CHAPTER XV. 



Squatter Lite on the Mississippi — The Emigrants on their Wat 

 — A Patriarchal Journey — The Promised Land — Across the 

 Mississippi — Hardships and Fever — Lumbering in the Far West 

 — Raft Voyage to New Orleans — Comfort and Riches — The 

 Habits op the Opossum — Robberies of Poultry — A Couple of 

 Pets in the "Ark" — A Consignment op Opossums for Europe — 

 Cannibal Propensities of the Prisoners. 



Audubon relates many incidents of squatter life on the great 

 American rivers. The features of this peculiar life struck him 

 with a picturesque force that makes' his descriptions of the 

 constant emigrations from the east, and the settlement of the 

 wanderers in the west, very interesting indeed. In a detailed 

 account he describes how the settlers in Virginia became im- 

 poverished through the reckless system of husbandry pursued, 

 and how, after suffering penury, they determined to emigrate 

 to more fertile lands. He thus graphically narrates the patri- 

 archal wanderings of the wearied wayfarers. 



" I think I see them harnessing their horses, and attaching 

 them to their waggons, which are already iitted with bedding; 

 provisions, and the younger children ; while on their outside 

 are fastened spinning-wheels and looms, a bucket filled with 

 tar and tallow swings betwixt the hind wheels. Several axes 

 are secured to the bolster, and the feediag-trough of the horses 

 contains pots, kettles, and pans. The servant now becomes a 

 driver, riding the near saddled horse, the wife is mounted on 

 another, the worthy husband shoulders his gun, and his sons, 

 clad in plain, substantial home-spun, drive the cattle ahead, and 



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