248 



AUDUBON 



from any other. At this period the city of Natchez had a 

 population not exceeding three thousand individuals. I 

 have not visited it often since, but I have no doubt that 

 like all the other towns in the western district of our coun- 

 try, it has greatly increased. It possessed a bank, and 

 the mail arrived there thrice in the week from all parts of 

 the Union. 



The first circumstance that strikes a stranger is the 

 mildness of the temperature. Several vegetables as pleas- 

 ing to the eye as agreeable to the palate, and which are 

 seldom seen in our Eastern markets before May, were here 

 already in perfection. The Pewee Fly-catcher had chosen 

 the neighborhood of the city for its winter quarters, and 

 our deservedly famed Mocking-bird sang and danced 

 gratis to every passer by. I was surprised to see the im- 

 mense number of Vultures that strode along the streets 

 or slumbered on the roofs. The country for many miles 

 inland is gently undulated. Cotton is produced abun- 

 dantly, and wealth and happiness have taken up their abode 

 under most of the planters' roofs, beneath which the 

 wearied traveller or the poor wanderer in search of a rest- 

 ing-place is sure to meet with comfort and relief Game 

 is abundant, and the free Indians were wont in those days 

 to furnish the markets with ample supplies of vension and 

 Wild Turkey. The Mississippi, which bathes the foot of 

 the hill some hundred feet below the town, supplies the 

 inhabitants with fish of various kinds. The greatest de- 

 ficiency is that of water, which for common purposes is 

 dragged on sledges or wheels from the river, while that 

 used for drinking is collected in tanks from the roofs, and 

 becomes very scarce during protracted droughts. Until 

 of late years the orange-tree bore fruit in the open air; 

 but, owing to the great change that has taken place in the 

 temperature, severe though transient frosts occasionally 

 occur, which now prevent this plant from coming to per- 

 fection in the open air. 



