An Englishman's travels in America

by John Benwell

I was subsequently told on board the canal packet, that the Indian referred to, was not the notorious chief of that name, but a second-rate warrior, who, having headed a band of marauders, ***med the soubriquet. How far this may be the fact, I cannot determine. I, however, frequently heard Poe's name mentioned as a brave defender of the hearths and homes of the early settlers in the remote districts of Ohio.

I could perceive that his son's wife (a matronly dame of about sixty), was adverse to such interviews, as, to use her expression, "they brought the old man back to this world again, when he should be pondering on the next," and that she was grieved at the recital of them; indeed, she several times checked his expressions, when they bordered, as they not unfrequently did, on impiety. She acted rightly, for there was evidently much more of the soldier than the Christian about the old man, and before we left I expressed a hope that such visits would be discouraged, a suggestion that was received in a kindly spirit.

After inspecting the farm, which was well stocked, and appeared to be cultivated in the most approved modern style, and was well fenced with the usual rails, we started on our return to Zoar, where the packet had halted. On our way thither, we passed through a hamlet of primitive appearance, consisting of some half-dozen houses built of logs, at one end of which was a rudely-constructed meeting-house, belonging to the sect of Whitfieldite Methodists. The congregation was assembled, and the horses and vehicles belonging to those who resided at a distance, were tethered and my companion passed, the occupants were chanting a hymn previous to the discourse, which it appeared was a valedictory one, the minister being about to leave this for a more extensive field of pastoral labour. Having time to spare, and such an assembly on a week-day attracting our attention, from its rarity, we stepped in, and remained during the whole of the service, arriving at Zoar a few minutes before the boat started.

As we passed through a densely-wooded district between Bolivar and Chillicothe, I observed that for many miles the trees were denuded of every green leaf, from the devastating effects of millions of locusts, which periodically visit the western states of the Union, to the dismay of the settlers. The trees in many places were at the time covered with these destructive insects. I went on shore and procured several, with the intention of preserving them. They were beautiful creatures, about ten times the size of an ordinary field grasshopper, and, except that their hind legs were longer in proportion to their size, the exact shape of that harmless little insect. Their colours are brilliant green, slate, and flamingo red, beautifully lined and variegated. The humming noise produced by these insects is very disagreeable, and fills the surrounding air with murmurs, while the wilderness look of the scene of their depredations has a depressing effect on the mind of the traveller. Their visits are much dreaded, as they are followed by the total destruction of foliage in the district, and in many instances, the young saplings die in consequence of their attacks.

After a pleasant passage of four or five days, the packet arrived at the river junction; and taking passage at once in a steamer which was waiting its arrival in the Ohio river, I was soon rapidly on my way to that fairy city of the west, Cincinnati. This is the largest city in the state of Ohio, and is the capital of Hamilton county. Fort Washington, a defence of some renown during the war, is two miles above, and opposite to the mouth of the Licking river. The broad bosom of the Ohio was here covered with steam-boats, employed in the Virginia, Missouri, and New Orleans trade. The wharves are commodious, and a broad inclined plane, from the city to the water's edge, gives the former a fine appearance, as it rests majestically in the background.

As I was anxious to proceed to the State of Missouri, with as little delay as possible, I at once engaged a passage to St. Louis, and the following morning was steaming in the direction of the falls of St. Anthony. The passengers in this boat employed themselves nearly the whole of the route at games of cards, faro being the favourite. This predilection for gambling, which is generally carried to great extremes on board southern boats, was not, however, confined to the cabin, for I noticed the crew, at every spare interval, sitting about on deck, with packs of cards, completely absorbed in the game. The negro hands were particularly addicted to this vice, and a gentleman who was proceeding in the boat informed me that but a trifle of the earnings of boat-hands in general was spared from their devotedness to this ruinous practice. The effect of association with, and the example set by, white men given to gambling, will account, perhaps, for the habit. This moral pestilence is in vain prohibited by the state, and is pursued by all classes in the south with frenzied avidity.

After twice running on shore, and meeting with sundry other stoppages and minor mishaps, through the mismanagement of the two engineers, we reached the city of St. Louis, to the gratification of myself and fellow-passengers. This is a place of considerable extent, although awkwardly built, and for the most part irregularly laid out. It is a considerable fur depôt of the Hudson Bay Company; and there is a recruiting station, from whence start expeditions of trappers to the Rocky Mountains. I saw a large party of these adventurers, who were about to start on an expedition to these remote confines. It consisted entirely of young Frenchmen and Hollanders, who are preferred for the service by the company. They were of slight make, and little calculated, from their appearance, to encounter the hardships of such a life; but I was told they soon become hardened, and return strong, athletic men. The employment is, however, beset with danger, from the hostile dispositions of the various tribes of Indians in the western wilds, who view their intrusion with vindictive feelings, and seize every opportunity of attacking and annihilating small parties, notwithstanding their professions of friendship. Not long after my arrival, a party of trappers arrived from the Upper Missouri in two boats, which were loaded with buffalo and other furs. The stalwart look of these hardy mountaineers proved the hardening effect of their mode of life. They were brawny fellows of a ruddy brown complexion, of the true Indian hue, and habited in skins. These men, I ascertained, had been in the mountains for four or five years, during which time they had subsisted entirely on Buffalo and other meat, bread not being used or cared for. Their healthy look under such circumstances completely shook my faith in the Brahminical vegetarian theory, and goes far, I think, to prove that man was intended by his Maker to be a carnivorous animal.

Just before the steamer approached the city, a circumstance occurred on board that filled me and my fellow-passengers with horror. We were taking breakfast in the cabin, congratulating each other on the near termination of our tedious passage, when a sudden shriek, followed by shouts from the deck-hands of the vessel, disturbed our meal. Hastening in great perturbation to the deck, we soon discovered the cause of the disturbance. One of the white waiters was lying on the deck, with a frightful gash in his side, from which the blood was fast oozing. Our first care was to attend to the sufferer, and a surgeon being fortunately amongst the passengers, the hemorrhage was soon abated, but the wound was pronounced to be of a fatal character. The poor fellow, who was a lad of about eighteen years of age, moaned piteously. Every attention that skill and kindness could suggest was paid to him. He was immediately carried to a state-room in the cabin, where he remained in great agony until the vessel was moored alongside the levee, when he was carefully removed on a litter to a hospital on shore. The perpetrator of the savage act proved to be a negro, filling the office of assistant cook. The passengers were very clamorous, and would, without doubt, have hanged the culprit immediately, had it not been for the interference of the captain, who, after a curt examination, had him pinioned and taken below. From the version given of the affair by the negroes who witnessed it (but which was contradicted by two white men who were on the spot), I was inclined to think the crime was committed under feelings of great provocation, the negro, as is commonly the case on board steam-boats, having been for a long time browbeaten by the victim of the sad catastrophe, and subjected to very insolent and overbearing treatment at his hands. The culprit, who was a very sullen, stolid-looking, full-bred negro, refused to answer the questions put to him on the subject, and certainly manifested a careless indifference to consequences that was not in his favour; his fierce scowl denoting great ferocity, in all probability induced by long ill-treatment. As soon as convenience allowed, some officers from the shore came on board and secured the prisoner, who was conveyed by them to the city gaol, to await the investigation of the outrage by the civic authorities and the result of the injury committed. The victim of revenge died a few days after the occurrence in excruciating agony. It will scarcely be believed that the perpetrator of the deed, after a short confinement, was spirited away up the country, no doubt at the connivance of the authorities, and sold!

Thus, justice is often defeated, from pecuniary considerations in the Slave States of America, where, if a slave commits even the heinous crime of murder, the ordinary course of the law is interfered with to save the owner from loss. This of itself is sufficient to stamp for ever as infamous the social cancer of slavery, and brands as ridiculous, the boasted regard for justice, so pragmatically urged in the southern states of the American continent.

A mile or two from St. Louis, on the Carondelet road, are situated spacious infantry barracks, named after Jefferson, one of the former presidents of the Union, where troops are stationed in readiness to act against the various tribes of Indians in the Upper Missouri country, who sometimes show a disposition to be hostile. A reserve of troops is more particularly needful for the protection of the inhabitants; for, either from mismanagement or an aggressive spirit, the Government is continually embroiled with the aboriginal tribes in harassing and expensive warfare. This state of things acts as a perpetual blister, and has engendered a rancorous enmity between the Indians and their white neighbours, to the great detriment of peaceful agricultural pursuits by the latter, and the periodical perplexity of the Chancellor of the American Exchequer; whereas, a conciliating policy would not only keep the tribes in close friendship, but secure their services as valuable allies in case of emergency—a point that may possibly suggest itself eventually to the executive, if the rampant spirit of aggrandisement now abroad continues to govern the public mind in America.