My luggage was taken on a wheelbarrow, and at the first hotel I stopped at I verdantly called for a single room; the landlord smiled, and said that he had only a single one, which was a fifty-bedded room, and all occupied. My curiosity induced me to see it. There were rows of bunks, not unlike coffins in size, a little raised from the floor. I then proceeded to another hotel, which was also full, the rush of emigrants, land-purchasers, and speculators, being great.
I found a private house, but did not ask for a single room; there were three apartments for three beds each, with two and three in a bed. My Mississippi companion and myself were obliged to double up; we could lie upon our backs and study astronomy through the roof, and in case of rain put our clothes under the bed.
Our single rough pine table was well covered with arms, which travellers use largely for safety and shooting. Deer are found in great abundance, consequently venison, as well as fish and oysters, in the vicinity of Galveston, is abundant.
After some few excursions I returned to New Orleans, much gratified with my trip, and the exhibition of American energy in adapting itself to the settlement of a new country.
I asked a Mississippi land speculator what he thought of Houston. He unhesitatingly replied: “It is the largest three-year-old I ever saw.”
The steamer Merchant brought me through Lake Pontchartrain, sighting Fort Pike in the pass to Lake Bourgne, passing the mouth of Pearl river and the Dauphin Island, into the Gulf of Mexico, and up Mobile Bay to the city. The shipping lies thirty miles below; light draught ships and brigs come up to the city; heavy vessels load by lighters; large numbers of steamers are at the wharves from the Upper Tombigbee and Alabama rivers. It is an agreeable city, with hospitable inhabitants, and an extensive cotton trade; many broad fine avenues and streets are studded with the Pride of India, a tree filling the air with fragrance.
My friends have driven me out to Spring Hill in the suburbs, with its pretty private residences, the race-course, Choctaw point, and other localities. The hotel is comfortable; the markets and restaurants are well supplied, and lunches at the saloons supply the inner man with game, Barataria Bay oysters, and all their accompaniments. The South prides itself upon its choice imported liquors, and the genuine leaf Havana cigars. The sabbath is well observed here; attendance at church is general. The negro population is well dressed and happy.
N. B. Some years since the writer visited Galveston, Houston, and many other portions of Texas in the interior, and was highly gratified at the great growth of the cities named, the style of brick dwellings which had replaced frame buildings, the march of civilization, and the general comfort. In the interim of time since his first visit he had seen the early settlement of California and Oregon, as well as the new states of Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, and watched the progress of American advancement.