CHAPTER XXVI. 



&quot;Return to Mobile. Excursion to the Shores of the Gulf of Mexico. View 

 from Lighthouse. Mouth of Alabama River. Gnathodon inhabiting 

 Brackish Water. Banks of these Fossil Shells far Inland. Miring of 

 Cattle. Yellow Fever at Mobile in 1839. Fire in same Year. Voyage 

 from Mobile to New Orleans. Movers to Texas. Lake Pontchartrain. 

 Arrival at New Orleans. St. Louis Hotel. French Aspect of City. 

 Carnival. Procession of Masks. 



Feb. 21, 1846. THERE had been some very cold weather in 

 the beginning of the month in the upper country, the thermometer 

 at Tuscaloosa having been down as low as 17 Fahr. ; yet, on 

 our return to Mobile, we saw the signs of approaching spring, for 

 on the banks of the Alabama river the deciduous cypress and 

 cotton trees were putting out their leaves, and the beautiful 

 scarlet seed-vessels of the red maple (Acer Drummondii) enliv 

 ened the woods. 



Once more at Mobile, I was impatient to see, for the first 

 time, the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and therefore lost no time 

 in making an excursion to the mouth of the Alabama River. I 

 was fortunate in having as my companion the Rev. Dr. Hamilton, 

 minister of the principal Presbyterian congregation, who was well 

 acquainted with the natural history of this region. He drove me 

 first to the lighthouse, where, from the top of the tower, we had 

 a splendid view of the city to the north, and to the south the 

 noble bay of Mobile, fourteen miles across. The keeper of the 

 lighthouse looked sickly, which is not surprising, as he is living 

 in a swamp in this region of malaria. It was his first year of 

 residence, and the second year is said to be most trying to the 

 constitution. The women, however, of his family, seemed healthy 

 We then went to the sea-side, two miles to the eastward, and 

 found the waters of the bay smooth and unrippled, like an ex 

 tensive lake, the woods coming down every where to its edge, and 

 the live oaks and long-leaved pines, with the buck-eye and several 



