STEAMERS ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 107 
the boat, so that it looks like a locomotive advertise- 
nient. 
Then the “vu. s. mari” deposited in one corner of the 
cabin, and two rifles standing near, as if to guard it; 
said mail being in a bag that looks like a gigantic shot- 
pouch, fastened to a padlock, and said pouch filled with 
three political speeches, franked by M. C.’s, one letter, 
to a man who did not live at the place of its destination, 
and a small bundle of post-office documents put in by 
mistake. 
The bell that rang for the boat’s departure, was a 
tremendous bell; it swung to and fro awfully; it was 
big enough for a cathedral, and as it rung for the twen- 
tieth, ‘last time,’ one passenger came on board weighing 
about three hundred, and the boat got under way. 
“Let go that hawser,” shouted the captain in a 
voice of thunder. Pe, wee, wee, pish, went the little 
steampipe,and we were off. Our track lay for a time 
down the Mississippi, and we went ahead furiously, 
overhauled two rafts and a flat-boat within two hours, 
and presented the appearance of areal big steamer most 
valiantly, by nearly shaking to pieces in its waves. 
The two light passengers got along very well, but when- 
ever the fat passenger got off a line with the centre of 
the cabin, the pilot would give the bell one tap, and the 
captain would bawl out, “ Trim the boat.” 
Captain Raft, of the U.S. Mail steamer Emperor, 
it may not be uninteresting to know, was one of those 
