CHAPTER XII. 



LOUISIANA NEW ORLEANS, AND HOME. 



Bayou Sara — German settlers — Jews — Pointe Couple — My en- 

 gagement at the hotel — Levees, or dams, on the banks of the Mis- 

 sissippi — Slave auction — Treatment of the slaves — Guinea ne- 

 groes — Alligator shooting — Flesh of the alligator, and prejudices 

 against it — Habits of the alligator — Scenes on the Mississippi — 

 New Orleans ; variety of its inhabitants — Coffee-houses — The 

 " Olbers" clears for Bremen — The mouth of the Mississippi — 

 Jly fellow-passengers — Sharks — Sickness and death on board — 

 The English channel — Bremerhafen — Quarantine — The Lii- 

 becker and his unruly American wife — Fumigation — Arrival 

 at home. 



We entered the Mississippi the second day, and soon 

 left the State of Arkansas far behind us. Of all I had 

 seen in America it was the one which pleased me most ; 

 I may perhaps never see it again, but I shall never 

 forget the happy days I passed there, where many a 

 true heart beats under a coarse frock or leather hunting- 

 shirt. 



The boat went flying past the green banks, and on 

 the third night, she set me ashore at Bayou Sara, in 

 Louisiana. It may have been about one o'clock when 

 I landed with my baggage. The little boat which 

 brought me from the steamer pushed off, flying back to 

 the smoking Colossus. The pilot gave the signal to go 

 ahead, and, smoking and clattering, she soon vanished 

 from my sight. 



All was dark in the town, not a single light to be 



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