114 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 
and most of them without roofs, tents, 
and a liberty pole, with the capitol, 
were all exhibited to our view at once. 
We approached the President’s man- 
sion, however, wading through water 
above our ankles. This abode of 
President Houston is a small log house, 
consisting of two rooms, and a passage 
through, after the southern fashion. 
The moment we stepped over the thresh- 
old, on the right hand of the passage we 
found ourselves ushered into what in 
other countries would be called the 
ante-chamber; the ground floor, how- , 
ever, was muddy and filthy, a large fire 
was burning, a small table covered 
with paper and writing materials, was 
in the centre, camp-beds, trunks, and 
different materials, were strewed about 
the room. We were at once presented 
to several members of the cabinet, some 
of whom bore the stamp of men of intel- 
lectual ability, simple, though bold, in 
their general appearance. Here we 
