HUNTING ON THE ARKANSAW. 63 



was exr-ected. . I remained the night with these kind 

 people, and set off again on the following morning. 



Without anything further worth noticing, I came, on 

 the 15th of March, to the bank of the Great Red river, 

 the boundary between the United States and Texas. A 

 farmer who had a canoe, set me over the river, and fol- 

 lowing a well-trodden path on the other side, I came to 

 a large slave plantation. The overseer, who directed 

 the labors of the negroes, said, at first, that he had no 

 room for me to sleep in ; but as there was no other house 

 far and wide where I could find shelter, he at last 

 .agreed, and I found a sumptuous supper and comforta- 

 ble bed, 



The land near the river was very swampy, and over- 

 grown with thick canes, but the wood became more open 

 and the ground dryer as I left the river. On the even- 

 ing of the third day, I again slept at a plantation, and 

 this was the last night I passed in a house for some time 

 to come. The overseer lived in a block-house, and all 

 around stood the smaller huts of the slaves, one for each 

 family. During the hours of labor, he carried a heavy 

 whip to keep the blacks in order ; yet he did not seem to 

 feel quite safe amongst these poor, ill-treated people, for 

 he had a pair of pistols in his saddle holsters. 



From these quarters I marched along fresh an.l in 

 good spirits into the forest, which already began to look 

 green. The birds sang so sweetly on the branches, that 

 my heart was joyful and mournful at the same time ; I 

 longed in vain for a companion, with whom I could ex- 

 change thoughts. A shot echoed from the plantation, 

 and innumerable wild geese rose from the cotton -fieldi 



