Chapter V: Part 5

My chamber, the only single one in the house, was furnished with appliances that, in summer, must have rendered it delightful; facing the east, and opening on the road, were a door and window, neither of them particularly close-jointed; and, exactly _vis-a-vis_, another door, with a keyhole as large as the bore of a four-pounder; this was flanked by a third, which in its turn was set to by a huge open chimney; and, all combined, they rendered my quarters more airy than was at this crisis agreeable.

_Saturday, 7th._--Cold and wind unabated: walked in search of the theatre, and found it was not in the town, but standing about half a mile off, like a solitary vidette, in a grave-yard too! Got through the rehearsal of "Born to Good Luck," and inwardly resolved that the best fortune that could befall any player on this day would be to get off acting for the night. This was in due time happily accomplished without stir of mine; for the oil for our lamplighter being just landed, after the night's frost, from the deck of the Abeona steamer, refused to burn at a short notice; a resolution which, when communicated to me, I very much applauded, declining with many thanks the manager's kindly tendered substitute of candles; the appearance was therefore of necessity put off, and the audience, as well as myself, granted a respite until Monday.

Never did I feel cold so penetrating; they say, however, that it never lasts longer than a couple of days, and is now more severe than is usual; we therefore know the worst, and may live in hopes.

_Sunday, 8th._--Undertook, in company with a Boston friend, to walk out to the seat of Colonel Wilkins, where I was invited to dine; a conveyance had been sent for me; I was, however, desirous to see if exercise would warm me, and set off under the guidance of my Yankee companion, in whose good company I had the year before taken many an excursion through the pleasant lanes of New England.

We, in the first place, overshot our mark; then, in trying across a country gloriously broken and thickly timbered with a variety of trees, we lost our way, keeping Mrs. Wilkins' excellent fare at the fire, and ourselves away from it, some two hours longer than was needed.

Despite of a cart-load of blazing wood, it was impossible to keep comfortably warm: the wine too partook of the common discomfort, and was cold and cloudy; the champagne alone was fit to drink, being sufficiently iced without much trouble.

THE THEATRE.

_Monday, 9th._--The weather a little milder: took a gallop into the country; dined early, and about six walked out of town to the theatre, preparatory to making my bow. The way was without a single passenger, and not a creature lingered about the outer doors of the house: the interior I found in the possession of a single lamplighter who was leisurely setting about his duties; of him I inquired the hour of beginning, and learnt that it was usual to commence about seven or eight o'clock--a tolerable latitude; time was thus afforded me for a ramble, and out I sallied, taking the direction leading from the town. I had not proceeded far when I met several men riding together; a little farther on, another group, with a few ladies in company, passed leisurely by, all capitally mounted: others, I perceived, were fast approaching from the same direction. It now occurred to me that these were the persons destined to form the country quota of my auditory: upon looking back, my impression was confirmed by seeing them all halting in front of the rural theatre, and fastening their horses to the neighbouring rails and trees.

I now hastened back to take a survey of the scene, and a very curious one it was: a number of carriages were by this time arriving from the town, together with long lines of pedestrians; the centre of the wide road was however prominently occupied by the horsemen; some, dismounted, abided here the coming of their friends, or exchanged greetings with such of these as had arrived but were yet in their stirrups, and a finer set of men I have rarely looked upon; the general effect of their costume, too, was picturesque and border-like: they were mostly clad in a sort of tunic or frock, made of white or of grass-green blanketing, the broad dark-blue selvage serving as a binding, the coat being furnished with collar, shoulder-pieces, and cuffs of the same colour, and having a broad belt, either of leather or of the like selvage; broad-leafed white Spanish hats of beaver were evidently the _mode_, together with high leather leggings, or cavalry boots and heavy spurs. The appointments of the horses were in perfect keeping with those of these cavaliers; they bore _demi-pique_ saddles, with small massive brass or plated stirrups, generally shabracs of bear or deer-skin, and in many instances had saddle-cloths of scarlet or light blue, bound with broad gold or silver lace.

The whole party having come up, and their horses being hitched in front of the building to their satisfaction, they walked leisurely into the theatre, the men occupying the pit: whilst in the boxes were several groups of pretty and well-dressed women. The demeanour of these border gallants was as orderly as could be desired; and their enjoyment, if one might judge from the heartiness of their laughter, exceeding.

After the performance there was a general muster to horse; and away they rode, in groups of from ten to twenty, as their way might lie together. These were the planters of the neighbouring country, many of whom came nightly to visit the theatre, and this from very considerable distances; forming such an audience as cannot be seen elsewhere in this hackney-coach age; indeed, to look on so many fine horses, with their antique caparisons, piquetted about the theatre, recalled the palmy days of the Globe and Bear-garden.

JOURNAL.

_Tuesday, 10th._--Cold, cold; mercury below zero; every one complaining of the unusual duration of a temperature rarely encountered here. I am fast screwing my relaxed fibres up to their ancient Northern pitch of hardihood, and begin to face this nipping air with pleasure. Out early for a long ride: towards noon the wind shifted a little to the west, when it became perceptibly milder, the sun shining brightly and the sky cloudless. Dined in the country at Mr. M----'s; where I had a long conversation with Colonel W----s on the former and present condition of these frontier states, and derived much in the way both of information and amusement from this intelligent and well-informed gentleman.

_Wednesday, 11th._--Wind north-west; sun warm; day glorious; in saddle early, and away to the forest. In the afternoon visited the plantation of Colonel B----n, where I saw three or four very likely racers at exercise; amongst others, a horse called Hard-heart, whose time for a mile, they declare here, has never been matched. The passion for the turf is, I find, yet stronger here, if that be possible, than in the North. One or two persons are this very year going to Europe for the sole purpose of importing horses of high reputation: a larger sort of broodmare would, I think, be of more service to them.

In whatever direction I ride here, I find the country beautifully diversified; a succession of hill and dale, with timber-trees of the noblest kind. The magnolia grandiflora is found in groves absolutely, and growing from forty to fifty feet high.

This night, after the play, an old acquaintance, Mr. Howard Payne, came to see me: he had just descended the Mississippi from St. Louis; his object in travelling being, as he informed me, to obtain subscriptions for a journal he purposes to establish in London; its object, to cultivate and sustain an exchange of literary opinions, and a more liberal and generous intercourse in literature than at present exists. His success, as might be expected, has been most encouraging.

_Thursday, 12th._--Weather balmy and genial; took a very long walk by the Mississippi, following the course of the stream through a country wild and beautiful; and on my way back, encountered a party of the Choctaw tribe, a miserable sample of this once powerful people. The two men, who appeared the leaders of the party, were both naked, their faces daubed here and there with lines and circles of red and black paint: they bore long rifles over their shoulders; and, buckled about their loins, were deer-skin pouches, containing their ammunition, pipes, &c. Several children were nearly or quite in a state of nature, and the squaws themselves scantily robed in dirty blankets, without a single ornament, dearly prized as is all finery by these coquettish children of nature.

The best of this tribe are now away south, about the head of the Red River: those yet lingering near this place, although numerous, are considered the outcasts of the nation. The appearance of such as I have encountered is squalid and filthy in the extreme.

_Friday, 13th._--A clear windy day, but sufficiently mild: a boat up from New Orleans, with a mail; the first received since my arrival; latest date from England, December 23rd. Walked down to Natchy-under-hill, to inquire about a boat to New Orleans: saw one monster come groaning down the stream, looking like a huge cotton-bale on fire. Not a portion of the vessel remained above water, that could be seen, excepting the ends of the chimneys: the hull and all else was hidden by the cotton-bags, piled on each other, tier over tier, like bricks. When the boat headed the current, in order to steer in for the wharf, she was swept down bodily; and even after swinging into the eddy, I did not think she would ever muster way enough to fetch up the few yards she required to reach a berth. After a deal of hard puffing and groaning however, she gathered headway, and slowly crept alongside the bank.

I next strolled through the lane which composes the town, and is occupied by a succession of bar-rooms, dancing-shops, and faro-banks or roulette-tables: they were each in full operation, although it was not yet two o'clock P.M.

These dens all stood open to the street, and were more obscene in their appointments than the lowest of the itinerant hells found at our races. Upon the tables however lay piles of silver, and behind them the ready _croupiers_ administered. I observed wretched devils playing here, whose whole standing kit would not have brought a picaroon at _vendue_. Numbers of half-dressed, faded young girls lounged within the bar-rooms or at the doors, with here and there a couple of the same style of gemman to be met with about the silver hells of London; having, however, a bolder and more swash-buckler-like air than that of their mere petty-larceny European brotherhood.

From no party, however, did our company meet the slightest observation; although, a very few years back, for strangers to have strolled about here, without other purpose than spying into the nakedness of the land, might have proved, to say the least of it, a perilous adventure; as it is more than probable they would have been followed by a long shot, likely enough to bring a book of travels to an abrupt conclusion; but even at Natchy-under-hill, manners, if not morals, are improving. Murder is not nigh so common here as it was a few seasons back; although now and then one of an extraordinary nature does take place; a few months back, for instance, an up-river boat brought-to here, as is usual, and several of her passengers were landed: just as she was leaving the wharf, the crack of a rifle was heard, and one of the passengers, who had just gained the upper-deck after his shore-visit of an hour or so, fell dead, pierced through the head. The wheels were backed, the corpse laid on the nearest wharf by the captain, with an account of the manner of his death, and, this done, off went the steamer. An inquest returned a verdict of murder against some person unknown, which was duly reported in the journal, together with the unfortunate man's name, and an inventory of such things as were found upon him.

It was presumed, as he was a stranger from the West country, that in a play dispute he had excited a spirit of revenge amongst some of these desperadoes, which was thus promptly gratified.

The impunity with which professed gamblers carry on their trade, and the course of crime consequent upon it, throughout these Southern countries, is one of the most crying evils existing in this society. The Legs are associated in gangs, have a system perfectly organized, and possess a large capital invested in this pursuit; they are seldom alone, always armed to the teeth, bound to sustain each other, and hold life at a pin's fee. Upon the banks of these great waters they most commonly rendezvous; and not a steamboat stirs from any quarter, but one or more of the gang proceed on board, in some guise or other, according to the capability or appearance of the agent; thus every passenger's business and means become known--no difficult matter amongst men whose nature is singularly simple and frank, and who are as prompt to detail their own affairs as they are curious to know those of their fellows--a little play carried on during the passage opens to the observant gambler the habits of his prey, chiefly the planters of the up-country. These planters arrive in New Orleans or some other entrepot, settle with their agent or broker, and often receive very large sums in balance of the crop of the past season, or in advance upon the next, intended for the purchase of slaves, &c. Meantime the sharper is on the pigeon's track; the toils are spread abroad by the gang, some of whom inhabit the same hotel probably, drink at the same bar, or, it may be, occupy the same chamber; thus, with nothing to do, and his naturally excitable mind fired by an addition of stimulant, if the victim escapes, it is by miracle. Hundreds are plundered yearly in this systematic way: nor, if at all troublesome, does the affair end here; for these gamblers are no half-measure men; they have a ready specific to silence noisy pigeons, and are right prompt in applying it.

No persons are better aware of the existence of this fraternity, and of its great influence all over these countries, than the people themselves; but partly from custom, and more through fear, it is permitted to exist: a false feeling of honour also prevails, which interferes to prevent the plundered taking active measures lest their informing might be attributed to the circumstance of their having lost alone. The limitless extent of thinly populated border facilitates escape, even when the laws are awakened; whilst the funds of the community are always lavishly used to screen a comrade, and at the same time conceal the working of the system. The people themselves will, no doubt, one day interfere to abate this terrible scourge, which exists amongst them only for their ruin; and when the cry is once afoot, the retribution will be awful.[1]

After dinner rode out to the race-course, and saw Pelham, who is in training to run a mile with Hard-heart. Pelham is a handsome little chestnut, with a perfectly thorough-bred air, and gallops like a witch.

From the course, rode to the mansion of Mrs. M----r, the very _beau ideal_ of a Southern dwelling, having on either front very deep porticoes opening into a capacious hall, with winding stairs of stone outside leading on to a gallery twenty feet wide, which is carried round the building on a level with the first-floor story, and is covered by a projecting roof supported by handsome pillars: by this means the inner walls are far removed from the effect of either sun or rain, and the spacious apartments kept both cool and dry. The kitchen and other offices are detached, forming two sides of a quadrangle, of which the house is the third, and the fourth a garden.

Here I saw a negro whose age was supposed by Mrs. M----r to be about one hundred and twenty. He had been in her husband's house, who was an officer in the Spanish service, when she married, and first came here half a century back, and was then considered past labour. The old boy was quite a wag; cracked several jokes, as well as his want of teeth would let him, upon one of the company about to be married; and, on being shown a lump of fine Cavendish tobacco he had asked for, his eye sparkled like a serpent's. Mr. M----r assured me his appetite was good; and that when supplied with abundance of tobacco, he was always as at present, cheerful.

After eleven o'clock P.M. put on my cloak, and, tempted by the fineness of the night, accompanied my friend T----r on his way to his own quarters; returning along the edge of the lofty bluff between whose foot and the river is squeezed the town of Natchez.

Whilst smoking my cigar here, the murmur of a fray came to me, borne upon the light breeze: my curiosity was excited by the indistinct sounds, and I walked along in the direction whence they came for a couple of minutes. As I neared it, the tumult grew in loudness and fierceness; men's hoarse and angry voices, mingled in hot dispute, came crashing upwards as from the deeps of hell. I bent anxiously over the cliff, as though articulate sounds might be caught three hundred feet above their source;--a louder burst ascended, then crack! crack! went a couple of shots, almost together;--the piercing shrieks of a female followed, and to these succeeded the stillness of death.

I lay down upon the ground for several minutes, holding my ear close over the edge of the precipice, but all continued hushed. I then rose, and seated myself upon one of the benches scattered along the heights, almost doubting the evidence of my senses--which told of a wild brawl and probable murder as having had place beneath the very seat I yet occupied--so universal was the tranquillity.

On one hand lay the town of Natchez, sunk in repose; the moon at full, was sleeping over it, in as pure a sky as ever poet drank joy and inspiration from; far below, wrapt in shade, lay the scene of my almost dream, the line of houses denoted by a few scattered lights, and in its front was the mighty Mississippi; rolling on in its majesty through a dominion created by itself, through regions of wilderness born of its waters and still subject to its laws; I could distinctly hear the continuous rush of the strong current; it was the only sound that moved the air. I hearkened intently to this rushing; it had indeed an absolute fascination for the ear: it was not like the hoarse roar of the ocean, now breaking along a line of beach, then again lulled as though gathering breath for a renewed effort; it was a sound monotonous and low, but which filled the ear and awed the very heart. I felt that I was listening to a voice coeval with creation, and that ceased not either by night or day! which the blast of winter could not rouse, or the breath of summer hush; a voice which the buzz and bustle of noon might drive from the ear, but which the uplifting of the foundations of the world alone could silence.

_Saturday, 14th._--This being my last day in Natchez, I employed it in visiting any lions that might hitherto have escaped me; amongst other unlooked-for wonders, was an exhibition of pictures advertised from England, and purporting to be a choice collection of ancient and modern masters. One picture, a Bacchus and Ariadne, was finely painted; but had suffered a good deal from time and travel, combined with a dip in the Mississippi. The remainder of the collection was composed of worse pictures than are offered to connoisseurs at a pawnbroker's sale in London. The proprietor informed me that they were to be brought to the hammer and sold without reserve in a few days, when he anticipated a lively sale for the large pictures, the quantity of raw material used up in the work being a great consideration with the lovers of art here. I looked upon the mere fact of such a speculation being made in these countries as creditable to the people and worthy of notice. Natchez will, no doubt, one day have an academy of her own; men can hardly fail to paint where nature offers so much that is beautiful for their imitation; and, indeed, I have in the remotest places seen attempts by self-taught artists that have convinced me example and encouragement alone are needed.

Learning that the steamer Carolton was to sail this afternoon, I once more descended into Natchy-under-hill, where I had an interview with the captain, who was, I found, a worthy legitimate follower of old Father Ocean, recently transferred to the service of one of his greatest tributaries: he readily promised to delay sailing for a couple of hours for me, until the play was over; this point being settled, I felt at ease, and accompanied Mr. M----r to his mother's place to dinner. The wind came from the south, and was indeed as perfumed as though blowing "o'er a bed of violets." The perfume of early spring began to exhale from the magnolia and Cape jasmin, to a degree that rendered distance necessary to prevent its being over cloying. I felt my spirits bound within me, as on a half-wild, little thorough-bred Mississippi nag, I rattled up and down the well-turfed slopes lying along the edge of the forest.

After dinner took a spot, called the Devil's Punch-bowl, _en route_; it is formed by a vast sinking of the river-bank, trees and soil all have gone down together, forming an immense wooded basin of great depth and extent. As the stream undermines these forest bluffs, which it is ever acting against either on one side or other, these fallings-in must occur; indeed great changes are constantly taking place on the river; many of a very striking kind are pointed out as having occurred within the memory of persons yet living.

As we rode hence to the town, a distance of four or five miles, the wind shifted to the west, and a smart shower commenced; an hour later, and this lovely day set amidst a violent storm of rain, lightning, and wind; so I was fated to descend the bluff by water, as I first mounted it: my vehicle was improved though, for I had this time procured a comfortable carriage. By half-past ten I was snugly stowed away, bag and baggage, on board the Carolton; and by eleven we were following the eternal current amidst a deluge of rain, and a gale of wind blowing from N.W., with a cold which, falling suddenly upon one's fibre, unstrung by three or four warm days, was positively paralyzing. I occupied a stateroom by favour; but, a couple of panes of glass being out of the window, I suffered for my exclusiveness.

_Sunday, 15th._--Snow falling, the first I have seen in the South; our boat constantly stopping to load cotton, so that we, at the close of the day, have made only some twenty miles: the night came on clear, and tolerably mild. By eight o'clock P.M. we had received from our several halts one thousand bales of the staple, all of which were stowed away upon our deck, galleries, &c. till daylight could no longer be expected to visit us--even the doors were blocked up, as in the Alabama. Thank Heaven! our present imprisonment is for a shorter period, our worthy captain assuring us that by daylight on Tuesday we shall be alongside the Levee.

At one of our landing-places we found a couple of outcast-looking white-men bivouacking beneath a tree before a half-burned log, with a couple of tin saucepans standing near: one of the precious pair was extended on the damp soil, bare-headed, with a blanket rolled about him; the other sat, Indian-like, wrapped in a similar robe. For the three hours we were delayed, whilst loading three hundred bales of cotton, I do not think either of them moved; they were as miserable specimens of humanity as might be met with. I could not help contrasting these members of the privileged class with a gang of stout slaves who were employing their Sunday's leisure in assisting to load the boat, for which service they each received about two shillings sterling: I need hardly say the contrast was decidedly in favour of the negroes.

_Monday, 16th._--Day fine, and not so cold: passed Bayou Sarah, as high up as which the tide flows, rising about six inches once in twenty-four hours.

Opposite Prophet's Island saw a large square ark, moored to the bank, surmounted by a pole from which a white flag was fluttering. I was in great hopes this was the Mississippi theatre, which I knew from report to be somewhere in this latitude on its annual voyage to New Orleans; but it turned out to be the store of a Yankee pedlar on a trading voyage.

This floating theatre, about which I make constant inquiry, and which I yet hope to fall in with, is not the least original or singular speculation ventured on these waters. It was projected and is carried on by the Elder Chapman, well known for many years as a Covent Garden actor: his practice is to have a building suitable to his views erected upon a raft at some point high up the Mississippi, or on one of its tributaries, whence he takes his departure early in the fall, with scenery, dresses, and decorations, all prepared for representation. At each village or large plantation he hoists banner and blows trumpet, and few who love a play suffer his ark to pass the door, since they know it is to return no more until the next year; for, however easy may prove the downward course of the drama's temple, to retrograde, upwards, is quite beyond its power. Sometimes a large steamer from Louisville, with a thousand souls on board, will command a play whilst taking in fuel, when the profit must be famous. The _corps dramatique_ is, I believe, principally composed of members of his own family, which is numerous, and, despite of alligators and yellow fever, likely to increase and flourish. When the Mississippi theatre reaches New Orleans, it is abandoned and sold for fire-wood; the manager and troop returning in a steamer to build a new one, with such improvements as increased experience may have suggested.

This course Mr. Chapman has pursued for three or four seasons back, and, as I am told by many who have encountered this aquatic company, very profitably. I trust he may continue to do so until he makes a fortune, and can bequeath to his kin the undisputed sovereignty of the Mississippi circuit.

_Tuesday, 17th._--At six A.M. was once more safely landed upon the already busy Levee of New Orleans; here I rested until the 22nd; on which day I took steam direct to Mobile, accomplishing the trip in forty-eight hours, one night of which we passed grounded on the Rigolets, a sandy difficult pass connecting Lac Pontchartrain with Lac Borgne.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] This period has arrived, and hardly before I expected, from all I had gathered on the subject; for since this work has been in the press, I have read of an attack made upon a known rendezvous of gamblers by a party of neighbour planters near this place, by whom, after a smart action, the hold was forced and carried by assault; when, according to the usage of war, for which exceeding respectable authorities might be quoted, the garrison was immediately hanged. A proceeding of this nature reads very queerly in the London Journals, but drawing inferences from it after the rules applicable to the County Middlesex, is laughable; these civil rules might be applied with more justice to the condition of the Scottish frontier in James the First's time. In my eyes these popular movements are not only natural, but wholesome; speaking favourably for the growing morals of the people, and, in the position they occupy, the only way of eradicating speedily an association as atrocious as it is wide-spread and powerful. I have gathered much singular information on this subject, and may in some other shape, when the opportunity occurs, make it public.

MOBILE.

This little city was to me one of the most attractive spots I visited south of the Potomac. I came upon it at my first visit after a severe roughing, and found a fine climate and old friends, whose warm welcome could not have come in better time. I found here also the best conducted and best appointed hotel in the Southern country, and society congenial and amiable: all these combined go a good way to prejudice a man in favour of a place which in itself may have little to recommend it. Mobile, however, has claims which are rapidly increasing its population and its trade; indeed the ratio of advance in both is equal to that of any other place in the States; in proof of which, I find by a report just issued of the returns of the foreign trade, exclusive of the coasting business, which is considerable, that the increase has been gradual and steady, and in five years stands thus:

In the year 1830, the total value of the importations to the port of Mobile was 1,044,135 dollars: the value of the exports for the same year was 1,994,365 dollars. In 1834, the value of the imports is stated at 3,088,811 dollars: the exports for the same year at 6,270,197 dollars. For the current year, I am credibly assured that an addition of one-third to these last amounts will not much overrate the enormous increase to which, should peace continue, each year must add for many seasons to come, since the influx of planters to Alabama is clearing the cane-brake with a rapidity unprecedented even in this country: the Indian reserves are all coming into cultivation as fast as they are vacated; and, in fact, Alabama at this day may be said to present a spectacle of successful energy and industry not to be surpassed. A railroad is now in progress, the prospectus for which was in circulation during my visit, which is to connect North and South Alabama, commencing in the valley of Tennessee, and running to some navigable point of the harbour of Mobile. A glance at a map of the States will at once render obvious the immense importance such a line of communication will be of to this city, concentrating on this point the trade, not only of North Alabama and the Tennessee valley, but some of the most fertile portions of Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi.

By this railway the great obstacle in the way of the trade of the Tennessee valley, the muscle shoals, will be avoided, whilst, at a fair calculation, it is expected that the increase of cotton received into Mobile will amount to one hundred thousand bales: besides a vast quantity of pork, beef, bacon, flour, lard, whisky, &c. that now seeks a market at New Orleans, through those great natural channels, the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers: to the navigation of the first-named river the shoals have hitherto been a serious drawback, detaining laden craft of all kinds for weeks, and even months, until, late in winter or early in spring, a rise in the river enabled them to float over into the highway of the Western world, the Mississippi.

The grounds on which the vast and seemingly extravagant increase of the cotton crop of this State of Alabama may be justified, are to be found, not only in the great fertility of the virgin soil yearly brought under cultivation, but in the unprecedented increase of population. This very year, it is calculated, not less than twenty-five thousand slaves have been brought into this country from the older States on the Atlantic; this amount will, in all probability, be exceeded by the increase of next season, as there are many millions of acres of the most fertile land in the Union yet in the hands of Government for sale, lately conceded in exchange by the Indians of the Creek and Cherokee tribes.

The great cause of emigration from the Atlantic States is to be looked for in the temptation offered the planter by a soil of vastly superior fertility. In South Carolina and in most parts of Georgia, it will appear that a good average crop will give one bale or bag of cotton, weighing 310 lbs. for each working-hand employed on the plantation; now, in Alabama, four or five bales, each weighing 430 lbs. is a fair average for an able-bodied slave engaged in the cultivation; and I have conversed with many planters, holding places upon the bottom-lands of the river, who assured me their crop was yearly ten bales of cotton for each full-grown hand.

When it is considered that this season the value of cotton has been ranging from sixpence-halfpenny to ninepence per pound, the enormous receipts of some of these persons, who make from four hundred to three thousand bales of 430 lbs. weight each, may be imagined.

These are the men who have been my companions on all my late steamboat trips, for this is the season that affords them _relache_ and brings them together; and in this city especially, as at Natchez, it is by this singular class I am surrounded: they are not difficult to comprehend, and a slight sketch of their condition and habits may not be uninteresting, as they form the great mass now inhabiting this mighty region, and it is from them a probable future population of one hundred million of souls must receive language, habits, and laws.

We generally associate with the Southern planter ideas of indolence, inertness of disposition, and a love of luxury and idle expense: nothing, however, can be less characteristic of these frontier tamers of the swamp and of the forest: they are hardy, indefatigable, and enterprising to a degree; despising and contemning luxury and refinement, courting labour, and even making a pride of the privations which they, without any necessity, continue to endure with their families. They are prudent without being at all mean or penurious, and are fond of money without having a tittle of avarice. This may at first sight appear stated from a love of paradox, yet nothing can be more strictly and simply true; this is, in fact, a singular race, and they seem especially endowed by Providence to forward the great work in which they are engaged--to clear the wilderness and lay bare the wealth of this rich country with herculean force and restless perseverance, spurred by a spirit of acquisition no extent of possession can satiate.

Most men labour that they may, at some contemplated period, repose on the fruits of their industry; adventurers in unhealthy regions, generally, seek to amass wealth that they may escape from their _penible_ abodes, and recompense themselves by after enjoyment for the perils and privations they have endured. Not so the planters of this south-western region; were their natures moulded after this ordinary fashion, these States, it is true, might long continue mines of wealth, to be wrought by a succession of adventurers; but never would they become what Providence has evidently designed they shall be,--great countries, powerful governments, and the home of millions of freemen yet unborn.

These men seek wealth from the soil to return it back to the soil, with the addition of the sweat of their brows tracking every newly-broken furrow. Their pride does not consist in fine houses, fine raiment, costly services of plate, or refined cookery: they live in humble dwellings of wood, wear the coarsest habits, and live on the plainest fare. It is their pride to have planted an additional acre of cane-brake, to have won a few feet from the river, or cleared a thousand trees from the forest; to have added a couple of slaves to their family, or a horse of high blood to their stable.

It is for these things that they labour from year to year. Unconscious agents in the hands of the Almighty, it is to advance the great cause of civilization, whose pioneers they are, that they endure toil for their lives, without the prospect of reaping any one personal advantage which might not have been attained in the first ten years of their labour.

It is not through ignorance either that they continue in these simple and rude habits of life. Most of these planters visit the Northern States periodically, as well as New Orleans; their wealth, and the necessity the merchant feels to conciliate their good-will, makes them the ready guests at tables where every luxury and refinement abounds: but they view these without evincing the least desire to imitate them, prefer generally the most ordinary liquids to the finest-flavoured wines, and, as guests, are much easier to please than to catch; for not only do they appear indifferent to these luxuries, but they seek to avoid them, contemn their use, and return to their log-houses and the cane-brake to seek in labour for enjoyment.

There must, however, be a great charm in the unrestrained freedom of this sort of life; since I have frequently met women, who were bred in the North, well educated, and accustomed for years to all the _agremens_ of good society, who yet assured me that they were happiest when living in the solitude of their plantation, and only felt dull whilst wandering about the country or recruiting at some public watering-place.

The great drawback to these frontiers, and one which will, I fear, exist for some time, unless the citizens of the towns take the law into their own hands, and execute it in a summary manner, is to be found in the presence of certain idle ruffians who exist here. The only matter of surprise to me is, that there are so few of the description, and that in such a country crime is so rare, where the facility afforded for escape is great, and where the laws view with such reverence the liberty of the subject.

One or two anecdotes of recent occurrence will, however, do more to put the reader in possession of the true state of the case than a volume of unsupported reasoning.

During the last night I acted in Mobile, whilst on the stage, I heard a slight noise in the upper boxes; a rush was made to a particular point; then a moment's scuffle, and all was silent. The ladies in the dress-boxes had not moved, and very little sensation was communicated to the crowded pit: the whole thing, in fact, was over in as short a time as I have occupied in the telling of it.

After the play I accompanied a party of ladies to the house of Mr. M----e to sup, and here, for the first time, learned, through an inquiry casually made, that during that slight scuffle a citizen had been killed by the blow of a knife, given by an intemperate ruffian named M'Crew, who had quietly descended the stairs afterwards, accompanied by his brother. These men were from the country, were known disturbers of the peace, and rarely made their appearance without bloodshed following.

The next morning I inquired as to the result, when it appeared the homicide was adjudged manslaughter in a chance-medley; and the ruffian, who had voluntarily appeared before the magistrate, was admitted to bail. Now here was a case where Lynch law might have been most beneficially employed: the citizens should have caught both these ruffians, and hung them at their gates _in terrorem_.

I may add here, that, within a month of this time, these fiends atrociously murdered the child of a planter, out of revenge for some real or fancied affront; and, finding the exploit likely to prove serious, fled to Texas.[2]

My next illustration is of a kind so little in keeping with the year 1835, that it would be a better story if dated from the debateable land, anno Dom. 1535. The hero of the fight I am about to narrate is as fine a specimen of an old Irishman as ever I met with, and I have seen him frequently: his name is Robert Singleton, and his residence is Baldwin county, in this State.

It appears that Mr. Singleton had lent to a Mr. English four or five negroes, whom at a certain time he claimed, according to agreement, and took back to his own place: hence arose a dispute as to the right of possession; which dispute the sons of Mr. English decided upon settling in a right border fashion.

Accompanied by three of their white neighbours, and three of their father's slaves, the two Englishes repaired to the plantation of Mr. Singleton. He was absent; but they surrounded the house, and, after a resistance on the part of the slaves, which cost one of them his life, the number claimed were made prisoners, and marched off for the country of their captors.

Meantime, a lad who had escaped from the house on the first attack, found, and communicated the surprisal and the result to his master, Mr. Singleton, who, accompanied by his eldest son, without a moment's hesitation put spurs to horse, and took the line of country likely to cut off the retreat of the enemy.

Early on the next morning, July 4th, the Singletons came upon a bridge they knew the Englishes must cross; and, not discovering new tracks, decided to halt here: they had not waited half an hour, when the other party came in sight.

A parley was called. Singleton, senior, declared himself and son resolute to maintain the bridge against all comers, unless his slaves were restored.

The elder brother, W. English, begged the Singletons not to fire, as they would surrender the negroes: at the same time, the party alighted; but as Singleton turned his head to desire his son to stand fast, he received a shot in the left shoulder; and, on a second, saw his son fall dead across his feet. Clapping his gun to his shoulder, he shot David English through the brain; a barrel was at the same moment levelled against him by Wm. English, but snapped: again he called on Singleton not to shoot; but he this time called in vain. Taking up his son's loaded piece, he shot his adversary whilst in the act of stooping to lift his dead brother's rifle.

One more shot was discharged from the English party, and Singleton received a second ball in his side. The assailants then fled, leaving the resolute old planter master of the field, with his eldest son, a young man of the best habits, dead at his feet.

His wounds did not prevent his collecting his negroes after the flight of his enemies; he then walked back half a mile to where he had left his horse, mounted, and rode home, although upwards of fifty years of age. Mortification was for some time apprehended; but he at last recovered perfectly, and was, when I left Mobile, in robust health.

The detail of this affair, as it stands in the journal, is concluded by a regular list with the names of killed and wounded; but not one word of comment. It is now in my possession, and the account may be relied upon as authentic in every particular.

The streets of Mobile are covered over with a kind of shell that abounds in the neighbourhood: this binds with the fine sand, and makes the cleanest, best road possible, and is besides, I believe, very durable. Since the swampy ways have been replaced by good roads of this material, the health of the city has never been attacked by fever, which was frequent before. The cholera is unknown here, although its ravages in the south-western country were, and in fact are, terrible.

The market is abundantly supplied with provisions, fish, and game of every variety. Here is one of the best-ordered hotels in the States, and altogether as many inducements to the visitor or settler as any place I saw. The summer I had no means of proving; but from all hands learn that the heat, although continuous, is by no means excessive; whilst, within five miles, on the heights of Springhill, the nights are, at the hottest season, absolutely cold.

A ball, given in honour of the birth-day of Washington, by the volunteer corps of the city, afforded me an admirable occasion of seeing the people, since the committee was kind enough to send me a ticket.

Here, to the number of six hundred, was assembled all of the democracy of Mobile having a claim to the term respectable, properly applied to habit and character, not to calling or wealth. I have seldom seen a better dressed, and never a better conducted assembly, whilst nothing could be more perfectly democratic.

Here you might see the merchant's lady, whose French ball-dress cost one hundred and fifty dollars, dancing in the same set with the _modiste_ who made it up; whilst the merchant changed hands with the wife of his master-drayman, and the wealthy planter's daughter footed to her brother's _schneider_, himself tricked out in some nondescript uniform of his own making. Yet were all perfectly well conducted, and equally happy: nor is it found that any ill consequence or undue familiarity continues after these public occasions restore each to his, or her, own sphere, or pursuit.

The supper was laid out most tastefully upon the galleries surrounding the inner court of the hotel, enclosed for the occasion with canvass, and the pillars wreathed with shrubs and flowers. At the upper end was an ugly, ill-dressed picture, which, I was informed, represented Liberty; a proof how the imagination can deify its own object of veneration, for a less inviting gentlewoman it would be difficult to conceive.

On the 7th of March I returned to New Orleans, _via_ Portersville; and, on halting at the house midway the forest, was advised by my countryman the landlord to dine, by all means, if I was hungry; for he had "an illegant turkey, a wild one, and a Tennessee ham, with a lump of roast beef, rare and tinder." I followed his counsel, and made a most excellent meal on the wild turkey, a bird of which I should never tire. I set it down as the foremost of all winged things yet appropriated to the use of the kitchen.

I arrived at New Orleans, and again passed three weeks amidst attentions that never wearied, and the most flattering professional success. I will here, as I have before done, drop my Journal, and put my Impressions together in a less desultory form.

FOOTNOTE:

[2] Since this sheet has been in the course of printing, I have received an account of the capture of the murderers, from a correspondent at Mobile. The State had offered a large reward, and taken active measures for the M'Crews' detection. The retreat of one was traced out in the Mexican territory; and the details of his surprisal and capture, whilst resident amongst the Comanche Indians, are absolutely romantic, and highly creditable to the courage and patience of the captor, a private individual. I have to regret that these details are too long to be inserted by way of note. The murderers (or one of them at least) are now at Mobile awaiting trial.

NEW ORLEANS.

The day of my first arrival at this capital of many waters, this city _sui generis_, was one to which I had looked forward with much impatience and highly-roused expectations.

The disastrous affair of 1812 had made New Orleans a name familiar to Britain, and given to it a celebrity more general amongst all sorts of men than its vast trade alone would have achieved for it in double the time.

From the day also of my landing on the continent I had never heard this city named without accompanying remarks being elicited descriptive of its rapid increase, its singular position, and motley population, together with the speculations founded on the promise of its future greatness derived from its present healthful condition; that is, its political and commercial sanity; since no term can be worse applied, as illustrative of the views entertained of it by the North, whether physically or morally considered; views however that, on both these points, I have decided are singularly overcharged, even by persons one would conceive possessed of the information likely to lead to a correct judgment. This I attribute partly to the habit we are in of taking reports of places for granted, and repeating them from father to son without much personal examination, or rather comparison, and partly to the changes constantly operating upon society here, with a rapidity at least equal to the growth of building or the increase of produce and population; changes which come like Duncan's couriers, "thick as hail," the last giving the flat lie to the truth just told; to be, in turn, proved false by a successor.

To a stranger, the point of observance most original and striking, and which will at once inform and interest him, is the view from the Levee, with a walk along this artificial embankment, which commencing a hundred miles above New Orleans, and thence waiting on the stream whose rule it circumscribes, here bends like a drawn bow about the city, forming a well-frequented quay of some seven miles.

For three miles of this, the Levee is bordered by tiers of merchant shipping from every portion of the trading world, and close against it, those of the greatest tonnage, having once chosen a berth, may load or unload without shifting a line; a facility derived from nature that no port in the world can rival.

Along the whole extent of this line situated below the Levee, but at a distance of some two hundred feet, runs a range of store-houses, cotton-presses, and shops, connected by tolerably well-flagged side-walks; and certainly in no other place is such accommodation more absolutely required, the middle space or street, so called, being, after rain, a slough, to which that of Despond, as described by Bunyan, was a _bagatelle_; and floundering through, or pounded in which, are lines of hundreds of light drays, each drawn by three or four fine mules, and laden with the great staple, cotton.[3]

At both extremities of the tiers of shipping, but chiefly at the south, lie numberless steamboats of all sizes; and yet again, flanking these, are fleets of those rude rafts and arks constructed by the dwellers on the hundred waters of the far West; and thence pushed forth, freighted with the produce of their farms, to find, after many days, a safe haven and a sure market here.

Let it not be forgotten that many of the primitive-looking transports lying at this point have performed a drift of three thousand miles. Their cargoes discharged, they are immediately disposed of to be broken up; their crews working their way back on board the steamers, to return in the following year with a vessel and a freight, both of which are at this time flourishing in full vegetation in field and in forest.

The interest with which I looked upon these far-travelled barks I dare hardly trust myself to declare or to describe; they told me of men and of their increase, who, only for the waters on which they live, would be as little known and quite as uncivilized as the Indian whose land they have redeemed from the wild beast or more savage hunter, to bid it teem with abundance, and to be a refuge and a home for millions to rejoice in.

The appearance of the Levee during this season is most animated. At the quarter occupied by the great Western steamboats, the lading and discharging cargoes seldom ceases during the busy months, when each hour appears to be grudged if not devoted to toil. At night, fires mark the spots where work is most brisk, and the warehouses along the line are frequently illuminated from the street to the upper story: crowds of labourers, sailors, bargemen, and draymen cheer, and order, and swear in every language in use amongst this mixed population; and, above all, at regular intervals, rises the wild chorus of the slaves labouring in gangs, who, if miserable, are certainly the merriest miserables in existence.

No scene is more likely to impress a stranger with a full knowledge of the vast deal of trade transacted here in a few months than this prolonged bustle at a time when the rest of the city sleeps; and, as he pursues his way amongst tens of thousands of bales of cotton that actually cover the Levee for miles, he will cease to doubt of the wealth which he learns is on all hands accumulating with a rapidity almost partaking of the marvellous.