WHITE KIVER AND ITS NEIGHBORHOOD. 173 



hand; the whips cracked, voices shouted, and partly 

 from the shower of blows that fell on them, partly 

 dragged along by their stout companions, after four or 

 five hours' useless opposition, they went as well as if 

 they had done nothing all their lives but draw a cart. 



The heavy wagon made slow progress along the 

 muddy tracts, softened by the autumnal rains. We 

 arrived at "White river on the morning of the 4th 

 November, and had to wait on the bank till evening, 

 as it was blowing a storm, and it would have been 

 dangerous to trust the heavy wagon tQ the ferry-boat 

 in such weather. 



White river is beyond all dispute the most beautiful 

 river of Ai'kansas. Its clear waves form a strildng 

 contrast to those of the Mississippi and Red river; 

 only towards its mouth the banks are low, and the 

 land swampy ; higher up it is enclosed by picturesque 

 hills. It rises in the Ozark mountains, in the north- 

 ^vest angle of the State, where there is game in 

 abundance ; it divides into two arms, one of which 

 falls into the Mississippi, and the other into the 

 Arkansas. 



As the wind fell, the dry cold air changed into a 

 damp fog, which soon turned to rain, and we were 

 glad to find shelter under the roof of a free negro, who 

 kept a sort of tavern. Merry peals of laughter re- 

 sounded from the well-lighted room, where a bright 

 fire was blazing, and veiy comfortable did its warmth 

 appear to us after our exposure to the weather. Three 

 jovial looking fellows were sitting round it, telling 

 stories, and roaring with laughter. Three long Amer- 

 15* 



