A GREAT POLITICAL DISCUSSION. 163 



of days. As my illness came on at Von G.'s, he 

 kindly asked me to remain with him till I was better. 

 I gratefully accepted the invitation, and recovered in a 

 few days, when I took a hearty farewell of all my kind 

 friends here, and returned to my marshes. 



On the fourth of September I crossed AYhite river, 

 and went on to Little Cash river, passing a distilleiy, 

 where they made maize whiskey, but sold very little 

 of it, as the three young men, who carried on business 

 in company, drank most of it themselves. 



The Cash was so shallow that I crossed it along a 

 fallen tree, and, as it began to rain, I stopped for the 

 nisrht at the house of a man named Harriot. We had 

 finished our simple supper, and were sitting com- 

 fortably by a blazing fire, which was crackling up the 

 chimney, when my host, looking at me sideways, 

 cleared his throat, and brought his chair a little nearer 

 to mine, then giving the quid of tobacco in his cheek 

 an extra turn, put to me the unexpected question — 

 " How's the king of Spain?" I was rather disconcerted 

 at first, and thought he wanted to make fun of me, but 

 when I saw by his countenance, that he Avas in down- 

 right earnest, I replied gravely, that according to the 

 last accounts which I had received His Majesty was 

 suffering from a severe cold ; — whereupon he expressed 

 his sincere regret, and then inquired after all the other 

 crowned heads in Europe. As we proceeded in our 

 conversation, I found that by the king of Spain he 

 meant Gustavus Adolphus : he placed Francis the 

 Second of Austria on the throne of France ; England 

 was ruled by Constantino the Great; and Germany 

 was presented to Louis Philippe. I was much amused 



