The
Modus Operandi Is For All The Men To Be Secreted But One, Who Stands
On The Line Holding Up
A red flag which indicates danger; the engineer
then stops and the men spring aboard; some hold revolvers to the
Heads
of the engineers, and others go through the train and rob the
passengers. The robbers shout out "hands up," and one man points his
weapon at the passenger's head, whilst another rifles his pockets. If a
passenger fails to hold up his hands he is shot down. A passenger on the
Northern Prairies told me of a fellow passenger, who under such
circumstances having a revolver, aimed at a robber and pulled the
trigger, but it missed fire, and he was instantly shot down. But these
attacks are now more rare, and the officials are more prepared for them.
Sometimes the robbers get on board the train as passengers, and act
suddenly in concert. All along the country now we pass the cabins of the
slaves, familiarised to us by "Uncle Tom's Cabin." These cabins are
pleasant little houses with verandahs, and I reflected how favourably
they compared with the "homes" of many of the London poor, and how happy
the slaves might have been but for the knowledge that at any time they
were liable to be sold like a mule or a bullock. Now we pass sugar,
cotton and rice plantations, and go through such cultivations all
through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, North and South Carolina,
Georgia, and Virginia. I gathered sugar and cotton going along at
places, saw a racoon in a stream fishing for crawfish, and go through a
country, in which are plenty of alligators.
On the early morning of Sunday (December 21st), we go through swamps,
such as we used to read of as the hiding-places of runaway slaves. All
through these Southern States we saw everywhere sugar and cotton, sugar
and cotton, sugar and cotton; these, with rice, are the principal
products; sugar mills, cotton yards, etc., etc. We soon reach Algiers,
and cross the grand Mississippi River, then land at New Orleans. The
actual city of New Orleans covers an area of about 41 square miles, but
the statutory limits of the city embrace nearly 150 square miles. It is
situate on both banks of the Mississippi River, and from 1,000 to 1,500
steamers and other vessels, from all parts of the world, may frequently
be seen lying there. New Orleans is the chief market in the world for
cotton. The site of the city was surveyed in 1717 by De la Tour, and it
was settled in 1718, but abandoned in consequence of overflows, storms,
and sickness; it was resettled in 1723, held by the French till 1729,
then by the Spaniards till 1801, by the French again till 1803, and
then, with the Province of Louisiana, was ceded to the United States.
The present population is about 250,000. There are 33 cemeteries, and
they are remarkable, inasmuch as the bodies are buried above ground, in
vaults like tiers of ovens; the ground is too wet for burial.
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