Chapter IV: Part 4

It was dark as pitch and raining hard when we set out: a few minutes found us rumbling along the enclosed bridge, amidst the mingled roar of the rain, our wheels, and the neighbouring falls: the flood passing below us had in the course of the last ten hours risen nearly twenty feet; its rush was awful.

At one of the first houses in the redoubtable border village the stage halted, and a couple of trunks were added to our load; next, a female was handed into the coach, followed by her protector. The proportions of neither could at this time be more than guessed at; and not one syllable was exchanged by any of the parties. In a few minutes we were again under weigh, and plunging through the forest.

We reached Fort-Mitchell about daylight, where formerly a considerable garrison was kept up: the post is now, however, abandoned. Here an unanticipated treat awaited us, for we were compelled to leave our, by this time, tolerably warm stage, for one fairly saturated with the rain that had fallen during the night. Our luggage was pitched into the mud by the coachman, who had only one assistant; so we were fain to lend a hand, instead of standing shivering by, until the trunks were fished out, and disposed of on the new stage. A delay here of an hour and a half enabled me, however, to stroll back, and take a look at the deserted barrack. By this time too the day was well out; the sky broke with a more cheerful look than for some days back had favoured us, and was hailed by us all with great pleasure.

I prepared my 'baccy, and climbed on to the box by the driver, resolute to hold on there as long as possible. For five hours we got along at the rate of four miles an hour, through a forest of pine growing out of a sandy soil, without any undergrowth whatever,--the trees of the noblest height, and just so far apart that horsemen might have galloped in any direction without difficulty. Our driver was a lively intelligent young fellow, having a civil word of inquiry or of greeting for every Indian we encountered: these were by no means numerous however, and they seldom replied by more than a monosyllable, hardly appearing to notice our passage.

The country was in general slightly undulating, but now and then we came to places where I considered us fairly pounded, so abrupt were the declivities and so deep the mud. There are few persons certainly called on for a more frequent display of pluck and coolness than these drivers; I should like some of our flash dragsmen to see one or two bits we got through on this road; not that any mile of it would be considered passable by Pickford's vans, in the condition it was at this season.

We halted for a late breakfast at a solitary log-tavern kept by Americans, where we were received with infinite civility, and where the lady of the _auberge_ was inclined to be amiable and communicative,--not an every-day rencontre in these parts. She informed me that the means they could command for the mere necessaries of living were very limited; that butcher's meat was only attainable at Columbus, and that any attempt to rear a stock of poultry was ridiculous, as the Indians of the country invariably stole every feather.

I congratulated her upon the late arrangements of Government, which afforded her the prospect of speedily being rid of these neighbours; but she seemed to think the day of departure was still far distant, not over five hundred having as yet availed themselves of the offers held out to them, although the greater number of those remaining in the country had already disposed of their allotments to speculators and dissipated the money they had received for their land; having neglected to plant an ear of corn, or prepare the least provision for the present winter,--an improvidence of character peculiar to the natives, and which it was, she said, impossible to guard against without depriving them of all free-agency. Many, as she assured me, of these wretched people were at this time suffering from extreme want, and thousands were fast hastening to the like condition, when, unless aided by Government, they must steal or starve.

This poor couple had, as they told me, dwelt in the Indian nation for the last seven years: they seemed decent, industrious folk, yet their habitation bore few marks of growing comfort; the interstices between the logs were unfilled, through these the wind and rain had both free ingress. Their hope, I imagine, was to secure a good allotment of land amongst the improvident sales made by the Indians: they said the place was a good one, and tolerably healthy, excepting in spring and fall; judging by the looks of the family, I should, however, take their estimation of health to be a very low one.

After breakfast the driver made his appearance, and desired us to come down to the stable and fix ourselves as well as we could on the _Box_. Conceiving he alluded to me, I asked if the stage was ready, but received for reply an assurance that it was not intended the stage should be any longer employed on the service; but that, by the agent's order, the _Box_ was to be taken on from this point, and that those that liked might go on with it, and those that did not might stay behind.

This was pleasant, but all appeared desirous of trying the _Box_. I confess that a mail conveyance bearing a name so novel excited my curiosity; so, sallying forth, I walked down to the starting-place, where, ready-harnessed and loaded, stood literally the _Box_, made of rough fir plank, eight feet long by three feet wide, with sides two feet deep: it was fixed firmly on an ordinary coach-axle, with pole, &c. The mails and luggage filled the box to overflowing, and on the top of all we were left to, as the driver said, "fix our four quarters in as leetle time as possible."

Now this fixing, in any other part of the globe, would have been deemed an impossibility by persons who were paying for a mail conveyance; but in this spot we knew redress was out of the question--the choice lay between the Box and the forest. We, however, enjoyed the travellers' privilege,--grumbled loudly, cursed all scoundrel stage-agents, who "keep the word of promise to the ear and break it to the hope:" we next laughed at our unavailing ill-humour, which the driver bore with the calmness of a stoic, and finally disposed of our persons as we best could; not the least care having been taken in the disposition of the luggage, our sole care, in fact, was to guard against being jolted off by the movement of the machine; any disposition in favour of ease or comfort was quite out of the question.

During the change, our female companion and her proprietor had walked on; and these were yet to be provided for; however, the sun shone brightly; and we found a subject for congratulation in the fact that rain was not likely to be superadded to our miseries. Short-sighted rogues that we are! What a blessing is it, a knowledge of the evils to come is not permitted to cloud our enjoyments in possession! Crack went the whip. "Hold on with your claws and teeth!" cried the driver; the latter, we found, were only to be kept in the jaws by compression: for the former, we had immediate occasion; our first movement unshipped a trunk and carpetbag, together with the band-box of our fair passenger--the latter was crushed flat beneath the trunk, and its contents scattered about the way: exposed to the gaze of the profane, lay the whole _materiel_ of the toilet of this fair maiden of Sodom. We gathered up a lace cap; ditto of cambric; six love epistles, directed to the lady in as many different hands; a musk-box, and several other indescribable articles; together with an ivory-hilted dagger, of formidable proportions, a little sullied, like the maiden's honour, but sharp as a needle. Of the articles enumerated we made a bundle, leaving the shattered band-box on the road. I took the precaution to roll the several billets up in the cambric cap, "guessing" they were not intended for the Colonel's eyes; for so was our male companion styled by the driver.

When we overtook the pair, we made every exertion to dispose of the poor girl, at least securely; who, in truth, merited our cares by the cheerful and uncomplaining spirit she evinced under circumstances full of peril, and ill to bear for the hardiest frame.

Wherever the way permitted a quicker pace than a walk, our condition was really _penible_ to a degree; luckily, this did not arrive often, or last long: to crawl at a snail-pace through the mud was now a relief, since one could retain one's seat without straining every muscle to hold on.

Thus we progressed till the evening advanced, when the clouds gathered thick, and then began to roll towards the north-west in dark threatening masses, right in the teeth of a brisk, fitful breeze.

"We'll get it presently," observed our driver, eyeing the drift; "hot as mush, and 'most as thick, by the looks on 't."

All at once the wind lulled; then it shifted round to the south-east, and blew out in heavy gusts that bent the tall pines together like rushes: upon this change, lightning quickly followed, playing in the distance about the edge of the darkening horizon. For about two hours we were favoured with these premonitory symptoms, and thus allowed ample time for conjecture as to the probable violence of the storm in active preparation.

Some of our Box crew decided as they desired, that it would pass away in threatenings only; others, that all this heralding would be followed by a violent storm, or perhaps by a hurricane. It now occurred to me that, in moments of enthusiasm, encouraged by security, I had expressed myself desirous of witnessing the wild charge of a furious hurricane on the thick ranks of the forest. I confess, however, that, having within the last twenty-four hours witnessed its effects, this desire was considerably abated. With the probable approach of the event, my ardour, like Acres's courage, "oozed away;" and the prospect of such a visitation, whilst exposed on the _Box_, became the reverse of pleasant.

In this uncertainty I resolved to consult our driver's experience; so, coming boldly to the point, demanded,

"I say, driver, do you calculate that we shall be caught in a hurricane?"

"I'll tell you how that'll be exact," replied our oracle: "If the rain comes down pretty, we shan't have no hurricane; if it holds up dry, why, we shall."

Henceforth never did ducks pray more devoutly for rain than did the crew of the _Box_, although without hope or thought of shelter; but, on the contrary, with every possible chance of a break-down or upset, which would have made the forest our bed, but stripped of the "Leaves so green, O!" about which your ballad-mongers love to sing, with their toes over the fender, and the hail pattering melodiously upon the pantiles. At last, our prayers were heard; and we all, I believe, breathed more freely as the gates of the sky opened, and the falling flood subdued and stilled the hot wind whose heavy gusts rushing among the pines had been the reverse of musical.

The thunder-clouds, hitherto confined to the southern horizon, now closed down upon the forest, deepening its already darkness: at a snail's pace we still proceeded, and luckily found an Indian party encamped close by a sort of bridge lying across a swamp it would have been impossible, as the driver assured us, to have crossed without a good light.

From this party we not only procured a large supply of excellent light-wood, but one of the men heartily volunteered to carry a bundle of it, and act as guide; the squaw of the good fellow was in a violent rage with her man for this courtesy, but he bore her ridicule and reviling with perfect composure. Each of our party carried in his hand a large sliver of this invaluable wood; and, thus prepared, marched in front of the Box across this bridge, almost as ticklish as the single hair leading to Mahomet's heaven: it was a quarter of a mile in length, unguarded by a rail or bulwark of the slightest kind, but generally overhung by the rank growth of the jungle through which it was laid.

My New York companions and I had out-walked the Box; but when about half-way across, the rain extinguished our torches, which were rather too slight for the service, when, as we had perceived in our course that many of the planks were unshipped or full of holes, we thought it best to halt for the coming up of our baggage.

I can never forget the effect produced by the blaze of the huge bundle of light-wood borne aloft by our Creek guide: I entirely lost sight of the discomfort of our condition in the pleasure I derived from the whole scene.

Let the reader imagine a figure dressed in a deep-yellow shirt reaching barely to the knees, the legs naked; a belt of scarlet wampum about the loins, and a crimson and dark-blue shawl twisted turban-fashion round the head; with locks of black coarse hair streaming from under this, and falling loose over the neck or face: fancy one half of such a figure lighted up by a very strong blaze, marking the nimble tread, the swart cold features, sparkling eye, and outstretched muscular arms of the red-man,--the other half, meantime, being in the blackest possible shadow: whilst following close behind, just perceptible through wreaths of thick smoke, moved the heads of the leading horses; and, over all, flashed at frequent intervals red vivid lightning; one moment breaking forth in a wide sheet, as though an overcharged cloud had burst at once asunder; the next, descending in zigzag lines, or darting through amongst the tall pines and cypress trees; whilst the quick patter of the horses' hoofs were for a time heard loudly rattling over the loose hollow planks, and then again drowned wholly by the crash of near thunder.

Never in my life have I looked upon a scene which holds so vivid a place within my memory: the savage solitude of the jungle, the violence of the storm, together with the pictorial accessories by which the whole picture was kept in movement, fixed the attention, and can never, I think, be forgotten by those who witnessed it.

Having cleared the swamp, we took our places on the Box, still lighted by our friendly Creek; and in about half an hour gained the log-house where the mail agent to whose considerate order we owed our change of vehicle, and consequent added discomfort, dwelt: here, however, a clean comfortable meal of tea, chops, fowls, and hot bread of every denomination, awaited us.

My first movement on jumping off the Box was to lay hands on the Indian guide, and to proffer to him a flask of cognac, which had proved of singular comfort to the party: to my great surprise, he at once declined tasting it; smiling and pointing his finger to his forehead, he gravely repeated half a dozen words, which a by-stander of the nation readily translated to mean,--"Whisky water make man not eat,--bad for sore head."

I agreed with this as a general rule, but at the same time begged my Creek to look on old brandy as an exception, when used medicinally; this being duly interpreted, the Indian laughed heartily, but abided by his rejection of the consolation. During our parley he took the red and blue shawl from off his head, wrung it as dry as possible, refolded it, and then adjusted his turban with infinite care, preparing forthwith to be gone: he did not depart without a slight gratuity, and took with him our best wishes. This was a fine open-countenanced fellow, middle-sized, and firmly built; he was, in fact, one of the few really good-looking aborigines I have met. As he was departing from the house, I asked if he did not require a bundle of light-wood to show him his road home; he laughed, and replied, "No, he was no waggon; no fear of him falling into the swamp."

Away he dashed into the mud at a quick trot, with bent knees and folded arms, anxious, I fancied, to appease his squaw; since it was contrary to her desire that he had ventured on this service, and not, as the coachman assured us, without receiving much abuse for his foolishness, as his "gentle ladye" termed this courtesy.

Here we learned that the mail preceding us had been overturned into a stream from off the bridge we had next to pass, and lay there yet; luckily no passenger was in it at the time: our new driver added, that he had no expectations of getting the coach through, but he was bound to try. So wearied were we, that any or all of the party would have been well contented to stay here; but no place could be given us to sleep in, and until the next coach passed, no means could be procured to forward us to Montgomery; we had no choice therefore but to push on with the mail and meet our fortune.

From this hour, midnight, until daylight, we were generally on foot; the driver in one or two instances refusing to advance until even the poor girl got out, assuring us that he would not hazard the young woman's life, however hard it was for her to face the night and the roads, frequently over knee-deep.

We had a plentiful supply of fire-wood: we were able, and, I will add, willing men; and by dint of great personal exertion, added to an excellent team, and a judicious driver, we brought the coach through all difficulties, arriving at Montgomery at six in the morning: thus completing a journey of ninety miles in thirty-two hours; and having paid well to be permitted to assist in getting the mail-bag through roads which, for the next few days, remained, I believe, utterly impassable, even under the circumstances I have here attempted to describe.

At Montgomery we found a wretched inn, with no possibility of procuring anything save liquor; but we had the good luck to learn that in a couple of hours a steam-boat was departing for Mobile, down the Alabama: we gave up the stage therefore, and sallied out of this den of a hotel for the steamer Carolina. This movement was lucky, as the stage-route to Mobile was, as I afterwards learned, as bad as the worst we had come through; all the late coaches had met with accidents, and the added rain of the last twenty-four hours would, it was presumed, render it impassable.

I was so wearied that I saw little of this place but a muddy river, whose banks were strewn with bales of cotton awaiting the means of transport. I could hardly keep my eyes open till I had swallowed my breakfast: a clean-looking berth was assigned me, and, turning in, I remained oblivious to the world and its cares until after noon of the following day, when I awoke fresh as a bird and hungry as an ostrich. I was told several attempts had been made to rouse me, but they were unavailing; I answered, but slept on: for my own part, of this twenty-four hours of life I protest utter unconsciousness. I found that I had slept faster than the boat had progressed, for we were but fifty miles off our starting-place, having a certain portion of freight to take in at each plantation, according to previous engagements.

Down this noble stream we journeyed for four days and nights; in clear weather making tolerably good way, but often compelled by thick fogs and drift timber to lay our ship alongside the forest, and make fast to some large tree. Occasionally the stream would cant our head suddenly, and, before the helm could be shifted, rush we went right stem on into the nearest grove of willows, with such a crashing and rattling as made one wonder at first what the deuce was the row. In one instance, whilst at dinner, a huge branch burst open a side door, and nearly impaled a French conjurer of celebrity on his way to New Orleans. We were nearly a hundred souls on board, and each day our limits grew more and more circumscribed; for the side galleries were filled in with bales of cotton, the windows blocked up, at last the very doorways, all but one: lights were burned in the cabin day and night: the Carolina became, in fact, a floating mass of cotton, which, had the season been dry, one unlucky spark might have set in a blaze--an accident by no means unknown; luckily, the rain continued to fall more or less daily, as is usual at this season.

Our passengers were principally composed of the planters whose cotton had already been shipped; they were a rough but merry set of fellows, and many of them exceedingly intelligent; kinder or better-disposed men I never met: for their own health's sake I could have desired to see the bar less prosperous; their visits to that quarter were over frequent: not that an instance of inebriety occurred on board, but the stimulant, together with the quantity of tobacco they use, must, I am sure, be ruinous to both health and enjoyment. I found most of them complaining of dyspepsia, but had much difficulty to induce them to admit the possibility of their own habits being at least as much the cause as the climate.

The cotton-grounds along the whole cultivated line of this river are rich beyond conception; fields of a mile square were here just picked, and yet white as snow from the after-growth. Many of them would have been worth re-picking had hands been procurable; on every side fresh clearings are going on, and the produce next season will be greatly increased in consequence of the stimulus derived from the high prices of this year.

A night scene, whilst lying beneath some of the noble bluffs towering above the river, was often worthy the delay we paid for it. One or two of these heights were two hundred feet perpendicular, or nearly so: from the summit there is laid down in a slanting direction a slide or trough of timber, wide enough to admit of the passage of a cotton bale; at the bottom of the bluff this slide rests upon a platform of loose planks, alongside of which the boat is moored; the cotton-bag is guided into the slide at top, and thence, being launched, is left to find its own way to the bottom; if it keeps the slide until it strikes the platform, communicating with the vessel by a plane inclined according to circumstances, it is carried on board by its own impetus and the spring of the planks; but it often chances that through meeting a slight inequality on the slide, or from some unknown cause, the bale bounces off in its passage, either sticking amongst the trees by the way, or rolling headlong into the river. At any jutting intermediate stand of the precipice, negroes are stationed to keep up the huge fires which afford light for the operation, as well as to forward such bales as may stick by the run: these black half-naked devils, suspended in midair as it were, laughing, yelling, or giving to each other confused directions, make the forest ring to the water's edge; whilst through this occasional din swells the wild chorus of the men upon the summit, who are regularly engaged rolling the bales from the near barn to the slide.

Add to all, the hissing sound of the spare steam, the blaze of the great fires, and the crackling of the trees which feed them, with the many strange figures presented on all sides,--and a wilder grouping imagination cannot well conceive.

At Clairborne, an elevation rising boldly from the river at least three hundred feet, we took in the last bale of cotton the Carolina could stow: the water was now level with her gunwale; indeed, amidships it was flowing over. We had still one hundred and fifty miles to perform of our journey in darkness, with upwards of a thousand bales of cotton on board: such a strange motley scene as our cabin presented at bed-time it would be hard to describe; our provisions held out pretty well however, and all were disposed good-humouredly to bear our lot with Christian patience.

_Tuesday, Dec. 30th._--We reached Mobile, having come five hundred miles down the Alabama since Christmas-day. Upon inquiry for our mail, I found it was still due, as well as the two immediately preceding it; I had, therefore, lost no time by making choice of the Carolina, and had possibly escaped broken bones: the distance by land, I ought to observe, is from Montgomery only about one hundred miles.

I here was received by my friends, H----n and M----e; and on this day, at the house of the latter gentleman, once more sat down to a truly comfortable dinner, in company with our worthy Consul, and a few other gentlemen. I was detained here for two days, there being no steamer going across the lake to New Orleans: these two days were passed most delightfully, driving Mr. H----n about the beautiful forest paths which surround this city; the weather was divine, and flowers of great beauty yet in abundance.

The evening of the 31st I passed with Mrs. B----r, where in a glass of good poteen we drank a good bye to the year 1834, and a welcome to the stranger.

JOURNAL.

_January 1st, 1835._--Still detained at Mobile: the sun shines powerfully, and the sky is pure and clear. After breakfast lounged about the very clean streets of this pretty city; then procured a neat turn-out, and drove Mr. H----n, he acting as pilot, as far as Choctaw Point, whence we had an extensive view of the Bay of Mobile with the south-west coast of Florida. Our way lay through a forest of pine and oak; many little rivulets crossed our path, the sides of which were decked by a hundred different shrubs and plants, from the magnificent grandiflora, here growing eighteen and twenty feet high, to the lowly rose: the vegetation is rich, winter though it is; the beauty of the spring amongst these noble woods I can only imagine at present, but hope, before I again look northward, to know more of that season.

The presence of the ghostly-looking cedar, with its funereal draperies of unwholesome moss, so common throughout Carolina and Georgia, is here unknown; the forest is a series of regular avenues pillared by the loftiest pines; and there is no undergrowth, except in little dingles through which a brook may creep its way: the rides in this vicinity are therefore most attractive. At one point during our ramble we suddenly came to an abrupt sandy hill, at whose foot ran a sparkling little rivulet, in the midst of which one of the aborigines stood in a state of nature, raising water in the hollow of a gourd, and laving with it his coal-black shining hair. As we descended, he stood erect and looked towards us, but without exhibiting the least symptom of either surprise or embarrassment: his form was light but perfectly proportioned, with small thorough-bred knees and feet; he looked like a new bronze cast from the antique: the graceful repose of the attitude he maintained during our approach was perfect. Mr. H----n asked him if he was Choctaw; he replied to the question by a slow nod of the head and a brief 'yah!'

Continuing our ride along the sea-bank, we arrived at a large establishment where oil is extracted from the seed of the cotton-plant: this is a recent discovery, and likely to prove a most profitable one to the proprietors of this mill.

In the afternoon, accompanied Mr. H----n to the northern extremity of the city, where we found broad streets already marked out: plunging deep into the forest, many scattered houses of brick were springing up on sites where barely trees enough had been cut down to afford elbow-room for the builders.

_January 2nd._--Quitted Mobile on the box of the mail for Portersville: our way lay over Spring Hill and through the Pine-barren; the road was a track cleared by the woodman's axe; the stumps were not as yet macadamized by time, still the horses picked their way amongst them at a very fair pace. At a single log-house, situated about mid-way, we pulled up to change horses; here too I perceived, by the array of a table placed in the open hall, dinner was provided. On my asking the landlord, who was a countryman, how soon dinner would be ready, he replied with a friendly confidential air, "Almost immediately, but unless you're cruel sharp-set, I'd recommend _you_ not to mind it, sir."

I took the hint thus disinterestedly given, and walked forward, passing over one of the primitive bridges common in this section of the country, where swamps and watercourses are frequent; these are commonly overlaid also, as far as may be necessary, by a back-wood railway; that is, by trunks of trees packed closely side by side, over which the machine is dragged at a trot: in Canada this sort of road is termed a corduroy.

Half an hour's start of our mail, whose pace was not over five or six miles per hour, enabled me to prolong my walk as far as I chose, and I enjoyed my freedom greatly; the perfect solitude of the scene; the absence of all trace of man, excepting the one narrow and seemingly interminable track, whose unvarying line might be traced as far as eye could reach; not a sound could be heard, only the low sighing of the breeze as it swept over the ocean of graceful pines whose spiry heads appeared to kiss the sky. In ten minutes after quitting the log-hut where the coach rested, I was in fact plunged in a solitude as complete as it was beguiling.

If you by any chance turned about to look back upon the line you had trod, or muse upon the scene, the only remembrance of your true course was the sun; and indeed more than once, as time wore on, did I halt struck with a sudden apprehension that I might have turned upon my steps, and it required some moments of consideration to reassure me. At length, seating myself upon a fallen pine within the shadow of a tall magnolia, I resolved to abide with patience the coming up of the coach.

Resting here, strange fancies connected with the forest and its savage denizens came thronging upon my mind. Here, within a very few years, the Choctaw alone had wandered, and the only path was the scarce traceable line leading to the village of his tribe. Where are these hunters now? gone swiftly away, borne like autumn's leaves, upon the irrepressible flood of enterprise and intelligence which is taming the wilderness with a rapidity Europe has yet no adequate appreciation of. The hunter and his prey have alike been scattered or rooted wholly out; the forest still remains to witness for their existence, and, although assailed in every quarter, the woodman's axe ringing from east to west, from north to south, it yet appears to defy the activity of its assailants.

So rapid is vegetation in this climate, so prompt is Nature to repair any waste in this favoured domain of hers, that even where places have been completely bared by the axe or by the whirlwind, a very few years of repose clothes them once more, a luxuriant growth of forest, vigorous and healthful, spreads rapidly over the waste, asserting its ancient claim, and eagerly repossessing itself of its heritage.

We reached Portersville at four o'clock, having been just six hours coming thirty-two miles: here we found the Government steamer, the Watchman, and five passengers, who had left Mobile on the 31st ultimo. They had been detained here two days, living in a log-house; their only amusement watching the ducks and snipe whirling in search of fresh feeding-ground over the dreary waters of Lac Pontchartrain.

Over a long fragile pier, carried far into the lake on piles, and breached in fifty places, we gained the deck of the Watchman, and in five minutes after were heading towards the setting sun, whose rays, brilliant though they were, failed to invest with cheerfulness this desolate, half-drowned land.

I walked to and fro upon the ample deck of the vessel until my limbs were fatigued and my eyes sick of the eternal sameness of the scene; and then sought my berth, a very comfortable one, where I lay till roused next morning with the intelligence that we were before the railroad.

_Jan. 3rd._--On landing, we found the six o'clock train had just departed; we were afforded therefore half an hour to look about us. Here is a very large hotel, during the summer much frequented by the citizens of New Orleans, the offices connected with the railroad depot, three or four little stores, together with a small range of dirty huts, including two or three cut-throat-looking sheds, bearing inscribed over the entrance, in large, ill-assorted characters, the word _Tire_; which immediately under is translated, for the benefit of country gentlemen, into "_Shutting Galery_." These little indications serve to remind the stranger that he is now in the land of the "_duello_," where each "captain of compliments" is reputed for "the very butcher of a silk button," and "fights as you sing prick-song,--rests me his minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom."

In little more than half an hour the cars returned from the city, and in about thirty minutes we were whirled under the covered depot, where I was fortunate enough to get a hackney-coach, in which I proceeded at once to Mr. H----n's house in _Rue Bourgogne_, where I was received by his nephews with a heartiness of welcome that made me in one moment feel that I was at home.

The whole of this day was cloudy and cold; a good deal of rain had fallen during the night, and consequently the streets were nearly impassable for carriages: the side-walks were, however, very well kept; and I took a short stroll about the American quarter, finding on my return that already, with the prompt courtesy which distinguishes this country, several gentlemen had left cards of compliment and invitation.

_Sunday, 4th._--A lovely day. Mr. B----e having planned a ride as far as the lake, I saw after breakfast three or four good-looking horses arrive, caparisoned with showy, coloured, housings and _demi-pique_ Spanish saddles: shortly after, their masters appeared, and off we pushed through mud knee-deep; we soon gained the shell road however, and found it as good as the streets of Mobile, hard, smooth, and binding as lime. It is a pity, as this material is to be procured in abundance, that it is not more generally applied: paving the streets with heavy stones, which soon sink deep in the alluvial soil, is, I fear, likely, without vast outlay, to prove labour lost; besides that these have to be imported from the North or from England, not a pebble existing here over the whole surface of the country.

At five o'clock, met a large party at dinner at Mr. B----'s; Madame B----e, a lady of the country, doing the honours with that vivacity and grace which is said to distinguish the French creoles of New Orleans: the dinner was excellent, a mixture of English and French cooking, both good, and admirably served; whilst for wines, we had Chateau Margarot of 1825, with frozen champagne, and Madeira, such as can only be produced in this country. The dinner party, with the exception of a couple of creole French gentlemen, was composed of my own countrymen; and little was here to remind one of a strange land, save the plates of clear ice sparkling on the table, and the faces of ebony shining behind our chairs.

NEW ORLEANS.

AMERICAN THEATRE.

On Monday the 5th I attended rehearsal at the American Theatre, and was pleased to find it a large, well-proportioned house, with three rows of boxes, a pit, or _parquette_, as it is termed, subdivided as in the French Theatre: each seat is numbered, and, being taken at the box-office, is secured to the purchaser for any part of the evening. The company was a very tolerable one; and in the person of a nephew of Mr. W. Farren's, I found an adjunct of much importance to me--an excellent old man.

My next anxiety was about my audience, not its numbers, as I was assured every seat in the house was disposed of, and this as far as could be allowed, for every night I might perform; but I felt solicitous with respect to its character and composition, of which I had received very discouraging reports. I kept however my apprehensions to myself, resolved to do my best after my own fashion, and abide the result as I best might.

On Tuesday I made my _debut_; and never was man more agreeably surprised than myself when, after making my bow, I for the first time took a rapid survey of the aspect of the house: the _parquette_ and dress-boxes were almost exclusively filled by ladies, _coiffees_ with the taste which distinguishes Frenchwomen in every country, and which becomes peculiarly striking here, where are to be seen the finest heads of dark hair in the world; many wore bonnets of the latest Parisian fashion, and all were more dressed than it is usual to be at theatres in America. This attention to costume on the part of the ladies, added to their occupying the pit, obliges the gentlemen to adopt a correspondent neatness; and hence it occurs that, when the New Orleans theatre is attended by the belles of the city, it presents decidedly the most elegant-looking auditory of this country.

For myself, I found them in manner equal to their appearance; a greater degree of repose and gentility of demeanour I never remember to have noticed in any mixed assembly of any place. So much for report, which informed me I should find the American house here filled by noisy planters from the up-country and boisterous Mississippi boatmen. Let me however add, that my personal friends assure me a class of families attend my performances that is but rarely seen within this theatre, which the creoles do not usually patronize; and that this extreme decorum and exclusive appearance are assured by the places being all secured by families.

This may in some sort be true; but at most can only apply to the _parquette_, dress, and private boxes; the mixed population is still here; and, after nightly observation, rendered acute by interest and anxiety, I must assert that, taken generally, I do not desire to meet an audience whose behaviour more decidedly justifies the terms respectable and intelligent.

The least prolonged tumult of approbation even is stilled by a word to order: and when it is considered that here are assembled the wildest and rudest specimens of the Western population, men owning no control except the laws, and not viewing these over submissively, and who admit of no _arbiter elegantiarum_ or standard of fine breeding, it confers infinite credit on their innate good feeling, and that sense of propriety which here forms the sole check on their naturally somewhat uproarious jollity.

Let me add, that my first engagement was for twelve nights, four nights per week; that I, on my return from Natchez, acted a like number, with equal patronage; and that on no one night was I afforded an occasion of making an exception to the opinion I have above honestly recorded, certainly with greater pleasure, because in asserting the truth I feel I am at the same time performing an act of justice.

FRENCH THEATRE.

The Opera, or French Theatre, which I visited several times, is an exceedingly well-appointed, handsome place, with a company very superior to the American one, and having its pieces altogether better mounted. It is to this house the creole families chiefly resort, as well indeed as the American ladies of the best class, most of whom are good French scholars; and within this _salle_ on any Sunday evening may be seen eyes as bright and forms as delicately proportioned as in _la belle France_ itself.

The building, whereof this theatre forms a part only, is a very extensive one, having as a part of its establishment a large ball-room, with supper-rooms attached; and, in addition to this, a variety of hells, where gambling nourishes in full practice, from the _salon_ where the wealthy Creole plays his five-hundred-dollar _coup_, to the obscure den where _roulette_ does its work, with a pace slower but as sure, at the rate of half-dollar stakes. I have looked in on these places during the performances, and never without finding them full.

Such establishments, ruinous and detestable under whatever guise or in whatsoever place they are permitted, become doubly dangerous when placed under the same roof and carried on in obvious connexion with what should be at all times an innocent recreation, and which ought and might be one of a refined and moral tendency.

The scenes of desperation and distress which gambling yearly gave rise to in this place amongst a people whose temperament is peculiarly excitable, coupled with a recent and terrible _exposee_, have at length roused the legislature of Louisiana to release themselves from the stigma of owing any portion of their revenue to a tax which legalised this worst species of robbery and assassination. This very session I had the gratification of seeing a bill brought into the House, and promptly carried through it, making gambling felony, and subjecting its followers to corresponding punishment.

The French Theatre will henceforward, I hope for ever, be freed from the disgrace which such an association necessarily reflected upon the drama and all concerned with it.

I had the pleasure of meeting at a large dinner-party at my hospitable friend's, Col. D----'s, the gentleman who brought this bill into the House, and never did I drink to any man's health with more perfect sincerity: may he live to see his bill render gambling unknown in his country, and to be looked upon as its greatest benefactor!

NEW ORLEANS.

JOURNAL.

From the 6th of January till the 29th, the weather continued uniformly fine, but very hot; the mercury in our drawing-room ranging from 70 to 75 degrees, whilst in the sun the heat precludes violent exercise.

_29th._--The morning sultry to a degree; continued so until noon, when the wind suddenly rose until it blew a perfect hurricane from about S.W., the rain meantime descending in a deluge; the streets were quickly changed into the beds of rivers, whilst peals of thunder kept rolling from one quarter of the heavens to another, heralded by incessant flashes of red lightning of the most vivid kind. I had promised to dine with a family whose dwelling was in the next street; but to have gotten thither without a canoe was out of the question. About six o'clock P.M. it cleared off, the wind veering round to the north-east, when it became cold; the glass falling to 45 degrees.

_February 1st._--Weather continues fine; clear, sunny days, but agreeably cold, with slight frosts each night. Musquitoes have disappeared, although I yet keep under a net at night by way of making assurance "doubly sure." The vegetation fine and uninjured; the orange-trees on Mr. H----'s plantation, where I this day dined, all alive, throwing out fresh shoots in every direction; in two days the roads too have become dry and hard, with dust in clouds; the new moon sets in well for a continuance of fine weather.

_Monday, 2nd._--Attended to see Governor White installed in office. The city artillery roared, and the ceremony was made brilliant by the presence of the staff, as well of the regular American army stationed here as of the numerous local corps of the city; of these volunteers, were officers of all arms exceedingly well-appointed; they had also a more military air, and were better set up, than their fellow-soldiers of the North. The French citizen, in fact, acquires a more soldierly appearance, and takes greater pains to fit himself for these holiday doings, than either John Bull or brother Jonathan. A great number of ladies also graced the hall of assembly with their presence, and were, as on all public occasions, privileged persons. "_Place aux dames_" rendered the possibility of one of the masculine gender's approach all but impracticable.

Certainly in no country is there such universal and exclusive homage extended to the softer sex: no matter at what expense of his convenience, or circumscription of privilege, man must give way on all occasions where the ladies may have a caprice to indulge in, or any curiosity to gratify.

Dined with Colonel D----k, and sat next to a fine old Irishman, General M'L----n, who had passed some of sixty years in Louisiana, yet preserved his brogue and his ruddy complexion as freshly as though the time had been spent on the hills of Wicklow; he had arrived here under the Spanish government when a young man, and spoke of all the changes since as events of yesterday.

_Tuesday, 3rd._--A curious scene began this morning at the State House. Mr. Grimes, one of the late candidates for the Senate of the United States, encountering Mons. La Branche, the Speaker of the Louisianian legislature, in the hall of the Senate, according to report, struck him with his whip on account of some unsettled dispute, and in return received a bullet from the Speaker's pistol, which took effect in the breast of the great-coat he wore, but failed to penetrate it. Mr. Grimes, upon this, fired his pistol, loaded with ball and buck-shot, at Mons. La Branche, wounding him slightly in the hand, and leaving one or two of the conscript fathers, standing near, in doubt whether they were shot or no, so disgustingly close was the whiz of the passing lead.

Dined with Messrs. T----n, where the affray of the morning was duly discussed; some of the parties present alleging that the quarrel arose from political, others from personal motives. It appeared, however, that Mons. La Branche, after retiring until his hand was dressed, immediately returned to the hall, and resumed his duties as the presiding judge of the highest deliberative assembly of this great State; whilst, within an hour, Mr. Grimes, who is an able advocate in great practice, was pleading a cause on which he was retained in one of the civil courts.

The duel is here a matter of such frequent recurrence, that any event of the kind hardly excites an hour's notice; the question is merely "which of them got off?" and with that inquiry the affair usually ends. A Court of Honour, having for its end and aim the amelioration of this system, if not its suppression, has been instituted this very year, and pretty generally subscribed to amongst the young Creoles; but I believe its regulations have not proved very efficacious.

At nine o'clock P.M. left Mr. T----s; and walking to the near Levee, got on board the Superior, bound for Cincinnati, but chartered to stop at Natchez. The night was clear, but by far the coldest we have yet had here: the crown of the Levee, thronged with its busy crews, was lighted up by numerous fires, reflecting the hundred great steam-boats loading and unloading here, whilst the air resounded with the cheer of the negro gangs, given in unison to a few low simple notes, but full of wild animation, and, to my thinking, exceeding musical.

As we cast off into the midst of the wide stream, the whole bank of the Levee, with the warehouses bordering upon it, looked as though illuminated.

_Wednesday,4th._--Up early in my little stateroom, where I have a small French bed, a table, a chair, with a sash-window that opens on to the gallery going round the boat. I find my quarters exceedingly comfortable; but the vibration, owing to the power of the engines, renders it difficult to read, and puts all writing quite out of the question.

The river banks are well cleared and very thickly populated, exclusively by French. Passing Donaldsonville, where the _bayou la Fourche_ quits the main river to fall into the Mexican Gulf farther to the southward, we saw the capitol designed for the use of the legislature of Louisiana, but which, after being tenanted for a single session, was left for New Orleans, and is now falling to ruin.

Many of the planters' seats are large, well-looking buildings, but they appear neglected and badly kept; indeed the climate renders it very difficult to keep a house in decent order unless it is inhabited all the year round, in which case it stands a chance of as many changes of tenants as a Turkish caravansary. These lands have a reputation for prodigious fertility; at one place, belonging to a General Hampton, two schooners were loading molasses: here I was informed a thousand slaves find employment, bringing in to their employer an enormous revenue.

At Baton Rouge a military post of the United States' army, we came upon the first rise in the banks: this place looks over a noble reach and bay; the barracks appeared roomy and outwardly in good order.

We frequently drew alongside the forest for a supply of wood, which the proprietors keep ready prepared in piles for the use of boats, being paid for it by the cord. The consumption is of course enormous, and in any other region would remind one that a scarcity must speedily ensue; here, however, the supply appears exhaustless.

I always landed at these places; and above Baton Rouge, where the French population is less general, I commonly found the labouring woodcutters to be North-country men, or from the western part of Michigan. They informed me that they can clear fifty dollars a month for the seven months they can work in this region, and that four or five seasons are sufficient to enable a saving man to buy a farm in the West.

These men uniformly agreed that, on returning home, they sorely missed the water of the Mississippi. "I'll tell you, sir," said one very intelligent fellow, within whose hut I walked to light my cigar; "there's no pith in any other water after one's bin' used to drink o' this; it seems as though a man couldn't work on water alone anywhere else."

Whether this is fancy, or whether it arises from the regular and abstemious habits they generally observe whilst working here, I cannot tell; but the notion I found was universal throughout Louisiana.

I had frequent applications for a charge of fine powder for priming; game, as they informed me, (that is, deer,) being in abundance. I was greatly pleased with many of these men; they are hardy, industrious fellows, and suffer much during the season of their stay from bad quarters and bad diet: they said, nevertheless, it was a good place to come down to, but spoke with infinite dislike of the dirk and rifle practice of the neighbourhood.

Whilst passing Fort Adams after dark, our boat was hailed, signal fires lighted, and at length rifles fired to bring us to; but all in vain, our pilot held on his way, unheeding these pressing invitations. On my observing to him that I conceived it a little hard not to touch for passengers when apparently so near to them, he informed me that the river was in rapid rise, and a current setting on that shore that might ground the boat.

_Friday, 6th._--My servant awoke me with the tidings that our voyage was complete, and we at Natchy-under-hill, where all things destined for the upper region are landed. It was about six o'clock A.M., the rain coming down merrily, when I took leave of the Superior and her captain, much pleased with both, and landed ankle-deep in choice mud.

Three or four negroes followed with my baggage to the nearest store, where I got a two-horse car, or dray, just put upon duty for the day. In common with one or two other persons, I engaged the machine; and packing my trunks and myself upon it, was dragged up the steep bluff, and so made my first entrance into Natchez in a right Thespian conveyance, but which assuredly required all the authority of antiquity to make it respectable.

At noon the wind chopped about to north-east; and off went rain and cloud, to be succeeded by a cold as cuttingly severe as any I ever encountered in the North. Before dark the mud was converted into solid ridges, and thick ice coated each astonished puddle.