Limited space
+forbids my presenting figures to support the theories of the people of
+New Orleans, but they are of the most interesting nature. A few words
+from an intelligent Kentuckian will express the views of many of the
+people of that state in regard to the system of transportation. He
+says:
+
+"Nearly all the products of Kentucky have their prices determined by
+the cost of transportation to the great centres of population along
+the Atlantic seaboard, or beyond the sea. Its tobacco, pork, grain,
+and some of the costlier woods, with other products, find their
+principal markets in Europe, while cattle, and to a certain extent the
+other agricultural products of the state, have their values determined
+by the cost of transportation to the American Atlantic markets.
+Hitherto this access to the domestic and foreign markets of the
+Atlantic shores has been had by way of the railway systems which
+traverse the region north of Kentucky, and from which the state has
+been divided by opposing interests and the physical barrier of the
+Ohio River. All the development of the state has taken place under
+these disadvantages.
+
+"A comparison of the tables of cost, given below, will show that the
+complete opening of the mouth of the Mississippi to ocean ships will
+result in the enfranchisement of the productions of Kentucky in an
+extraordinary way. They are taken from published freight rates, and
+give time and cost of transit from St. Paul, on the Mississippi, about
+two thousand miles from New Orleans, to Liverpool by the two routes:
+one being by rail, lake, canal, and ocean; the other by river and
+ocean:
+
+
+
+                                          Cost per
+                                          bushel.   Time.
+                                           CENTS.   DAYS.
+
+From St. Paul to Chicago (by rail),.           18   4
+ do. Chicago to Buffalo (by lake),              8   6
+ do. Buffalo to New York (by canal),.          14  24
+ do. N. York to Liverpool (by ocean),          16  12
+Elevator, or transshipment charges:
+ Chicago . .  .  .  .                           2   2
+ Buffalo .  . .  .  .                           2   2
+ New York, .  . .  .  . . .  .  .               4   2
+                                              ____ __
+Total,  . .  .  .  .  .                        64  52
+
+                                          Cost per
+                                          bushel.   Time.
+                                           CENTS.   DAYS.
+
+From St. Paul to New Orleans (via
+  river), 1993 miles                           18  10
+ do. New Orleans to Liverpool, .  .            20  20
+Elevator charges, New Orleans,                  2   1
+                                              ___  __
+Total                                          40  31
+
+
+
+"Here is a saving by direct trade of twenty-four cents per bushel, or
+eight shillings per quarter, and a saving of twenty-one days in time.
+To be fair, I have taken the extreme point; but the nearer the grain
+is to the Gulf, the cheaper the transportation. At the present time
+the freight rates from the lower Ohio to Liverpool would permit the
+profitable shipment of the canal coal, and native woods of different
+species, to Europe with one transshipment at New Orleans."
+
+The gross receipts of cotton in New Orleans amount to thirty-three and
+one-third per cent. of the production of the entire country. In 1859-
+60 the receipts and exports of cotton from New Orleans exceeded two
+and a quarter millions of bales, the value of which was over one
+hundred millions of dollars. In the season of 1871-72 the cotton crop
+amounted to two million nine hundred and seventy-four thousand bales,
+one-third of which passed through New Orleans. A vast amount of other
+products, such as sugar, tobacco, flour, pork, &c. is received at New
+Orleans and sent abroad. Besides this export trade, New Orleans
+imports coffee, salt, sugar, iron, dry-goods, and liquors, to the
+average yearly value of seventeen millions of dollars.
+
+In 1878 two hundred and forty-seven million four hundred and twenty-
+four thousand bushels of grain were received at the Atlantic ports of
+the United States from the interior. This great bulk of grain
+represented a portion only of the cereals actually raised in the whole
+country. The largest portion of it was produced in the states
+tributary to the Mississippi River and its branches. This statement
+will give an idea of what might be saved to foreign consumers if a
+part of this great crop went down the natural water-way to New
+Orleans. In the same year, steamboats were freighting barrels of
+merchandise at fifty cents per barrel for fifteen hundred miles from
+New Orleans to up-river ports. This shows at what low rates freights
+can be transported on western rivers.
+
+Each city has its representative men, and New Orleans has one who has
+done much to build up the great commercial and transportation
+interests of the Southwest. An unassuming man, destitute of means,
+went to the South many years ago. Uprightness in dealing with his
+fellow-man, industry in business, and large and comprehensive views,
+marked his career. Step by step he fought his way up from a humble
+station in life to one of the grandest positions that has ever been
+attained by a self-made man. More than one state feels the results of
+his tireless energy and successful commercial schemes. He is now the
+sole proprietor of two railroads, and the owner of a magnificent fleet
+of steamers which unite the ports of New York and New Orleans with the
+long seaboard of Texas.
+
+So skilfully has this man conducted the details of the great
+enterprises he has created, that during a term of many years not one
+human life has been lost upon sea or land by the mismanagement of any
+of his numerous agents. He is now past eighty; but this remarkable
+man, with his tireless brain, goes persistently on, and within
+fourteen months past contracted for the building of two fine iron
+steamers, and nearly completed two more for ocean trade. A New Orleans
+paper asserts that within the same period "he has elevated his
+Louisiana Railroad bed, along its route for twenty miles, above the
+highest water-mark of overflows, and has converted a shallow bayou
+between Galveston and Houston, Texas, into a deep stream, navigable
+for his largest vessels. On these works he expended over two millions
+of dollars."
+
+His shops for the construction of railroad stock, and for the
+repairing of his steamships, are in Louisiana, where he employs over
+one thousand workmen. In compliment to the virtues of this modest,
+energetic man, to whom the people of the Southwest owe so much, the
+citizens of Brashear, in the southwestern part of Louisiana, have
+changed the name of their town to Morgan City. May the last days of
+Charles Morgan be blessed with the happy consciousness that he
+deserves the reward of a well-spent life!
+
+The winter climate of New Orleans is delightful, and many persons
+leave New England's cruel east winds to breathe its soft air and
+rejoice in its sunshine. These pale-faced invalids are strangely
+grouped in the quaint old streets with the peculiar people of the
+city, and add another to the many types already there. The New Orleans
+market furnishes, perhaps, the best opportunity for the ethnological
+student, for there strange motley groups are always to be found. Even
+the cries are in the quaint voices of a foreign city, and it seems
+almost impossible to imagine that one is in America.
+
+We see the Sicilian fruit-seller with his native dialect; the brisk
+French madame with her dainty stall; the mild-eyed Louisiana Indian
+woman with her sack of gumbo spread out before her; the fish-dealer
+with his wooden bench and odd patois; the dark-haired creole lady with
+her servant gliding here and there; the old Spanish gentleman with the
+blood of Castile tingling in his veins; the graceful French dame in
+her becoming toilet; the Hebrew woman with her dark eyes and rich
+olive complexion; the pure Anglo-Saxon type, ever distinguishable from
+all others; and, swarming among them all, the irrepressible negro,--
+him you find in every size, shape, and shade, from the tiny yellow
+pickaninny to his rotund and inky grandmother, from the lazy wharf-
+darky, half clad in both mind and body, to the dignified colored
+policeman, who patrols with officious gravity the city streets,--in
+freedom or slavery, north or south, in sunshine or out of it, ever the
+same easy, improvident race; ever the same gleaming teeth and ready
+"Yes, sah! 'pon my word, sah!" and ever the same tardiness to DO.
+
+Leaving the busy, surging mass of humanity, each so eager to buy or
+sell, the visitor to New Orleans will find a great contrast of scene
+in the quiet cemeteries with their high walls of shelves, where the
+dead are laid away in closely cemented tombs built one over the other,
+and all above the ground, to be safe from the encroachment of water,
+the ever-pervading foe of New Orleans. Not only must the dead be
+stowed away above-ground, but the living must wage a daily war against
+this insidious foe, and watch with vigilance their levees.
+
+Notwithstanding all that has been said in regard to the enervating
+effects of a southern climate, the inhabitants of the state of
+Louisiana have shown a pertinacity in maintaining their levee system
+which is almost unexampled. They have always asserted their rights to
+the lowlands in which they live, and have under the most trying
+circumstances braved inundation. They have built more than one
+thousand five hundred miles of levees within the state limits. The
+state engineer corps is always at work along the banks of the
+Mississippi and its important bayous.
+
+The work of levee-building has been pushed ahead when a thousand evils
+beset the community. Accurate and detailed surveys are a constant
+necessity to prevent inundation. The cost-value of the present system
+is seven millions of dollars, and as much more is needed to make it
+perfect. During the civil war millions of cubic feet of levees were
+destroyed; but the state in her impoverished condition has not only
+rebuilt the old levees, but added new ones in the intervening years,
+showing an industry and energy we must all appreciate.
+
+The water has an assistant in its cruel inroads, and the peace of mind
+of the property-holders along the lower Mississippi is constantly
+disturbed by the presence of a burrowing pest which lives in the
+artificial dikes, and is always working for their destruction. This
+little animal is the crawfish (Astacus Mississippiensis) of the
+western states, and bores its way both vertically and laterally into
+the levees. This species of crawfish builds a habitation nearly a foot
+in height on the surface of the ground, to which it retreats, at
+times, during high water. The Mississippi crawfish is about four
+inches in length, and has all the appearance of a lobster; its
+breeding habits being also similar. The female crawfish, like the
+lobster, travels about with her eggs held in peculiar arm-like organs
+under her jointed tail where they are protected from being devoured by
+other animals. There they remain until hatched; but the young crawfish
+does not experience the metamorphosis peculiar to most decapods.
+
+These animals open permanent drains in the levees, through which the
+water finds its way, slowly at first, then rapidly, until it
+undermines the bank, when a crevasse occurs, and many square miles of
+arable and forest lands are submerged for weeks at a time. The
+extermination of these mischievous pests seems an impossibility, and
+they have cost the Mississippi property-owners immense sums of money
+since the levee system was first introduced upon the river.
+
+The city of New Orleans is built upon land about four feet below the
+level of the Mississippi River at high-water mark, and, running along
+the great bend in the river, forms a semicircle; and it is from this
+peculiar site it has gained the appellation of "Crescent City." The
+buildings stretch back to the borders of Lake Pontchartrain, which
+empties its waters into the Gulf of Mexico. All the drainage of the
+city is carried by means of canals into the lake, while the two
+largest of these canals are navigable for steamers of considerable
+size. Large cargoes are transported through these artificial waterways
+to the lake, and from it into the Gulf of Mexico, and so on along the
+southern coast to Florida.
+
+[Map from New Orleans to Mobile Bay.]
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ON THE GULF OF MEXICO
+
+LEAVE NEW ORLEANS.-- THE ROUGHS AT WORK.-- DETAINED AT NEW BASIN.--
+SADDLES INTRODUCES HIMSELF.-- CAMPING AT LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN.-- THE
+LIGHT-HOUSE OF POINT AUX HERBES.-- THE RIGOLETS.-- MARSHES AND
+MOSQUITOES.-- IMPORTANT USE OF THE MOSQUITO AND BLOW-FLY.-- ST.
+JOSEPH'S LIGHT.-- AN EXCITING PULL TO BAY ST. LOUIS.-- A LIGHT-KEEPER
+LOST IN THE SEA.-- BATTLE OF THE SHARKS.-- BILOXI.-- THE WATER-CRESS
+GARDEN.-- LITTLE JENNIE.
+
+ONE of the chief charms in a boatman's life is its freedom, and what
+that freedom is no one knows until he throws aside the chains of
+every-day life, steps out of the worn ruts, and, with his kit beside
+him, his oar in his hand, feels himself master of his time, and FREE.
+There is one duty incumbent on the voyager, however, and that is to
+keep his face set upon his goal. Remembering this, I turned my back
+upon the beguiling city of New Orleans, with its orange groves and
+sweet flowers, its old buildings and modern civilization, its French
+cafs and bewitching oddities of every nature, taking away with me
+among my most pleasant memories the recollection of the kind
+hospitality of the gentlemen of the "Southern Boat Club," who
+presented me with a duplicate of the beautiful silk pennant of their
+club.
+
+My shortest route to the Gulf of Mexico was through New Basin Canal,
+six miles in length, into Lake Pontchartrain, and from there to the
+Gulf. If I had disembarked upon the levee, at the foot of Julia
+Street, when I arrived in New Orleans, there would have been only a
+short portage of three-quarters of a mile, in a direct line, to the
+canal; but my little craft had been left in the keeping of the
+Southern Boat Club, and the position of their boat-house made a
+portage of two miles a necessity. An express-wagon was procured, and,
+accompanied by Mr. Charles Deckbar, a member of the club, the little
+boat was safely carried through the city streets, and once more shot
+into her native element in the waters of New Basin Canal. The first
+part of this canal runs through the city proper, and then through a
+low swampy region out into the shallow lake Pontchartrain. At the
+terminus of New Basin Canal I found a small light-house, two or three
+hotels, and a few houses, making a little village.
+
+A small fleet of schooners, which had brought lumber and firewood from
+Shieldsboro and other Gulf ports, was lying idly along the sides of
+the canal, awaiting a fair wind to assist them in making the return
+trip.
+
+I rowed out of the canal on to the lake; but finding that the strong
+wind and rough waves were too much for my boat, I beat a hasty retreat
+into the port of refuge, and, securing my bow-line to a pile, and my
+stern-line to the bob-stay of a wood-schooner, the "Felicit," I
+prepared to ride out the gale under her bow. The skippers of the
+little fleet were very civil men. Some of them were of French and some
+of Spanish origin, while one or two were Germans. My charts interested
+them greatly; for though they had navigated their vessels for years
+upon the Gulf of Mexico, they had never seen a chart; and their
+astonishment was unbounded when I described to them the bottom of the
+sea for five hundred miles to the eastward, over a route I had never
+travelled.
+
+Night settled down upon us, and, as the wind lulled, the evening
+became lovely. Soon the quiet hamlet changed to a scene of merriment,
+as the gay people of the city drove out in their carriages to have a
+"lark," as the sailors expressed it; and which seemed to begin at the
+hotels with card-playing, dancing, drinking, and swearing, and to end
+in a general carousal. Men and women joined alike in the disreputable
+scene, though I was informed that this was a respectable circle of
+society, compared with some which at times enlivened the neighborhood
+of Lake Pontchartrain. Thinking of the wonderful grades of society, I
+tried to sleep in my boat, not imagining that my peace was soon to be
+invaded by the lowest layer of that social strata.
+
+In spite of all my precautions an article had appeared that day in a
+New Orleans paper giving a somewhat incorrect account of my voyage
+from Pittsburgh. The betting circles hearing that there was no bet
+upon my rowing feat,--if such a modest and unadventurous voyage could
+be called a feat,--decided that there must be some mystery connected
+with it; and political strife being uppermost in all men's minds,
+strangers were looked upon with suspicion, while rumors of my being a
+national government spy found ready belief with the ignorant. Such a
+man would be an unwelcome visitor in the troubled districts where the
+"bull-dozing" system was compelling the enfranchised negro to vote the
+"right ticket." I had received an intimation of this feeling in the
+city, and had exerted myself to leave the neighborhood that day; but
+the treacherous east wind had left me in a most unprotected locality,
+floating in a narrow canal, at the mercy of a lot of strange sailors.
+The sailor, though, has a generous heart, and usually demands FAIR
+PLAY, while there is a natural antagonism between him and a landsman.
+I was, so to speak, one of them, and felt pretty sure that in case of
+any demonstration, honest "Jack Tar" would prove himself my friend.
+
+It seemed at one time as though such an occasion was imminent.
+
+First came the sound of voices in the distance; then, as they came
+nearer, I heard such questions as, "Where is the feller?" "Show us his
+boat, and we'll soon tell if he's a humbug!"
+
+"We'll put a head on him!" &c. All these expressions being interlarded
+with oaths and foul language, gave any but a pleasant prospect of what
+was to be looked for at the hands of these city roughs, who clambered
+nimbly on to the deck of the Felicit to inquire for my whereabouts.
+
+[New Orleans roughs amusing themselves]
+
+The darkness seemed to shield me from their sight, and my good friend,
+the skipper of the wood-schooner, did not volunteer much information
+as they stood upon his forecastle only a few feet above my head. He
+told them they were on a fool's errand, if they came there to ask
+questions about a man who was minding his own business. The sailors
+all backed him, and the cook grew so bold as to consign the whole
+crowd, without mercy, to a place too hot for ears polite.
+
+Swaggering and swearing, the roughs went ashore to refresh their
+thirsty throats at a low grog-shop. Having fired up, they soon
+returned to the bank of the canal, and, as ill luck would have it, in
+the darkness of the night caught a gleam of my little white boat
+resting so peacefully upon the foul water of the canal, made dark and
+heavy by the city's drainage. Then followed verbal shots, with various
+demonstrations, for half an hour.
+
+The worst fellow in the crowd was a member of a fire-company, and
+being a city policeman was supposed to be a protector of the peace. He
+was very insulting; but I turned his questions and suspicions into
+ridicule, and, fortunately for me, he so often fell back upon the
+groggery for strength to fire away, that he was finally overpowered,
+and was given into the care of his bosom-friend, another blackguard,
+who dragged him tenderly from the scene. All this time the cook of the
+schooner had his hot water in readiness, threatening to scald the
+roughs if they succeeded in getting down to my boat.
+
+At last, much to my relief, the whole party went off to "make a night
+of it," leaving me in the care of my protectors on the schooner, who
+had been busy deciding what they should do in case of any assault
+being made on me by the roughs, and showing their brawny arms in a
+menacing manner when the worst threats reached their ears.
+
+I did not know this at the time, but as I looked cautiously around
+after the unwelcome guests had left, I saw a watchman standing on the
+forecastle of the Felicit, looking anxiously to the safety of the
+little white craft that by a slender cord held on to his vessel. All
+through the hours of that long night the kind-hearted master paced his
+deck; and then, as the sun arose, and the damp vapors settled to the
+earth, he hailed me with a pleasant "good morning;" and added, "if
+those devils had jumped on you last night I was to give ONE yell, and
+the whole fleet would have been on top o' 'em, and we would have
+backed every man's head down his own throat." This wou1d have been, I
+thought, a singular but most effective way of settling the difficulty,
+and a novel mode of thinning out the city police and fire department.
+
+During the day I was visited by a young northerner who had been for
+some time in New Orleans, but was very anxious to return to his home
+in Massachusetts. He had no money, but thought if I would allow him to
+accompany me as far as Florida he could ship as sailor from some port
+on a vessel bound for New York or Boston. Feeling sorry for the man
+who was homeless in a strange city, and finding he possessed some
+experience in salt-water navigation, I acceded to his request. Having
+purchased of the harbor-master, Captain M. H. Riddle, a light boat,
+which was sharp at both ends, and possessed the degree of sheer
+necessary for seaworthiness, the next thing in order was to make some
+important alterations in her, such as changing the thwarts, putting on
+half-decks, &c. As this labor would detain me in the unpleasant
+neighborhood, I determined to secrete my own boat from the public
+gaze. To accomplish this, while favored by the darkness of night, I
+ran it into a side canal, where the watchman of the New Lake End
+Protection Levee lived in a floating house. The duck-boat was drawn
+out of the water on to a low bank of the levee, and was then covered
+with reeds. So perfectly was my little craft secreted, that when a
+party of roughs came out to interview the "government spy," they
+actually stood beside the boat while inquiring of the watchman for its
+locality without discovering it.
+
+I now slept in peace at night; but during the day, while working upon
+the new boat in another locality, was much annoyed by curious persons,
+who hovered around, hoping to discover the meaning of my movements. On
+Saturday evening, January 22, I completed the joining and provisioning
+of the new skiff, which was called, in honor of the harbor-master, the
+"Riddle." The small local population about the mouth of the canal was
+in a great state of excitement. The fitting out of the "Riddle" by the
+supposed "government spy" furnished much food for reflection, and new
+rumors were set afloat. I passed the first day of the week as quietly
+as possible amid the gala scenes of that section which knows no
+Sunday. All day long carriages rolled out from New Orleans, bringing
+rollicking men and women to the lake, where, free from all restraint,
+the daily robe of hypocrisy was thrown aside, and poor humanity
+appeared at its worst. Little squads of roughs came also at intervals,
+but their attempts to find me or my boat proved fruitless.
+
+The next day my shipmate, whom, for convenience, I will call Saddles,
+was not prepared to leave, as previously agreed upon, so I turned over
+to him the "Riddle," her outfit, provisions, &c., and instructed him
+to follow the west shore of Lake Pontchartrain until he found me,
+preferring to trust myself to the tender mercies of the Chinese
+fishermen--whom the reader will remember had been "CIVILIZED"--rather
+than to linger longer in the neighborhood of the New Orleans firemen
+and police corps. Saddles had hunted and fished upon the lake, and
+therefore felt confident he could easily find me the next day at Irish
+Bayou, two miles beyond the low "Point aux Herbes" Light-house.
+
+An hour before noon, on Monday, January 24, I rowed out of the canal,
+and most heartily congratulated myself upon escaping the trammels of
+too much civilization. A heavy fog covered the lake while I felt my
+way along the shore, passing the Pontchartrain railroad pier. The
+shoal bottom was covered with stumps of trees, and the coast was low
+and swampy, with occasional short, sandy beaches. My progress was slow
+on account of the fog; and at five P. M. I went into camp, having
+first hauled the boat on to the land by means of a small watch-tackle.
+The low country was covered in places with coarse grass, and, as I ate
+my supper by the camp-fire, swarms of mosquitoes attacked me with such
+impetuosity and bloodthirstiness that I was glad to seek refuge in my
+boat. This proved, however, only a temporary relief, for the
+tormentors soon entered at the ventilating space between the combing
+and hatch, and annoyed me so persistently that I was driven to believe
+there was something worse than New Orleans roughs. During this night
+of torture I heard in the distance the sound of oars moving in the
+oar-locks, and paused for an instant in the battle with the
+phlebotomists, thinking the "Riddle" might be coming, but all sound
+seemed hushed, and I returned to my dreary warfare.
+
+Not waiting to prepare breakfast the next morning, I left the prairie
+shore, and rowed rapidly towards Point aux Herbes. At the lighthouse
+landing I found Saddles, with his boat drawn up on shore. He had
+followed me at four and a half P. M., and the evening being clear, he
+had easily reached the light-house at eleven P. M. on the same night.
+Mr. Belton, the light-keeper, kept bachelor's hall in his quarters,
+and at once went to work with hearty good-will to prepare a breakfast
+for us, to which we did full justice.
+
+At eleven A. M., though a fog shut out all objects from our sight, I
+set a boat compass before me on the floor of my craft, and saying
+good-bye to our host, we struck across the lake in a course which took
+us to a point below the "Rigolets," a name given to the passages in
+the marshes through which a large portion of the water of Lake
+Pontchartrain flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The marshes, or low
+prairies, which confine the waters of Lake Pontchartrain, are
+extensive. The coarse grass grows to four or five feet in height, and
+in it coons, wildcats, minks, hogs, and even rabbits, find a home. In
+the bayous wild-fowl abound.
+
+The region is a favorite one with hunters and fishermen; but during
+the summer months alligators and moccasin-snakes are abundant, when it
+behooves one to be wary. Upon some of the marshy islands of the Gulf,
+outside of Lake Pontchartrain, wild hogs are to be found. In 1853 it
+became known that an immense wild boar lived upon the Chandeleur
+Islands. He was frequently hunted, and though struck by the balls shot
+at him, escaped uninjured, his tough hide proving an impenetrable
+barrier to all assaults. There is always, however, some vulnerable
+point to be found, and in 1874 some Spanish fisherman, taking an undue
+advantage of his boarship, shot him in the eye, and then clubbed him
+to death.
+
+The Rigolets are at the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain. Their
+northern side skirts the main land, while their south side is bounded
+by marshy islands. As we rowed through this outlet of the lake, Fort
+Pike, with its grassy banks, arose picturesquely on our right from its
+site on a knoll of high ground. Outside of the Rigolets we entered an
+arm of the Gulf of Mexico, called Lake Borgne, the shores of which
+were desolate, and formed extensive marshes cut up by creeks and
+bayous into many small islands.
+
+As it was late in the day, we ran our two boats into a bayou near the
+mouth of the Rigolets, and prepared, under the most trying
+circumstances, to rest for the night. The atmosphere was soft and
+mild, the evening was perfect. The great sheet of water extended far
+to the east. On the south it was bounded by marshes. A long, low
+prairie coast stretched away on the north; it was the southern end of
+the state of Mississippi. The light-houses flashed their bright
+beacon-lights over the water. All was tranquil save the ever-
+pervading, persistent mosquito. Thousands of these insects, of the
+largest size and of the most pertinacious character, came out of the
+high grass and "made night hideous."
+
+We had not provided ourselves with a tent, and no artifice on our part
+could protect us from these torments; so, vainly dealing blows right
+and left, we discussed the oft-mooted point of the mosquito's
+usefulness to mankind. We lords of creation believe that everything is
+made for the gratification of man, even thinking at one time, in our
+ignorance, that the beautiful colors of flowers served no other end,
+than to gratify the sense of sight. But this fancy, made beautiful by
+the songs of our poets, has been dealt with as the man of science must
+ever deal with stubborn facts, and the utility as well as the beauty
+of these exquisite hues have been discovered. The colors in the petals
+of the flowers attract certain insects, whose duty it is to fertilize
+the flowers by dusting the pistils with the pollen of the ripe
+anthers, some being attracted by one color, some by another.
+
+Flowery thoughts were not, however, in keeping with the miserable
+state of mental and physical restlessness induced by the irritating
+mosquito, and its usefulness seemed to be a necessary thought to make
+me patient as I lay like a mummy, enveloped in my blankets. The coons
+were fighting and squealing around my boat, which lay snugly ensconced
+in a bayou among the reeds, for, once under my hatch-cover, the
+presence of man was unheeded by these animals, and they sportively
+turned my deck into a species of amphitheatre.
+
+The vices and virtues of the mosquito may be summed up in a few words,
+always remembering that it is the FEMALE, and not the MALE, to whom
+humanity is indebted for lessons of patience. The female mosquito
+deposits about three hundred eggs, nearly the shape of a grain of
+wheat, arranging and gluing them perpendicularly side by side, until
+the whole resembles a solid, canoe-like body, which floats about on
+the surface of the water. Press this little boat of eggs deep into the
+water, and its buoyancy causes it to rise immediately to the surface,
+where it maintains its true position of a well-ballasted craft, right
+side up. The warmth of the sun, tempered with the moisture of the
+water, soon hatches the eggs, and the larva, as wigglers or wrigglers,
+descend to the bottom of the quiet pool, and feed upon the decaying
+vegetable matter. It moves actively through the stagnant water in its
+passage to the surface, aerifying it, and at the same time doing
+faithfully its work as scavenger by consuming vegetable germs and
+putrefying matter. Professor G. F. Sanborn, and other leading American
+entomologists, assert that the mosquito saves from twenty-five to
+forty per cent. in our death-list among those who are exposed to
+malarial influences.
+
+With malaria, the curse of large districts in the United States,
+sowing its evil seeds broadcast in our land, and daily closing its
+iron grasp upon its victims, who could wish for the extermination of
+so useful an insect as the mosquito?
+
+When the larva reaches the surface of the water, it inhales, through a
+delicate tube at the lower end of its body, all the air necessary for
+its respiration. Having lived three or four weeks in the water, during
+which time it has entered the pupa state, the original skin is cast
+oft; and the insect is transformed into a different and more perfect
+state. A few days later the epidermis of the pupa falls oft; and
+floats upon the water, and upon this light raft the insect dries its
+body in the warm rays of the sun; its damp and heavy form grows
+lighter and more ethereal; it slowly spreads its delicate wings to
+dry, and soon rises into the clear ether a perfected being.
+
+The male mosquitoes retire to the woods, and lead an indolent,
+harmless life among the flowers and damp leaves. They are not provided
+with a lancet, and consequently do not feed upon blood, but suck up
+moisture through the little tubes nature has given them for that
+purpose. They are a quiet, well-behaved race, and do not even sing;
+both the music and the sting being reserved for the other sex. They
+rarely enter the abodes of man, and may be easily identified by their
+heavy, feathery antenn and long maxillary palpi.
+
+Unfortunately for mankind, the female mosquito possesses a most
+elaborate instrument of torture. She first warns us of her presence by
+the buzzing sound we know so well, and then settling upon her victim,
+thrusts into the quivering flesh five sharp organs, one of which is a
+delicate lancet. These organs, taken in one mass, are called the beak,
+or bill of the insect. A writer says: "The bill has a blunt fork at
+the end, and is apparently grooved. Working through the groove, and
+projecting from the centre of the angle of the fork, is a lance of
+perfect form, sharpened with a fine bevel. Beside it the most perfect
+lance looks like a handsaw. On either side of this lance two saws are
+arranged, with the points fine and sharp, and the teeth well-defined
+and keen. The backs of these saws play against the lance. When the
+mosquito alights, with its peculiar hum, it thrusts in its keen lance,
+and then enlarges the aperture with the two saws, which play beside
+the lance, until the forked bill, with its capillary arrangement for
+pumping blood, can be inserted. The sawing process is what grates upon
+the nerves of the victim, and causes him to strike wildly at the
+sawyer. The irritation of a mosquito's bite is undoubtedly owing to
+these saws. It is to be hoped that the mosquito keeps her surgical
+instruments clean, otherwise it might be a means of propagating blood
+diseases."
+
+While the mosquito is a sort of parasite, Professor Sanborn, the
+"Consulting Naturalist" of Andover, Massachusetts, informs me that he
+has discovered as many as four or five parasitical worms preying upon
+the inside tissues of the minute beak of the insect.
+
+When the young female mosquito emerges from the water, she lays her
+eggs in the way described, and her offspring following in time her
+example, several broods are raised in a single season. Many of the old
+ones die off; but a sufficient number hybernate under the bark of
+trees and in dwelling-houses, to perpetuate the species in the early
+spring months of the following year.
+
+Another insect scavenger, found along the low shores of the Gulf, is
+the blow-fly, and one very useful to man. Of one species of this
+insect the distinguished naturalist Reaumur has asserted that the
+progeny of a single female will consume the carcass of a horse in the
+same time that it will require a lion to devour it. This singular
+statement may be explained in the following way. The female fly
+discovers the body of a dead horse, and deposits (as one species does)
+her six hundred eggs upon it. In twenty-four hours these eggs will
+hatch, producing about three hundred female larva, which feed upon the
+flesh of the horse for about three days, when they attain the
+perfected state of flies. The three hundred female flies will in their
+turn deposit some hundred and eighty thousand eggs, which become in
+four days an army of devourers, and thus in about twelve days, under
+favorable circumstances, the flesh is consumed by the progeny of one
+pair of flies in the same time that a lion would devour the carcass.
+
+Our sleepless night coming at last to an end, we rowed, at dawn, along
+the prairie shores of the northern coast towards the open Gulf of
+Mexico. Back of the prairies the forests rose like a green wall in the
+distance. A heavy fog settled down upon the water and drove us into
+camp upon the prairie, where we endured again the torture caused by
+the myriads of bloodthirsty mosquitoes, and were only too glad to make
+an early start the next morning. A steady pull at the oars brought us
+to the end of a long cape in the marshes. About a mile and a half east
+of the land's end we saw a marshy island, of three or four acres in
+extent, out of the grass of which arose a small wooden light-house,
+resting securely upon its bed of piles. There was a broad gallery
+around the low tower, and seeing the light-keeper seated under the
+shadow of its roof, we pulled out to sea, hoping to obtain information
+from him as to the "lay of the land." It was the Light of St. Joseph,
+and here, isolated from their fellow-men, lived Mr. H. G. Plunkett and
+his assistant light-keeper.
+
+They were completely surrounded by water, which at high tide submerged
+their entire island. Mr. Butler, the assistant light-keeper, was
+absent at the village of Bay St. Louis, on the northern shore. The
+principal keeper begged us to wait until he could cook us a dinner,
+but the rising south-east wind threatened a rough sea, and warned us
+to hasten back to the land. The keeper, standing on his gallery,
+pointed out the village of Shieldsboro, nine miles distant, on the
+north coast, and we plainly saw its white cottages glimmering among
+the green trees.
+
+Mr. Plunkett advised us not to return to the coast which we had just
+left, as it would necessitate following a long contour of the shore to
+reach Shieldsboro, but assured us that we could row nine miles in a
+straight course across the open Gulf to the north coast without
+difficulty. He argued that the rising wind was a fair one for our
+boats; and that a two hours' strong pull at the oars would enable us
+to reach a good camping-place on high ground, while if we took the
+safer but more roundabout route, it would be impossible to arrive at
+the desired port that night, and we would again be compelled to camp
+upon the low prairies. We knew what that meant; and to escape another
+sleepless night in the mosquito lowland, we were ready to take almost
+any risk.
+
+Having critically examined our oar-locks, and carefully ballasted our
+boats, we pulled into the rough water. The light-keeper shouted
+encouragingly to us from his high porch, "You'll get across all right,
+and will have a good camp to-night!" For a long time we worked
+carefully at our oars, our little shells now rising on the high crest
+of a combing sea, now sinking deep into the trough, when one of us
+could catch only a glimpse of his companion's head. As the wind
+increased, and the sea became white with caps, it required the
+greatest care to keep our boats from filling. The light-keeper
+continued to watch us through his telescope, fearing his counsel had
+been ill-advised. At times we glanced over our shoulders at the white
+sandbanks and forest-crowned coasts of Shieldsboro and Bay St. Louis,
+which were gradually rising to our view, higher and higher above the
+tide. The piers of the summer watering-places, some of them one
+thousand feet in length, ran out into shoal water. Against these the
+waves beat in fury, enveloping the abutments in clouds of white spray.
+When within a mile of Shieldsboro the ominous thundering of the surf,
+pounding upon the shelving beach of hard sand, warned us of the
+difficulty to be experienced in passing through the breakers to the
+land.
+
+It was a very shoal coast, and the sea broke in long swashy waves upon
+it. If we succeeded in getting through the deeper surf, we would stick
+fast in six inches of water on the bottom, and would not be able to
+get much nearer than a quarter of a mile to the dry land. Then, if we
+grounded only for a moment, the breaking waves would wash completely
+over our boats.
+
+Having no idea of being wrecked upon the shoals, I put the duck-boat's
+bow, with apron set, towards the combing waves, and let her drift in
+shore stern foremost. The instant the heel of the boat touched the
+bottom, I pulled rapidly seaward, and in this way felt the approaches
+to land in various channels many times without shipping a sea.
+
+Saddles kept in the offing, in readiness to come to my assistance if
+needed. It became evident that we could not land without filling our
+boats with water, so we hauled off to sea, and took the trough
+easterly, until we had passed the villages of Shieldsboro and Bay St.
+Louis, when, like a port of refuge, the bay of St. Louis opened its
+wide portals, which we entered with alacrity, and were soon snugly
+camped in a heavy grove of oaks and yellow pines. Here we found an
+ample supply of dry wood and fresh water, with wood ducks feeding
+within easy gunshot of our quarters. There were no mosquitoes, and
+that fact alone rewarded us for our exertions and anxieties.
+
+It was after five o'clock in the afternoon, and, sitting over our
+cheerful camp-fire, we had little thought of the scene being enacted
+on the ground we had just gone over. The light-keeper was still at his
+post, not anxious now about our little craft; but, peering through the
+fast gathering gloom, he turned his telescope in the direction where
+he expected to find the boat of his assistant. He soon saw a tiny
+speck, which grew more and more distinct each moment as it rose and
+fell upon the waves, beating against a head wind, with sails set, and
+coming from Bay St. Louis to St. Joseph's Light. It was the boat he
+expected; and, adjusting his glass, he awaited her arrival.
+
+The cheery light shot its pellucid rays over the dark water, inviting
+the little sail-boat to a safe harbor, while the mariner hopefully
+wrestled with the wind and sea, thinking it would soon be over, and
+his precious cargo (for his wife, her friend, and his three children
+were on board) safely landed upon the island, where they could look
+calmly back upon the perils of the deep.
+
+Bravely the boat breasted the sea. It was within three miles of the
+light, though hardly visible in the gloom to the watchful eye of the
+light-keeper on his gallery, when Butler attempted to go upon another
+tack. Twice he tried, twice he failed, when, making a third attempt,
+the boom of the sail jibed, and instantly the boat capsized. The
+disappearance of the sail from his horizon told the man upon the
+gallery of the peril of his friends, and quickly launching a boat, he
+proceeded rapidly to the scene of disaster.
+
+He found the two women clinging to the boat, and rescued them; but the
+man and his three children were drowned. A week later, the body of the
+assistant keeper with that of his oldest child were washed up upon the
+beach; the others were doubtless thrown up on some lonely coast and
+devoured by wild hogs or buzzards.
+
+Four months later, some fishermen, while hauling their seine, found
+the boat imbedded in the sand, in about eight feet of water. Thus the
+treacherous sea is ever ready to swallow in its insatiable maw those
+who love it and trust to its ever varying moods.
+
+The gale confined us to our camp for three days, during which time we
+roamed through the beautiful semi-tropical woods, cooked savory meals,
+and, lying idly near our fire, watched the fish leap from the water.
+While in our retreat, Dame Nature favored us with one sharp frost, but
+it was not sufficiently severe to injure vegetation.
+
+On Monday, January 31, we left the beautiful bay, and rounding
+Henderson's Point, pulled an easterly course on the open Gulf, along
+the shores of the village of Pass Christian, which, like the other
+summer watering-places of this part of the Gulf coast, was made
+conspicuous from the water by the many long light piers, built of
+rough pine poles, which extended, in some cases, several hundred feet
+into the shoal water. Upon the end of almost every pier was the bath-
+house of the owner of some cottage. The bathers descended a ladder
+placed under the bath-house to the salt water below. The area beneath
+each house was enclosed by slats, or poles, nailed to the piling, to
+secure the bathers from the sharks, which are numerous in these
+waters.
+
+Two of these ferocious creatures were having a fierce combat, in about
+four feet depth of water, as we rowed off Pass Christian. This coast
+is destitute of marshes, and has long sandy beaches, with heavy pine
+and oak forests in the background. The bathing is excellent, and is
+appreciated by the people of Louisiana and Mississippi, who resort
+here in large numbers during the summer months. All the hotels and
+cottages of these sea-girt villages are, however, closed during the
+winter, just the time of the year when the climate is delightful, and
+shooting and fishing at their best.
+
+From Lake Pontchartrain to Mobile Bay, a distance of more than one
+hundred statute miles in a straight line, there extends a chain of
+islands, situated from seven to ten miles south of the main coast, and
+known respectively as Cat Island, Sloop Island, Horn Island, Petit
+Bois Island, and Dauphine Island. The vast watery area between the
+mainland and these islands is known as Mississippi Sound, because the
+southern end of the large state of Mississippi forms its principal
+northern boundary. The Chandeleur and many other low marshy islands
+lie to the south of the above-named chain.
+
+Northern yachtmen can pass a pleasant winter in these waters. The
+fishing along the Gulf coast is excellent. Not having had an
+opportunity to identify their scientific nomenclature, I can give only
+the common names by which many species of these fish are known to the
+native fishermen. Among those found are red-fish, Spanish mackerel,
+speckled trout, black trout, blue-fish, mullet, sheep's-head,
+croakers, flounders, and the aristocratic pompano. Crabs and eels are
+taken round the piers in large numbers, while delicious shrimps are
+captured in nets by the bushel, and oysters are daily brought in from
+their natural beds. The fish are kept alive in floating wells until
+the cook is ready to receive them.
+
+Venison is sold in the markets at a very low price, while the
+neighboring gardens supply all our summer vegetables during the winter
+months. I thought, while we rowed along this attractive coast in the
+balmy atmosphere, with everything brightened and beautified by the
+early moon, how many were suffering in our northern cities from
+various forms of pulmonary troubles induced by the severe winter
+weather, while here, in a delightful climate, with everything to make
+man comfortable, private houses and hotels were closed, and the life-
+giving air blowing upon the sandy coast, from the open Gulf of Mexico,
+dying softly away unheeded by those who so much needed its healing
+influences. This region, being entirely free from the dampness of the
+inland rivers of Florida, and having excellent communication by rail
+with the North and New Orleans, offers every advantage as a winter
+resort, and will doubtless become popular in that way as its merits
+are better known.
+
+About nine o'clock in the evening we passed the Biloxi light-house,
+and decided, as the night was serene and the waters of the Gulf
+tranquil, to run under one of the bath-houses, and there enjoy our
+rest, not caring to enter a strange village at that hour. The piling
+of some of the piers was destitute of the usual shark barricade, and
+selecting two of these inviting retreats, we pushed in our boats,
+moored them to the piles, and were soon fast asleep.
+
+About daybreak the weather changed, and the sea came rolling in,
+pitching us about in the narrow enclosure in a fearful manner. The
+water had risen so high that we could not get out of our pens; so,
+climbing into the bath-rooms above, we held on to the bow and stern
+lines of our boats, endeavoring to keep them from being dashed to
+pieces against the pilings of the pier. While in this mortifying
+predicament, expecting each moment to see our faithful little skiffs
+wrecked most ingloriously in a bath-house, sounds were heard and some
+men appeared, who, coming to our assistance, proved themselves friends
+in need. We fished the boats out of the pen with my watch-tackle, and
+hoisted each one at a time into the bath-house that had covered it.
+
+Two gentlemen then approached, one claiming Saddles as his guest,
+while the other, Mr. J. P. Montross, conducted me to his attractive
+tree-embowered home; and with the soft and winning accent of an
+educated gentleman of Yucatan, the country of his birth, placed his
+house and belongings at my disposal. "I was in New Orleans when you
+went through that city," he said, "and learning that you would pass
+through Biloxi, I at once telegraphed to my agent here to detain you
+if possible as my guest until I should arrive."
+
+We remained a week in Biloxi, where I became daily more and more
+impressed with the great natural advantages of these Gulf towns as
+winter watering-places for northern invalids or sportsmen. During one
+of my rambles about Biloxi, I stumbled upon a curious little
+plantation, the lessee of which was entirely absorbed in the
+occupation of raising water-cresses. In Mr. Scheffer's garden, which
+was about half an acre in extent, I found fifteen little springs
+flowing out of a substratum of chalk. The water was very warm and
+clear, while the springs varied in character. There was a chalk-
+spring, a sulphur-spring, and an iron-spring, all within a few feet of
+each other. The main spring flowed out of the ground near the head, or
+highest part of the garden, while ditches of about two feet in width,
+with boarded sides to prevent their caving in, carried the water of
+the various springs to where it was needed.
+
+The depth of water in these ditches was not over eighteen inches.
+Their preparation is very simple, sand to the depth of an inch or two
+being placed at the bottom, and the roots, cuttings, &c., of the
+cresses dropped into them. This prolific plant begins at once to
+multiply, sending up thousands of hair-like shoots, with green leaves
+floating upon the surface of the running water. Mr. Scheffer informed
+me that he marketed his stock three times a week, cutting above water
+the matured plants, and putting them into bundles, or bunches, of
+about six inches in diameter, and then packing them with the tops
+downward in barrels and baskets. These bunches of cresses sell for
+fifteen cents apiece on the ground where they are grown. New Orleans
+consumes most of the stock; but invalids in various places are fast
+becoming customers, as the virtues of this plant are better
+understood. It is of great benefit in all diseases of the liver, in
+pulmonary complaints, and in dyspepsia with its thousand ills.
+
+The ditches in this little half-acre garden, if placed in a continuous
+line, would reach six hundred feet, and the crop increases so fast
+that one hundred bunches a week can be cut throughout the year. The
+hot suns of summer injure the tender cresses; hence butter-beans are
+planted along the ditches to shade them. The bean soon covers the
+light trellis which is built for it to run upon, and forms an airy
+screen for the tender plants. During the autumn and winter months the
+light frame-work is removed, and sunlight freely admitted.
+
+Cresses can be grown with little trouble in pure water of the proper
+temperature; and as each bed is replanted but once a year, in the
+month of October, the yield is large and profitable.
+
+The intelligent cultivator of this water-cress garden frequently has
+boarders from a distance, who reside with him that they may receive
+the full benefit of a diet of tender cresses fresh from the running
+water. Few, indeed, know the benefit to be derived from such a diet,
+or the water-cress garden would not be such a novelty to Americans.
+We, as a nation, take fewer salads with our meals than the people of
+any of the older sister-lands, perhaps, because in the rush of every-
+day life we have not time to eat them. We are, at the same time,
+adding largely each year to the list of confirmed dyspeptics, many of
+whom might be saved from this worst of all ills by a persistent use of
+the fresh water-cress, crisp lettuce, and other green and wholesome
+articles of food. Such advice is, however, of little use, since many
+would say, like a gentleman I once met, "Why, I would rather die than
+diet!" Three hundred feet from the garden the water of its springs
+flows into the Gulf of Mexico, the waves of which beat against the
+clean sandy shore.
+
+Among other things in this interesting town, I discovered in the boat-
+house belonging to the summer residence of Mr. C. T. Howard, of New
+Orleans, John C. Cloud's little boat, the "Jennie." Strange emotions
+filled my mind as I gazed upon the light Delaware River skiff which
+had been the home for so many days of that unfortunate actor, whose
+disastrous end I have already related to my reader.
+
+The boat had been brought from Plaquemine Plantation on the
+Mississippi River to this distant point. It was about fifteen feet in
+length, and four feet wide amidships. She was sharp at both bow and
+stern, and was almost destitute of sheer. There was a little deck at
+each end, and the usual galvanized-iron oar-locks, without out-
+riggers, while upon her quarters were painted very small national
+flags. She was built of white pine, and was very light.
+
+Each summer, when guests are at Bi1oxi, sympathizing groups crowd
+round this little skiff; and listen to the oft-repeated story of the
+poor northerner who sacrificed his own life while engaged in the
+attempt to win a bet to support his large and destitute family.
+
+Here by the restless sea, which seems ever to be moaning a requiem for
+the dead, I left the little "Jennie," a monument of American pluck,
+but, at the same time, a mortifying instance of the fruitlessness of
+our national spirit of adventure when there is no principle to back
+it.
+
+[Arrival at the Gulf of Mexico--Camp Mosquito.]
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+FROM BILOXI TO CAPE SAN BLAS
+
+POINTS ON THE GULF COAST.-- MOBILE BAY.-- THE HERMIT OF DAUPHINE
+ISLAND.-- BON SECOURS BAY.-- A CRACKER'S DAUGHTER.-- THE PORTAGE TO
+THE PERDIDO.-- THE PORTAGE FROM THE PERDIDO TO BIG LAGOON.-- PENSACOLA
+BAY.-- SANTA ROSA ISLAND.-- A NEW LONDON FISHERMAN.-- CATCHING THE
+POMPANO.-- A NEGRO PREACHER AND WHITE SINNERS.-- A DAY AND A NIGHT
+WITH A MURDERER.-- ST. ANDREW'S SOUND.-- ARRIVAL AT CAPE SAN BLAS.
+
+ON the morning of February 8 we left Biloxi, and launching our boats,
+proceeded on our voyage to the eastward, skirting shores which were at
+times marshy, and again firm and sandy. At Oak Point, and Belle
+Fontaine Point, green magnolia trees, magnificent oaks, and large
+pines grew nearly to the water's edge. Beyond Belle Fontaine the
+waters of Graveline Bayou flow through a marshy flat to the sea, and
+offer an attractive territory to sportsmen in search of wild-fowl.
+Beyond the bayou, between West and East Pascagoula, we found a delta
+of marshy islands, and an area of mud flats, upon which had been
+erected enclosures of brush, within the cover of which the sportsman
+could secrete himself and boat while he watched for the wild ducks
+constantly attracted to his neighborhood by the submarine grasses upon
+which they fed.
+
+At sunset we ran into the mouth of a creek near the village of East
+Pascagoula, and there slept in our boats, which were securely tied to
+stakes driven into the salt marsh. At eight o'clock the next morning,
+the tide being low, we waded out of the stream, towing our boats with
+lines into deeper water, and rowed past East Pascagoula, which, like
+the other watering-places of the Gulf, seemed deserted in the winter.
+The coast was now a wilderness, with few habitations in the dense
+forests, which formed a massive dark green background to the wide and
+inhospitable marshes. As we proceeded upon our voyage wildfowl and
+fish became more and more abundant, but few fishermen's boats or
+coasting vessels were seen upon the smooth waters of the Gulf. About
+dusk we ascended a creek, marked upon our chart as Bayou Caden, and
+passing through marshes, over which swarmed myriads of mosquitoes, we
+landed upon the pebbly beach of a little hammock, and there pitched
+our tent.
+
+This portable shelter, which we had made at Biloxi, proved indeed a
+luxury. It was only six feet square at its base, weighing but a few
+pounds, and when compactly folded occupying little space; but after
+the first night's peaceful sleep under its sheltering care it occupied
+a large place in our hearts; for, having driven out the mosquitoes and
+closely fastened the entrance, we bade defiance to our tormentors, and
+realized by comparison, as we never did before, the misery of voyaging
+without a tent.
+
+Moving out of the Bayou Caden the next day, a lot of fine oysters was
+collected in shoal water, and by a lucky shot, a fat duck was added to
+the menu.
+
+We were now on the coast of Alabama, so named by an aboriginal chief
+when he arrived at the river, from which he thought no white man would
+ever drive him, and turning to his followers, exclaimed, Alabama!--
+"Here we rest." Alas for chief and followers, who to-day have no spot
+of ground where they can stand and cry, "Alabama!"
+
+There were several bays to be crossed before we reached a point in the
+marshes which extended several miles to the south, and was called
+Berrin Point. To the east of this was a wide bay, bounded by Cedar
+Point, which formed one side of the entrance to Mobile Bay. Miles
+across the water to the south lay Dauphine Island, which it was
+necessary to reach before we could cross the inlet to Mobile Bay. The
+wind rose from the south, giving us a head sea, but we pulled across
+the shallow bay, through which ran a channel called "Grant's Pass," it
+having been dredged out to enable vessels to pass from Mississippi
+Sound to Mobile Bay. This tedious pull ended by our safe arrival at
+Dauphine Island, upon the eastern point of which we found, close to
+the beach, a group of wooden government buildings, once occupied by
+some of the members of the United States Army Engineer Corps.
+
+Here lived, as keeper of the property, a genial recluse, Mr. Robinson
+Cruse, who for eight years had led an almost solitary life, his
+nearest neighbor on the island being the sergeant in charge of Fort
+Gaines, which officer, I was informed, was seldom seen outside of his
+dismal enclosure. Solitude, however, did not seem to have had the
+usual effect upon Mr. Cruse, for he welcomed us most cordially, and
+cooked us a truly maritime supper of many things he had taken from the
+sea. When darkness came, and the winds were howling about us, he piled
+in his open fireplace pieces of the wrecks of unfortunate vessels
+which had foundered on the coast, and had cast up their frames and
+plankings on the beach near his door. Grouping ourselves round the
+crackling fire, our host opened his budget of adventures by sea and by
+land, entertaining us most delightfully until midnight, when we spread
+our blankets on the hard floor in front of the fire, and were soon
+travelling in the realms of dreamland.
+
+The following day the wind stirred up the wide expanse of water about
+the island to such a degree of boisterousness that we could not launch
+our boats. Our position was somewhat peculiar. Between Dauphine Island
+and the beach of the mainland opposite was an open ocean inlet of
+three and a half miles in width, through which the tide flowed. Fort
+Gaines commanded the western side of this inlet, while Fort Morgan
+menaced the intruder on the opposite shore. North of this Gulf portal
+was the wide area of water of Mobile Bay, extending thirty miles to
+Mobile City, while to the south of it spread the Gulf of Mexico,
+bounded only by the dim horizon of the heavens. To the east, and
+inside the narrow beach territory of the eastern side of the inlet,
+was Bon Secours Bay, a sort of estuary of Mobile Bay, of sixteen miles
+in length. The passage of the exposed inlet could be made in a small
+boat only during calm weather, otherwise the voyager might be blown
+out to sea, or be forced, at random, into the great sound inside the
+inlet. In either case the rough waves would be likely to fill the
+craft and drown its occupant. In case of accident the best swimmer
+would have little chance of escape in these semi-tropical waters, as
+the man-eating shark is always cruising about, waiting, Micawber-like,
+for something "to turn up."
+
+The windy weather kept us prisoners on Dauphine Island for two days,
+but early on the morning of February. 13 a calm prevailed, taking
+advantage of which, we hurried across the open expanse of water, not
+daring to linger until our kind host could prepare breakfast. The
+shoal water of the approaches to the enterprising cotton port of
+Mobile make it necessary for large vessels to anchor thirty miles
+below the city, in a most exposed position. We passed through this
+fleet, which was discharging its cargo by lighters, and gained in
+safety the beach in Bon Secours Bay, near Fort Morgan.
+
+While preparing our breakfast on the glittering white strand, we
+received a visit from Mr. B. F. Midyett, the light-keeper of Mobile
+Point. He was a North Carolinian, but told us that Indian blood flowed
+in his veins. He was from the neighborhood of the lost colony of Sir
+Walter Raleigh, a history of which I gave in my "Voyage of the Paper
+Canoe." Midyett (also spelled Midget) may have been a descendant of
+that feeble colony of white men which so mysteriously disappeared from
+history after it had abandoned Roanoke Island, North Carolina, being
+forced by starvation to take refuge among friendly Indians, when its
+members, through intermarriage with their protectors, lost their
+individuality as white men, and founded a race of blue-eyed savages
+afterwards seen by European explorers in the forests of Albemarle and
+Pamplico sounds.
+
+The light-keeper begged us to make him a visit; but it was necessary
+to hurry to the end of Bon Secours Bay before night, as a north wind
+would give us a heavy beam sea. Passing "Pilot Town," where the little
+cottages of oystermen, fishermen, and pilots were clustered along the
+beach, we pulled past a forest-clad strand until dusk, when we reached
+the end of Bon Secours Bay, where it was necessary to make a portage
+across the woods to the next inland watercourse.
+
+The eastern end of Bon Secours Bay terminated at the mouth of Bon
+Secours River, which we ascended, finding on the low shores a well-
+stocked country store, and several small houses occupied by oystermen.
+We slept in our boats by the river's bank, and the next morning turned
+into a narrow creek, on our right hand, which led to a small tidal
+pond, called Bayou John, the bottom of which was covered in places
+with large and delicious oysters. Crossing the lagoon, we landed in a
+heavy forest of yellow pines. This desolate region was the home of
+John Childeers, a farmer; and we were informed that he alone, in the
+entire neighborhood, was the possessor of oxen, and was in fact the
+only man who could be hired to draw our boats seven miles to Portage
+Creek, which is a tributary of Perdido River.
+
+[Map Mobile Bay to Cape San Blas.]
+
+Leaving Saddles to watch our boats, I entered the tall pine forest,
+and after walking a mile came upon the clearing of the backwoodsman.
+His two daughters, young women, were working in the field; but the
+sight of a stranger was so unusual to them, that, heedless of my
+remonstrances and gentle assurances of goodwill, they took to their
+heels and ran so fast that it was impossible to overtake them until
+they arrived at the log cabin of their father. The dogs then made a
+most unceremonious assault upon me, when the maidens, forgetting their
+fears, made a sally upon the fierce curs, and clubbed them with such
+hearty good-will that the discomfited canines hastily took refuge in
+the woods.
+
+The family listened to my story, and insisted upon my joining them in
+their mid-day meal, which consisted of pork, sweet-potatoes, and corn-
+bread. My host agreed to haul the boats the next day to Portage Creek
+for five dollars, and I returned to Saddles to make preparations for
+the overland journey. That night we feasted sumptuously upon fat
+oysters six inches in length, rolled in beaten eggs and cracker-
+crumbs, and fried a delicate brown. These, with good hot coffee and
+fresh bread, furnished a supper highly appreciated by two hungry men.
+
+With the morning came our farmer, when about an hour was spent in
+securely packing our boats in the long wagon. The duck-boat was placed
+upon the bottom, while the light skiff of my companion rested upon a
+scaffolding above, made by lashing cross-bars to the stanchions of the
+wagon. This peculiar two-storied vehicle swayed from side to side as
+we travelled over uneven ground, but the boats were securely lashed in
+their places, and the parts exposed to chafing carefully protected by
+bundles of coarse grass and our blankets.
+
+We travelled slowly through the heavily grassed savannas and the dense
+forests of yellow pine towards the east, in a line parallel with, and
+only three miles from, the coast. The four oxen hauled this light load
+at a snail's pace, so it was almost noon when we struck Portage Creek
+near its source, where it was only two feet in width. Following along
+its bank for a mile, we arrived at the logging-camp of Mr. Childeers.
+There we found the creek four rods in width, and possessing a depth of
+fifteen feet of water. The lumbermen haul their pine logs to this
+point, and float them down the stream to the steam sawmills on Perdido
+River.
+
+The boats were soon launched upon the dark cypress waters of the
+creek, the cargo carefully stowed, and the voyage resumed. Though the
+roundabout course through the woods was fully seven miles, a direct
+line for a canal to connect the Bon Secours and Portage Creek waters
+would not exceed four miles. About two miles from the logging-camp the
+stream entered "Bay Lalanch," from the grassy banks of which
+alligators slid into the water as we rowed quietly along.
+
+We now entered a wide expanse of bay and river, with shores clothed
+with solemn forests of dark green. The wide Perdido River, rising in
+this region of dismal pines, flows between Bear Point and Inerarity's
+Point, when, making a sharp turn to the eastward, it empties into the
+Gulf of Mexico. In crossing the river between the two points
+mentioned, we were only separated from the sea by a narrow strip of
+low land. The Perdido River is the boundary line between the states of
+Alabama and Florida. In a bend of the river, nearly three miles east
+of Inerarity's Point, we landed on a low shore, having passed the log
+cabins of several settlers scattered along in the woods.
+
+It was now necessary to make a portage across the low country to the
+next interior watercourse, called "Big Lagoon." It was a shallow tidal
+sheet of water seven miles in length by one in width, and separated
+from the sea by a very narrow strip of beach. We camped in our boats
+for the night, starting off hopefully in the morning for the little
+settlement, to procure a team to haul our boats three-quarters of a
+mile to Big Lagoon. The settlers were all absent from their homes,
+hunting and fishing, so we returned to our camp depressed in spirits.
+There was nothing left for us but to attempt to haul our boats over
+the sandy neck of land; so we at once applied ourselves to the task.
+The boats were too heavy for us to carry, so we dragged the sneak-box
+on rollers, cut from a green pine-tree, half-way to the lagoon; and,
+making many journeys, the provisions, blankets, gun, oars, &c., were
+transported upon our shoulders to the half-way resting-place.
+
+So laborious was this portage that when night came upon us we had
+hauled one boat only, with our provisions, tent, and outfit, to the
+beach of Big Lagoon. The Riddle still rested upon the banks of the
+Perdido River. The tent was pitched to shelter us from mosquitoes, and
+partaking of a hearty supper, we rolled ourselves in our blankets and
+slept. The camp was in a desolate place, our only neighbors being the
+coons, and they enlivened the solitude by their snarling and fighting,
+having come down to the beach to fish in apparently no amiable mood.
+
+Before midnight, that unmistakable cry so human in its agonizing tone,
+warned us of the approach of a panther. Coming closer and closer, the
+animal prowled round our tent, sounding his childlike wail. It was too
+dark to get a glimpse of him, though we watched, weapons in hand, for
+his nearer approach. Saddles had hunted the beast in his Louisiana
+lairs, and was eager to make him feel the weight of his lead. We
+succeeded in driving him off once, but he returned and skulked in the
+bushes near our camp for half an hour, when his cries grew fainter as
+he beat a retreat into the forest.
+
+We worked hard until noon the next day in the vain attempt to haul the
+Riddle from the Perdido, when I launched the duck-boat on Big Lagoon
+and rowed easterly in search of assistance, leaving Saddles behind to
+guard our stores. When six miles from camp, I discovered upon the high
+north shore of the lagoon the clearing and cabin of Rev. Charles Hart,
+an industrious negro preacher, who labored assiduously, cultivating
+the thin sandy soil of his little farm, that he might teach his
+fellow-freedmen spiritual truths on the Lord's day. This humble black
+promised to go with his scrawny horse to the assistance of Saddles,
+and at once departed on his mission, happy in the knowledge that he
+could serve two unfortunate boatmen, and honestly earn two dollars.
+Going into camp upon the shore, I kept up a bright fire to notify my
+absent companion of my whereabouts.
+
+At seven o'clock the Rev. Mr. Hart returned and claimed his fee,
+reporting that he had hauled the Riddle to the lagoon, where he found
+Saddles pleasantly whiling away the hours of solitude in the useful
+occupation of washing his extra shirt and stockings. He assured me the
+Riddle would soon appear. A little later Saddles reached my camp, and
+we tented for the night on the beach. At daylight we took to our oars,
+and rowed out of the end of the lagoon into Pensacola Bay. Skirting
+the high shores on our left, we approached within a mile of the United
+States naval station Warrington, where we went into camp upon the
+white strand, in a small settlement of pilots and fishermen, who
+kindly welcomed us to Pensacola Bay. We slept in our boats on the
+sandy beach, beside a little stream of fresh water that flowed out of
+the bank.
+
+The morning of the 19th of February was calm and beautiful, while the
+songs of mockingbirds filled the air. Across the inlet of Pensacola
+Bay was the western end of the low, sandy island of Santa Rosa, which
+stretches in an easterly direction for forty-eight miles to East Pass
+and Choctawhatchee Bay, and serves as a barrier to the sea. Behind
+this narrow beach island flow the waters of Santa Rosa Sound, the
+northern shores of which are covered with the same desolate forests of
+yellow pine that characterize the uplands of the Gulf coast. At the
+west end of Santa Rosa Island the walls of Fort Pickens rose gloomily
+out of the sands. It was the only structure inhabited by man on the
+long barren island, with the exception of one small cabin built on the
+site of Clapp's steam-mill, four miles beyond the fort, and occupied
+by a negro.
+
+We crossed the bay to Fort Pickens, and followed the island shore of
+the sound until five o'clock P. M., when we sought a camp on the beach
+at the foot of some conspicuous sand hills, the thick "scrub" of which
+seemed to be the abode of numerous coons. From the top of the
+principal sand dune there was a fine view of the boundless sea. Our
+position, however, had its inconveniences, the principal one being a
+scarcity of water, so we were obliged to break camp at an early hour
+the next day.
+
+The Santa Rosa Island shore was so desolate and unattractive that we
+left it, and crossed the narrow sound to the north shore of the
+mainland, where nature had been more prodigal in her drapery of
+foliage. Before noon a sail appeared on the horizon, and we gradually
+approached it. Close to the shore we saw a raft of sawed timbers being
+to wed by a yacht. The captain hailed us, and we were soon alongside
+his vessel. The refined features of a gentleman beamed upon us from
+under an old straw hat, as its owner trod, barefooted, the deck of his
+craft. He had started, with the raft in tow, from his mill at the head
+of Choctawhatchee Bay, bound for the great lumber port of Pensacola,
+but being several times becalmed, was now out of provisions. We gave
+him and his men all we could spare from our store, and then inquired
+whether it would be possible for us to find a team and driver to haul
+our boats from the end of the watercourse we were then traversing,
+across the woods to the tributary waters of St. Andrew's Bay. The
+captain kindly urged us to go to his home, and report ourselves to his
+wife, remaining as his guests until he should return from Pensacola,--
+"when," he said, "I myself will take you across."
+
+This plan would, however, have caused a delay of several days, so we
+could not take advantage of the kind offer of the ex-confederate
+general.
+
+Having considered a moment, our new friend proposed another
+arrangement.
+
+"There is," he said, "only one person living at the end of
+Choctawhatchee Bay, besides myself, who owns a yoke of oxen. He can
+serve you if he wishes, but remember he is a dangerous man. He came
+here from the state of Mississippi, after the war, and by exaction,
+brutality, and even worse means, has got hold of most of the cattle,
+and everything else of value, in his neighborhood. He can haul your
+boats to West Bay Creek in less than a day's time. The job is worth
+three or four dollars, but he will get all he can out of you."
+
+Thanking the captain for the information, and the warning he had given
+us, we waved a farewell, and rowed along the almost uninhabited coast
+until dusk, when we crossed the sound to camp upon Santa Rosa Island,
+as an old fisherman at Warrington had advised us; "for," said he, "the
+woods on the mainland are filled with varmints,--cats and painters,--
+which may bother you at night."
+
+On the morning of the 21st we rowed to the end of the sound, which
+narrowed as we approached the entrance to the next sheet of water,
+Choctawhatchee Bay. There were a few shanties along the narrow outlet
+on the main shore, where some settlers, beguiled to this desolate
+region by the sentimental idea of pioneer life in a fine climate,
+known as "FLORIDA FEVER," were starving on a fish diet, which, in the
+cracker dialect, was "powerful handy," and bravely resisting the
+attacks of insects, the bane of life in Florida.
+
+Seven miles from the end of Santa Rosa Island the boats emerged from
+the passage between the sounds, and entered Choctawhatchee Bay. As the
+wind arose we struggled in rough water, shaping our course down to the
+inlet called East Pass, through which the tide ebbed and flowed into
+the bay.
+
+Here we encountered an original character known as "Captain Len
+Destin." He was a fisherman, from New London, Connecticut, and had a
+comfortable house on the high bank of the inlet, surrounded by
+cultivated fields, where he had lived since 1852. Having married a
+native of the country, he settled down to the occupation of his
+fathers; and being a prince among fishermen, he was able to send good
+supplies of the best fish to the Pensacola markets. His modus operandi
+was rather peculiar. Having rowed along the beach on the open Gulf, a
+boat-load of fishermen, with their nets ready to cast, rested quietly
+upon their oars in the offing, while a sharp-eyed man walked along the
+coast, peering into the transparent water, searching for the schools
+of fish which feed near the strand. The fishermen cautiously follow
+him, until, suddenly catching sight of a lot of pompanos, sheep's-
+heads, and other fish, he signals to his companions, and they, quietly
+approaching the unsuspicious fish, drop their long net into the water,
+and enclose the whole school. Drawing the net upon the beach, the fish
+were taken out and carried to Captain Len's landing, inside of the
+inlet, where they were packed in the refrigerator of a fleet-sailing
+boat, which, upon receiving its cargo, started immediately for
+Pensacola. In this way the pompano, the most delicious of southern
+fishes, being repacked at Pensacola in hogsheads of ice, found its way
+quickly by rail to New York city, where they were justly appreciated.
+
+Captain Len generously supplied our camp with fish; so making a good
+fire, we broiled them before it, baking bread in our Dutch oven; and
+finishing our sumptuous repast with some hot coffee, we turned a deaf
+ear to the whistling wind that blew steadily from the north-east. A
+little schooner of four tons was riding out the gale near the landing.
+She was bound for Apalachicola and St. Marks, Florida. Her passengers
+were crowded into a cabin, the confined limits of which would have
+attracted the attention of any society for the prevention of cruelty
+to animals, had it contained a freight of quadrupeds instead of human
+beings. The heads of white and black men and women could be seen above
+the hatchway at times, as though seeking for a breath of pure air.
+
+The Reverend Mr. B., a colored preacher, crawled out of the hold, and
+visited my camp. Finding that I sympathized strongly with his
+unfortunate race, he opened his heart to me, telling of his labors
+among them. He also gave me an account of his efforts to encourage
+some observance of the first day of the week among the white
+inhabitants of Key West; he and other colored Christians having
+petitioned the mayor of that city to enforce the laws which require a
+decent respect for the Lord's day. He grieved over the sinful
+condition of the inhabitants of that ungodly city, and gave me a
+sketch of his plans for improving the morality of his white brethren.
+He had been travelling, like St. Paul, upon the sea, to visit and
+encourage the weak negro churches in Florida. His address was that of
+a gentleman, and his heart beat with generous impulses.
+
+I rowed out to the little craft in the offing, and found in the
+diminutive cabin eight FIRST-CLASS NEGRO passengers, while in the
+vessel's hold, reclining upon the cargo, were four white men who were
+voyaging SECOND class. The cordage of the little craft was rotten, and
+the sails nearly worn out, yet all these people were cheerful, and
+willing to put to sea as soon as the young skipper would dare to
+venture out upon the Gulf.
+
+The gale finally exhausted itself. On the 24th we rowed along the
+southern wooded shore of Choctawhatchee Bay, towards its eastern end.
+The sound is put down on our charts as Santa Rosa Bay, though the
+people know it only by its Indian name. It is nearly thirty miles
+long, and has. an average width of five miles. Its shores are covered
+by a wilderness, and the settlements are few and far between. As we
+had not left Captain Len's landing until afternoon, we made only ten
+miles that night, and camped, supper-less, on "Twelve Mile Point," but
+making an early start the next morning, we reached at noon the eastern
+shore of the bay near the log cabin of the man of murderous deeds, to
+whom we were to look for assistance in the transportation of our boats
+across the wilderness to the next inland watercourse.
+
+A tall man, with a most sinister countenance, but rather better
+dressed than the average backwoodsman, soon made his way to our boats.
+I plainly stated my object in calling upon him, and expressed a wish
+that he would not be severe in his charges, as in that case I should
+return to Captain Len's landing, put to sea, and follow the coast
+instead of the interior waters to the inlet of St. Andrew's Bay. He
+agreed to make the portage for ten dollars, stating that the distance
+was about fourteen miles; and we in our turn promised to be ready to
+attend to the loading of the boats the next morning.
+
+As we walked about the plantation, its owner became quite
+communicative, even pointing out the spot where his wife's nephew had
+been shot dead, leaving him heir to five hundred head of cattle. He
+spoke of his differences with his neighbors, and assured us that
+nothing but lynch law would "go down" in their wild region, where, he
+said, no law existed. He had been a physician in his native state of
+Mississippi, but there were so many widows and orphans who could not
+pay his fees that he gave up his profession, and came to the Gulf
+coast of Florida, where he met a widow, who owned, with her nephew,
+one thousand head of cattle, which roamed through the savanna bottoms
+of the coast, requiring no care except an occasional salting. Having
+married the innocent woman, his first victim, he then, according to
+the testimony of his neighbors, hired a man to shoot his nephew, and
+had so become the sole owner of the whole herd of cattle, which roamed
+over thirty square miles of territory.
+
+Here was, indeed, a cheerful guide for two lone voyagers through the
+uninhabited wilds! Saddles and I made up our minds, however, to accept
+the inevitable gracefully, and at nine o'clock the next morning the
+boats were lashed into the wagon, and the retired physician, with two
+of his men on horseback, accompanied by Saddles and myself on foot,
+slowly left the clearing, and defiled along an almost undefined trail
+through the forest. I noticed that the men were well armed, and all on
+the alert. Occasionally one of the men would be sent off to the right
+or left to search for cattle signs, but our guide himself hung close
+to the wagon, seeming to consider prudence the better part of valor.
+
+Opening the conversation with this quondam physician, I asked his
+opinion in regard to several well-known remedies, and discovered that
+he used but three. The best medicine, he said, was CALOMEL, the next
+QUININE, and what they would not cure, GLAUBER'S SALTS would. In fact,
+he considered salts the specific for all diseases. Leading gently to
+the subject, I spoke of his nephew's death, when he assured me the
+cruel deed had been done by a settler named Bridekirk, who had
+squatted upon some land belonging to the young man, and though the
+intruder never had it conveyed to him by government, he considered it
+his own. Anxious to protect his nephew's interest, the physician took
+up the claim, and moved his family to the disputed territory.
+"Bridekirk," he said, "swore my nephew should never live on what he
+called HIS claim, and a short time afterwards took his revenge. I had
+sent the boy for a spur I left at a neighbor's, and when just outside
+my fence a man who was concealed in a thicket shot the poor fellow. I
+KNOW it was the devil Bridekirk who did it."
+
+"Did you find his trail?" I asked.
+
+"No," he answered; "we could not pick it up. It was all stamped out.
+No one could recognize it, but I know Bridekirk was the assassin. lie
+threatened my life too; but he's dead now."
+
+"Dead!" I exclaimed; "when did he die?"
+
+"Oh, about a week ago. He lived a few miles from here, and one morning
+SOMEBODY shot him in his doorway."
+
+"Who could have done that?" I inquired.
+
+A savage gleam lit up the physician's eye, as he said, slowly:
+
+"My wife's nephew had some relation in a distant state, and it was
+reported they would see that Bridekirk got his deserts."
+
+"They came a long way to take their revenge," I remarked.
+
+"Yes, a very long way," he answered; and then added: "This Bridekirk
+would have been arrested for stealing my cattle if he had lived a week
+or two longer. Me and a neighbor was out looking up our cattle round
+here, not long ago, and we saw there were a good many fresh burns in
+the woods, and as we knew that cattle would go to such places to
+nibble the fresh grass that starts up after a fire, we set out for a
+big burnt patch. While we were in the woods, towards sunset, we saw
+two men on horseback driving an old bell-steer and four or five young
+cattle, all of which we easily recognized in the distance as part of
+my herd. We followed the men cautiously, keeping so far in the woods
+that they could not see us, when they mounted a little hill, and the
+last rays of the setting sun striking upon them, we saw that it was
+Bridekirk and a neighbor who were stealing my stock. We hid in the
+swamp until nine o'clock at night, and then rode to Bridekirk's
+clearing. There was a stream in a hollow below his house, but his
+cattle-pen was on the rising ground a little way off. We tied our
+horses in the woods, and crawled up to the cow-pen. There we found all
+the cattle the thieves had stolen excepting the bell-steer. There was
+a fire down in the hollow by the stream, and we could see Bridekirk
+and the other fellow skinning my bell-steer, which they had just
+killed. Said I to my friend, Now we have 'em!' and I took aim at
+Bridekirk with my gun. My friend was a LAW man, so he said, No, don't
+shoot; there is some law left, and we have EVIDENCE now. Let's go and
+indict them. Then if the sheriff won't arrest them, we can find plenty
+of chances to pull the trigger on them. I go in for law first, and
+LYNCHING afterwards.' Well, it was a hard thing to lose such a chance
+when we were boiling over, but I put my gun on my shoulder, and my
+friend let the bars of the pen down, and we drove the other cattle out
+as quietly as possible into the woods.
+
+"Next day, Bridekirk's neighbor, who had helped kill the beef, left
+for parts unknown. Why? because, when he found the bars let down, and
+the cattle gone, and measured our tracks, he knew WHO had been
+watching him, and he thought it safest to skedaddle. Bridekirk then
+kept close in his cabin. He knew who was on his trail THIS TIME. We
+got the men indicted, and the sheriff had the order of arrest; but he
+held it for a week, and probably sent word to Bridekirk to keep out of
+the way. So law, as usual in these parts, fizzled, and it became
+necessary to try something surer.
+
+"Now I was told that one morning last week, before daybreak, Bridekirk
+and his hired man heard a noise in the yard that sounded as though
+some animal was worrying the hens. He suspected it was somebody trying
+to draw him out into the yard, so he would not go, but tried to get
+his man to see what was up. The man was afraid, too, for he had his
+suspicions. At last the noise outside stopped, and the sun began to
+rise. As nobody seemed to be about, Bridekirk stuck his head out of
+the door, and, not seeing anything, slowly stepped outside. Now there
+were two men hidden behind a fence, with their guns pointed at the
+door. As soon as that cow-thief got fairly out of his house, we--THESE
+FELLOWS, I MEAN--pulled trigger and shot him dead. The authorities
+held a sort of inquest on the case, but all that is known of the
+matter is that he came to his death by shots from unknown parties."
+
+Little did this cold-blooded man suspect, while relating his story to
+me, that his own end would be like Bridekirk's, and that he would soon
+fall under an assassin's hand. I became thoroughly disgusted with my
+companion, who kept close to my side hour after hour as we trudged
+through the wilderness. One of his arms was held stiffly to his side,
+and seemed to be almost useless. He had attempted a piece of
+imposition on a man who lived near the creek we were approaching, and
+had received the contents of the settler's shot-gun in his side. Most
+of the charge had lodged in the shoulder and arm, and the cripple now
+inveighed against this man, and advised us to keep clear of him when
+we rowed down the creek. "I have nothing against Mr. B.," he said;
+"but he is no GENTLEMAN, and you better not camp near him."
+
+Before sunset we entered a heavily grassed country, where deer were
+abundant. They sprung from their beds in the tall grass, and bounded
+away as we advanced. At twilight the oxen finished their long pull on
+the banks of a little watercourse known as West Bay Creek, so called
+because it flows into the West Bay of St. Andrew's Sound. Here we
+camped for the night.
+
+The two hired men left us to visit a friend who lived several miles
+distant; but the doctor remained with his oxen in our camp all night.
+When the tent was pitched he was permitted to enjoy its shelter alone,
+for Saddles and I took to our boats, leaving the murderer to his own
+uneasy dreams. I settled his bill before retiring, so he decamped at
+an early hour the next morning, having first found out where I had
+hidden my cordage, and purloining therefrom my longest and best rope.
+This was a loss to me, for it was used to secure the boats when they
+were being hauled from place to place; but I would gladly have parted
+with any of my belongings to be free from the presence of my unwelcome
+guest; and how resigned his neighbors must have felt when, a few weeks
+later, they read in their newspapers that "W. D. Holly was shot last
+week in his house, in Washington County, Florida, by some unknown
+parties"!
+
+We made a hasty Sunday breakfast of cornstarch, and pulled down the
+creek, anxious to put some distance between ourselves and the doctor.
+Four miles down the stream, where it debouched into West Bay, we found
+the homes of two settlers. The one living on the right bank was the
+man who had given Mr. Holly his stiff arm, the other had built himself
+a rude but comfortable cabin on the opposite shore. Though there was
+one delicate-looking woman only in this cabin, without any protector,
+she hospitably asked us to make our camp at her landing, adding, that
+when her husband returned from the woods she might be able to give us
+some meat.
+
+Soon a dog came out of the dense forest, followed by a man who bore
+upon his shoulders the hind-quarters of a deer which he had killed. He
+bade us welcome, while he remarked that there were no Sundays in these
+parts, where one day was just like another; and then presenting us
+with half his venison, regretted that he had not been aware of our
+arrival, as he could have killed another deer, his dog having started
+fifteen during a short ramble in the woods. In the thickets of "ti-
+ti," which are almost as dense as cane-brakes, the deer, panthers, and
+bears take refuge; and in this great wilderness of St. Andrew's Bay
+expert hunters can find venison almost any day.
+
+On Monday morning we rowed through West Bay, across the southern end
+of North Bay, and skirted the north coast of the East Bay of St.
+Andrew's, with its picturesque groves of cabbage-palms, for a few
+miles, when we turned southward into the inlet through which the tidal
+waters of the Gulf pass in and out of the sound.
+
+We were now close to the sea, with a few narrow sandy islands only
+intervening between us and the Gulf of Mexico, and upon these ocean
+barriers we found breezy camping-grounds. Our course was by the open
+sea for six or eight miles, when we reached a narrow beach
+thoroughfare, called Crooked Island Bay, through which we rowed, with
+Crooked Island on our right hand, until we arrived at the head of the
+bay, where we expected to find an outlet to the sea. Being overtaken
+by darkness, we staked our boats on the quiet sheet of water, and at
+sunrise pushed on to find the opening through the beach. Not a sign of
+human life had been seen since we had left the western end of the East
+Bay of St. Andrew's Sound, and we now discovered that no outlet to the
+sea existed, and that Crooked Island was not an island, but a long
+strip of beach land which was joined to the main coast by a narrow
+neck of sandy territory, and that the interior watercourse ended in a
+creek.
+
+Our portage to the sea now loomed up as a laborious task. We needed at
+least one man to assist us, and we were fully half a day's row from
+the nearest cabin to the west of us, while we might look in vain to
+the eastward, where the uninhabited coast-line stretched away with its
+shining sands and shimmering waters for thirty miles to Cape San Blas.
+There, upon a low sand-bar, against which the waves lashed out their
+fury, rose a tall light-tower, the only friend of the mariner in all
+this desolate region. We could not look to that distant light for
+help, however, and were thrown entirely upon our own feeble resources.
+
+Going systematically to work, we surveyed the best route across
+Crooked Island, which was over the bed of an old inlet; for a
+hurricane, many years before, washed out a passage through the sand-
+spit, and for years the tide flowed in and out of the interior bay.
+Another hurricane afterwards repaired the breach by filling up the new
+inlet with sand; so Crooked Island enjoyed but a short-lived
+notoriety, and again became an integral part of the continent.
+
+[The portage across Crooked Island.]
+
+Our survey of the portage gave encouraging results. The Gulf of Mexico
+was only four hundred feet from the bay, and the shortest route was
+the best one; so, starting energetically, we dragged the boats by main
+force across Crooked Island, and launched them in the surf without
+disaster. We then rowed as rapidly as the rough sea would permit along
+the coast towards the wide opening of St. Joseph's Bay, the wooded
+beaches of which rose like a cloud in the soft mists of a sunny day.
+The bay was entered at four o'clock in the afternoon, and, being out
+of water, we hauled our boats high on to the beach, and searched
+eagerly for signs of moisture in the soil.
+
+Leaving Saddles to build a fire and prepare our evening meal, I
+proceeded to investigate our new domain, and soon discovered the
+remains of a cabin near a station, or signal-staff, of the United
+States Coast Survey. Men do not camp for a number of days at a time in
+places destitute of water; and the fact of the cabin having been built
+on this spot proved conclusively to me that water must be found in the
+vicinity. After a careful and patient search, I discovered a
+depression in the high sandy coast, and although the sand was
+perfectly dry, I thought it possible that a supply of water had been
+obtained here for the use of the United States Coast Survey party--the
+same party which had erected the cabin and planted the signal near it.
+
+Going quickly to the beach, I found the shell of an immense clam, with
+which I returned, and using it as a scoop, or shovel, removed two or
+three bushels of sand, when a moist stratum was reached, and my clam-
+shovel struck the chime of a flour-barrel. In my joy I called to
+Saddles, for I knew our parched throats would soon be relieved. It did
+not take long to empty the barrel of its contents, which task being
+finished, we had the pleasure of seeing the water slowly rise and fill
+the cistern so lately occupied by the sand. In half an hour the water
+became limpid, and we sat beside our well, drinking, from time to
+time, like topers, of the sweet water. Our water-cans were filled, and
+no stint in the culinary department was allowed that evening.
+
+The flames from our camp-fire shot into the soft atmosphere, while the
+fishes, attracted by its glare, leaped by scores, in a state of
+bewilderment, from the now quiet water. St. Joseph's Bay has an ample
+depth of water for sea-going vessels, while its many species of shells
+make it one of the best points on the northern Gulf coast for the
+conchologist.
+
+Although sorry to leave our limpid spring, we launched the boats at
+seven o'clock the next morning, following the north side of the bay
+until we arrived at the deserted site of the city of St. Joseph. It
+seemed impossible to realize that on this desolate spot there had
+been, only thirty or forty years before, a prosperous city, with a
+large population and a busy cotton-port, accessible to the largest
+vessels, and threatening a steady rivalry with Apalachicola. Railroads
+were the enemies of these southern cities as they diverted the cotton,
+grown in the interior, from its natural channels by river to the Gulf
+of Mexico.
+
+The system of "time-freights," on railroads to the eastern Atlantic
+ports of Charleston and Savannah, had reduced the once promising city
+of St. Joseph to one shanty and a rotten pier. Apalachicola also felt
+the iron hand of competition, and her line of steamboats lost the
+carriage upon her noble river of the cotton from the distant interior.
+Railroads were rapidly constructed running east and west, and the
+rivers flowing to the south were robbed of their commerce.
+
+Beyond St. Joseph city the scenery became almost tropical in its
+character, and palmettos grew in rank luxuriance on the low savannas.
+The long narrow coast on the south side of the bay trended suddenly to
+the south, and terminated in Cape San Blas, while the sound was ended
+abruptly by a strip of land which connected the long cape to the main.
+The system of interior watercourses here came to a natural end; and
+pulling our boats upon the strand, we landed by a large turtle-pen,
+near which was a deserted grass hut, evidently the home of the turtle-
+hunter during the "turtle season." Leaving the boats on the salt
+marsh, we entered the woods and ascended the sand-hills of the Gulf
+coast, when a boundless view of the sea broke upon us. The shining
+strand stretched in regular lines four miles to the south, where the
+light-tower on the point of the cape rose above the intervening
+forest. Greeting it as the face of a friend, we rejoiced to see it so
+near; and standing entranced with the beauty of the vision before us,-
+-the boundless sea, the most ennobling sight in all nature,--we
+congratulated ourselves that we had arrived safely at Cape San Blas.
+
+[Map Cape San Blas to Cedar Keys.]
+
+[Map Cape San Blas to Cedar Keys.]
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+FROM CAPE SAN BLAS TO ST. MARKS
+
+A PORTAGE ACROSS CAPE SAN BLAS.-- THE COW-HUNTERS.-- A VISIT TO THE
+LIGHT-HOUSE.-- ONCE MORE ON THE SEA.-- PORTAGE INTO ST. VINCENT'S
+SOUND.-- APALACHICOLA.-- ST. GEORGE'S SOUND AND OCKLOCKONY RIVER.--
+ARRIVAL AT ST. MARKS.-- THE NEGRO POSTMASTER.-- A PHILANTHROPIST AND
+HIS NEIGHBORS.-- A CONTINUOUS AND PROTECTED WATER-WAY FROM THE
+MISSISSIPPI TO THE ATLANTIC COAST.
+
+A PORTAGE now loomed in our horizon. The distance across the neck of
+land was one-third of a mile only, but the ascent of the hills of the
+Gulf beach would prove a formidable task. I proposed to Saddles that
+he should return to the boats, while I hurried down the beach to the
+point of the cape to find a man to assist us in their transportation
+from the bay to the sea.
+
+While discussing the plan, a noise in the thicket caught my ear, and
+turning our eyes to the spot, we saw two men hurrying from their
+ambush into the forest. We at once started in pursuit of them. When
+overtaken, they looked confused, and acknowledged that the presence of
+strangers was so unusual in that region that they had been watching
+our movements critically from the moment we landed until we discovered
+them. These men wore the rough garb of cow-hunters, and the older of
+the two informed me that his home was in Apalachicola. He was looking
+after his cattle, which had a very long range, and had been camping
+with his assistant along St. Joseph's Sound for many days, being now
+en route for his home. Two ponies were tied to a tree in a thicket,
+while a bed of palmetto leaves and dried grass showed where the
+hunters had slept the previous night.
+
+These men assured us that the happiest life was that of the cow-
+hunter, who could range the forest for miles upon his pony, and sleep
+where he pleased. The idea was, that the nearer one's instincts and
+mode of life approached to that of a cow, the happier the man: only
+another version, after all, of living close to nature. One of these
+wood-philosophers, taking his creed from the animals in which all his
+hopes centred, said we should be as simple in our habits as an ox, as
+gentle as a cow, and do no more injury to our fellow-man than a
+yearling. He was certain there would be less sin in the world if men
+were turned into cattle; was sure cattle were happier than men, and
+generally more useful.
+
+Upon learning our dilemma, the good-natured fellows set at once to
+work to help us. We cut two pine poles, and placing one boat across
+them, each man grasped an end of a pole, and thus, upon a species of
+litter, we lifted the burden from the ground and bore it slowly across
+the land to the sea. Returning to the bay, we transported the second
+boat in the same manner; and making a third trip, carried away our
+provisions, blankets, &c
+
+It was now evening, and viewing with satisfaction our little boats
+resting upon the beautiful beach, we thanked our new friends heartily
+for their kindness. The owner of a thousand cattle gave us a warm
+invitation to visit his orange grove in Apalachicola, and then retired
+with his man to their nest in the woods, while we slept in our boats,
+with porpoises and black-fish sounding their nasal calls all night in
+the sea which beat upon the strand at our feet.
+
+In the morning the wind arose and sent the waves tumbling far in upon
+the beach. After breakfast I walked to the extremity of the cape, and
+dined with Mr. Robert Colman, the principal light-keeper. He was a
+most ingenious man, and an expert in the use of tools. The United
+States Light House Establishment selects its light-keepers from the
+retired army of wounded soldiers. In all my voyages along our coast,
+and on inland waters, I have found the good results of the perfect
+discipline exercised by the superintendents of this bureau. These
+keepers live along a coast of some thousands of miles in extent on the
+Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, many of them in
+isolated positions, but honesty, economy, and intelligent skill are
+everywhere apparent; and these men work like an army of veterans. I
+have intruded upon their privacy at all hours, but have never found
+one of them open to criticism. There is no shirking of the onerous
+duties of their position. Too much praise cannot be given to these
+light-keepers in their lonely towers, or to the intelligent heads
+which direct and govern their important work.
+
+As I was leaving the light-house, a young woman approached me, and
+introducing herself as a visitor to the keeper's family, said she had
+a favor to ask. Would it be too much trouble for the stranger, after
+he reached New York, to inquire the price of a switch of human hair of
+just the shade of her own flaxen locks, and write her about it! Of
+course such an appeal could not be disregarded; but I confess that as
+I gazed upon the boundless sea, and along the uninhabited strand, and
+into the unsettled forests, I wondered where the men or women were to
+be found to appreciate the imported New York switch. Would it not
+"waste its sweetness on the desert air" in the unpeopled wilderness?
+
+The boisterous weather kept us on the beach until Friday, when we
+launched our boats and rowed along the coast three miles to a point
+opposite a lagoon which was separated from the sea by a narrow strip
+of land. While pulling along the beach, great black-fish, some of them
+weighing at least one thousand pounds, came up out of the sea and
+divided into four companies. The first ranged itself upon our right,
+the second upon our left, the third, forming a school, proceeded in
+advance, while the fourth brought up the rear. Unlike the frisky
+porpoises, these big fellows convoyed us in the most dignified manner,
+heaving their dark, shining, scaleless bodies half out of the water as
+they surged along within a few feet of our boats.
+
+When we arrived at our point of disembarkation, and turned shoreward
+to run through the surf, our strange companions seemed loath to leave
+us, but rolled about in the offing, making their peculiar nasal
+sounds, and spouting, like whales, jets of spray into the air. A
+landing was accomplished without shipping much water, and we
+immediately hauled the boats across the beach, about three or four
+hundred feet, into a narrow lagoon, the western branch of St.
+Vincent's Sound.
+
+Indian Pass was two miles east of our portage. It is an inlet of the
+sea, through which small vessels pass into St. Vincent's Sound, en
+route for the town of Apalachicola. Heavy seas were, however, breaking
+upon its bar at that time, and it would have been a dangerous
+experiment to have entered it in our small boats. Emerging from the
+lagoon, the broad areas of St. Vincent's Sound and Apalachicola Bay
+met our gaze, while beyond them were spread the waters of St. George's
+Sound.
+
+Following the coast on our left, numerous reefs of large and very fat
+oysters continually obstructed our progress. We gathered a bushel with
+our hands in a very few minutes; but as the wind commenced to blow
+most spitefully, and the heavy forests of palms on the low shore
+offered a pleasant shelter, we disembarked about sunset in a
+magnificent grove of palmetto-trees, spending a pleasant evening in
+feasting upon the delicious bivalves, roasted and upon the half shell.
+
+The tempest held us prisoners in this wild retreat for two days, and
+during that time, if we had been the possessor of a dog, we might have
+supped and dined upon venison and wild turkey. As it was, we were well
+content to subsist upon wild ducks and the fine oysters, with bread
+from fresh wheat-flour, baked in our Dutch oven, or bake-kettle, and
+coffee that never tastes elsewhere as it does in camp.
+
+At last the gale went down with the sun, and we rowed in the evening
+thirteen miles up the bay to Apalachicola, and went into camp upon the
+sandy beach at the lower end of the town. While sleeping soundly in
+our boats, at an early hour the next morning some one came "gently
+tapping at my chamber-door," or, in sea phrase, pounding upon my
+hatch. I soon discovered that my visitor was Captain Daniel Fry,
+United States Inspector of Steamboats. His pretty cottage, environed
+with beds of blooming flowers, was perched upon the sandy bluff above
+us. The captain, in a nautical way, claimed us as salvage, and we were
+soon enjoying his generous hospitality. In this isolated town, once a
+busy cotton-shipping port, there was a population of about one
+thousand souls, among whom, conspicuous for his urbane manners and
+scientific ability, lived Dr. A. W. Chapman, the author of the "Flora
+of the Southern United States."
+
+While at New Orleans I had addressed a letter to the postmaster at St.
+Marks, Florida, requesting him to forward my letters to Apalachicola,
+but the request had not been noticed. The mystery was, however,
+explained by Lieutenant N., of the Coast Survey schooner Silliman, who
+one day called upon me, and said that when he stopped at St. Marks for
+his mail, a few days previous to my arrival at Apalachicola, he saw
+about thirty letters addressed to me lying loosely upon the desk of
+the negro postmaster of that marshy settlement. My letter of
+instruction had been received, but as the postmaster could not read,
+no notice had been taken of it. The coast survey officer had kindly
+gathered my letters in one parcel, and had deposited them for safe-
+keeping with the postmaster's white clerk. The responsible position of
+postmaster was filled by an ignorant colored man, because his politics
+were those of the party then in power.
+
+Nor was this an exceptional case, many such appointments having been
+made, as an inevitable result of a peculiar enfranchisement in which
+there is no restriction, and where license stands for liberty. While
+on my "Voyage of the Paper Canoe," I met in one county in Georgia,
+through which flows the beautiful Altamaha, the colored county
+treasurer, who lived in a little backwoods' settlement a few miles
+from Darien. He could neither read nor write, but his business was
+managed and the county funds handled by a white politician of the
+"reconstructing" element then in power, which was sapping the life-
+blood of the south, and bonding every state within its selfish grasp
+by dishonest legislative acts. The poor black man was simply a tool
+for the white charlatan, living in a miserable log cabin, and
+receiving a very small share of the peculations of his white clerk.
+When all the enfranchised are educated, and not until then, will the
+great source of evil be removed from our politics which to-day
+endangers our future liberty of self-government. We are floating in a
+sea of unlimited and unlettered enfranchisement, vainly tugging at the
+helm of our ship of state, while master-minds stoop to cater to the
+prejudices of hundreds of thousands of voters who cannot read the
+names upon the ticket they deposit in the ballot-box--the ballot-box
+which is the guardian of the constitutional liberties of a republic.
+
+We left the kind people of Apalachicola, and crossed the bay to St.
+George's Sound, with a cargo of delicacies, for Captain Fry had filled
+our lockers with various comforts for the inner man, while our friend,
+the cattle-owner, whom we had met at Cape San Blas, and who had now
+returned to his home, stocked us with delicious oranges from his grove
+on the outskirts of the city.
+
+Four miles to the east of Cat Point we saw the humble homes of Peter
+Sheepshead and Sam Pompano, two fishermen, whose uniform success in
+catching their favorite species of fish had won for them their
+euphonious titles. We camped at night near the mouth of Crooked River,
+which enters the sound opposite Dog Island, having rowed twenty-four
+miles. If we continued along the sound, after passing out of its
+eastern end, we would be upon the open sea, and might have difficulty
+in doubling the great South Cape; so we took the interior route,
+ascending Crooked River through a low pine savanna country, to the
+Ocklockony River, which is, in fact, a continuation of Crooked River.
+The region about Crooked and Ocklockony rivers is destitute of the
+habitation of man.
+
+About midway between St. George's Sound and the Gulf coast we
+traversed a vast swamp, where the ground was carpeted with the dwarf
+saw palmettos. A fire had killed all the large trees, and their
+blasted, leafless forms were covered with the flaunting tresses of
+Spanish moss. The tops of many of these trees were crowned by the
+Osprey's nest, and the birds were sitting on their eggs, or feeding
+their young with fish, which they carried in their talons from the
+sea. So numerous were these fish-hawks that we named the blasted swamp
+the Home of the Osprey. We spent one night in this swamp serenaded by
+the deep calls of the male alligators, which closely resembled the low
+bellowing of a bull.
+
+About noon the next day signs of cultivated life appeared, and we
+passed the houses of some settlers, and the saw-mill of a New Yorker.
+At dusk our boats entered a little sound, and by nine o'clock in the
+evening we arrived at the Gulf of Mexico, in a region of shoal water,
+much cut up by oyster reefs. The tide being very low, the boats were
+anchored inside of an oyster reef, which afforded protection from the
+inflowing swell of the sea. We shaped our course next day for St.
+Marks, along a low, marshy coast, where oyster reefs, in shoal water,
+frequently barred our progress. From South Cape to St. Marks the
+coast, broken by the mouths of several creeks and rivers, trends to
+the northeast, while for twenty miles to the east of the light house,
+which rises conspicuously on the eastern shore of the entrance to St.
+Marks River, the coast bends to the southeast to the latitude of Cedar
+Keys, where it turns abruptly south, and forms one side of the
+peninsula of Florida.
+
+The great contour of the Gulf of Mexico, into which St. Marks River
+empties, is known to geographers as Apalachee Bay. On that part of the
+coast between the St. Marks and Suwanee rivers, the bed of the Gulf of
+Mexico slopes so gradually that when seven miles away from the land a
+vessel will be in only eighteen feet of water. At this distance from
+the shore is found the continuous coral formation; but nearer to the
+coast it is found in spots only.
+
+While traversing this coast from St. Marks to Cedar Keys, I observed
+the peculiar features of a long coast-line of salt marshes, against
+which the waves broke gently. With the exception of a few places,
+where the upland penetrated these savannas to the waters of the sea,
+the marshes were soft alluvium, covered with tall coarse grasses, the
+sameness of which. was occasionally broken by a hammock, or low mound
+of firmer soil, which rose like an island out of the level sea of
+green. The hammocks were heavily wooded with the evergreen live-oaks,
+the yellow pine, and the palmetto. From half a mile to two miles back
+of the low savannas of the coast, rose, like a wall of green, the old
+forests, grand and solemn in their primeval character.
+
+The marshes were much cut up by creeks, some of which came from the
+mainland, but most of them had their sources in the savannas, and
+served as drains to the territory which was frequently submerged by
+the sea. When the southerly winds send towards the land a boisterous
+sea, the long, natural, inclined plane of the Gulf bottom seems to act
+as a pacifier to the waves, for they break down as they roll over the
+continually shoaling area in approaching the marshes; and there is no
+undertow, or any of the peculiar features which make the surf on other
+parts of the coast very dangerous in rough weather. The submarine
+grass growing upon the sandy bottom as far as six or eight miles from
+shore, also helps to smooth down the waves.
+
+When the strong wind blows off the coast on to the Gulf, it is known
+to seamen as a "norther," and so violent are these winds that their
+force, acting on the sea, rapidly diminishes its depth within twelve
+or fifteen miles of the marshes. A coasting-vessel drawing five feet
+of water will anchor off Apalachee Bay in eight feet of water, at the
+commencement of a "norther," and in four or five hours, unless the
+crew put to sea, the vessel will be left upon the dry bottom of the
+Gulf. After the wind falls, the water will return, and the equilibrium
+will be restored.
+
+We ascended St. Marks River; and passed the site of a town which had
+been washed out of existence in the year 1843 by the effects of a
+hurricane on the sea. These hurricanes are in season during August and
+September. The village of St. Marks consisted of about thirty houses,
+the occupants of which, with two or three exceptions, were negroes.
+The land is very low, and at times subjected to inundation. A railroad
+terminated here, but the business of the place supported only two
+trains a week, and they ran directly to the capital of Florida, the
+beautiful city of Tallahassee, eighteen miles distant.
+
+The negro postmaster courteously presented me with my package of
+letters, and I had an opportunity to observe the way in which he
+fulfilled his duties. When the mail arrived, it was thrown upon a desk
+in one corner of a small grocery store, and any person desiring an
+epistle went in, and, fumbling over the letters, took what he claimed
+as his own.
+
+The railroad agent, a young northerner, I found sleeping soundly in
+his telegraph office, though the noonday sun was pouring in his
+windows. He apologized for being caught napping, but declared it was
+his only amusement in that desolate region of damps, and assured me a
+man would deteriorate less rapidly by sleeping away his idle hours
+than by keeping awake to what was going on in the neighboring hamlet.
+Besides the United States Signal officer, his only intelligent
+neighbor was a brother of the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, who had
+purchased a property, two or three years before, in the once
+flourishing town of Newport, a few miles up the river. He spoke
+feelingly of the efforts of the Rev. Charles Beecher to educate his
+enfranchised negro neighbors; of his inviting them to his house, and
+laboring for the welfare of their souls. All the patient and Christian
+efforts of the philanthropist had proved unavailing, and thieving and
+lying were still much in vogue.
+
+It has been proposed by engineers to connect all the interior Gulf-
+coast watercourses from the Mississippi River at New Orleans to the
+Suwanee River in Florida. To achieve this end it will be necessary to
+excavate several canals at points now used as portages. From St. Marks
+to the Suwanee River there are some rivers which might be used in
+connecting and perfecting this great interior water-way.
+
+I mentioned in my "Voyage of the Paper Canoe," that preliminary
+surveys, under General Gilmore, had been made for a continuous water
+way across northern Florida to the Atlantic coast, via the Suwanee and
+St. Mary's rivers. Detailed surveys are now in progress. Those
+interested in this enterprise hope to see the produce of the
+Mississippi valley towed in barges through this continuous water-way
+from New Orleans to the Atlantic ports of St. Mary's, Fernandina,
+Savannah, and Charleston. The northwestern as well as the southern
+states would derive advantage from this extension of the Mississippi
+system to the Atlantic seaboard, and its execution seems to be
+considered by many a duty of the national government.
+
+There has been little written upon the water-courses of northwestern
+Florida, but several of the central, southern, and Atlantic coast
+rivers and lakes have been carefully explored by Mr. Frederick A.
+Ober, of Massachusetts, a young and enthusiastic naturalist, who, as
+correspondent of the "Forest and Stream," has published in the columns
+of that paper a mass of interesting and valuable geographical matter,
+throwing much light on regions heretofore unfamiliar to the public.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+FROM ST. MARKS TO THE SUWANEE RIVER
+
+ALONG THE COAST.-- SADDLES BREAKS DOWN.-- A REFUGE WITH THE
+FISHERMEN.-- CAMP IN THE PALM FOREST.-- PARTING WITH SADDLES.-- OUR
+NEIGHBOR THE ALLIGATOR.-- DISCOVERY OF THE TRUE CROCODILE IN AMERICA.-
+- THE DEVIL'S WOOD-PILE.-- DEADMAN'S BAY.-- BOWLEGS POINT.-- THE COAST
+SURVEY CAMP.-- A DAY ABOARD THE "READY."-- THE SUWANEE RIVER.-- THE
+END.
+
+LEAVING St. Marks, we rowed down the stream to the forks of the St.
+Marks and Wakulla rivers. The sources of the Wakulla were twelve miles
+above these forks, and consisted of a wonderful spring of crystal
+water, which could be entered by small boats. This curious river
+bursts forth as though by a single bound, from the subterranean
+caverns of limestone. Each of the several remarkable springs in
+Florida is supposed, by those living in its vicinity, to be the
+veritable "fountain of youth;" and this one shared the usual fate, for
+we were assured that this was the spring for which the cavalier Ponce
+de Leon vainly sought in the old times of Spanish exploration in the
+New World.
+
+
+On Monday, March 13th, we left St. Marks River, and, as the north wind
+blew, were forced to keep from one to two miles off the land on the
+open Gulf to find even two feet of water. In many places we found
+rough pieces of coral rocks upon the bottom, and in several instances
+grounded upon them. As the wind went down, the tide, which on this
+coast frequently rises only from eighteen inches to two feet, favored
+us with more water, and by night we were able to get close to the
+marshes, and enter a little creek west of the Ocilla River, where,
+staking our boats along side the soft marsh, we supped on chocolate
+and dry bread, and slept comfortably in our little craft until
+morning.
+
+We were now in an almost uninhabited region, where only an occasional
+fisherman or sponger is met; but as we pulled along the coast the day
+after our camp in the marshes, we were struck with the absence of any
+sign of the presence of man. We had hoped to meet with the vessels of
+sponge-gatherers anchored in the vicinity of Rock Island, to which
+place they resort to clean their crop; but when we passed the island
+in the afternoon, so scantily clothed with herbage, and upon which a
+few palms grew out of the shallow soil, it was deserted, while not a
+single sail could be seen upon the horizon of the sea.
+
+My companion had not been well for several days, and he informed me at
+this late date that he was subject to malarial fever, or, as he called
+it, "swamp fever." It had been contracted by him while living on one
+of the bayous of southern Louisiana during a warm season. Swamp fever,
+when at its height, usually produces temporary insanity; and he
+alarmed me by stating that he had been deprived of his reason for days
+at a time during his attacks. The use of daily stimulants had kept up
+his constitutional vigor for several months; but as ours was a
+temperance diet, he gradually, after we left Biloxi and the regions
+where stimulants could be obtained, became nervous, lost his appetite,
+and was now suffering from chills and fever. He was much depressed
+after leaving St. Marks, and had long fits of sullenness, so that he
+would row for hours without speaking. I tried to cheer him, and on one
+occasion penetrated the forest a long distance to obtain some panacea
+with which to brace his unsettled nerves.
+
+Saddles had deceived me as to the necessity of taking daily drams,
+which habit is, to say the least, a most inconvenient one for persons
+engaged in explorations of isolated parts of the coast, and voyaging
+in small boats; so we had both suffered much in consequence of his bad
+habit. To furnish one moderate drinker with the liquid stimulant
+necessary for a boat voyage from New Orleans to Cedar Keys, at least
+five gallons of whiskey, and a large and heavy demijohn in which to
+store it securely, must form a portion of the cargo. This bulk
+occupies important space in the confined quarters of a boat, every
+inch of which is needed for necessary articles, while the momentary
+and artificial strength given to the system is never, except as a
+remediable agent, productive of any real or lasting benefit. My
+unfortunate companion had become so accustomed to the daily use of
+liquor, and his shattered system had been so propped by it, that he
+had been like a man walking on stilts; and now that they were knocked
+away, his own feet failed to support him, and a reaction was the
+inevitable result.
+
+After leaving Rock Island, and when about four miles beyond the
+Fenholloway River, while off a vast tract of marshes, poor Saddles
+broke down completely. He could not row another stroke. I towed his
+boat into a little cove, and was forced to leave him, with the fever
+raging in his blood, that I might search for a creek, and a hammock
+upon which to camp. Looking to the east, I saw a long, low point of
+marsh projecting its attenuated point southward, while upon it rose a
+signal-staff of the United States Coast Survey. A black object seemed
+heaped against the base of the signal; and while I gazed at what
+looked like a bear, or a heap of dark soil, it began to move, breaking
+up into three or four fragments, each of which seemed to roll off into
+the grass, where they disappeared.
+
+[Saddles breaks down.]
+
+I pulled for the point as rapidly as possible, for I hoped, while
+hardly daring to believe, that this singular apparition might be human
+beings. The high grass formed an impenetrable barrier for my curious
+vision; but nearing the spot, voices were plainly audible on the other
+side of the narrow point, as though a party of men were in lively
+discussion. Rowing close to the land, and resting on my oars to gain
+time to reconnoitre either friends or foes, the deep but cultivated
+voice of a man fell upon my ear. A patriot was evidently haranguing
+his fellow fishermen, who, after lunching beside the Coast Survey
+signal, and not observing the proximity of a stranger, had repaired to
+their boats on the east side of the marsh.
+
+"Yes," came the tones of the orator through the high grass, yes, to
+this state have we Americans been reduced! Not satisfied with having
+ravaged our country, conquering BUT NOT SUBDUING our Confederate
+government, the enemy has put over us a CARPET-BAG government of
+northern adventurers and southern scalawags and NIGGERS. Fifty niggers
+sit as representatives of our state in the legislature of Florida, and
+vote in a solid body for whichever party pays them their price. They
+are giving away our state lands to monopolists, and we have tax bills
+like THIS one imposed upon us." Here the orator paused, apparently
+taking a paper from his pocket. "Here it is," he resumed, "in black
+and white. On a wild piece of forest land, and a few acres of
+clearing, (which they appraise at twenty-five cents, when it cost me
+only six cents and a quarter per acre,) I was saddled with this
+outrageous bill. I will read to you the several items:
+
+
+MR. L. H.................................  DR.
+
+To State Taxes proper,-----  .70 on - - $100.00
+ General Sinking Fund,-----  .30 "  - -  100.00
+ Special Sinking Fund,-----  .16 "  - -  100.00
+ General School Tax,-------  .10 "  - -  100.00
+			_______________________
+
+	 Total State Tax,-- 1.26 "  - -  100.00
+
+To County Tax proper,-----   .50 "  - -  100.00
+ County School Tax,-------   .50 "  - -  100.00
+ Special County Building Tax,.35 "  - -  100.00
+ County Specific Tax,----   2.00 "  - -  100.00
+                        _______________________
+
+Total County Tax,---        3.35 "  - -  100.00
+
+Total State and County Tax,$4.61 on- -   100.00
+
+
+
+"You will find by these figures that I am compelled to pay a state and
+county tax, on an over-appraised property, amounting to four dollars
+and sixty-one cents upon every one hundred dollars I possess. Under
+this kind of taxation we are growing poorer every day of our lives.
+Now, gentlemen, can you censure me for detesting the Carpet-bag
+government of my native state after you have heard this statement?
+Rome in days of tyranny did no such injustice to her citizens. To be a
+Roman was greater than to be a king; and here let me remark-- Bob
+Squash! what's that you are squinting at through the grass?" "Lor'
+sakes, Massa Hampton, I does b'lieve it's a man in a sort of a boat. I
+nebber see de like befo'!"
+
+At this point the company struggled through the high grass and invited
+me to land. Being seriously alarmed for my companion, who was lying
+helpless in his boat half a mile away, I quickly explained my
+situation, and was at once advised to ascend Spring Creek, on the east
+side of the point of marsh, to the swamp, where the orator said I
+would find his camp, and his partner in the fishing-business, who
+would assist me to the best of his ability. The orator promised to
+follow us after making one more cast with his seine for red-fish. I
+returned as fast as possible to Saddles, and trying to infuse his
+failing heart with courage, fastened his boat's painter to the stern
+of the duck-boat, and followed the course indicated by the fishermen.
+
+Upon entering Spring Creek, with my companion in tow, we were soon
+encompassed on all sides by the marshes; and as the boats slowly
+ascended the crooked stream, the fringes of the feathery-crested palms
+appeared close to the margins of the savanna. The land increased in
+height a few inches as I followed the reaches of the creek, and, when
+a mile from its mouth, entered the rank luxuriance of a swamp, where,
+in a thicket of red cedars, palmettos, and Spanish bayonets, I
+discovered two low huts, thatched with palm-leaves, which afforded
+temporary shelter to Captain F., a planter from the interior, his
+friend the orator, and their employees both white and black. The kind-
+hearted captain understood my companion's case at a glance, and when
+our tent was pitched, and a comfortable bed prepared, Saddles was put
+under his care.
+
+He could not have fallen into better hands, for the planter had gone
+through many experiences in the treatment of fevers of all kinds. It
+was indeed a boon to find in the unpeopled wilds a shelter and a
+physician for the sick man but the future loomed heavily before me,
+for though Saddles might improve, he would be pretty sure on the
+eighth day to have a return of his malady, and would probably again
+break down in a raving condition.
+
+The camp was a restful and interesting retreat. To reach the spot, the
+fishing-party had been obliged to cut a road eight miles through a
+swampy district, in places building a rough crossway to make their
+progress possible. The creek had its sources in several springs, which
+burst from the earth just above the camp. The water was of a blue
+tint, and slightly impregnated with sulphur, lime, and iron. In this
+secluded place there was an abundance of deer and wild turkeys.
+
+The early morning meal of these hunters and fishermen was a veritable
+djeuner a la fourchette, for their menu included venison, turkey,
+sweet-potatoes, hoe-cakes made from fresh maize flour, and excellent
+coffee. Captain F. and an old negro woman remained in camp to clean
+and salt down the fish caught on the previous afternoon, while the
+orator and his party went down the creek in two long, narrow scows,
+loaded with two nets, their necessary fishing implements, and a hearty
+luncheon. Long poles were used to propel their craft. Upon meeting
+with a school of fish, they encompassed it with the two nets, each of
+which was three hundred feet long, and easily captured the whole lot,
+which was composed of several species.
+
+When in luck, the fishing-party returned to the camp by noon; but when
+the wind interfered with their success, they did not reach their
+swampy retreat until night. After a rest, and a good warm supper, the
+orator and one of his white associates, each with his torch of
+resinous pine wood and well-loaded gun, would quietly traverse the
+silent forests and grassy savannas, luring to destruction the
+fascinated and unsuspecting deer. Thus stalking through the darkness,
+and peering eagerly on all sides, the appearance of the fire-like
+globes of the deer's eyes, from the reflected light of the hunters'
+torches, was the signal to fire, which meant, with their unerring aim,
+death to their prey and future feasts for themselves.
+
+With their venison these men served a very palatable dish made from
+the terminal bud of the palmetto known as the "cabbage," and from
+which the tree derives its name of "cabbage-palm." A negro ascended
+the palm and cut the bud at its junction with the top of the tree. It
+was then thrown to the ground, and climbing other trees, more followed
+in quick succession. When a sufficient quantity had been gathered, the
+turnip part, from which the tender shoot starts, was cut off and
+thrown aside, as it was bitter to the taste. The shoot, divested of
+this part, resembled a solid roll, from four to six inches in
+diameter. From this was unrolled and thrown aside the outer coverings,
+leaving the tender white interior tissues about three inches in
+diameter and fourteen inches in length. Thus divested of all
+objectionable matter, the cabbage could be eaten raw, though it was
+much improved by cooking, the boiling process removing every trace of
+the acrid, or turnip, flavor. These men ate it dressed in the same way
+as ordinary cabbage, and it was an excellent substitute for that dish.
+The black bear is as fond of the palmetto cabbage as his enemy the
+hunter. He ascends the tree, breaks down the palm-leaves, and devours
+the bud, evidently appreciating the feast. After the removal of the
+bud the tree dies; so this is after all an expensive dainty.
+
+Captain F. had pre-empted a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of
+land, to cover the sources of Spring Creek, and it was his intention
+to resort to this camp every year during the mullet-fishing season,
+which is from September to January. The salted mullet is the popular
+market-fish with the back-country people, though the red-fish is by
+far the finer for table use.
+
+While with these men, we were treated with the generous hospitality
+known only in the forest, but Saddles did not improve. He seemed to be
+suffering from a low form of intermittent fever, and looked like
+anything but a subject for a long row. Captain F. insisted upon
+sending the invalid in his wagon sixteen miles to his home, where he
+promised to nurse the unfortunate man until he was able to travel
+forty miles further to a railroad station. On the 15th of March, the
+party, having made their final arrangements, were ready to make the
+start for home. It was our last day together.
+
+Circumstances over which I had no control forced me to part from
+Saddles. I furnished him with a liberal supply of funds to enable him
+to reach Fernandina, Florida, by rail, and afterwards sent him a draft
+for an amount sufficient to pay his expenses from Cedar Keys to New
+Orleans, as he abandoned all his previous intentions of returning to
+his old home in the north.
+
+The Riddle with its outfit, and about sixty pounds of shot and a large
+supply of powder, I presented to the good captain who had so
+generously offered to care for my unfortunate companion. As I was to
+traverse the most desolate part of the coast between Spring Creek and
+Cedar Keys alone, I deemed it prudent to divest myself of everything
+that could be spared from my boat's outfit, in order to lighten the
+hull. I had made an estimate of chances, and concluded that four or
+five days would carry me to the end of my voyage, if the weather
+continued favorable; so, on the evening of March 15, the little duck-
+boat was prepared for future duty.
+
+The hunters and fishermen brought into camp the spoils of the forest
+and the treasures of the sea, while the grinning negress exerted
+herself to prepare the parting feast. Deep in the recesses of the wild
+swamp our camp-fire crackled and blazed, sending up its flaming
+tongues until they almost met the dense foliage above our heads, while
+seated upon the ground we feasted, and told tales of the past. Poor
+Saddles tried to be cheerful, but made a miserable failure of it; and
+his pale face was the skeleton at our banquet, for human nature is so
+constituted that a suffering man gains sympathy, even though he be
+only paying the penalty of his own past misdemeanors.
+
+My boat was tied alongside the bank of the creek, close to the
+palmetto huts. There were only two feet of water in the stream as I
+sat in the little sneak-box at midnight and went through the usual
+preparations for stowing my self away for the night. I touched the
+clear water with my hands as it laved the sides of my floating home,
+but my gaze could not penetrate the limpid current, for the heavy
+shades of the palms gave it a dark hue. I thought of the duties of the
+morrow, and also of poor Saddles, who was tossing uneasily upon the
+blankets in his tent near by, when there was a mysterious movement in
+the water under the boat. Some thing unusual was there, for its
+presence was betrayed by the large bubbles of air which came up from
+the bottom and floated upon the surface of the water. Being too sleepy
+to make an investigation, I coiled myself in my nest, and drew the
+hatch-cover over the hold.
+
+The next morning my friends clustered on the bank, giving me a kind
+farewell as I pushed the duck-boat gently into the channel of the
+creek. Suddenly Saddles, who had been gazing abstractedly into the
+water under my boat, hurried into the tent, and in an instant
+reappeared with the gun I had given him in his hands. He slowly
+pointed it at the spot in the water where my boat had been moored
+during the night, and drawing the trigger, an explosion followed,
+while the water flew upward in fine jets into the air. Then, to the
+astonished gaze of the party on the bank, an alligator as long as my
+boat arose to view, and, roused by the shock, hurried into deeper
+water.
+
+[Parting with Saddles.]
+
+It was now evident what the lodger under my boat had been, and I
+confess the thought of being separated from this fierce saurian by
+only half an inch of cedar sheathing during a long night, was not a
+pleasant one; and I shuddered while my imagination pictured the
+consequences of a nocturnal bath in which I might have indulged.
+
+Having observed in different countries the habits of some of the
+individuals which compose the order SAURIA,--the lizards,--I will
+present to the reader what I have gleaned from my observation upon two
+species, one of which is the true alligator (A. Mississippiensis), the
+other the well-known true crocodile (C. acutus), which recently has
+been declared an inhabitant of the United States. It is only a few
+years since it was found living on the North American continent, for
+previous to its discovery in southern Florida, its nearest known
+habitat to the United States was the island of Cuba.
+
+The order of lizards is separated into families. The family to which
+the alligators, crocodiles, and gavials belong, is called by
+naturalists CROCODILO. The distinctions which govern the separation of
+the family CROCODILO into the three genera of alligators, crocodiles,
+and gavials, consist of peculiarities in the shape of the head, in the
+peculiar arrangement of the teeth, webbing of the feet, and in some
+minor characteristics; for, outside of these not very important
+anatomical differences, the habits of the three kinds of reptiles are
+in most respects quite similar, some of the species being more
+ferocious, and consequently more dangerous, than others.
+
+The alligator, also called caiman by the Spanish-American creoles,
+inhabits the rivers and bayous of the North and South American
+continents, while the crocodiles are natives of Africa, of the West
+Indies, and of South America. The fierce gavial genus is Asian, and
+abounds in the rivers of India. The alligator (A. Mississippiensis)
+and the crocodile (C. acutus) are the only species which particularly
+interest the people of the United States, for they both belong to our
+own fauna.
+
+Our alligator inhabits the rivers and swampy districts of the southern
+states. I have never heard of their being found north of the Neuse
+River, though they probably ascend in small numbers some of the
+numerous rivers and creeks of the northern side of Albemarle Sound in
+North Carolina. The bayous and swamps of Louisiana and the low
+districts of Florida are particularly infested with these animals. The
+frequent visits of man to their haunts makes them timid of his
+presence; but where he is rarely or never seen, the larger alligators
+become more dangerous. During warm, sunny days this reptile delights
+in basking in the sunlight upon the bank of a stream for hours at a
+time. At the approach of man he crawls or slides from his slimy bed
+into the water, but if his retreat be cut off; or he become excited, a
+powerful odor of musk exudes from his body. During the winter months
+he hibernates in the mud of the bayous for days and weeks at a time.
+When the alligator enters the water, a pair of lips or valves close
+tightly, hermetically sealing his ears so that even moisture cannot
+penetrate them. His nostrils are protected in the same way.
+
+As the season for incubation approaches, the female searches for a
+sandy spot, and digging a hole with her fore-feet, deposits there her
+eggs, which are somewhat smaller than those of a goose. They are
+usually placed in layers, carefully covered up in the sand, and if not
+disturbed by wild animals, are hatched by the heat of the sun. It
+frequently happens that the alligator cannot find a sand-bank in which
+to place her eggs, and on such occasions she scrapes together with her
+fore-feet grass, leaves, bark, and sticks, mixed with mud, and
+converting the whole into a low platform, deposits the eggs upon it in
+separate layers, each layer being sandwiched with the mixture of mud,
+sticks, &c., until more than one hundred white eggs, of a faint green
+tint, are carefully stowed away in the nest.
+
+The exterior of the nest, which has a mound-like character, is daubed
+over with mud, the tail of the alligator being used as a trowel. The
+first duties of maternity being over, the female alligator acts as
+policeman until the eggs are hatched. Her office is not a sinecure,
+for the fowls of the air, and the creeping things upon earth, are
+attracted to the entombed delicacies secreted in this oven-like
+structure in the swamp. Many a luckless coon and cracker's pig
+searching for a breakfast, receive instead a blow from the strong tail
+of the female alligator, and are swept into the grasp of her terrible
+and relentless jaws.
+
+Moisture and heat act their parts in assisting the process of
+incubation, and the little alligators, a few inches in length, issue
+from the shell, and are welcomed by their mail-clad mother into the
+new world.
+
+Like young turtles just from the shell, the baby alligators make for
+the water, but unlike the young of the sea-turtles, the saurians have
+the assistance of their parent, who not unfrequently takes a load of
+them upon her back. From the first inception of nest-building until
+the young are able to take care of themselves, this reptile mother,
+like the female wild-turkey, resists the encroachments of her mate who
+would devour, not only the eggs, but his own crawling children. In
+fact, if opportunity were offered by the absence of the mother from
+the nest and the young, his alligatorship would eat up all his
+progeny, and exterminate his species, without a particle of regret. He
+has no pride in the perpetuation of his family, and it is to the
+maternal instincts of his good wife that we owe the preservation of
+the alligator.
+
+The young avoid the larger males until they are strong enough to
+protect themselves, feeding in the mean time upon fish and flesh of
+every description. In the water they move with agility, but on land
+their long bodies and short legs prevent rapid motion. They migrate
+during droughts from one slough or bayou to another, crossing the
+intervening upland. When discovered on these journeys by man, the
+alligator feigns death, or at least appears to be in an unconscious
+state; but if an antagonist approach within reach of that terrible
+tail, a blow, a sweep, and a snapping together of the jaws prove
+conclusively his dangerous character. He is a good fisherman, and can
+also catch ducks, drawing them by their feet under water. The dog is,
+however, the favorite diet of these saurians, and the negroes make use
+of a crying puppy to allure the creature from the bottom of a shoal
+bayou within reach of their guns.
+
+Though clad in a coat of thick, bony scales, a well-directed charge of
+buckshot from a gun, or a lead ball from a musket, will penetrate the
+body, notwithstanding all that has been said to the contrary.
+
+The negroes in the Gulf states say that "de 'gators swallows a pine
+knot afore dey goes into de mud-burrows for de winter;" and the fact
+that pine knots and pieces of wood are found in the stomachs of these
+animals at all seasons of the year, gives a shade of truth to this
+statement. Even the hardest substances, such as stones and broken
+bottles, are taken in considerable quantities from the bodies of dead
+alligators. Their digestive organs are certainly not sensitive, their
+nervous systems not delicate, and their intelligence not remarkable.
+It gives an alligator but little inconvenience to shoot off a portion
+of his head with a mass of the brain attached to it; and they have
+been known to fight for hours with the entire brain removed.
+
+Though generally fleeing from man upon terra firma, the alligator will
+quickly attack him in the water. A friend of mine, mounted upon his
+horse, was crossing a Florida river in the wilderness, when entering
+the channel of the stream, the horse's feet did not touch the bottom,
+and he swam for a moment or two, struggling with the current. My
+friend suddenly felt a severe grip upon his leg, and the pressure of
+sharp teeth through his trousers, when, realizing in a flash that an
+alligator's jaws were fastened upon him, he clasped the neck of his
+horse with all his strength. For a few seconds he was in danger of
+being dragged from the back of his faithful animal; but his dog,
+following in the rear, gained quickly on the struggling horse, and the
+alligator, true to his well-known taste, loosed his hold upon the man,
+and catching the dog in his strong jaws, dragged the poor brute to the
+bottom of the river.
+
+The alligator is fast disappearing from our principal southern rivers,
+and is also being captured in considerable numbers in isolated bayous
+by hunters, who kill the creature for his hide, as the alligator boots
+have a durability not possessed by any other leather.
+
+There is much interest connected with the discovery of the existence
+of the true crocodile (C. acutus) in the Floridian peninsula. While
+the alligators have broader heads, shorter snouts, and more numerous
+teeth than the crocodiles, the unscientific hunter can at once
+identify the true crocodile (C. acutus) by two holes in the upper jaw,
+into which and through which the two principal teeth or tushes of the
+lower jaw protrude, and can be seen by looking down upon the head of
+the animal. The longest teeth of the alligator do not thus protrude
+through the head or snout, but fit into sockets in the upper jaw. I
+first studied the true crocodile in the island of Cuba, where there
+are two distinct species of the genus, one of which is our Florida
+species (C. acutus). At that time science was blind to the fact that
+the true crocodile was a member of the fauna of the United States. At
+a meeting of the "Boston Society of Natural History," held May 19,
+1869, the late comparative anatomist, Dr. Jeffries Wyman, exhibited
+the head of a crocodile (C. acutus) which had been sent him by William
+H. Hunt, Esq., of Miami River, which stream flows out of the
+everglades and empties into Key Biscayene Bay, at the south-eastern
+end of the Floridian peninsula.
+
+A second cranium of the Sharp-nosed Crocodile was afterwards obtained
+from the same locality, but the honor of killing and recognizing one
+of these huge monsters belongs to the young and enterprising author of
+the "Birds of Florida," a work full of original information, the
+illustrations of which, as well as the setting up of the type, being
+the work of the author's own hands. I refer to Mr. C. J. Maynard, of
+Newtonville, Massachusetts, who has furnished me with a graphic
+description of his meeting with, and the capture of, the crocodile
+while engaged in his ornithological pursuits during the year 1867. Mr.
+Maynard says:
+
+"This crocodile is particularly noticeable for its fierceness. I have
+met with it but once. Three of us were crossing the country which lies
+between Lake Harney and Indian River, on foot, when we came to a dense
+swamp. As we were passing through it we discovered a huge reptile,
+which resembled an alligator, lying in a stream just to the right of
+our path. He was apparently asleep. We approached cautiously within
+ten rods of him, and fired two rifle-shots in quick succession. The
+balls took effect in front of his fore-leg, and striking within two
+inches of each other, passed entirely through his body. As soon as he
+felt the wounds he struggled violently, twisting and writhing, but
+finally became quiet.
+
+"We waded in, and approached him as he lay upon a bed of green aquatic
+plants with his head towards us. It was resting on the mud, and one of
+the party was about to place his foot upon it, when a lively look in
+the animal's eyes deterred him. Stooping down, he picked up a floating
+branch, and lightly threw it in the reptile's face. The result was
+somewhat surprising. The huge jaws opened instantly, and the
+formidable tail came round, sweeping the branch into his mouth, where
+it was crushed and ground to atoms by the rows of sharp teeth. His
+eyes flashed fire, and he rapidly glided forward. Never did magician
+of Arabian tale conjure a fiercer-looking demon by wave of his wand
+than had been raised to life by the motion of a branch. For a moment
+we were too astonished to move.
+
+"The huge monster seemed bent on revenge, and in another instant would
+be upon us. We then saw our danger, and quicker than a flash of light,
+thought and action came. The next moment the gigantic saurian was made
+to struggle on his back with a bullet in his brain. It had entered his
+right eye, and had been aimed so nicely as not to cut the lids.
+
+"To make sure of him this time, we severed his jugular vein. While
+performing this not very delicate operation, he thrust out two
+singular-looking glands from slits in his throat. They were round,
+resembling a sea-urchin, being covered with minute projections, and
+were about the size of a nutmeg, giving out a strong, musky odor. We
+then took his dimensions, and found he was over ten feet in length,
+while his body was larger round than a flour-barrel. The immense jaws
+were three feet long, and when stretched open would readily take in
+the body of a man. They were armed with rows of sharp, white teeth.
+The tusks of the lower one, when it was closed, projected out through
+two holes in the upper, which fact proved to us that it was not a
+common alligator, but a true crocodile (C. acutus)."
+
+If Mr. Maynard had been at that time aware of the value of the prize
+he had captured, the market-price of which was some four or five
+hundred dollars, he would not have abandoned his crocodile. He
+afterwards sent for its head, but could not obtain it. This reptile
+will probably be found more numerous about the headwaters of the Miami
+River than further north. It sometimes attains a length of seventeen
+feet. Since Mr. Maynard shot his crocodile, others from the north have
+searched for the C. acutus, and one naturalist from Rochester, New
+York, captured a specimen, and attempted to make a new species of it
+by giving it the specific name of FLORIDANAS, in place of the older
+one of C. acutus.
+
+The morning sun was shining brightly as I pulled steadily along the
+coast, passing Warrior Creek six miles from my starting-point off the
+shores of Spring Creek. About this locality the rocky bottom was
+exchanged for one of sand. Having rowed eleven miles, a small sandy
+island, one-third of a mile from shore, offered a resting-place at
+noon; and there I dined upon bread and cold canned beef. A mile
+further to the eastward a sandy point of the marsh extended into the
+Gulf. A dozen oaks, two palmettos, and a shanty in ruins, upon this
+bleak territory, were the distinctive features which marked it as Jug
+Island, though the firm ground is only an island rising out of the
+marshes. Sandy points jutting from the lowlands became more numerous
+as I progressed on my route. Four miles from Jug Island the wide
+debouchure of Blue Creek came into view, with an unoccupied fishing-
+shanty on each side of its mouth.
+
+Crossing at dusk to the east shore of the creek, I landed in shoal
+water on a sandy strand, when the wind arose to a tempest, driving the
+water on to the land; and had it not been for my watch-tackle, the
+little duck-boat must have sought other quarters. As it was, she was
+soon high and dry on a beach; and once beneath her sheltering hatch, I
+slept soundly, regardless of the screeching winds and dashing seas
+around me.
+
+Before the sun had gilded the waters the next morning, the wind
+subsided, my breakfast was cooked and eaten, and the boat's prow
+pointed towards the desolate, almost uninhabited, wilderness of
+Deadman's Bay. The low tide annoyed me somewhat, but when the wind
+arose it was fair, and assisted all day in my progress. The marine
+grasses, upon which the turtles feed, covered the bottom; and many
+curious forms were moving about it in the clear water. Six miles from
+Blue Creek I found a low grassy island of several acres in extent, and
+while in its vicinity frequently grounded; but as the water was shoal,
+it was an easy matter to jump overboard and push the lightened boat
+over the reefs.
+
+About noon the wind freshened, and forced me nearer to the shore. As I
+crossed channel-ways, between shoals, the porpoises, which were
+pursuing their prey, frequently got aground, and presented a curious
+appearance working their way over a submarine ridge by turning on
+their sides and squirming like eels. By two o'clock P. M., the wind
+forced me into the bight of Dead-man's Bay. The gusts were so furious
+that prudence demanded a camp, and it was eagerly sought for in the
+region of ominous name and gloomy associations. I had been told that
+there was but one living man in this bay, which is more than twenty
+miles wide. This settler lived two miles up the Steinhatchee River,
+which flows into the bight of Deadman's Bay.
+
+In a certain part of the wilderness of this region a tract of savanna
+and pine lands approached near to the waters of the Gulf, and was
+known as the "Devil's Wood Pile." Superstition has made this much-
+dreaded forest the scene of wild and horrible tales. Fishermen had
+warned me of its dismal shades, and of the wild cattle which roamed
+unheeded through its dreary recesses. Hunters, they said, had entered
+it in strong force, but the wild bulls were so fierce that the bravest
+were driven back, and the dangerous task abandoned. Calves had been
+born in the fastnesses of the "Devil's Wood Pile," and had grown old
+without being branded by their owners, who feared the sharp horns of
+the paternal bulls, the courageous defenders of their native pastures.
+
+Skirting the marshy savannas of His Satanic Majesty's earthly
+dominion, I ascended the Steinhatchee River, when a clearing with a
+rough house and store gave unmistakable signs of the proximity of the
+settler of whom I had heard. I was preparing to make my camp near the
+landing, when the proprietor made his appearance, courteously inviting
+me to his house, where he held me a willing prisoner for three days,
+giving me much information in regard to life in the woods. He had been
+a soldier in the Seminole war, and had passed through varied
+experiences, but had "settled down," as he expressed it, to the red-
+cedar business. Six long years had this man and his wife delved and
+toiled in the desolate region of Deadman's Bay, seeing no one except a
+few cedar-cutters from the interior, who stocked up at his store
+before going into the wilderness.
+
+A great deal of red cedar is cut on the shores and in the back country
+of the Steinhatchee River. The squatters and small farmers, called
+crackers, engaged in this work, are not hampered by the eighth
+commandment, and Uncle Sam has to suffer in consequence, most of the
+timber being cut on United States government reserves. It finds its
+way to the cedar warehouses of merchants in the town of Cedar Keys. I
+have seen whole rafts of this valuable red cedar towed into Cedar Keys
+and sold there, when the parties purchasing knew it to be stolen from
+the government lands. My kind host, Mr. James H. Stephens, was the
+first honest purchaser of this government cedar I had met, for he
+cheerfully and promptly paid the requisite tax upon it, and seemed to
+be endeavoring to protect the property of the government.
+
+From Mr. Stephens's hospitable home I proceeded along the Gulf, past
+Rocky Creek, to Frog Island, a treeless bit of territory where a
+little shanty had been erected by the Coast Survey officers to shelter
+a tide-gauge watcher. The island was now deserted. The coast was
+indeed desolate, and it was a cheering sight in the middle of the
+afternoon to catch a glimpse of signs of the past presence of man on
+Pepperfish Key, an island a little distance from land, rising out of
+the sparkling sea, and crowned with a rough but picturesque shanty,--
+another reminder of the untiring efforts of our Coast Survey Bureau.
+
+A prominent point of land near this islet runs far into the Gulf, and
+is known as Bowlegs Point, supposed to be named after a chief of the
+Seminole Indians, whom I happened to meet many years before I saw the
+point which had the honor of bearing his name. Our meeting was in a
+southern city, but I had the misfortune to appear on the wrong day,
+and lost the honor of being received by that celebrity, as he had
+partaken too freely of the hospitality of his white friends, and could
+only utter, "Big Injuin don't receive! Big Injuin too much drunk!"
+
+As night approached I crossed a large bay, and entered the very shoal
+water off Horse Shoe Point, close to Horse Shoe and Bird islands.
+These pretty islets were green with palmetto and other foliage, while
+upon the firm land of Horse Shoe Point appeared, in the last rays of
+the setting sun, a white sandy strand crowned with a palmetto hut and
+a little white tent. Two finely modelled boats rested upon the beach,
+and five miles out to sea was pictured upon the horizon, like a
+phantom ship, the weird and indistinct outlines of a United States
+Coast Survey schooner. The tide was on the last of the ebb, and
+finding it impossible to get within half a mile of the point, I
+anchored my little craft, built a fire in my bake-kettle, made coffee
+on board, and, quietly turning in for a doze, rested until the tide
+arose, when in the darkness I hauled my boat ashore and awaited the
+"break o' day."
+
+As soon after breakfast as wood-etiquette admitted, I joined the party
+on the beach, and was welcomed to their breakfast-table under the
+shelter of their pretty white tent; learning, much to my satisfaction,
+that I was an expected guest, as my arrival had been looked for some
+days before. This party from the schooner "Ready" was engaged in
+establishing a base-line two miles in length at Horse Shoe Point, and
+was under the charge of Mr. F. Whalley Perkins, who was assisted by
+Messrs. John De Wolf, R. E. Duvall, Jr., and William S. Bond.
+
+The readers of my "Voyage of the Paper Canoe" may recognize in Mr.
+Bond, a member of this party, a gentleman whom I had met on board the
+Coast Survey vessel "Casswell," in Bull's Bay, on the South Carolina
+coast, the previous winter. Only those who have gone through similar
+experiences can imagine what I felt at being thus brought into contact
+with men of intelligence. It was as though a man had been pulling
+through a heavy fog, and suddenly the sun burst forth in all its
+glory. Nature is grand and restful, and green savannas and tranquil
+waters leave fair pictures in our memories; but after all, man is
+eminently a social being, and needs companions of his kind.
+
+[Map of Maria Theresa portage Suwanee-St. Marks.]
+
+My lonely voyage had been so monotonous that this return to the
+society of civilized man had a peculiar effect upon my mind, it being
+in so receptive a state that the most minute incident was noted; and
+the tent with its surroundings, the breakfast-table with its genial
+hosts, the very appearance of the water and the sky, were so indelibly
+impressed upon my memory that they never can be effaced. It is
+fortunate the picture is a pleasant one, as in fact were all the hours
+passed with the gentlemen of the schooner Ready.
+
+On Saturday evening the party prepared to go on board the Ready; and
+as I was to pass Sunday with them, it was deemed prudent to send my
+boat to a safe anchorage-ground on the east side of Horse Shoe Bay,
+where, moored among some islands, my floating home would be protected
+from boisterous seas and covetous fishermen.
+
+Climbing the sides of the Ready, I was filled with admiration for the
+beautiful vessel, the last one built especially for the Coast Survey
+service. The entire craft, with its clean decks and well-arranged
+interior, was a model of order and skilful arrangement. The home-like
+cabin, with its books and various souvenirs of the officers, was in
+strange contrast with the close quarters of my own little boat. The
+day was most pleasantly passed; and as the morrow threatened to be
+windy, Mr. Perkins kindly offered to put me on board the sneak-box
+before sunset. The gig was manned by a stalwart crew of sailors, and
+the chief of the party took the tiller ropes in his hands as we dashed
+away through the waves towards Horse Shoe Bay.
+
+At four in the afternoon we entered the sheltered waters of a
+miniature archipelago close to the coast, and I beheld with a degree
+of affection and satisfaction, experienced only by a boat man, my own
+little craft floating safely at her moorings. The officers gave me a
+sailor's hearty farewell, the boat's crew bent to their oars and were
+soon far in the offing, growing each moment more indistinct while I
+gazed, until a white speck, like a gull resting upon the sea, was the
+only visible sign left me of Mr. Perkins and his party.
+
+My voyage of twenty-six hundred miles was nearly ended. The beautiful
+Suwanee River, from which I had emerged in my paper canoe one year
+before, (when I had terminated a voyage of twenty-five hundred miles
+begun in the high latitude of Canada,) was only a few miles to the
+eastward. Upon reaching its debouchure on the Gulf coast, the termini
+of the two voyages would be united. It would be only a few hours' pull
+from the mouth of the Suwanee to the port of Cedar Keys, whose
+railroad facilities offered to the boat and her captain quick
+transportation across the peninsula of Florida to Fernandina, on the
+Atlantic coast, where kind friends had prepared for my arrival.
+
+While I gazed upon the smooth sea, a longing to pass the night on the
+dark waters of the river of song took possession of me, and
+mechanically weighing anchor, I took up my oars and pulled along the
+coast to my goal. Before sunset, the old landmark of the mouth of the
+Suwanee(the iron boiler of a wrecked blockade-runner) appeared above
+the shoal water, and I began to search for the little hammock, called
+Bradford's Island, where one year before I had spent my last night on
+the Gulf of Mexico with the "Maria Theresa," my little paper canoe.
+Soon it rose like a green spot in the desert, the well-remembered
+grove coming into view, with the half-dead oak's scraggy branches
+peering out of the feathery tops of the palmettos.
+
+Entering the swift current of the river, I gazed out upon the sea,
+which was bounded only by the distant horizon. The sun was slowly
+sinking into the green of the western wilderness. A huge saurian
+dragged his mail-clad body out of the water, and settled quietly in
+his oozy bed. The sea glimmered in the long, horizontal rays of light
+which clothed it in a sheen of silver and of gold. The wild sea-gulls
+winnowed the air with their wings, as they settled in little flocks
+upon the smooth water, as though to enjoy the bath of soft sunlight
+that came from the west. The great forests behind the marshes grew
+dark as the sun slowly disappeared, while palm-crowned hammocks on the
+savannas stood out in bold relief like islets in a sea of green. The
+sun disappeared, and the soft air became heavy with the mists of night
+as I sank upon my hard bed with a feeling of gratitude to Him, whose
+all-protecting arm had been with me in sunshine and in storm.
+
+Lying there under the tender sky, lighted with myriads of glittering
+stars, a soft gleam of light stretched like a golden band along the
+water until it was lost in the line of the horizon. Beyond it all was
+darkness. It seemed to be the path I had taken, the course of my
+faithful boat. Back in the darkness were the ice-cakes of the Ohio,
+the various dangers I had encountered. All I could see was the band of
+shining light, the bright end of the voyage.
+
+[Last night on the Gulf of Mexico.]
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, FOUR MONTHS IN A SNEAK-BOX ***
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