INTRODUCTION. 



451 



yT from New 

 be found is 

 James Hall, 

 tie joUowing 



left Baltimore, 

 ccompanied us 

 is moment the 

 semi-congealed, 

 I all in your ice- 

 mmer show her 

 1843. We first 

 loated down the 

 iissippi to pleas- 

 ;e have come in 

 t of all filthy old 

 p worse, certainly 

 )ur worthy com- 

 neal had we been 

 us long letter to 

 you will hear it, 

 ion on board the 

 ! her name, like 

 ;k a sawyer ^ one 

 leap overboard; 

 nd the 'Gallant,' 

 we from swim- 

 ;e. THE LADIES 

 yelled, the steam 

 is a very gallant 

 ^e bottom of a stream 



man) swore — not like an angel, but like the very devil 

 — and all was confusion and uproar, just as if Miller's 

 prophecy had actually been nigh. Luckily, we had had 

 our supper, as the thing was called on board the ' Gallant,' 

 and every man appeared to feel resolute, if not resolved 

 to die. 



" I would have given much at that moment for a picture 

 of the whole. Our compagnons de voyage, about one hun- 

 dred and fifty, were composed of Buckeyes, Wolverines, 

 Suckers, Hoosiers, and gamblers, with drunkards of each 

 and every denomination, their ladies and babies of the 

 same nature, and specifically the dirtiest of the dirty. We 

 had to dip the water for washing from the river in tin 

 basins, soap ourselves all from the same cake, and wipe 

 the one hundred and fifty with the same solitary one towel 

 rolling over a pin, until it would have been difficult to say, 

 even with your keen eyes, whether it was manufactured of 

 hemp, tow, flax, or cotton. My bed had two sheets, of 

 course, measuring seven-eighths of a yard wide ; my pillow 

 was filled with corn-shucks. Harris fared even worse than 

 I, and our ' state-room ' was evidently better fitted for the 

 smoking of hams than the smoking of Christians. When 

 it rained outside, it rained also within, and on one partic- 

 ular morning, when the snow melted on the upper deck, 

 or roof, it was a lively scene to see each person seeking 

 for a spot free from the many spouts overhead. 



" We are at the Glasgow Hotel, and will leave it the day 

 after to-morrow, as it is too good for our purses. We in- 

 tended to hnve gone twenty miles in Illinois to Edwards- 

 ville, but have changed our plans, and will go northwest 

 sixteen miles to Florissant, where we are assured game is 

 plenty, and the living quite cheap. We do not expect to 

 leave this till the 20th or 22d of April, and should you feel 



