Chap. I. DANGERS BY STEAMERS. 211 
received a letter pretending to be written by a spirit, in 
which she was called on to write to her deceased parents : 
if they had been received among the blessed they would 
reply immediately. The girl did as she was directed, and, 
receiving no answer, concluded that her parents were 
amongst the condemned. This conviction affected her 
so much that she lost her reason." " I cannot say whether 
the spirits really exist or not," observed the third gentle- 
man ; " but, even if they do, I see no practical utility in 
it." In this all agreed, and so the conversation dropped. 
The next day we passed some beautiful parts of the 
Valley of the Mississippi. The hills (or bluffs, as they are 
called) occasionally approached close to the river, and their 
steep, often rocky, acclivities imparted a peculiar character 
to this otherwise monotonous landscape of wood and water. 
At night we reached St. Louis, where we stopped two 
days for business connected with the objects of our journey. 
I had only a few hours free, to pay a visit to some 
friends resident in this town and to make some new and 
valuable acquaintances. Of the town and its environs I 
saw too little to add anything to what is already known of 
St. Louis. 
On the 30th we embarked for Weyne City, a small 
place, consisting of a few houses, which may be called the 
harbour of Independence. We left St. Louis at noon, 
and in the afternoon reached the mouth of the Missouri, 
whose thick and yellow water contrasts strongly with the 
clear stream of the Upper Mississippi. This difference is 
perceptible even far below St. Louis, after the confluence, 
on the two sides of the united stream — nay, in fact, as far 
down »«* the mouth of the Ohio, until the whole Mississippi 
graductny becomes one and the same clayey stream. On 
entering the Missouri our steamer had to struggle against 
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