124 WILD SPORTS IN THE FAR WEST. 



As I learned, after a long stay in Cincinnati, that I 

 had been deceived by those I had trusted in New York, 

 and that not only all my money but my clothes also 

 were gone, there was nothing left for it but to en- 

 deavor to get work. I had already made a few voyages 

 as sailor and stoker on board a steamer, Avhich affected 

 my health, and laid me up for several weeks. Besides, 

 human life did not seem to be particularly safe on 

 board American steamers, especially on the western 

 waters, disasters frequently happening through the 

 rashness and carelessness of the officers in charge ; for 

 example, while I was in one of them, the " Moselle," a 

 very fast boat, was blown up near Cincinnati, through 

 the obstinacy of the captain in racing with another 

 boat, and stopping the safety-valve, by which 130 per- 

 sons, whose names were on the passengers' list, lost 

 their lives, besides a number of steerage passengers, 

 whose names are not inscribed. Thirty carts were 

 employed in carrying their mutilated remains to the 

 burial-places ; for weeks afterwards, bodies were fre- 

 quently washed on shore. The force of the steam Avas 

 so great, that one man was thrown over to the Ken- 

 tucky shore, and another came down, head foremost, 

 through a shingle roof. 



In preference to such a life, I sought for work in 

 Cincinnati, and obtained it at a silversmith's. Though 

 at first without any knowledge of the business, I soon 

 acquired -it, and was treated by the master and his 

 family, good kind Americans, as if I had been one of 

 their own relations. This was the quietest time of my 

 existence. I worked hard and lived moderately. But 

 this sort of life did not suit me ; I longed for the free 



