46 SOUTHERN STEAM-BOAT. [CHAP. XXIII. 



tion, when it is wet, hold the carriage wheels which 

 sink into it. 



Accustomed to the punctuality of northern steam 

 ers, we got down with our luggage to the landing at 

 the hour appointed, but were told they were not 

 ready. I re-examined a good geological section in 

 the bluff, till a friend came to me, and regretted I 

 had come down to the boat so early, for perhaps she 

 might not sail till the next day. I was much annoyed 

 at this intelligence, although I had been forewarned 

 that much less value was set on time in the Southern 

 States than in the North. At length we went on 

 board, and, having engaged a good private cabin, 

 made up our minds to read and write there, and 

 consider it as our inn. It was the first of these mag 

 nificent southern river boats we had seen, fitted up 

 for the two-fold purpose of carrying as many bales of 

 cotton as can be heaped upon them without their sink 

 ing, and taking in as many passengers as can enjoy 

 the luxuries which southern manners and a hot cli 

 mate require, especially spacious cabins, abundance 

 of fresh air, and protection from the heat of the sun. 

 We afterwards saw many larger steam-vessels, and 

 some of them fitted up in finer style, but none which 

 made such an impression on our minds as the 

 Amaranth. A vessel of such dimensions makes a 

 grand appearance in a river so narrow as the Alabama 

 at Montgomery ; whereas, if she were a third longer, 

 she would be comparatively insignificant on the 

 Mississippi. The principal cabins run the whole 

 length of the ship on a deck above that on which 

 the machinery is placed, and where the cotton is 



