An Englishman's Travels In America: His Observations Of Life And Manners In The Free And Slave States - 1857 - By J. Benwell.
- Page 46 of 101 - First - Home
"Where Will-o'-the-wisps and glow-worms shine,
In bulrush and in brake;
Where waving mosses shroud the pine,
And the cedar grows, and the poisonous vine
Is spotted like the snake." - LONGFELLOW.
From St. Louis, on the Missouri river, I took passage to New Orleans, in
one of those magnificent steamers that crowd the inland waters of the
American continent, and which, sumptuously furnished as they are, have
not inaptly been termed "floating palaces." We had a prosperous passage
as far as the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi, where the boat
struck the branches of a large tree, that had been washed into the bed
of the stream, and was there stuck fast, root downwards. This formidable
chevaux-de-frise (or snag, as it was termed by the captain) fortunately
did not do much damage to the vessel, although at first an alarm was
raised that she was sinking, and much confusion ensued. This
apprehension was, however, soon dissipated by the report of the
carpenter, whose account of the damage was so far favourable, that after
extrication by backing the vessel, and a few temporary repairs, she was
again got under headway.
The pellucid waters of the Ohio, as they enter the turbid rushing
current of the Mississippi, which is swollen by the Illinois and other
tributaries, has a remarkable effect, the clear current of the former
river refusing, for a considerable distance, to mingle with the murky
stream of the latter, and forming a visible blue channel in its
centre - a phenomenon I thought allegorical of the slave-stained
condition of the one state, and the free soil of the other, for while
Ohio is free from the curse of slavery, the banks of the Mississippi
have for centuries been deep dyed in the life's blood of the oppressed
African.
Our vessel was borne on the rushing waters with great impetuosity, the
maddening current of the Mississippi seeming to carry everything before
it. As we proceeded we constantly saw trees topple over into the river,
the banks of which are continually widening, and which in many parts has
the appearance of a lake after a storm, impregnated with debris. The
trees, thus washed into the bed of the river, sink root downwards and
make the navigation perilous, as I have before described. We met
numerous steamers coming up the stream, one of them having a freight of
Indians from Florida, removing to the western frontier, under the
surveillance of U.S. soldiery and government agents. The compulsory
removal of Indians, from one remote state to another, whenever new
territory is needed, forms a disgraceful feature in internal American
policy. Transported to new hunting grounds, the poor Indians are brought
into contact with other tribes, when feuds arise from feelings of
jealousy, and the new-comers are often annihilated in a few years. Many
tribes have thus become totally extinct, and the remainder are rapidly
becoming so. As the steamer passed us with her freight of red men they
set up a loud yell, which reverberated through the forests on the
river-shores.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 46 of 101
Words from 23775 to 24293
of 53222