Natchez is the only town in Mississippi which we visited, so that I have little to say relative to this state. I shall only mention, that for a long time, with Alexandria, it formed a part of the state of Georgia, from which it was separated in 1800; that in 1817 it took its place in the Union as an independent body politic, and framed for itself a constitution. The fertility of its soil, and facilities of sending its productions to market, have contributed, in a singular degree, to the increase of its population. In 1800, it had only six thousand eight hundred and fifty inhabitants, while it now contains seventy-six thousand. If in this number, about thirty-thousand slaves are included, its prosperity must still be regarded as very great. Many large fortunes are found in this state, where it is not uncommon to meet with planters having incomes of seven or eight thousand dollars. The staple products are cotton and Indian corn.
The state of Mississippi is situated between the 30th and 35th degrees of north latitude, and the 11th and 14th degrees of west longitude from Washington. Its surface contains forty-five thousand three hundred and fifty square miles. It is bounded on the north by the state of Tennessee, east by Alabama, south by Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico, and west by Louisiana and Arkansas. Although the population is very much scattered, the land bears a considerable price, being on the banks of the river from fifty to sixty dollars per acre. The price lessens in proportion to the distance which the products have to be transported.
In leaving Natchez, we parted as it were from the civilized world. From this town to St. Louis, we did not meet with a single assemblage of houses that deserved the name of town or even village. The banks of the Mississippi again became flat, and presented nothing but grounds overflown and covered with thick forests, impenetrable to the rays of the sun. The swarms of musquitoes which rose out of it and settled in thick clouds upon travellers, rendered the voyage almost insupportable, especially during the night, if we had not taken the precaution to provide musquito curtains. The only habitations we met with were large cabins, situated upon places a little elevated above the level of the river. These were inhabited temporarily by hardy speculators from the north, who, always abandoning the good in hopes of finding better, retreat incessantly before the advance of civilization, and seek their fortunes in the wilderness. The dangers of the navigation increase with the monotony of the shores. Every moment presents some evidence of recent disaster. Here, one beholds the ravages of a hurricane which has crossed the river, and, in its devastation, has on both shores uprooted and carried off, as if they had been weak reeds, thousands of trees, which by their prodigious size were the pride of the forest. There, our captain showed us a snag or sawyer, the inclined point of which had pierced the bottom of a boat, immediately afterwards swallowed up by the flood. Further on, the wood-choppers, in giving us the necessary supplies of wood, told us of the explosion of a boiler which occasioned the death of near forty passengers; and it was not long before we ourselves saw the bank covered with travellers, who were impatiently waiting until their boat which had been pierced by a snag, should be repaired so as to be in a condition again to brave the danger from which they had so narrowly escaped.
These snags and sawyers, so formidable to the navigator, are very numerous all along the river. Snags are thrown into the stream by high floods, and, having floated some time, become fixed to the bottom of the river, with their tops either above or below the surface according to their length, but always inclining in the direction of the current. The sawyers differ from snags only in being firmly stuck in the bed of the river, and in this situation the current keeps them in constant vibration, alternately raising and depressing their summits. As their position often changes, it is difficult to avoid them; and, if vessels in ascending the river are so unfortunate as to strike against them, their destruction is almost inevitable, for they are pierced in such a manner, that the water pours through the opening, and sinks them, sometimes in a few minutes.
But persons are little disposed to be uneasy on account of these dangers, when, as in our case, they are on board a vessel skilfully managed, with all the delicacies of life, and inexhaustible resources afforded by the society of good and agreeable travelling companions. The committee of New Orleans were joined by two gentlemen from Natchez, as representatives of the state of Mississippi, near the person of General Lafayette. To the attentions and gaiety of the members of both these deputations, we were indebted for not having known a moment of tediousness or inquietude, during our long voyage. After having sailed for five days, with the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, on our left, and the states of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky, on our right, we arrived at the mouth of Ohio, without any delays but those necessary to take in wood. This fuel was sometimes supplied us by the woodmen on the borders of the river, who live by the unlimited forests which surround them. When we could find no woodmen we often supplied ourselves. In this case, our captain, after having made his men take in the necessary quantity, left in exchange a note nailed to a tree, upon which was inscribed the number of cords he had taken, the name of his boat, his place of residence, date of his passage, and signature. This kind of commerce with the Mississippi woodmen is very common, and I have heard it said that there never has been known an example of bad faith on the part of the purchasers, who always show themselves most scrupulous in paying their accounts, which are often presented months afterwards at Natchez and New Orleans.
When arrived at the mouth of the Ohio, we had come from the city of Natchez four hundred and fifty miles. Our pilot assured us then, that the upper part of the Mississippi was too little known to him, to permit him to conduct us through the midst of dangers which were met with at every moment. In consequence of this declaration, our good Captain Davis made us enter the Ohio for the purpose of obtaining a new pilot, at the distance of four miles from its mouth, whom we were so happy as to procure immediately. On going thither, we met a steam-boat, whose narrowness and unsteady motion induced us to think, that, destined for the navigation of small streams, it only appeared upon the agitated waters of a large one upon extraordinary occasions. This steam-boat was the Artizan, bearing the Tennessee deputation, sent to desire the general to ascend the Cumberland river to Nashville, where he had been a long time expected, and where his intention of visiting St. Louis was not then known. After a short conference with the deputies of the state of Tennessee, who insisted strongly that the general should proceed immediately to their shores, it was determined that we should continue our voyage in the Natchez to St. Louis; that a part of the Tennessee deputation should come with us, and the rest remain on board the Artizan at the mouth of the Ohio until our return. These arrangements, concluded to the satisfaction of every one, we left the beautiful, to enter again the great river. We remarked, with surprise, that at the confluence of these two bodies of water, the current appeared suspended for several miles, which seems to indicate the equality in volume and force of the two rivers at this place.
After leaving the mouth of the Ohio, the appearance of the shores of the Mississippi changes entirely. The lands, more elevated, present a greater number of houses. From place to place traces of the old French establishments are visible, and beautiful islands like gardens, often present themselves to the eye of the navigator, interrupting the monotony of the river. At first he sees the isle of Birds, charming for its freshness; next those called the Two Sisters and the Dog’s Tooth; and then English Island, which recalls the first settlement made by the English in the midst of these wilds in the year 1765. This was soon destroyed by the savages, who saw with pain their old French friends dispossessed by traders whom they had never before seen. At about forty miles from the confluence, and almost opposite each other, rise capes Girardeau and Lacroix, both thus named by Mr. De Frontenac, governor of Canada, sent to ascertain the truth of the assertion made by the Indians, that from the north there came a great river which ran neither in the direction whence the Great Spirit rose, nor towards that in which he set. There is at present at Cape Girardeau a small village, recently founded, which begins to prosper. A little above, on the eastern side, are seen the ruins of ancient fortifications exhibiting a scene altogether picturesque. These are the remains of fort Chartres, constructed at great expense by the French, in 1753, for the defence of Upper Mississippi, now deserted by the Americans as altogether useless.
Some hours after having passed fort Chartres, whilst we walked the deck, our captain pointed out in the river a flock of young Louisiana geese, led by the two old ones. The elegant shape, and beautiful plumage of these fowls, made me anxious to get possession of the whole family. I immediately launched into the river a skiff manned with two sailors, and, going in the direction of the old goose, endeavoured to get the boat between her and shore. The old geese, taking fright, made their escape with loud cries, but the young ones, unable yet to fly, or escape by climbing the steep banks, soon fell into our hands. We carried off five, which our captain had the goodness to take charge of, promising to raise them with care, and forward them to New Orleans, whence Mr. Caire engaged to send them to La Grange, for the benefit of the general’s farm.[[10]] As I was returning from this little expedition, I perceived, in the middle of the river, another very tempting game. This was a superb deer, which swam with as much calmness and ease as though it were in its native element. When it heard our cries, mingled with the noise of our steam-boat, it threw its long branching antlers upon its shoulders, and sunk in the water to escape our notice, swimming rapidly for the swiftest part of the current. As soon as it thought itself free from the danger of pursuit, it re-appeared above water, shook its antlers proudly, and tranquilly resumed its course. It is by no means rare, as we were informed, to see many of these animals thus passing from one shore of the river to the other, and visiting the fertile islands which adorn its course.
At the distance of one hundred miles from the Ohio, the shores of the Mississippi suddenly assume a more imposing appearance, rising steeply eighty or a hundred feet above the level of the water. They are composed of very hard granite. In their whole height they are impressed with deep horizontal furrows, which appear to have been caused by the friction of the water, whilst the river was at the different levels which they indicate. Some of these furrows are nearly a foot deep. They occur at unequal intervals, and mark the successive decrease of the water. At the actual level of the river the furrow is scarcely perceptible. What a length of time has, therefore, been occupied in the formation of each furrow by the sole action of the water upon a rock of such hardness? The solution of this single question would, perhaps, throw a good deal of difficulty into the calculations of the system-makers, who pretend to fix the epoch of the creation of our globe.
Some distance above, these steep rocks leave between them and the river a considerable space, in which is situated Herculaneum. The site of this village is altogether romantic, the towers, formed upon the rock, which crowns it irregularly, impart a fantastic character, and attract the curiosity of travellers. From the height of these towers, which spring from the steep rock, they throw down melted lead, which cools by rolling in the air, becomes round, and falls in the form of small shot into large receivers of water, placed beneath. The large or small size of the holes in the iron sieve, through which it is thrown while boiling hot, give the various sizes wanted for hunting. The lead mines found in abundance upon the shores of the Merrimac river, which empties into the Mississippi ten miles from this place, have given origin to these establishments, the prosperity of which increases every day.