706 Insects fyc. 



the fields and marshes ; after an interval to see it again, and faintly 

 hear the roaring of the steam; then again to lose both sight and sound, 

 and again and again to perceive both, gradually becoming more and 

 more plainly perceptible, till at length she bursts into open view round 

 some wooded point, rushes by in her majesty with her freight of hu- 

 man life, and scarcely giving time to read her name broadly painted 

 on her wheel-boxes, is instantly hidden beneath the black cloud of her 

 own smoke. Owing to the great number of turns which the river 

 makes, it was not until the second morning that we arrived at King's 

 landing, having been two nights and one day performing a distance, 

 which, in a direct line, is not more than a hundred and twenty miles. 

 Every extensive planter, whose estate borders on the river, has what 

 is called a landing ; that is, a large building to contain bales of cot- 

 ton : and if the bank be precipitous, as it is in this instance, flights of 

 wide steps leading to the summit, and a slide formed of planks reach - 

 ing from the warehouse above to the water beneath. When cotton is 

 to be shipped, the steamer is moored beneath the slide, the bale is 

 rolled to the top, and down it shoots with an impetus that would send 

 it across the deck far into the river, were not its impulse deadened by 

 bales already on the deck ; and even thus, when a row of bales re- 

 ceives the communicated force, I have seen the outmost one shot into 

 the water ; on the same principle that a billiard-ball in motion will 

 impinge upon one at rest, and send it spinning along, while itself 

 ceases to move. Here, then, was I landed an hour before dawn ; my 

 trunks placed on the lowest step, and away went the vessel to her des- 

 tination further up the river. I was quite alone, knowing neither the 

 place nor the inhabitants, but I was told that I should find a path on 

 the top of the cliff, which would lead me to the manager's house, and 

 that the estate of a gentleman with whom I had some acquaintance, 

 lay about ten miles distant. I have said that I was alone, and it was 

 quite dark, but I groped my way for about a quarter of a mile through 

 the lofty forest, and came upon a clearing like a farm-yard, in which 

 were several houses close together. I made my way to the door of 

 one (while a rascally cur kept up a most pertinaceous barking), and 

 knocked and shouted loudly, to no purpose. I shouted again, the 

 echoes died away, and again all was still. I then tried another house, 

 and was at length answered by the cracked voice of a negro, woman 

 within. I told my business, that I had landed from the steamer, and 

 was on my way to Pleasant-hill, and requested her to get up. I had 

 been informed that lodging and refreshment were to be obtained here. 

 A few minutes passed, and no sign of getting up, when again I shout- 



