UP STREAM : ON THE RED RIVER. 401 



dearie Matto, and good Matto, and Massa Yankee 

 promise four picaillee l if Matto let dam heavy chest 

 wid stinkin' sarve fall on him foot and shoulder. 

 Boe ! Boe ! Massa Yankee no good man ; tad Massa, 

 Massa Yankee ! " 



And so it was and turned out to be. The rogue of 

 a Yankee had made a sort of bargain with Sambo, 

 and arranged a scheme by which to draw the atten- 

 tion of the passengers in a natural manner to the 

 famous Palmyra salve. Seldom or never had the 

 risible nerves of the burly backwoodsmen on board 

 the Ploughboy steamer been so enormously tickled 

 as by the discovery of this Yankee trick. The 

 laughter was deafening, really earsplitting ; and was 

 only brought to something like an end by the appear- 

 ance of the captain, who came Avith a petition from 

 the lady passengers, to the effect that the Yankee 

 should not be too hardly dealt with for his ingenious 

 attempt to transfer his fellow-citizens' dollars into his 

 own pocket. Thereupon Badgers and Buckeyes, 

 Wolverines and Redhorses, abated then" hilarity ; 

 and it was comical to see how these rough tenants 

 of the western forests proceeded, with all the gravity 

 of backwoods etiquette, to respond to the humanity 

 of the ladies. In the first place a deputation was 

 chosen, consisting of two individuals, who were 

 charged to assure the ladies of the universal willing- 

 ness to treat the Yankee as tenderly as might be con- 



1 The Louisianian name for 65 cent pieces. 

 VOL. II. 2 C 



