Topography--Natchez--Washington--Seltzertown--Greenville--Port
Gibson--Raymond--Clinton--Southern villages--Vicksburg--Yeomen
of Mississippi--Jackson--Vernon--Satartia--Benton--Amsterdam--
Brandon and other towns--Monticello--Manchester--Rankin--Grand
Gulf--Rodney--Warrenton--Woodville--Pinckneyville--White Apple
village.
In my last letter I alluded to the geological features of Mississippi,
the peculiarities of its soil and rivers, or streams, and the
characteristics of its scenery. In this I will give you a brief
topographical description of the state, embracing its principal towns
and villages. Were I confined to the details of the tourist, in my
sketches, you might follow me step by step over hill and dale, through
forest and "bottom," to the several places which may form the subject of
the first part of this letter. But a short view of them, only, comes
within my limits as a letter-writer. For the more minute information I
possess upon this subject I am indebted to a gentleman,[14] whose
scientific and historical researches have greatly contributed to the
slender stock of information upon this state--its resources, statistics,
and general peculiarities.
Although I have said a great deal of Natchez, under this head something
may be communicated upon which I have not touched in my remarks upon
that city. Natchez is one hundred and fifty-five miles from New-Orleans
by land, and two hundred and ninety-two by water. It contains a
population of about three thousand, the majority of whom are coloured.
The influx of strangers--young merchants from the north, who have within
the last four years, bought out nearly all the old standing
merchants--numerous mechanics, and foreign emigrants--is rapidly
increasing the number, and in five years, if the rail-road already
surveyed from this city to the capital, a distance of one hundred and
nine miles, is brought into operation, it will probably contain twice
the present number of souls. Under the Spanish government vessels came
up to Natchez; and in 1803 there was, as appears by a publication of
Col. Andrew Marschalk, of Mississippi, a brisk trade kept up between
this and foreign and American ports which suddenly ceased, after a few
years' continuance, on account of the obstacles interposed by the
Spaniards. In 1833, this trade was revived by some enterprising
gentlemen of Natchez, and cotton is now shipped directly to the northern
states and Europe, from this port, instead of being conveyed by
steamboats to New-Orleans and there reshipped. There are two oil mills
in this city worked by steam. The oil is manufactured from cotton-seed,
which heretofore was used as manure. This oil is said to be superior to
sperm oil, and the finest paint oil. Similar manufactories are
established in New-Orleans, and I think, also, in Mobile. The material
of which this oil is made is so abundant that it will in all
probability in a very few years supersede the other oils almost
entirely. The "cake" is in consistency very much like that of flax-seed.
It is used, in equal parts with coal, for fuel, and burns with a clear
flame, and a fire so made is equally warm as one entirely of coal.
A Bethel church is to be erected this year under the hill, the erection
of which on this noted spot, will be the boldest and most important step
Christianity has taken in the valley of the Mississippi. There are four
occasionally officiating Methodist ministers here, one of the
Presbyterian, and one of the Episcopalian denominations. There are
eighteen physicians and surgeons, and sixteen lawyers, the majority of
whom are young men. There is a weekly paper, with extensive circulation,
and three others are about to be established. There are five schools or
seminaries of learning--three private, and two public--a flourishing
academy for males, and a boarding-school for young ladies, under the
care of very able teachers. There are also a hospital and poor-house,
and a highly useful orphan asylum. There are no circulating libraries in
the city, nor I believe in the state. There are three banks one of
which--the Planter's bank--has branches in seven different towns in the
state. Steamboats were first known at Natchez in 1811-12.
Washington, six miles north-east from Natchez, with a charming country
between, through which winds one of the worst carriage-roads in the
west, not even excepting the delightful rail-roads from Sandusky to
Columbus, in Ohio, is a corporation one mile square, containing about
four hundred inhabitants, of all sizes and colours. It contains a fine
brick hospital and poor-house in one building, two brick churches, one
of the Baptist, and the other of the Methodist denomination. The first
has recently settled a preacher, the other has long had a stationed
minister, who regularly officiates in the desk. There is a Presbyterian
clergyman residing in the place, whose church is five miles distant in
the country, in a fine grove on one of the highest elevations in the
state. The inhabitants of the village are principally Methodists, a
majority of which sect will be found in nearly every village in the
south-west.
Jefferson College, the oldest and best endowed collegiate institution in
the state, is pleasantly situated at the head of a green on the borders
of the village. It is now flourishing; but has for several years been
labouring under pecuniary embarrassments, which are now, by a generous
provision of Congress, entirely removed, and with a fund of nearly two
hundred thousand dollars, it bids fair to become a useful and
distinguished institution. There is also a female seminary in a retired
part of this village, which was handsomely endowed by Miss Elizabeth
Greenfield, of Philadelphia, a member of the society of Friends, from
whom it is denominated the Elizabeth Academy. It is one of the first
female institutions in this state, and under the patronage of the
Methodist society.
Washington is one of the oldest towns in the state, was formerly the
seat of government, under the territorial administration, and once
contained many more inhabitants than any other place except Natchez, in
the territory. It was nearly depopulated by the yellow fever in 1825,
from the effects of which it has never recovered. The public offices,
with the exception of the Register's and Receiver's offices, are removed
to Jackson. The town possesses no resources, and is now only remarkable
for its quiet beauty, the sabbath-like repose of its streets, and its
pure water, and healthy location, upon the plane of an elevated table
land, rising abruptly from the St. Catharine's, which winds pleasantly
along by one side of the village with many romantic haunts for the
student and "walks" for the villagers, upon its banks. There is a post
office in the village, through which a triweekly mail passes to and from
Natchez. The route of the rail-road will be through this place, when it
will again lift its head among the thriving villages of the Great
Valley.
Seltzertown, containing a tavern and a blacksmith's shop (which always
form the nucleus of an American village) is six miles from Washington
and twelve from Natchez. It is remarkable only for the extensive scenery
around it, and the remarkable Indian fortifications or temples in its
vicinity. These will form the subject of another letter.
Greenville, on the road from Natchez, passing through the two former
places, is twenty-one miles from that city. It is delightfully situated
in a little green vale, through which winds a small stream. The plain is
crossed by the rail-road, which here becomes a street, bordered by two
rows of dilapidated houses, overgrown with grass and half buried in
venerable shade trees. From the prison with its dungeons fallen in, and
its walls lifting themselves sullenly above the ruins by which they are
enclosed, to the tavern with its sunken galleries, and the cobbler's
shop with its doorless threshold, all were in ruins, a picture of rural
desolation exhibiting the beau ideal of the "deserted village."
Greenville was formerly a place of some importance, but other towns have
grown up in more eligible spots, for which this has been deserted by its
inhabitants. One does not meet with a lovelier prospect in this state,
than that presented to the eye on descending from the hill south and
west of the valley, into the quiet little vale beneath, just before the
going down of the sun. The air of peace and quiet which reigns around
the traveller, will perhaps remind him of the valley whose description
has so delighted him while lingering over the elegant pages of Rasselas.
Forty-two miles from Natchez is Port Gibson, one of the most flourishing
and beautiful towns in the south. It is only second to Natchez in the
beauty of its location, the regularity of its streets, the neatness of
its dwellings, and the number and excellence of its public buildings. It
is but seven miles by land from the Mississippi, with which it
communicates by a stream, called Bayou Pierre, navigable for keel and
flat boats, and, in high floods, for steamboats, quite to the village.
It is very healthy, and has seldom been visited by epidemics. It
contains about one thousand souls. The citizens were once distinguished
for their dissipation, if not profligacy; but they are now more
distinguished for their intelligence and morality as a community. There
is no town in the south which possesses so high a standard of morals as
Port Gibson. This reformation is the result of the evangelical labours
of the Presbyterian clergyman of that place; who, with untiring industry
and uncommon energy, combined with sterling piety, in a very few years
performed the work and produced the effect of an age.
There are a Presbyterian and a Methodist church in the town, with their
respective clergymen. It contains also a branch bank, court-house, gaol,
post-office, and one of the finest hotels in the state. A weekly paper,
called the "Correspondent," and very ably edited, is published here. The
society of the village and neighbourhood is not surpassed by any in the
state. There are some very pretty country seats in the vicinity, the
abodes of planters of intelligence and wealth; and the country around is
thickly wooded, with fine plantations interspersed; and the general
features of the scenery, though tame, are beautiful. The road from
Natchez to Port Gibson is through a rich planting country, pleasantly
undulating, with alternate forest and field scenery on either hand. But
beyond Port Gibson the country assumes a more rugged aspect, and is less
beautiful. The road, for the first few miles, winds among woods and
cotton fields; but, after crossing Bayou Pierre, at a ford, called
"Grindstone Ford," where the first rock is seen, in coming north from
the Mexican Gulf, the forest is for many miles unbroken. I cannot
express the strange delight I experienced as the iron heels of my horse
first rung upon the broad rocky pavement, when ascending the bank of
this stream from the water. No one but a northerner, the bases and
crests of whose native hills are of granite, and who has passed two
years or more in the stoneless soil of this region, can duly appreciate
such emotions from such a cause.
For forty-seven miles from Port Gibson, the road winds through a
"rolling" country, two-thirds of which is enveloped in the gloom of the
primeval forests, and then enters the little village of Raymond,
situated in an open space among the lofty forest trees which enclose it
on all sides. Raymond has been planted and matured to a handsome
village, with a fine court-house, several hotels, and neat private
dwellings, within five years. The society, like that of most new towns
in this state, is composed of young men, merchants, lawyers, and
physicians, the majority of whom are bachelors. The village is built
around a pleasant square, in the centre of which is the court-house, one
of the finest public buildings in this part of the state. It contains
about four hundred inhabitants, not one fifth of whom are females.
Beyond Raymond the country is less hilly, spreading more into table
lands, which in many places are marshy. A ride of eight miles through a
rudely cultivated country, in whose deep forests the persecuted deer
finds a home, often bounding across the path of the traveller, will
terminate at Clinton, formerly Mount Salus, one of the prettiest and
most flourishing villages in the state. It is situated upon a cluster of
precipitous hills, contains some good buildings, and is a place of much
business, which a rail-road, now in projection to the Mississippi, will
have a tendency greatly to increase. There is a Methodist church in the
village, and a small society of Presbyterians. The most flourishing
female seminary in the state is located in the immediate vicinity, under
the superintendence of a lady, formerly well known in the literary world
of New-York, as the authoress of one or two works, and a contributor to
the columns of the "Mirror" when in its infancy. There is also a college
in this place, but it is not of long standing or very flourishing. The
system adopted in this country, of combining an academy with a college,
though the state of education may require some such method, will always
be a clog to the advancement of the latter. There is a Spanish proverb,
"manacle a giant to a dwarf and he must stoop," which may have yet a
more extensive application, and the truth of which this system is daily
demonstrating. Here are a land office and a printing office, which
issues a weekly paper. There are many enterprising professional men and
merchants in the village from almost every state in the Union, but they
are generally bachelors, and congregate at the hotels, so that for the
number of inhabitants the proportion of families and dwellings is very
small. When a number of high-spirited young men thus assemble in a
little village, a code of honour, woven of the finest texture and of the
most sensitive materials, will naturally be established. This code will
have for its basis--feeling. It will be constantly appealed to, and its
adjudications sacredly observed. To the decisions of such a tribunal,
may be traced the numerous _affaires d'honneur_ which have occurred in
the south during the last twenty years, most of which originated in
villages composed principally of young gentlemen. There is something
striking to the eye of a northerner, on entering one of these
south-western villages. He will find every third building occupied by a
lawyer or a doctor, around whose open doors will be congregated knots of
young men, _en deshabille_, smoking and conversing, sometimes with
animation, but more commonly with an air of indifference. He will pass
by the stores and see them sitting upon the counters or lounging about
the doors. In the streets and bar-rooms of the hotels, they will cluster
around him, fashionably dressed, with sword canes dangling from their
fingers. Wherever he turns his eyes he sees nothing but young fellows.
Whole classes from medical and law schools, or whole counting-houses
from New-York or Boston, seem to have been transported _en masse_ into
the little village through which he is passing. An old man, or a gray
hair, scarcely relieves his vision. He will be reminded, as he gazes
about him upon the youthful faces, of the fabled village, whose
inhabitants had drunk at the fountain of rejuvenescence. Women he will
find to resemble angels, more than he had believed; for "few and far
between," are their forms seen gliding through the streets, blockaded by
young gentlemen, and "few" are the bright eyes that beam upon him from
galleries and windows. If he stays during the evening, he may pass it in
the noisy bar-room, the billiard-room, or at a wine-party. If he remains
a "season," he may attend several public balls in the hotel, where he
will meet with beautiful females, for whom the whole country, with its
villages and plantations for twenty miles round, has been put under
contribution. One of the most fashionable assemblies I have attended in
the south-west, I was present at, one or two winters since, in the
village of Clinton.
This village contains about four hundred inhabitants, and is thirty-five
miles from Vicksburg, its port, on the Mississippi. Vicksburg is about
two miles below the Walnut hills, one of the bluffs of the Mississippi,
and five hundred from the Balize. It contains nearly two thousand
inhabitants. Thirty thousand bales of cotton, about one eighth of the
whole quantity shipped by the state at large, are annually shipped from
this place. In this respect it is inferior only to Natchez and Grand
Gulf, the first of which ships fifty thousand. There is a weekly paper
published here, of a very respectable character, and well edited, and
another is in contemplation. There are also a bank, with two or three
churches, and a handsome brick court-house, erected on an eminence from
which there is an extensive view of the Mississippi, with its majestic
steamers, and humbler flat boats, "keels" and "arks," and of the vast
forests of the Louisiana shore, which every where, when viewed from the
Mississippi side of the river, exhibits the appearance of an ocean whose
surface, even to the level horizon, is thickly covered with the tops of
trees in full foliage, like the golden isles of sea weed floating in the
southern seas.
There is no town in the south-west more flourishing than Vicksburg. It
is surrounded by rich plantations, and contains many public-spirited
individuals; whose co-operation in public enterprises is opening new
avenues of wealth for the citizens, and laying a broad and secure
foundation for the future importance of the town. It is already a
powerful rival of Natchez: but the two places are so distant from each
other, that their interests will always revolve in different circles.
The situation of this town, on the shelving declivity of a cluster of
precipitous hills, which rise abruptly from the river, is highly
romantic. The houses are scattered in picturesque groups on natural
terraces along the river, the balcony or portico of one often
overhanging the roof of another. Merchandise destined for Clinton is
landed here, and hauled over a hilly country to that place, a distance
of thirty-five miles. Cotton is often conveyed to Vicksburg, and other
shipping places, from a distance of one hundred miles in the interior.
The cotton teams, containing usually ten bales, are drawn by six or
eight yoke of oxen, which accomplish about twenty miles a day in good
weather. The teamsters camp every night, in an enclosure formed by their
waggons and cattle, with a bright fire burning; and occasionally their
bivouacs present striking groups for the pencil. The majority of these
teamsters are slaves; but there are many small farmers who drive their
own oxen, often conveying their whole crop on one waggon. These small
farmers form a peculiar class, and include the majority of the
inhabitants in the east part of this state. With the awkwardness of the
Yankee countryman, they are destitute of his morals, education, and
reverence for religion. With the rude and bold qualities of the
chivalrous Kentuckian, they are destitute of his intelligence, and the
humour which tempers and renders amusing his very vices. They are in
general uneducated, and their apparel consists of a coarse
linsey-woolsey, of a dingy yellow or blue, with broad-brimmed hats;
though they usually follow their teams bare-footed and bare-headed, with
their long locks hanging over their eyes and shoulders, giving them a
wild appearance. Accost them as they pass you, one after another, in
long lines, cracking their whips, which they use instead of the
goad--perhaps the turn-out of a whole district, from the old,
gray-headed hunter, to the youngest boy that can wield the whip, often
fifteen and twenty feet in length, including the staff--and their
replies will generally be sullen or insulting. There is in them a total
absence of that courtesy which the country people of New-England
manifest for strangers. They will seldom allow carriages to pass them,
unless attended by gentlemen, who often have to do battle for the
highway. Ladies, in carriages or on horseback, if unattended by
gentlemen, are most usually insulted by them. They have a decided
aversion to a broad-cloth coat, and this antipathy is transferred to the
wearer. There is a species of warfare kept up between them and the
citizens of the shipping ports, mutually evinced by the jokes and tricks
played upon them by the latter when they come into market; and their
retaliation, when their hour of advantage comes, by an encounter in the
back woods, which they claim as their domain. At home they live in
log-houses on partially cleared lands, labour hard in their fields,
sometimes owning a few slaves, but more generally with but one or
none.--They are good hunters, and expert with the rifle, which is an
important article of furniture in their houses. Whiskey is their
favourite beverage, which they present to the stranger with one hand,
while they give him a chair with the other. They are uneducated, and
destitute of the regular administration of the gospel. As there is no
common school system of education adopted in this state, their children
grow up as rude and ignorant as themselves; some of whom, looking as
wild as young Orsons, I have caught in the cotton market at Natchez, and
questioned upon the simple principles of religion and education which
every child is supposed to know, and have found them wholly uninformed.
This class of men is valuable to the state, and legislative policy, at
least, should recommend such measures as would secure religious
instruction to the adults, and the advantages of a common education to
the children, who, in thirty years, will form a large proportion of the
native inhabitants of Mississippi.
About three miles from Clinton, on the main road to the capital, is
situated "New Forest," a cotton plantation, owned and recently improved
by two enterprising young gentlemen from Hallowell, in Maine. They are
the sons of one of the most eminent and estimable medical gentlemen in
New-England; whose pre-eminent success in the management of an appalling
and desolating epidemic, a few years since, acquired for him a proud and
distinguished name, both at home and abroad.--New Forest is spread out
upon the elevated ridges which separate the waters of the Chitalusa, or
Big Black, and Pearl rivers; and pleasantly situated in one of the
richest and healthiest counties, on a line with the projected rail-road,
and in the immediate neighbourhood of the capital of the state--it will
soon become one of the most valuable and beautiful "homesteads" to be
seen in the south.
Besides the proprietors of this estate, there are several other young
gentlemen from Maine, residing in Mississippi, who, with the
characteristic energy and perseverance of northerners, are steadily
advancing to wealth and distinction.
Jackson, the capital of the state, is in latitude 32 deg. 17', and in
longitude 13 deg. 07' west of Washington. It is one hundred and eight miles
north-east of Natchez, and forty-five miles east of Vicksburg, on the
Mississippi. It lies on the right bank of Pearl river; which, after a
southerly course, and dividing the state into two nearly equal parts,
empties into Lake Borgne, in the Gulf of Mexico. This river is navigable
two hundred miles from its mouth, and steamboats have been as far as
Jackson. But the torrent is rapid, and the obstructions to navigation
are very numerous. There are many pleasant and thriving villages on its
banks, and a rich country of plantations spreads away on either side.
The great rail-road from New-Orleans to Nashville will run near and
parallel with this river for a great distance, and will monopolize, for
the former market, all that branch of the cotton trade which is now
attached to the ports on the Mississippi above mentioned. Jackson was
but recently selected as the seat of government of this state. Its site
was chosen for its central position alone, without any reference to its
resources, or any other aids to future importance, than it might derive
from being the state capital. It is built upon a level area, half a mile
square, cut out from the depth of the forest which surrounds it. It is a
quarter of a mile from the Pearl, which is concealed by the forests; a
steep, winding path through which leads to the water side, where the
turbid current darts by, a miniature resemblance of the great river
rolling to the west of it. There are a branch bank in this place, and a
plain, two-storied brick edifice, occupied by the legislature and courts
of justice. Three newspapers are published here, which, like all others
in this state, are of a warmly political character. A handsome state
house is now in the progress of erection, and many private and public
buildings are going up in various parts of the town. There is a steam
saw-mill near the village, for water privileges are unknown in this
region of impetuous streams; and several other avenues of wealth and
public benefit are opening by the enterprising citizens.--During the
intervals of the sessions of the legislature and supreme court, Jackson
is a very uninteresting village; but during the sessions of these
bodies, there is no town in the state which, for the time, presents so
lively and stirring a scene.
Vernon is a pleasant village situated on a rapid and navigable stream,
which often winds through wild and romantic scenery. Steamboats ascend
to this place during part of the year. It is rapidly improving and
filling with many young men, some of whom, possessing both talent and
industry, are natives of this state. It is worthy of remark that those
communities composed principally of young Mississippians, are
distinguished by much less dissipation and adherence to the code of
honour formerly alluded to, than such as are formed of young men
principally from the northern and Atlantic southern states. The young
Mississippian is not the irascible, hot-headed, and quarrelsome being he
has been represented, although naturally warm-hearted and full of
generous feelings, and governed by a high sense of honour. He is seldom
a beau or a buck in the city--acceptation of those terms, but dresses
plainly--as often in pantaloons of Kentucky jean, a broad brimmed white
hat, brogans and a blanket coat, as in any other style of vesture.
Nevertheless he knows how to be well-dressed, and the public assemblies
of the south-west boast more richly attired young gentlemen than are
often found in the assembly-rooms of the Atlantic cities. He is educated
to become a farmer--an occupation which requires and originates
plainness of manners--and not to shine in the circles of a city. He
prefers riding over his own, or his father's estate, wrapped in his
blanket coat, to a morning lounge in Broadway enveloped in a fashionable
cloak. He would rather walk booted and spurred upon the "turf," the
"exchange" of southern planters, than move, shod in delicate slippers,
over the noiseless carpet of the drawing-room. His short handled
riding-whip serves him better than the slender rattan--his blanketed
saddle is his cabriolet--the road between his plantation and a cotton
market, his "drive"--and the noble forests on his domain--the home of
the stag and deer--he finds when he moves through their deep glades,
with his rifle in his hand, better suited to his tastes than the "mall,"
or Hyde Park, and he will be ready to bet a bale of cotton that the
sport which they afford him is at least an equivalent to shooting
cock-sparrows from a thorn bush on a moor.
Satartia is on the left side of the river Yazoo, fourteen miles from
Vernon and thirty-five by land from Vicksburg. The village is pleasantly
situated near the water, contains ten or fifteen stores, a tavern, and
several dwelling houses, with a post-office. From ten to twelve thousand
bales of cotton are annually shipped here. It promises to be one of the
largest shipping ports in north Mississippi.
Benton, on the Yazoo, twenty-two miles to the north of Vernon, is a
growing place, and issues a weekly newspaper. The rich country around is
rapidly settling, and in the course of twenty years it will be one of
the wealthiest portions of this state. Amsterdam, within steamboat
navigation, on a deep creek, sixteen miles from Vicksburg, is a thriving
town. Columbia, on the east bank of the Pearl, is accessible by
steamboats, and Columbus, on the Tombeckbee, some hundred miles above
Mobile, is a flourishing town. There is here a printing press which
issues a weekly paper. Steamboats occasionally ascend to this place from
Mobile. There are besides, east of the Pearl river, Brandon, so called
in honour of the ex-governor; Winchester, Westville, Pearlington, and
Shieldsborough--the latter in the southern extremity of the state on
Lake Borgne, within forty miles of New-Orleans--most of which are
thriving villages. One of the most flourishing towns on the Pearl is
Monticello, about ninety miles east of Natchez.
Manchester, on the Yazoo, has been but recently settled. It is very
flourishing, contains many stores and dwellings, and ships from twelve
to fifteen thousand bales of cotton annually. It is seventy-six miles
from the mouth of the Yazoo, on the Mississippi. Twenty-five miles from
this village is Rankin, within three miles of steamboat navigation, and
rapidly rising into importance. There are many other villages in this
new region yet in embryo, but which must grow with the country into
wealth and distinction.
Grand Gulf, about forty-five miles above Natchez, on the Mississippi,
situated on a natural terrace, receding to a wooded crescent of hills on
the north and east, and just above a dangerous eddy which gives the
name to the town, is the third town of commercial importance in the
state. It was settled five years ago, and the present year about
forty-five thousand bales of cotton were shipped from this port. It
contains about nine hundred inhabitants. A rail-road is projected to
Port Gibson eight miles back from the river, and to the interior, which
will benefit both places. Within sight of the village, and a short
distance above it, is the only cliff of rocks in this region.
Mississippians and Louisianians should do pilgrimage there. In the
vicinity of this town Aaron Burr surrendered to General Mead, and the
detachment ordered out to arrest him.
Rodney is a pleasant town twenty miles above Natchez, on the river. It
is a place of commercial importance, and ships annually many thousand
bales of cotton. Its inhabitants are enterprising and intelligent.
Warrenton, nine miles below Vicksburg, is the only other village between
Natchez and the latter place.
The most important settlement south of Natchez is Woodville, a beautiful
village, built around a square, in the centre of which is a handsome
court-house. Various streets diverge from this public square, and are
soon lost in the forests, which enclose the village. There are some
eminent lawyers who reside here, and the neighbourhood is one of the
wealthiest and most polished in the state. Governor Poindexter resided
till recently at a neat country seat a short ride from Woodville,
striking only for its quiet cottage-like beauty. Dr. Carmichael,
president of the board of medical censors of this state, and formerly a
surgeon in the revolutionary army, and the late Governor Brandon, reside
also in the neighbourhood, but still more distant in the country. One of
the most eminent lawyers of this place is a native of Portland, who has
also distinguished himself as an occasional contributor to the annuals.
One of the first lawyers in Vicksburg, if not in the state, is a native
of Maine, and a graduate of Bowdoin. He is this year a candidate for
congress; though with that juvenility, which characterises southern
athlete in every intellectual arena, he scarcely yet numbers thirty
summers.
There are three churches in Woodville; a Methodist, Episcopalian, and
Baptist. A weekly paper is published here, conducted with talent and
editorial skill. The court-house, which is a substantial and handsome
structure of brick, contains a superior clock. A market-house and a gaol
are also numbered among the public buildings. There is a branch of the
Planters' bank here, and an academy for boys and another for girls,
established within a mile of the village, are excellent schools.
Woodville is about eighteen miles from the Mississippi. Its port is Fort
Adams, formerly mentioned. A rail-road is in contemplation, between
Woodville and St. Francisville, La. twenty-nine miles distant, on the
river, which will render the communication easy and rapid to
New-Orleans. This village contains about eight hundred inhabitants, and
is one of the healthiest in Mississippi. During a period of eighteen
months--according to Mr. Vose, to whose accurate and elaborate
researches I am indebted for much of my information upon the topography
of this state--out of one hundred and forty-four men, of whom he kept an
account for that length of time, only three died, and two of these were
killed.
Fayette, a very neat and pleasant village, containing a handsome
court-house and church, is twenty-five miles east of Natchez. It is the
most rural and New-England like village, except Port Gibson, in the
state. Meadville, to the south, is a small retired place, containing a
post-office.
Kingston, on the road from Natchez to Woodville, originally settled by a
colony from New-Jersey, is a small village, containing a church,
post-office, two or three stores, and several dwelling-houses. This and
Pinckneyville, a few miles south of Woodville, the latter merely a short
street, lined by a few dwelling-houses and stores, are the only places
south of Natchez, besides those already mentioned, of any importance.
The site of White Apple village, the capital of the Natchez tribe, and
the residence of "Great Sun," chief of the chiefs of that interesting
nation, is pointed out to the traveller, on the river road to Woodville
from Natchez. A few mounds, with the usual remains of spear and arrow
heads, beads, and broken pottery only exist, to mark the spot. Fragments
of gold lace and Spanish weapons have been found in the neighbourhood,
with many other traces of the march of the Spanish army through this
country.
I will conclude my long letter with an allusion to the only remaining
place of any importance.--About eighteen miles to the east of Woodville
are the "Elysian Fields!" "Shade of Achilles," you exclaim, "are the
Elysue Campi of thy ghostly wanderings discovered in a Mississippian
forest?" Nevertheless they are here, and the great problem is solved.
Some have placed these regions in the sun, some in the moon, and others
in the middle region of the air; and others again in the centre of the
earth, in the vicinity of Tartarus, and probably in the neighbourhood of
the "incognita terra" of Capt. Symmes. By many, and this was the vulgar
opinion, they were supposed to lie among the Canary isles: but, march of
mind! more modern and wiser heads have discovered their position nearly
on the confines of Louisiana and Mississippi. Here the traveller will
behold beautiful birds with gorgeous plumage--for splendidly enamelled
birds enrich, with their brilliant dyes, the forests of the south--and
his ear will drink in the sweetest melody from the feathered
myriads--such as would have tempted even "pius AEneas" to linger on his
way: but this, alas! is all that his imagination will recognize of
Elysium. Trojan chiefs he will find metamorphosed into Mandingo negroes,
who, in lieu of managing "war-horses," and handling arms, are guiding,
with loud clamour, the philosophic mule, or wielding the useful hoe.
Nymphs gathering flowers, "themselves the fairer," he will find changed
into Congo sylphs, whose zoneless waists plainly demonstrate the
possibility of the quadrature, who with skilful fingers gather the
milk-white cotton from the teeming stalks. A few buildings, of an
ordinary kind, and a post-office, surrounded by cotton fields and woods,
make up the sum of this celestial abode for departed heroes.