16 



DOiTESTIC ANIMALS. 



fCiiAr. 



" Whose place is tliis?" sung out the captain, when ho had approached as 

 near tlie light as he thought safe — for in time of "a fresh," the master of a 

 boat always approaches shore with great care. 



" Why, dis is my massa's place ; what boat dat ? If you is de Henry 

 Clay, den dis nigger mighty glad, 'cause, gorra, cap'en, hab been watching 

 all dis two free nights for de old Clay." 



" Have you got your cattle there ?" 



" All in de lot— gorra bress you, den you is de Henry Clay, sure — right 

 here by de light." 



" Is the water good in shore ?" 



" Why, spec him is good for the steamboat, but not very good to drink." 



" How deep is it near the bank ?" 



" Oh, Lord, massa, dat mor'n dis nigger knows for sartin, "cause him 

 mighty deep." 



"That will do. Forward there. Get your lines ready. Light them 

 torches — let's see where we are. Call all hands ; here is a hundred head of 

 cattle to be got aboard." 



In a few minutes the lights flashed a bright glare over tlie boat and 

 shore, bringing to view a scene worth a long journey to behold. The 

 torches arc composed of " light wood," which is the concentrated pitch of 

 old pine trees, of the long-leaf variety — the richest of all the family in 

 turpentine. This wood is split in small pieces and put in an iron frame, 

 v,'ith a stafl' not unlike the common hod used to carry mortar, so it can be 

 carried about or stuck in the ground, where by a little replenishing it will 

 burn for hou4-s, giving a light unequaled by any other portable contrivance 

 I ever saw. In the present case, it disclosed more mud than anything else. 

 Tlie whole bank was alluvial clay loam. The face was steep, and si.xty f)r 

 eighty feet high. The boat, made fast to stakes driven into the soft earth, 

 lay within twenty feet of the shore, between which and the guards was a 

 gangway made of long planks lashed together, about si.x or eight feet wide, 

 without side-railing, or anything to prevent springing down in the center. 

 The cattle were in a yard on the top of the bank, where, around the watch- 

 fire, huddled about a dozen sleepy negroes, amongst which the anxious 

 face of massa soon made its appearance, having been awakened at his house, 

 two miles distant, by the tremendous noise which is made by one of these 

 river steamers, by the puffs of her high-pressure engine. 



" Halloo, Captain Smith, is that you ? I might have known it, though, for 

 no other fool would come here in the night for such a job as this. What 

 are you going to do — hold on till morning?" 



" Hold the !" 



"Well, I might just as well as hold you. I do believe, if the Clay's 

 engine should break going up stream, the boat would not stop — there is 

 steam enough in the captain to keep her going." 



Evidently pleased with this compliment, he jumped ashore, with that 

 most encouraging of all words, " Come, boys," and floundered up the muddy 



