166 THE COAST. [CHAP. XXX. 



force against the bank along which we had been 

 sailing. In spite of such delays, the rate of going up 

 is only one -third less than going down the stream. 

 The recent introduction of separate engines to work 

 each of the wheels greatly economises the time spent 

 in the landing of passengers. The boat may be turned 

 round or kept stationary with more facility, when 

 each wheel can be moved in an opposite direction. 

 In this part of the Mississippi, and at this season, 

 the points where passengers can be set ashore are very 

 numerous, the water being often forty feet deep close 

 to the banks. But there are certain regular places of 

 disembarkation, the approach to which is announced 

 by ringing a large bell. 



A great proportion of the trees are still leafless, 

 the willows, cypresses, and red maples being no more 

 advanced than I had seen them at Mobile in the third 

 week of February. The gardens continue to be gay 

 with the blossoms of the peach and plum-trees. As 

 our vessel wound its way round one great bend after 

 another, we often saw directly before us the dome 

 of the St. Charles and the tower of St. Patrick s, 

 and were sailing towards them after I thought we 

 had already taken a last look at them far astern. In 

 the first seven hours we made sixty miles, including 

 stoppages. We were passing along what is called 

 &quot;the coast,&quot; or that part of the Mississippi which 

 is protected by a levee above the metropolis. A great 

 many handsome country-houses, belonging to the pro 

 prietors of sugar plantations, give a cultivated aspect 

 to this region, and the scenery is enlivened by a pro 

 digious number of schooners and large steamers sail- 



