NATCHEZ AND JACKSON, in the LOC travel collections:
A second visit to the United States of North America. By Sir Charles Lyell ...
Lyell, Charles, Sir, 1797-1875.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
New York, Harper & Brothers; London, J. Murray, 1849.
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"A settler at Natchez told us he had lived on the great river long enough to admire it, for the ease with which it performs its mighty work; and to fear it, so often had he witnessed the wreck of vessels and the loss of lives. "If you fall overboard," he said, "in the middle of the Atlantic, you may rise again and be saved; but here you are sucked down by an eddy, and the waters, closing over you, are so turbid, that you are never seen again."
March 19.--At Vicksburg, where we next landed, I found the bluffs, forming the eastern boundary of the great plain, similar, in their upper part, to those of Natchez; but beneath the freshwater loam and sand were seen, at the base of the cliffs, a marine tertiary deposit, of the Eocene period, in which we collected many shells and corals. (See fig. 10, p. 193; and 3, fig. 11, p. 196.)
Leaving my with to rest at the hotel, I made a rapid trip by railway, fifty-five miles eastward, to Jackson, the capital of the State of Mississippi. For the first ten miles, the cars traversed a table-land, corresponding in height with the summit of the bluff at Vicksburg, and preserving an even surface, except where gullies had been hollowed out in the soft shelly loam or loess. These are numerous, and it had been necessary to throw bridges over many of them so as to preserve the level of the road. It was curious to observe, in the cuttings made through the loam, that each precipitous face retained its perpendicularity, as in natural sections, although composed of materials wholly unconsolidated. Farther to the east, the Eocene strata, belonging to the same series, which are seen at the bottom of the bluffs at Vicksburg, rise up to the surface from beneath the fresh-water loam, which attains an elevation of about 250 feet above the sea, and then gives place to older rocks.
We passed through large forests of oaks and beeches, just
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coming into leaf, in which were some green hollies. The red-bud, in blossom, was conspicuous in some of the woods. In the wet grounds were cane-brakes, willows, and magnolias. I observed, in a large clearing, three plows following each other, one guided by a man, and the others each by a negro woman. When we reached the Big Black River, twelve miles from Vicksburg, we passed over a long wooden bridge and viaduct, built on piles, nearly a mile in length. In about four hours, we arrived at the town of Jackson. I was wholly without letters of introduction, having suddenly determined on this excursion, and knew not the name of a single individual; which I regretted the more, as I had only a few hours of daylight at my disposal, and was to return by the cars at noon the day following. I inquired, as I had often done in France on similar occasions, for the nearest pharmacien, or chemist, and, being shown a shop, asked if they knew any one who was interested in geology. The chemist informed me that Dr. Gist, a physician, lodged in the floor above, and might assist me. Fortunately, this gentleman was at home, and, telling me he had read my work on Geology, he presented me with some fossil shells and corals collected by him in the neighborhood; and, within ten minutes of my "landing" from the cars, we were on our way together to explore the dried-up channel of a small tributary of the Pearl River, where I found a rich harvest of fossil marine shells and zoophytes. When we parted, my excellent guide agreed to accompany me, early the next morning, many miles in another direction.
On entering my hotel, after dark, I was informed that supper was ready, and was conducted to a large ordinary, crowded chiefly by lawyers, who were attending the courts here. The landlord, General A--, formerly of the Tennessee militia, played the part of master of the ceremonies, much to my amusement. He first obtained silence by exclaiming, with the loud voice of a herald, "Gentlemen, we are a great people," and then called out the names of all the viands on his long table and sideboard, beginning with "Beef-steak, with or without onions, roast turkey, pork, hominy, fish, eggs, &c., and ending with a list of various drinkables, the last of which was "tea, foreign and domestic."
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Curiosity led me to order the last-mentioned beverage; but I soon repented, finding it to be a liquid of a pink color, made of the root of the sassafras tree, and having a very medicinal taste. I was told that many here drink it for their health; but the general, seeing that I did not relish it, supplied me with some good "foreign" tea. My host then introduced me to several of the lawyers who sat near me, which gave me an opportunity of asking whether there was any truth in the story told me by some of the Whigs at New Orleans, of the manner in which the seat of legislature had been transferred from Natchez to Jackson. I related the story, which was as follows:--"Natchez was the metropolis of the state, and the chief town of Adams County, which was so wealthy as to pay a third of all the taxes in Mississippi. It was a city to which the richest and best-informed citizens resorted, representing both the landed and moneyed interests of the state. It was, moreover, a center of communication, because it commanded the navigation of the great river. That the Houses of Legislature should meet here, was so natural and convenient, so fitted to promote good government, that the Democratic party could not be expected to put up, for many years, with an arrangement of affairs so reasonable and advantageous. They accordingly decided, by a majority, that some change must be made, and gave orders to a surveyor to discover the exact geographical center of the state. He found it in a wilderness, about fifty miles in a straight line east of Natchez, and pointed out an old cypress tree, in the middle of a swamp, accessible only by a canoe, as the spot they were in search of. This was welcome news; all might now be placed on a footing of equality, the spot being equally inaccessible and inconvenient for all. When the architect, however, came to build the capitol, he took the liberty, instead of erecting the edifice on piles in the center of the swamp, to place it on an adjoining rising ground, from which they had cleared away the native wood, a serious abandonment of principle, as it was several hundred yards from the true geographical center."
When my auditors had done laughing at this Louisiana version of a passage in their history, they said, the tale, after all, was not so exaggerated as it might have been, considering the vexation
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under which the New Orleans Whigs were smarting, in having to go to Baton Rouge. They could show me, they said, the swamp on the Pearl River, which must have been alluded to. That river, though now only boatable, might, they declared, be made navigable to steamboats, when the rafts of drift timber were cleared away, and they might then have a direct commercial intercourse with the Gulf of Mexico. The soil, also, surrounding Jackson, had proved to be very fertile, and the railway had brought the place within three or four hours of Natchez, now their port. In short, their town was flourishing, by aid of natural advantages, and the patronage of the Legislature and Law Courts.
Next day, after a geological excursion, I was taken to see the State House and Governor's Mansion, both handsome and commodious, and built in a good style of architecture, but at great expense, at a time when the price of labor happened to be unusually high. I heard much regret expressed at the debts they had incurred, and at the refusal to acknowledge them in 1841. One lawyer, a member of the Legislature, declared his conviction that the repudiation of the state debt would not have been carried in his county, but for the facility afforded by secret voting. The same individuals, he said, who openly professed a more honorable line of conduct, must, out of selfishness, have taken advantage of the ballot-box to evade an increase of taxation, otherwise there could not have been a majority in favor of disowning their liabilities. This was one of the few instances in which I heard the ballot condemned in the United States; yet the position of the laboring and middle classes is, comparatively, so independent here, in relation to their rich employers, that the chief arguments relied upon in England in favor of secret voting, would seem to be inapplicable.
The dependence of the judges, for their election, on the popular suffrage, appears to have been carried farther in Mississippi than in any other state. I was told that rival candidates for the bench and chancellorship, have been known to canvass for votes in taverns, and have been asked what construction they put on certain statutes relating to banks chartered by the state, just as, in an ordinary election for representatives, men are asked what
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are their opinions, and how they would vote on certain questions. I met with more men of property in Mississippi who spoke as if they belonged to an oppressed class, governed by a rude, ignorant, and coarse democracy, than in any other part of my tour. "Many of our poorest citizens," they said, "would freely admit, that nothing is so difficult, for the individual, as self-government, and yet hold that nothing is so easy and safe as self-government for the million, even where education has been carried no farther than here, where there are still seven counties without a single school-house, and large districts where the inhabitants have but recently been converted to Christianity by itinerant Methodists. They forget that even honorable and enlightened men will sometimes do, in their corporate capacity, what each individual would be ashamed to do if he acted singly." When I heard these remarks, and reflected that even in those parts of the state where the whites are most advanced, as in Adams County, more than half the population are slaves, I felt more surprise that English capitalists had lent so much money to Mississippi, than that they had repented of it. At the same time there is more hope for the future, for education must come.
The town of Vicksburg is beautifully situated on the slope of a wooded bluff, about 180 feet high, and walks might be made, commanding the river, which would be delightful. At present no one can roam along the paths in the suburbs, as they are disgracefully filthy.*
[Note : * For observations on the Geology of Jackson and Vicksburg, see a paper by the Author, Journ. of Geol. Soc. London, vol. iv. p. 15, 1847, and Silliman's Journal, Second Series, vol. iv. p. 186, Sept. 1847.]
We took our passage in the Andrew Jackson steamer, from Vicksburg to Memphis, a distance of 390 miles, and paid only six dollars each (25 shillings), board and lodging included. The monotony of the scenery on the great river for several hundred miles together, is such as to grow wearisome. Scarcely any vessels with sails are seen, all the old schooners and smaller craft having been superseded by the great steam-ships. The traveler becomes tired of always seeing a caving bank on one side, and an advancing sand-bar, covered with willows and poplars, on the
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other; the successive growths of young trees rising to greater heights, one tier above another, as before described, below New Orleans. The water, at this season, is too turbid to reflect the sky or the trees on its bank. The aspect of things, day after day, is so exactly similar, that it might seem as necessary to take astronomical observations, in order to discover what progress one has made, as if the voyage were in mid-Atlantic. That our course is northward, is indicated by the willows on the banks growing less green, and a diminishing quantity of gray moss hanging from the trees. The red maple has also disappeared. When I landed at wooding stations, I saw, on the damp ground beneath the trees, abundance of mosses, with scarcely a blade of grass, while the only wild flowers were a few violets and a white bramble. The young leaves of the poplars are most fragrant in the night air. We were now in latitude 34° north, passing the mouths of the Arkansas and White rivers."
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Retrospect of western travel. By Harriet Martineau ...
Martineau, Harriet, 1802-1876.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
London, Saunders and Otley; New York, Sold by Harper & brothers, 1838.
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"Every one wished to reach and leave Natchez before dark, and this was accomplished. As soon as we came in
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sight of the bluff on which the city is built, we received a hint from the steward to lock our staterooms and leave nothing about, as there was no preventing the townspeople from coming on board. We went on shore. No place can be more beautifully situated; on a bend of the Mississippi, with a low platform on which all the ugly traffic of the place can be transacted; bluffs on each side; a steep road up to the town; and a noble prospect from thence. The streets are sloping, and the drains are remarkably well built; but the place is far from healthy, being subject to the yellow fever. It is one of the oldest of the southern cities, though with a new, that is, a perpetually-shifting, population. It has handsome buildings, especially the Agricultural Bank, the Courthouse, and two or three private dwellings. Mainstreet commands a fine view from the ascent, and is lined with Pride-of-India trees. I believe the landing-place at Natchez has not improved its reputation since the descriptions which have been given of it by former travellers. When we returned to the boat after an hour's walk, we found the captain very anxious to clear his vessel of the townspeople and get away. The cabin was half full of the intruders, and the heated, wearied appearance of our company at tea bore testimony to the fatigues of the afternoon.
In the evening only one firefly was visible; the moon was misty, and faint lightning flashed incessantly. Before morning the weather was so cold that we shut our windows, and the next day there was a fire in the ladies' cabin. Such are the changes of temperature in this region.
The quantity of driftwood that we encountered above Natchez was amazing. Some of it was whirling slowly down with the current, but much more was entangled in the bays of the islands, and detained in incessant accumulation."
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Impressions of America during the years 1833, 1834, and 1835 / by Tyrone Power.
Power, Tyrone, 1797-1841.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
London : Richard Bentley, 1836.
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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
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in the North. Before dark the mud was converted into solid ridges, and thick ice coated each astonished puddle.
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-à-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
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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.
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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:
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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
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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 demipique 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
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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
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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 brood-mare 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
VOL. II. 0
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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
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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, arid were more obscene in their appointments than
O 2
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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
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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
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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 entrepôt, 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
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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
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when the cry is once afoot, the retribution will be awful.*
[Note : * 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.]
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 chesnut, 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 idéal of a Southern dwelling, having on either front very deep porticoes
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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.
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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
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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,
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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,
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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.
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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,
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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."
posted by Lloyd at 1:35 PM
Descriptions of New Albany (From LOC, American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920)
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Part I of Maximilian, Prince of Wied's, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832--1834
CHAPTER VII JOURNEY FROM PITTSBURG TO NEW HARMONY, ON THE WABASH, FROM 8TH TO 19TH OCTOBER, 1832
"In the afternoon we left Louisville to embark at Portland, below the town, on account of the Falls of the Ohio, that now cannot be navigated past the town, and therefore a canal has been made, where, by the aid of five sluices, the boats are raised twenty-two feet. Those who land at Louisville embark again at Portland, where there is generally a great number of steam-boats, among which we chose the Water-witch, bound to New Orleans.75 There were a great many passengers eager to embark, who drove in carriages into the river to reach the steam-boat, to which the baggage was conveyed in the same manner. The loading of the vessel not being completed, we did not set out till the 16th of October. At seven o'clock in the morning of that day, Reaumur's thermometer was at 5° above zero, while a thick fog covered the river. We put off at half-past ten, and had a fine view of the magnificent Ohio, with the large town
[Note 75: 75 Portland was laid out in 1814 for the proprietor, William Lytle; it was incorporated in 1834, and annexed to Louisville in 1837.
The "Water Witch" (120 tons) was built at Nashville in 1831, being sunk near Plaquemine, Louisiana, two years later.--Ed.]
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of Louisville in Kentucky, and New Albany in Indiana,76 opposite, with numerous steam-boats on both banks. It was soon discovered that our engine was out of order, and we were forced to lie to, on the Indiana side, to repair it. As this required much time, we took the opportunity of exploring the first forest in this State. The bank was fifty feet high, and steep; the upper part of the declivity was covered with Datura, the seeds of which were now ripe, but very few of the light purple flowers were to be seen. The beautiful blue flowering Eupatorium colestinum and the Lobelia syphilitica bore their flowers amongst the thornapples. On the summit of the bank there was a noble forest of tall, thick beech, maple, oak, walnut trees, &c., in which there were some plantations of maize, with their block-houses. The underwood was everywhere the papaw tree, and on the skirts of the forest the yellow flowering Cassia Marylandica, with ripe seed. Old trunks lay rotting on the ground, which was partly covered with the falling leaves.
[Note 76: 76 For New Albany, see Hulme's Journal, in our volume x, p. 44, note 15.--Ed.]
At nightfall our engine was repaired, and we proceeded on our voyage, and on the morning [72] of the 17th reached the village of Brandenburg, on the Kentucky bank, which is here rocky, and marked with horizontal white stripes, or strata. The mountains were rounded and covered with wood. In Indiana the forest was cleared in some places for plantations, which afforded a view into the picturesque interior; for on these cleared spots the tall forest trees stood, as in the primeval forests in Brazil, like columns crowded together. This dense forest was interrupted for a short space by the towns of Leavenworth and Rome, in Indiana, and Stevensport in Kentucky; the two last with some indifferent buildings, From this part the country had no great variety, the forests being seldom interrupted. The
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islands were bordered with willow bushes, with tall trees in the middle. On the bank where the rock was exposed, on account of the low water in the river, we observed singular forms produced by the action of the stream. They consisted of round or elliptical stratified masses, which gradually decreased in breadth, so that the. whole looked like a truncated pyramid rising in terraces. Before night we reached Cloverburg, in Kentucky, and lay to till the stars or the moon should appear.77 Numerous card parties sat down in the great cabin, where the heat was intolerable. Our beds swarmed with cockroaches, which ran over our faces and hands, or fell from the ceiling. These disagreeable animals are as common here as in Brazil; they gnaw everything, and, being quite soft, are crushed by the slightest motion."
[TLB note: Lobelia syphilitica
Lobelia syphilitica
Lobelia -Blue
A heavy bloomer with glowing blue trumpet-like flowers. Full sun to part shade.]
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Part III of Maximilian, Prince of Wied's, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832--1834
CHAPTER XXXI VOYAGE FROM THE CANTONMENT OF LEAVENWORTH TO PORTSMOUTH, ON THE MOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER, FROM MAY 18TH TO JUNE 20TH
p. 141-142:
"We saw numbers of horses in the forest, but the breed is not so good in Indiana as in other states. At Greenville, a small village, was a large concourse of the neighbouring farmers, whose horses and vehicles were tied to the fences. They had come to take part in the election of some magistrate. The heat was excessive, and the dust very troublesome. Several parties of farmers were in the public-houses, where a rude, noisy crowd were drinking whisky and playing at various games. We soon reached the summit of the calcareous chain of hills, which we had ascended gradually and imperceptibly, and approached the southern declivity, where an extensive and magnificent prospect opened before us. The wide valley, or, rather, the vast plain of the Ohio, suddenly unfolds itself to the eye of the astonished traveller. As far as the eye can reach, a dense, uninterrupted forest covers the country, and the beauteous river, like a streak of silver, meanders through the landscape. In the distance lie the red masses of the houses of the towns of Louisville and New Albany, which extend on both sides of the Ohio. We soon passed the slope of the chain, and drove rapidly through a highly cultivated country to New Albany, on the banks of the river.143
I did not stop at New Albany, where there had lately been several cases of cholera, but proceeded to Louisville, where we soon arrived, and embarked the same evening, on board the Paul Jones steamer. "
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Our whole country; or, The past and present of the United States, historical and descriptive. In two volumes, containing the general and local histories and descriptions of each of the states, territories, cities, and towns of the Union; also biographical sketches of distinguished persons ... Illustrated by six hundred engravings ... almost wholly from drawings taken on the spot by the authors, the entire work being on their part the result of over 16,000 miles of travel and four years of labor. By John Warner Barber ... and Henry Howe ...
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Page 1049
New Albany, the county seat of Floyd county, is beautifully situated on the right bank of the Ohio River, at the termination of the New Albany and Salem Railroad, 2 miles below the falls of the Ohio, 3 miles below Louisville, about 140 below Cincinnati, and 100 S. by E. from Indianapolis. The city has wide straight streets, running parallel with the river, and crossed at right angles by others. A large business is done here in building and repairing steamboats, etc. There are also large iron foundries, machine shops and factories. It has two seminaries, a theological college under the patronage of the Presbyterians, and about 10,000 inhabitants.
The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the grave yard in New Albany:
"The citizens of Floyd county have erected this monument in memory of their Honored Dead.
Military Monument, New Albany.
'Glory is the soldier's prize,
The soldier's wealth is honor.'
Here rest the bodies of Francis Bailey, aged 35; Apollos J. Stephens, 27; Warren B. Robinson, 24; Charles H. Goff, 23; members of the 'Spencer Greys,' company A, 2d Reg't Indiana Volunteers, who fell at the battle of BUENA VISTA, Mexico, Feb. 22 and 23, 1847.
'The soldier is his country's stay
In day and hour of danger.'
'How sleep the brave who sink to rest,
By all their country's wishes blest?'
John T. Lewis, aged 21; Martin Howard, 18; Joseph Morgan, 19; Laiken Cunningham, 22; members of the 'Spencer Greys,' died in the Mexican campaign, 1846-7; also Henry W. Walker, aged 37; Thos. J. Tyler, aged 19, of the same company, who returned home and died of disease contracted in the service."
Rev. John Matthews, D.D., Professor of Theology in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at New Albany, Ia. Born in Guilford county, N. C., Jan. 19, 1772; died in New Albany, May 18, 1848, ætat 76 years and 4 mo. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them."
Leonidas Shackelford, of Glasgow, Missouri, born Jan. 7, 1833, died Aug. 5, 1852. In whose memory this monument is erected by his brothers and sisters. Without earthly friends, he died in a strange land, realizing in full a sainted mother's prayer, that a precious Bible which she had given him would be his guide through life, and in death his consolation. Prev. verses 17 to 23.
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American scenes and Christian slavery; a recent tour of four thousand miles in the United States, by Ebenezer Davies.
Davies, Ebenezer, 1808-1882.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
London, J. Snow, 1849.
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"February 20.--The scenery was diversified. Hills covered with trees rose on either side. In the summer, when all is fresh and green, there must be here scenes of loveliness and grandeur unsurpassed. At present the country had a cold and winterly aspect. It rained, too, the whole day. At 3 P.M. we approached New Albany, on the Indiana side. It is a flourishing place, with from 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants. Just above this town are some falls in the Ohio, that can seldom be ascended by steamers, which therefore pass through a side canal, with locks, formed (through the superior influence of the slave-power) on the Kentucky or slave bank of the river. We had to pass through three locks, which have been very foolishly made too small to receive steamers of the largest class in the navigation of the Ohio. Ours fortunately, not being of that class, could "go a-head."
At 5 P.M. we got to Louisville, a city of about 30,000 or 40,000 inhabitants, on the Kentucky side. This city is a great depôt for slaves, whence they are shipped for the New Orleans market. By this means it has acquired a detestable notoriety."
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A year's residence, in the United States of America. Treating of the face of the country, the climate, the soil, the products, the mode of cultivating the land, the prices of land, of labour, of food, of raiment; of the expenses of house-keeping, and of the usual manner of living; of the manners and customs of the people; and of the institutions of the country, civil, political, and religious... By William Cobbet.
Cobbett, William, 1763-1835.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
3d ed.
London, The author, 1828.
NOTES
First edition. New York, 1818.
[THOMAS HULME is the author of the following journal]
[They were coming from French Lick]
"527. July 6th.--Leave the Judge's, still in company with Mr. Jones. Ride 25 miles to breakfast, not sooner finding feed for our horses; this was at the dirty log-house of Mr.--who has a large farm with a grist-mill on it, and keeps his yard and stables ancle deep in mud and water. If this were not one of the healthiest climates in the world, he and his family must have died in all this filth. About 13 miles further, come to New Albany, where we stop at Mr. Jenkins's, the best tavern we have found in Indiana, that at Harmony excepted.
528. July 7th.--Resting at New Albany. We were amused by hearing a Quaker-lady preach to the natives. Her first words were "All the nations of the earth are of one blood." "So," said I to myself, "this question, "which has so long perplexed philosophers, divines and "physicians, is now set at rest!" She proceeded to vent her rage with great vehemence against hireling priests and the trade of preaching in general, and closed with dealing out large portions of brimstone to the drunkard and still larger and hotter to those who give the bottle to drink. This part of her discourse pleased me very much and may be a saving to me into the bargain; for, the dread of everlasting roasting added to my love of economy will (I think) prevent me making my friends tipsy. A very efficacious sermon!
529. July 8th.--Jenkins's is a good tavern, but it entertains at a high price. Our bill was 6 dollars each for a day and two nights; a shameful charge. Leave New Albany, cross the Ohio, and pass through Louisville in Kentucky again, on our way to Lexington, the capital. Stop for the night at Mr. Netherton's, a good tavern. The land hitherto is good, and the country altogether healthy, if I may judge from the people who appear more cheerful and happy than in Indiana, always excepting Harmony. Our landlord is the picture of health and strength: 6 feet 4 inches high, weighs 300lb. and not fat."
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A second visit to the United States of North America. By Sir Charles Lyell ...
Lyell, Charles, Sir, 1797-1875.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
New York, Harper & Brothers; London, J. Murray, 1849.
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"The distance from Evansville to Louisville was 205 miles, and on both sides of the river were hills of limestone or sandstone, of the coal formation, 300 feet high, frequently presenting steep and picturesque cliffs. Every where I observed a flat terrace of loam, or loess, bordering the river, sometimes on the side of Kentucky, sometimes on that of Indiana.
I had found this ledge, both at Mount Vernon and at Evansville, to contain land and fresh-water shells. At the last-mentione dtown, where the terrace was from twenty to thirty feet high, one of the lower beds of coarse materials was full of Paludinæ
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and the valves of a Unio, both of living species; yet with them were included in the same gravelly and shelly mass, the well-preserved bones of the megalonyx.
The coal-measures had given place to an older series of strata, the Devonian, when we reached the Falls of the Ohio, at Louisville, where we saw the river foaming over its rocky bed. I first landed at New Albany, in Indiana, nearly opposite Louisville, that I might visit Dr. Clapp, and see his splendid collection of fossil corals. He accompanied me to the bed of the river, where, although the water was not at its lowest, I saw a grand display of what may be termed an ancient coral reef, formed by zoophytes, which flourished in a sea of earlier date than the carboniferous period. The ledges of horizontal limestone, over which the water flows, belong to the old red sandstone, or Devonian group, and the softer parts of the stone have decomposed and wasted away, so that the harder calcareous corals stand out in relief. Many branches of these zoophytes project from their erect stems precisely as if they were living. Among other species I observed large masses, not less than five feet in diameter, of Favosites gothlandica, with its beautiful honeycomb structure well displayed, and, by the side of it, the Favistella, combining a similar honeycombed form with the star of the Astræa. There was also the cup-shaped Cyathophyllum, and the delicate network of the Fenestella, and that elegant and well-known European species of fossil, called "the chain coral," Catenipora escharoides, with a profusion of others, which it would be tedious to all but the geologist to enumerate. These corraline forms were mingled with the joints, stems, and occasionally the heads, of lily encrinites. Although hundreds of fine specimens have been detached from these rocks, to enrich the museums of Europe and America, another crop is constantly working its way out, under the action of the stream, and of the sun and rain, in the warm season when the channel is laid dry. The waters are now twenty feet above their lowest, and more than forty feet below their highest level, so that large spaces of bare rock are exposed to view.
On one of the window-sills of Dr. Clapp's library was displayed
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a group of these ancient corals, and, in the other window, a set of recent corals from the West Indian seas, of the genera Meandrina, Astrea, Madrepora, and others; some of them as heavy and stony as those of older date, their pores, foramina, and minute microscopic structure, not being more distinctly preserved. No one but a zoologist would have been able to guess which set were of modern, and which of ancient origin. Yet so old are the fossils, that they are referable to an era antecedent to the Alleghanies, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, nay, even to the time when by far the greater part of the materials composing these mountain-chains were slowly elaborated beneath the ocean."
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Two years on the farm of Uncle Sam. With sketches of his location, nephews, and prospects. By Charles Casey.
Casey, Charles, traveller.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
London, R. Bentley, 1852.
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"The Ohio at Louisville, and just above New Albany, stretches out, I should think, into a mile in width; nor does its scenic beauty lessen as we proceed, the high banks disappear, but the wooded bottoms are picturesque and full of interest to the traveller's eye; the width seems to increase as we proceed."
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posted by Lloyd at 12:50 PM 