THE BIG BEAR OF ARKANSAS. 73 
Southern planter and the pedler of tin-ware from New 
England—the Northern merchant and the Southern 
jockey—a venerable bishop, and a desperate gambler— 
the land speculator, and the honest farmer—professional 
men of all creeds and characters—W olvereens, Suckers, 
Hoosiers, Buckeyes, and Corncrackers, beside a “plen- 
tiful sprinkling” of the half-horse and_half-alligator 
species of men, who are peculiar to “old Mississippi,” 
and who appear to gain a livelihood by simply going up 
and down the river. In the pursuit of pleasure or busi- 
ness, I have frequently found myself in such a crowd. 
On one occasion, when in New Orleans, I had ocea- 
sion to take a trip of a few miles up the Mississippi, 
and I hurried on board the well-known “ high-pressure- 
and-beat-every-thing ” steamboat “ Invincible,” just as 
the last note of the last bell was sounding; and when 
the confusion and bustle that is natural to a boat’s 
getting under way had subsided, I discovered that I 
was associated in as heterogeneous a crowd as was ever 
got together. As my trip was to be of a few hours’ 
duration only, I made no endeavors to become acquainted 
with my fellow-passengers, most of whom would be to- 
gether many days. Instead of this, I took out of my 
pocket the “latest paper,’ and more critically than 
usual examined its contents; my fellow-passengers, at 
the same time, disposed of themselves in little groups. 
While I was thus busily employed in reading, and 
my companions were more busily still employed, in 
