86 
like a ship at sea. This was exceedingly embarrassing in the nu¬ 
merous bends of the river, and to avoid the danger of falling back, 
it was necessary to stop the machinery at every turn. The fine 
dry weather which pleased us so much, was the cause of the great 
fall in the water of the river. The change from high to low 
water was very rapid. In the spring, as I was assured, the river 
rose sixty feet and more, and inundated the high land near it. I 
could not doubt the fact; for I saw upon the rocky banks the 
traces of the high water. About dark we laid by on the right 
shore to take in wood. We remained here for the night, and I 
had in a wretched lair an equally wretched repose. * 
On the 7th of January, at six in the morning, our vessel was 
once more in motion; soon, however, she stuck fast upon the 
sand. It required much trouble to bring her off, and turn her 
round; the task occupied an hour and a half. It was shortly be- 1 
fore daybreak, and we were all in bed, if such miserable cribs de¬ 
served the name. It had various effects upon our travelling com¬ 
panions. Mr. Huygens rose in consternation from his bed, and 
made a great disturbance. Mr. Bowdoin called to his servant, 
and directed him to inquire what had happened. He was very 
uneasy when we told him that we might lie several day, perhaps 
weeks here, to wait for rain, and the consequent rise of the river. 
The colonel and I, who had acquired by our long experience, a 
tolerable portion of recklessness, remained in our cots, and left 
the matter to Providence, as we perceived that the captain would 
rather disembark his cotton, which consumed nothing, than to 
support much longer a number of passengers, all with good ap¬ 
petites, vyho had agreed for their voyage at a certain price. When 
we were again afloat, Mr. Bowdoin remarked with a face of 
great wisdom, that he had foreseen that we should not long re¬ 
main aground, as he had not felt the stroke of the boat on the 
sand-bar. 
We passed the whole day without any further accident, the 
weather was rather dull and drizzling. Nothing interesting oc¬ 
curred to our observation. We passed by two steam-boats that 
had been sunk in the river, of which the last, called the Cotton 
Plant, went down only a month since. Both struck against trees 
in the river, and sank so slowly, that all the passengers, and part 
of the cargo were saved. They were so deep that only the wheel- 
houses raised themselves above the water. From these boats al¬ 
ready a part of the machinery has been taken out piece-meal. 
In the afternoon we passed a little place called Claiborne, situated 
* In this part of the country, they have either featherbeds or moss mattresses; 
if these latter are old, the moss clots together, and it is like lying on cannon¬ 
balls. 
