164 VOYAGK DOWN THE MISSOURI. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Voyage down the Missouri. Wild-fowl shooting. Objectionable freed 

 slaves. New Orleans. My companion dies of cholera. I also am 

 attacked. I recover. Meet some Confederate generals. Gambling- 

 saloon. Galveston. Several shooting-trips. An expensive night's 

 lodging. A young Englishman joins us. A New Yorker and his 

 supper-party. The lone tree. Difficulties with the waggon. The 



town of Richmond. We are fined. But do not pay. F has an 



accident. -A useful doctor. General Sheridan's horse. Buy a wild 

 horse. A stream in flood. Racing in Texas. A racing mule. 



THE voyage down the Missouri and Mississippi was somewhat 

 monotonous, especially as far as St. Louis, the banks being as 

 a rule low, and the only trees cotton- woods. There were, 

 however, many incidents to enliven the voyage. We often ran 

 on a sandbar, as the river was very low in the autumn months, 

 and we had to be poled over it ; this was done as follows : 

 Two poles were stuck in the sand one on each side of the 

 boat's bow, which was then hoisted between them by ropes 

 fastened to the sides of the deck and passing over the tops of 

 the poles, the ropes being hauled upon by the engine. When 

 the bow was sufficiently raised the engines were sent ahead 



