CHAP. XXVIII.] LEVEE AND STEAMERS. 131 



in-arm, of fair complexion, evidently Anglo-Saxon, 

 and who looked as if they had recently come from the 

 North. The Indians, Spaniards, and French standing 

 round them, seemed as if placed there to remind us 

 of the successive races whose power in Louisiana had 

 passed away, while this fair couple were the repre 

 sentatives of a people whose dominion carries the 

 imagination far into the future. However much 

 the moralist may satirise the spirit of conquest, or 

 the foreigner laugh at some vain-glorious boasting 

 about &quot; our destiny,&quot; none can doubt that from this 

 stock is to spring the people who will supersede every 

 other in the northern, if not also in the southern 

 continent of America : 



&quot; Iminota manebunt 



Fata tibi .... 



Romanes rerum dominos.&quot; 



Soon after our arrival we walked to the levee, or 

 raised bank of the Mississippi, and, ascending to the 

 top of the high roof of a large steamer, looked down 

 upon the yellow muddy stream, not much broader 

 than the Thames at London. At first I was disap 

 pointed that the &quot; Father of Waters&quot; did not present 

 a more imposing aspect; but when I had studied 

 and contemplated the Mississippi for many weeks, it 

 left on my mind an impression of grandeur and vast- 

 ness far greater than I had conceived before seeing 

 it. We counted thirty-four large steam-ships lying 

 at the wharf, each with their double chimneys, and 

 some of truly magnificent dimensions. The vessel 

 we had chanced to enter, had her steam up and was 



G 6 



