A little before midnight, my two New York _compagnons du voyage_ and
myself took our seats in the mail for Montgomery, on the Alabama river.
We found ourselves the sole occupants of the vehicle, and were
congratulating each other on the chance, when we heard directions given
to the driver to halt at Sodom, for the purpose of taking up a gentleman
and his lady,--_Anglice_, a gambler and his mistress.
It was dark as pitch and raining hard when we set out: a few minutes
found us rumbling along the enclosed bridge, amidst the mingled roar of
the rain, our wheels, and the neighbouring falls: the flood passing
below us had in the course of the last ten hours risen nearly twenty
feet; its rush was awful.
At one of the first houses in the redoubtable border village the stage
halted, and a couple of trunks were added to our load; next, a female
was handed into the coach, followed by her protector. The proportions of
neither could at this time be more than guessed at; and not one syllable
was exchanged by any of the parties. In a few minutes we were again
under weigh, and plunging through the forest.
We reached Fort-Mitchell about daylight, where formerly a considerable
garrison was kept up: the post is now, however, abandoned. Here an
unanticipated treat awaited us, for we were compelled to leave our, by
this time, tolerably warm stage, for one fairly saturated with the rain
that had fallen during the night. Our luggage was pitched into the mud
by the coachman, who had only one assistant; so we were fain to lend a
hand, instead of standing shivering by, until the trunks were fished
out, and disposed of on the new stage. A delay here of an hour and a
half enabled me, however, to stroll back, and take a look at the
deserted barrack. By this time too the day was well out; the sky broke
with a more cheerful look than for some days back had favoured us, and
was hailed by us all with great pleasure.
I prepared my 'baccy, and climbed on to the box by the driver, resolute
to hold on there as long as possible. For five hours we got along at the
rate of four miles an hour, through a forest of pine growing out of a
sandy soil, without any undergrowth whatever,--the trees of the noblest
height, and just so far apart that horsemen might have galloped in any
direction without difficulty. Our driver was a lively intelligent young
fellow, having a civil word of inquiry or of greeting for every Indian
we encountered: these were by no means numerous however, and they seldom
replied by more than a monosyllable, hardly appearing to notice our
passage.
The country was in general slightly undulating, but now and then we came
to places where I considered us fairly pounded, so abrupt were the
declivities and so deep the mud. There are few persons certainly called
on for a more frequent display of pluck and coolness than these drivers;
I should like some of our flash dragsmen to see one or two bits we got
through on this road; not that any mile of it would be considered
passable by Pickford's vans, in the condition it was at this season.
We halted for a late breakfast at a solitary log-tavern kept by
Americans, where we were received with infinite civility, and where the
lady of the _auberge_ was inclined to be amiable and communicative,--not
an every-day rencontre in these parts. She informed me that the means
they could command for the mere necessaries of living were very limited;
that butcher's meat was only attainable at Columbus, and that any
attempt to rear a stock of poultry was ridiculous, as the Indians of the
country invariably stole every feather.
I congratulated her upon the late arrangements of Government, which
afforded her the prospect of speedily being rid of these neighbours; but
she seemed to think the day of departure was still far distant, not over
five hundred having as yet availed themselves of the offers held out to
them, although the greater number of those remaining in the country had
already disposed of their allotments to speculators and dissipated the
money they had received for their land; having neglected to plant an ear
of corn, or prepare the least provision for the present winter,--an
improvidence of character peculiar to the natives, and which it was, she
said, impossible to guard against without depriving them of all
free-agency. Many, as she assured me, of these wretched people were at
this time suffering from extreme want, and thousands were fast hastening
to the like condition, when, unless aided by Government, they must steal
or starve.
This poor couple had, as they told me, dwelt in the Indian nation for
the last seven years: they seemed decent, industrious folk, yet their
habitation bore few marks of growing comfort; the interstices between
the logs were unfilled, through these the wind and rain had both free
ingress. Their hope, I imagine, was to secure a good allotment of land
amongst the improvident sales made by the Indians: they said the place
was a good one, and tolerably healthy, excepting in spring and fall;
judging by the looks of the family, I should, however, take their
estimation of health to be a very low one.
After breakfast the driver made his appearance, and desired us to come
down to the stable and fix ourselves as well as we could on the _Box_.
Conceiving he alluded to me, I asked if the stage was ready, but
received for reply an assurance that it was not intended the stage
should be any longer employed on the service; but that, by the agent's
order, the _Box_ was to be taken on from this point, and that those
that liked might go on with it, and those that did not might stay
behind.
This was pleasant, but all appeared desirous of trying the _Box_. I
confess that a mail conveyance bearing a name so novel excited my
curiosity; so, sallying forth, I walked down to the starting-place,
where, ready-harnessed and loaded, stood literally the _Box_, made of
rough fir plank, eight feet long by three feet wide, with sides two feet
deep: it was fixed firmly on an ordinary coach-axle, with pole, &c. The
mails and luggage filled the box to overflowing, and on the top of all
we were left to, as the driver said, "fix our four quarters in as leetle
time as possible."
Now this fixing, in any other part of the globe, would have been deemed
an impossibility by persons who were paying for a mail conveyance; but
in this spot we knew redress was out of the question--the choice lay
between the Box and the forest. We, however, enjoyed the travellers'
privilege,--grumbled loudly, cursed all scoundrel stage-agents, who
"keep the word of promise to the ear and break it to the hope:" we next
laughed at our unavailing ill-humour, which the driver bore with the
calmness of a stoic, and finally disposed of our persons as we best
could; not the least care having been taken in the disposition of the
luggage, our sole care, in fact, was to guard against being jolted off
by the movement of the machine; any disposition in favour of ease or
comfort was quite out of the question.
During the change, our female companion and her proprietor had walked
on; and these were yet to be provided for; however, the sun shone
brightly; and we found a subject for congratulation in the fact that
rain was not likely to be superadded to our miseries. Short-sighted
rogues that we are! What a blessing is it, a knowledge of the evils to
come is not permitted to cloud our enjoyments in possession! Crack went
the whip. "Hold on with your claws and teeth!" cried the driver; the
latter, we found, were only to be kept in the jaws by compression: for
the former, we had immediate occasion; our first movement unshipped a
trunk and carpetbag, together with the band-box of our fair
passenger--the latter was crushed flat beneath the trunk, and its
contents scattered about the way: exposed to the gaze of the profane,
lay the whole _materiel_ of the toilet of this fair maiden of Sodom. We
gathered up a lace cap; ditto of cambric; six love epistles, directed to
the lady in as many different hands; a musk-box, and several other
indescribable articles; together with an ivory-hilted dagger, of
formidable proportions, a little sullied, like the maiden's honour, but
sharp as a needle. Of the articles enumerated we made a bundle, leaving
the shattered band-box on the road. I took the precaution to roll the
several billets up in the cambric cap, "guessing" they were not intended
for the Colonel's eyes; for so was our male companion styled by the
driver.
When we overtook the pair, we made every exertion to dispose of the poor
girl, at least securely; who, in truth, merited our cares by the
cheerful and uncomplaining spirit she evinced under circumstances full
of peril, and ill to bear for the hardiest frame.
Wherever the way permitted a quicker pace than a walk, our condition was
really _penible_ to a degree; luckily, this did not arrive often, or
last long: to crawl at a snail-pace through the mud was now a relief,
since one could retain one's seat without straining every muscle to hold
on.
Thus we progressed till the evening advanced, when the clouds gathered
thick, and then began to roll towards the north-west in dark threatening
masses, right in the teeth of a brisk, fitful breeze.
"We'll get it presently," observed our driver, eyeing the drift; "hot as
mush, and 'most as thick, by the looks on 't."
All at once the wind lulled; then it shifted round to the south-east,
and blew out in heavy gusts that bent the tall pines together like
rushes: upon this change, lightning quickly followed, playing in the
distance about the edge of the darkening horizon. For about two hours we
were favoured with these premonitory symptoms, and thus allowed ample
time for conjecture as to the probable violence of the storm in active
preparation.
Some of our Box crew decided as they desired, that it would pass away in
threatenings only; others, that all this heralding would be followed by
a violent storm, or perhaps by a hurricane. It now occurred to me that,
in moments of enthusiasm, encouraged by security, I had expressed myself
desirous of witnessing the wild charge of a furious hurricane on the
thick ranks of the forest. I confess, however, that, having within the
last twenty-four hours witnessed its effects, this desire was
considerably abated. With the probable approach of the event, my ardour,
like Acres's courage, "oozed away;" and the prospect of such a
visitation, whilst exposed on the _Box_, became the reverse of pleasant.
In this uncertainty I resolved to consult our driver's experience; so,
coming boldly to the point, demanded,
"I say, driver, do you calculate that we shall be caught in a
hurricane?"
"I'll tell you how that'll be exact," replied our oracle: "If the rain
comes down pretty, we shan't have no hurricane; if it holds up dry, why,
we shall."
Henceforth never did ducks pray more devoutly for rain than did the crew
of the _Box_, although without hope or thought of shelter; but, on the
contrary, with every possible chance of a break-down or upset, which
would have made the forest our bed, but stripped of the "Leaves so
green, O!" about which your ballad-mongers love to sing, with their toes
over the fender, and the hail pattering melodiously upon the pantiles.
At last, our prayers were heard; and we all, I believe, breathed more
freely as the gates of the sky opened, and the falling flood subdued and
stilled the hot wind whose heavy gusts rushing among the pines had been
the reverse of musical.
The thunder-clouds, hitherto confined to the southern horizon, now
closed down upon the forest, deepening its already darkness: at a
snail's pace we still proceeded, and luckily found an Indian party
encamped close by a sort of bridge lying across a swamp it would have
been impossible, as the driver assured us, to have crossed without a
good light.
From this party we not only procured a large supply of excellent
light-wood, but one of the men heartily volunteered to carry a bundle of
it, and act as guide; the squaw of the good fellow was in a violent rage
with her man for this courtesy, but he bore her ridicule and reviling
with perfect composure. Each of our party carried in his hand a large
sliver of this invaluable wood; and, thus prepared, marched in front of
the Box across this bridge, almost as ticklish as the single hair
leading to Mahomet's heaven: it was a quarter of a mile in length,
unguarded by a rail or bulwark of the slightest kind, but generally
overhung by the rank growth of the jungle through which it was laid.
My New York companions and I had out-walked the Box; but when about
half-way across, the rain extinguished our torches, which were rather
too slight for the service, when, as we had perceived in our course that
many of the planks were unshipped or full of holes, we thought it best
to halt for the coming up of our baggage.
I can never forget the effect produced by the blaze of the huge bundle
of light-wood borne aloft by our Creek guide: I entirely lost sight of
the discomfort of our condition in the pleasure I derived from the whole
scene.
Let the reader imagine a figure dressed in a deep-yellow shirt reaching
barely to the knees, the legs naked; a belt of scarlet wampum about the
loins, and a crimson and dark-blue shawl twisted turban-fashion round
the head; with locks of black coarse hair streaming from under this, and
falling loose over the neck or face: fancy one half of such a figure
lighted up by a very strong blaze, marking the nimble tread, the swart
cold features, sparkling eye, and outstretched muscular arms of the
red-man,--the other half, meantime, being in the blackest possible
shadow: whilst following close behind, just perceptible through wreaths
of thick smoke, moved the heads of the leading horses; and, over all,
flashed at frequent intervals red vivid lightning; one moment breaking
forth in a wide sheet, as though an overcharged cloud had burst at once
asunder; the next, descending in zigzag lines, or darting through
amongst the tall pines and cypress trees; whilst the quick patter of the
horses' hoofs were for a time heard loudly rattling over the loose
hollow planks, and then again drowned wholly by the crash of near
thunder.
Never in my life have I looked upon a scene which holds so vivid a place
within my memory: the savage solitude of the jungle, the violence of the
storm, together with the pictorial accessories by which the whole
picture was kept in movement, fixed the attention, and can never, I
think, be forgotten by those who witnessed it.
Having cleared the swamp, we took our places on the Box, still lighted
by our friendly Creek; and in about half an hour gained the log-house
where the mail agent to whose considerate order we owed our change of
vehicle, and consequent added discomfort, dwelt: here, however, a clean
comfortable meal of tea, chops, fowls, and hot bread of every
denomination, awaited us.
My first movement on jumping off the Box was to lay hands on the Indian
guide, and to proffer to him a flask of cognac, which had proved of
singular comfort to the party: to my great surprise, he at once declined
tasting it; smiling and pointing his finger to his forehead, he gravely
repeated half a dozen words, which a by-stander of the nation readily
translated to mean,--"Whisky water make man not eat,--bad for sore
head."
I agreed with this as a general rule, but at the same time begged my
Creek to look on old brandy as an exception, when used medicinally; this
being duly interpreted, the Indian laughed heartily, but abided by his
rejection of the consolation. During our parley he took the red and blue
shawl from off his head, wrung it as dry as possible, refolded it, and
then adjusted his turban with infinite care, preparing forthwith to be
gone: he did not depart without a slight gratuity, and took with him our
best wishes. This was a fine open-countenanced fellow, middle-sized, and
firmly built; he was, in fact, one of the few really good-looking
aborigines I have met. As he was departing from the house, I asked if he
did not require a bundle of light-wood to show him his road home; he
laughed, and replied, "No, he was no waggon; no fear of him falling into
the swamp."
Away he dashed into the mud at a quick trot, with bent knees and folded
arms, anxious, I fancied, to appease his squaw; since it was contrary to
her desire that he had ventured on this service, and not, as the
coachman assured us, without receiving much abuse for his foolishness,
as his "gentle ladye" termed this courtesy.
Here we learned that the mail preceding us had been overturned into a
stream from off the bridge we had next to pass, and lay there yet;
luckily no passenger was in it at the time: our new driver added, that
he had no expectations of getting the coach through, but he was bound to
try. So wearied were we, that any or all of the party would have been
well contented to stay here; but no place could be given us to sleep in,
and until the next coach passed, no means could be procured to forward
us to Montgomery; we had no choice therefore but to push on with the
mail and meet our fortune.
From this hour, midnight, until daylight, we were generally on foot;
the driver in one or two instances refusing to advance until even the
poor girl got out, assuring us that he would not hazard the young
woman's life, however hard it was for her to face the night and the
roads, frequently over knee-deep.
We had a plentiful supply of fire-wood: we were able, and, I will add,
willing men; and by dint of great personal exertion, added to an
excellent team, and a judicious driver, we brought the coach through all
difficulties, arriving at Montgomery at six in the morning: thus
completing a journey of ninety miles in thirty-two hours; and having
paid well to be permitted to assist in getting the mail-bag through
roads which, for the next few days, remained, I believe, utterly
impassable, even under the circumstances I have here attempted to
describe.
At Montgomery we found a wretched inn, with no possibility of procuring
anything save liquor; but we had the good luck to learn that in a couple
of hours a steam-boat was departing for Mobile, down the Alabama: we
gave up the stage therefore, and sallied out of this den of a hotel for
the steamer Carolina. This movement was lucky, as the stage-route to
Mobile was, as I afterwards learned, as bad as the worst we had come
through; all the late coaches had met with accidents, and the added rain
of the last twenty-four hours would, it was presumed, render it
impassable.
I was so wearied that I saw little of this place but a muddy river,
whose banks were strewn with bales of cotton awaiting the means of
transport. I could hardly keep my eyes open till I had swallowed my
breakfast: a clean-looking berth was assigned me, and, turning in, I
remained oblivious to the world and its cares until after noon of the
following day, when I awoke fresh as a bird and hungry as an ostrich. I
was told several attempts had been made to rouse me, but they were
unavailing; I answered, but slept on: for my own part, of this
twenty-four hours of life I protest utter unconsciousness. I found that
I had slept faster than the boat had progressed, for we were but fifty
miles off our starting-place, having a certain portion of freight to
take in at each plantation, according to previous engagements.
Down this noble stream we journeyed for four days and nights; in clear
weather making tolerably good way, but often compelled by thick fogs
and drift timber to lay our ship alongside the forest, and make fast to
some large tree. Occasionally the stream would cant our head suddenly,
and, before the helm could be shifted, rush we went right stem on into
the nearest grove of willows, with such a crashing and rattling as made
one wonder at first what the deuce was the row. In one instance, whilst
at dinner, a huge branch burst open a side door, and nearly impaled a
French conjurer of celebrity on his way to New Orleans. We were nearly a
hundred souls on board, and each day our limits grew more and more
circumscribed; for the side galleries were filled in with bales of
cotton, the windows blocked up, at last the very doorways, all but one:
lights were burned in the cabin day and night: the Carolina became, in
fact, a floating mass of cotton, which, had the season been dry, one
unlucky spark might have set in a blaze--an accident by no means
unknown; luckily, the rain continued to fall more or less daily, as is
usual at this season.
Our passengers were principally composed of the planters whose cotton
had already been shipped; they were a rough but merry set of fellows,
and many of them exceedingly intelligent; kinder or better-disposed men
I never met: for their own health's sake I could have desired to see the
bar less prosperous; their visits to that quarter were over frequent:
not that an instance of inebriety occurred on board, but the stimulant,
together with the quantity of tobacco they use, must, I am sure, be
ruinous to both health and enjoyment. I found most of them complaining
of dyspepsia, but had much difficulty to induce them to admit the
possibility of their own habits being at least as much the cause as the
climate.
The cotton-grounds along the whole cultivated line of this river are
rich beyond conception; fields of a mile square were here just picked,
and yet white as snow from the after-growth. Many of them would have
been worth re-picking had hands been procurable; on every side fresh
clearings are going on, and the produce next season will be greatly
increased in consequence of the stimulus derived from the high prices of
this year.
A night scene, whilst lying beneath some of the noble bluffs towering
above the river, was often worthy the delay we paid for it. One or two
of these heights were two hundred feet perpendicular, or nearly so:
from the summit there is laid down in a slanting direction a slide or
trough of timber, wide enough to admit of the passage of a cotton bale;
at the bottom of the bluff this slide rests upon a platform of loose
planks, alongside of which the boat is moored; the cotton-bag is guided
into the slide at top, and thence, being launched, is left to find its
own way to the bottom; if it keeps the slide until it strikes the
platform, communicating with the vessel by a plane inclined according to
circumstances, it is carried on board by its own impetus and the spring
of the planks; but it often chances that through meeting a slight
inequality on the slide, or from some unknown cause, the bale bounces
off in its passage, either sticking amongst the trees by the way, or
rolling headlong into the river. At any jutting intermediate stand of
the precipice, negroes are stationed to keep up the huge fires which
afford light for the operation, as well as to forward such bales as may
stick by the run: these black half-naked devils, suspended in midair as
it were, laughing, yelling, or giving to each other confused directions,
make the forest ring to the water's edge; whilst through this occasional
din swells the wild chorus of the men upon the summit, who are
regularly engaged rolling the bales from the near barn to the slide.
Add to all, the hissing sound of the spare steam, the blaze of the great
fires, and the crackling of the trees which feed them, with the many
strange figures presented on all sides,--and a wilder grouping
imagination cannot well conceive.
At Clairborne, an elevation rising boldly from the river at least three
hundred feet, we took in the last bale of cotton the Carolina could
stow: the water was now level with her gunwale; indeed, amidships it was
flowing over. We had still one hundred and fifty miles to perform of our
journey in darkness, with upwards of a thousand bales of cotton on
board: such a strange motley scene as our cabin presented at bed-time it
would be hard to describe; our provisions held out pretty well however,
and all were disposed good-humouredly to bear our lot with Christian
patience.
_Tuesday, Dec. 30th._--We reached Mobile, having come five hundred miles
down the Alabama since Christmas-day. Upon inquiry for our mail, I found
it was still due, as well as the two immediately preceding it; I had,
therefore, lost no time by making choice of the Carolina, and had
possibly escaped broken bones: the distance by land, I ought to observe,
is from Montgomery only about one hundred miles.
I here was received by my friends, H----n and M----e; and on this day,
at the house of the latter gentleman, once more sat down to a truly
comfortable dinner, in company with our worthy Consul, and a few other
gentlemen. I was detained here for two days, there being no steamer
going across the lake to New Orleans: these two days were passed most
delightfully, driving Mr. H----n about the beautiful forest paths which
surround this city; the weather was divine, and flowers of great beauty
yet in abundance.
The evening of the 31st I passed with Mrs. B----r, where in a glass of
good poteen we drank a good bye to the year 1834, and a welcome to the
stranger.