EPISODES 



439 



o sooner has the 



water reached the upper part of the banks than it rushes 

 out and overspreads the whole of the neighboring swamps, 

 presenting ''n ocean overgrown with stupendous forest- 

 trees. So sudden is the calamity that every individual, 

 whether man or beast, has to exert his utmost ingenuity 

 to enable him to escape from the dreaded element. The 

 Indian quickly removes to the hills of the interior, the 

 cattle and game swim to the different strips of land that 

 remain uncovered in the midst of the flood, or attempt to 

 force their way through the waters until they perish from 

 fatigue. Along the banks of the river, the inhabitants 

 have rafts ready made, on which they remove themselves, 

 their cattle, and their provisions, and which they then 

 fasten with ropes or grape-vines to the larger trees, while 

 they contemplate the melancholy spectacle presented by 

 the current, as it carries off their houses and wood-yards 

 piece by piece. Some who have nothing to lose, and are 

 usually known by the name of squatters, take this oppor- 

 tunity of traversing the woods in canoes, for the purpose 

 of procuring game, and particularly the skins of animals, 

 such as the Deer and Bear, which may be converted into 

 money. They resort to the low ridges surrounded by the 

 waters, and destroy thousands of Deer, merely for their 

 skins, leaving the flesh to putrefy. 



The river itself, rolling its swollen waters along, pre- 

 sents a spectacle of the most imposing nature. Although 

 no large vessel, unless propelled by steam, can now make 

 its way against the current, it is seen covered by boats, 

 laden with produce, which, running out from all the 

 smaller streams, float silently towards the city of New 

 Orleans, their owners meanwhile not very well assured of 

 finding a landin^^-place even there. The water is covered 

 with yellow foam and pumice, the latter having floated 

 from the Rocky Mountains of the Northwest. The 

 eddies are larger and more powerful than ever. Here 

 and there tracts of forest are observed undermined, the 



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