Strange scenes sometimes occur, in consequence of the mixture of races on the banks of the levee of New Orleans. The small trader tries to take advantage of all with whom he is thrown in contact. The Indian begs, the over-wrought slave groans, the backwoodsman bullies. ‘Twenty dollars,’ cried a Kentuckian boatman, stepping upon the levee, ‘to any man who stops my moderate head-way.’ A Mexican hunter of wild horses, who rode quietly behind him, threw his lazo over his head, wheeled his horse short round, and gallopped up the levee, dragging the boaster after him.
Gaming is practised in New Orleans, probably to a greater extent than in any other part of the United States. The vice being considered little or no shame, houses are kept openly. This may be considered one great well-spring of social corruption.
The inhabitants of the states on the Ohio and Mississippi raise great quantities of grain, not to speak of pork and other commodities which bring profit to American agriculturists. New Orleans is the mart where these articles find a vent, and the principal object of a western farmer is to get them thither. To this effect, he builds what he calls a flat boat, that is to say, a large square box, without a lid, capable of containing and transporting many tons. The materials of this vehicle are found in abundance all over the valley of the Mississippi, and the cost of building it is thereforesmall. In this bark the farmer commits himself to the waters, and if he escapes snags, sawyers, &c. which usually happens, he arrives in New Orleans, where he disposes of his produce. Keel boats are also used for the transportation of goods and produce, but since steamboats have become common on the Mississippi waters, they have in a great measure superseded the aforesaid means of conveyance. Still, the keel and flat boats may merit a description. The former were nearly in the form of the packets used on the Erie and Middlesex canals, and were propelled by poles, oars, and sails. The latter were unmanagable hulks, which floated at the mercy of the current, and could only be diverted from rocks, snags, and other perils of river navigation, by the use of sweeps, which, however, could only move them in a lateral direction. On arriving at New Orleans, their owners broke them up, as no human power could have taken them up stream, and sold them for fire wood. They then returned to their homes by land. Flat and keel boats are now rarely seen on the western waters; but when they were the only means of transportation, they reared a hardy class, fit to fight with Indians, or to subdue the wilderness. This class, thanks to steam navigation, is now on the verge of extinction, and the valley of the Mississippi has seen ‘the Last of the Boatmen.’
‘King balls’ are still in vogue in this region, both in the white and free colored classes. A ball is given, precisely like those known in other parts of the United States, excepting in one particular. He who gives the ball, singles out a lady whom he designates his ‘queen,’ to whom he gives, and who receives, his exclusive attention, for the remainder of the season. The other guests do likewise, and the queens frequently receive presents to a large amount, before the temporary connection is dissolved. Evil is seldom, if ever, known to come of this custom.
Rough athletic sports, racing and shooting matches, are the most common amusements of the men of the west. It is common for parties to test their marksmanship by squirrel shooting, with the western weapon, the rifle. The hunter aims solely at the head of the little animal, and the shot which takes effect in any other part is reckoned as nothing. The rifle used in this and other sports, is very different from those used by volunteer companies in the eastern states, the barrel being very heavy, the bore small, and the sights adjusted with scrupulous accuracy. Hence the proverbial marksmanship of the backwoodsmen, so apparent at New Orleans and elsewhere. The feats of individual hunters almost transcend belief. Some have been known to throw two apples into the air, and strike them both with a single bullet as they crossed each other, and it is not uncommon for one man to hold up a small object for another to shoot at. The celebrated ‘Mike Fink’ used to amuse himself by shooting off the tails of swine, as they ran, and hitting his wife’s comb upon her head.
A pastime is sometimes practised at weddings and other high festive occasions, which is called a goose or gander pulling. The manner is this. The toughest goose is selected from the flock, and its neck is stripped of its feathers, and then well soaped or greased. A suitable tree is next selected, an oak or hickory being preferred. The feet of the fowl are then made fast to the extremity of a pliant limb, about as high as a man on horseback can reach. Bets are made, and a prize proposed. The first sportsman rides under the tree at full speed, and snatches at the neck of the devoted fowl as he passes. If he succeeds in pulling off its head, hegains the prize; but this rarely happens at the first trial. The neck is too slippery, the animal sees and avoids the horseman’s grasp, and the swaying branch aids its efforts. Besides, the exploit requires no little strength of arm, and is seldom accomplished without sundry falls and bruises; all of which are considered matter of merriment.
The slaves of that section have little amusement, save what they derive from their constitutional good humor. Dances and corn huskings, or shuckings, are their chief pastimes. After laboring hard all day, the negro will cheerfully run to a dance, half a score of miles off, and get back to his toil before morning. A corn shucking is a matter of more importance. The sable helots sit in a circle round the heap of maize, keeping time with head and hand to some rude ditty like the following:—
‘O I wish that I had the wings of an eagle!
Ho! ho! he—ho—ho!
I’d fly away to a wild-goose country,