_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 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
broodmare 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 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 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, and were more obscene in their
appointments than 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 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 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 entrepot, 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 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 when the cry is once afoot, the
retribution will be awful.[1]
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
chestnut, 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
ideal_ of a Southern dwelling, having on either front very deep
porticoes 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.
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 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, 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, 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.
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, 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.
At one of our landing-places we found a couple of outcast-looking
white-men bivouacking beneath a tree before a half-burned log, with a
couple of tin saucepans standing near: one of the precious pair was
extended on the damp soil, bare-headed, with a blanket rolled about him;
the other sat, Indian-like, wrapped in a similar robe. For the three
hours we were delayed, whilst loading three hundred bales of cotton, I
do not think either of them moved; they were as miserable specimens of
humanity as might be met with. I could not help contrasting these
members of the privileged class with a gang of stout slaves who were
employing their Sunday's leisure in assisting to load the boat, for
which service they each received about two shillings sterling: I need
hardly say the contrast was decidedly in favour of the negroes.
_Monday, 16th._--Day fine, and not so cold: passed Bayou Sarah, as high
up as which the tide flows, rising about six inches once in twenty-four
hours.
Opposite Prophet's Island saw a large square ark, moored to the bank,
surmounted by a pole from which a white flag was fluttering. I was in
great hopes this was the Mississippi theatre, which I knew from report
to be somewhere in this latitude on its annual voyage to New Orleans;
but it turned out to be the store of a Yankee pedlar on a trading
voyage.
This floating theatre, about which I make constant inquiry, and which I
yet hope to fall in with, is not the least original or singular
speculation ventured on these waters. It was projected and is carried
on by the Elder Chapman, well known for many years as a Covent Garden
actor: his practice is to have a building suitable to his views erected
upon a raft at some point high up the Mississippi, or on one of its
tributaries, whence he takes his departure early in the fall, with
scenery, dresses, and decorations, all prepared for representation. At
each village or large plantation he hoists banner and blows trumpet, and
few who love a play suffer his ark to pass the door, since they know it
is to return no more until the next year; for, however easy may prove
the downward course of the drama's temple, to retrograde, upwards, is
quite beyond its power. Sometimes a large steamer from Louisville, with
a thousand souls on board, will command a play whilst taking in fuel,
when the profit must be famous. The _corps dramatique_ is, I believe,
principally composed of members of his own family, which is numerous,
and, despite of alligators and yellow fever, likely to increase and
flourish. When the Mississippi theatre reaches New Orleans, it is
abandoned and sold for fire-wood; the manager and troop returning in a
steamer to build a new one, with such improvements as increased
experience may have suggested.
This course Mr. Chapman has pursued for three or four seasons back, and,
as I am told by many who have encountered this aquatic company, very
profitably. I trust he may continue to do so until he makes a fortune,
and can bequeath to his kin the undisputed sovereignty of the
Mississippi circuit.
_Tuesday, 17th._--At six A.M. was once more safely landed upon the
already busy Levee of New Orleans; here I rested until the 22nd; on
which day I took steam direct to Mobile, accomplishing the trip in
forty-eight hours, one night of which we passed grounded on the
Rigolets, a sandy difficult pass connecting Lac Pontchartrain with Lac
Borgne.