GERMAN SETTLERS DOWN SOUTH. 205 



on board the " Mediator," with the intention of going 

 further south than before, as the canes there are laro-er, 

 and I could cut some for fishing rods, from thirty to 

 forty feet long, and 1^ to two inches thick. 



What a view presented itself on leaving the Ohio for 

 the Mississippi ! Of Cairo, a small town on a point of 

 land in Ilhnois, nothing was to be seen, except a 

 hotel, a manufactory, and a brick house. In August 

 the water subsided, and the river returned to its bed, 

 leaving a thick layer of sticky mud behind it. The 

 sides were all under water, except some liills on the left 

 bank, but no canes grew there, and it was not till I 

 reached Louisiana, where the "levee" begins, that I 

 found dry land. To avoid bemg carried to New 

 Orleans, I landed at random, and found myself in a 

 French settlement with numerous plantations close to 

 each other. I learned from a Creole that there was a 

 German settlement further down the river, and thither 

 I directed my steps, to hear something about the 

 country. I fell in with a German planter, and he 

 directed me to a German inn-keeper still further on. 

 1 received a cordial welcome from him ; he offered me 

 his boat to row over to the opposite bank, where I 

 could cut as many canes as I chose. 



Next morning I made a voyage of discovery, and 

 found a beautiful country, but mostly under water, even 

 to the canes, which grow on the highest parts of the 

 marshes; wherever there was a spot of dry land, it 

 swarmed with all sorts of snakes, and the air was thick 

 with mosquitoes. However, here I was, and work I 

 must. I cut down a great number of beautiful fishing- 

 rods, bound them together, and laid them on one of 

 18 



