partners, and a Canadian accompanying my son on his Cremona, mirth and
joy soon abounded. Dancing is certainly one of the most healthful and
innocent amusements; I have loved it a vast deal more than watching for
the nibble of a trout, and I have sometimes thought the enjoyment of it
softened my nature as much as the pale, pure light of the moon softens
and beautifies a winter night. A maiden lady who sat at my side, and who
was the only daughter of my talkative companion, relished my remarks on
the subject so much that the next set saw her gracing the floor with her
tutored feet.
At each pause of the musicians refreshments were handed round by the
hostess and her son, and I was not a little surprised to see all the
ladies, maids and matrons, swallow, like their sweethearts and husbands,
a full glass of pure rum, with evident pleasure. I should perhaps have
recollected that, in cold climates, a glass of ardent spirits is not
productive of the same effects as in burning latitudes, and that
refinement had not yet induced these healthy and robust dames to affect
a delicacy foreign to their nature.
It was now late, and knowing how much I had to accomplish next day, I
left the party and proceeded to the shore. My men were sound asleep in
the boat, but in a few moments I was on board the "Ripley." My young
friends arrived towards daylight, but many of the fishermen's sons and
daughters kept up the dance, to the music of the Canadian, until after
our breakfast was over.
THE BAY OF FUNDY
It was in the month of May that I sailed in the United States revenue
cutter, the "Swiftsure," engaged in a cruise in the Bay of Fundy. Our
sails were quickly unfurled and spread out to the breeze. The vessel
seemed to fly over the surface of the liquid element, as the sun rose in
full splendor, while the clouds that floated here and there formed, with
their glowing hues, a rich contrast with the pure azure of the heavens
above us. We approached apace the island of Grand Menan, of which the
stupendous cliffs gradually emerged from the deep with the majestic
boldness of her noblest native chief. Soon our bark passed beneath its
craggy head, covered with trees, which, on account of the height, seemed
scarcely larger than shrubs. The prudent Raven spread her pinions,
launched from the cliff, and flew away before us; the Golden Eagle,
soaring aloft, moved majestically along in wide circles; the Guillemots
sat on their eggs upon the shelving precipices, or plunging into the
water, dived, and rose again at a great distance; the broad-breasted
Eider Duck covered her eggs among the grassy tufts; on a naked rock the
Seal lazily basked, its sleek sides glistening in the sunshine; while
shoals of porpoises were swiftly gliding through the waters around us,
showing by their gambols that, although doomed to the deep, their life
was not devoid of pleasure. Far away stood the bold shores of Nova
Scotia, gradually fading in the distance, of which the gray tints
beautifully relieved the wing-like sails of many a fishing bark.
Cape after cape, forming eddies and counter currents far too terrific to
be described by a landsman, we passed in succession, until we reached a
deep cove, near the shores of White Head Island, which is divided from
Grand Menan by a narrow strait, where we anchored secure from every
blast that could blow. In a short time we found ourselves under the roof
of Captain Frankland, the sole owner of the isle, of which the surface
contains about fifteen hundred acres. He received us all with politeness
and gave us permission to seek out its treasures, which we immediately
set about doing, for I was anxious to study the habits of certain Gulls
that breed there in great numbers. As Captain Coolidge, our worthy
commander, had assured me, we found them on their nests on almost every
_tree_ of a wood that covered several acres. What a treat, reader, was
it to find birds of this kind lodged on fir-trees, and sitting
comfortably on their eggs! Their loud cackling notes led us to their
place of resort, and ere long we had satisfactorily observed their
habits, and collected as many of themselves and their eggs as we
considered sufficient. In our walks we noticed a Rat, the only quadruped
found on the island, and observed abundance of gooseberries, currants,
raspberries, strawberries, and huckleberries. Seating ourselves on the
summit of the rocks, in view of the vast Atlantic, we spread out our
stores, and refreshed ourselves with our simple fare.
Now we followed the objects of our pursuit through the tangled woods,
now carefully picked our steps over the spongy grounds. The air was
filled with the melodious concerts of birds, and all Nature seemed to
smile in quiet enjoyment. We wandered about until the setting sun warned
us to depart, when, returning to the house of the proprietor, we sat
down to an excellent repast, and amused ourselves with relating
anecdotes and forming arrangements for the morrow. Our captain
complimented us on our success, when we reached the "Swiftsure," and in
due time we betook ourselves to our hammocks.
The next morning, a strange sail appearing in the distance, preparations
were instantly made to pay her commander a visit. The signal staff of
White Head Island displayed the British flag, while Captain Frankland
and his men stood on the shore, and as we gave our sails to the wind,
three hearty cheers filled the air, and were instantly responded to by
us. The vessel was soon approached, but all was found right with her,
and squaring our yards, onward we sped, cheerily bounding over the gay
billows, until our captain sent us ashore at Eastport.
At another time my party was received on board the revenue cutter's
tender, the "Fancy,"--a charming name for so beautiful a craft. We set
sail towards evening. The cackling of the "old wives" that covered the
bay filled me with delight, and thousands of Gulls and Cormorants seemed
as if anxious to pilot us into Head Harbor Bay, where we anchored for
the night. Leaping on the rugged shore, we made our way to the
lighthouse, where we found Mr. Snelling, a good and honest Englishman
from Devonshire. His family consisted of three wild-looking lasses,
beautiful, like the most finished productions of nature. In his
lighthouse snugly ensconced, he spent his days in peaceful forgetfulness
of the world, subsisting principally on the fish of the bay.
When day broke, how delightful it was to see fair Nature open her
graceful eyelids, and present herself arrayed in all that was richest
and purest before her Creator. Ah, reader, how indelibly are such
moments engraved on my soul! With what ardor have I at such times gazed
around me, full of the desire of being enabled to comprehend all that I
saw! How often have I longed to converse with the feathered inhabitants
of the forest, all of which seemed then intent on offering up their
thanks to the object of my own adoration! But the wish could not be
gratified, although I now feel satisfied that I have enjoyed as much of
the wonders and beauties of nature as it was proper for me to enjoy. The
delightful trills of the Winter Wren rolled through the underwood, the
Red Squirrel smacked time with his chops, the loud notes of the Robin
sounded clearly from the tops of the trees, the rosy Grosbeak nipped the
tender blossoms of the maples, and high overhead the Loons passed in
pairs, rapidly wending their way towards far distant shores. Would that
I could have followed in their wake! The hour of our departure had come;
and, as we sailed up the bay, our pilot, who had been fishing for cod,
was taken on board. A few of his fish were roasted on a plank before the
embers, and formed the principal part of our breakfast. The breeze was
light, and it was not until afternoon that we arrived at Point Lepreaux
Harbor, where every one, making choice of his course, went in search of
curiosities and provender.
Now, reader, the little harbor in which, if you wish it, we shall
suppose we still are, is renowned for a circumstance which I feel much
inclined to endeavor to explain to you. Several species of Ducks, that
in myriads cover the waters of the Bay of Fundy, are at times destroyed
in this particular spot in a very singular manner. When July has come,
all the water birds that are no longer capable of reproducing, remain
like so many forlorn bachelors and old maids, to renew their plumage
along the shores. At the period when these poor birds are unfit for
flight, troops of Indians make their appearance in light bark canoes,
paddled by their squaws and papooses. They form their flotilla into an
extended curve, and drive before them the birds, not in silence, but
with simultaneous horrific yells, at the same time beating the surface
of the water with long poles and paddles. Terrified by the noise, the
birds swim a long way before them, endeavoring to escape with all their
might. The tide is high, every cove is filled, and into the one where we
now are, thousands of Ducks are seen entering. The Indians have ceased
to shout, and the canoes advance side by side. Time passes on, the tide
swiftly recedes as it rose, and there are the birds left on the beach.
See with what pleasure each wild inhabitant of the forest seizes his
stick, the squaws and younglings following with similar weapons! Look at
them rushing on their prey, falling on the disabled birds, and smashing
them with their cudgels, until all are destroyed! In this manner upwards
of five hundred wild fowls have often been procured in a few hours.
Three pleasant days were spent at Point Lepreaux, when the "Fancy"
spread her wings to the breeze. In one harbor we fished for shells with
a capital dredge, and in another searched along the shore for eggs. The
Passamaquoddy chief is seen gliding swiftly over the deep in his fragile
bark. He has observed a porpoise breathing. Watch him, for now he is
close upon the unsuspecting dolphin. He rises erect, aims his musket;
smoke rises curling from the pan, and rushes from the iron tube, when
soon after the report comes on the ear. Meantime the porpoise has
suddenly turned back downwards,--it is dead. The body weighs a hundred
pounds or more, but this to the tough-fibred son of the woods is
nothing; he reaches it with his muscular arms, and at a single jerk,
while with his legs he dexterously steadies the canoe, he throws it
lengthwise at his feet. Amidst the highest waves of the Bay of Fundy,
these feats are performed by the Indians during the whole of the season
when the porpoises resort thither.
You have often, no doubt, heard of the extraordinary tides of this bay;
so had I, but, like others, I was loath to believe the reports were
strictly true. So I went to the pretty town of Windsor in Nova Scotia,
to judge for myself. But let us leave the "Fancy" for a while, and
imagine ourselves at Windsor. Late one day in August my companions and I
were seated on the grassy and elevated bank of the river, about eighty
feet or so above its bed, which was almost dry, and extended for nine
miles below like a sandy wilderness. Many vessels lay on the high banks
taking in their lading of gypsum. We thought the appearance very
singular, but we were too late to watch the tide that evening. Next
morning we resumed our station, and soon perceived the water flowing
towards us, and rising with a rapidity of which we had previously seen
no example. We planted along the steep declivity of the bank a number of
sticks, each three feet long, the base of one being placed on a level
with the top of that below it, and when about half flow the tide reached
their tops, one after another, rising three feet in ten minutes, or
eighteen in the hour; and, at high water the surface was sixty-five feet
above the bed of the river! On looking for the vessels which we had seen
the preceding evening, we were told most of them were gone with the
night tide.
But now we are again on board the "Fancy;" Mr. Claredge stands near the
pilot, who sits next to the man at the helm. On we move swiftly for the
breeze has freshened; many islands we pass in succession; the wind
increases to a gale; with reefed sails we dash along, and now rapidly
pass a heavily laden sloop gallantly running across our course with
undiminished sail; when suddenly we see her upset. Staves and spars are
floating around, and presently we observe three men scrambling up her
sides, and seating themselves on the keel, where they make signals of
distress to us. By this time we have run to a great distance; but
Claredge, cool and prudent, as every seaman ought to be, has already
issued his orders to the helmsman and crew, and now near the wind we
gradually approach the sufferers. A line is thrown to them, and the next
moment we are alongside the vessel. A fisher's boat, too, has noticed
the disaster; and, with long strokes of her oars, advances, now rising
on the curling wave, and now sinking out of sight. By our mutual efforts
the men are brought on board, and the sloop is slowly towed into a safe
harbor. An hour later my party was safely landed at Eastport, where, on
looking over the waters, and observing the dense masses of vapor that
veiled the shores, we congratulated ourselves at having escaped from the
Bay of Fundy.
A FLOOD
Many of our larger streams, such as the Mississippi, the Ohio, the
Illinois, the Arkansas, and the Red River, exhibit at certain seasons
the most extensive overflowings of their waters, to which the name of
_floods_ is more appropriate than the term _freshets_, usually applied
to the sudden risings of smaller streams. If we consider the vast extent
of country through which an inland navigation is afforded by the
never-failing supply of water furnished by these wonderful rivers, we
cannot suppose them exceeded in magnitude by any other in the known
world. It will easily be imagined what a wonderful spectacle must
present itself to the eye of the traveller who for the first time views
the enormous mass of waters, collected from the vast central regions of
our continent, booming along, turbid and swollen to overflowing, in the
broad channels of the Mississippi and Ohio, the latter of which has a
course of more than a thousand miles, and the former of several
thousands.
To give you some idea of a _Booming Flood_ of these gigantic streams, it
is necessary to state the causes which give rise to it. These are, the
sudden melting of the snows on the mountains, and heavy rains continued
for several weeks. When it happens that, during a severe winter, the
Alleghany Mountains have been covered with snow to the depth of several
feet, and the accumulated mass has remained unmelted for a length of
time, the materials of a flood are thus prepared. It now and then
happens that the winter is hurried off by a sudden increase of
temperature, when the accumulated snows melt away simultaneously over
the whole country, and the southeasterly wind, which then usually blows,
brings along with it a continued fall of heavy rain, which, mingling
with the dissolving snow, deluges the alluvial portions of the western
country, filling up the rivulets, ravines, creeks, and small rivers.
These delivering their waters to the great streams, cause the latter not
merely to rise to a surprising height, but to overflow their banks,
wherever the land is low. On such occasions the Ohio itself presents a
splendid, and at the same time, an appalling spectacle; but when its
waters mingle with those of the Mississippi, then, kind reader, is the
time to view an American flood in all its astonishing magnificence.
At the foot of the Falls of the Ohio, the water has been known to rise
upwards of sixty feet above its lowest level. The river, at this point,
has already run a course of nearly seven hundred miles from its origin
at Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, during which it has received the waters
of its numberless tributaries, and overflowing all the bottom lands or
valleys, has swept along the fences and dwellings which have been unable
to resist its violence. I could relate hundreds of incidents which might
prove to you the dreadful effects of such an inundation, and which have
been witnessed by thousands besides myself. I have known, for example,
of a cow swimming through a window, elevated at least seven feet from
the ground, and sixty-two feet above low-water mark. The house was then
surrounded by water from the Ohio, which runs in front of it, while the
neighboring country was overflowed; yet, the family did not remove from
it, but remained in its upper portion, having previously taken off the
sashes of the lower windows, and opened the doors. But let us return to
the Mississippi.
There the overflow is astonishing, for no sooner has the water reached
the upper part of the banks than it rushes out and overspreads the whole
of the neighboring swamps, presenting an ocean overgrown with stupendous
forest-trees. So sudden is the calamity that every individual, whether
man or beast, has to exert his utmost ingenuity to enable him to escape
from the dreaded element. The Indian quickly removes to the hills of the
interior, the cattle and game swim to the different strips of land that
remain uncovered in the midst of the flood, or attempt to force their
way through the waters until they perish from fatigue. Along the banks
of the river, the inhabitants have rafts ready made, on which they
remove themselves, their cattle, and their provisions, and which they
then fasten with ropes or grape-vines to the larger trees, while they
contemplate the melancholy spectacle presented by the current, as it
carries off their houses and wood-yards piece by piece. Some who have
nothing to lose, and are usually known by the name of _squatters_, take
this opportunity of traversing the woods in canoes, for the purpose of
procuring game, and particularly the skins of animals, such as the Deer
and Bear, which may be converted into money. They resort to the low
ridges surrounded by the waters, and destroy thousands of Deer, merely
for their skins, leaving the flesh to putrefy.
The river itself, rolling its swollen waters along, presents a spectacle
of the most imposing nature. Although no large vessel, unless propelled
by steam, can now make its way against the current, it is seen covered
by boats, laden with produce, which, running out from all the smaller
streams, float silently towards the city of New Orleans, their owners
meanwhile not very well assured of finding a landing-place even there.
The water is covered with yellow foam and pumice, the latter having
floated from the Rocky Mountains of the Northwest. The eddies are larger
and more powerful than ever. Here and there tracts of forest are
observed undermined, the trees gradually giving way, and falling into
the stream. Cattle, horses, Bears, and Deer are seen at times attempting
to swim across the impetuous mass of foaming and boiling water; whilst
here and there a Vulture or an Eagle is observed perched on a bloated
carcass, tearing it up in pieces, as regardless of the flood as on
former occasions it would have been of the numerous sawyers and planters
with which the surface of the river is covered when the water is low.
Even the steamer is frequently distressed. The numberless trees and logs
that float along break its paddles, and retard its progress. Besides, it
is on such occasions difficult to procure fuel to maintain its fires;
and it is only at very distant intervals that a wood-yard can be found
which the water has not carried off.
Following the river in your canoe, you reach those parts of the shores
that are protected against the overflowings of the waters, and are
called _levees_. There you find the whole population of the district at
work repairing and augmenting those artificial barriers, which are
several feet above the level of the fields. Every person appears to
dread the opening of a _crevasse_, by which the waters may rush into his
fields. In spite of all exertions, however, the crevasse opens, the
water bursts impetuously over the plantations, and lays waste the crops
which so lately were blooming in all the luxuriance of spring. It opens
up a new channel, which, for aught I know to the contrary, may carry its
waters even to the Mexican Gulf.
I have floated on the Mississippi and Ohio when thus swollen, and have
in different places visited the submersed lands of the interior,
propelling a light canoe by the aid of a paddle. In this manner I have
traversed immense portions of the country overflowed by the waters of
these rivers, and particularly when floating over the Mississippi
bottom-lands I have been struck with awe at the sight. Little or no
current is met with, unless when the canoe passes over the bed of a
bayou. All is silent and melancholy, unless when the mournful bleating
of the hemmed-in Deer reaches your ear, or the dismal scream of an Eagle
or a Raven is heard, as the foul bird rises, disturbed by your approach,
from the carcass on which it was allaying its craving appetite. Bears,
Cougars, Lynxes, and all other quadrupeds that can ascend the trees are
observed crouched among their top branches. Hungry in the midst of
abundance, although they see floating around them the animals on which
they usually prey, they dare not venture to swim to them. Fatigued by
the exertions which they have made to reach the dry land, they will
there stand the hunter's fire, as if to die by a ball were better than
to perish amid the waste of waters. On occasions like this, all these
animals are shot by hundreds.
Opposite the city of Natchez, which stands on a bluff bank of
considerable elevation, the extent of inundated land is immense, the
greater portion of the tract lying between the Mississippi and the Red
River, which is more than thirty miles in breadth, being under water.
The mail-bag has often been carried through the immersed forests, in a
canoe, for even a greater distance, in order to be forwarded to
Natchitochez.