STEAMERS ON THE MlSSISSim. 107 



the boat, so that it looks like a locomotive advertise- 

 ment. 



Then the " u. s. mail " deposited in one corner of the 

 cabin, and two rifles standing near, as if to guard it ; 

 said mail being in a bag that looks like a gigantic shot- 

 pouch, fastened to a padlock, and said pouch filled with 

 three political speeches, franked by M. C.'s, one letter, 

 to a man who did not live at the place of its destination, 

 and a small bundle of post-office documents put in by 

 mistake. 



The bell that rang for the boat's departure, was a 

 tremendous bell ; it swung to and fro awfully ; it was 

 big enough for a cathedral, and as it rung for the twen- 

 tieth, ' lasc time,' one passenger came on board weighing 

 about three hundred, and the boat got under way. 



'' Let go that hawser," shouted the captain in a 

 voice of thunder. Fe, wee, wee, pish, went the little 

 steampipe, and we were off". Our track lay for a time 

 down the Mississippi, and we went ahead furiously, 

 overhauled two rafts and a flat-boat within two hours, 

 and presented the appearance of a real big steamer most 

 valiantly, by nearly shaking to pieces in its waves. 

 The two light passengers got along very well, but when- 

 ever the fat passenger got off a line with the centre of 

 the cabin, the pilot would give the bell one tap, and the 

 captain would bawl out, " Trim the boat." 



Captain Raft, of the U. S. Mail steamer Emperor, 

 it may not be uninteresting to know, was one of those 



