Natchez. 



73 



(he levee lined with various sorts of boats full of western 

 produce. The crowd was immense, and the market ap- 

 peared to be a sort of fair. Scrambling up to the cliffs 

 on which the city is built, I found flocks of vultures fly- 

 ing along the ground with outspread wings in the pursuit 

 of food. Large pines and superb magnolias crowned the 

 bluff, and their evergreen foliage showed with magnificent 

 effect. I was delighted with the spectacle of white-head- 

 ed eagles pursuing fishing-hawks, and surveyed the river 

 scenery sparkling in bright sunlight with a new pleasure. 

 Far away across the stream the shores were lost in the 

 primitive forests, and a mysterious unknown seemed to 

 lie beyond me. I was impressed with the pretty houses 

 of the upper town, built of painted brick or wood ; and 

 to complete my feeling of enjoyment, my relative, Mr. 

 Berthoud, gave me letters from my wife and sons, re- 

 ceived by the weekly mail which then brought letters to 

 Natchez from all parts of the Union. The town owned 

 three thousand inhabitants ; was composed of an upper 

 town and a lower town, the latter chiefly built up of 

 beached flat-boats, converted into cabins by a rascally 

 and nondescript population. The planters' houses in 

 the upper town were models of luxury and comfort, but 

 the church architecture prevalent rather detracted from 

 the beauty of the place. I found the mocking-bird in 

 abundance, and the pewee fly-catcher at home in its win- 

 ter quarters. The old Spanish fort was still visible in 

 ruins, and a rumor reached me that many houses had 

 been buried in the river by a slip of the bank. At 

 Natchez, I was amazed to see a white-headed eagle at- 

 tack a vulture, knock it down, and gorge itself upon a 

 dead horse. M. Gamier, who kept the largest hotel in 

 the place, befriended me in many ways, and I also 

 formed an acquaintance with M. Charles Carr^, the son 

 of a French nobleman of the old regime. From Carr^ I 

 4 



