Farewell to New Orleans--Revolting Bargain--"The Anglo Saxon"
Steam-boat--Moderate Fare--Steam Navigation of the Mississippi--Steam
boat and Railway Literature--Parting View of the "Crescent City"--Slave
Advertisements--Baton Rouge--A Sugar Estate--Fellow-Passengers--The
Ladies' Cabin--A Baptist Minister--A Reverend Slave-holder.
Preparing to leave New Orleans, on the evening of the 8th of February,
we called for our bill, and found, for the nine days of our stay, a
charge of eight dollars more than we had agreed for. Unwilling to be
imposed upon, I remonstrated; and we split the difference with our
"smart" landlady. We turned our backs upon the city, with a hearty
wish that we might never see it again. It is a horrid place. Bowie
knives, revolving pistols, and other deadly weapons, are exposed for
sale on every side,--a pretty clear proof of an extensive demand.
Shall I tell you of a most revolting abomination, which I know, on good
authority, occurred about the time we were there? A large importer of
slaves from the "slave-breeding" States, having on board a considerable
number of young women, made an offer of the use of their persons to a
volunteer regiment of soldiers, then waiting to be conveyed to Mexico.
The offer was accepted; and the wretch boasted that he had made 700
dollars, or 150_l._ sterling, by the transaction! The laws of this
_great_ and _free_ country had, however, consigned these helpless young
women to his absolute disposal! Alas! for Freedom, had she no holier
home than the Southern States of the American Union! And yet of the
country in which this licentious bargain was made, even John Todd, the
excellent author of "Lectures to Children," thus writes,--"This land is
free. The mind is here free,--and the child is to be born--if indeed he
ever will be born--whose powers and faculties may not be called out and
cultivated. There is no bondage to forms or precedents; but the whole
mass may be seasoned, leavened, and moved, and is at liberty to do what
is great and good in the way that is most convenient."
Four o'clock in the afternoon found us safely on board the
"Anglo-Saxon," a fine new steam-boat, bound for Pittsburgh in
Pennsylvania. We booked ourselves for Cincinnati in Ohio, a distance of
1,550 miles. The fare was 12 dollars each; and the captain said we
should be from six to ten days in getting to our destination. (We were,
however, twelve days.) Twelve dollars, or about 2_l._ 10_s._, for the
occupation of splendid apartments, sitting down at a well-furnished
table, and being conveyed 1,550 miles! Scarcely believing that there
was not some mistake, I asked a fellow-passenger if the 12 dollars
really did include board, and was told that most certainly it did,--it
was the regular fare. Travelling at this rate was literally cheaper
than staying at home. It was just one dollar a day each for food,
lodgings, and locomotion! This "Anglo-Saxon"--forge below and palace
above, as all these boats appear to be--is a noble vessel. The
dimensions, as given me by the "clerk" or purser, are--length of keel
182 feet, breadth of beam 26 feet, depth of hull 6 feet, length of
cabin 140 feet; two engines 6-1/2 feet stroke; two cylinders 18-1/2
inches in diameter; height between decks 9-1/2 feet; having a
fire-engine and hose; berth accommodation for 73 cabin-passengers, but
often has more. Unexpectedly, we had got on board the only temperance
vessel on the river--the only one that kept no "bar." It belonged
chiefly to Quakers. The captain and the clerk, both part-proprietors,
had married sisters. The engineer also was connected with them by
marriage. These circumstances encouraged the hope that we had fallen
into good steady hands, who would do all in their power to avoid
explosion.
The number of steam-boats which puff, and groan, and paddle up and down
the Mississippi, is amazing,--probably not fewer than 1,200. Only in
the year 1812 was the _first_ seen on these western waters! The view of
a long range of these splendid vessels lying against the landing-place
is magnificent. Though not very substantial, they are extremely showy.
Lightness of construction and elegance of accommodation are chiefly
studied. The "Anglo-Saxon" is not by any means one of the largest
class. These vessels are doubtless well adapted for their purpose as
_river_ boats; in the sea, they could do nothing but capsize and sink.
In no portion of the globe should the invention of steam-boats be more
highly appreciated than in the valley of the Mississippi; for nowhere
else has the triumph of art over the obstacles of nature been more
complete. But for this gigantic application of the power of steam,
thousands of boatmen would have been slowly and laboriously _warping_,
and rowing, and _poling_, and _cordelling_ their boats, in a three
months' trip up this mighty stream, which (thanks to Watt) is now
ascended in ten days. This "go-a-head" country advances more in five
years with steam-boats, than it could have done in fifty without them.
The principal points in the Ohio and the Mississippi, which nature had
separated by distances and other obstacles more formidable than attend
the crossing of the Atlantic, art has brought into practical
juxtaposition.
On embarking on the "Anglo-Saxon," we found that we could not get off
that night, and therefore made ourselves comfortable on board till
morning.
February 9.--This morning, while the boat was being got ready, hawkers
of light literature flocked on board. Baskets full of trashy novels
were continually offered to us. Why should not the same facilities be
afforded for obtaining better publications? Truly, "the children of
this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light."
This reproach is not peculiar to Americans. Why should there not be in
England the same facilities for obtaining publications of real value
and utility, as for obtaining works of mere amusement, if not something
worse?
At noon our engine began to puff, and our paddles to move. The
"crescent city" soon vanished in the distance, not, however, till we
had enjoyed a striking view of it, and especially of the harbour. An
area of many acres, covered with a grotesque variety of flat boats,
keel boats, and water craft of every description, that had floated down
from the valley above, lined the upper part of the shore. Steam-boats,
rounding to, or (like our own) sweeping away, cast long horizontal
streams of smoke behind them; while barques and brigs, schooners and
sloops, ranged below each other in order of size, and showing a forest of
masts, occupied the wharfs. These and a thousand other objects, seen as
they were under a brilliant sun, presented a picture of surpassing
splendour; but the curse and blight of slavery were upon it!
Being now fairly under weigh, let me glance at a New Orleans paper of
this morning, which I bought from one of the hawkers. How consoling the
following paragraph!
"STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSION.--Captain Duncan, of the 'Swan,' reports that the
tow-boat, 'Daniel Webster,' burst her larboard boiler on the 6th
instant, while towing in a vessel over the South-west Bar. Mr. William
Taylor, one of the Balize pilots, and one of the firemen were instantly
killed. The rest of the crew of the 'Daniel Webster' were slightly
scalded."
These explosions are of daily occurrence; and though we had a fresh
boat, and good steady men to manage it, our feeling of security was
very small.
The six following advertisements I found in succession in the same
paper, besides many more of a like character interspersed throughout
the sheet. How _manly_ and how _mysterious_ is the first!
"To PLANTERS--For Sale, a splendid Virginia woman-servant, thirty years
old, who has been in this country twenty-four years; speaks French and
English; good cook, washer, and ironer, and has kept store. She is of a
strong constitution; has never been sick, and never had a child. She is
for sale for no fault, but on account of domestic trouble. _She is not for
sale for any one in this city. No one but a planter need apply_. For
particulars apply at No. 189, Common-street.
"F 9--t."
"MECHANICS AT PRIVATE SALE.--We have for sale 3 good Carpenters, 1 good
Plasterer, 1 Plantation Blacksmith, 1 excellent Tailor, 1 superior
Cabinetmaker. The above slaves are well recommended, and can be sent on
trial at their respective trades.
"BEARD, CALHOUN & CO.,
"8, Bank's Arcade."
"F 3--10t."
"NEGROES FOR SALE.--A young Negro man, first-rate field hand, 19 or 20
years old; also a very likely girl, good house-servant and tolerable
seamstress. Apply to
"McMAHON & PEARSALL,
"29, Natchez-street."
"F4--6t."
"TEN DOLLARS REWARD.--Left the steam-boat 'Little Rock,' on Monday
morning, the 1st instant, a Mulatto _boy_, named Bob Malane, _about_ 40
_years of age_, 5 feet 4 or 5 inches high. Any information respecting
_said boy_ will be thankfully received at the office of Williams,
Phillips & Co., No. 62, Gravier-street.
"WILLIAM ARNOLD."
"F7--3t."
"FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.--Ran away from Mrs. Shall's, in Canal-street, on
the 6th instant, at 3 o'clock, P.M., the Negro-girl Eliza, aged 16
years, rather small size, very black, with a handsome face. Had on when
she left a dark-coloured calico dress, low quartered shoes, and
stockings; took no other clothing. It is believed she was decoyed away
by a free coloured man, well known on several steam-boats, now in the
city. Captains of vessels going to St. Louis are cautioned not to
receive the girl on board. The above reward will be given for the
apprehension of said slave, if found in the possession of any white or
free coloured person, under circumstances that would lead to a
conviction at law; or 30 dollars if delivered at 28, Canal-street, New
Orleans, with any reasonable expenses incurred in so doing.
"RICHARD KING."
"F 7--2t."
"ONE DOLLAR REWARD.--Will be given for the apprehension of the
Negro-woman Sarah, aged 31 years, 5 feet 2 inches high, stout built;
has good teeth; no scars or blemishes about her face, or marks upon her
person. Speaks French, English, and Spanish.
"JOSE ANTONIO LANONDO,
"Corner St. Thomas and Basins Streets."
"F2--6t."
Against the powerful current of the "father of waters" we advanced at
the rate of more than 200 miles a day! It was consequently dark when we
passed Baton Rouge, 140 miles from New Orleans. Baton Rouge, now the
capital of Louisiana, is situated on the first "bluff," or elevation,
to be met with in ascending the river. The United States' Barracks
there are built, I am told, in a very fine style.
February 10.--We began to feel the cold very keenly: the thermometer
was down at 46. In the middle of the day, we had to stop at an estate
to take in a large quantity of sugar and molasses. The upper parts of
the valley send down flour and provisions, getting from the lower sugar
and molasses in return. This stoppage affording an opportunity of going
ashore, I went to see the estate buildings; and though such buildings
as existing in Guiana were quite familiar to me, I was interested in
observing the difference. Those of Guiana are incomparably superior;
but _these_ are the result of a better policy. Ours are too large and
too expensive; these are rude, simple, and cheap, and yet answer the
purpose. Seeing slaves at work, I addressed several questions to one of
them relative to the cultivation and manufacture of sugar, and received
very sensible and even _polite_ answers.
By this time we had received an impression of the character of our
fellow-passengers. The mass of the "gentlemen" were rude and filthy
beyond expression. The promenade or gallery outside, which might be
very pleasant, was bespattered all over with vile expectoration. No
lady could venture there with safety. The men will persist in spitting
on the floor, when it would be quite as convenient to spit into the
water. Many of the names of places on the route ending in _ville_,--as
Donaldsonville, Francisville, Iberville, Nashville, &c.,--I could not
help asking if we had not many passengers from _Spitville_. But this
was not the worst feature in the character of our fellow-travellers,
who comprised gamblers, fighters, swearers, drunkards, "soul drivers,"
and everything base and bad. Of these, we had about fifty as cabin
passengers; but there were upwards of a hundred deck passengers
below--not above,--and they were ten times worse. Among men so much
resembling demons I had never before been. However, my wife being with
me, I had the _entrée_ of the ladies' cabin. This was the abode of
quiet and decency, there being but three other ladies besides. Of
these, one had her husband with her, a respectable farmer from
Pennsylvania, who shipped all his last year's produce in a flat boat,
came down in it with his wife, sold his cargo in New Orleans, bought
there what he might want during the year, and was now on his way home
again by steam. Another lady, who was from Philadelphia, had come all
the way to New Orleans in the hope of having a last glance of her
husband before he was ordered off to Mexico,--was just too late,--and
was returning home alone, with a heavy heart and an anxious mind. The
third lady was a German girl from Baden, who had lived in New Orleans
for three years, and was now on her way to Cincinnati to see her
brother. We had also the boat's washer-woman, an old lady from New
England, who sat in the ladies' cabin with as much composure as if she
thought herself quite as good as any of the rest. Such is American
society! So terribly afraid are they of anything that looks like
aristocracy, except towards the coloured people!
I found on board a Baptist minister from the State of Maine, in New
England, a thorough anti-slavery man. His testimony against the South
on this subject was strong. He had lately been on a visit to a brother
minister of his own denomination in North Carolina. At first, whenever
the New Englander desired to go into the yard, it was necessary for his
reverend brother to accompany him, and introduce him to a number of
large dogs; otherwise they would have worried him.
These animals were kept to prevent his reverence's slaves from running
away, and to hunt them if they did. And yet, as my travelling companion
assured me, this reverend slave-holder gravely and pathetically
complained of the reluctance of the slaves to attend family worship!