I SET OFF FOR NEW ORLEANS. 79 



There was now no chance of any until I arrived at 

 New Orleans; the question was, how was I to o-et 

 there ? I had not money enough to i3ay my passage by 

 a steamer, and none of them would take me as one of 

 the crew ; so I resolved to trust to my legs again. The 

 sale of some game had brought a few dollars, with 

 which I paid my expenses here, and on the 31st 

 December I set off again alone, with not very cheering 

 prospects for the commencement of the new year. At 

 night I lighted a fire, and laid myself under a tree, for 

 I was not in a humor to seek society; it was j^ast 

 midnight before I fell asleep. Next morning's sun 

 brought fresh courage and fresh confidence. In going 

 southwards from St. Louis, the traveller has no little 

 trouble to find the right direction among the cross 

 roads that traverse the country, and I made so many 

 mistakes that it took nearly five days to go fifty miles, 

 yet without having to pass another night in the forest, 

 as I found a farm-house every evening, whose owners 

 gave me an hospitable reception. 



A great many Germans inhabit this part of the 

 country, particularly Suabians, living by agriculture, 

 and, when not too far from the town, by carrying and 

 selling wood, as there is none in the immediate nei^-h- 



o 



borhood of St. Louis, except some small stunted oaks. 



My funds by this time had shrunk down to a single 

 American dollar, whose superscription, " E pluribus 

 unum," appeared a bitter sarcasm on my present cir- 

 cumstances. The third day of my wanderings in 

 Missouri broke dull and moist through the mist; it 

 began to rain, and the roads became slippery. About 

 noon I arrived at another cross road, and Avas deliberat- 



