LIFE OF WILSON. 
civ 
prevents me from enlarging on particulars. I could also have 
wished to give you some account of this place, and of the celebra- 
ted Mississippi, of which you have heard so much. On these sub- 
jects, however, I can at present only offer you the following slight 
sketch, taken the morning after my arrival here. 
The best view of this place and surrounding scenery, is from 
the old Spanish fort on the south side of the town, about a quarter 
of a mile distant. From this high point, looking up the river, 
Natchez lies on your right, a mingled group of green trees, and 
white and red houses, occupying an uneven plain, much washed 
into ravines, rising as it recedes from the bluff or high precipitous 
bank of the river. There is, however, neither steeple, cupola, nor 
distinguished object to add interest to its appearance. The coun- 
try beyond it to the right is thrown up into the same irregular 
knolls ; and at the distance of a mile, in the same direction, you 
have a peep of some cultivated farms, bounded by the general for- 
est. On your left you look down, at a depth of two or three hundred 
feet, on the river, winding majestically to the south; the interme- 
diate space exhibiting wild perpendicular precipices of brown earth. 
This part of the river and shore is the general rendezvous of all 
the arks or Kentucky boats, several hundreds of which are at [)re- 
sent lying moored there, loaded with the produce of the thousand 
shores of this noble river. The busy multitudes below present a 
perpetually varying picture of industry; and the noise and uproar, 
softened by the distance, with the continual crowing of the poultry 
with which many of these arks are filled, produce cheerful and ex- 
hilirating ideas. The majestic Mississippi, swelled by his ten 
thousand tributary streams, of a pale brown colour, half a mile 
wide, and spotted with trunks of trees, that show the different 
threads of the current and its numerous eddies, bears his depth of 
water past in silent grandeur. Seven gun-boats, anchored at equal 
distances along the stream, with their ensigns displayed, add to the 
effect. A few scattered houses are seen on the low opposite shore, 
