PILOT STEAM-TUG. 31 



from him in two days. Our Liverpool pilot, however, brings us 

 a Price Current and Shipping List, in which we find allusion to 

 " the unfavorable news from France," as affecting the state of 

 trade, but whether it is of floods, famine, or revolution, who 

 knows ? In ihe same way, we understand that the loyal English 

 nation are blessed with another prince, and are stopping their 

 mills to give God thanks for it. There is a slight fall in cotton, 

 too, reported, and since he read of it, our Louisianian has been 

 very busy figuring and writing letters. 



After the pilot came the first English shower, (" It's a fine 

 day," says the boatman, just now coming on board we have had 

 three showers since then,) and then it fell calm, and the ship 

 loitered as if fatigued with her long journey. It is now noon, 

 and while I am writing, a low, black, business-like steam-tug has 

 taken hold of the ship, and means to get her up to the docks 

 before night. On her paddle-boxes are the words in letters once 

 white, and the only thing pretending to be white about her, " The 

 Steam-Tug Company's Boat, No. 5, the LIVER of Liverpool." 

 Long life to her then, for she is as a friendly hand stretched out 

 from the shore to welcome us. A good-looking little scullion, too, 

 she is, much better fitted for her business than our New York 

 tow-boats. 



May 28th. 



We were several hours in getting up to town yesterday, after 

 I had written you. Long before anything else could be seen of 

 it but a thick black cloud black as a thunder cloud, and waving 

 and darkening one way and the other, as if from a volcano our 

 approach to a focus of commerce was evident in the number of 

 elegant, graceful, well-equipped and ship-shape looking steamers, 

 scores of ships graceful, spider-rigged New York liners, and 

 sturdy quarter-galleried, carved and gilt, pot-sided, Bristol built, 

 stump-to'-gallant-masted old English East-Indiamen, (both alive 



