We had now passed the western extremity of Kentucky, and had the state of Tennessee on our left. The eastern banks of the Mississippi, viz. on the Tennessee side, are throughout lower than the western or Missouri shores; presenting a series of marshes from which cypress trees and canebrack seem just emerging, lining them for hundreds of miles to the southward. Farther eastward, towards the rivers Tennessee and Cumberland, the soil is overgrown with sugar-maples, sycamore trees, walnuts, and honey-locusts; the mountains with white and live oak and hickory. The eastern part of the state resembles North Carolina. The middle part is by far the best. Cotton and tobacco are staple articles. Rice is cultivated with success. Hemp is not considered of the same quality as the Kentuckian, the climate being too warm. The tropical fruits, such as figs, thrive well; chesnuts are superior to those of the other states. Melons, peaches, and apples, are abundant. Tennessee is considered altogether a rich and fertile land. The inhabitants are liberal, noble hearted, and noted for their good conduct towards strangers. Several foreigners settled in the state, have attained a high degree of wealth and prosperity. There is no state in the Union where slavery has had less pernicious effects upon the character of the people. The inhabitants are mostly descendants of emigrants from North Carolina, and their hospitality is without bounds. This state extends, in an oblong square, from the shores of the Mississippi towards Virginia and North Carolina, in 35° to 36° 30′ north latitude, and 4° 26′ to 13° 5′ west longitude. It is bounded on the east by Virginia and North Carolina; on the south by Georgia, Albania, and Mississippi; on the west by the river Mississippi, and on the north by Kentucky, comprising altogether 40,000 square miles. East Tennessee partakes more of the sandy character of North Carolina. West Tennessee of the marshes of the Mississippi valley. Its principal rivers are the Cumberland and Tennessee, with the Mississippi on the west, where however, with the exception of some very small settlements, there are no improvements of any kind. The canal proposed by Governor Troup, of Georgia, to Governor Carrott, of Tennessee, which is to bring this state into immediate connection with the Atlantic, will have a very beneficial effect, these two rivers being navigable for steam-boats only during three months in the year, and New Orleans being the only market for Tennessee. Notwithstanding its straitened commerce, the state is rapidly improving, and several of its towns, though not large are yet very elegant. The chief wealth of the state, however, consists in the plantations, and the farmer and planter live in a style, which at least in point of eating, cannot be exceeded by the wealthiest nobleman in any country. Among the towns of the state, Nashville holds the first rank. This town occupies a commanding situation, on a solid cliff of rocks on the south side of the Cumberland, 200 feet above the level of the banks. The river is navigable here during three months in the year for steam-boats of 300 tons burthen. Besides the court-house, three churches, two banks, including a branch bank of the United States, three printing offices, and a great number of wholesale and retail merchants, there is the seat of the district court for the western part of Tennessee. Several literary institutions, such as Cumberland college, a ladies’ school, and reading-room with a public library, are evident proofs of a liberal spirit. This spirit is combined with unbounded hospitality. There is a number of houses, such as those of Governor Carrott, Major General Jackson, &c., where every respectable stranger is welcome, and may be sure of meeting with a select company. The surrounding country is beautiful, cotton plantations lining the banks of the river, and extending in every direction hither. The wealthier inhabitants generally retire during the summer months, from the stifling heats prevailing on the barren rocks upon which Nashville stands. Knoxville in east Tennessee, with 400 houses and 2,500 inhabitants, is of less importance; it is the seat of the supreme district court for east Tennessee, and has a bank, a college, and two churches. The country about Knoxville is far inferior to that round Nashville. The capital of Tennessee, Murfreesborough, has 1500 inhabitants, with a state-house, a bank, two printing-offices, &c. It communicates by water with Nashville, through Stonecreek. The situation seems not to be very judiciously chosen for a chief town. This was the state of things four years ago, when I passed through the place; but doubtless it has since proportionably increased. Our company being on this occasion of a less mixed, and a less troublesome character, we sailed down the majestic father of rivers, with minds well disposed to acknowledge our obligations to Mr. Fulton, for his happy idea of applying the power of steam to navigation. The settlers of the Mississippi valley, are in duty bound to raise a monument to the memory of a man, who has effected in their mode of conveyance so adventurous, and so successful a change. Not ten years have elapsed since the inhabitants of the west were used to toil like beasts of burden, in order to ascend the stream for a distance of ten or fifteen miles a day; and when in 1802, some boats belonging to Mr. R., of Nashville, arrived from New Orleans in eighty-seven days, this passage was considered the ne plus ultra of quick travelling by water, and was instantly made known throughout the Union. A passenger now performs the same voyage in five days, sitting all the while in a comfortable state-room, which in point of fitting-up vies with the most elegant parlours, writing letters, or reading the newspapers, and if tired of these occupations, paying visits to the ladies, if he be permitted to do so; or otherwise pacing the deck, where his less fortunate fellow passengers are hanging in hammocks—an indication to many of what may be their future state. There is certainly not any nation that can boast of a greater disposition for travelling, than Brother Jonathan; and there is again nobody more at home than he, whether in a tavern, or on board a vessel; as he is in the habit of considering a tavern, a vessel, or a steam-boat, as a kind of public property. Yet on board a vessel, or a steam-boat, he is very tractable. The great difference of fare between a cabin and a deck passage, from Louisville to New Orleans, being for the former forty dollars, and for the latter eight dollars, contributes to establish a distinction in this assemblage of people, placing those who are found too light in the upper house, and the more weighty in the lower. The first have to find themselves, the others are provided with every thing in a manner which shows that private institutions for the benefit of the public, are certainly more patronised here than in most other countries. If the pecuniary resources of the citizen of the United States do not reach a very low ebb, he will certainly choose the cabin, his pride forbidding him to mix with the rabble, though the expence may fall too heavy upon him. That economical refinement which the French evince on these occasions, is not to be seen in America. When I proceeded four months ago from Havre to Rouen, in the Duchess of Angouleme steam-boat, among the 100 passengers who were on board, more than fifty well-looking people were seen unpacking their bundles, and regaling themselves with their contents—bread, chicken, cutlets, wine, &c., &c., a frugality which will hardly be found to contribute to the improvement of a spirit of enterprise. The Americans would be ashamed of this kind of parsimony, which must ever impede all public undertakings. Owing to this cause, the American steam-boats are in point of elegance superior to those of other nations; and none but the English are able to compete with them. The furniture, carpets, beds, &c., are throughout elegant, and in good condition. Some of the new steam-boats are provided with small rooms, each containing two births, which passengers may use for their accommodation in shaving, dressing, &c. The general regulations are suspended above the side board in a gilt frame, and are as binding as a law. They prohibit speaking to the pilot during the passage—visiting the ladies’ state-room, without their consent—lying down upon the bed with shoes or boots on—smoking cigars in the state-room—and playing at cards after ten o’clock. The first transgression is punished with a fine; if repeated, the transgressor is sent ashore. The fare is excellent, and the breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, are provided with such a multiplicity of dishes, and even dainties, as would satisfy the most refined appetite. The beverage consists of rum, gin, brandy, claret, to be taken at pleasure during meals; but out of that time they are to be paid for. Distressing accidents will of course occasionally occur; the last of this kind was of a truly heart-rending nature: it happened four years ago, above Walnut-hills, in the steam-boat Tennessee. The night was tempestuous, the rain fell in torrents, and the captain, instead of landing and waiting until the weather cleared up, lost his senses, and ran on a sawyer[C]. The steam-boat was not sixty feet distant from the bank, which could not be distinguished, and she went down in a few seconds, together with 110 passengers, save a few who by accident reached the shore. Since that time, although steam-boats have sunk, no such loss of lives has occurred. This, however, is not to be compared with the hardships, the toils, the loss of health and life, to which the navigators of flat and keel-boats were formerly, and are still exposed, when going down the Mississippi. Nothing more uncouth than these flat-boats was ever sent forth from the hands of a carpenter. They are built of rude timber and planks, sixty feet in length, and twenty-five feet in breadth, and so unmanageable, that only the strong arm of a backwoodsman can keep them from running upon planters[[D], sawyers, wooden-islands, and all the Scyllas and Charybdes, that are to be met with on the voyage. We found numbers of them along the Ohio, detained by low water; and from St. Louis down to New Orleans, sometimes fifteen, twenty, and thirty together. Their uncouth appearance, the boisterous and fierce manners of their crews, the immense distance they have already proceeded, make them truly objects of interest. One of these flat-boats is from the Upper Ohio, laden with pine-boards, planks, rye, whisky, flour; close to it, another from the falls of the Ohio, with corn in the ear and bulk, apples, peaches; a third, with hemp, tobacco, and cotton. In the fourth you may find horses regularly stabled together; in the next, cattle from the mouth of the Missouri; a sixth will have hogs, poultry, turkeys; and in a seventh you see peeping out of the holes, the woolly heads of slaves transported from Virginia and Kentucky, to the human flesh mart at New Orleans. They have come thousands of miles, and still have to proceed a thousand more, before they arrive at their place of destination.
CHAPTER X.
Scenery along the Mississippi.—Hopefield.—St. Helena.—Arkansas Territory.—Spanish Moss.—Vixburgh.
We pursued our course at the rate of ten miles an hour, passing the Chickasaw Bluffs, Memphis, a small settlement on the Tennessee side, and a number of smaller and larger islands, from two to six miles in length, but seldom more than one in breadth. The sediment of the Mississippi is continually forming new sand banks, at the same time that its irresistible power carries away old ones. That river was, as I have already mentioned, very low, and the numerous sand banks on both sides contracted its channel into a bed scarcely more than half a mile broad. On these banks numberless flocks of wild ducks, geese, cranes, swans, and pelicans, stationed themselves in rows, extending sometimes a mile in length. As soon as the steam boat approaches, dashing through the water with the noise of thunder, and vomiting forth columns of smoke, they fly up in masses resembling clouds, and retire to their covers in the marshes and ponds contiguous to the banks of the Mississippi. They abound most 150 miles above Natchez, and hundreds of thousands are seen crossing the river in every direction. The scenery in view is an immense valley, with banks sixty feet above the water, forests of colossal trees on both sides, and the vast expanse of waters rolling with a velocity the more surprising, as the country stretches in a continued plain, with scarcely any perceptible decline. The rural scenery of the regions consists of detached cabins raised on huge stumps of trees; instead of windows there are the natural apertures of the logs joined together; in front of them woodstacks, for the use of the steam boats; ten or twelve deer, bear, or fox skins drying in the open air; some turkies and hogs, scattered over a corn patch, &c. Farms, or plantations, properly so called, are seldom to be met with here; the chief object of these settlers being the breed of cattle and poultry, for the use of steam-boats. The only trace of agriculture is a small tract of cotton field, which the settlers endeavour to improve.
We stayed an hour and a half in Hopefield, opposite to the Chickasaw Bluffs, the chief village of Hempstead county, with ten houses. There are two taverns, such as may be expected in these parts, a store and a post office. Two hours later we saw the mouth of the Wolf river; the beautiful President’s island, ten miles long, which with its colossal forests presents an imposing sight, with several small islands in its train. Among these is the Battle island, taking its name from a battle fought here between two Kentuckians, who compelled their captain to land them, and returned after half an hour, the one with his nose bitten off, the other with his eyes scooped out of their sockets! This night we arrived in the county town of St. Helena, ninety-five miles above the mouth of the Arkansas. The place was laid out a few years ago, and bids fair to become of some importance, from the extreme scarcity of spots adapted for towns on the banks of the Mississippi. The village is situated a quarter of a mile from the west bank. The cabin houses are built upon dwarfish round hills, resembling sugar loaves. Viewed from a distance they have a handsome appearance, which, however, considerably diminishes on approaching nearer to them. The spot is quite broken land. Two hundred yards further up, a ridge eighty feet above the level of the water, extends about a quarter of a mile, and six other houses are built upon it, amongst which is a tavern and store, with few articles besides a barrel of whisky for their Indian guests. A heap of furs, of every description, indicates that this trade is a very lucrative one. About thirty miles to the westward are the military lands, granted as a reward to the soldiers who served in the last war; only a few of them have come to settle on these grants. The distance from the eastern cities being so immense, the expenses of the journey, compared with the object they were about to attain, were so great, that most of them remained in the east.
On the following morning we passed the mouth of the White river, and thirteen miles lower down the river Arkansas, a beautiful, wide, and very important stream, next in size to the Ohio, which after a course of 2,500 miles, 900 of which are navigable for steam-boats, empties itself into the Mississippi at this place. From this river the territory of Arkansas has taken its name. It was formerly part of Louisiana, then of Missouri, and has since 1819, been separated from the latter, and now forms a distinct territory extending from 33° to 36° north latitude, and from 11° 45′ to 23° west longitude. Its area is computed to be above 100,000 square miles. With the exception of a few towns, such as Arkopolis, Post Arkansas, Little-rock, &c., and some other settlements of less note, it is not otherwise known than from the reports of the expeditions sent into the interior at various times. According to their accounts it differs in some essential points from the eastern states. The eastern part of this vast territory bears the character of the Mississippi valley, and abounds in well wooded plains, prairies, and marshes, in alternate succession, the latter occupying almost exclusively the tract of land situated between the rivers Arkansas and St. Francis towards the Ozark mountains. There the country rises; rocks and mountains become visible, announcing the approach to the Rocky mountains. Between these and the Ozark mountains are vast plains covered with salt crusts, imparting to the rivers flowing through the country a brackish taste. There have also been discovered valleys competing in point of fertility with the valley of the Mississippi; eminences covered for a distance of many miles with vines, whose grapes are said to be equal to the best produce of the Cape. In other places are vast plains, which owing to their stratum being gravel, produce but a short and dry grape, without any trees. The territory in the interior contains important mineral and vegetable treasures. The Volcanos, the Hotsprings, the Ouachitta lake, and other natural wonders, will soon attract general attention. From what was related to me by an eye witness who bestowed all his attention on them, they are undoubtedly of the first importance. The springs are six in number, and they are situated about ten miles from the Ouachitta, near a volcano. Their temperature being 150°, the use which visitors make of them consists in exposing themselves to the vapour. They are impregnated with carbonic acid, muriate of soda, and a small quantity of iron and calcareous matter. Hitherto, besides Indians and hunters, but few persons resorted to them until the last two years, when several gentlemen went thither for the recovery of their health. But the present total want of ready money in these deserted parts has prevented a more rapid improvement. The population amounts to 18,000 souls, 2,000 of whom are slaves. Mental improvement is here sought for in vain. The American reads his Bible, and if opportunity offers, he visits once a year a Methodist Missionary. The French care as little for one as for the other. Colleges, academies, or literary institutions there are none, but in Post Arkansas, Arkopolis, and Little-rock, schools are established. Those cannot be expected from a country without any political importance, and with a population scattered over such an immense extent. An extract from a newspaper published in Arkopolis, which I found in St. Helena, may give some idea of the honourables of these parts: “Mr. White respectfully begs leave to announce himself as candidate for their Representative, &c.—N.B. Tailoring business done in the best manner, and at the shortest notice!!”
Arkansas has hitherto been the refuge for poor adventurers, foreigners, French soldiers, German redemptioners, with a few respectable American families; men of fortune preferring the state of Mississippi or Louisiana, where society and the comforts of life can be found with less difficulty. It is certain, however, that the western part of this territory is healthier than the western states of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, and that the Rocky and Ozark chain, running from east to west, obviates one great evil—the sudden change of temperature, caused by the want of high mountains to resist the power of the north and south winds.
A traveller who first visits the valley of the Mississippi, is led to believe that the waters of this immense river rise above the trees along its banks, leaving the branches covered with weeds and mud when they retire to their bed. It is Spanish moss or Tellandsea which presents that appearance to the traveller. It is firmly rooted in the apertures of the bark, and hangs down from the trees, not unlike long rough beards. This plant has a yellow blossom, and a pod containing the seed. It is found along the coast of the Mississippi, from St. Helena to below New Orleans, and is universally applied to all those purposes for which curled hair is used in the north. It is gathered from the trees with long hooks, afterwards put into water for a few days in order to rot the outer part, and then dried. The substance obtained by this simple process is a fine black fibre resembling horse hair. A mattrass stuffed in this manner may serve for a year, if not wetted; it then becomes dusty and requires that the moss should be taken out, beaten, and the mattress filled again, by which means it becomes more elastic than it was before.
We passed several settlements and islands, the mouth of the Yazoo rivers, and on the third day we arrived at Vixburgh, or Walnut-hills. We were now 600 miles from the mouth of the Ohio, and in that whole distance had not seen either a hill or mountain, with the exception of a few mole-hills at St. Helena, which rose, perhaps, to the height of twenty or twenty-five feet above the endless plain. The first objects which interrupt the sameness of this grand but rather uniform scenery, are the Walnut-hills, on the east bank of the river, in the state of Mississippi. They rise singly and perfectly detached. There may be eight or nine in number, with a small house on the top of each. Close to the landing-place is the warehouse of Mr. Brown; and farther back, some merchant’s stores, and two taverns. Half a mile from the bank rises a ridge about four miles long, and 300 feet high. This hill, notwithstanding its inconvenient situation, will probably be selected for the site of part of Vixburgh town, which was laid out two years ago, and is now the seat of justice for Warren county. It has already fifty houses and three stores. Several steam-boats are regularly employed in the cotton trade. As there is not a single place on the banks of the Mississippi, where a town of some extent could be built without being exposed to the floods, Vixburgh must very soon become a place of great importance for the upper part of the state of Mississippi. The surrounding country begins to be rapidly settled; and civilization, which is almost extinct for more than a 1000 miles up the Mississippi and the Ohio, here resumes its power, and increases the farther you descend towards New Orleans.