218 



AMERICAN JOURNEY. 



[Chap. V. 



was expected to last six days. " I have got a room to myself, 

 and now at last am having real holiday, so peaceful and 

 beautiful is the ever-varying scene. It is so charming, the having 

 nothing to do, and time to write up my letters. The only thing 

 is, that I have no one with whom I can exchange sympathy 

 and affection : I fear that my present habits of quiet observa- 

 tion will fit me to become a spy " — he never cared in England 

 to take an excursion or taste any pleasure by himself. He 

 got some interesting information from the pilots as to the 

 river, and the people who frequent it : and was not heedless 

 of the cries of the babies on board — one of which he thus 

 interprets: — "'It's no use, I cannot make myself understood. 

 I shall certainly die if they don't find out what ails me. They 

 will be sorry when I am dead ; yet they will not understand 

 what I want when living. It is no use crying ; I shall get 

 nothing by it. Still it is my duty to go on, lest they should have 

 any excuse for their neglect ! ? Such a wail of utter despond- 

 ency and injured virtue, I don't remember to have heard ! " 

 The Sunday found him still on board : " August 7. It is, 

 I think, the most complete sabbath that I have had. The 

 day is calm and bright, though not cool : most of the pas- 

 sengers have left ; the rest are quiet : but of course there is no 

 social worship. The scenery is only too beautiful." 



He was much struck with St. Paul's, Minnesota, the capital 

 of this north-west world; but he hastened on to the famous 

 Falls of St. Anthony. He was disappointed at finding them 

 little more than rapids ; but he " came to the conclusion that it 

 was not a cataract, but a fall in ruins ; and, as such, proceeded 

 to take in the idea of it, as one would of a ruined abbey as 

 compared with a cathedral." The ruins of a broken bridge, of 

 mills, and the tossing drift of logs and rafts, strengthened this 

 feeling. Next morning " I got up early, found a good place 

 where the back-eddy broke the force of the stream, and got a 

 cautious swim. I found a number of Unios cast up by the eddy, 

 and a few alive ; also a Melania, Cyclas, and live Paludina 

 crawling on the sand. This was improper, as Paludinas live 

 buried in soft loamy mud, for which purpose they are viviparous, 



