202 NATCHEZ TO VIDALIA. [CHAP. XXXII. 



CHAP. XXXII. 



Natchez. Vidalia and Lake Concordia. H yber nation of 

 Alligator. Bonfire on Floating Raft. Grand Gulf. 

 Magnolia Steamer. Vicksburg to Jackson {Mississippi ) by 

 Railway. Fossils on Pearl River. Ordinary at Jackson. 

 Story of Transfer of State-House from Natchez. Vote by Bal 

 lot. Popular Election of Judges. Voyage from Vicksburg 

 to Memphis. Monotony of River Scenery. Squall of Wind. 

 Actors on Board. Negro mistaken for White. Man 

 ners in the Backwoods. Inquisitiveness. Spoilt Children. 

 Equality and Levelling. Silence of English Newspapers on 

 Oregon Question. 



March 15. 1846. FROM Natchez we crossed the 

 river, by the ferry, to Vidalia, situated on the low 

 river plain, on a level with the base of the bluffs be 

 fore described. We were accompanied by Mr. Davis, 

 a large proprietor, who took us to see his negro- 

 houses, all neatly built and well whitewashed. Even 

 in this cursory view we could perceive how much the 

 comfort and bodily wants of the slaves had been 

 attended to. We had now left the country where 

 sugar and cotton are the staple products, and had 

 just entered the region where cotton and Indian corn 

 are cultivated together. Here, as in Louisiana, the 

 negroes constitute half, and sometimes more than half, 

 the population on the borders of the Mississippi. 

 At Vidalia we were joined by Mr. Forshey, the 



