Chap. I. DANGERS BY STEAMERS. 213 
above the river, surmounting a rocky bank. In the night 
we passed Boonville, in the morning Glasgow, and later 
in the day Brunswick. Of all the places I have seen 
on this river, Miami is the most beautifully situated, 
on a steep grassy hill, crowned with oaks, and rising 
somewhat abruptly from the river. Before reaching Lex- 
ington, the next day, I saw, upon a sandbank in the river, 
a long line of wild geese, which kept up a comical race 
with our steamer. It was indeed laughable to see the 
efforts the stupid animals made to prevent our passing 
them, whilst our boat was moving slowly against the strong 
current. Lexington is situated partly upon a height, partly 
at its foot, on the bank of the river, every house having 
immediately in the rear its own coal-pit. The entire hill, 
on the side of which a coal stratum crops out, is perforated 
in this manner. On the shore were lying the remains of 
a steamboat, which had been blown up here a few months 
before. In the middle of the hill-side stood some elm- 
trees, upon one of which the body of the captain had been 
flung. Several hundred persons lost their lives by this 
accident. Were it the custom here — as it is in Mexico, 
in places where murders have been committed — to erect 
memorials at places where these accidents by steam have 
occurred, such mementos mori would never be out of sight, 
either on the steamboats or in the railway carriages of the 
United States. 
The Missouri here makes a great bend — a rapid and 
impetuous river, difficult to navigate. Its current, on the 
side of the convex shore, is impeded by large sandbanks ; 
and on the side of the concave bank it is so choked by 
sunken trees (snags) that it is difficult to steer a boat between 
these obstructions. A few miles from the mouth of the 
Fishing river, below Sibley, formerly Fort Osage, we 
