BY EDWARD DOUBLEDAY. 205 



flats by its side. It was a most wretched journey ; I do not 

 think we made more than two miles an hour. The, mud was 

 composed of decayed vegetable matter, smelling dreadfully 

 bad. There was only a track between the tall trees. Some- 

 times we were up to the axles of the wheels in mud ; and once 

 I really thought we were set fast. Of course we walked 

 wherever we could, though Sydney Spring rode because he 

 could not possibly walk by the horse's side. We went a little 

 into the woods at times. 



At length we emerged from these wooded swamps, and our 

 eyes rested on a vast prairie, blue, gold, white and purple, with 

 Asters, Solidagos, Rudbeckias, and an infinity of other flowers. 

 Here and there was wood, but this decreased as we proceeded, 

 till at last we could scarcely see a tree, — nothing but bound- 

 less extent of slightly undulating land, browned in the distance 

 by the tall panicles of the prairie-grass, but around us a perfect 

 mass of innumerable flowers of every possible hue. There 

 was no road, but just a track cut by water-courses, now dry; 

 sometimes these would be so uneven, that the body of the 

 waggon made an angle of about CO" with the horizon, making it 

 very difficult for ourselves to keep our seats, and not very easy 

 for the horses to get us along. We reached Maysville just in 

 time for the stage to Salem, so we proceeded at once, parting 

 from Sydney Spring with real regret : I much wished to have 

 known more of him. 



We reached Salem sometime after midnight, having travelled 

 most of the way over wide prairies. From Salem we took 

 another stage to St. Louis, by way of Carlisle, Belleville, &c. ; 

 the last of these is a flourishing town. This day we got no 

 dinner, there being a great Baptist preaching near the place 

 where the stage stopped, and all the people being gone to it. 

 We came in sight of the " Father of Waters" just after sun- 

 set ; the noble but swampy woods prevented our seeing him 

 till we had reached his banks. It was a grand sunset, with 

 masses of gloomy electrical clouds. St. Louis looks well from 

 the river, there being a good approach from the water, and 

 some good buildings near the landing. It must, however, be 

 unhealthy, as it is backed by a swamp and much stagnant 

 water, and there is a large swamp on the opposite shore. 

 The Catholic church is a fine building, lately erected. There 

 is a good hotel (the National) kept by a Yankee. 



