UP STREAM: OX THE EED RIVER. 375 



my dearborn, in order to leave as soon as possible 

 the pestilential atmosphere of ^ew Orleans ; and I 

 had just established myself amongst my goods and 

 chattels, when Caesar came running up in great ex- 

 ultation, with a new cloak which he had been so 

 lucky as to find lying before the door of a deserted 

 house in the suburb. I took hold of the infected 

 garment with a pair of tongs, and pitched it as far 

 as I was able from the cart, to the great dismay 

 of Caesar, who could not understand why I should 

 throw away a thing which he assured me was well 

 worth twenty dollars. We set off, and soon got 

 out of the town. Not a living creature was to 

 be seen as far as the eye could reach along the 

 straight road. On the right hand side, the suburb 

 of the Annunciation was enclosed in wooden pali- 

 sades, upon which enormous bills were posted, con- 

 taining proclamations by the mayor of the town, 

 and headed with the word "Infected," in letters 

 that could be read half a mile off. These proclama- 

 tions, however, were unnecessary. Xew Orleans 

 looked more like a churchyard than a city; and 

 we did not meet five persons during the whole of 

 our drive along the new canal road. 



At the first plantation at which we halted, in 

 order to give the horses a feed, gates and doors were 

 all shut in our faces, and the hospitable owner of 

 the house warned us to be off. As this warning 

 was conveyed in the shape of a couple of rifle-barrels 



