USA > Texas > Harris County > Houston > Texas and the Gulf of Mexico ; or, Yachting in the New World, volume 1 > Part 5
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It is not very easy to procure provisions of any sort at Belize. Beef is brought from the city (New Orleans) only in sufficient quantities to supply the wants of the pilots and their families, and is very high priced,
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namely, one shilling and threepence a pound. Fowls and eggs are still scarcer ; no poultry being reared in the neighbourhood. Milk was not to be had at any price ; but we were told that there was a widow lady up the river, who had milch cows, and might possibly be induced to part with some of their produce. With this hope I was obliged to be contented ; though, not hav- ing enjoyed the luxury of milk in my tea since leaving Jamaica, I confess I was ra- ther disappointed in having to wait still longer, for what we are accustomed to con- sider an indispensable article of diet.
Dec. 2. Weighed anchor, and made sail up the river with a fair wind, moderate and fine. It is always customary to " take steam" up the Mississippi, so that our de- termination of sailing caused great astonish- ment, but it was so much more agreeable
DOLPHIN YACHT IN THE MISSISSIPPI,
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and independent a course, that we had no hesitation in adopting it. The noise of the high pressure engines, which are almost in- variably used, is very disagreeable; and you have not even the advantage of coming quickly to the end of your voyage, as the steamer generally takes several vessels in tow, and consequently, her steam not being of sufficient power, you do not average more than three or four knots an hour.
After losing sight of the harbour, you see nothing on either side of the river, for several miles, but the same low reedy banks. Banks, however, they cannot be called, as there is not the slightest percepti- ble elevation ; you meet with innumerable snags and floating logs, which give a very desolate, ruinous look to the surface of the water. On ascending a few rattlings, one of the crew said he could see the sea over
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the tops of the low trees ; there are several passes out of the river, and between them extend these swampy forests.
Occasionally we passed, or met a large raft, floating up or down the stream. These rafts have generally a little hut built on them, in which there is a fire, and the men, who have charge of these floating islands, are very often seen comfortably cooking their dinner; the muddy water all the while rippling over their wooden island, and finding its way out again as quietly as it came in.
Too much cannot be said of the extreme muddiness and ugliness of this celebrated river, a few miles from its mouth. Its fogs " whip" those of our Thames. By the bye, the Yankees use the verb, " to whip," inva- riably where we say "to beat," for in- stance : when we first entered the river, as
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we lay at anchor, a little schooner passed us, and without any previous greeting, the master hailed us through his speaking trum- pet, with the modest remark, " well stran- ger, I guess I could whip you pretty con- siderable, I could." - And by way, as he evi- dently considered, of making good his boast, he proceeded, taking advantage of our si- tuation, to sail round us in a most trium- phant manner. The Americans are great boasters, - I cannot with any regard to truth, say they are not, - and they are parti- cularly glad to whip the English when they can. At the same time the vaunt is generally made in the spirit of good humour and honest rivalship, and if taken in the same way, would never lead, as is too generally the case, to quarrels and heart-burnings.
By degrees the scenery improves and the woods are thicker ; still the timber is
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not of large growth, though the late autumn colours of the leaves rendered them very varied and beautiful. The most common tree is the sycamore, not quite the same as ours of the same name, but nearly so ; the brilliant crimson of its seed-pods, con- trasted finely with the brown and changing leaves. As we advanced up the river the trees were of a more considerable size, and there was much more variety in their foli- age. Ilex and the line oak are very frequent. There is a peculiarity in the appearance of the woods, owing to the trees being almost universally covered with the long drooping Spanish moss. This parasitical plant hangs from every branch and twig, descending in long weeping clusters; these dependants often grow to the length of six or eight feet, and are of a greyish colour ; they give a sombre hue to the forests, and render
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their appearance somewhat monotonous. The shores increased in beauty as we pro- ceeded, being diversified with splendid mag- nolias and cotton-wood trees. Occasionally we saw extensive clearings, on which were temporary wooden houses, erected near the river side : they are occupied by the wood cutters, who are employed in felling and stacking the wood for the innumerable steamers which work up and down the river. These insatiable monsters of the deep (the Mississippi is said to have no bottom) will soon effect the almost total destruction of those characteristic forests ; they are fast disappearing under the hands of the busy " go-a-head " steam-boat com- panies.
We had a fine breeze all day, and though there was much trimming of sails and beat- ing up reaches, we found the log book
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spoke well of our progress. We asked a Yankee fisherman, after we came to an anchor, how far we were from New Or- leans, and his reply was " well, I expect it will be sixty miles about from the city." This was a very good day's work, particu- larly as we were working against a current running from four to five miles an hour, and encouraged us to persevere. All day we had been hailed every hour by some steamer or other. The Webster, the Pre- sident, or the Henry Clay, with the oft repeated, " well, I guess you want to take steam up to the City ?" " No," " no," " no," we had answered till we were tired.
Now, all was comparatively still; the huge river was composing itself to rest after its labours ; there was occasionally a murmur- ing sound from the adjacent shore, as of some drowsy insects humming their latest
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evening song, and now and then the light paddle of a canoe went ripple, ripple past - Here we lay, our two lights gleaming through the evening mist, our sails furled, all hands below save the solitary look- out man,-yes,-here we lay on the broad bosom of the giant Mississippi. What rest it was after the stormy nights to which we had so long been accustomed.
During the night the fog became very thick, and we were kept rather in a state of alarm from the number of steamers, which were constantly passing us. By the American law you are obliged to have two lights constantly burning at the mast head at night ; should any vessel, not show- ing the required number be run against on the river by another ship, the former will not be entitled to any remuneration for damage sustained in the concussion.
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Dec. 3. The morning was damp, chilly and foggy, but before nine o'clock the sun had cleared away the mist, and we were again under weigh. As we progressed, the clearings became more frequent and greater signs of civilization were apparent. There was the more finished cottage, with its little garden crowded with orange trees, and most of them had in addition a small patch of Indian corn. The oranges are small, but grew very thickly ; they are sweet and eatable, though not to be compared to any which come to England. The wea- ther was very chilly ; the thermometer on deck at noon in the sun, stood at 54°, which to us, so lately arrived from the scorch- ing heat of the West Indies, was really cold; but notwithstanding this, we found the musquitoes very troublesome. All this day we had quite sufficient amusement in
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watching the birds, which were displaying their bright colours in the variously tinted woods. They really were beautiful, and we were quite near enough to the shore to distinguish their colours, and generally speaking, their species ; there was the mock- ing bird with its elegant shape, but rather dingy plumage ; jays and woodpeckers of every hue, and the gaudy Virginia nightin- gale in great numbers ; we saw also wild ducks and flocks of wild swans and geese, the latter of which were extremely shy and wild. Of course every traveller in America is prepared by previous description to admire the autumn foliage of these " pathless woods." There is, however, a richness and variety in them -the bright and almost dazzling crimson shaded into rich golden yellow, and intermingled with the brightest evergreens - which is perfectly indescri-
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bable. If a painter were to attempt de- picting them to the life, he would be called " as mad as Turner," and truly no mortal hand could image forth such scenes as these.
In this, our second days pilgrimage, I noticed several smart houses, the residences of sugar growers, whose manufactories were always near at hand. Rather further re- moved were the log huts of the slaves. We saw the latter in great numbers, both male and female, working in the clearings ; they seemed very cheerful, and we often heard them laughing merrily as we passed by : after all that I have been told of the sufferings of these people, it quite gladdened my heart to hear them. We made this day but little progress towards " the City," there being scarcely any wind; eighteen miles, however, were better than nothing,
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and as we were not pressed for time, we still refused the offers of our friends in the steam-tugs.
At four o'clock P.M. the breeze died away entirely, and we came to an anchor in seven fathom water. In the evening, after din- ner, we rowed to the shore; our object being to procure a little milk, and see- ing some cows in a neighbouring clear- ing, we did not quite despair of success. The river here is about a mile wide; we had, therefore, some little distance to row, and the current was running very strong ; we did not take any of the men with us, as they had been so much em- ployed all day in tacking, trimming sails, &c. On reaching the shore the Doctor alone landed. We waited a long time, so long that the musquitoes tired with worrying us went to rest, and the mighty
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fog, which I had hoped to escape, co- vered us over like a curtain. At length there came the welcome sound of approach- ing footsteps, and our companion accom- panied by three men made his appearance. He had literally been unable to escape before, so warm had been his welcome from these rude sons of the forest. They were profuse in their offers of assistance, and I believe would really have given us any thing they possessed. From the lady who kept the cows, we procured a small bottle of milk, for which we paid two bits - about one shilling ; they likewise brought me some fresh eggs, which were quite a luxury.
The question now was " how to find the Dolphin ?" There is nothing so be- wildering as a thick fog, and by the time we had rowed, as we thought, to the middle
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of the stream, we found ourselves com- pletely puzzled, both as to our own where- abouts and that of the schooner. The steamers were puffing up and down, thick and fast, giving us but little note of their approach ; indeed, were they ever so near, from the extreme density of the fog, there was every chance of our steering precisely the wrong way. Our only guide was our knowledge that the two lights of the Dolphin were to be looked for under the north star. We were at length enabled to catch a glimpse of her, as the fog hung low over the water, and our guiding star brought us to our home in safety. In less than an hour I found myself to my infinite relief in my floating home, playing " Hail Columbia " with va- riations; an appropriate compliment to the " great City," we were approaching.
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Dec. 4. Alas! no wind, another linger- ing day. But the weather was warmer, and the birds were singing so gaily that they reminded me of an English day in June ; there was now no variety in the scenery. We came to an anchor early in the afternoon, having made about ten miles ! After dinner we rowed in the gig for some time along the banks, and landed several times in the hope of procuring fresh provisions. Meet- ing with no success, we returned on board laden with orange branches covered with fruit. All night the fog was very thick and the musquitoes most annoying.
CHAPTER VI.
NEW ORLEANS. THE HARBOUR. TEXAN COMMODORE. THE HOTEL OF ST. CHARLES. BUSY SCENE ON THE STRAND. AMERICAN MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ELI-
GIBLE SITUATION OF NEW ORLEANS. POPULATION OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA. YELLOW FEVER.
NATIONAL EDUCATION.
DEPARTURE FROM NEW OR- LEANS.
" Soul of the world, Knowledge, without thee, What hath the earth that truly glorious is ?"
DANIEL.
" Le gaing de nostre estude, c'est en estre devenu meilleur et plus sage." * *
" D'autant que l'ame est plus vuide et sans contre- poids, elle se baisse plus facilement soubs la charge de la premiere persuasion ?"
MONTAIGNE.
DEC. 5. Only fifteen miles from the city. Its towers, and the dome of the St. Charles's Hotel, distinctly to be seen ! All rather tired with the monotony of our
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fresh-water voyage. A dead calm till two
o'clock, P.M. It was dusk before we reached New Orleans. The first view of the town from the river is very striking ; I think I never saw, in any other, so long and continuous a line of large, and even grand looking buildings. The innumerable lights which gleamed from the houses and public buildings, and which were reflected on the river, were to us, so long unused to the cheerful aspect of a large and bust- ling city, a most welcome sight.
Dec. 6. If New Orleans appeared de- lightful to us by the light of its gas-lamps, what did it not do when seen in the face of day ! It was the busiest scene! Such forests of masts! Such flaunting colours and flags, of every hue and of every country ! Really, as the Yankees say, " Orleens may stump the univarse for a city." Five tier of ship-
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ping in the harbour! This is their busiest time for taking in cargo.
There is a beautiful corvette lying near us, a long low hull, and raking masts; at the mainmast is flying a small flag, with one star on its brilliant white ground ; it is the star of the young Republic of Texas. " Boat alongside !" "Side ropes!" It is the gig of the Texan Commodore. He had sent a lieutenant from the San Jacintho, with many kind offers of assistance and ci- vility. In about an hour Mr. Houston re- turned the visit, and brought the Com- modore back with him. The latter gave us a good deal of information as to the state of the Texan country, and some news from the army. His countrymen and the Mexicans are continuing a desultory war- fare, and with but little present prospect of coming to an amicable settlement. One
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thing which the Commodore told us gave us a good deal of disappointment. We found that our plan of going to Aransas could not be put into execution. From all we had heard, the country about that river is the finest in Texas, and affords the best sports, there being wild animals in great variety. Unfortunately, the Dolphin, he assured us, drew too much water for the bar at the mouth of Aransas harbour, and lying outside, is by no means safe. The San Jacintho, though of eight hundred tons, drew but ten feet ; she was fully armed and equipped ; all the Commodore wanted was money, and that seemed very scarce with him just then ; had he but pos- sessed that necessary article, he " would go to sea, take the Montezuma and Guada- loupe, and whip the Mexicans all round !" And so he very likely would, for he enjoys
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the reputation of being a good officer, and a very fighting one. Mr. Houston went on shore with the Commodore, and was intro- duced to the British Consul. During his absence a great many boats came alongside. Great curiosity was evidently excited by our appearance. What could we be, a mi- niature man-of-war, with our guns run out at the port-holes, and our white stripe ? No one knew. But we heard afterwards, that our expected advent had been an- nounced in the New Orleans newspaper, and in that we were described as an armed vessel, going to fight for the cause of free- dom, viz .: to take the part of the Yu- catanese. Truly, though I wish them every success, I hope I may never hear the voices of our six-pounders in their behalf.
We found the musquitoes most disagree- able; they were worse, if possible, than at
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Jamaica ; but to make me some amends, I had such beautiful flowers! Jessamines of every kind ; daphnes, roses, violets! Such a December bouquet ! and all growing in the open air. How refreshing they were, and how they reminded me of summer in distant England.
We made it a rule, in general, not to sleep out of our own house, but wer tempted to break it here. Previous to our arrival, we had heard so much of the great Hotel of St. Charles, the immense extent of its accommodations, and the size of its apartments, that we decided upon spending a few days there, in order to see these wonders with our own eyes, and judge of them with our understandings.
The St. Charles's Hotel was built on speculation by the proprietor of the Astor House, at New York, and I believe the
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former to be, if possible, a still more pros- perous undertaking than the Astor House : It contains within its walls accommodation for at least five hundred persons. We landed in the gig about twelve o'clock, and such a scene of business and bustle never before met my eyes ! The Strand, or Le- vee, as it is called, is crowded by busy- looking men, passing in all directions ; evi- dently, their heads are full of business, and speculations and " operations," in course or in perspective, fill up every thought and feeling. No one looks at you, or delays for a moment his walk, or his conversation, for trivial causes. Indeed, I am inclined to believe, that were a mad dog at their heels, it would make but little impression upon their absorbed faculties. Black slaves, laughing, joking, swearing, and hallooing, are rolling along the sugar casks, or tumb-
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ling over the bales of cotton ; and sailors of merchant vessels, the only idlers in this busy scene, are lounging about, with their pipes in their mouths, and their hands in their pockets.
It is a most animated, and, to a stranger, most amusing sight ; but with all this bust- ling and noise, there is no confusion, and I saw no disorderly persons about. Who are those gaily dressed men sitting astride upon cotton bales, and looking so composed, while discussing some serious question with each other ? You can judge nothing from their countenances ; they are so well schooled and tutored, that no one would imagine an important mercantile negotia- tion was in progress. That gentleman mounted on a molasses cask, whistling, cut- ting up a stick, as if for the bare life, but in reality to prevent his countenance from be-
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traying his feelings, is doing business with the man, who is balancing himself on an empty barrel near him. The latter, with the eternal quid in the corner of his mouth, is clearly looking out "for the giraffe,"* and, after a while, he rises with great sang froid, with, " Well, Sir, I calculate there's a something of a string-halt in the bargain ; its a horrid sight of money, Sir, you're ask- ing, and as I'm in a tarnation hurry to liquor, I'll just put it off till next fall." I need hardly say that this shrewd gentleman was recalled, and a bargain concluded. The process of liquoring is gone through several times before a bargain is struck.
This, the first specimen I saw of Ame- ricans, in their own country, struck me for- cibly. It shewed me that those who, in dress, appearance, &c., are decidedly the * Anglicè, taking care he is not taken in.
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gentlemen of the land, are so devoted to money making, as evidently to have neither time, nor many ideas to waste on other sub- jects. It convinced me, that though the contemplation of America as a nation, and at a distance, may, and indeed, must be in- teresting, yet the investigation and survey of the people who compose that nation, must soon become wearying and monotonous. One may be amused for a time at the shrewdness with which they make their bargains, at the acuteness of their remarks, and the originality of their expressions ; but once convinced, as I speedily became, that their every action proceeds from a love of amassing wealth, and you cease to become interested in individuals, whose conduct and whose pleasures are swayed by such an ig- noble cause.
The Americans are accounted, and I be-
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lieve justly so, a moral people, but even this merit is, I think, not so great a one in their case, as it is among other nations. Their love of wealth being all-powerful, and being to be gratified only by the strictest attention to business, it follows, necessarily, that the habits of their lives generally become quiet and restrained.
You seldom see an American lady ac- companied in her walks, rides, or drives, except on Sundays, by a gentleman; it would be a waste of time, and conse- quently a useless expenditure of money, to indulge in the gentle, and refining society of the female sex. Young, delicate, and pretty women are met unprotected, clad in the gayest colours; I believe they are not denied any of the innocent enjoyments pro- cured by dress and female society, and they may be seen pacing the streets, from store to
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store, and from boarding-house to boarding- house, shopping, and paying visits. This custom of young married women not having a home of their own, but inhabiting those nests of gossip called boarding-houses, seems to me injudicious and reprehensible. The young American wife, and they marry when almost children, is thus left all day without the society of her husband, or the protection of his presence. Her conversa- tion is limited to the vicious details of scandal, or the insipid twaddle of dress, and in a place where all have a right to enter, the good and the well disposed woman must frequently come in contact with many, who, had she possessed a home of her own, would never have been admitted to her presence.
There were a variety of carriages stand- ing for hire on the Levee. Their cleanliness,
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the excellence and ease of their springs, to say nothing of the well appointed appear- ance of most of the drivers, would put to shame the hired vehicles in most of the ca- pitals of Europe. We chose an open car- riage, though the weather was extremely cold, for we were curious to see as much as we could of this interesting city.
I remarked how closely those, whom I met or passed, resembled each other. It is diffi- cult to mistake a Yankee for the inhabitant or native of any other country. They are almost all closely shaven, not a vestige of beard or whisker is left, -and then their garments are all so precisely the same ! I felt I should never be able to distinguish one man from another. I could not at first comprehend, why all the male inhabitants looked so precisely like figures made on the same model, but my lengthened drive
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through the streets enlightened me. Out- side a great many of the "notion" stores, I saw just such figures hanging up, coat, pan- talon a sous pied ; in short, the whole out- ward man. There was this difference, and be it remarked, it is an essential one - the latter were men of straw. Such cannot be said of the wealthy merchants of New Orleans. The fact is this, there are no working tailors at New Orleans, and every article of dress comes ready made from the Northern States. There are merchant- tailors in plenty, and if the traveller in New Orleans is in want of a suit of clothes, he must, if of the masculine sex, betake himself to one of these gentlemen, and he will be forthwith fitted with anything he may happen to want. " Pants" are daily announced, as a cargo just arrived " by the from New York," the latter city evi-
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dently has the responsibility of setting the fashions to the élégants of the other cities of the Union. These garments being all of the same colour and fashion, fully ac- counts for the similarity of the appearance of the inhabitants.
Every one in America, (and I include even New Orleans, where the admixture of French blood, and the Southern clime, would doubtless cause an appearance of gaiety, if it can be looked for anywhere in the States) - every one in America, I say, looks grave, serious, and reflective. There is none of the sportive, light-hearted manner visible among the French, and occasionally among our own countrymen; their very amuse- ments, and they are few, are partaken of without any shew of relaxation or pleasure. Why is this ? Because business pursues them into the very heart of their enjoy-
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ments ; because, in fact, it is their enjoy- ment, and business is certainly not a lively thing. It neither opens the heart, nor ex- pands the countenance.
De Tocqueville says, -" I believe the se- riousness of the Americans arises partly from their pride. In democratic countries, even poor men entertain a lofty notion of their personal importance : they look upon themselves with complacency, and are apt to suppose that others are looking at them too. With this disposition, they watch their language and their actions with care, and do not lay themselves open to betray their deficiencies ; to preserve their dignity, they think it necessary to preserve their gravity."
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