THE GREAT RIVER AND ITS MISCHIEF.
The scenery amid which the good raft _Venture_ performed its long and
eventful voyage changed almost with the rapidity of a kaleidoscope, but
was ever fascinating and full of pleasant surprises. The flaming
autumnal foliage of the forest-lined banks through which the first
hundred miles or so were made, gave way to masses of sombre browns or
rich purples, and these in turn to the flecked white of cotton-fields,
the dark green of live-oaks, and the silver gray of Spanish moss. The
picturesque cliffs of the upper river, rising in places to almost
mountainous heights, were merged into the lowlands of canebrakes and
swamps, broken by ranges of bluffs along the eastern bank after the
Ohio was passed. On these bluffs were perched many cities and towns
that were full of interest to our raftmates; among them, Memphis,
Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge. Every here and there in the low
bottom lands of the "Delta" below Memphis they saw the rounded tops of
great mounds, raised by prehistoric dwellers in that region as places
of refuge during seasons of flood. They passed from the great northern
wheat region into that of corn, then into the broad cotton belt, and
finally to the land of sugar-cane and rice, orange-trees, glossy-leaved
magnolias, and gaunt moss-hung cypresses.
Of more immediate interest even than these ever-changing features of
the land was the varied and teeming life of the mighty river itself.
The boys were never tired of watching the streams of strange craft
constantly passing up or down. Here a splendid packet in all the glory
of fresh paint, gleaming brass, gay bunting, and crowds of passengers
rushed swiftly southward with the current in mid-channel; or, up-bound,
ploughed a mighty furrow against it, while the hoarse coughings of its
high-pressure engines echoed along many a mile of forest wall.
Smaller up-bound boats hugged the banks in search of slack water. Most
of the main-stream packets were side-wheelers; but those of lighter
draught, bound far up the Red, the Arkansas, the Yazoo, the Sunflower,
or other tributary rivers, were provided with great stern wheels that
made them look like exaggerated wheelbarrows. Then there were the
tow-boats, pushing dozens of sooty coal-barges from the Ohio;
freight-boats so piled with cotton-bales that only their pilot-houses
and chimneys were visible; trading-scows and "Jo-boats;" floating
dance-houses and theatres; ferryboats driven by steam, or propelled by
mule-power, like the _Whatnot_; some large enough to carry a whole
train of cars from shore to shore, and others with a capacity of but a
single team. There were skiffs, canoes, pirogues, and rafts of all
sizes and description.
Most interesting of all, however, were the Government snag-boats, which
constantly patrolled the river, on the lookout for obstructions that
they might remove. These boats were doubled-hulled; and when one of
them straddled a snag, no matter if it was the largest tree that ever
grew, it was bound to disappear. With great steam-driven saws it would
be cut into sections, that were lifted and swung aside by powerful
derricks planted near the bows. These useful snag-boats also gave
relief to distressed craft of all kinds; blew up or removed dangerous
wrecks; dislodged rafts of drift that threatened to form inconvenient
bars; and in a thousand ways acted the part of an ever-vigilant police
for this grandest of American highways.
And the great restless river needed watching. It was as full of
mischievous pranks as a youthful giant experimenting with his new-found
strength. It thought nothing of biting out a few hundred acres of land
from one bank and depositing them miles below on the other. If these
acres were occupied by houses or cultivated fields, so much the more
fun for the river. For years it would flow peacefully in a well-known
channel around some great bend, then decide to make a change, and in a
single night cut a new channel straight across the loop of land. By
such a prank not only were all the river pilots thoroughly bewildered,
but a large slice of one State, with its inhabitants and buildings,
would be transferred to another. If at the same time an important
river-town could be stranded and left far inland, the happiness of the
mischief-making giant was complete; and for many miles it would swirl
and eddy and boil and ripple with exuberant glee over the success of
its efforts.
Above all it delighted in secretly gathering to itself from tributary
streams their vast accumulations of protracted rains or melting snows,
until it was swollen to twice its ordinary size, and endowed with a
strength that nothing could withstand. Then with mighty leaps it would
overflow its banks, cover whole counties with its tawny floods, burst
through levees, and riot over thousands of cultivated fields, sweep
away houses, uproot trees, and drown every unfortunate creature on
which it could lay its clutching fingers. Whenever its fleeing victims
managed to reach some little mound or bit of high land that it could
not climb, then it found equal pleasure in surrounding them and mocking
them with its plashing chuckles, while they suffered the pangs of slow
starvation.
At these times of overflow not only the snag-boats but such other craft
as could be pressed into the service were despatched in every direction
to the relief of the river giant's victims. While on this duty they
carried provisions, clothing, and other necessaries of life into the
most remote districts; effected rescues from floating houses, or those
whose roofs alone rose above the flood and afforded uncertain refuge
for their inmates; removed human beings and live-stock from little
muddy islands miles away from the main channel of the river, carried
them miles farther before reaching places of safety, and in every way
strove with all their might to mitigate the calamity of unfettered
waters.
Our raftmates had witnessed the effect of all these freaks and
caprices, except that of a widespread and devastating flood, during
their voyage, and as they drew near its end they became aware that an
acquaintance with this most terrible of all the river's efforts at
destruction was to be added to their experience. The drought of summer
had been followed by an almost unprecedented rainfall during the
autumn. The earth in every direction was like an oversoaked sponge,
and the surplus water was pouring in turbid torrents into the rivers.
From every quarter of the vast Mississippi Valley these watery legions
were hurried forward to join the all-conquering forces of the great
river.
It had been high-water in the Ohio when the _Venture_ lay at Cairo.
When it passed the mouth of the Arkansas its crew were amazed at the
mighty volume of its muddy flood. From this on they floated in company
with ever-increasing masses of drift--trees, fences, farming
implements, straw-stacks, cotton-bales, out-buildings, and every now
and then a house, lifted bodily from its foundations, and borne away in
the resistless arms of the ever-swelling tide. Most of the houses were
empty, but from several of them the ready skiff of the _Venture_
effected rescues, now of a solitary individual driven to the verge of
despair by the lonely terrors of his situation, and then of whole
wretched families who had lost everything in the world except their
lives. A cow, several pigs, and dozens of barn-yard fowls also found
an asylum on the friendly raft, until, as Billy Brackett said, it
reminded one of the original and only Noah's ark menagerie.
Besides supplying the raft with passengers, the river helped to feed
them. Floating straw-stacks and shocks of corn were always in sight,
while fresh milk and eggs, pork and chickens, drifted with the current
on all sides. In vain were these passengers landed at the nearest
accessible points. A new lot was always found to take the place of
those who had left, and for ten days the raft resembled a combination
of floating hotel, nursery, hospital, and farm-yard. The resources of
our raftmates were taxed to their utmost during this time to provide
for the manifold wants of their welcome but uninvited guests, while
Solon declared, "I hain't nebber done sich a sight er cooken durin' all
de days ob my life."
By the time the mouth of the Red River was reached, half of Concordia
Parish was flooded, and but for the forest trees rising from the water,
the boys would have thought themselves afloat on a vast inland sea.
The low bluffs on which the capital of Louisiana is seated, and beyond
which the cane lands extend in almost a dead level to the Gulf, were
occupied by the tents and rude shelters of hundreds of refugees from
the drowned districts. Here our raftmates began to entertain fears for
the safety of their friends at the Moss Bank plantation, which lay but
a day's journey farther down the river.
At Baton Rouge they cleared the raft of its living encumbrances, and
then pushed ahead. From this point to the Gulf the great river is
enclosed between massive levees, or embankments of earth, behind which
the level of the far-reaching cane-fields is much lower than the
surface of high-water. Thus the raft was borne swiftly along at such
an elevation that its crew could look over the top of the eastern levee
and down over a vast area of plantation lands. These were dotted with
dark clumps of live-oaks or magnolias, and at wide intervals with
little settlements of whitewashed negro quarters, grouped behind the
broad-verandaed dwellings of the planters. Near each was the mill in
which the cane from the broad fields was crushed and its sweet juices
converted into sugar. These mills were surmounted by tall iron
smoke-stacks, and near each stood the square, tower-like bagasse
(refuse) burner, built of stone, and looking like the keep of some
ancient castle.
All along the levee they saw gangs of men at work strengthening the
embankments and raising them still higher. They were often hailed and
asked to lend assistance, but they felt that their own friends might be
in need of them, and so passed on without answer. So changed was the
aspect of the country since Solon had last seen it, and so excited did
the old man become as he neared the scenes of former years, that it was
evident he could not be depended upon to recognize Moss Bank when they
should reach it.
The day was nearly spent before they arrived at what they felt sure
must be its immediate vicinity. They had decided to tie up at the
first good place, and there wait for morning, when Winn called out:
"What is that just ahead? I thought it was a log; but it seems to be
moving towards us, and I believe it is some sort of a small boat with a
man in it."
The object to which their attention was thus directed proved to be a
decked canoe, the very daintiest craft any of them had ever seen,
bearing the name _Psyche_ in gold letters on either bow. In it sat a
boy of about Winn's age, urging it forward with vigorous strokes of a
double-bladed paddle.
The raft was close to the levee as he shot alongside.
"Hello!" he shouted; "is this the raft _Venture_?"
"Yes. Are you Worth Manton?"
"No; but I am Sumner Rankin. Worth is down there with his father and
all the hands we could raise, working on the levee; but we are afraid
it can't stand much longer. I have been out here hailing every raft
that passed, and watching for you for the last three days. I'm awfully
glad you've come, for our men are discouraged, and about ready to give
up. Now, perhaps you will help us."
"Of course we will! Come right aboard and show us where to tie up,"
answered Billy Brackett, heartily.
By the time the raft was made fast near the scene of greatest danger,
and Mr. Manton, with Worth, had come aboard, the night was as dark as
pitch. The lanterns of the working gang glancing here and there like
so many fire-flies were feebly reflected in the angry waters that slid
stealthily by with uncanny gurglings and muttered growls.
[Illustration: "The lanterns of the working gang glancing here and
there like fire-flies."]
"If the bank will only hold until morning!" said Mr. Manton, about
midnight, as he and Billy Brackett entered the _Venture's_ cosey
"shanty" for a brief rest. All but these two and Solon were asleep,
laying in a stock of strength for the labors of the next day.
Suddenly there came a frightened shouting from the bank. Then all
other sounds were drowned in the furious roar of rushing waters, while
the raft seemed to be lifted bodily and hurled into space.