CHAP. XXIX. ] RIVER FOGS. 143 



overflowed by the river, but for the &quot;levee,&quot; an artificial 

 embankment, eight or nine feet high, which protects 

 the city. This levee became less and less elevated 

 as we descended the stream. We saw the buildings 

 of several sugar plantations just behind it, at a short 

 distance from the edge of the bank. When we had 

 gone about twenty miles, below the bend called the 

 English turn, I was struck with the resemblance of 

 the Mississippi to the Savannah, Alabama, and Alata- 

 maha rivers, where they flow through a broad allu 

 vial plain, with no bluffs in sight. The swamps on 

 both sides, although several feet lower than the river- 

 banks, have the aspect, as before stated, of wooded 

 eminences. 



The distance from New Orleans to the great pilot- 

 station at the mouth of the river, called the Balize, is 

 about 80 miles by land, and 110 by water. We had 

 been told we should reach our destination before 

 night ; but we were scarcely half way, when we cast 

 anchor in a dense fog, followed in the course of the 

 night, by much lightning and rain. We found the 

 temperature of the water to be 46 Fahrenheit, while 

 that of the air had varied, in the course of twenty- 

 four hours, from 50 to 75. This difference between 

 the temperature of the water and air, often amount 

 ing to 30 Fahrenheit, gives rise to the fogs which 

 prevail at this season. The river flowing from the 

 north, where there is now much ice and snow, is 

 always much colder, and I am informed by pilots, 

 that as far as the Mississippi water can be traced, by 

 its colour, into the Gulf, it is commonly covered, in 

 the spring, with dense fog, while the atmosphere is 



