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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:48:29 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:48:29 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/44656-0.txt b/44656-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4faa442 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4039 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44656 *** + +THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK + +The Log of a Cruise from Chicago to New Orleans + +BY + +WILLIAM F. WAUGH + +[Illustration: Decoration] + +THE CLINIC PUBLISHING COMPANY +CHICAGO +1904 + + +COPYRIGHT, 1904, +BY WILLIAM F. WAUGH. + +PRESS OF +THE CLINIC PUBLISHING CO. +CHICAGO. + + +[Illustration: THE HELEN W. OF CHICAGO.] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + PAGE + I. Prelude 5 + + II. Gathering Information 9 + + III. Preparations 13 + + IV. The First Shipwreck 23 + + V. The Canal 27 + + VI. The Illinois River 40 + + VII. Building the Boat 46 + + VIII. The Lower Illinois 55 + + IX. Towing 68 + + X. St. Louis 77 + + XI. The Mississippi 81 + + XII. Cairo and the Ohio 90 + + XIII. Duck Shooting 103 + + XIV. Snagged in Tennessee Chute 109 + + XV. Mooring 116 + + XVI. A Levee Camp 118 + + XVII. Vicksburg 128 + + XVIII. River Pirates 133 + + XIX. The Atchafalaya 136 + + XX. Melville. Deer Hunting 141 + + XXI. Baton Rouge. The Panther 150 + + XXII. The Bobcat 163 + + XXIII. Ascending the Atchafalaya 167 + + XXIV. Ducking at Catahoula Lake 173 + + XXV. Some Louisiana Folks 185 + + XXVI. From Winter to Summer in a Day 192 + + XXVII. Voyage Ended 196 + +XXVIII. Dangers and Delights 199 + + XXIX. Results 205 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +PRELUDE. + + +Once upon a time there was a doctor who, after many years spent in that +pursuit concluded to reform. But strong is the influence of evil +associates, and those who had abetted him in his old ways still +endeavored to lead him therein. + +One day his good angel whispered in his ear the magic words, "House +boat;" and straightway there arose in his mental vision the picture of a +broad river, the boat lazily floating, children fishing, wife's cheery +call to view bits of scenery too lovely for solitary enjoyment, and a +long year of blissful seclusion where no tale of woe could penetrate, no +printer's devil cry for copy. Incidentally the tired eyes could rest, +and the long stretches of uninterrupted time be transmuted into creative +work; with no banging telephone or boring visitor to scatter the +faculties into hopeless desuetude. Sandwich with hours busy with those +recuperative implements, the rod and gun, the adventures and +explorations incident to the trip, and here was a scheme to make the +heart of a city-tired man leap. + +So he went to the friend whose kindly appreciation had put a monetary +value upon the emanations from his brain, and suggested that now was the +time for the besom of reform to get in its work, and by discharging him +to clear the way for new and improved editorial talent. But the friend +received the suggestion with contumely, threatening to do the editor +bodily harm if he so much as mentioned or even contemplated any attempt +to escape. The scheme was perforce postponed for a year, and in the +meantime attempts were made to gather useful information upon the +subject. + +The plan seemed simple enough--to leave Chicago by the Drainage Canal, +float down to the Illinois River, then down it to the Mississippi, by it +to New Orleans, then to strike off through the bayous or canals into the +watery wastes southwest, and spend there the time until the approach of +the Carnival called us back to the southern metropolis. By starting +about September 1st we could accompany the ducks on their southern +journey, and have plenty of time to dawdle along, stopping wherever it +seemed good to us. + +So we went to work to gather information. The great bookstores were +ransacked for books descriptive of houseboat trips down the Mississippi. +There were none. Then we asked for charts of the Illinois and +Mississippi. There were none of the former in existence; of the latter +the Government was said to have published charts of the river from St. +Louis to the Gulf; and these were ordered, though they were somewhat +old, and the river changes constantly. Then a search was made for books +on American houseboats and trips made upon them; books giving some +rational information as to what such things are, how they are procured, +furnished, managed, what is to be had and what avoided; but without +avail. Even logs of canoe trips on the great river, and accounts of +recent steamer trips, are singularly scarce. People insisted on forcing +upon our notice Bangs' "Houseboat on the Styx," despite our reiterated +asseverations that we did not care to travel over that route just now. +Black's "Strange Adventures of a Houseboat" is principally remarkable +for the practical information it does not give. + +Scarcely a juvenile was to be found treating of the subjects; nor have +the novelists paid any attention to the rivers for a third of a century. +Books of travel on the great system of inland American waters are +similarly rare. + +It has finally come home to us that this is a virgin field; that the +great American people reside in the valley of the greatest river in the +world, and pay no attention to it; write nothing of it, know nothing, +and we fear care nothing. And while many persons utilize houseboats, and +many more would do so if they knew what they are, and how much pleasure +is to be derived therefrom, no one has seen fit to print a book that +would make some amends to an intending purchaser for his lack of +experience. Possibly the experiences detailed in the following pages may +in some degree fulfill this need, and aid some one to avoid the mistakes +we made. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GATHERING INFORMATION. + + +From magazine articles we gathered that a new boat would cost about +$1,000. We were assured, however, that we could buy an old one that +would answer all needs for about $100. We were told that if the boat +measures 15 tons or more our rapidly-becoming-paternal government +requires the services of a licensed pilot. All steamers are required to +have licensed engineers, though the requirements for an owner's license +are not very rigid. Gasoline boats as yet do not come under any laws, +though there is talk of legislation upon them, and there may be, by the +time this book reaches its readers. + +Houseboats usually have no direct power, but are gently propelled by +long sweeps. If the boat is small this is all right; but as large a boat +as ours would require about four strong men to hold her steady in +dangerous places. It takes a much smaller investment if power is +excluded; and if the boat goes only down stream, with force enough to +manage her in currents and blows it is cheaper to hire towage when +requisite. But if possible have power, and enough. Many boats we saw in +the Mississippi are fitted with stern wheels and gasoline engines, and +these have great advantages. In cold weather the engineer is protected, +and can run in and get warm, while if in a towing boat he may suffer. +The expense is less, as there is the hull of the towboat to buy when +separate. The motion communicated to the cabin by an attached engine is +soon forgotten. You should not calculate in selling either cabin, engine +or towboat when ready to leave for the north, as prices in the south are +uncertain; and if you have not invested in power you lose that much less +if you desert your outfit. + +Between steam and gasoline as power there is much to be said. With steam +you require a license, it is dirty, more dangerous, takes time to get up +steam, and care to keep it up. But you can always pick up wood along +shore, though an engine of any size burns up a whole lot, and it takes +so much time to collect, cut and saw the wood, and to dry it, that if +you are paying a crew their time makes it costly. Low down the river, +in times of low water, coal is to be gathered from the sand bars; but +this cannot be counted upon as a regular supply. But you can always get +fuel for a wood-burning engine, and if you contemplate trips beyond +civilization it may be impossible to obtain gasoline. + +Gasoline boats are cleaner, safer, always ready to start by turning a +few buttons, and cheaper, if you have to buy your fuel. If you are going +beyond the reach of ordinary supplies you may run out, and then your +power is useless; but in such cases you must use foresight and lay in a +supply enough for emergencies. + +Both varieties of engines are liable to get out of order, and require +that there shall be someone in charge who understands their mechanism +and can find and remedy the difficulty. Our own preference in +Mississippi navigation is unquestionably for the gasoline. If we go to +the West Indies or the Amazon we will employ steam. Were we +contemplating a prolonged life on a boat, or a trading trip, we would +have the power attached to the cabin boat; and the saved cost of the +hull of a towboat would buy a small gasoline cutter--perhaps $150--which +could be used as a tender. But when you get power, get enough. It saves +more in tow bills than the cost of the engine; and if it is advisable to +bring the outfit back to the north full power saves a great loss. _Quod +est demonstrandum_ in the course of this narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +PREPARATIONS. + + +Our search for a second-hand houseboat was not very productive. At +Chicago the choice lay between three, and of these we naturally chose +the worst. It was the old Jackson Park boat, that after long service had +finally become so completely watersoaked that she sank at her moorings; +but this we learned later. In fact, as in many instances, our foresight +was far inferior to our hindsight--and that is why we are giving our +experiences exactly as they occurred, so that readers may avoid our +mistakes. + +This houseboat was purchased for $200, the vendor warranting her as +sound and safe, in every way fit and suitable for the trip contemplated. +He even said she had been through the canal as far as the Illinois +river, so there was no danger but that she could pass the locks. The +cabin measured 24 x 14.3 x 7 feet; and there was a six-foot open deck in +front, three feet behind, and two feet on either side, making her width +18 feet 3 inches. One end of the cabin was partitioned off, making two +staterooms and a kitchen, each 7 feet in depth. The rest formed one +large room. It was well lighted, with 14 windows; and had doors in each +side and two at the front opening into the kitchen and one stateroom. +The roof was formed of two thicknesses of wood and over this a canvas +cover, thickly painted. + +The staterooms were fitted with wire mattress frames, arranged to be +folded against the sides when not in use for beds. In the large room we +placed an iron double bed and two single ones, shielded from view by a +curtain. There was a stove capable of burning any sort of fuel; two +bookcases, dining table, work table, dresser, chairs, sewing machine, +sewing table, etc. We had a canvas awning made with stanchions to go on +the top, but this we never used, finding it pleasanter to sit on the +front deck. + +Among the equipment were the following: A canoe with oars and paddle, +50-lb. anchor, 75 feet ¾-inch rope, 75 feet 1-inch rope, 100 feet ½-inch +rope, boat pump, dinner horn, 6 life preservers, 2 boathooks, 2 +hammocks, 4 cots, Puritan water still, small tripoli filter, a tube of +chemical powder fire extinguisher, large and small axes, hatchet, brace +and bits, saws, sawbuck, tool-box well furnished, soldering set, repair +kit, paper napkins, mattresses, bedding, towels, and a liberal supply of +old clothes, over and under. We had an Edison Home phonograph and about +50 records; and this was a useful addition. But many articles we took +were only in the way, and we shall not mention them. + +We had a full supply of fishing material, frog spears, minnow seine, +minnow trap, railroad lantern, tubular searchlight with bull's-eye +reflector, electric flashlight with extra batteries, twine, trotline, +revolver and cartridges, 50-gauge Spencer for big game, and as a second +gun, with 150 cartridges; 32-H. P. S. Marlin rifle, with 400 cartridges; +Winchester 12-gauge pump, with 2,000 shells; Browning automatic shotgun; +folding decoys, 4 shell bags, McMillan shell extractor, U. S. Gov't +rifle cleaner, Marlin gun grease, grass suit, shooting clothes heavy and +light, hip boots, leggings, sweaters, chamois vest, mosquito hats, two +cameras with supplies, including developers, compass (pocket), copper +wire, whetstone, can opener and corkscrew, coffee pot to screw to wall, +matches in waterproof box, a Lehman footwarmer and two Japanese muff +stoves, with fuel. For the kitchen we got a gasoline stove with an oven. +There was a good kerosene lamp, giving sufficient light to allow all +hands to read about the table; also three lamps with brackets for the +small rooms. + +In preparing our lists of supplies we derived great assistance from +Buzzacott's "Complete Camper's Manual." It was a mistake to buy so many +shot-gun shells. All along the river we found it easy to get 12-gauge +shells, better than those we had. + +The boy rejoiced in a 20-gauge single barrel. We had so much trouble in +getting ammunition for it that we purchased a reloading outfit and +materials at Antoine's. This little gun was very useful, especially when +we wanted little birds. + +A full supply of medicines went along, mainly in alkaloidal granules, +which economize space and give extra efficiency and many other +advantages. A pocket surgical case, a few of the instruments most likely +to be needed, surgical dressings, quinidine (which is the best +preventive of malaria among the cinchona derivatives), insect powder, +sulphur for fumigation, potassium permanganate for the water, +petrolatum, absorbent cotton, a magnifying glass to facilitate removal +of splinters, extra glasses for those wearing them; and a little whisky, +which was, I believe, never opened on the entire trip. + +The boy was presented with a shell belt; and a week before starting we +found he was sleeping with the belt on, filled with loaded shells. Say, +tired and listless brethren, don't you envy him? Wouldn't you like to +enjoy the anticipation of such a pleasure that much? + +Among the things that were useful we may add a game and shell carrier, a +Marble axe with sheath, and a Val de Weese hunter's knife. After serving +their time these made acceptable presents to some kindly folk who had +done much to make our stay at Melville pleasant. + +We fitted out our table and kitchen from the cast offs of our home, +taking things we would not miss were we to leave them with the boat when +through with her. It matters little that you will find the most complete +lists wanting in important particulars, for ample opportunity is given +to add necessaries at the first town. But the Missis insisted on taking +a full supply of provisions, and we were very glad she did. Buzzacott +gives a list of necessaries for a party of five men camping five days. +It seems liberal, when added to the produce of rod and gun. + + + 20 lbs. self-raising flour. + 6 lbs. fresh biscuit. + 6 lbs. corn meal. + 6 lbs. navy beans. + 3 lbs. rice. + 5 lbs. salt pork. + 5 lbs. bacon. + 10 lbs. ham. + 15 lbs. potatoes. + 6 lbs. onions. + 3 lbs. can butter. + 3 lbs. dried fruits. + ½ gallon vinegar pickles. + ½ gallon preserves. + 1 qt. syrup. + 1 box pepper. + 1 box mustard. + 6 lbs. coffee. + 6 lbs. sugar. + ½ lb. tea. + ½ lb. baking powder. + 4 cans milk and cream. + 1 sack salt. + 6 boxes matches (tin case). + 1 lb. soap. + 1 lb. corn starch. + 1 lb. candles. + 1 jar cheese. + 1 box ginger. + 1 box allspice. + 1 lb. currants. + 1 lb. raisins. + 6 boxes sardines. + 1 screwtop flask. + + +Fresh bread, meat, sausage, eggs for first days. + +The wife laid in her stock of provisions, costing about sixty dollars +and including the articles we use generally. + +Among the books we found that seemed likely to provide some useful +information are: + + + Trapper Jim--Sandys. + + Last of the Flatboats--Eggleston. + + Houseboat series--Castlemon. + + Bonaventure--Cable. + + Down the Mississippi--Ellis. + + Down the Great River--Glazier. + + Four Months in a Sneak Box--Bishop. + + The Wild-Fowlers--Bradford. + + The Mississippi--Greene. + + The Gulf and Inland Waters--Mahan. + + The Blockade and the Cruisers--Soley. + + The History of Our Navy--Spears. + + In the Louisiana Lowlands--Mather. + + Hitting and Missing with the Shotgun--Hammond. + + Among the Waterfowl--Job. + + Up the North Branch--Farrar. + + Botanist and Florist--Wood. + + The Mushroom Book--Marshall. + + Wild Sports in the South--Whitehead. + + Cooper's Novels. + + Catalog from Montgomery Ward's mail order house. + + And a good supply of other novels, besides the children's + schoolbooks. + + +By writing to the U. S. port office at St. Louis we secured a list of +the lights on the Western rivers, a bit antique, but quite useful. From +Rand & McNally we also obtained a chart of the Mississippi River from +St. Louis to the Gulf, which was invaluable. The Desplaines had a lot of +separate charts obtained from the St. Louis port officers, which were +larger and easier to decipher. + +The question of motive power was one on which we received so much and +such contradictory advice that we were bewildered. It seemed preferable +to have the power in a tender, so that if we were moored anywhere and +wished to send for mail, supplies or aid, the tender could be so +dispatched without having to tow the heavy cabin boat. So we purchased a +small gasoline boat with a two-horse-power engine. At the last moment, +however, Jim persuaded us to exchange it for a larger one, a 20-footer, +with three-horse-power Fay & Bowen engine. In getting a small boat see +that it is a "water cooler," as an air-cooler will run a few minutes and +stop, as the piston swells. Also see that she is fitted with reversing +gear. Not all boats are. This was a fine sea boat, the engine very fast, +and she was well worth the $365 paid for her. + +The crew of the "Helen W. of Chicago," consisted of the Doctor, the +Missis, the Boy (aged 11), Miss Miggles (aged 10), Millie the +house-keeper, Jim and J. J. We should have had two dogs, little and big; +and next time they go in as an essential part of the crew. + +We carried far too many things, especially clothes. The most comfortable +proved to be flannel shirt or sweater, blue cloth cap, tennis shoes, +knickerbockers, long wool stockings, and a cheap canvas hunting suit +that would bear dirt and wet. Knicks attract too much attention outside +the city. One good suit will do for visiting in the cities. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE FIRST SHIPWRECK. + + +Our first experience in shipwrecks came early. We were all ready to +start; the home had been rented, furniture disposed of, the outfit +ordered, and the boat lay ready for occupancy, fresh and clean in new +paint--when we discovered that we had to go through the old canal--the +Illinois and Michigan--to La Salle, instead of the drainage ditch, on +which we were aware that Chicago had spent many millions more than +drainage demanded, with the ulterior object of making a deep waterway +between the great city and the Gulf! Here was an anxious thought--would +the old canal admit our boat? We visited headquarters, but naturally no +one there knew anything about so essential a matter. We went down to the +first lock at Bridgeport, and the lockmaster telephoned to Lockport, but +the Chief Engineer was out and no one else knew the width of the locks. +But finally we met an old seafarer who carried in his pocket a list of +all the locks of all the canals in the U. S., including Canada; and +from him we got the decisive information that the narrowest lock +admitted boats with a maximum width of 17 feet. Ours measured 18 feet 3 +inches! + +After prolonged consultation it was determined that the only way out was +to cut off enough of the side to admit her. So the purveyor, who had +guaranteed the boat as fit in every way for the trip, began to cut, +first building an inner wall or side with two-by-fours. Getting this up +to a convenient height he concluded to try for leaks, and slid the scow +back into the water with the side half up. It was just an inch too low; +and when he rose next morning the scow reposed peacefully on the bottom +of the river, the water having, in the night, come in at the low side. +The following week was consumed in endeavors to raise the boat and get +the water out. Meanwhile we were camping out in an empty house, eating +off the kitchen table, sleeping anywhere, and putting in spare time +hurrying the very deliberate boatmen. + +Just then we received from the Sanitary District folks the belated +information that the locks are 18 feet wide, and 110 feet long, and +that the height of the boat from the water line must not exceed 17 feet +to enable it to pass under bridges. + +For nearly a week various means of raising the craft were tried, without +success. Finally the wind shifted during the night, and in the morning +we found the upper margin of the hull out of water. The pumps were put +in operation and by noon the boat was free from water. It was found to +be reasonably watertight, despite the straining by jacks, levers, +windlasses, and other means employed to raise first one corner and then +another, the breaking of ropes and planks by which the corners had been +violently dropped, etc. But the absence of flotation, as evidenced by +the difficulty of raising an unloaded boat, wholly constructed of wood, +should have opened our eyes to her character. + +The side was rapidly completed, the furniture and stores brought aboard, +and the boats started down the canal, while the Doctor and Missis went +to Joliet to meet the outfit and avoid the odors of the drainage. The +men ran all night and reached Lock No. 5, at Joliet, about 5 p. m., +Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1903. This was altogether unnecessary, and we +might as well have come down on the boat. Meanwhile we found a shelter +in a little bakery near the Joliet bridge, where the kindly folk took +care of the little invalid while we watched for the arrival of the +boats. + +[Illustration: THE OLD CANAL.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CANAL. + + +That night was our first on board. We found the boat piled high with the +"necessaries" deemed imperative by the Missis. Days were spent in the +arrangement of these, and in heaving overboard articles whose value was +more than counterbalanced by the space they occupied. Hooks were +inserted, trunks unpacked, curtains hung, and it is safe to say that our +first week was thus occupied. The single beds were taken down and the +children put to sleep on cots consisting of strips of canvas with +eye-holes at the corners. These were fastened to stout hooks, screwed +into the walls. Difficulty supervened in finding a place to fasten the +outer ends, and we had to run ropes across the cabin, to our great +annoyance when rising during the night. Otherwise these are the best of +cots, as they can be taken down and rolled away during the day. + +The delight of those days, drifting lazily down the old canal, the +lovely vistas with long rows of elms along the deserted towpath, the +quiet farms. Sometimes it was showery, at others shiny, but we scarcely +noticed the difference. It is surely a lazy man's paradise. There is no +current in the canal, and the launch could only drag the heavy scow +along at about a mile and a half an hour; while but little wind sufficed +to seriously retard all progress. Even with our reduced width it was all +we could do to squeeze through the locks, which are smaller toward the +bottom. At No. 5 we only got through after repeated trials, when the +lock-keeper opened the upper gates and let in a flood of water, after +the lower had been opened, and the boat worked down as close as possible +to the lower gate. And here let us say a word as to the uniform courtesy +we received from these canal officials; something we were scarcely +prepared to expect after our experience with the minor official of the +city. Without an exception we found the canal officials at their posts, +ready to do their duty in a courteous, obliging manner. + +Friday, Oct. 2, we reached Lock 8 just at dusk, passing down as a string +of three canal boats passed up for Chicago, laden with corn. We are +surprised at the number of boats engaged in this traffic; as we had +thought the canal obsolete, judging from the caricatures in the daily +papers. Coal was passing down and corn and wood up. During this day 12 +laden boats went by us. + +Saturday, Oct. 3.--Head winds blew the boat about, to the distraction of +the crew. We tried towing, with a line along the towpath, and the boat +banged against the bank constantly. But the weather was lovely and +clear, everyone happy and the interior economy getting in order. It was +well the wise little Missis insisted on bringing a full supply of +provisions, for we have not passed a town or a store since leaving +Joliet, and we would have fared poorly but for her forethought. We +stopped at a farm, where we secured some milk for which we, with +difficulty, persuaded the farmer to accept a nickel--for a gallon. He +said milk was not so precious as in the city. But at Lock 8 the keeper's +wife was alive to her opportunities and charged us city prices. + +We were well pleased with our crew. Jim is a guide from Swan Lake, aged +24; fisher, hunter, trapper and boatman all his life. J. J. is a +baseball player and athlete about the same age. Both volunteered for the +trip, for the pleasure of it. They asked to go for nothing, but we do +not care to make such an arrangement, which never works well and leads +to disagreements and desertions when the novelty has worn off; so we +paid them wages. During the months they were with us we never asked them +to do a thing they did not willingly do, nor was there ever a complaint +of them in the score of behavior, lack of respect for the ladies, +language before the children, or any of those things that might have led +to unpleasantness had they not been gentlemen by instinct and training. +They are built of muscle and steel springs, never shirk work, have good, +healthy appetites and are always ready to meet any of the various +requirements of the trip. Everything comes handy to them. They put the +boat in shape, run the engine, do carpentry and any other trade that is +needed. It was hard to guide the unwieldy boat so they designed a +rudder, went to town for material, hunted up a blacksmith and showed him +what they wanted, and put the rudder together and hung it in good shape. +It has a tiller up on the roof, whence the steersman can see ahead. + +We secured some food at Morris, with difficulty. By noon the rudder was +hung and we were off for Seneca, the boy happy in charge of the tiller. +We wish we were a word painter, to describe the beauty of the scenery +along the canal. The water has lost all reminiscence of Chicago's +drainage. At 3 p. m. we stopped at a farm and obtained milk, eggs and +chickens, with half a bushel of apples for good measure. The boat +excites much interest among the farmers. At Morris we had our first call +upon the drugs, the boys finding a friend whose horse had a suppurating +wound. Dressed it with antiseptics and left a supply. We each took two +grains of quinine, to ward off possible malaria. Millie suffered serious +discomfort, her whole body breaking out, with itching and flushing, +lasting some hours. And this was about the only time we took quinine +during the trip, except when wet, to prevent a cold. We never saw +anything like malaria. + +After tea we had a delightful run by moonlight, stopping several miles +from Seneca. It is a good rule to stop before coming to a town, as the +loafers do not get sight of the boat until it comes in next morning. + +On Monday we ran into Seneca, and stopped for supplies. We always needed +something, ample as we thought our outfit. It is always ice, milk, eggs, +butter, or fruit. Here it is gasoline, on which we depend for our motive +power. + +It is useless to look for the picturesque in the Illinois farmer. He +speaks the language of the schools, with the accent of culture, and +wears his hair and whiskers in modern style. Probably he hears more +lectures, sees more operatic and histrionic stars, reads more books and +gets more out of his newspapers than does the city man. In fact, there +is no country now; the whole State is merely a series of suburbs. + +During the afternoon we reached Marseilles, where we tied up for the +night. We obtained a gallon of milk here, and a can of gasoline. A +neighboring well supplied artesian water, which tasted too much of +sulphur for palates accustomed to Chicago water. In fact, we now hear +that there is no such water as that of the great lake metropolis. + +Tuesday, Oct. 6, we left Marseilles with a favoring breeze. Our craft +sails best with the wind about two points abaft the beam. When it shifts +to two points forward we are driven against the shore. We had hard work +to reach the viaduct over the Fox river. At 2 p. m. we reached Ottawa, +and there replenished our gasoline barrel. _Hinc illae lachrymae._ At +Seneca and Marseilles we had been able to obtain only five gallons each, +and that of the grade used for stoves. We also learned that we might +have saved three dollars in lock fees, as below La Salle the water is so +high that the dams are out of sight and steamers pass over them. The +registry and lock fees from Chicago to St. Louis are $6.88. + +We had now passed ten locks with safety, but the captain of the Lulu +tells us the next is the worst of all. + +It is evident that our boat is not fit for this expedition, and we must +take the first opportunity to exchange her for one with a larger and +stronger scow, to cope with the dangers of the great river. The scow +should stand well up from the water so that the waves will not come +over the deck. Every morning and night there is over a barrel of water +to be pumped out, but that might be remedied by calking. + +Near Marseilles we passed a number of houseboats, and hear that many are +being prepared for the trip to St. Louis next summer. Berths along the +river front there are now being secured. + +Among our useful supplies is a portable rubber folding bath tub. It +works well now, but I am doubtful as to its wearing qualities. The +water-still is all right when we have a wood or coal fire going, but +when run by a gasoline stove it distils nearly as much water as it burns +gasoline. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday.--We came in sight of the lock below Ottawa about 5 p. m. last +night, and tied up. All night the wind blew hard and rattled the stores +on the roof. Rain comes is around the stovepipe, in spite of cement. +This morning it is still raining but the wind has fallen. A rain-coat +comes in handy. We must add oilskins to our outfit. A little fire goes +well these damp mornings, taking off the chill and drying out the cabin. +Fuel is the cheapest thing yet. We pick up a few sticks every day, +enough for the morning fire, and could load the boat with wood, if worth +while. And there is no better exercise for the chest than sawing wood. +We keep a small pile behind the stove to have it dry. + +The gasoline launch is a jewel--exactly what we need; and works in a way +to win the respect of all. The boys got wire rope for steering, as the +hemp stretched; but the wire soon wore through. + +Thirty cents a pound for creamery butter at Ottawa. We must rely on the +farms. + +Whence come the flies? The ceiling is black with them. We talk of +fumigating with sulphur. The cabin is screened, but whenever the door is +opened they come streaming in. The little wire fly-killer is a prime +necessity. It is a wire broom six inches long and as wide, with a +handle; and gets the fly every time. Burning insect powder gets rid of +mosquitoes, but has no effect on flies. + +A string of canal boats passed up this morning, the first we have seen +since leaving Seneca. The traffic seems to be much lighter in the lower +part of the canal. + +The canal official at Ottawa seems to be something of a joker. A dog +boarded our craft there and this man informed us it had no owner, so we +allowed the animal to accompany us. But further down the line the dog's +owner telephoned dire threats after us, and we sent him back from La +Salle. + +After lunch we tackled Lock No. 11, and a terror it was. The walls were +so dilapidated that care had to be exercised to keep the edges of the +scow and roof from catching. Then the roof caught on the left front and +the bottom on the right rear, and it was only at the fourth trial, when +we had worked the boat as far forward as possible, that we managed to +scrape through. The wind was still very brisk and dead ahead, so we tied +up just below the lock. A steam launch, the Lorain, passed through bound +down. She filled the lock with smoke, and we realized how much gasoline +excels steam in cleanliness. A foraging expedition secured a quart of +milk and four dozen eggs, with the promise of spring chickens when their +supper afforded a chance to catch them. + + * * * * * + +Thursday, Oct. 8, 1903.--All night we were held by the fierce wind +against which we were powerless. The squeeze in the lock increased the +leakage and this morning it took quite a lot of pumping to free the hull +of water. After breakfast we set out, and found Lock 12 much better than +its predecessor. All afternoon the wind continued dead ahead, and the +towing rope and poles were required to make even slight headway. Then we +passed under a low bridge, and the stovepipe fell down. If we do not +reach a town we will be cold tonight. Two small launches passed us, +going to La Salle, where there is some sort of function on. + +The children's lessons go on daily; with the girl because she is a girl +and therefore tractable, with the boy because he can not get out till +they are learned. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Oct. 9.--We lay in the canal all day yesterday, the folks +fishing for catfish. Our foraging was unsuccessful, the nearest house +containing a delegation of Chicago boys--17 of them--sent out by a West +Side church, who took all the milk of the place. The boy fell in the +canal and was promptly rescued by J. J., who is an expert swimmer. His +mother was excited, but not frightened. After tea, as the wind had +fallen, we used the launch for two hours to get through the most of the +"wide water," so as to have the protection of the high banks next day. +The lights of a large town--electric--are visible below. Very little +water that evening, not a fourth what we pumped in the morning. + +On Friday morning the water is smooth and we hope to make La Salle +today. + +And then the gasoline engine stopped! + +It had done good service so far, but there was a defect in it: a cup for +holding lubricating oil that had a hole in it. Curious for a new engine, +and some of the crew were unkind enough to suggest that the seller had +taken off the new cup and put on a broken one from his old boat. All day +we worked with it, till at lunch time it consented to go; and then our +old enemy, the west wind, came up, but less violent than before, so that +we made several miles before the engine again quit. We were well through +the wide water, and tied up in a lovely spot, where someone had been +picnicking during the morning. The boys towed the launch to Utica with +the canoe, while we secured some milk at a Swede's near by, and a jar of +honey from another house. + + * * * * * + +Saturday, Oct. 10, 1903.--At 7 p. m. the boys returned with a little +steam launch they had hired for six dollars to tow us the eight miles to +La Salle. Lock No. 13 was true to its hoodoo, and gave us some trouble. +About midnight we tied up just above Lock 14, which looks dubious this +morning. We missed some fine scenery during the night, but are tired of +the canal and glad to be near its end. A Street Fair is going on here, +and the streets are full of booths. Jim says J. J. will throw a few +balls at the "nigger babies," and then write home how he "missed the +children!" These things indicate that he is enjoying his meals. + +Not much water today in the hold. Temp. 39 at 7 a. m. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE ILLINOIS RIVER. + + +Monday, Oct. 12, 1903.--We passed Locks 14 and 15 without difficulty and +moored in the basin with a number of other houseboats. We find them very +polite and obliging, ready to give any information and assistance in +their power. All hands took in the Street Fair, and aided in +replenishing our constantly wasting stores. The boy drove a thriving +trade in minnows which he captured with the seine. In the afternoon Dr. +Abbott came down, to our great pleasure. A man from the shop came and +tinkered with the gasoline engine a few hours' worth, to no purpose. +Several others volunteered advice which did not pan out. + +Sunday we lay quiet, until near noon, when the engineer of the +government boat _Fox_ most kindly pointed out the trouble, which was, as +to be expected, a very simple one--the sparker was so arranged that the +single explosion caught the piston at the wrong angle and there was no +second explosion following. Then all hands went for a ride down into +the Illinois river. Dr. Abbott got off at 8:15 and the boys took a run +up to Tiskilwa--for what reason we do not hear, but have our suspicions. +We still recollect the days when we would travel at night over a +five-mile road, lined with farms, each fully and over-provided with the +meanest of dogs--so we ask no questions. + +This morning the temperature is 48, foggy; all up for an early start. + +One undesirable acquisition we made here was a numerous colony of mice, +which must have boarded us from a boat that lay alongside. The animals +did much damage, ruining a new dress and disturbing us at night with +their scampering. Nor did we finally get rid of them until the boat +sank--which is not a method to be recommended. Fumigation with sulphur, +if liberally done, is about the best remedy for any living pests. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Oct. 13, finds us still tied up below La Salle. The +fortune-teller kindly towed us to the mouth of the canal, where we spent +the day trying to persuade the engine to work. After an expert from the +shops here had put in the day over it, he announced that the fault lay +with the gasoline bought at Ottawa. In truth our troubles date from that +gasoline, and we hope he may be right. The engine he pronounces in +perfect order. Nothing here to do, and the little Missis has a cold and +is getting impatient to be going. So far we have met none but friendly +and honest folks along the canal, all anxious to be neighborly and do +what they can to aid us. All hands are discouraged with the delay and +trouble with the engine--all, that is, except one old man, who has been +buffeted about the world enough to realize that some share of bad luck +must enter every human life, and who rather welcomes what comes because +it might have been so much worse. Come to think of it, we usually expect +from Fate a whole lot more than we deserve. What are we that we should +look for an uninterrupted career of prosperity? Is it natural? Is it the +usual lot of man? What are we that we should expect our own lot to be +such an exceptional career of good fortune? Think of our deserts, and +what some men suffer, and humbly thank the good Lord that we are let off +so easily. + +If that is not good philosophy we can answer for its helping us a whole +lot to bear what ills come our way. + +We got off early and began our first day's floating. It was quite +pleasant, much more so than lying idle. The _Fox_ came along and rocked +us a bit, but not unpleasantly. We tied up below the bridge at Spring +Valley, and the boys went up to town, where they succeeded in getting +five gallons of gasoline, grade 88. After lunch we pumped out the old +stuff and put in the new and the little engine started off as if there +had never been a disagreement. At 4 p. m. we are still going +beautifully, passed Marquette, and all happy. But if the man who sold us +low-grade gasoline at Ottawa, for high, were in reach he might hear +something he would not like. + +At night we tied up a mile above Hennepin, where we obtained some milk +and a few eggs at a farm house. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday, Oct. 14, 1903.--Yesterday we passed the opening of the +Hennepin canal, that monument of official corruption, which after the +expenditure of fifty millions is not yet ready for use--the locks not +even built. Compare with the work done on the Drainage Canal, and we +conclude Chicago is not so very bad. At Hennepin this morning we secured +three gallons of gasoline at 74, the best available; also fresh beef, +for which we are all hungry. Left at 9 a. m. for Henry. + +During the preceding night the _Fred Swain_ passed down and bumped us +against the rocky shore harder than at any time previously. Next morning +there was less water in the hull than ever before, so it seems to have +tightened her seams. We ran into the creek above Henry and moored at the +landing of the Swan River Club, where Jim's father resides. Here we lay +for several weeks, for reasons that will appear. Millie kindly varied +the monotony and added to the general gaiety by tumbling into the creek; +but as the water was only about three feet deep no serious danger +resulted. The boys usually disappeared at bedtime and talked +mysteriously of Tiskilwa next morning, and appeared sleepy. We examined +several boats that were for sale, but did not find any that suited us. +We wished to feel perfectly safe, no matter what we might encounter on +the great river. Some one has been trying to scare the boys with tales +of the whirlpools to be encountered there; and of the waves that will +wash over the deck. These we afterward found to be unfounded. No +whirlpool we saw would endanger anything larger than a canoe, and our +two-strake gunwales were high enough for any waves on the river. + +We found few ducks; not enough to repay one for the trouble of going out +after them. Until we left Henry we caught a few fish, but not enough to +satisfy our needs. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +BUILDING THE BOAT. + + +November 1, 1903.--We had settled that the scow was not strong enough +for the river voyage, and she kindly confirmed this view by quietly +sinking as she was moored in the creek. There was no accident--the +timbers separated from decay. We were awaked by the sound of water +running as if poured from a very large pitcher; jumped up, ran to the +stern of the boat, and saw that the rudder, which was usually six inches +above water, was then below it. We awoke the family and hastily removed +the articles in the outer end of the boat to the end resting on shore, +and summoned the boys. It was just getting towards dawn. By the time +this was done the lower end of the cabin floor was covered with water. +Had this happened while we were in the river the consequences would have +been serious. + + * * * * * + +Jim's father, Frank Wood, went to Peoria and selected materials for the +new scow. The sides are technically termed gunwales--"gunnels"--and +should be of solid three-inch plank. But we found it might take six +months to get three-inch plank forty feet long, so we had to splice. He +got eight plank, 22 to 24 feet long. Two of these were spliced in the +center for the lower strake, and one long one placed in the center +above, with half a length at each end. This prevented both splices +coming together. The plank were sawed in a Z shape. Holes were then +bored through both plank at intervals of four feet, and half-inch iron +braces driven through and screwed firmly together. The ends were then +sawn for the sloping projections. + +Through the middle, from end to end, was set a six-by-six timber, and on +each side midway between this and the gunwales ran a three-by-six. Then +the two-inch plank were nailed firmly to the gunwales and intermediate +braces, each with twenty-three 60- and 40-penny nails. We find a strong +prejudice against wire nails, these fishers and boatbuilders preferring +the old-fashioned square nails when they can get them. They say the wire +is more apt to rust; but this may be simply the conservatism that always +meets an innovation. The cheapness of the wire is an item. + +The plank were placed as closely together as possible. Here a difficulty +arose, as they were warped, so that when one end was laid close, the +other was an inch from its fellow. But this did not bother our men. They +put a triangular block up to the refractory end, nailed it firmly to the +beam underneath, and drove wedges between till the crooked plank was +forced as nearly straight as possible--or as prudent, for too great a +strain would be followed by warping. + +When all the planks were nailed on, two coats of tar and rosin were +applied, and next day the boat was turned over. It was brought down till +one side was in two feet of water, then the upper side was hoisted by +blocks and tackles applied on upright timbers, till nearly upright, when +the men pushed it over with big poles. She had first been braced +carefully with an eight-by-eight across the middle, and by a number of +other timbers. The eight-by-eight was broken and the middle of the boat +forced up six inches by the shock, requiring the services of a jack to +press it down to its place. + +What fine workers these men are, and how silently they work, keeping at +the big spikes hour after hour, driving every one with thought and care, +and yet wasting no time. What use they make of a few simple mechanical +aids--the lever, the wheel and screw, the jack, buck, etc.; and they +constantly use the square before sawing. Americans, every one of them; +and not a drop of beer or whisky seen about the work, from first to +last. + +The seams in the gunwales were caulked with hemp and payed with white +lead, before the boat was turned. Then they went over the inside and +wherever a trickle of water appeared they stuffed in cotton. + +The scow is 40 feet long and 16 feet wide. Over the gunwales were laid +four-by-fours, 18 feet long, and spiked down. Then supports were placed +under these and toenailed to the three inner braces, and to the +four-by-fours. A two-foot projection was made at each end, making the +floor 44 feet long. The flooring is of Georgia pine, tongued and +grooved. + +The lumber cost, including freight from Peoria to Henry, about $100; the +work about fifty more. There were over 100 pounds of nails used, 50 +pounds of white lead in filling cracks, and several hundred pounds of +tar on the bottom. + +The gunwales are of Oregon fir, straight and knotless. It would not add +to the strength to have them of oak, as they are amply able to withstand +any strain that can possibly be put on them in navigating even the +greatest of rivers. Oak would, however, add largely to the weight, and +if we were pounding upon a snag this would add to the danger. As it was, +we many times had this experience, and felt the comfort of knowing that +a sound, well-braced, nailed and in every way secure hull was under us. +The planking was of white pine, the four-by-fours on which the deck +rested of Georgia pine. The cabin was of light wood, Oregon fir. When +completed the hull formed a strong box, secure against any damage that +could befall her. We cannot now conjure up any accident that could have +injured her so as to endanger her crew. Were we to build another boat +she should be like this one, but if larger we would have water-tight +compartments stretching across her, so that even if a plank were to be +torn off the bottom she would still be safe. And we would go down to +Henry to have "Abe" De Haas and "Frank" Wood and "Jack" Hurt build her. + +Some leakage continued for some weeks, till the seams had swelled +completely shut, and she did not leak a drop during the whole of the +cruise. + + * * * * * + +During this time we continued to live in the cabin, the deck sloping so +that it was difficult to walk without support. When the cabin was being +moved we availed ourselves of Mrs. Wood's courtesy and slept in her +house one night. After the cabin had been moved off we took the old scow +apart, and a terrible scene of rottenness was revealed. The men who saw +it, fishermen and boatbuilders, said it was a case for the grand jury, +that any man should send a family of women and little children afloat on +such a boat. There was no sign of an accident. The water had receded, +leaving the shore end of the scow resting on the mud. This let down the +stern a little. The new side was constructed of two-by-fours laid on +their sides, one above the other, and to the ends were nailed the plank +forming the bow and stern. Of these the wood was so rotten that the +long sixty-penny spikes pulled out, leaving a triangular opening, the +broad end up. As the stern of the boat sank the water ran in through a +wider orifice and filled up the hull more and more rapidly. The danger +lay in the absolute lack of flotation. New wood would have kept her +afloat even when the hull was full of water, but her timbers were so +completely watersoaked that the stout ropes broke in the attempt to +raise her, even though with no load. + +Through the favor of Providence this occurred while we were moored in a +shallow creek. Had it happened while in the deep river nothing could +have saved us from drowning. As it was, we lost a good deal of canned +goods and jelly, soap, flour, and other stores. But the most serious +harm was that we were delayed by the necessity of building a new boat, +so that we were caught in the November storms, and the exposure brought +back the invalid's asthma; so that the main object of the trip was +practically lost. We are thus particular to specify the nature of the +trouble, as the vendor of the boat has claimed that the accident was due +to the inexperience of our crew. That this was a mistake must be +evident to even an inexperienced sailor, who reads this account. + +The old house on the sunken scow was cut loose and moved over onto the +new one, and securely nailed down. An addition 8 feet square was added +at the back for a storeroom, and the roof extended to the ends of the +scow at both ends. This gives us a porch 11 by 18 feet in front, and one +10 by 8 behind. These are roofed with beaded siding and covered with the +canvas we got for an awning, which we have decided we do not need. This +is to be heavily painted as soon as we have time. + +The entire cost of the new boat, the additional room and roofs, labor +and materials, was about $250; the old boat cost $200, but the cabin +that we moved onto the new hull could not have been built and painted +for that, so that there was no money loss on the purchase. The launch, +with its engine, cost $365, so that the entire outfit stood us at $830, +including $15 for a fine gunning skiff Jim got at Henry. The furniture +is not included, as we took little but cast-offs; nor the outfit of +fishing and sporting goods. + +We must stop here to say a word as to the good people at Henry. Frank +Wood and his family opened their house to us and furnished us milk and +other supplies, for which we could not induce them to accept pay. +Members of the Swan Lake Club placed at our disposal the conveniences of +their club house. During the time our boat was building our goods lay +out under a tree with no protection, not even a dog, and not a thing was +touched. These fishermen surely are of a race to be perpetuated. Mr. +Grazier also allowed us to use his ferryboat while endeavoring to raise +the sunken boat and to store goods, and Mrs. Hurt offered to accommodate +part of our family on her houseboat while our cabin was being moved to +the new scow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE LOWER ILLINOIS. + + +Saturday, Oct. 31, we bade adieu to the kind friends at Swan Lake, who +had done so much to make us comfortable, and pulled down to Henry, +passing the locks. Here we tied up till Sunday afternoon, the engine +still giving trouble, and then set off. We passed Lacon pontoon bridge +and town about 5 p. m., and three miles below tied up for the night. +Next morning, the engine proving still refractory, we floated down to +the Chillicothe bridge, which was sighted about 11 a. m. This day was +rainy and the new unpainted roof let in the water freely. + +We waited at Chillicothe for the _Fred Swain_ to pass, and then swung +down to the bank below town, where we tied up. A farm house stood near +the bank, and as we tied up a woman came out and in a loud voice called +to some one to lock the chicken-house, and rattled a chain, +suggestively; from which we infer that houseboat people have not the +best reputation. We played the phonograph that evening, and the +household gathered on shore to listen; so that we trust they slept +somewhat securely. In the morning we bought some of the chickens we had +had no chance to steal, and found the folks quite willing to deal with +us. We had to wait for the _Swain_, as it was quite foggy and without +the launch we could not have gotten out of her way. + +We drifted slowly down past Sand Point and The Circle lights, and tied +up to a fallen tree, opposite the little village of Spring Bay. The boys +were out of tobacco and had to row in for it. About 9 p. m. I heard +shouts and then shots, and went out, to find a thick fog. They had lost +their direction and it was only after some time and considerable +shouting that they came near enough to see the lantern. We heard that +the previous night the man who lights the channel lamps was out all +night in the fog. + +[Illustration: HOUSEBOAT TOWN, PEORIA.] + +Again we had to wait for the _Swain_ to pass, and then floated down past +Blue Creek Point. Here we saw a houseboat tied up, which a fisherman +told us belonged to a wealthy old bachelor who lived there from choice. +The current was slow as the river was wide, so about 2 p. m. we took a +line from the good canal boat _City of Henry_, which for three dollars +agreed to tow us to Peoria. This was faster traveling, but not a bit +nice. However, it was necessary to get the engine in order, so we put up +with it. We tied up above the upper bridge, with a nasty row of jagged +piles between us and the shore. About 5 a. m. a northeast gale sprang up +and washed us against the piles, to our great danger. Our boys arranged +a two-by-four, nailing it against the side, so that the end stuck into +the sand and fended us off the piles, and our gangway plank served the +same purpose at the other end. This is a most important matter, as the +snags might loosen a plank from the bottom. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 6, 1903.--At last we seem to have found a real expert on +gasoline engines. Instead of guessing that "mebbe" this or "mebbe" that +was the matter, he went at it and soon found the difficulty. In a short +time the boat was circling 'round the lake at a most enticing rate. We +laid in a new store of groceries and at 9 a. m. today set out. By lunch +time we had passed Pekin, and are now heading for the locks at Copperas +Creek, the engine going beautifully and the weather bright and cool. +About Peoria we saw great numbers of houseboats, many in the water, but +the aged members had climbed out upon the banks and perched among a +wonderful array of shanties. One house seemed to be roosting among the +branches of several large trees. Many were seen along the river below, +some quite pretty, but none we fancied as well as our own. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 8, 1903.--We were held back by head winds and stopped +before we reached the lock. Saturday we had good weather and little +wind, and reached Copperas Creek just after lunch. There were three feet +of water on the dam, and even the _Bald Eagle_, the largest steamer +here, runs over it; but as we had paid for the lock we went through it. +The lock-keeper took it out of us, though, by charging 15 cents for two +quarts of milk, the highest price paid yet. + +We got off this morning at 8:15, and although a heavy head wind prevails +are making good time. Many loons are passing south, in large flights, +and some ducks. The marshes on either side seem to be well supplied, but +are club grounds, we are told. It is much warmer than yesterday, the +south wind blowing strongly. We moored with the anchor out at the outer +corner, up the river, and the line and gangway plank on shore, allowing +about ten feet from boat to shore; and when the _Eva Alma_ and the +_Ebaugh_ passed us there was no bumping against the shore. Evidently +that is the way to moor, though in the great river we must give more +space and more cable to the anchor. + +At 10 a. m. we passed Liverpool, a hamlet of 150 inhabitants, half of +whom must reside in houseboats. Some of these were quite large and well +built. + + * * * * * + +We reached Havana about 4 p. m. Sunday, and as the south wind had become +too fierce for our power we tied up below the bridge, at a fisherman's +shanty. Monday morning it looked like rain, and the wind blew harder +than ever, so we lay by and the boys finished putting on the tar paper +roofing. When the wind is strong enough to blow the boat up stream +against the current, the launch will be unable to make head against it. +A couple live in an old freight car by us, and their home is worth +seeing. The sand bluff is dug out for a chicken cave and pig-pen, and +beautiful chrysanthemums are growing in boxes and pans, placed so as to +retain the earth that would otherwise wash away. Fruit trees are also +planted, and the woman tells me that the whole place is filled with +flowering plants, now covered with sand for the winter. We notice two +dracaenas. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1903.--The storm lasted all day yesterday, pinioning +us relentlessly to the beach. By 5 p. m. it let up, but we concluded to +remain at our moorings till morning. This morning we got off at 7 a. m., +and passed the Devil's Elbow lights before lunch. We did not tie up +then, but threw out our anchor, which is less trouble and in every way +better, as there is less danger of the snags that beset the shore. The +air is rather cool for sitting outside but we spend much time there. The +river is narrowing. Each little creek has a houseboat, or several, +generally drawn up out of the water and out of reach of the ice. We saw +a woman at one of the shabbiest shanty boats washing clothes. She +stooped down and swung the garment to and fro in the water a few moments +and then hung it up to dry. + +The shores are thickly dotted with little flags and squares of muslin, +put up by the surveyors who are marking out the channel for the proposed +deep waterway. These were few in the upper river. Every shallow is +appropriated by some fisherman's nets, and at intervals a cleared space +with sheds or fish boxes shows how important are the fisheries of this +river. + +There is a great deal of dispute along shore over the fishing rights. +The submerging of thousands of acres of good land has greatly extended +the limits of what is legally navigable water. The fishermen claim the +right to set their nets wherever a skiff or a sawlog can float; but the +owners think that since they bought the land from the Government and +paid for it, and have paid taxes for forty years, they have something +more of rights than any outsider. If not, what did they buy? The right +to set nets, they claim, would give the right to plant crops if the +water receded. Eventually the courts will have to decide it; but if +these lands are thrown open to the public, the Drainage Board will have +a heavy bill of damages. For it seems clear that it is the canal which +has raised the level of the water. + +Meanwhile the fishing is not profitable. The fish have so wide a range +that netting does not result in much of a catch. But if this rise proves +only temporary, there will be good fishing when the water subsides. + +The boy does not get enough exercise, and his constant movement is +almost choreic; so we sent him out to cut firewood, which is good for +his soul. The girl amuses herself all day long with some little dolls, +but is ever ready to aid when there is a task within her strength. She +is possessed with a laughing demon, and has been in a constant state of +cachinnation the whole trip. At table some sternness is requisite to +keep the fun within due bounds. All hands mess together--we are a +democratic crowd. Saturday John W. Gates' palatial yacht, the _Roxana_, +passed down while we were at lunch. We saw a cook on deck; and two +persons, wrapped up well, reclined behind the smokestack. + + * * * * * + +Nov. 11, 1903.--After a run of 22 miles--our best yet--we tied up at the +Sangamon Chute, just below the mouth of that river. The day had been +very pleasant. During the night our old friend the South Wind returned, +but we were well moored and rode easily. The launch bumped a little, so +the doctor rose and moved it, setting the fenders, also. Rain, thunder +and lightning came, but secure in our floating home we were content. +Today the wind has pinioned us to the shore, though the sun is shining +and the wind not specially cold. The boys cut wood for the stove and +then went after ducks, returning at noon with a pair of mallards. The +new roof is tight, the stove draws well, and we ought to be happy, as +all are well. But we should be far to the south, out of reach of this +weather. We can see the whitecaps in the river at the bend below, but an +island protects us from the full sweep of wind and wave. + +Regular trade-wind weather, sun shining, wind blowing steadily, great +bulks of white cloud floating overhead, and just too cold to permit +enjoyable exposure when not exercising. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 13, 1903.--This thing grows monotonous. Yesterday we set +out and got to Browning, a mile, when the wind blew us ashore against a +ferry boat that was moored there, and just then the engine refused to +work. We remained there all day. The wind was pitiless, driving us +against the boat till we feared the cable would break. We got the anchor +into the skiff and carried it out to windward as far as the cable +reached, and then drew in till there were five feet between the +ferryboat and ours. In half an hour the anchor, firmly embedded in +tenacious clay, had dragged us back to the boat and we had again to draw +in cable by bracing against the ferry. + +At 2 p. m. the wind had subsided, and after working with the engine till +4 we got off, and drew down a mile beyond the turn, where we would be +sheltered. We moored with the anchor out up stream, and a cable fast +ashore at the other end, lying with broadside up stream to the current, +and a fender out to the shore. This fender is made of two two-by-fours +set on edge and cross pieces let in near each end. The boat end is tied +to the side and the shore end rams down into the mud. While at dinner +the _Bald Eagle_ came up, but we hardly noticed her wash. Moored thus, +far enough out to avoid snags, we are safe and comfortable. But if too +close in shore there may be a submerged snag that when the boat is +lifted on a wave and let down upon it punches a hole in the bottom or +loosens a plank. + +The night was quiet. We had our first duck supper, the boys getting a +brace and a hunter at the fish house giving us two more. They had +hundreds of them, four men having had good shooting on the Sangamon. +This morning it is cool and cloudy, the wind aft and light, and the boys +are coaxing the engine. If we can get a tow we will take it, as there is +some danger we may be frozen in if we delay much longer. + + * * * * * + +Saturday, Nov. 14, 1903.--Despite the hoodoo of yesterday, Friday the +13th, we got safely to Beardstown before lunch, in a drizzle of rain +that turned to a light snow. Temperature all day about 35. After lunch +we started down and passed La Grange about 4:30 p. m. Probably this was +a town in the days when the river was the great highway, but stranded +when the railways replaced the waterways. There is a very large frame +building at the landing, evidently once a tavern, and what looks like an +old street, with no houses on it now. The tavern is propped up to keep +it from falling down. No postoffice. We tied up about a mile above the +La Grange lock, so that we may be ready to go through at 8 a. m. We hear +that the locks are only opened to small fry like gasolines at 8 a. m. +and 4 p. m., and it behooves us to be there at one of those hours. Just +why a distinction should be made between steamers and gasolines is for +officialdom to tell. + + * * * * * + +Twice yesterday the launch propeller fouled the towrope, once requiring +the knife to relieve it. This accident is apt to occur and needs +constant attention to prevent. We arranged two poles to hold up the +ropes, and this did well. It is good to have a few poles, boards and +various bits of timber aboard for emergencies. Heavy frost last night, +but the sun is coming up clear and bright, and not a breath of wind. We +look for a great run today if we manage the lock without delay. The +quail are whistling all around us, but we are in a hurry. The _Bald +Eagle_ passed down last evening, running quite near us and sending in +big waves, but thanks to our mooring, we were comfortable and had no +bumping. The water does no harm; it is the shore and the snags we fear. + +We were told that we would find the lockmen at La Grange grouty and +indisposed to open the locks except at the hours named above; but this +proved a mistake. They showed us the unvarying courtesy we have received +from all canal officials since starting. They opened the gate without +waiting for us. They said that in the summer, picnic parties gave them +so much unnecessary trouble that they had to establish the rule quoted, +but at present there was no need for it. The day is decidedly cool and a +heavy fog drifting in from the south. + +At Meredosia at 11 a. m., where Dr. Neville kindly assisted us to get a +check cashed. Found a youngster there who "knew gasoline engines," and +by his help the difficulty was found and remedied. Laid in supplies and +set out for Naples. Weather cool, but fog lifted, though the sun refused +to be tempted out. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +TOWING. + + +Monday, Nov. 16, 1903.--The engine bucked yesterday, for a change, so we +'phoned to Meredosia and secured the services of the _Celine_, a +gasoline launch of five-horse-power. She started at once, but arriving +in sight of Naples she also stopped and lay two hours before she +condescended to resume. About 3 p. m. we got under way, the _Celine_ +pushing, with a V of two-by-fours for her nose and a strong rope +reaching from her stern to each after corner of the scow. Then our own +engine awoke, and ran all day, as if she never knew what a tantrum was. +We made Florence, a town of 100 people, and tied up for the night. An +old "doctor" had a boat with a ten-horse-power gasoline tied up next us. +He travels up and down the river selling medicines. As these small towns +could scarcely support a doctor, there is possibly an opening for a real +physician, who would thus supply a number of them. Telephonic +communication is so free along the river that he could cover a large +territory--at least better than no doctor at all. + +[Illustration: LAUNCH TOWING.] + +During the night it blew hard, and rain, thunder and lightning made us +feel sorry for the poor folk who were exposed to such dangers on shore. +This morning we got off about 7:15, with a dull, lowering sky, fog, but +a wind dead astern and a strong current, so that we are in hopes of a +record run. So far our best has been 22 miles in one day. + +The right bank shows a series of pretty high bluffs, the stratified rock +showing through. Ferries grow numerous. A good deal of timber is at the +riverside awaiting shipment--a good deal, that is, for Illinois--and +remarkably large logs at that. It seems to go to Meredosia. The boy and +his father had made a gangway plank, and a limber affair it was; so the +boys are taking it to pieces and setting the two-by-fours up on edge, +which gives more strength. There is a right and a wrong way of doing +most things, and we invariably choose the wrong till shown better. + +Bought some pecans at Meredosia--$3.00 a bushel. It ought to pay to +raise them at that price, which is rather low than high. The river is +said to be lined with the trees, and one woman says she and her two +daughters made $150 gathering them this season. Hickory nuts cost 80 +cents to $1.20, the latter for big coarse nuts we would not gather in +the East. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1903.--Kampsville, Ill. Yesterday Mr. Hauser brought +us this far with the gasoline launch _Celine_, and then quit--too cold. +Cost $12 for the tow. By the time we got here the northeast wind was +blowing so fierce and cold that we tied up. The town seems very lively +for so small a place, having a number of stores. They charged us 25 +cents a gallon for stove gasoline, but only 8 cents a pound for very +fair roasting beef. We were moored on a lee shore, with our port bow to +land, lines from both ends to stakes on shore, and the gangway plank +roped to the port corner side and staked down firmly; the anchor out +from the starboard stern, so as to present that side to the wind and +current. She swung easily without bumping, but the plank complained all +night. We scarcely felt the waves from the _Bald Eagle_ when she came +in, but the wind raised not only whitecaps but breakers and we rocked +some. It grew so cold that there was a draft through the unlined sides +of the boat that kept our heads cold. Fire was kept up all night and yet +we were cold. + +We now see as never before how much harm was done by the old boat, that +compelled us to remain so long in this northern latitude and get the +November storms. But for this we would have been well below Memphis, and +escaped these gales. + +We got new batteries here, but this morning all the gasolines are frozen +up, and we lay at our moorings, unable to move. They wanted $20 to tow +us 29 miles to Grafton, but have come down to $15 this morning. We will +accept if they can get up power, though it is steep--$5.00 being about +the usual price for a day's excursion in summer. All hands are stuffing +caulking around the windows and trying to keep in some of the heat. Sun +shining, but the northeast wind still blows whitecaps, with little if +any sign of letting up. The launch that proposes to tow us is busy +thawing out her frozen pump. We have put the canoe and skiff on the +front "porch," so as to have less difficulty steering. + +The little Puritan still sits on the stove in the cabin, and easily +furnishes two gallons of water a day when sitting on top of the stove +lid. Four times we have turned on the water and forgotten it till it ran +over. We might arrange it to let a drop fall into the still just as fast +as it evaporates, if the rate were uniform, but on a wood stove this is +impossible. Last night it burned dry and some solder melted out of the +nozzle, but not enough to make it leak. It did not hurt the still, but +such things must be guarded against. + +The weather is warmer, sun shining brightly, but we must wait for our +tow. The boys are getting tired of the monotony, especially Jim, who +likes action. We have the first and only cold of the trip, contracted +the cold night when our heads were chilled. + +This afternoon Jim and the boy went one way for pecans and squirrels, +and the three women another for pecans alone. This is the pecan country, +the river being lined with the trees for many miles. In the cabin-boat +alongside, the old proprietor is still trying to get his engine to +work, while both his men are drunk. And he never did get them and the +engine in shape, but lost the job. He did not know how to run his own +engine, which is unpardonable in anyone who lives in such a boat or +makes long trips in it. + + * * * * * + +Thursday, Nov. 19, 1903.--Another tedious day of waiting. Cold and +bright; but the cold kept us in. After dark Capt. Fluent arrived with +his yacht, the _Rosalie_, 21-horse-power gasoline; and at 9 a. m. we got +under way. Passed the last of the locks at 9:15, and made about five +miles an hour down the river. Passed Hardin, the last of the Illinois +river towns. Many ducks in the river, more than we had previously seen. +Clear and cold; temperature at 8 a. m. 19; at 2 p. m., 60. About 3:25 p. +m. we swung into the Mississippi. The water was smooth and did not seem +terrible to us--in fact we had passed through so many "wides" in the +Illinois that we were not much impressed. But we are not saying anything +derogatory to the river god, for we do not want him to give us a sample +of his powers. We are unpretentious passers by, no Aeneases or other +distinguished bummers, but just a set of little river tramps not worth +his godship's notice. + +Grafton is a straggling town built well back from the river, and looking +as if ready to take to the bluffs at the first warning. The Missouri +shore is edged with willows and lies low. We notice that our pilot +steers by the lights, making for one till close, and then turning +towards the next, keeping just to the right or left, as the Government +list directs: Probably our craft, drawing so little water, might go +almost anywhere, but the channel is probably clear of snags and other +obstructions and it is better to take no chances. It was after 6 when we +moored in Alton. Day's run, 45 miles in nine hours. We picked up enough +ducks on the way down for to-night's dinner--two mallards and two teal. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 20, 1903.--Cold this morning, enough to make us wish we +were much farther south. Capt. Fluent has quite a plant here--a ferry +boat, many small boats for hire, etc. In the night a steamer jolted us a +little, but nothing to matter. Even in the channel the launch ran over a +sunken log yesterday. We note a gasoline launch alongside that has one +of the towing cleats and a board pulled off, and hear it was in pulling +her off a sand bar; so there is evidently wisdom in keeping in the +channel, even if we only draw eight inches. + +A friend called last evening. Waiting at the depot he saw our lights and +recognized the two side windows with the door between. It was good to +see a familiar face. + +We are now free from the danger of ice blockade. The current at the +mouth of the Illinois is so slow that ice forming above may be banked up +there, and from this cause Fluent was held six weeks once--the blocking +occurring in November. But the great river is not liable to this +trouble. Still we will push south fast. This morning we had a visit from +a bright young reporter from an Alton paper, who wrote up some notes of +our trip. The first brother quill we had met, so we gave him a welcome. + +At 9 a. m. we set out for St. Louis, Mrs. Fluent and children +accompanying her husband. The most curious houseboat we have yet seen +lay on shore near our mooring place. It was a small raft sustained on +barrels, with a cabin about six feet by twelve. A stovepipe through the +roof showed that it was inhabited. Reminded us of the flimsy structures +on which the South American Indians entrust themselves to the ocean. + +The _Reynard_ and her tender are following us, to get the benefit of +Fluent's pilotage. A head wind and some sea caused disagreeable pounding +against the front overhang, which alarmed the inexperienced and made us +glad it was no wider. But what will it do when the waves are really +high? + +[Illustration: "BLUFF."] + +[Illustration: THE DESPLAINES.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ST. LOUIS. + + +St. Louis, Nov. 26, 1903.--We moored at the private landing belonging to +Mr. Gardner, whose handsome yacht, the _Annie Russell_, came in on the +following day. This was a great comfort, affording a sense of security, +which the reputation of the levee made important. A reporter from the +_Globe-Democrat_ paid us a visit, and a notice of the boat and crew +brought swarms of visitors. We were deluged with invitations so numerous +that we were compelled to decline all, that no offense might be given. +But Dr. Lanphear and his wife were not to be put off, so they drove down +to take us for a drive through the Fair grounds, with their huge, +inchoate buildings; and then brought to the boat materials for a dinner +which they served and cooked there. It is needless to add that we had a +jolly time. + +Many applications were made for berths on the boat, which also we had to +decline. One distinguished professor of national repute offered to +clean guns and boots if he were taken along. Despite the bad reputation +of the levee we saw absolutely nothing to annoy us. We heard of the +cruelty of the negroes to animals but scarcely saw a negro here. It is +said that they catch rats on the steamers and let them out in a circle +of negro drivers, who with their blacksnake whips tear the animal to +pieces at the first blow. + +We visited the market and had _bon marche_ there, and at Luyties' large +grocery. Meat is cheap here, steak being from 10 to 12 cents a pound. + +Foreman turned up with the _Bella_, and tried to get an interview; but +we refused to see him, the memory of the perils to which he had exposed +a family of helpless women and children, as well as the delay that +exposed us to the November gales, rendering any further acquaintance +undesirable. + +Frank Taylor, the engineer of the _Desplaines_, was recommended to us by +his employer, Mr. Wilcox, of Joliet, as the best gasoline expert in +America; and he has been at work on our engine since we reached St. +Louis. It is a new make to him, and he finds it obscure. We have had so +much trouble with it, and the season is so far advanced, that we +arranged with the _Desplaines_, whose owner very kindly agreed to tow us +to Memphis. This is done to get the invalid below the frost line as +quickly as possible. The _Desplaines_ is selling powder fire +extinguishers along the river; and we are to stop wherever they think +there is a chance for some business. + +At St. Louis we threw away our stove, which was a relic of Foreman, and +no good; and bought for $8.00 a small wood-burning range. It works well +and we can do about all our cooking on it, except frying. As we can pick +up all the wood we wish along the river, this is more economic than the +gasoline stove, which has burned 70 gallons of fuel since leaving +Chicago. + +We stopped for Thanksgiving dinner above Crystal City, and the +_Desplaines_ crowd dined with us--Woodruff, Allen, Clements, Taylor and +Jake. A nice crowd, and we enjoyed their company. Also the turkey, +goose, mince pie, macaroni, potatoes, onions, celery, cranberries, +pickles, nuts, raisins, nut-candy, oranges and coffee. The current of +the river is swifter than at any place before met, and carries us along +fast. The _Desplaines_ is a steamer and works well. + +We made about 50 miles today and tied up on the Illinois side, just +above a big two-story Government boat, which was apparently engaged in +protecting the banks from washing. Great piles of stone were being +dumped along the shore and timber frames laid down. It was quite cold. +The shore was lined with driftwood and young uprooted willows, and we +laid in a supply of small firewood--enough to last a week. + + * * * * * + +Friday morning, Nov. 27.--Temperature 20; clear and cold, with a south +wind blowing, which makes the waves bump the boat some, the wind +opposing the swift current. Got off about 7:45, heading for Chester, +where the _Desplaines_ expects to stop for letters. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE MISSISSIPPI. + + +Nov. 28, 1903.--Yesterday morning we left our moorings 45 miles below +St. Louis, and came down the river against the wind. This made waves +that pounded our prow unpleasantly. We passed the Kaskaskia chute, +through which the whole river now passes, since the Government has +blocked up the old river bed. A few houses mark the site of old +Kaskaskia. Nearing the end of the chute, the _Desplaines_ ran on a sand +bar, as the channel is very narrow and runs close to the shore, which it +is cutting away rapidly. It took two hours to free her. We tied up early +at Chester, as they desired to work the town. During the night we were +severely rocked by passing steamers, and bumped by the launch and skiff. +This morning the river was smooth as glass. The _Desplaines_ was not +through with their work, so we did not set out till 10:30. By that time +a gale had sprung up from the north and we had trouble. We were moored +by a single line to the shore, and as this was cast off and the +_Desplaines_ began to move, her towline fouled the propeller. We drifted +swiftly down toward a row of piles, but were brought up by the anchor +hastily dropped. The steamer drifted down against us, narrowly missing +smashing our launch, and getting right across our anchor rope. Blessed +be the anchor to windward. But the staple to which the cable was fast +began to show signs of pulling out, so we got a chain and small lines +and made them fast to the timbers of the scow, so that if the cable +broke they might still hold. Finally the rope was removed from the +propeller, and after several attempts they got hold of us and steamed up +to the anchor, so that five strong men could raise it. Then we went down +stream at a rate to terrify one who knew the danger, if we should strike +a sandbank. On we go, past the crumbling banks of sand stratified with +earth, with government channel lights at close intervals. The channel +changes from side to side constantly. We run by the lights, and are +somehow absorbing a wholesome respect for this great, mighty, +uncontrollable Mississippi. Today he is covered with whitecaps and the +current runs like a millrace. It is cold and the fire eats up wood +pretty fast. + + * * * * * + +Monday, Nov. 30, 1903.--Cape Girardeau, Mo.--We passed Grand Tower, and +greatly regretted the absence of sunlight, which prevented us getting +snap-shots of the scenery. Two miles below the town we tied up on the +Missouri side, with a good sandy beach alongside, our anchor carried +ashore and rooted into the gravel. A bad way, for if there were a gale +from the west the anchor would have soon dragged out. But the high +bluffs protected us against wind from that quarter, and our fenders kept +us out from the shore. Four steamers passed in the night, one of them +the fine _Peters Lee_. Who is it said that the commerce of the +Mississippi was a thing of the past? Just let him lie here on a +houseboat and he will change his views. No nets are to be seen here, +though probably the small affluents of the river would prove to be +provided therewith, were we to examine them. In the morning we found a +loaded hickory tree just opposite us, and the boys gathered a few nuts. +We also picked up a few white oak slabs, which make a fire quite +different from the light rotten drift. + +The boys set out ahead in the launch with designs on the geese. The wind +set in about 10 a. m., but the river is so crooked that we could +scarcely tell from what quarter it blew. It was cold, though, and the +waves rough. As Glazier says, it seems to set in from the same quarter, +about that time daily, and were we to float without a tow we would start +early and tie up before the wind began. But that would depend on finding +a good place to tie, and altogether a man who would try to float a heavy +boat without power should take out heavy insurance first, and leave the +family at home. + +Where the river is cutting into a bank and the current strong, the wind +whirling the cabin around, now with the current and again across or +against it, there is every reason to look for being driven ashore and +wrecked. Even were one to start about September 1st, and float only when +the river is smooth, he would run great risks. At one place the +Government had evidently tried to block up one of the channels by rows +of piling and brush, but the water ran through and was piled up several +feet high against the obstructions. The wind drove us directly down +against it and the fifteen-horse-power tug could just keep us off. + +Without the power our boat would have been driven against the piling +with force enough to burst her sides and the piles as well, and a +crevasse and shipwreck would have resulted. In the afternoon a large +steamer passed up, leaving a train of waves so large that they washed up +on the front deck and under the cabin, wetting our floor in a moment. J. +J. is now nailing quarter-rounds along the edges, to prevent such an +accident again. We are told to have guards placed in front of our doors +to prevent them being driven in when waves hit us on the side; and I +think stout bars inside will be advisable. A stout wave would drive +these flimsy doors off their hinges. + +Here we moored inside the bar, which protects us from waves coming from +the river. A number of cabin boats are drawn up on shore, the occupants +seeming mainly of the river tramp class. This is a nice looking town, of +possibly 10,000 people. Unpaved streets. Many brick blocks. Saw one +doctor, who seemed to have sunk into a mere drudge--no animation, no +enthusiasm, it was impossible to get any expression of interest out of +him. They bring milk here from an Illinois town 100 miles up the river. + +We paid 25 cents for a gallon. + +A very courteous druggist near the landing seemed to make amends for the +impassive doctor. Our pharmacal friend was a man of enterprise and had +an ice-cream factory as well as a large and well-appointed shop. + + * * * * * + +December 1, 1903.--Yesterday the _Desplaines_ wasted the morning trying +to do business in Cape Girardeau. Good town, but no enterprise, they +report. Excellent opportunity for a good grocery and provision store, +judging by the prices and quality of food products offered us. We ran +but 13 miles, tieing up in front of the warehouse at Commerce, Mo. A +small place, but they found a market for their extinguishers, with men +who had the old kind that required refilling twice a year. Curious +two-story stores, a gallery running around the whole room. + +Shortly before reaching this place we passed two little cabin boats, +tied up; seemingly occupied by two big men each. They called to us that +they had been three weeks getting this far from St. Louis--about 145 +miles. This morning we passed them a mile below Commerce, each with a +row-boat towing and a man at the stem working two sweeps. Looked like +work, but that is the real thing when it comes to cabin boating. They +were in the current, but working cautiously near shore. + +It was snowing smartly as we set out about 7:30, but warmer than for +some days. The little one has had asthma badly for some days, but it +began to give way, and she had a fairly comfortable night. During the +morning we got in a place where the channel seemed so intricate that the +tug ran in to inquire of some men on shore; and in turning in, the house +ran against a projecting tree so swiftly that had we not rushed out and +held her off, the snag would have crushed in the thin side of the house. +To even matters, we picked out of the drift a fine hardwood board, +evidently but a short time in the water. Never lose a chance to get a +bit of good timber for firewood--you never have too much. + +Plenty of geese flying and on the bars, but the wary fellows keep out +of range. Cleaned the Spencer and reloaded the magazine. + +Miggles simply outdoes herself, nursing her sick mother, ironing and +otherwise helping Millie, and picking nuts for us. She has improved +wonderfully this trip, which is developing her in all ways. She eats +better than ever before, and is simply sweet. Cheeks rival the boy's in +rosiness. The boy likes to get in with the men, and we see no evidence +of talk unfit for an 11-year-old boy, but he returns very impatient of +control, and ready to pout out his lips if any authority is manifested. +The spirit of a man, and a man's impatience of control--but what would a +boy be worth who did not feel thus? No milksops for us. + +We pass many men and steamers, barges, etc., doing Government work on +this river. Just above they are weaving mattresses of wood, which are +laid along where the river cuts into the land, and covered with brush, +earth and stones. Many miles of bank are thus treated, and some control +exerted on the course of the river. But what a task! Do the men engaged +in it get to take a personal interest in it, as does the trainer of a +race horse? + +We now look for reminders of the civil war, and yesterday we saw on the +Missouri shore the white tents of a camp. Not the destructive army of +war, but the constructive forces of the modern genius of civilization. +The St. Louis and Mississippi Valley Railroad is building its tracks +along the shore, and every cliff is scarred by the cuts. And the great, +giant river sweeps lazily by, as if he disdained to notice the liberties +being taken with his lordship. But away back in the hills of +Pennsylvania, the prairies of the Midwest, the lakes of Minnesota and +the headwaters of the Missouri, in the Northwest Rockies, the forces are +silently gathering; and in due time the old river god will swoop down +with an avalanche of roaring, whirling waters, and the St. L. & M. V. R. +R. will have, not a bill for repairs, but a new construction account. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CAIRO AND THE OHIO. + + +Cairo, Ill., Dec. 3, 1903.--We ran in here Thursday afternoon, and the +little steamer had some trouble in pulling us against the current of the +Ohio. The water is yellower than the Mississippi. We tied up below town, +as we hear that they charge $5.00 wharfage for mooring, or even making a +landing in the city. The place where we moored was full of snags, but J. +J. got into the water with his rubber waders and pulled the worst ones +out from under the boat, till all was secure. Moored with the gangway +plank out front and the other fender at the rear, both tied to the boat +and staked at the shore end. Lines were also made fast to trees at each +end. Thus we rode the waves easily--and well it was, for never yet have +we seen so many steamers coming and going, not even at St. Louis. +Several ferry boats ply between the Missouri and Kentucky shores and the +city, transfer steamers carry freight cars across, and many vessels ply +on the rivers with passengers and freight. Surely the men who advised +Charles Dickens to locate lots here were not far out, as things were +then; for the railroads had not as yet superseded the waterways. Not +that they have yet, for that matter. Since coming here we have been +inquiring for the man who proclaimed the rivers obsolete as lines for +transportation. + +Cairo is the biggest and busiest town of 12,000 inhabitants we have yet +seen. Many darkies are here, and the worst looking set of levee loafers +yet. We had some oysters at "Uncle Joe's," on the main business street, +the only restaurant we saw; and when we surveyed the drunken gang there, +we were glad we came in our old clothes. Where we moored, the shore is +covered with driftwood, and we piled high our front deck, selecting good +solid oak, hard maple and hemlock, with some beautiful red cedar. Soft, +rotten wood is not worth picking up, as there is no heat derived from +it. Oak and hickory are the best. Old rails are good. Take no +water-soaked wood if you can get any other--it will dry out in a week or +two perhaps, but you may need it sooner, and when dry it may be +worthless. Several men had erected a shack along shore which we should +have taken shots at, but the sun was not out enough. _Desplaines_ is +doing a fair business. + + * * * * * + +Hickman, Ky., Dec. 5, 1903.--We tied up here after a run of 38 miles +from Cairo. The boys stopped at Columbus, Ky., but did no business--town +full of extinguishers. Hickman is built of brick and stone, as to the +business section, and lit by electricity. Made a bad moor, on a rocky +shore, with anchor out and front starboard bow firmly embedded in mud; +and this worried us so we slept poorly. Wind sprang up about 9 p. m., +but not fierce. During the night several steamers passed and rocked us, +but not much--the bow was too firmly washed into the mud by the strong +current. This morning it took all hands half an hour to get us off, +about 10 a. m. We were told at Hickman that 100 dwellings had been +erected during the year, and not one was unoccupied. About 3,000 people, +four drug stores, and an alert lot of business men in fine stores. Paid +30 cents a dozen for eggs, 10 cents for steak. We see many floaters, +some every day. Ice formed along shore last night, but the sun is +coming out bright and warm. Wind from the south, not heavy but enough to +kick up a disagreeable bumping against our prow. This is always so when +the wind is against the current. + + * * * * * + +Donaldson's Point, Mo.--We stopped here yesterday afternoon about 2 p. +m., that the boys might have a day's shooting. J. J., Allen and Taylor +went out on the sand bar all night, and got nothing except an exalted +idea of the perspicuity of the wild goose. _En passant_ they were almost +frozen, despite a huge fire of drift they kindled. + +We tied up on the channel side, just below Phillips' Bar light, a good +sandy shore with deep water and no snags--an ideal mooring place. We +moored with the port side in, the _Desplaines_ outside, lines fore and +aft and the fore gangway plank out. But the launch was uneasy and would +bump the stern, and there must have been a review of the ghosts of +departed steamers during the night, for many times we were awakened by +the swell of passing vessels rocking us. + +This morning is clear and cold, temperature 20, with a keenness and +penetrating quality not felt with a temperature twenty degrees lower in +the north. We saw some green foliage in the woods, and Clement said it +was "fishing pole"--cane! Our first sight of the canebrake. The Doctor, +J. J., the boy and Clement went up through the cornfields to the woods, +but found no game. A few doves got up, but too far away for a shot. Jim +got a mallard, Woodruff a fox squirrel--and one whose name we will not +disclose shot a young pig. An old darkey came down to the _Desplaines_ +with milk, chickens and eggs, for which he got a fabulous price; also a +drink, and a few tunes on the phonograph, and he hinted that if they +should shoot a pig he would not know it, or words to that effect. +Hundreds of hogs ran the woods, and showed the tendency to reversion by +their long, pointed heads and agile movements. Apparently they eat the +pecans, for their tracks were thick under the trees. Rather expensive +food, with the nuts worth 30 cents a pound. + +About 3:20 we got under way for down the river. This morning a floater +passed quite close to the boat. Two men and a dog manned the craft. Said +they were bound for Red River. The children gathered a bag of fine +walnuts of unusual size. As we never lose a chance of adding to the +wood-pile, we gathered in a couple of oak rails and a fine stick of +cedar, which we sawed and split for exercise. + +There are no cows on the negro farms, no chickens. In fact, their +traditional fondness for the fowl is strictly limited to a penchant for +someone else's chickens. When we ask for milk they always take it to +mean buttermilk, until enlightened. Here we saw a remarkable boat, a +dugout canoe not over four inches in depth, and warped at that, but the +women told us they went about in it during the floods. We bought some +pecans, paying 7 cents a quart. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1903.--Sunday evening we ran till we reached New +Madrid, Mo., about 8 p. m. We made a good landing, tying up with the tug +alongside, lines out at each end, both fenders out and the launch +astern. The boys did a good business here, and enjoyed the visit. Got +meat and some drugs, but could get no milk or eggs, and only two pounds +of butter in the town. After noon we got off and ran down to Point +Pleasant, a decaying town isolated by a big sand bar in front of her, +covered with snags. The _Desplaines_ picked up a fine lot of wood here, +enough to run them a week, which they piled on our front deck. This +morning we came on to Tiptonville landing, where we saw a cotton field +and gin. This is the northern limit of cotton cultivation, and it was +poor stuff. + +Everyone who accosts us asks for whisky, which seems to be scarce. The +temperance movement evidently has made great progress in these places. +The bluffs grow higher as we go south, and no attempt seems made to +restrain the river from cutting in at its own sweet will. Crumbling +banks of loose sand and earth, fringed with slim willows and larger +trees, at every rod some of them hanging over into the stream. The snag +boat _Wright_ seems busy removing these when menacing navigation, but we +see many awaiting her. + +This afternoon we passed a floater who had gone by us at New Madrid. +Propelled by two stout paddles and four stout arms, they have made as +good time as we with our tug. When we see how these men entrust +themselves to the mercies of the great river in such a frail craft, it +seems as if we had little to fear in our big boat. They have a little +scow about six feet by ten, all but the front covered by a cabin, +leaving just enough room in front for the sweeps, and they tow a skiff. +If the wind is contrary or too stiff they must lie up, but at other +times the current carries them along with slight exertion at the sweeps. +The river is falling fast. Each night we tie up with all the boat +floating easily, and every morning find ourselves aground. It seems to +fall about six inches a night. + + * * * * * + +Thursday, Dec. 10, 1903.--For two nights and a day we lay at +Caruthersville, Mo., where the _Desplaines_ had _bon marche_, selling 16 +extinguishers and getting the promise of a dozen more. A large town, +full of business and saloons, gambling houses, booths for rifle shooting +and "nigger babies," etc. Tradespeople seemed surly and ungracious, +except one woman who kept a restaurant and sold us oysters and bread. +She was from Illinois. Still, it must be a place of unusual +intelligence, as a doctor is Mayor. + +Last night we had a disagreeable blow from the northwest. We went out +and overhauled our mooring carefully before retiring. The back line was +insecure, as there was nothing to which it could be attached, and the +boys had merely piled a lot of rocks on the end; but we could see +nothing better; so merely strengthened the lines fastening the fenders +to the boat. It was a circular storm, apparently, as the wind died out +and in a few hours returned. When we set out at 7:30 this morning it was +fairly calm, but at 8:20 it is again blowing hard from the same quarter. +The sun is out brightly and it is not cold. Whitecaps in plenty but +little motion, as we travel across the wind. There are now no large +towns before us and we hope to run rapidly to Memphis. The river is big, +wide, deep and powerful. Huge trunks of trees lie along the bars. What a +giant it must be in flood. Not a day or night passes without several +steamers going up and down. The quantity of lumber handled is great, and +growing greater as we get south. Our chart shows the levees as beginning +above Caruthersville, but we saw nothing there except a little stone +dumped alongshore. Waves pounding hard. + +Gold Dust Landing, Tenn., Dec. 10, 1903. In spite of a head wind we +made a run of 52 miles today, and moored below a Government barge. The +fine steamer _Robert E. Lee_ was at the landing and pulled out just as +we ran in. The day was clear and sunny, not very cold, about 39, but +whenever we ran into a reach with the west or southwest wind ahead the +boat pounded most unpleasantly. No floaters afloat today, but numbers +along shore in sheltered nooks. The levees here are simply banked +fascines, stone land earth, to keep the river from cutting into the +shores. Even at low water there is an enormous amount of erosion going +on. It takes unremitting vigilance to keep the river in bounds and the +snags pulled out. + + * * * * * + +Fogleman's Chute, Dec. 12, 1903.--We made a famous run yesterday of over +60 miles, and tied up here about 5 p. m. on the eastern shore, the +channel being on the west. A small cabin boat stands near us, in which +are a man and three boys who have come down from Indiana, intending to +seek work at Memphis. Their first experience cabin boating. We asked one +of the boys if he liked it, and he looked up with a sudden flash of +wildness and keen appreciation. + +A fierce south wind came up in the night, and there are situations more +enviable than trying to sleep in a houseboat with three boats using her +for a punching bag. And the little woman had asthma, badly, to make it +worse. This morning it was blowing hard and raining. The rain beat in on +the front deck and ran into the hold and under the quarter-rounds into +the cabin. The roof leaked into the storeroom also. Millie was seasick +and some one else would have been, but he took the children out for a +rove. Found a walnut tree and gathered a large bag of fine nuts. The +others brought in some squirrels and pocketsful of pecans, but we found +neither. Stretched the skins on wood and applied alum to the raw +surface, intending to make the little woman some buskins to keep her +feet warm. Quantities of mistletoe grow on the trees about us. The sun +came out about 2 p. m., when too late to make the run to Memphis, 22 +miles, before dark. Yesterday was so warm that we could sit out in the +open air without wraps. We are tied up to Brandywine Island, near the +lower end. + +After lunch we sallied out again and met the owner of the soil, who +ordered us off in a surly manner. In the whole trip this is the first +bit of downright incivility we have met. After he found we were not +after his squirrels he became somewhat less ungracious. The sky soon +became overcast again, and the rain returned. About sunset it set in to +blow a gale from the northwest, and the billows rolled in on us. We got +the launch and skiff out of danger, carefully overlooked our lines and +fenders, but still the tug bumped against the side. How the wind blows, +and the waves dash against the side of the tug driving her against our +side with a steady succession of blows. It worried us to know that the +safety of the boats depended on a single one-inch rope, and the tug +lashed against the outside strained on it. The rope was tense as a +fiddle-string. If it broke the stern of our boat would swing out and +throw us on an ugly snag that projected slightly about six feet below +us; and the tug would be thrown into the branches of a huge fallen +cypress. So we took the long rope and carried it ashore to the north +end, from which the wind came, and lashed it securely to a huge stump, +then tied the other end through the overhang of our boat at that end. +If the line parts the new line will hold us against the soft, sandy +bank, and give time for further effort to keep us off the snag. As it +turned out the line held, but it does no harm to take precautions, and +one sleeps better. + +During the night the wind died out, and the morning of Sunday, Dec. 13, +1903, is clear and cold, a heavy frost visible. The river is full of +floaters, one above us, two directly across, one below, another above, +and one floating past near the other shore. The _Desplaines_ is getting +up steam and we hope to see Memphis by noon. + +[Illustration: MEMPHIS LEVEE. "TOUGH CROWD."] + +[Illustration: THE CANOE.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +DUCK SHOOTING. + + +Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 20, 1903.--We ran in here last Sunday morning, Dec. +13, intending to stock up and get out on Wednesday. But Handwerker had +arranged a shoot for us at Beaver Dam Club, and there we spent Tuesday +afternoon and Wednesday morning, bagging 26 ducks--12 mallards, 8 +green-winged teal, 4 pintails, one widgeon and one spoonbill. Met Mr. +Selden, the president of the club, and Mr. O'Sullivan, and of course +enjoyed every minute of the time. + +The club is built on social principles, with a large sleeping room with +four beds; better conducive to fun than seclusion--and the first is what +we seek at such resorts. After lunch we set out, with negro boatmen, +finding a thin coat of ice over the lake. This is an old river bed, of +half-moon shape, with a little water and bottomless mud. Thousands of +ducks were perched on the ice and swimming in the few small open spaces. +We laboriously broke our way through the ice to our chosen stands, and +constructed blinds. Each boat had three live decoys; and after this +first experience with these we must say that we retired fully convinced +of our innate regularity as physicians--for we cannot quack a bit! Every +time a flight of ducks appeared, our tethered ducks quacked lustily, the +drake keeping silent; and it was effective. That evening the shooting +was the most exasperating in our experience. Twice we brought down +doubles, but not a bird of either did we bag. We had eight birds down, +wounded, which in falling broke holes in the ice--and we left them till +we were going in, as they could neither fly nor swim off; but the sun +came out warmer, melted the ice, and not a bird of the lot did we bag. +If there is anything that takes the edge off a duck hunter's +pleasure--at least of this one's--it is wounding a bird and not being +able to put it out of misery. + +A good dinner made some amends, and the story telling continued far into +the night--in fact was still going when the writer fell asleep. + +Next morning we had better luck, and got every bird knocked down, as +well as one of those winged the preceding day. In all we bagged 26 +ducks during the two days--and that for a party of 12 on the two boats +is not an excessive supply. Not an ounce of the meat was wasted, and we +could have enjoyed another meal of them. + +One singular accident robbed us of a fine greenhead. A flock of five +passed directly over our heads, so high that the guide said it was +useless to try for them; but strong in our confidence in the Winchester +we took the leader, and he tumbled. Yes, tumbled so hard, from such a +height that he broke through the ice and plunged so deeply into the mud +that we were unable to find him, after most diligent trials. We had been +impressed with the force of a duck's fall, when shooting one coming +directly head on, and can realize that a blow from one may be dangerous. +In Utah we heard of a man who was knocked out of his boat and his head +driven into the mud so far that he would have been smothered had not the +guide been able to draw him out. + +On reaching the boat Wednesday evening we found that J. J. had improved +the opportunity of our absence by getting drunk, and had frightened the +folk by developing that most objectionable form of it, a fighting drunk. +After a few days he wound up in the lock-up, and there we leave +him--thoroughly disgusted that he should have done such a thing when +entrusted with the care of the sick wife and little ones. + +The wife and Doctor took dinner with some friends, meeting a number of +Memphis folk; and it is with unusual regret we bid adieu to this fine +city. Stores are dearer than in St. Louis. + + * * * * * + +We were all ready to start by Saturday morning, but it was raining and +foggy, the wind from the south too strong for our launch. Then the bank +to which we were tied began to cave in, and soon our towlines were +adrift. The _Desplaines_ got up steam and took us north, where we +remained all day; but as it was changing toward the north by evening we +pulled down below town and tied in a little cove under but at a distance +from the bluff. All night it blew hard from the west, and drove us into +the mud bank, where we are solidly planted now. Three lines out and the +anchor, with the mud, held us pretty steady, but the tug heaved against +us all night. Jim had cemented the front baseboard with white lead and +this kept out the water, but it came in under the sides, and we will +have to treat them similarly. The roof seemed tight. The windows leak, +too, and will have to be sealed somehow--with putty, or the seams +covered with strips of muslin glued on with varnish. + +Our Cairo wood is gone, and we are using drift, which is wet. We must +saw and split about a cord, and let it dry out. There is great plenty +along the shores. The Missis has had asthma as bad as ever before--small +wonder. + +The _Desplaines_ seems to be overmanned, for the owner, Mr. Woodruff, +asked us to take Taylor off his hands. This we are very glad to do, as +we are short, since losing J. J., and Taylor has gotten our launch in +good shape at last. In fact we might have used her from St. Louis if we +had had him. Taylor is an Englishman, a teetotaler, and is studying with +a correspondence school to fit himself for the highest positions +attainable by an engineer. + +One has to be careful what he says to the Memphis people. We mentioned +to Prof. Handwerker our need of a dog, and added that we preferred one +that did not like negroes, as we wanted him to give warning when any +stray ones came near. Next day down came a crate containing a little +dog, a brindle terrier, with the word that he could not abide negroes. +He at once proceeded to endear himself to every one on board, and fully +verified his recommendations. His name is Bluff; and surely never was +dog better named. The brave little creature would, we verily believe, +bluff an elephant. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +SNAGGED IN TENNESSEE CHUTE. + + +President's Island, Dec. 21, 1903.--Yesterday was one of high hopes and +unexpected disaster. All morning Taylor wrestled with the engine; Fluent +ran down to tell of a telegram awaiting us; we went up in the +_Desplaines_ and found it was concerning some mss. not delivered by the +express; found the office open, the mss. had been returned to Chicago +Saturday on wire from there, and no explanation as to why it had not +been delivered during the week, on every day of which we had been to the +express office after it. Holiday rush. + +At 1 p. m. we got off, the launch behind and steered by ropes running +around the cabin to its front. All went well till Jim came in to dinner +and we took the ropes--gave one turn to see which way the steering ran, +found we were wrong and at once turned the other way, but that one turn +gave the unwieldy craft a cant in to the shore, along which ran the +swift current, and we drifted among a lot of snags, the launch caught, +the boat caught, tore the blades off the propeller, broke the coupling; +let go the anchor, and came to. In the melee we noticed the front end of +a gasoline launch rise from some snags--a wreck, buoyed up by the air in +the tank. The boys rowed back but could not locate it. Then we tried to +lift our anchor, to find it fouled with something too heavy to be +raised, and had to buoy it and cast loose with the 75 feet of cable +attached to it. + +We drifted quietly down to the southern end of this island, where we +tied up to the sand bar. + +Out fenders, one long line to a half-buried log far up the shore, the +boat held well off to guard against the falling water leaving us +aground. Well we did, for this morning the launch was so firm in the +sand that we had trouble to get loose. The night was clear and quiet, +and this morning the same--a light wind blowing us along down the river. +Laid in a lot of driftwood in long sticks. Missy had a good night but is +a little asthmatic this morning. Swept out into the current and floating +now in true cabinboat style. We will keep clear of the Tennessee Chute +next time. + +The _Desplaines_ came along as we were lying at the lower end of the +island, and came in to our signal. As we were totally disabled and would +have to send to Auburn, N. Y., for new flukes for our propeller, they +agreed to help us out, and took us in tow. They ran back to see if they +could find the anchor or the sunken boat, but failed to locate either. + + * * * * * + +Hardin's Point, Ark., Dec. 23, 1903.--Yesterday we ran in here after a +fifty-mile run. Tied up quite near the light, which was not well, as the +_Kate Adams_ coming near rocked us as badly as any steamer we have yet +met. We passed her and her consort, the _James Lee_, both aground within +half a mile of each other, near Mhoon's. Both got off, as the _Lee_ came +down today. The river is lower than usual, as the Mhoon gauge showed +minus three. + +We laid in a good supply of wood, and then Jim and Frank found a lot of +cannel coal over on the sand bar, and all day they have been loading up +the _Desplaines_ and our boat with it. Some barge has been wrecked there +and the small pieces washed away, so that what is left is in large +pieces, the smallest taking a strong man to lift. It is curiously +water-burnt. The edges are well rounded, so it must have been long under +water. A little darkey brought around six silver bass, weighing possibly +half a pound each, for which he accepted forty cents. They have a barrel +ready for shipment. He called them game fish. + +A fine buck shot out of the woods on the other side, followed at a +distance by ten hounds, and the deer nearly ran into Woodruff's boat, +then swam to this side, where our boys vainly tried to get a shot. An +old darkey said he could have been easily drowned by the man in the +skiff; but we are glad that species of murder did not offer attractions +to Woodruff. The bars are resonant with the honking of the geese. The +natives have no cows, chickens, nothing to sell, not even pecans--which +here become "puckawns." This evening Jake brought in a fine wild goose, +the first we have seen on board as yet. It has blown from the south all +day, but is quiet this evening. + + * * * * * + +Helena, Ark., Dec. 25, 1903.--We left Hardin Point about 9 a. m., with +the wind dead ahead, and strong enough to make the beating unpleasant. +The front deck is loaded with over a ton of coal, and this seems to make +the boat steadier, less inclined to pitch and toss like a cork on the +waves. + +Christmas day is clear and bright, the sun out, thermometer at 10:30 +standing at 55 outside in the shade, and with a little wood fire running +up to 90 in the cabin. The Missis is better, her asthma becoming more +spasmodic and better controlled by smoke. It rained all last night, and +though the caulking did good, there was still some water came in around +the surbases. We got some putty to help out the lead. At every stop we +pick up something of value to us; usually some good hard firewood. Here +we found a section of the side of a boat washed ashore, solid oak, with +several bolts a yard long through it. Frank lugged it in and has broken +it up into stovewood, and secured the bolts for stakes. + +About 2 p. m. we reached Helena, a town of about 25,000. Moored at a +distance up the stream, and landed on a muddy shore. The muddy south. We +are all coated with the most adhesive of muds, the fineness of the grain +rendering it difficult to remove from the clothes. The town is full of +negroes, celebrating the holiday; and nearly all carry suspicious +looking jugs. The costumes and shouting would make the fortune of a +museum in the north. Found it impossible to secure a turkey fit to eat, +but got the Missis some fine oysters and a chicken, and bear-steaks for +our dinner--at 25 cents a pound. Game is not allowed to be sold in the +state. Pity they do not extend the prohibition to whisky. + +We made candy, and in the evening had the crew all in, and grabbed for +presents in a big basket under a newspaper. We had a happy time, +although we were all out on the big river far from home. The +_Desplaines_ let their wild goose spoil, and threw it overboard this +morning. At 10 a. m. we set out for down the river. + +We searched the Memphis papers for some intimation as to J. J.'s fate, +but found none. Found the tale of an Indiana man who was coming down on +a houseboat with his wife, intending to make his home in Greenville, +Miss. He was told at Cairo that there was a law in Tennessee against +carrying concealed weapons, so here he started out with his pistol in +his hands. He was arrested and sentenced to jail for a year less a day, +and $50 fine, the law forbidding the carrying of weapons. Such a +punishment, administered to a stranger unaware of the law seems a +travesty of justice. It is said here that it is safer to kill a man than +to carry a weapon; and it seems so. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +MOORING. + + +We have been studying the subject of mooring, and present the following +as an ideal moor: + +The fenders are stout poles six inches thick at the butt, three at the +small end, which rests on shore. This end is deeply embedded in the +dirt, so that it will not float away or ride up on the bank. The big end +is firmly fastened to the side timbers, the four-by-fours running across +the boat under the floor, by a short chain, which will not chafe out +like a rope. The latter is better, as being elastic, however. Either +must be strong to spare. The cable is an inch Manilla rope. Thus moored +we are ready for all chances. The best thing to moor to is a stump or +log firmly embedded, and as far as possible from shore, if crumbly, for +the current may cut in fast. At Memphis our stake, forty feet from +shore, was washed out in an hour. Never tie close to a bank that may +fall in on the boat, or to a tree that may fall and crush you; or to a +bank that may hold you ashore if the water falls in the night; or, +worst of all, over a snag, for the waves of a passing steamer may lift +the boat up and drop it so hard on the snag as to knock a hole in the +bottom. When possible moor where you will have a bar to protect you from +the force of waves rolling in from a broad stretch of water. A narrow +creek or cove would be ideal, but as yet we have hardly seen such a +thing where we wanted to stop. When moored with the long side to the +shore, less surface is exposed to the current and the wind, and less +strain put upon the cables. + +[Illustration: AN IDEAL MOOR.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A LEVEE CAMP. + + +Allison's Landing, Ark., Dec. 26, 1903.--We landed here after dark last +night, having been delayed at Friars' Point by the tug getting aground. +The cabinboat floated down the river some distance, and then the back +current and wind carried her on a sand bar. The tug was three hours +getting free, by warping off with the anchor. + +We found this a levee camp. Hardly had we landed when a big negress came +aboard to see what we had for sale. They wanted drygoods badly, and were +much disappointed. Two pleasant gentlemen boarded us, the heads of the +camp; and spent the evening on the tug, with singing and music. They are +here surrounded by negroes, and a little white association seemed as +agreeable to them as it was to us. In the night all hands but Dr. and +Taylor went cat-hunting. + +At 11 p. m. a furious wind storm sprang up from the northeast, exactly +the direction from which to blow us on shore; which was providential, +as we only had one long line out and that poorly secured to a stake in +the soft, oozy bank. Frank saw that everything was right, and wisely +went to bed; but we could not rest easy, and sat up till 4 a. m. The +canoe on the roof blew over against the stovepipe and we had to get out +four times and push it back with a pole. It grew quite cold and the fire +was grateful. + +About midnight the hunters came back with the usual luck to tell of. +This morning Jake, the boy and Doctor went out to a bayou after ducks, +but saw none. This country is said to swarm with game but it keeps +hidden from us. What a thing is a bad reputation! + +In the woods we noted the buds springing from the roots of the cypress, +the size of an egg, and growing upward in hollow cones, called cypress +knees. It is a remarkable and noble tree, the buttressed stumps giving +promise of superb height, which seems rarely realized. Half a mile back +from the landing we came upon the levee, a great bank of earth but +partly covered with grass. Deep and narrow bayous run parallel with it, +in which could be seen the movements of quite large fish. + +Robins, redbirds, jays, woodpeckers, blackbirds, and a variety of still +smaller birds abounded; but we did not get any game. The two gentlemen +in charge of the levee camp, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Ward, went with us into +the woods, but the game was wary. All hands so thoroughly enjoyed the +visit at this hospitable camp that for the rest of the trip we talked of +it. We were indebted to these gentlemen for a roast of fresh pork. Their +task is a difficult one, to keep in order so many negroes, all of the +rough and illiterate sort. Quarrels over "craps" and shooting among the +negroes are not infrequent, and in one a white man, passing by, was +killed. Mr. Rogers has the repute of getting his men to work, and we +heard a scrap of a song among them, expressive of their sentiments or +impressions: + + + "Blisters on yo' feet an' co'ns on yo' han', + Wat yo' git for wo'kin' fo' de black-haired man." + + +A firm hand is absolutely necessary to rule these men, with whom +weakness is perilous. Only a few weeks after our visit to one of these +camps a negro got in a dispute over a trivial sum in his account, got +hold of the pistol the white man in charge had incautiously left in the +negro's reach, and shot him dead. If there is anything in the art of +physiognomy, many of these levee men are desperadoes. + + * * * * * + +Dec. 28, 1903.--We left our friendly entertainers at Allison's and ran +down to a bar, where Woodruff took in several tons of very good coal, +costing nothing but the trouble of shipping. Mr. Rogers accompanied us +to Modoc. + +Tied up at Mayflower landing, a good moor. A German there told us a +trading boat at the landing above took away $6,000 in three days last +year. The trader has a large scow, with a cabin, and a steamer to handle +it. Every place we stop the people come to inquire what we have to sell. +We got off at 7 a. m. today, passed the mouths of the White and +Arkansas, and have run at least 60 miles. We have landed after dark, and +we are not sure as to where we are. The weather has been most pleasant, +temperature about 60 all day, little wind. The river is full of drift, +but there is little traffic. Just now a little steamer passed up. At +Riverton were several small ones, but otherwise the solitude is +unbroken. + +The shores are wild, the banks continually crumbling into the river. A +prodigious number of snags must be furnished yearly. Very few wild fowl +appear. Floaters appear occasionally, but probably there will be fewer +now, as many are directed to the White river. This is probably near +Monterey Landing. As the landing was narrow and beset with snags we +moored with the prow to the bank, two lines to the shore and the anchor +out astern. We have much to say about mooring; but it is a matter of +supreme importance to the comfort and even the safety of the crew. It is +not specially pleasant to turn out of bed in one's nightclothes, with +the temperature below freezing, to find the boat adrift in a furious +storm and pounding her bottom out on snags. + +We bought a new anchor from a trading boat at Allison's. It is 50 +pounds, galvanized, with folding flukes and a ring at the end for a guy +rope, so that if fouled as the other was, we can pull the flukes +together and free it. Paid four dollars for it--same as for the other, +but this is a much better anchor, though not as strong as the solid +one. + +Jim has gone around the cabin and puttied up the cracks, and we hope the +next rain will keep out. If not, we will get deck pitch and pay the +seams. + + * * * * * + +Arkansas City, Ark., Dec. 30, 1903.--Landed here shortly after noon, and +spent the balance of the day. About 1,000 people, mostly black; some +good stores; got a few New Orleans oysters, which are sold by number, 25 +cents for two dozen; bought a new anchor rope, 75 feet, 3.4 inch, for +$3.04, or 14½ cents a pound. Eggs, 35 cents a dozen. No trade for +extinguishers, though Woodruff had a nibble for his steamer. Weather +clear, and temperature rising to about 60 in midday, cold at night. This +morning at 8, temperature 34. No wind. River smooth. What a lot of +gasoline engines are in use. There are at least six boats rigged with +them here. One Memphis party is building a new hull ashore and moving an +old cabin on it. The lady who owns the hotel and drug store has mocking +birds for sale, $25.00 for a singer--lady birds not worth selling. + +Got off near 9 a. m., for Greenville. + + * * * * * + +January 1st, 1904.--We left Arkansas City on the 30th, at 9 a. m., and +reached Greenville, Miss., that evening just before dark. It is a +rambling town, behind the levee, about 10,000 people, but evidently has +considerable business. Twenty-five mills of various kinds are there. +Supplies higher than since leaving Chicago--15 cents for meat of any +sort, 35 cents for eggs or butter, 25 cents for a dozen fine large shell +oysters from New Orleans, the first we have met, and which the sick +woman appreciated $25.00 worth. + +The _Desplaines_ did some business, but many of the mills are owned in +the cities and the managers cannot buy here. + +An old negro lives in a little gully washed by the rain in the bank, +close to where we tied up. He has a little fire, and lies there all +night with a board on edge to rest his back against. In the morning we +took him a cup of coffee which he took eagerly, but without thanks. An +old negress brought him something--presumably food. Last night it +rained some, but this morning he was still there. During the day we saw +him wandering about the streets, reminding one of a lost dog. + +We left at noon, but as it was still raining it was equally +uncomfortable going or lying still. They tried the tug alongside, but +the rudder would not swing the big cabinboat and they had to return to +towing. About 2 p. m. the fog shut in so dense that we had to make a +landing, presumably in Walker's Bend, on the Arkansas side. Frank +brought off some of the finest persimmons we have yet seen. The cabin is +so warm that some flies have appeared, probably left-overs, though the +Missis says they have them all the winter down here. Picked up a nice +lot of drifting boards for stove. + +Exploration establishes the fact that we are just below Vaucluse +Landing, and that the land is rich in pecan trees, well laden with nuts, +which these lazy darkies let go to waste. Frank found a store in the +neighborhood. Chicot lake, back of us, is said to be rich in ducks, and +if the fog lasts tomorrow we must have some. The putty has kept out the +rain today very well. We suffer for ventilation, though, and awake in +the morning with headaches. It is bright moonlight, but still foggy. It +rained during the night and we secured a fine supply of rainwater in the +launch cover. + + * * * * * + +Shiloh Landing, Miss., Jan. 3, 1904.--We lay last night at Wilson's +Point, La., and all night we listened to the creaking of our fenders +against the side, and felt the heave of the tug as she surged against +our side under the influence of a driving northwest wind. Said wind +carried us along yesterday for a run of over 44 miles, sometimes with +and at others against us, as the river curved. It was a cold wind and +made the cabin fire comfortable. Two sailboats passed us going down, one +a two-master from Chicago and the other the _Delhi_, from Michigan City. +They made good with the wind. There was a large trading boat with stern +wheel above our landing, but we did not visit her. + +About 1 p. m. we ran in here, and the tug people stopped because Mr. +Rogers' brother was in charge. We found a levee camp with 36 tents, and +examined the commissary with interest. Got some canned oysters for the +Missis. No milk or eggs, fresh meat or chickens. The men all carry big +44s, and sometimes use them, we hear. It grows colder--at 5 p. m. +temperature outside 30--and the cold is harder to bear than a much lower +one up north. Every few miles there is a landing, and a pile of cotton +bales and bags of seed waiting for the _Delta_ or _American_, fine +steamers that ply between Vicksburg and Greenville. + +The great, greedy river, forever eating its banks, which crumble into +the current constantly, even now when the water is so low. Every sand +bar has its wrecks, and opposite Lake Providence we saw men and teams +busy over the coal in sunken barges. + + * * * * * + +Monday, Jan. 4, we left Shiloh at 7:20, clear and cold, temperature 28, +moon shining, but the sun not yet visible from behind the bluff. + +Yesterday we passed the steamer _City of Wheeling_, fast on a bar, and +we hear she has been there for two months--grounded on her first trip. +But the water is rising and she expects to be soon released. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +VICKSBURG. + + +Thursday, Jan. 7. 1904.--We arrived at Vicksburg in the afternoon of +Monday, Jan. 4, and were much impressed by the beauty of the city as +seen from the river. Spread along the heights it looks like a large +city, though it only claims a population of about 22,000. Contrary to +expectation we found it busy, with evidences of life and enterprise. The +Government has built a levee which blocks up the mouth of the Yazoo, and +by a canal diverted the water of that river into the channel that runs +along the front of the city; the old bed of the river Mississippi +previous to 1876, when it cut a new bed for itself and threatened to +leave the historic fortress an inland town. + +Just before reaching the city we met a row of whirlpools reaching across +the channel, whose violence would make a man in a skiff feel queer. +These are the only notable ones we have seen, except just before +reaching Arkansas City. + +The _Desplaines_ could not tow us against the swift current in the +Yazoo, so left the houseboat about 300 yards up that stream and steamed +up to the city. After visiting the postoffice we started to walk back +along the levee, reaching the place we had left the boat just before +dark. She was not there, and we walked along the bank up stream till it +grew too dark to see, then got lost among the railway buildings till +directed by a friendly youth to the street where the cars ran. Reached +the tug at last, and the owner took us back with a lantern along the +levee, finding the boat in the great river, the boys having dropped down +out of the Yazoo. As we received the flukes for our launch, which Taylor +put on, we concluded to part company from the tug, and settled up with +them. Meanwhile the quarreling among her crew came to a climax and Jake +was set on shore by them. He was pilot, cook, hunter and general +all-round utility man, coming for the trip without wages, and it seems +to us suicidal for them to dismiss him, when negro roustabouts are +refusing $4.00 a day from the steamers, and engineers impossible to +secure at any price. We were full handed, but liked Jake, so we took +him aboard as a supernumerary till he could do better. + +The 6th was dull and rainy but we got off, and ran about 16 miles in the +afternoon, tying up somewhere in Diamond Bend, probably below Moore's +Landing. + +At V. had a letter from J. J., saying he had been sentenced to a year in +the workhouse and $50.00 fine for carrying weapons. + +During the night it rained heavily, and we caught a fine lot of +rainwater in the launch cover. One learns to appreciate this on the +river. + +During the afternoon we saw a negro shoot from the bank directly down on +a few geese, of which he wounded one. It swam across the river and we +got out the skiff and followed. On shore it crouched down as if dead, +and waited till Jim got within ten feet, when it got up and flew across +the river. We followed, and he shot it with a rifle when about 150 yards +off. + +By that time we were miles below the darky, and as he has no boat we +fear he will not be on hand to put in a claim for the goose. We bought +one at V. for 90 cents; also eight jack-snipe for a dollar. Roast beef +was 12½ cents for round, 25 for rib, and 17½ for corned beef. Milk 10 +cents a quart from wagon, buttermilk 20 cents a gallon, butter, 30 for +creamery and 25 for country. + + * * * * * + +Waterproof Cutoff, Friday, Jan. 8, 1904.--We ran about 23 miles on the +7th, the engine simply refusing to go; and we drifted most of the time. +Once we got fast on a nasty snag and it took all our force to get off. +We tied up to a sand bar near Hard Times Landing, in the bend of that +name. Bluff and the children had a refreshing run on the sand. Got off +today at 8 a. m., and by 1O the engine started off in good shape and has +been running well all day. The weather is clear and warm, thermometer +standing at 72 this afternoon. Little wind, but that from the south. +Some clouds betoken a possible rain. Our first wild goose for dinner on +the 6th, and all liked it well. + + * * * * * + +Saturday, Jan. 9, 1904.--We ran about forty miles yesterday, tying up +above L'Argent in a quicksandy nook. At 4 this morning these lazy boys +got up and started to float, making several miles before daybreak. It +is foggy at 8 and the sun invisible, but warm and with little wind. The +launch is running fitfully. Passed Hole-in-the-Wall and now opposite +Quitman Bluff. + + * * * * * + +Jan. 10, 1904.--Yesterday we reached Natchez at 1 p. m., and by 4 had +got our mail and supplies and were off down the river. The engine balked +under the influence of a lower temperature, and we had only made about +five miles when we had to tie up on account of the darkness. It rained +hard. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +RIVER PIRATES. + + +We had had our suppers, the children and Missis had gone to bed, and we +were about following them, when through the rain we heard someone get +upon the front deck. It was raining hard. We called out, asking who was +there. A man replied in a wheedling voice, saying that he was alone, +lost in the rain, and wished to remain till it was light enough to see +his way. We asked who he was, and he responded that he was a prominent +citizen of the neighborhood and asked us to open up the cabin a little +bit. The doors are on the sides, and he was evidently puzzled as to how +to get into the cabin. We were undressed and told him we could not let +him in; but he insisted. We called to the boys to see what was wanted, +thinking it might be some one in trouble; so Jake went out. The man +began to talk pretty saucily, but then Jim and Frank got out, and at +once his tone changed. He suddenly got very drunk, though perfectly +sober a moment before. Another man turned up also, in a skiff +alongside. He gave a rambling incoherent account of why he was there; +but the other man called angrily for him to come on, and soon they left, +rowing into the darkness. The man who came aboard was about 5 feet 6; +45, red-faced, deep-set eyes; his hat drawn well over his face; rather +heavily set. The other was a sulky-faced man about 25, with light hair. +That they were river pirates there is not a doubt; and had we been +short-handed there would have been trouble. + +Next morning we set out, slowly floating with a little headwind, through +a fog. Temperature at 8 a. m., 50. Natchez-under-the-hill has +disappeared under the assaults of the river, and with it the wild +characters that made it famous, or rather notorious. The city is now +said to be as orderly and safe as any in the south. We now get fine gulf +oysters at 50 cents to $1 a hundred. They come in buckets. Shell oysters +are still rare. We got a small bunch of bananas at Natchez, for 60 +cents. + +We passed Morville, floating about three miles an hour. We have never +been able to secure any data as to the speed of the current in the +rivers. + + * * * * * + +Jan. 11, 1904.--We ran 42 miles yesterday, to near Union Point, tying up +to a sand bar. The boys crossed to a railway camp and were told game was +very abundant, so that it was hardly safe for a single man to go out +with the hounds at night--bear, panther and cat. We had a head wind all +day, from the west, sometimes strong enough to raise a few whitecaps, +and the engine did her stunt of bucking--which shows what she is good +for when in good humor. Temperature went up to 72 and hung around 70 all +day. This morning at 8 it is 42. The children and dog had a much needed +run on the sand. The boy needs much exercise and laboriously chops at +the heaviest wood he can find. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE ATCHAFALAYA. + + +By lunch time we reached the mouth of the Red River, and found a rapid +current running into it from the Mississippi. We landed on the bar and +sent to town for mail, but found the postoffice had been moved to +Torrasdale, several miles away--and after walking up there found no +letters. At 3 p. m. we started up the Red, rapid, crooked, much in need +of the services of a snag boat; weather so warm the invalid came out on +deck for an hour or more. Turned into the Atchafalaya about 5 p. m., a +deep stream, said to be never less than 50 feet deep. The same shelving +banks as the great river, formed by the continual caving. We found a bed +of pebbles at the mouth of the Red and really they were like old +friends. Stone is a rarity here. + +We tied up a little way beyond Elmwood Landing. Henceforth we have +neither charts nor lights, but we have a born pilot in Jake, and he will +pull us through. A bad day for the asthma, in spite of the warmth. + +[Illustration: RED RIVER.] + + * * * * * + +Jan. 12, 1904.--If solitude exists along the Atchafalaya it is not here. +The left bank is leveed and roofs appear about every 100 yards. The +right bank is lined with little trees growing down to and into the +water. At Denson's Landing, or Simmesport, the right bank begins a +levee; there is the inevitable gas launch, a tug, and numerous other +craft, with a fish market. The wind blows dead ahead, and raises waves +nearly as big as in the big river. Pretty bum houseboats, apparently +occupied by blacks. Some noble trees with festoons of Spanish moss. No +nibbles on the trotline last night, but a huge fish heaved his side out +of the water just now. Alligator gar. + +Pleasant traveling now. All day long we have voyaged along the +Atchafalaya with a wind from--where? It requires a compass to determine +directions here. In fact the uncertainty of things usually regarded as +sure is singular. Now up north we know just where the sun is going to +rise; but here the only certainty about it is its uncertainty. Now it +comes up in the east--that is, over the east bank of the river; but next +day it may appear in the west, north or south. + +The wind was against us all morning, but since lunch--which we had at +Woodside--it has been back of us or sideways, and has driven us along. +Fine levees line the banks. Just now we are passing a camp at work. It +is a noble river, wide and deep, with a current about as swift as the +great river. Even now, when the Barbre gauge shows 6¾ feet above low +water only, there is no obstruction to navigation by as large steamers +as plow the Mississippi. Now and then a little spire or black stack +peeping above the levee shows the presence of a village. Temperature +hovers about 62. Only a solitary brace of ducks seen in this river as +yet. + +All afternoon we have been pursuing Melville. At 3 p. m. it was four +miles away; an hour later it was five miles off, and at 5 we had gotten +within three miles of the elusive town. We concluded to stop, in hopes +it might get over its fear and settle down; so tied up. We ascended the +levee, and a boy told us the town was within half a mile. The river is +lonely, not a steamer since leaving the mouth of Red, where the _Little +Rufus_ came down and out, politely slowing up as she neared the cabin +boat, to avoid rocking us. An occasional skiff is all we see, though +the landing is common, but no cotton or seed, nothing but lumber. + +We were correct as to our estimate of the visitors we had the other +night--river pirates. Their method is to come on rainy nights when the +dogs are under cover. By some plausible story they gain admittance to +the cabin and then--? Have the windows guarded by stout wire screens, +the doors fitted with bars, and a chain. Any visitor to a cabin boat +after night is a thief, and on occasion a murderer. If he desires +admittance after being told you are not a trader or whisky boat, open +the chain and when he tries to enter shoot him at once. It is the +sheerest folly to let one of those fellows have the first chance. No +jury in the world would fail to congratulate you for ridding the river +of such a character. There are no circumstances that can be imagined in +which an honest man would act in the way these men did. If they wanted +shelter from the rain the shore was handy. If they mistook the boat for +friends, the mistake was apparent and they knew very well they had no +business to continue their visit. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1904.--Made a good start. We got under way about +8:30, and Melville bridge soon came in view. The day is clear and warm, +water smooth as glass, with no perceptible current, and the engine +starts off as if nothing ever ruffled her temper. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +MELVILLE--FIRST DEER HUNT. + + +Melville, La., Jan. 19, 1904.--We found this a quiet little town of 600 +people, including negroes; with sufficient stores for our simple needs, +and a daily mail east and west. We found some pleasant young gentlemen +here, with plenty of leisure and hounds, and some of us go out for deer +every day. So far no one has brought in any venison, but Jim and Frank +have had shots. + +The thermometer stands at about 60 to 70 all day; fires are superfluous +except at night for the weak one, the grass and clover show up green in +spots, and really we seem to have skipped winter. In the swamps the +palmettoes raise their broad fans, the live oaks rear their brawny +trunks, and bits of green life show up on all sides. Really, we do not +see what excuse the grass has for being brown, if it be not simple force +of habit, or recollection of a northern ancestry. + +The negro women wear extraordinary sunbonnets, huge flaring crowns with +gay trimming. The foreigners are Italians or Greeks; and are in the +fruit and grocery trade. An old superannuated Confed. brings us a small +pail of milk daily, for which he gets 10 cents a quart. + +The river is leveed 15 miles down, and the system is being extended +southward. There is a difference of opinion as to the levees, some +claiming they are injurious as preventing the elevation of the land by +deposit of mud; while one large sugar raiser said it would be impossible +to raise crops without them. The truth seems to be that the immediate +needs require the levees; but if one could let the land lie idle, or +take what crops could be raised after the floods subside, it would be +better for the owner of the next century to let in the water. + +We have had our first deer hunt. Six of us, with four hounds, set out in +the launch. Arriving at the right place we disembarked and walked +through the woods about a mile, the dogs having meanwhile started out +independently. Here they located us, in a small clear space, and the +rest went on to their respective stands. We looked about us and were not +favorably impressed with our location. It was too open. Deer coming +from any quarter would see us long before we could see them. So we +selected a spot where we could sit down on a log, in the shade of a huge +cypress, with the best cover attainable, and yet see all over the +clearing. Then we waited. + +By and by we heard a noise as of breaking twigs to one side. We crouched +down and held our breath, getting the rifle up so as to allow it to bear +in the right direction. Waited. A little more noise, but slight. Waited. +No more. Sat till our backs got stiff and feet cold. Then carefully and +quietly paced up and down the path. Sat down again. Concluded to eat +lunch, an expedient that rarely fails to start the ducks flying. No good +for deer. + +Shifted position, walked up the path to a bunch of hollies, laden with +berries. A bird was at them, and as by this time our faith in deer was +growing cool we concluded to take a shot at a robin. Did so. Missed +him--but to our horror and relief he turned out to be a mocking bird! + +Walked up the path and found a sluggish bayou with running water across +it. Weren't thirsty, but doubted the wisdom of drinking that water, and +that made us thirsty. Circled around the center of our clearing. Noted +the way the cypresses throw up stumps from the roots. Saw a big turtle +in the bayou. Red birds came about, but no robins--they are game birds +here. Searched the trees for squirrels--none there. Thought of +everything we could recollect--even began to enumerate our sins--and got +into an animated discussion with a stranger on the negro question, +awaking with a start. Shot at a hawk that roosted on a tree just out of +gunshot. Scared him, anyhow. + +Finally, when desperate with the task of finding expedients to keep us +awake, we heard a horn blown--or wound?--and not knowing but that some +one might be lost, whistled shrilly in reply. Occasionally a shot was +heard here and there; once in a moon the dogs gave tongue in the remote +distance. Finally one of the boys appeared, then the old uncle, and the +rest came stringing in. One had seen a deer but did not get a shot at +it. So we took up the line of march for the river, where the launch +returned us to the cabin boat. And so ended our first deer hunt. + +We have now been at it a week, and several of the boys have had shots +at the animals, but no horns decorate our boat, nor does venison fill +our craving stomachs. There are deer here, their evidences are as plain +as those of sheep in a pasture. But the only benefit they have been to +us is in the stimulation of the fancy. The weird and wonderful tales +spun by those who have had shots at the elusive creatures, to account +for the continued longevity and activity of their targets, are worth +coming here to hear. Surely never did deer go through such antics; never +did the most expert tumbler in any circus accomplish such feats of +acrobatic skill. The man who catches flying bullets in his teeth should +come down here and receive instruction from these deer. + +We took the Missis and daughter over to Baton Rouge, and installed them +in a huge, old-fashioned room, on Church St., a block from the +postoffice and the leading stores; with a lady of means, who sets an +excellent table, lavishly spread, and with the best of cookery, at a +price that seems nominal to us. The lofty ceilings seem doubly so after +the low deck of the cabin; the big canopied bed of walnut and quilted +silk recalls the east; while violets, camellias, hyacinths and +narcissus blooming in the open air, as well as sweet olive, and the +budding magnolias, make one realize that the frozen north is not a +necessity. + + * * * * * + +January 23, 1904.--We find Melville a very good place to stay--supplies +plentiful, the people pleasant, and the place safe. The boys go out for +deer every day, but as yet no success has rewarded them. One day they +chased a doe into the river, where two boys caught her with their hands +and slaughtered her. Bah! + +The weather has been ideal--warm enough to make a fire oppressive save +nights and mornings--but we are now having a cold snap, whose severity +would make you northern folk, who sit in comfort over your registers, +shiver. We have actually had a white frost two nights in succession. +Fact! + +On the shore close by roost at least 100 buzzards. They are protected +and seem aware of it; roosting on the roof of the fish boat below us. +They tell us the sharks come up here so that bathing is unsafe, and tell +queer stories of the voracity and daring of the alligator gars. The +alligator is by no means extinct in Louisiana, being still found of +gigantic size in the bayous. + +Little is said here on the negro question, which seems to be settled so +well that no discussion is needed. + +Day after day we sit at the typewriter and the work grows fast. Tomorrow +we go to Barrow's convict camp for a shoot, and quite a lot have +gathered, and are waiting till the engine chooses to start. Every day we +have to push the boat from shore or we might be hard aground in the +morning, as we are today. The water fell last night till it uncovered +six feet of mud by the shore. The river is said to be over 100 feet deep +opposite. The bridge is built on iron tubular piers that seem to be +driven down till they strike a stratum capable of supporting the weight. +These are said to be 100 feet deep. + + * * * * * + +January 24, 1904, we all went down to Capt. Barrow's camp for a deer +hunt, which possessed no features differing from those of the five +preceding. At 4 p. m. we quit, and started on our return. But the dogs +had not come in, so when we got up to the old convict camp we stopped, +and Budd and Jake went back for them. And there we waited till after 10 +p. m. It grew quite cool so that the boys built a fire. Just on the +bluff above us was an old deserted house, about ready to fall into the +river when the banks shall have crumbled away a little more. We found in +it an ancient mahogany four-post bedstead and a spinning-wheel, an old +horn powderhorn, and other relics of antiquity. + +There were our own party of four, Budd and Wally, Thomassen and his son +"Sugar," Mr. Sellers (from one of the Melville stores), and two negro +hunters, Brown and Pinkham--and right worthy men and good hunters they +are. The fire was fed by beams from the old house, and as its cheerful +warmth was felt, the scene would have been a worthy one for an artist's +pencil. The odd stories and ceaseless banter of the negroes and the boy +were enhanced by the curious dialect. Constantly one blew his horn, and +was answered by the party who were out, or by others; and some one else +was blowing for other lost dogs, so that the woods were musical. An old +hound had come in early, tired out, and when the horns blew he would try +to get off, but was tied; so he would give vent to his discontent in +the most doleful of long-drawn-out howls, like a prolonged note from an +owl. At last boys and hounds came in, and we were home to our boat by +midnight. + +Somehow the yoke once worn till thoroughly fitted to the neck, becomes a +part of the bearer; and the best contented of the negroes were those who +held with their old masters. Even the shackles of civilization become +attractive in time--and we have resumed the reading of a daily paper +since we can get it regularly. And we like the _Picayune_, finding in +its editorials a quiet dignity that we appreciate, even though we may +not agree with the political sentiments. And there is an air of +responsibility about it; a consciousness that what it says counts, and +must therefore be preceded by due deliberation, that is novel. The local +color is also attractive. For instance the river news, and--the +jackstaffs! Now, don't say you do not know what jackstaffs are. We will +not spoil it by telling. And Lagniappe! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +BATON ROUGE--THE PANTHER. + + +Baton Rouge, La., Feb. 1, 1904.--While you in the North are wrestling +with zero temperatures, we are experiencing what these folk term +terrible winter weather. Men go about with heavy overcoats buttoned up +to the chin, and I saw one the other day with a tall coonskin cap, with +folds down over his neck, and earflaps. An open-grate fire is +comfortable in the mornings and tempers the chill of night for the +little one. Even the Chicago man finds a light overcoat advisable in the +mornings, though with light-weight underwear and thin outer clothes. + +Nevertheless, the violets bloom everywhere, jonquils, polyanthus +narcissus, camellias and sweet olive are in bloom, and the big rose +bushes are covered with leaves and buds that already show the color of +the flower. The grass is green in New Orleans parks, and the magnolias +are budding. Masses of chickweed cover the margins of drains and several +plants of unknown lineage--to the writer--are in bloom. And this is the +weather to which we constantly hear the epithet "terrible" applied here. + +But residents of the North who were raised in Dixie do not freeze. +Exposure to cold brings with it the ability to withstand it, and not +only that but all other morbific influences as well. It increases the +vitality, the power of resisting all noxious powers that threaten the +health and life of man. + +But this applies to the sound and well, not to those who already possess +a material lesion of one or more organs. For them this soft, balmy air, +this temperature that permits a maximum of exposure to the open air, are +health-giving, life-prolonging, comfort-securing. + +People speak of the sudden changes here--warm today and tomorrow +cold--as objectionable; but so they do everywhere, and we have found no +more changeability than elsewhere. And as to the rains: When it does +rain it pours, but most of it has been at night so far, and during the +day it dries off nicely. It it said that this is the rainy month, and we +may have to modify this view later. So far the rains have not been a +feature worthy of citation, as against the climate. + +Much attention has been given the drinking water of late years in the +riverine cities, and generally they have water on which they pride +themselves. Artesian wells are mostly utilized. The river water is muddy +and unsightly, but probably safe and certainly palatable. We depend on +our Puritan still, and a tripoli filter, and utilize the rain water we +catch in the canvas cover of the launch. No trouble has as yet affected +us from this source; and we are satisfied it pays well to take +precautions. + +From St. Louis down the river fairly bristles with opportunities for men +who understand business and have a little capital. But timber lands are +pretty well taken up. An Ohio party paid $100 an acre for 100 acres here +in this Atchafalaya country the other day. + +The people? Well, we have simply adopted the whole--white--population, +and find them delightful. There has not been a discordant note in our +intercourse with this warm-hearted, hospitable folk, who unite the +courtesy of the French with a sincerity that makes itself felt every +moment. + +Dogs! Everyone seems to own hounds here. We had a few runs with them; +they came aboard and inspected us, and after due deliberation approved +of us, took up their home with us and declined to stay away; so that at +night one can scarcely set foot outside the cabin without stepping on a +sleeping hound. Even the women folk are disarmed when these dogs look up +with their big, beautiful eyes and nuzzle their cold noses into the hand +for a caress. One great fellow reared up against us, placed his paws on +our shoulders and silently studied our face awhile, then dropped to the +ground and henceforth devoted himself to us, never being far from our +side. We felt complimented! + +Go out with the gun, and see how these slumberous animals awake to +joyous life and activity. Then the long, musical bay, the ringing of the +hunters' horns, the quick dash of the deer past your stand, with the +dogs after, in full cry--say, brother, these low lands when leveed, +cleared and cultivated, will yield two bales of cotton to the acre, and +with cotton at 15 cents and over, is not that splendid? So shut your +ears against the cry of the wild, and only consider what Progress means, +and how the individual and civic wealth is increasing as these wild +lands are brought under the plow and made productive of dollars. For is +not all of life simply a question of dollars, and success measurable +only in the bank account? So put away from you the things that make life +worth living, and devote yourself with a whole heart to the task of +making your son a millionaire, that he may make his son a +multimillionaire, and so on. It will do you so much good in the Great +Beyond to know this. That the money for which we give up all that +renders life enjoyable will either render our descendants dissipated and +useless, or enable them to oppress their fellowmen, need not be +considered. Money is all there is in life. + +The wife, daughter and Doctor are domiciled at Baton Rouge, while the +boys took the boats down to Alabama Bayou for a week with the big game. +Here is the small boy's report, verbatim: + +Dear Mama and Papa: You talk about us not sending you any venison. If I +had any money I would send you enough to make you sick. I went hunting +with the boys this morning. Jim, Hudson and I went together. Bud drove +with the dogs. Jake and Frank went together. Frank took his shotgun and +he got lost from Jake, went to shooting robins. Jake got on an island +and did not know where he got on at. He had to wade a stream two feet +deep. After we had been looking for a stand we heard a shot behind us, +and then a rifle shot to the right of us, and three blows of Bud's horn, +which means dead deer. Jake was the first one to him, being only 300 +yards. We walked two and one-half miles before we got to him. When we +got there he had a big doe laying over a log. Bud drew him and they took +turns carrying him home. Every tooth in my head aches from chewing +venison. How are all of you? I waded about 30 ditches today over my shoe +tops and one over my knees. Bud said if I followed the dogs with him he +would give me first shot, and if I missed he would get him. Millie made +me a belt to fit the rifle cartridges. I christened my axe in deer +blood. Bud said Queen was 10 feet behind it, King 20 feet and Diamond +ran up and threw the deer after it was shot. Then it got up and Diamond +got it in the throat and brought it down. I will have to close as it is +time to go to bed. With love to all, + +William. + +Not bad for an 11-year-old. Everyone has been complaining of the +terrible weather here--frost three nights last week, and a light +overcoat not oppressive, though it is hardly necessary except for the +tendency one has to put his hands in his pockets otherwise. We asked one +of the natives what they would do in Chicago with zero weather, and he +replied with an air of conviction: "Freeze to death." + +We have a nibble for the boat. The river at Memphis is so full of +floating ice that the ferry boats cannot run; and that looks as if we +might not be able to get our boats towed to St. Louis before late +spring--and we want to be free. We note blooming in the open many +violets, polyanthus narcissus, camellias, sweet olive, magnolias just +budding out, and white hyacinths. The grass is putting up green shoots. +Large beds of chickweed are plentiful. The vinca was nipped by frost +last night. Next door is a fine palmetto and the great roses covering +the gallery are full of green leaves and the remains of the last crop of +blossoms, with new buds coming out. What a terrible winter! + +There is a street fair here. These people go about the country and +exhibit wherever they find a town that will pay them, their price here +being, it is said, $2,000 for a week. The Red Men pay them, and probably +the merchants subscribe to it, the business brought to town compensating +them. There are a number of attractions, like a little splinter broken +off the poorest part of Atlantic City. But it gives something to see and +do and talk about, to a town where there is too little of either for the +demand. There are a huge and a dwarf horse, glass blowers, a human +dwarf, contortionist, jubilee singers, kinetoscope, trained dogs and +monkeys, dissolving statue, and of course the nigger babies and knives +to throw at and miss. We have run against these aggregations all the way +down, and they are evidently becoming a feature of the smaller towns. + +Curious place for a State Capital. In our room stands a fine walnut +wardrobe with a door broken open; and there is not a mechanic in the +city who can mend it. Glass is broken, and it remains so; any quantity +of miscellaneous mending and repairing needed, but it stands. The sunny +south is a bit slipshod; the ladies are delightful, but they do not work +their finger ends off cleaning out the last possibilities of dust and +dirt--they leave it to the darkies, who do what they cannot avoid doing +and stop right there. + + * * * * * + +That our boys are not devoid of descriptive ability--and +imagination?--this chapter, written by Frank, will demonstrate. + +"At Melville, on the Atchafalaya, we became acquainted with some young +men who had a fine pack of deer hounds. They also call these "nigger +dogs," because they are employed for trailing convicts who escape from +the camps along the river. + +"Early in the morning our hunting party gathered on the levee--the +Doctor, Budd Tell, his brother Wylie, and two uncles, and four of us. +The old men were settlers and hunters of bobcat, deer, panther, bear and +other game. They said they had killed 160 deer in one winter, and +though we doubted this, we afterward found it was true. + +"We penetrated the woods till a desirable spot was reached, and here +Budd posted us on our stands. These are places clear of underbrush for a +space, so that the hunter may see to shoot anything that invades his +location. One man remains with the dogs, termed the driver. He was left +about two miles behind. When all had been placed the signal was given, +to start the dogs. Soon we could hear the music of their baying, as it +did not take long for them to strike a deer trail, and a fresh one at +that. The chase led in the Doctor's direction and presently we heard him +shoot--and he had downed his first deer. He got two that day. I shot +one, and Budd got a little fat doe. The others were fine bucks, weighing +175, 150 and 123 lbs. At least we thought so, after taking turns packing +them, on a pole; and that was the only scale we had; so we think it was +legal, under the circumstances. + +"As we were returning to the boat with our four deer, two men to each, +one man could be taking it easy all the time. Somehow the bunch got +separated in the cypress swamp, and suddenly we heard the scream of a +panther. Then there were a number of shots, and after that silence, for +a couple of minutes. Then came a rifle shot. Jake and I being together, +we hurried in the direction of the shots. Soon we heard a noise that we +could not make out the cause of. We were still packing the deer. Then we +came in sight of the Doctor, stooping over Budd's brother. Close by lay +a dead panther. Budd's breast and arms were badly torn by the claws of +the animal, and his brother had a scalp wound and was insensible. +However, we all turned in to help, and he was soon on his feet, somewhat +damaged and rather faint, but still in the ring. + +"The panther had sprang on them from a tree, knocking Wylie down, then +turning on Budd who attacked the animal as soon as he realized what was +the trouble. The panther started for him like a cyclone and had his +shirt and some skin jerked off in less time than it takes for me to tell +it. Budd says he sure thought his time had come, and being somewhat of a +church member he put up a little call for help. Just then the Doctor ran +up, and by a lucky shot disabled the beast, which was soon dispatched. +He got the hide. The panther weighed over 100 lbs. and measured 5 feet +10 inches from nose to tip of tail. + +"As Budd and Wylie were too weak to carry the deer, the big cat was +allotted to them, and two of us took each a deer till we got out of the +timber, about dark. We reached the boat at 6 p. m., very tired. But we +had had our fun, and some of us had had an experience not usual even to +houseboat travelers. And we got the panther--though it came very near +getting two of the best fellows to be found in the south." + +Unfortunately the prize so highly valued was lost. The skin was +stretched out and placed on the roof to dry; that night the wind blew, +and next morning the skin had disappeared. The one now ornamenting the +Doctor's den was purchased to replace the original. + +Will some one explain how it happens that an indifferent shot, when +brought in face of such a proposition will make an unerring snap shot, +when a slight deviation would endanger the life of the companion? Many +years ago, while traversing the woods of Pennsylvania, we heard our +companion cry for help, after two shots close together. We ran at full +speed, and saw him standing still, gazing at a huge snake at his feet. +Even as we ran we brought our double-barrel to our shoulder and without +taking aim blew the serpent's head off. There was no time to aim, and +had we done so it is doubtful if we could have made as good a shot. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE BOBCAT. + + +Melville, La., Feb. 3, 1904.--Budd was watching some deer down the +river, when he saw a bobcat come out of the brush near by. He shot the +cat, when a buck ran out within twenty feet of him. He made a quick shot +at the buck, got him, and then ran after the cat. She had crawled under +some brush and thinking her dead he crawled after her. Just as he caught +hold of her leg to pull her out she turned on him and flew at his chest, +in which she embedded her claws. There was a lively tussle for a few +minutes, when he got away, and the cat crawled under a log. But when he +again attempted to pull her out she flew at him, apparently little the +worse for her wounds; and it was not till he succeeded in cutting her +throat that she died. He was pretty well clawed up, sufficiently to +deprive him of any further desire to tackle a bobcat, only a few of +whose lives had been expended. + +Here is a native's sample story: + +"Father had been troubled by a bear that ate his corn, so he sat up one +night to get him. He noted where the bear came in from the canebrake, +and placed himself so that the wind blew from that place to his stand. +It was bright moonlight. Along in the night came Bruin, sniffing and +grunting. He paused at the fence till satisfied the way was clear, then +knocked a rail off the top and clambered over. He made his way among the +corn, and rearing up began to pull off the ears and eat them. Then dad +fired a handful of buckshot into him, breaking his shoulder. The bear +made for the place he had crossed the fence, scrambled over, and crashed +through the brake. Dad marked him down as stopping at a huge dead tree +that could easily be seen above the canes. + +"By this time the shot had aroused the folks, and dogs, darkies and men +came running out. The dogs sought the trail, but the only one that found +it was a little mongrel tyke, who started off after the bear and was +soon followed by the rest. The men tried to keep up, but dad ran right +for the big tree. A crooked branch across his path sprang into a coil +and rattled a warning at him. He stopped and gave it the other barrel, +and ran on. Coming up to the tree there was the bear, standing up, and +with his one arm raking the dogs whenever they ventured within reach. +Already the bravest showed evidences of his skill. One of the men shot +him--in fact they all shot, and the bear rolled over. Dad went up to +him, and some one remarked that he must be a tame bear, as his ear was +nicked. Dad felt the ear, and remarked how warm it was--and just then +the old bear whirled around, reared up, and seized dad in a real bear +hug. Fortunately it was a one-armed hug, and by a quick movement he was +able to wriggle away, and then one man who had not shot put his gun to +the bear's ear and shot half his head away. On the way home they picked +up the snake, which was seven feet long, and had 11 rattles and a +button." + + * * * * * + +At Shiloh Landing, Miss., our boys were told of a negro who ate glass. +He came in while they were there, and cracked up a lamp chimney and ate +it, literally and without deception. He said he could walk over broken +glass without harm. He also was impervious to snakes. And while they +talked a huge cotton-mouth copperhead wriggled out on the floor. There +was a unanimous and speedy resort to boxes, barrels and tables, till the +serpent was killed. It seems the negro has a fancy for collecting snakes +and had brought this one in in a box, from which he made his escape. + + * * * * * + +This morning we went out for robins, and got a mess; of which we +contributed one--could not shoot a little bit. After lunch we waited for +the mail and then bid good-bye to the kindly folk who had made Melville +so pleasant to us, and started on our journey up the Atchafalaya. The +river is wider, swifter and bigger than when we came down; and we will +be glad to get into the great river again. We have quite a collection of +skins--deer, cat and coon--gifts of our friends. We ran a few miles and +then the engine pump quit, and we tied up. Fair and clear, warm at +midday enough to make a vest a burden. + +[Illustration: SPANISH MOSS (ATCHAFALAYA).] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ASCENDING THE ATCHAFALAYA. + + +Atchafalaya River, Feb. 4, 1904.--There is a very perceptible difference +between descending a river and ascending it. Our gallant little launch +finds the cabinboat a difficult proposition against the current, as +aggravated by the rising floods. We made but a few miles yesterday and +tied up for the night. An unexpected steamer came along about 12:30 and +gave us a good tumbling. She returned later, having doubtless taken in +her freight at Melville meanwhile. This morning an east wind drives us +against the shore, so that we have to steer out, and that makes it a +head wind; so the shore creeps slowly past. It is cloudy and feels like +rain, though warm. The river is very muddy, and full of drift over which +the boat rumbles constantly. Many doves are seen on the trees along +shore but, as usual, we are in a hurry and cannot stop for sport. + +During the Civil War, we are told, the Atchafalaya could be bridged by +three carts, so that soldiers could cross. Now it is nowhere less than +sixty feet deep, and two-fifths of the water of the Mississippi go +through it to the Gulf. Every year it is enlarging, and the day may come +when the Mississippi will discharge through it altogether, and Baton +Rouge and New Orleans be inland cities. This route to the Gulf is 150 +miles shorter. + + * * * * * + +Atchafalaya River, Feb. 6, 1904.--We made but a short run yesterday, the +wind stopping us two miles below Oderberg, just within 150 yards of a +turn around which we had to go to get the wind in our favor. But we +could not do it. Boy and Dr. shot some robins and Jake got a mud hen; +and from a passing wagon we secured a roast of beef. An old colored +woman sold us some buttermilk, for two bits. This morning it was rainy +and foggy, but under great difficulties we pushed ahead and made +Simmesport by lunch. Here we engaged a gasoline boat to take us around +into the Mississippi, for seven dollars--about 14 miles--and felt we got +off well at that. The current in the Red is said to be too fierce for +our little boat. We did as well as possible, by hugging the low shore, +and when the one we were on became high and eroded we crossed to the +other. In that way we avoided the swift current and often got a back +one, or eddy. The steamer _Electra_ dogged us all morning, passing and +stopping at numerous landings till we passed her. When we land we find +houses quite close along either shore. The rural population must be +large along the leveed part of the river. At Simmesport we obtained +butter, milk and lard, besides crackers and canned oysters. No meat. One +bunch of brant appeared in the fog this morning, but refused to listen +to our arguments favoring closer acquaintance. + + * * * * * + +Red River, Feb. 7, 1904.--That is, we suppose you call it the Red, but +it is now in truth an outlet of the Mississippi. We got to Simmesport, +had lunch, and arranged with a boy there to tow us through to the +Mississippi with a 5-horsepower gasoline. Hitched it behind, our launch +alongside, and started. The wind was as often contrary as favorable, and +we labored up the Atchafalaya till we got to Red River. The water is +decidedly red, but is backed up into the Red by the lordship of the +Great River, which sweeps up the Old River channel with resistless +force. None of the Red water gets past Barbre Landing, either into the +Atchafalaya or the Mississippi. We turned into the Red or Old River +about 2:30, and by 6 had made about three miles, stopping in sight of +Turnbull Island Light No. 2. First the lever of our reversing gear +broke, and here a log swept under the launch and broke the coupling +bolt. This had happened the preceding day, and we had no extra left, so +had to stop as the other boat alone could make no headway against the +swift current. As it was, with both boats we had to coast along as close +as possible to the shore, where the current was slowest, to make any +progress at all. In the middle we were swept back. The boys left us to +return to Simmesport, where they were to make new coupling bolts and +return here this morning. We had a sleepless night. All day it was foggy +and rainy; in the night occasional showers pattered on the roof; and +floating wood rumbled under the boat. The water is full of this stuff +and it is impossible to prevent it going under the scow, where it sticks +and retards progress or emerges to foul our propeller. This morning it +is still sticky, showery and slightly foggy; temperature at 9 a. m., 72. +When the steamer rocked us the other night Jake and Doctor turned out in +their nightgowns to fend off, and then stood leaning over the rail +talking for a time. Catch cold, turning out of a warm bed in January? +Naw! Whatchergivinus? This terrible winter weather! + +About 11:30 the boys returned with the tug and new bolts for our +coupler. We had hard work getting through the bridge, where the current +was fierce; but by 2 p. m. we were in the Mississippi and headed down +stream. + + * * * * * + +Bayou Sara, Feb. 8, 1904.--We tied up last night in Morgan's Bend, after +dark. Started to float all night, but the fog came up, lightning showed +in the east, and we thought it wise to take no chances. We had the +launch hitched behind and when a steamer passed up quite near, it made +her leap and try to get her nose under the overhang, which might have +swamped her. This morning we got off at 5 a. m., floating till after +breakfast, when we set the old churn at work. Now the sun is up +brightly, a breeze freshening up from the east, which is dead ahead +just now, and the town in sight. We talk of loading the boat with +palmettoes for the St. Louis fair market, and getting a tow north, if we +cannot get a fair price for the outfit. + +By 9 we reached Bayou Sara, where we increased our crew by three of +Louisiana's fair ladies, and at 11 resumed our journey. The wind had +subsided and we journeyed south over a river smooth as glass. Much +driftwood annoyed us, threatening our propeller blades. The poetry of +travel today, too warm for the folk to stand in the sun. Historic Port +Hudson was soon before us. It is now back from the river, Port Hickey +being its successor. Temperature 80 at 2 p. m. This terrible winter! We +are counting the miles between us and our dear ones at Baton Rouge. + +We reached Baton Rouge about 6 p. m., having made over 50 miles, and the +longest run of the trip. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +DUCKING AT CATAHOULA LAKE. + + +Prof. Handwerker came down to Memphis, and we went for a duck shoot. We +went by rail to Alexandria and chartered a wagon with two sketchy ponies +and an aged veteran as driver, who took us about 20 miles to Catahoula +Lake. The toll man at the bridge valued our outfit at 40 cents, and +collected the entire price each way. The road lay through a lumber +country, where the yellow pine was being rapidly cut out. Arriving +within a mile of the lake, we concluded to stop with Mr. S., rather than +rest our old limbs in the doubtful protection of the tent we had +brought. + +S. lived on a tract he had homesteaded, in a "plank-up" house of three +rooms. At the end of the living room was a large chimney of mud and +sticks, with andirons, in which a large fire burned constantly. There +were holes in the chimney of a size convenient for the cat to crawl +through, which the men had not had time to mend. Cracks an inch wide +between the plank let in a sufficiency of air, when the one +window--unencumbered with sash and glass--a simple wooden shutter, swung +shut. The family consisted of the man, his wife, two sons aged 16 and +12; horses, cows, oxen, chickens and numerous pigs. The latter were +dying off, and we saw numerous carcasses in the woods, the consequence +of a lot of diseased animals being brought in by a neighbor. S. had had +a sawmill, and with the aid of his sons and wife--the latter the +engineer--had turned out about 7,000 feet of lumber a day. For this he +had received his stock; but the wife did not feel that they were doing +well enough and persuaded him to sell the mill and raise cotton. + +They cleared a few acres which they farmed till the yield fell off, when +they let it lie fallow and farmed another bit. They had intended to saw +up a lot of wood for a new house, but somehow it had been neglected, or +when a lot had been got out some one made a dicker for it. The stock of +food for the animals had run short, and chop sold at the stores for +$1.00 a bag for cash, $1.60 on credit; so the animals ran in the woods +and ate Spanish moss. This, we were assured, was a good, nutritious +food, when the animals got used to it. All were very thin. One horse +looked like a walking skeleton, and in fact died during our stay--but +then it was so reduced by the time it died that the loss was trifling. +The horses had long since stripped the berries from the china berry +trees. We were told that eight crops of alfalfa had been cut from a +field in this region last summer; so that it is simply a question of +cultivating a few more acres to supply proper food to the stock. The +five cows gave about a quart of milk a day. They were milked once a +day--if they came up to the house in time; if not, it went over till +next day. + +Mr. S. was a fine, good-natured man, who did not drink, or permit liquor +or cards in his house. He had some trouble with his shoulder, which +seriously interfered with his work, though he hauled logs to the +sawmill, the small boy driving. He was very proud of his wife; vaunting +her as the best worker in the parish, excepting their nearest neighbor; +and those two women, he averred, could equal any men in farming cotton, +chopping or sawing wood, and cultivating the garden. It was +edifying--touching--to see Mrs. S. bridle with pleasure under this +well-deserved approval. + +The two boys attended to the fires, on alternate days; and they sure did +show great mathematical talent, for they could calculate to a certainty +the exact quantity of wood that sufficed for the day and next morning, +so as to leave over not a scrap for the lessening of the other boy's +labors. In the evening a huge backlog was placed in the big chimney, +with two smaller pieces underneath, and some cypress under that to keep +up a blaze. Then all hands gathered around, S., the Professor and the +aged driver, with their pipes, the two boys chewing, and Mrs. S., with a +little stick projecting from her mouth, which puzzled us, till the idea +of its significance flashed across our mind--snuff! And then they set in +persistently and systematically to put the fire out, by well-directed +expectoration. And we are bound to say that in accuracy of aim Mrs. S. +was not behind the menfolk. + +Bedtime came. A big feather-bed was dragged out and placed on the floor +in front of the fire, some comforters thrown over it, with pillows, and +we were politely offered our choice of the bed on the floor or that on +the wooden bedstead. It was left to us, and we took one apprehensive +look at the ancient stead--quite undeserved was the suspicion--and chose +the floor, remarking that we could not turn a lady out of her bed. This +was met with remonstrances on the part of these warm-hearted people, but +it was left that way. The old man and the two boys took the other bed, +and the seven of us lay down to sleep in the one room. First the lady +retired to the kitchen while we disrobed; then we offered to do the same +to give her a chance, but this was unnecessary, as she didn't disrobe. +The old man got in bed and lit his pipe; she took a fresh portion of +snuff, and we presume the boys a new quid. During the night we +occasionally heard S. scratching matches to light up. The bed of wild +duck feathers favorably modified the hardness of the floor, and we slept +well. + +Before daybreak we heard S. lighting up, and then, with difficulty, he +induced the boy on duty to arouse and attend to the fire. Then Mrs. S. +arose and when we showed signs of consciousness we had a cup of +coffee--black, good quality, well sweetened, but without milk. +Breakfast of smoked pork, more coffee, and hot bread--corn or wheat. We +may add that this was also our dinner and our supper, varied by +cracklin' bread, hot biscuits, and an occasional pie of berries or +peaches. Once sweet potatoes and once dried peas. If a visitor dropped +in, coffee was served around. And we had ducks. + +In the morning we hooked up the team and went down to the lake. The +formation is similar to that at Bear River, Utah; broad flats covered +with a few inches of water, the soil a stiff clay that will generally +hold a man up, but not always. But the people here have no boats, build +no blinds, and their only idea of duck shooting is to crawl on their +bellies through the mud till they can get a pot shot at a flock of ducks +in the water. They use heavy loads and No. 2 shot. As we did not shoot +ducks that way, our success was not very great. Still we got as many as +we could eat--and that's enough. + +The older boy suggested that we cross the lake to a group of cypresses, +where the shooting was good. We waded in about a hundred yards, when the +wading began to get pretty heavy, our feet sinking in over the ankles. +The Professor concluded to turn back, and took up his stand by a lone +cypress near the margin of the water. We felt that it was the part of +wisdom to do so also; but the boy began to chuckle and a smile of +derision appeared on his face. Now we don't like to be "backed down" by +a "kid," and he assured us the boggy place did not extend far and then +the bottom became firmer; so we kept on across the lake. It was said to +be a mile, but it proved to be at least ten. We had not gone far when we +began to realize several things: That the boy lied; that we weighed +nearly 200 lbs.; that the borrowed waders we had on were much too large; +that though in our life of 54 years we had ascertained that we were a +great many different kinds of a darned fool, this was one more kind. The +waders were tied to our waist, but soon pulled off so that we walked on +the legs; sank in over ankles at each step, but had to immediately +withdraw the foot to keep from going still deeper. We got tired--very +tired--but dared not stop. Out of breath, the throat burned as if we had +taken a dose of red pepper, but we could not stop for breath. Fell down +and struggled up with boots full of water; and after an eternity of +effort struggled out on the other side, to stand in the cold, teeth +chattering, trying to get shelter against the cold wind in the hollow of +the cypress, and still keep a lookout for ducks. The fingers were too +cold to pull the trigger, almost, but a sprig came in and we nailed him. +And no more came our way. + +Just before we had frozen stiff the boy came back and we set out to walk +around the lake. It was only half as far as straight across. Some strays +passed over, and in response to our call a mallard duck settled down +upon the ground. The boy looked inquiringly at us, but we told him we +did not take such shots, and he crawled up and executed the bird. A jack +snipe rose, and fell promptly. Wading across a bayou we caught a glimpse +of green shining on the shore, and it proved to be a teal, directly in +front. He rose when we were within 40 feet, and fell with his head shot +off; which evidently elevated us in the estimation of the boy. Meanwhile +the Professor had accumulated a respectable collection of birds; and we +had game enough for the table. + +Arriving at the house, a discussion arose as to the way to cook them. We +stoutly maintained that a bird that had a distinctive flavor like a +teal should be lightly broiled. But the lady intimated that she had +something else in contemplation that would open our eyes and enlarge our +views. It did both. Will it be believed that those delicate little teal, +the snipe, sundry squirrels and quail subsequently brought in, were +ground up with smoked pork and onions into an undistinguishable mass of +sausage, and fried? Shades of Vatel! + +One look at the proud face of the designer of the dish, and the +Professor loudly vaunted the idea, and took another helping. No one +could have had the heart to dissent--and our virtue was rewarded, for +nothing could induce our good hostess to cook the birds any other way. +The Professor's praise settled that. Though his name indicates an origin +Teutonic rather than Milesian, and his huge frame would have easily +sustained the armor of Goetz von Berlichingen, he must have kissed the +Blarney stone, and no living woman could resist the charm of his +approval. + +We lived on the food described for a week, and drank enough coffee to +paralyze the Postum Cereal man--the Professor negotiated 14 cups a +day--and had not a trace of our acid dyspepsia. Is there any remedy for +this complaint, except hard work? + +One evening a neighbor came over with his wife, the one who had so high +a reputation as a worker. She was a thin little woman, with hollow +cheeks and great brown eyes, sad, as their only child had been recently +killed by accident, while out hunting. The inevitable snuff stick +protruded from her lips. The husband was a bright, merry fellow, who at +once struck up a trade with our old driver. They traded wagons, then +fell to about their horses, and as the spirit of trade aroused the +sporting blood the younger man asked if the other had a "trading hat," +or jackknife, and finally proposed they should go out on the gallery and +trade clothes to the skin. "Would trade everything he owned but the old +woman," he announced. + +The driver was a character in his way. He owned to 75 years, rivaled the +Professor's 6 feet 4 inches when erect, but was wholly longitudinal in +dimensions. On the road he informed us at intervals of five minutes that +the road was "pretty heavy today." He stood in awe of the Professor's +deep bass, and seeing this that irreverent youth played it on the old +man in a way to be reprobated. Mrs. S. gave us a pie one day for lunch, +and smilingly announced that it was the exclusive property of the +Professor. Accordingly the latter authoritatively forbade all others +meddling with his pie. About noon S. and the Doctor came across the lake +to the wagon, and began foraging for lunch. S. got out the pie and each +of us took a liberal slice, in spite of the old driver's protest that it +was the Professor's pie, and he must be held guiltless. Pretty soon the +Professor came over, and on seeing the hole in the pie bellowed in an +awful voice: "Who took my pie?" The old man threw up his arm as if to +protect his head, and anxiously cackled that he had no hand in it, that +it was the Doctor and S., and that he had told them they should not do +it. Just then the Doctor sauntered in, and the Professor tackled him +about who ate the pie. Dr. at once assured him it was the old driver; +that he had seen the stains of the berries on his lips; which mendacious +statement was received by the old man with voluble indignation. S. came +up, and on being appealed to at once "caught on," and put the blame on +the driver. He was simply speechless with this most unjust charge. All +the rest of the day the Professor scolded over the pie, and we thought +of new arguments showing that no one but the driver could have purloined +it. But about bedtime, after there had been stillness for a time, a +still small voice came from the old man saying with a tone of dawning +comprehension: "I believe you fellows have been having fun with me about +that pie." This was too much, and the walls fairly cracked with the +howls of delight. + +We did not treat the old man very badly, though, as on leaving he +assured us if we ever came again into that country he would be only too +willing to join us in a similar trip. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +SOME LOUISIANA FOLKS. + + +No negroes have ever been allowed to settle in the Catahoula country. +The dead line is seven miles from Alexandria. No objection is made if +anyone desires to bring a negro servant temporarily into the country, +but he must go out with his employer. Once a lumberman brought negroes +in, and determined to work them. They were warned, and left. Next year +be brought in a new lot, and announced that he would protect them. They +were duly warned, but refused to leave. One morning they were +found--seven of them--hanging to the rafters of their house. Years +elapsed before the experiment was again tried. The coroner's jury +brought in a verdict of suicide--and this was in dead earnest--no joke +or hilarity intended. To disregard due warning was equivalent to any +other method of self-destruction. + +When in after years an attempt was made to work negroes here, warnings +were duly posted on their doors. The negroes left. But the employer was +a determined man, and swore he would be eternally dingbusted--or words +to that effect--if he didn't work all the niggers he pleased; and he +enlisted a new lot of the most desperate characters he could find. +Warning was given and neglected; when one evening, as the darkies sat at +supper, a rifle bullet knocked the nail keg from under one of them, and +next morning not a negro was to be found in the vicinity. + +Observe the dispassionate, thoroughly conservative and gentlemanly way +the people handled the affair. There was no thirsting for gore, no +disposition to immolate these misguided folks to their employer's +obstinacy; just a gentle hint that Catahoula did not allow negroes. An +intimation to the employer followed, that a repetition would be followed +by a rifle aimed at him, not the keg this time, and he was wise enough +to see the point. + +We have heard these people spoken of as being dangerous characters. They +might be such, if misunderstood and their prejudices rudely affronted. +But we found them a simple, warm-hearted, scrupulously honest set, with +whom we thoroughly enjoyed a week's companionship, and expect to go back +for another one. Their interests are limited, their viewpoint may not +permit an extensive outlook, but their doors are always open to the +stranger, the coffee-pot on the stove, and the best they have is offered +him with a courtesy that never fails. They take little interest in +politics, newspapers we did not once see there, and schooling is +limited. Mrs. S. did not go to church in summer, because that would +involve the putting on of shoes--though she did say that if she chose to +go she would not hesitate to march into church in her bare feet, let +those dislike it who might! + +But do not imagine that these worthy people are deficient in common +sense. Mr. S. was perfectly aware that the timber he does not cut now is +worth three times what is was when he took up this land, and will be +worth more every year. + +This pine must reproduce itself with marvelous rapidity. We saw the +furrows of the old cotton cultivation running away back through the +woods, in which the trees were about ready for the saw. There is plenty +of land still open for homesteading, but one must hunt it up for +himself, as the government gives absolutely no information to inquirers, +except that township maps cost a dollar apiece. If you want to know what +townships of what parishes have land available, just get on your horse +and explore, till you find out. + +The land companies make amends for this. There are about ten million +acres of land in Louisiana, and of this over six millions are offered +for sale in one little pamphlet before me. Much of this is sea marsh, +which ought to produce sea island cotton. We could find no one who knew +of its ever having been tried, but presume there is some reason for not +raising it, as this is a very profitable crop, selling for double the +market price of ordinary cotton. + +Why is there so much land for sale? For we did not meet a solitary man, +northern or southern by birth, who seemed to contemplate leaving the +state. The truth is there are not enough inhabitants to utilize the +land. Millions of acres are lying idle for want of workers. Every +inducement is extended to men to settle here and utilize the resources +now going to waste. + +The South needs "Yankees." An ex-Confederate, discussing Baton Rouge, +said: "A dozen live Yankees would regenerate this town, and make +fortunes at it." They would pave the streets, cover in the sewers, build +up the vacant spots in the heart of the city, supply mechanical work at +less inhuman prices than are now charged, and make this rich and +intelligent community as attractive in appearance as the citizens are +socially. + +One such man has made a new city of Alexandria. He has made the people +pave their streets, put in modern sewerage, water, electricity, etc., +build most creditable structures to house the public officials, and in a +word, has "hustled the South," till it had to put him temporarily out of +office until it got its "second wind." + +In consequence Alexandria has no rival in the state except Shreveport. +And the people like it; they brag of Walsh and his work, take immense +pride in the progress of their beautiful city, and have developed into +keen, wide-awake Americans of the type that has built up our country. + +It seems essential for the incentive, the leaven, to come from outside; +but this is the lesson of history. Xanthippus did nothing for Corinth, +but aroused Syracuse. Marion Sims vegetated in comparative obscurity +till he left the South, to become the leading surgeon of New York and +Paris. What would Ricord have been had he remained in America? The +interchange of blood, the entering of a stranger among any community, +acts as a disturbing element, that arouses action. And without action +there is no progress. + +The most promising indication is that this seems fully comprehended in +the South, and the immigrant is welcomed. + +It is well to be cautious about accepting as literally true the +statements made to strangers. People will exaggerate; and the temptation +to fill up a more or less gullible "tenderfoot" is often irresistible. + +Thus, we are told that connections between white men and negro women are +quite common; in fact, almost a matter of course. And these connections +are defended, as exalting the white woman to such a pinnacle that the +seduction of one would be followed by lynching the seducer; while there +is no wrong done the negro woman, because she has no moral sense in such +matters, to be injured. Instead of feeling that she is "lost," she +brags of her "conquest." + +But several facts lead us to doubt the literal truth of these +statements. We note that the same tales are told in illustration that we +heard when here five years ago. No new material seems to have appeared +in that time. Then again, the mulatto is exceedingly rare; the negroes +met on the streets and in the fields being pure black. These and similar +facts lead us to receive the above accounts with a very large grain of +salt. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +FROM WINTER TO SUMMER IN A DAY. + + +March 11. 1904.--We left Chicago at 6 p. m. The ground was covered with +snow, the winds cutting through our clothes, and winter still held his +own relentlessly. By the time we reached Cairo the change was evident; +and next evening at the same hour we were well down in Mississippi, and +our clothes oppressively warm. Trees were in full leaf, and numerous +cold frames showed that trucking was in full operation. Rain set in and +followed us to Memphis, but then the sky cleared. We found full summer +at New Orleans, the grass in the parks green, the foliage that of +midsummer. At Baton Rouge the violets were about over, but the roses +were enough to discourage one from ever again trying to raise them in +Chicago. + +Why do people suffer from the winter north when they need not do so? +Many shiver and pine for the warm days, during this month of blustering +cold, when everyone has had enough winter and longs for spring, while +all they have to do is to jump on a train and in 24 hours they are in +this delightful clime. When need compels, we must take our medicine +without a grumble; but to many all that keeps them north in March is +inertia and thoughtlessness. + +There are many little businesses carried on in these river boats. We saw +many trading boats which supplied ordinary necessaries and carried small +freights, or gathered up skins and other little products not worth the +while of steamers to stop for. Photographers ply up and down the +streams; a fortune teller makes good profits; a quack sells liniments +and other drugs, and does a bit of unlicensed practice; and very likely +some boats sell whisky. We did not hear of an evangelist, yet there +seems to be a need for some work of this sort. One man sold roofing +paint along the river for good profits. + +The South would do well to study the practical applications of the +maxim: "Put yourself in his place." The Italians keep goats as the Irish +do pigs. Both forage for a living, and supply an important place in the +social economies. The goat is to the Italian a matter of course. But a +doctor was annoyed by the animals, and told his Italian neighbor he must +keep his goats shut up. He did not do so, and so the doctor shot the +goats. Next morning, as the doctor passed the Italian's stand, the +latter drew a pistol, remarking: "You shoot my goat; I shoot you," and +shot the doctor dead. This nearly precipitated a race riot. + +If there was no law against allowing goats to run at large, the Italian +was strictly within his rights. It was up to the doctor to fence his +premises. If there was such a law, the doctor should have called on the +proper officers to enforce it. In either case he was in the wrong; and +the habit of taking the law in one's own hands was responsible for the +tragedy. + +The discontent of the negro with plantation life and work is not, we are +everywhere told, a matter of wages. Then why is there no intelligent +attempt made to study the question with a view to devising means of +attaching him to the place? He is a child in many respects, and +amusement goes far in rendering him contented and happy. Were he these, +he would not be restless to leave the plantations. A barbecue next +week, a dance Saturday night, a little fun in expectation, would go far +to keep him quiet, and need not cost more than a trifle of what it would +be worth. The problem seems easy enough, but we have heard of no attempt +to solve it on such lines. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +VOYAGE ENDED. + + +And here our voyage ended. The doctor moved ashore to join his wife and +children. Millie went to St. Louis, and Jim to Oklahoma; while Frank and +Jake remained on the boat until it was finally disposed of. Frank had +worked on the engine until he had mastered her, and found the +difficulties. She had never been properly installed, so we got blue +prints from her builders and reset the engine in accordance with them. +We got new batteries, a block tin pipe in place of the iron one which +took the gasoline from the tank to the engine, and rust from which had +figured largely in the troubles we experienced. The pump had been +literally cut to pieces by the mud in the river water and a new one was +obtained. When thus refitted, she ran without a balk; and we really +believe a child could have managed her. She turned out to be what had +been claimed for her, remarkably fast. In fact, we left her with the +determination that our next engine should be a Fay and Bowen, also. She +was sold to a resident of Baton Rouge, for $300; the alterations having +cost the Doctor about $50, in addition to the boys' wages. One thing we +learned--never order work down here without a distinct agreement as to +the work and the price. Frank ordered a little fixing at a local shop, +for which he said $6 was a liberal price; but the man brought in a bill +of over $16. + +The small boats, guns and shells were sent back to Chicago, most of the +furniture sold for trivial sums, and the cabin boat left in the charge +of Mr. S. S. Lewis, of the Lewis Lumber Co. for sale. All attempts to +obtain a tow up the river failed. The big coal companies' agents +referred us to the home office, but said the price would not be less +than $300. We heard that the captains of tow boats going up would take +us up for a trifle, but we did not find one of these chances, after +waiting two months. Some men talked of buying the cabin and launch and +taking it around to the Bayou Manchac for a hunting and fishing lodge, +but nothing came of it. + +We might have sold by bringing the outfit around to the Gulf ports, but +had no leisure for this. A plan was suggested to load the cabin with +palmettoes and take them to St. Louis to serve as decorative plants at +the Fair; but the Superintendent of Audubon Park said the plants would +not live, that when the root of a palm was cut it died back to the +stalk, and it was doubtful if a new growth of roots would take place. +But men who try to extirpate the palms say they are unkillable; and the +two we took up and replanted in the boat were still living after two +months, and had out two new leaves each. Possibly we might have made a +good thing, as the boat could have carried 1,000 good-sized palms. + +At New Orleans we hear these cabin boats are so plentiful they cannot be +given away. The _Desplaines_ was sold there for a good price. + +[Illustration: BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +DANGERS AND DELIGHTS. + + +A few words as to certain dangers that might be expected on such a trip. +We were never annoyed by loafers, tramps, or unpleasant visitors of any +sort, with the one exception of the probable river pirates whose visit +is described. At the towns people let us alone, and those who were +interested enough to call on us were entirely unobjectionable. Of course +our numbers may have had some influence. + +We never had any malaria or other febrile affection, and most of our +drug supply was superfluous. Half a dozen articles would comprise the +list for any ordinary party. + +During the entire trip we never saw a snake, alligator, centipede, +scorpion or any other venomous reptile. Flies and mosquitoes left us at +the first frost, and our mosquito hats and veils were never used. The +other insect pests of the south--fleas, gnats, redbugs, ticks and +jiggers--began to show up in April, after we had left the boat and were +living on shore. We were out in the wrong season for fish, turtles and +frogs, and in fact found difficulty in procuring any fish at all, +excepting carp, for our table. But a little more activity on our part +would probably have remedied this--we did not try to fish much. So with +the shooting--we did not try very hard, and never shot more than we +could eat without waste. + +It was our impression that the South fairly bristles with opportunities +for business. There is plenty of cheap land, room for hundreds of +thousands of farmers and lumbermen, dairies, general stores, supply +houses of every sort. Fruit, berries, garden truck of all sorts, nuts, +milk, butter, chickens and ducks, eggs, and many other articles might be +raised and a market found for them along the river. There is a very +short supply of nearly all these products, right where they could be +raised. + +The old prejudice against a white man's working alongside a negro seems +to be dying out. We saw men of both colors working together too often +for it to be in any degree exceptional. Negro mechanics in New Orleans +get from four to seven dollars a day, and are very independent as to +their work. Many large planters rent small lots to negroes, others to +Italians, and sell on easy terms to either whenever they wish to buy. So +far has the disdain of manual work subsided that we were informed that +in one of the most prominent (white) universities many of the pupils +support themselves in part by waiting on the table, washing dishes, and +in other ways. + +Assuredly it is not now looked upon as degrading to any white man in the +south, that he should work with his hands, if need be. + +If there is any prejudice now against northern men who come to settle in +the south, it kept itself out of our sight. Instead, we find immigration +agents established by the state, to set before the men of the north the +advantages they can secure by coming south. Of the numerous northern men +we met and talked with, who had come south, but one spoke of +encountering prejudice--and we strongly suspect he had given good cause. +Many northern men, like the writer, have married southern girls, and +thus the lines of separation between the sections are becoming confused +and indistinct. + +One Indiana man, who had come south, expressed what may be taken for +the usual view, as we received it: "Any northern man who has $3,000 is a +fool if he does not bring it down here and make his fortune in ten years +out of it." And this is the man for whom there are such abundant +openings here--the one who has a small capital and good business sense. + + * * * * * + +The River--that great, wonderful river. We descended its current at the +time the water was at the lowest; but the impression of its giant power +grew on us daily; the resistless sweep of the current, the huge boils +rising from the depths, the whirlpools; but above all the cutting away +of the banks. We soon discovered that levees are not meant as restraints +of this erosion--the river flows how and where it will--but to protect +against the flood waters. From Alton to the gulf there is scarcely a +stone to be seen, and the current flounders about through the soft +alluvium, like a whale in blankets. When the cutting approaches the +levees new ones are constructed further back; and the intervening +country is handed over to its fluvial master. + +The commerce of the river systems is a thing of the past, but a shadow +of what it was about wartime. The railways carry the freights now. But +how is it more people do not travel by water? Years ago we went by +steamer from Cincinnati to Louisville, and thoroughly enjoyed the +trip--the quiet, absence of rattle and smoke, the lovely panorama +floating by, the music, the well-served meals, and the leisurely, +cultured folk who were really taking time to travel pleasantly, instead +of the hustle of limited expresses. Surely, the only reason more people +do not enjoy this mode of travel is that they do not know of it. + +But when one floats on the bosom of the great river there grows up a +certain fascination for it. We saw one cabin boat in which an elderly +man was said to have lived for years, alone. A man of wealth, who could +have utilized Pullmans had he chosen. One can readily comprehend this; +for long will it be ere the beating of the waves against the side of the +boat ceases from our dreams. A little cabin boat that one could manage, +dogs for the only companions, guns and rods, and the long, quiet sojourn +where the coal and other trusts matter not a whit--and where could +hermit find such a delightful retreat! + +Then for the elderly man who has outlived his family and the period of +active participation in the world's warfare. What a home for a group of +such men, who could be company for each other. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +RESULTS. + + +The Doctor enjoyed every moment of the trip. While we have recorded all +the accidents and drawbacks, the reader must not imagine that they were +really serious or detracted much from the pleasure. If we fished and +hunted but little it was because we found so much of interest and +delight that the time was filled without these pastimes. We did not use +our wheels much for the same reason--we had so much going on that we +rarely felt the desirability of more means of occupying our time. The +work went on well, and in this respect the plan worked out as expected. +There were abundance of time and few interruptions; time for study, for +putting the thoughts on paper; and the little breaks when called on +deck, never disarranged the mental machinery. The exercise was most +beneficial. Chopping or sawing wood, and helping with the boat work, +brought the digestion into good condition, and we came home much +stronger than we left. + +The same may be said of the children. The boy enjoyed it all; the girl +did well, but naturally got tired and longed for her little friends. +Both improved in physique and broadened their ideas, and laid in a store +of knowledge. They learned much and were not roughened in manners. + +The invalid did pretty well and would have done much better had our +original plan been followed; but the delay caused by building the new +boat allowed us to be caught in the November storms on the Illinois, and +then it was a constant hurry to get south. Toward the last she tired of +the boat and longed for the flesh-pots of Egypt--other women to talk +clothes to, dry goods stores, the luxuries of civilization. Few women +have enough of the gipsy in their blood to stand seven months' travel +without ennui. + +The experience of the _Desplaines_ showed the wisdom of beginning with a +clear understanding with the crew and paying them fair wages. They took +the crew on an indefinite arrangement, paying no wages. When they fell +in with us their crew became discontented, constant quarreling +resulted, and the crew broke up. Naturally, when they found our men +receiving wages for easier work than theirs, dissatisfaction resulted. +Don't go on such an expedition with the crew on a "no wages" basis. Pay +fairly, or else make up the party on the basis of equal participation in +the expenses; but don't mix matters. + +Don't buy an old boat. There is a satisfaction in knowing that the +timbers beneath you are sound and put together in the strongest possible +manner, and amply able to withstand the fiercest trials they can +possibly receive. Especially if women and children are to form part of +your crew, you want to feel easy on the score of your boat. Have the +boat built at a place like Henry, where well-selected lumber and honest +work will go in the building. Have it brought to Chicago and start in +the boat here. + +Do not have a boat more than sixteen feet wide, outside measure, that is +to pass through the canal. + +Have the roof thoroughly watertight and the crevices about the base of +the cabin protected by quarter-rounds and calking so that there will be +no water leaking in there when waves wash over the deck. Have a good +large open deck in front, for there you will live in pleasant weather. +Get a good wood-burning stove for cooking--gasoline and oil are too +expensive, when you get wood for nothing. + +Select your party with care; not everyone who goes into such a trip with +enthusiasm will wear well, when living half a year in a boat with you. +Leave out people who expect the luxuries of a well-appointed hotel. +Limit the clothing for men and women to two suits each; one for the boat +and one for town. You may not disturb the latter for months. If you can +possibly avoid it, take no one in the party who drinks liquor even in +moderation--certainly not in the crew. Every modification of this opens +the door to trouble. If a guest takes his morning eye-opener the crew +will want to do so; and some one of them may be of the sort that can not +taste it without getting crazy drunk. + +It seemed to us that anyone of a mercantile turn could do a good +business along the river; pay expenses and make money. Everywhere along +the great river people boarded our boat, asking what we were selling. +The men asked for whisky, the women for dry goods or dressmaking. At one +landing a trader sold eighteen skiffs. On the Atchafalaya we passed a +cabinboat bearing in large letters the title: "The White Elephant +Saloon." We heard that this boat had given the authorities much trouble, +but can not vouch for the truth of the report. She was selling liquor, +evidently, and we gave her a wide berth. Melville was a temperance town, +but there was a shanty across the river known as "the Goose," where +liquor was sold, and a skiff ferry to it was well patronized. The owner +was building a large cabinboat at a cost of $1,000, but for what purpose +we could only presume; and our presumption was that it would be a +profitable investment. + +To make a similar trip leave Chicago between the 15th and 30th of +September, provide for towage through the canal to La Salle, and float +down the rivers, stopping when the weather is unpleasant. You should +take a tow from Kampsville to the Mississippi, as there is little +current from the Illinois into it. Thereafter even so small an engine +as our 3-horse-power will suffice, as you will not be hurried and can +await favorable winds. The larger the boat the more men will be +required. Ours was right for four men; and that is a good number for a +party. There will be no danger of annoyance, while a smaller party might +meet some ugly customers. With every additional member the chances for +disagreement increase--and life is too short for quarreling. On reaching +the mouth of Red River, ascend that stream till you can reach Catahoula +Lake, if you are after ducks and geese; though the old river-bed lakes +along the Mississippi will furnish plenty. But if deer and other large +game attract you, descend the Atchafalaya to Alabama bayou; then pass +through Grand Lake to the gulf and coast around to the string of resorts +along the coast from Bay St. Louis to Pensacola and the Florida coast, +if so long a trip is desired. If you ascend the rivers you will need +tows, unless your power is large. + +The results of the trip to the writer may be summed up as: Better work, +better done, and more of it, than would have been possible in the same +time at the city home; a renewal of vitality, digestion improved, years +rolled back so that again has come that sense of capacity to work +without limit, that has not been present for years; and a crowd of +pleasant recollections that will endure for life. + +Would we like to go again? Just give us the chance! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The houseboat book, by William F. Waugh + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44656 *** diff --git a/44656-h/44656-h.htm b/44656-h/44656-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f2136a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/44656-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4264 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Houseboat Book, by William F. Waugh. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + + p.bold {text-align: center; font-weight: bold;} + p.bold2 {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 150%;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + h1 span, h2 span { display: block; text-align: center; } + #id1 { font-size: smaller } + + + hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; + } + + hr.smler { + width: 10%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 45%; + margin-right: 45%; + clear: both; + } + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; text-align: right;} + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0px; + } /* page numbers */ + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .box {max-width: 25em; margin: 1.5em auto;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .left {text-align: left;} + .s6 {display: inline; margin-left: 6em;} + .s9 {display: inline; margin-left: 9em;} + + .poem {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem div {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44656 ***</div> + +<div class="center"><a name="cover.jpg" id="cover.jpg"></a><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" /></div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i000.jpg" alt="THE HELEN W. OF CHICAGO" /></div> + +<p class="bold">THE HELEN W. OF CHICAGO.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE<br />HOUSEBOAT<br />BOOK</h1> + +<p class="bold">The Log of a Cruise from<br />Chicago to New Orleans</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">BY</p> + +<p class="bold2">WILLIAM F. WAUGH</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/dec.jpg" alt="decoration" /></div> + +<p class="bold">THE CLINIC PUBLISHING COMPANY<br />CHICAGO<br />1904</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1904,<br />By William F. Waugh.</span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center">PRESS OF<br />THE CLINIC PUBLISHING CO.<br />CHICAGO.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<table summary="CONTENTS"> + <tr> + <td colspan="2"></td> + <td><small>PAGE</small></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>I.</td> + <td class="left"> Prelude</td> + <td><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>II.</td> + <td class="left"> Gathering Information</td> + <td><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>III.</td> + <td class="left"> Preparations</td> + <td><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>IV.</td> + <td class="left"> The First Shipwreck</td> + <td><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>V.</td> + <td class="left"> The Canal</td> + <td><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VI.</td> + <td class="left"> The Illinois River</td> + <td><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VII.</td> + <td class="left"> Building the Boat</td> + <td><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VIII.</td> + <td class="left"> The Lower Illinois</td> + <td><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>IX.</td> + <td class="left"> Towing</td> + <td><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>X.</td> + <td class="left"> St. Louis</td> + <td><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XI.</td> + <td class="left"> The Mississippi</td> + <td><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XII.</td> + <td class="left"> Cairo and the Ohio</td> + <td><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XIII.</td> + <td class="left"> Duck Shooting</td> + <td><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XIV.</td> + <td class="left"> Snagged in Tennessee Chute</td> + <td><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XV.</td> + <td class="left"> Mooring</td> + <td><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XVI.</td> + <td class="left"> A Levee Camp</td> + <td><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XVII.</td> + <td class="left"> Vicksburg</td> + <td><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XVIII.</td> + <td class="left"> River Pirates</td> + <td><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XIX.</td> + <td class="left"> The Atchafalaya</td> + <td><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XX.</td> + <td class="left"> Melville. Deer Hunting</td> + <td><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXI.</td> + <td class="left"> Baton Rouge. The Panther</td> + <td><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXII.</td> + <td class="left"> The Bobcat</td> + <td><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXIII.</td> + <td class="left"> Ascending the Atchafalaya</td> + <td><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXIV.</td> + <td class="left"> Ducking at Catahoula Lake</td> + <td><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXV.</td> + <td class="left"> Some Louisiana Folks</td> + <td><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXVI.</td> + <td class="left"> From Winter to Summer in a Day</td> + <td><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXVII.</td> + <td class="left"> Voyage Ended</td> + <td><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXVIII.</td> + <td class="left"> Dangers and Delights</td> + <td><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXIX.</td> + <td class="left"> Results</td> + <td><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">PRELUDE.</p> + +<p>Once upon a time there was a doctor who, after many years spent in that +pursuit concluded to reform. But strong is the influence of evil +associates, and those who had abetted him in his old ways still +endeavored to lead him therein.</p> + +<p>One day his good angel whispered in his ear the magic words, "House +boat;" and straightway there arose in his mental vision the picture of a +broad river, the boat lazily floating, children fishing, wife's cheery +call to view bits of scenery too lovely for solitary enjoyment, and a +long year of blissful seclusion where no tale of woe could penetrate, no +printer's devil cry for copy. Incidentally the tired eyes could rest, +and the long stretches of uninterrupted time be transmuted into creative +work; with no banging telephone or boring visitor to scatter the +faculties into hopeless desuetude. Sandwich with hours<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> busy with those +recuperative implements, the rod and gun, the adventures and +explorations incident to the trip, and here was a scheme to make the +heart of a city-tired man leap.</p> + +<p>So he went to the friend whose kindly appreciation had put a monetary +value upon the emanations from his brain, and suggested that now was the +time for the besom of reform to get in its work, and by discharging him +to clear the way for new and improved editorial talent. But the friend +received the suggestion with contumely, threatening to do the editor +bodily harm if he so much as mentioned or even contemplated any attempt +to escape. The scheme was perforce postponed for a year, and in the +meantime attempts were made to gather useful information upon the subject.</p> + +<p>The plan seemed simple enough—to leave Chicago by the Drainage Canal, +float down to the Illinois River, then down it to the Mississippi, by it +to New Orleans, then to strike off through the bayous or canals into the +watery wastes southwest, and spend there the time until the approach of +the Carnival called us back to the southern metropolis. By starting +about <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>September 1st we could accompany the ducks on their southern +journey, and have plenty of time to dawdle along, stopping wherever it +seemed good to us.</p> + +<p>So we went to work to gather information. The great bookstores were +ransacked for books descriptive of houseboat trips down the Mississippi. +There were none. Then we asked for charts of the Illinois and +Mississippi. There were none of the former in existence; of the latter +the Government was said to have published charts of the river from St. +Louis to the Gulf; and these were ordered, though they were somewhat +old, and the river changes constantly. Then a search was made for books +on American houseboats and trips made upon them; books giving some +rational information as to what such things are, how they are procured, +furnished, managed, what is to be had and what avoided; but without +avail. Even logs of canoe trips on the great river, and accounts of +recent steamer trips, are singularly scarce. People insisted on forcing +upon our notice Bangs' "Houseboat on the Styx," despite our reiterated +asseverations that we did not care to travel over that route just now.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +Black's "Strange Adventures of a Houseboat" is principally remarkable +for the practical information it does not give.</p> + +<p>Scarcely a juvenile was to be found treating of the subjects; nor have +the novelists paid any attention to the rivers for a third of a century. +Books of travel on the great system of inland American waters are +similarly rare.</p> + +<p>It has finally come home to us that this is a virgin field; that the +great American people reside in the valley of the greatest river in the +world, and pay no attention to it; write nothing of it, know nothing, +and we fear care nothing. And while many persons utilize houseboats, and +many more would do so if they knew what they are, and how much pleasure +is to be derived therefrom, no one has seen fit to print a book that +would make some amends to an intending purchaser for his lack of +experience. Possibly the experiences detailed in the following pages may +in some degree fulfill this need, and aid some one to avoid the mistakes we made.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">GATHERING INFORMATION.</p> + +<p>From magazine articles we gathered that a new boat would cost about +$1,000. We were assured, however, that we could buy an old one that +would answer all needs for about $100. We were told that if the boat +measures 15 tons or more our rapidly-becoming-paternal government +requires the services of a licensed pilot. All steamers are required to +have licensed engineers, though the requirements for an owner's license +are not very rigid. Gasoline boats as yet do not come under any laws, +though there is talk of legislation upon them, and there may be, by the +time this book reaches its readers.</p> + +<p>Houseboats usually have no direct power, but are gently propelled by +long sweeps. If the boat is small this is all right; but as large a boat +as ours would require about four strong men to hold her steady in +dangerous places. It takes a much smaller investment if power is +excluded; and if the boat goes only down stream, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> force enough to +manage her in currents and blows it is cheaper to hire towage when +requisite. But if possible have power, and enough. Many boats we saw in +the Mississippi are fitted with stern wheels and gasoline engines, and +these have great advantages. In cold weather the engineer is protected, +and can run in and get warm, while if in a towing boat he may suffer. +The expense is less, as there is the hull of the towboat to buy when +separate. The motion communicated to the cabin by an attached engine is +soon forgotten. You should not calculate in selling either cabin, engine +or towboat when ready to leave for the north, as prices in the south are +uncertain; and if you have not invested in power you lose that much less +if you desert your outfit.</p> + +<p>Between steam and gasoline as power there is much to be said. With steam +you require a license, it is dirty, more dangerous, takes time to get up +steam, and care to keep it up. But you can always pick up wood along +shore, though an engine of any size burns up a whole lot, and it takes +so much time to collect, cut and saw the wood, and to dry it, that if +you are paying a crew their time makes it costly. Low down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> river, +in times of low water, coal is to be gathered from the sand bars; but +this cannot be counted upon as a regular supply. But you can always get +fuel for a wood-burning engine, and if you contemplate trips beyond +civilization it may be impossible to obtain gasoline.</p> + +<p>Gasoline boats are cleaner, safer, always ready to start by turning a +few buttons, and cheaper, if you have to buy your fuel. If you are going +beyond the reach of ordinary supplies you may run out, and then your +power is useless; but in such cases you must use foresight and lay in a +supply enough for emergencies.</p> + +<p>Both varieties of engines are liable to get out of order, and require +that there shall be someone in charge who understands their mechanism +and can find and remedy the difficulty. Our own preference in +Mississippi navigation is unquestionably for the gasoline. If we go to +the West Indies or the Amazon we will employ steam. Were we +contemplating a prolonged life on a boat, or a trading trip, we would +have the power attached to the cabin boat; and the saved cost of the +hull of a towboat would buy a small gasoline cutter—perhaps $150—which +could be used as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> tender. But when you get power, get enough. It saves +more in tow bills than the cost of the engine; and if it is advisable to +bring the outfit back to the north full power saves a great loss. <i>Quod +est demonstrandum</i> in the course of this narrative.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">PREPARATIONS.</p> + +<p>Our search for a second-hand houseboat was not very productive. At +Chicago the choice lay between three, and of these we naturally chose +the worst. It was the old Jackson Park boat, that after long service had +finally become so completely watersoaked that she sank at her moorings; +but this we learned later. In fact, as in many instances, our foresight +was far inferior to our hindsight—and that is why we are giving our +experiences exactly as they occurred, so that readers may avoid our +mistakes.</p> + +<p>This houseboat was purchased for $200, the vendor warranting her as +sound and safe, in every way fit and suitable for the trip contemplated. +He even said she had been through the canal as far as the Illinois +river, so there was no danger but that she could pass the locks. The +cabin measured 24 x 14.3 x 7 feet; and there was a six-foot open deck in +front, three feet behind, and two feet on either side, making her width +18 feet 3 inches. One end of the cabin was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>partitioned off, making two +staterooms and a kitchen, each 7 feet in depth. The rest formed one +large room. It was well lighted, with 14 windows; and had doors in each +side and two at the front opening into the kitchen and one stateroom. +The roof was formed of two thicknesses of wood and over this a canvas +cover, thickly painted.</p> + +<p>The staterooms were fitted with wire mattress frames, arranged to be +folded against the sides when not in use for beds. In the large room we +placed an iron double bed and two single ones, shielded from view by a +curtain. There was a stove capable of burning any sort of fuel; two +bookcases, dining table, work table, dresser, chairs, sewing machine, +sewing table, etc. We had a canvas awning made with stanchions to go on +the top, but this we never used, finding it pleasanter to sit on the +front deck.</p> + +<p>Among the equipment were the following: A canoe with oars and paddle, +50-lb. anchor, 75 feet ¾-inch rope, 75 feet 1-inch rope, 100 feet +½-inch rope, boat pump, dinner horn, 6 life preservers, 2 boathooks, 2 +hammocks, 4 cots, Puritan water still, small tripoli filter, a tube of +chemical powder fire extinguisher, large and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> small axes, hatchet, brace +and bits, saws, sawbuck, tool-box well furnished, soldering set, repair +kit, paper napkins, mattresses, bedding, towels, and a liberal supply of +old clothes, over and under. We had an Edison Home phonograph and about +50 records; and this was a useful addition. But many articles we took +were only in the way, and we shall not mention them.</p> + +<p>We had a full supply of fishing material, frog spears, minnow seine, +minnow trap, railroad lantern, tubular searchlight with bull's-eye +reflector, electric flashlight with extra batteries, twine, trotline, +revolver and cartridges, 50-gauge Spencer for big game, and as a second +gun, with 150 cartridges; 32-H. P. S. Marlin rifle, with 400 cartridges; +Winchester 12-gauge pump, with 2,000 shells; Browning automatic shotgun; +folding decoys, 4 shell bags, McMillan shell extractor, U. S. Gov't +rifle cleaner, Marlin gun grease, grass suit, shooting clothes heavy and +light, hip boots, leggings, sweaters, chamois vest, mosquito hats, two +cameras with supplies, including developers, compass (pocket), copper +wire, whetstone, can opener and corkscrew, coffee pot to screw to wall, +matches in waterproof<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> box, a Lehman footwarmer and two Japanese muff +stoves, with fuel. For the kitchen we got a gasoline stove with an oven. +There was a good kerosene lamp, giving sufficient light to allow all +hands to read about the table; also three lamps with brackets for the +small rooms.</p> + +<p>In preparing our lists of supplies we derived great assistance from +Buzzacott's "Complete Camper's Manual." It was a mistake to buy so many +shot-gun shells. All along the river we found it easy to get 12-gauge +shells, better than those we had.</p> + +<p>The boy rejoiced in a 20-gauge single barrel. We had so much trouble in +getting ammunition for it that we purchased a reloading outfit and +materials at Antoine's. This little gun was very useful, especially when +we wanted little birds.</p> + +<p>A full supply of medicines went along, mainly in alkaloidal granules, +which economize space and give extra efficiency and many other +advantages. A pocket surgical case, a few of the instruments most likely +to be needed, surgical dressings, quinidine (which is the best +preventive of malaria among the cinchona derivatives), insect powder, +sulphur for fumigation, potassium<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> permanganate for the water, +petrolatum, absorbent cotton, a magnifying glass to facilitate removal +of splinters, extra glasses for those wearing them; and a little whisky, +which was, I believe, never opened on the entire trip.</p> + +<p>The boy was presented with a shell belt; and a week before starting we +found he was sleeping with the belt on, filled with loaded shells. Say, +tired and listless brethren, don't you envy him? Wouldn't you like to +enjoy the anticipation of such a pleasure that much?</p> + +<p>Among the things that were useful we may add a game and shell carrier, a +Marble axe with sheath, and a Val de Weese hunter's knife. After serving +their time these made acceptable presents to some kindly folk who had +done much to make our stay at Melville pleasant.</p> + +<p>We fitted out our table and kitchen from the cast offs of our home, +taking things we would not miss were we to leave them with the boat when +through with her. It matters little that you will find the most complete +lists wanting in important particulars, for ample opportunity is given +to add necessaries at the first town. But the Missis insisted on taking +a full supply of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> provisions, and we were very glad she did. Buzzacott +gives a list of necessaries for a party of five men camping five days. +It seems liberal, when added to the produce of rod and gun.</p> + +<div class="box"> +<p>20 lbs. self-raising flour.<br /> +6 lbs. fresh biscuit.<br /> +6 lbs. corn meal.<br /> +6 lbs. navy beans.<br /> +3 lbs. rice.<br /> +5 lbs. salt pork.<br /> +5 lbs. bacon.<br /> +10 lbs. ham.<br /> +15 lbs. potatoes.<br /> +6 lbs. onions.<br /> +3 lbs. can butter.<br /> +3 lbs. dried fruits.<br /> +½ gallon vinegar pickles.<br /> +½ gallon preserves.<br /> +1 qt. syrup.<br /> +1 box pepper.<br /> +1 box mustard.<br /> +6 lbs. coffee.<br /> +6 lbs. sugar.<br /> +½ lb. tea.<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>½ lb. baking powder.<br /> +4 cans milk and cream.<br /> +1 sack salt.<br /> +6 boxes matches (tin case).<br /> +1 lb. soap.<br /> +1 lb. corn starch.<br /> +1 lb. candles.<br /> +1 jar cheese.<br /> +1 box ginger.<br /> +1 box allspice.<br /> +1 lb. currants.<br /> +1 lb. raisins.<br /> +6 boxes sardines.<br /> +1 screwtop flask.</p></div> + +<p>Fresh bread, meat, sausage, eggs for first days.</p> + +<p>The wife laid in her stock of provisions, costing about sixty dollars +and including the articles we use generally.</p> + +<p>Among the books we found that seemed likely to provide some useful +information are:</p> + +<blockquote><p>Trapper Jim—Sandys.</p> + +<p>Last of the Flatboats—Eggleston.</p> + +<p>Houseboat series—Castlemon.</p> + +<p>Bonaventure—Cable.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p><p>Down the Mississippi—Ellis.</p> + +<p>Down the Great River—Glazier.</p> + +<p>Four Months in a Sneak Box—Bishop.</p> + +<p>The Wild-Fowlers—Bradford.</p> + +<p>The Mississippi—Greene.</p> + +<p>The Gulf and Inland Waters—Mahan.</p> + +<p>The Blockade and the Cruisers—Soley.</p> + +<p>The History of Our Navy—Spears.</p> + +<p>In the Louisiana Lowlands—Mather.</p> + +<p>Hitting and Missing with the Shotgun—Hammond.</p> + +<p>Among the Waterfowl—Job.</p> + +<p>Up the North Branch—Farrar.</p> + +<p>Botanist and Florist—Wood.</p> + +<p>The Mushroom Book—Marshall.</p> + +<p>Wild Sports in the South—Whitehead.</p> + +<p>Cooper's Novels.</p> + +<p>Catalog from Montgomery Ward's mail order house.</p> + +<p>And a good supply of other novels, besides the children's +schoolbooks.</p></blockquote> + +<p>By writing to the U. S. port office at St. Louis we secured a list of +the lights on the Western rivers, a bit antique, but quite useful. From +Rand & McNally we also obtained a chart of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> Mississippi River from +St. Louis to the Gulf, which was invaluable. The Desplaines had a lot of +separate charts obtained from the St. Louis port officers, which were +larger and easier to decipher.</p> + +<p>The question of motive power was one on which we received so much and +such contradictory advice that we were bewildered. It seemed preferable +to have the power in a tender, so that if we were moored anywhere and +wished to send for mail, supplies or aid, the tender could be so +dispatched without having to tow the heavy cabin boat. So we purchased a +small gasoline boat with a two-horse-power engine. At the last moment, +however, Jim persuaded us to exchange it for a larger one, a 20-footer, +with three-horse-power Fay & Bowen engine. In getting a small boat see +that it is a "water cooler," as an air-cooler will run a few minutes and +stop, as the piston swells. Also see that she is fitted with reversing +gear. Not all boats are. This was a fine sea boat, the engine very fast, +and she was well worth the $365 paid for her.</p> + +<p>The crew of the "Helen W. of Chicago," consisted of the Doctor, the +Missis, the Boy (aged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> 11), Miss Miggles (aged 10), Millie the +house-keeper, Jim and J. J. We should have had two dogs, little and big; +and next time they go in as an essential part of the crew.</p> + +<p>We carried far too many things, especially clothes. The most comfortable +proved to be flannel shirt or sweater, blue cloth cap, tennis shoes, +knickerbockers, long wool stockings, and a cheap canvas hunting suit +that would bear dirt and wet. Knicks attract too much attention outside +the city. One good suit will do for visiting in the cities.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE FIRST SHIPWRECK.</p> + +<p>Our first experience in shipwrecks came early. We were all ready to +start; the home had been rented, furniture disposed of, the outfit +ordered, and the boat lay ready for occupancy, fresh and clean in new +paint—when we discovered that we had to go through the old canal—the +Illinois and Michigan—to La Salle, instead of the drainage ditch, on +which we were aware that Chicago had spent many millions more than +drainage demanded, with the ulterior object of making a deep waterway +between the great city and the Gulf! Here was an anxious thought—would +the old canal admit our boat? We visited headquarters, but naturally no +one there knew anything about so essential a matter. We went down to the +first lock at Bridgeport, and the lockmaster telephoned to Lockport, but +the Chief Engineer was out and no one else knew the width of the locks. +But finally we met an old seafarer who carried in his pocket a list of +all the locks of all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> the canals in the U. S., including Canada; and +from him we got the decisive information that the narrowest lock +admitted boats with a maximum width of 17 feet. Ours measured 18 feet 3 +inches!</p> + +<p>After prolonged consultation it was determined that the only way out was +to cut off enough of the side to admit her. So the purveyor, who had +guaranteed the boat as fit in every way for the trip, began to cut, +first building an inner wall or side with two-by-fours. Getting this up +to a convenient height he concluded to try for leaks, and slid the scow +back into the water with the side half up. It was just an inch too low; +and when he rose next morning the scow reposed peacefully on the bottom +of the river, the water having, in the night, come in at the low side. +The following week was consumed in endeavors to raise the boat and get +the water out. Meanwhile we were camping out in an empty house, eating +off the kitchen table, sleeping anywhere, and putting in spare time +hurrying the very deliberate boatmen.</p> + +<p>Just then we received from the Sanitary District folks the belated +information that the locks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> are 18 feet wide, and 110 feet long, and +that the height of the boat from the water line must not exceed 17 feet +to enable it to pass under bridges.</p> + +<p>For nearly a week various means of raising the craft were tried, without +success. Finally the wind shifted during the night, and in the morning +we found the upper margin of the hull out of water. The pumps were put +in operation and by noon the boat was free from water. It was found to +be reasonably watertight, despite the straining by jacks, levers, +windlasses, and other means employed to raise first one corner and then +another, the breaking of ropes and planks by which the corners had been +violently dropped, etc. But the absence of flotation, as evidenced by +the difficulty of raising an unloaded boat, wholly constructed of wood, +should have opened our eyes to her character.</p> + +<p>The side was rapidly completed, the furniture and stores brought aboard, +and the boats started down the canal, while the Doctor and Missis went +to Joliet to meet the outfit and avoid the odors of the drainage. The +men ran all night and reached Lock No. 5, at Joliet, about 5 p. m., +Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1903. This was altogether unnecessary,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> and we +might as well have come down on the boat. Meanwhile we found a shelter +in a little bakery near the Joliet bridge, where the kindly folk took +care of the little invalid while we watched for the arrival of the boats.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i026.jpg" alt="THE OLD CANAL" /></div> + +<p class="bold">THE OLD CANAL.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE CANAL.</p> + +<p>That night was our first on board. We found the boat piled high with the +"necessaries" deemed imperative by the Missis. Days were spent in the +arrangement of these, and in heaving overboard articles whose value was +more than counterbalanced by the space they occupied. Hooks were +inserted, trunks unpacked, curtains hung, and it is safe to say that our +first week was thus occupied. The single beds were taken down and the +children put to sleep on cots consisting of strips of canvas with +eye-holes at the corners. These were fastened to stout hooks, screwed +into the walls. Difficulty supervened in finding a place to fasten the +outer ends, and we had to run ropes across the cabin, to our great +annoyance when rising during the night. Otherwise these are the best of +cots, as they can be taken down and rolled away during the day.</p> + +<p>The delight of those days, drifting lazily down the old canal, the +lovely vistas with long rows of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> elms along the deserted towpath, the +quiet farms. Sometimes it was showery, at others shiny, but we scarcely +noticed the difference. It is surely a lazy man's paradise. There is no +current in the canal, and the launch could only drag the heavy scow +along at about a mile and a half an hour; while but little wind sufficed +to seriously retard all progress. Even with our reduced width it was all +we could do to squeeze through the locks, which are smaller toward the +bottom. At No. 5 we only got through after repeated trials, when the +lock-keeper opened the upper gates and let in a flood of water, after +the lower had been opened, and the boat worked down as close as possible +to the lower gate. And here let us say a word as to the uniform courtesy +we received from these canal officials; something we were scarcely +prepared to expect after our experience with the minor official of the +city. Without an exception we found the canal officials at their posts, +ready to do their duty in a courteous, obliging manner.</p> + +<p>Friday, Oct. 2, we reached Lock 8 just at dusk, passing down as a string +of three canal boats passed up for Chicago, laden with corn. We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> are +surprised at the number of boats engaged in this traffic; as we had +thought the canal obsolete, judging from the caricatures in the daily +papers. Coal was passing down and corn and wood up. During this day 12 +laden boats went by us.</p> + +<p>Saturday, Oct. 3.—Head winds blew the boat about, to the distraction of +the crew. We tried towing, with a line along the towpath, and the boat +banged against the bank constantly. But the weather was lovely and +clear, everyone happy and the interior economy getting in order. It was +well the wise little Missis insisted on bringing a full supply of +provisions, for we have not passed a town or a store since leaving +Joliet, and we would have fared poorly but for her forethought. We +stopped at a farm, where we secured some milk for which we, with +difficulty, persuaded the farmer to accept a nickel—for a gallon. He +said milk was not so precious as in the city. But at Lock 8 the keeper's +wife was alive to her opportunities and charged us city prices.</p> + +<p>We were well pleased with our crew. Jim is a guide from Swan Lake, aged +24; fisher, hunter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> trapper and boatman all his life. J. J. is a +baseball player and athlete about the same age. Both volunteered for the +trip, for the pleasure of it. They asked to go for nothing, but we do +not care to make such an arrangement, which never works well and leads +to disagreements and desertions when the novelty has worn off; so we +paid them wages. During the months they were with us we never asked them +to do a thing they did not willingly do, nor was there ever a complaint +of them in the score of behavior, lack of respect for the ladies, +language before the children, or any of those things that might have led +to unpleasantness had they not been gentlemen by instinct and training. +They are built of muscle and steel springs, never shirk work, have good, +healthy appetites and are always ready to meet any of the various +requirements of the trip. Everything comes handy to them. They put the +boat in shape, run the engine, do carpentry and any other trade that is +needed. It was hard to guide the unwieldy boat so they designed a +rudder, went to town for material, hunted up a blacksmith and showed him +what they wanted, and put the rudder together and hung it in good shape. +It has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> a tiller up on the roof, whence the steersman can see ahead.</p> + +<p>We secured some food at Morris, with difficulty. By noon the rudder was +hung and we were off for Seneca, the boy happy in charge of the tiller. +We wish we were a word painter, to describe the beauty of the scenery +along the canal. The water has lost all reminiscence of Chicago's +drainage. At 3 p. m. we stopped at a farm and obtained milk, eggs and +chickens, with half a bushel of apples for good measure. The boat +excites much interest among the farmers. At Morris we had our first call +upon the drugs, the boys finding a friend whose horse had a suppurating +wound. Dressed it with antiseptics and left a supply. We each took two +grains of quinine, to ward off possible malaria. Millie suffered serious +discomfort, her whole body breaking out, with itching and flushing, +lasting some hours. And this was about the only time we took quinine +during the trip, except when wet, to prevent a cold. We never saw +anything like malaria.</p> + +<p>After tea we had a delightful run by moonlight, stopping several miles +from Seneca. It is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> a good rule to stop before coming to a town, as the +loafers do not get sight of the boat until it comes in next morning.</p> + +<p>On Monday we ran into Seneca, and stopped for supplies. We always needed +something, ample as we thought our outfit. It is always ice, milk, eggs, +butter, or fruit. Here it is gasoline, on which we depend for our motive power.</p> + +<p>It is useless to look for the picturesque in the Illinois farmer. He +speaks the language of the schools, with the accent of culture, and +wears his hair and whiskers in modern style. Probably he hears more +lectures, sees more operatic and histrionic stars, reads more books and +gets more out of his newspapers than does the city man. In fact, there +is no country now; the whole State is merely a series of suburbs.</p> + +<p>During the afternoon we reached Marseilles, where we tied up for the +night. We obtained a gallon of milk here, and a can of gasoline. A +neighboring well supplied artesian water, which tasted too much of +sulphur for palates accustomed to Chicago water. In fact, we now hear +that there is no such water as that of the great lake metropolis.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p><p>Tuesday, Oct. 6, we left Marseilles with a favoring breeze. Our craft +sails best with the wind about two points abaft the beam. When it shifts +to two points forward we are driven against the shore. We had hard work +to reach the viaduct over the Fox river. At 2 p. m. we reached Ottawa, +and there replenished our gasoline barrel. <i>Hinc illae lachrymae.</i> At +Seneca and Marseilles we had been able to obtain only five gallons each, +and that of the grade used for stoves. We also learned that we might +have saved three dollars in lock fees, as below La Salle the water is so +high that the dams are out of sight and steamers pass over them. The +registry and lock fees from Chicago to St. Louis are $6.88.</p> + +<p>We had now passed ten locks with safety, but the captain of the Lulu +tells us the next is the worst of all.</p> + +<p>It is evident that our boat is not fit for this expedition, and we must +take the first opportunity to exchange her for one with a larger and +stronger scow, to cope with the dangers of the great river. The scow +should stand well up from the water so that the waves will not come +over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> the deck. Every morning and night there is over a barrel of water +to be pumped out, but that might be remedied by calking.</p> + +<p>Near Marseilles we passed a number of houseboats, and hear that many are +being prepared for the trip to St. Louis next summer. Berths along the +river front there are now being secured.</p> + +<p>Among our useful supplies is a portable rubber folding bath tub. It +works well now, but I am doubtful as to its wearing qualities. The +water-still is all right when we have a wood or coal fire going, but +when run by a gasoline stove it distils nearly as much water as it burns gasoline.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Wednesday.—We came in sight of the lock below Ottawa about 5 p. m. last +night, and tied up. All night the wind blew hard and rattled the stores +on the roof. Rain comes is around the stovepipe, in spite of cement. +This morning it is still raining but the wind has fallen. A rain-coat +comes in handy. We must add oilskins to our outfit. A little fire goes +well these damp mornings, taking off the chill and drying out the cabin. +Fuel is the cheapest thing yet. We pick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> up a few sticks every day, +enough for the morning fire, and could load the boat with wood, if worth +while. And there is no better exercise for the chest than sawing wood. +We keep a small pile behind the stove to have it dry.</p> + +<p>The gasoline launch is a jewel—exactly what we need; and works in a way +to win the respect of all. The boys got wire rope for steering, as the +hemp stretched; but the wire soon wore through.</p> + +<p>Thirty cents a pound for creamery butter at Ottawa. We must rely on the +farms.</p> + +<p>Whence come the flies? The ceiling is black with them. We talk of +fumigating with sulphur. The cabin is screened, but whenever the door is +opened they come streaming in. The little wire fly-killer is a prime +necessity. It is a wire broom six inches long and as wide, with a +handle; and gets the fly every time. Burning insect powder gets rid of +mosquitoes, but has no effect on flies.</p> + +<p>A string of canal boats passed up this morning, the first we have seen +since leaving Seneca. The traffic seems to be much lighter in the lower +part of the canal.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p><p>The canal official at Ottawa seems to be something of a joker. A dog +boarded our craft there and this man informed us it had no owner, so we +allowed the animal to accompany us. But further down the line the dog's +owner telephoned dire threats after us, and we sent him back from La +Salle.</p> + +<p>After lunch we tackled Lock No. 11, and a terror it was. The walls were +so dilapidated that care had to be exercised to keep the edges of the +scow and roof from catching. Then the roof caught on the left front and +the bottom on the right rear, and it was only at the fourth trial, when +we had worked the boat as far forward as possible, that we managed to +scrape through. The wind was still very brisk and dead ahead, so we tied +up just below the lock. A steam launch, the Lorain, passed through bound +down. She filled the lock with smoke, and we realized how much gasoline +excels steam in cleanliness. A foraging expedition secured a quart of +milk and four dozen eggs, with the promise of spring chickens when their +supper afforded a chance to catch them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Thursday, Oct. 8, 1903.—All night we were held by the fierce wind +against which we were powerless. The squeeze in the lock increased the +leakage and this morning it took quite a lot of pumping to free the hull +of water. After breakfast we set out, and found Lock 12 much better than +its predecessor. All afternoon the wind continued dead ahead, and the +towing rope and poles were required to make even slight headway. Then we +passed under a low bridge, and the stovepipe fell down. If we do not +reach a town we will be cold tonight. Two small launches passed us, +going to La Salle, where there is some sort of function on.</p> + +<p>The children's lessons go on daily; with the girl because she is a girl +and therefore tractable, with the boy because he can not get out till +they are learned.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Oct. 9.—We lay in the canal all day yesterday, the folks +fishing for catfish. Our foraging was unsuccessful, the nearest house +containing a delegation of Chicago boys—17 of them—sent out by a West +Side church, who took all the milk of the place. The boy fell in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +canal and was promptly rescued by J. J., who is an expert swimmer. His +mother was excited, but not frightened. After tea, as the wind had +fallen, we used the launch for two hours to get through the most of the +"wide water," so as to have the protection of the high banks next day. +The lights of a large town—electric—are visible below. Very little +water that evening, not a fourth what we pumped in the morning.</p> + +<p>On Friday morning the water is smooth and we hope to make La Salle today.</p> + +<p>And then the gasoline engine stopped!</p> + +<p>It had done good service so far, but there was a defect in it: a cup for +holding lubricating oil that had a hole in it. Curious for a new engine, +and some of the crew were unkind enough to suggest that the seller had +taken off the new cup and put on a broken one from his old boat. All day +we worked with it, till at lunch time it consented to go; and then our +old enemy, the west wind, came up, but less violent than before, so that +we made several miles before the engine again quit. We were well through +the wide water, and tied up in a lovely spot, where someone had been +picnicking during the morning. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> boys towed the launch to Utica with +the canoe, while we secured some milk at a Swede's near by, and a jar of +honey from another house.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Saturday, Oct. 10, 1903.—At 7 p. m. the boys returned with a little +steam launch they had hired for six dollars to tow us the eight miles to +La Salle. Lock No. 13 was true to its hoodoo, and gave us some trouble. +About midnight we tied up just above Lock 14, which looks dubious this +morning. We missed some fine scenery during the night, but are tired of +the canal and glad to be near its end. A Street Fair is going on here, +and the streets are full of booths. Jim says J. J. will throw a few +balls at the "nigger babies," and then write home how he "missed the +children!" These things indicate that he is enjoying his meals.</p> + +<p>Not much water today in the hold. Temp. 39 at 7 a. m.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE ILLINOIS RIVER.</p> + +<p>Monday, Oct. 12, 1903.—We passed Locks 14 and 15 without difficulty and +moored in the basin with a number of other houseboats. We find them very +polite and obliging, ready to give any information and assistance in +their power. All hands took in the Street Fair, and aided in +replenishing our constantly wasting stores. The boy drove a thriving +trade in minnows which he captured with the seine. In the afternoon Dr. +Abbott came down, to our great pleasure. A man from the shop came and +tinkered with the gasoline engine a few hours' worth, to no purpose. +Several others volunteered advice which did not pan out.</p> + +<p>Sunday we lay quiet, until near noon, when the engineer of the +government boat <i>Fox</i> most kindly pointed out the trouble, which was, as +to be expected, a very simple one—the sparker was so arranged that the +single explosion caught the piston at the wrong angle and there was no +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>second explosion following. Then all hands went for a ride down into +the Illinois river. Dr. Abbott got off at 8:15 and the boys took a run +up to Tiskilwa—for what reason we do not hear, but have our suspicions. +We still recollect the days when we would travel at night over a +five-mile road, lined with farms, each fully and over-provided with the +meanest of dogs—so we ask no questions.</p> + +<p>This morning the temperature is 48, foggy; all up for an early start.</p> + +<p>One undesirable acquisition we made here was a numerous colony of mice, +which must have boarded us from a boat that lay alongside. The animals +did much damage, ruining a new dress and disturbing us at night with +their scampering. Nor did we finally get rid of them until the boat +sank—which is not a method to be recommended. Fumigation with sulphur, +if liberally done, is about the best remedy for any living pests.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Tuesday, Oct. 13, finds us still tied up below La Salle. The +fortune-teller kindly towed us to the mouth of the canal, where we spent +the day trying to persuade the engine to work. After an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> expert from the +shops here had put in the day over it, he announced that the fault lay +with the gasoline bought at Ottawa. In truth our troubles date from that +gasoline, and we hope he may be right. The engine he pronounces in +perfect order. Nothing here to do, and the little Missis has a cold and +is getting impatient to be going. So far we have met none but friendly +and honest folks along the canal, all anxious to be neighborly and do +what they can to aid us. All hands are discouraged with the delay and +trouble with the engine—all, that is, except one old man, who has been +buffeted about the world enough to realize that some share of bad luck +must enter every human life, and who rather welcomes what comes because +it might have been so much worse. Come to think of it, we usually expect +from Fate a whole lot more than we deserve. What are we that we should +look for an uninterrupted career of prosperity? Is it natural? Is it the +usual lot of man? What are we that we should expect our own lot to be +such an exceptional career of good fortune? Think of our deserts, and +what some men suffer, and humbly thank the good Lord that we are let off +so easily.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p><p>If that is not good philosophy we can answer for its helping us a whole +lot to bear what ills come our way.</p> + +<p>We got off early and began our first day's floating. It was quite +pleasant, much more so than lying idle. The <i>Fox</i> came along and rocked +us a bit, but not unpleasantly. We tied up below the bridge at Spring +Valley, and the boys went up to town, where they succeeded in getting +five gallons of gasoline, grade 88. After lunch we pumped out the old +stuff and put in the new and the little engine started off as if there +had never been a disagreement. At 4 p. m. we are still going +beautifully, passed Marquette, and all happy. But if the man who sold us +low-grade gasoline at Ottawa, for high, were in reach he might hear +something he would not like.</p> + +<p>At night we tied up a mile above Hennepin, where we obtained some milk +and a few eggs at a farm house.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Wednesday, Oct. 14, 1903.—Yesterday we passed the opening of the +Hennepin canal, that monument of official corruption, which after the +expenditure of fifty millions is not yet ready for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> use—the locks not +even built. Compare with the work done on the Drainage Canal, and we +conclude Chicago is not so very bad. At Hennepin this morning we secured +three gallons of gasoline at 74, the best available; also fresh beef, +for which we are all hungry. Left at 9 a. m. for Henry.</p> + +<p>During the preceding night the <i>Fred Swain</i> passed down and bumped us +against the rocky shore harder than at any time previously. Next morning +there was less water in the hull than ever before, so it seems to have +tightened her seams. We ran into the creek above Henry and moored at the +landing of the Swan River Club, where Jim's father resides. Here we lay +for several weeks, for reasons that will appear. Millie kindly varied +the monotony and added to the general gaiety by tumbling into the creek; +but as the water was only about three feet deep no serious danger +resulted. The boys usually disappeared at bedtime and talked +mysteriously of Tiskilwa next morning, and appeared sleepy. We examined +several boats that were for sale, but did not find any that suited us. +We wished to feel perfectly safe, no matter what we might <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>encounter on +the great river. Some one has been trying to scare the boys with tales +of the whirlpools to be encountered there; and of the waves that will +wash over the deck. These we afterward found to be unfounded. No +whirlpool we saw would endanger anything larger than a canoe, and our +two-strake gunwales were high enough for any waves on the river.</p> + +<p>We found few ducks; not enough to repay one for the trouble of going out +after them. Until we left Henry we caught a few fish, but not enough to +satisfy our needs.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">BUILDING THE BOAT.</p> + +<p>November 1, 1903.—We had settled that the scow was not strong enough +for the river voyage, and she kindly confirmed this view by quietly +sinking as she was moored in the creek. There was no accident—the +timbers separated from decay. We were awaked by the sound of water +running as if poured from a very large pitcher; jumped up, ran to the +stern of the boat, and saw that the rudder, which was usually six inches +above water, was then below it. We awoke the family and hastily removed +the articles in the outer end of the boat to the end resting on shore, +and summoned the boys. It was just getting towards dawn. By the time +this was done the lower end of the cabin floor was covered with water. +Had this happened while we were in the river the consequences would have +been serious.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Jim's father, Frank Wood, went to Peoria and selected materials for the +new scow. The sides<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> are technically termed gunwales—"gunnels"—and +should be of solid three-inch plank. But we found it might take six +months to get three-inch plank forty feet long, so we had to splice. He +got eight plank, 22 to 24 feet long. Two of these were spliced in the +center for the lower strake, and one long one placed in the center +above, with half a length at each end. This prevented both splices +coming together. The plank were sawed in a Z shape. Holes were then +bored through both plank at intervals of four feet, and half-inch iron +braces driven through and screwed firmly together. The ends were then +sawn for the sloping projections.</p> + +<p>Through the middle, from end to end, was set a six-by-six timber, and on +each side midway between this and the gunwales ran a three-by-six. Then +the two-inch plank were nailed firmly to the gunwales and intermediate +braces, each with twenty-three 60- and 40-penny nails. We find a strong +prejudice against wire nails, these fishers and boatbuilders preferring +the old-fashioned square nails when they can get them. They say the wire +is more apt to rust; but this may be simply the conservatism that always +meets an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>innovation. The cheapness of the wire is an item.</p> + +<p>The plank were placed as closely together as possible. Here a difficulty +arose, as they were warped, so that when one end was laid close, the +other was an inch from its fellow. But this did not bother our men. They +put a triangular block up to the refractory end, nailed it firmly to the +beam underneath, and drove wedges between till the crooked plank was +forced as nearly straight as possible—or as prudent, for too great a +strain would be followed by warping.</p> + +<p>When all the planks were nailed on, two coats of tar and rosin were +applied, and next day the boat was turned over. It was brought down till +one side was in two feet of water, then the upper side was hoisted by +blocks and tackles applied on upright timbers, till nearly upright, when +the men pushed it over with big poles. She had first been braced +carefully with an eight-by-eight across the middle, and by a number of +other timbers. The eight-by-eight was broken and the middle of the boat +forced up six inches by the shock, requiring the services of a jack to +press it down to its place.</p> + +<p>What fine workers these men are, and how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> silently they work, keeping at +the big spikes hour after hour, driving every one with thought and care, +and yet wasting no time. What use they make of a few simple mechanical +aids—the lever, the wheel and screw, the jack, buck, etc.; and they +constantly use the square before sawing. Americans, every one of them; +and not a drop of beer or whisky seen about the work, from first to last.</p> + +<p>The seams in the gunwales were caulked with hemp and payed with white +lead, before the boat was turned. Then they went over the inside and +wherever a trickle of water appeared they stuffed in cotton.</p> + +<p>The scow is 40 feet long and 16 feet wide. Over the gunwales were laid +four-by-fours, 18 feet long, and spiked down. Then supports were placed +under these and toenailed to the three inner braces, and to the +four-by-fours. A two-foot projection was made at each end, making the +floor 44 feet long. The flooring is of Georgia pine, tongued and grooved.</p> + +<p>The lumber cost, including freight from Peoria to Henry, about $100; the +work about fifty more. There were over 100 pounds of nails used,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> 50 +pounds of white lead in filling cracks, and several hundred pounds of +tar on the bottom.</p> + +<p>The gunwales are of Oregon fir, straight and knotless. It would not add +to the strength to have them of oak, as they are amply able to withstand +any strain that can possibly be put on them in navigating even the +greatest of rivers. Oak would, however, add largely to the weight, and +if we were pounding upon a snag this would add to the danger. As it was, +we many times had this experience, and felt the comfort of knowing that +a sound, well-braced, nailed and in every way secure hull was under us. +The planking was of white pine, the four-by-fours on which the deck +rested of Georgia pine. The cabin was of light wood, Oregon fir. When +completed the hull formed a strong box, secure against any damage that +could befall her. We cannot now conjure up any accident that could have +injured her so as to endanger her crew. Were we to build another boat +she should be like this one, but if larger we would have water-tight +compartments stretching across her, so that even if a plank were to be +torn off the bottom she would still be safe. And we would go down to +Henry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> to have "Abe" De Haas and "Frank" Wood and "Jack" Hurt build her.</p> + +<p>Some leakage continued for some weeks, till the seams had swelled +completely shut, and she did not leak a drop during the whole of the cruise.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>During this time we continued to live in the cabin, the deck sloping so +that it was difficult to walk without support. When the cabin was being +moved we availed ourselves of Mrs. Wood's courtesy and slept in her +house one night. After the cabin had been moved off we took the old scow +apart, and a terrible scene of rottenness was revealed. The men who saw +it, fishermen and boatbuilders, said it was a case for the grand jury, +that any man should send a family of women and little children afloat on +such a boat. There was no sign of an accident. The water had receded, +leaving the shore end of the scow resting on the mud. This let down the +stern a little. The new side was constructed of two-by-fours laid on +their sides, one above the other, and to the ends were nailed the plank +forming the bow and stern. Of these the wood was so rotten that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> the +long sixty-penny spikes pulled out, leaving a triangular opening, the +broad end up. As the stern of the boat sank the water ran in through a +wider orifice and filled up the hull more and more rapidly. The danger +lay in the absolute lack of flotation. New wood would have kept her +afloat even when the hull was full of water, but her timbers were so +completely watersoaked that the stout ropes broke in the attempt to +raise her, even though with no load.</p> + +<p>Through the favor of Providence this occurred while we were moored in a +shallow creek. Had it happened while in the deep river nothing could +have saved us from drowning. As it was, we lost a good deal of canned +goods and jelly, soap, flour, and other stores. But the most serious +harm was that we were delayed by the necessity of building a new boat, +so that we were caught in the November storms, and the exposure brought +back the invalid's asthma; so that the main object of the trip was +practically lost. We are thus particular to specify the nature of the +trouble, as the vendor of the boat has claimed that the accident was due +to the inexperience of our crew. That this was a mistake must be +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>evident to even an inexperienced sailor, who reads this account.</p> + +<p>The old house on the sunken scow was cut loose and moved over onto the +new one, and securely nailed down. An addition 8 feet square was added +at the back for a storeroom, and the roof extended to the ends of the +scow at both ends. This gives us a porch 11 by 18 feet in front, and one +10 by 8 behind. These are roofed with beaded siding and covered with the +canvas we got for an awning, which we have decided we do not need. This +is to be heavily painted as soon as we have time.</p> + +<p>The entire cost of the new boat, the additional room and roofs, labor +and materials, was about $250; the old boat cost $200, but the cabin +that we moved onto the new hull could not have been built and painted +for that, so that there was no money loss on the purchase. The launch, +with its engine, cost $365, so that the entire outfit stood us at $830, +including $15 for a fine gunning skiff Jim got at Henry. The furniture +is not included, as we took little but cast-offs; nor the outfit of +fishing and sporting goods.</p> + +<p>We must stop here to say a word as to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> good people at Henry. Frank +Wood and his family opened their house to us and furnished us milk and +other supplies, for which we could not induce them to accept pay. +Members of the Swan Lake Club placed at our disposal the conveniences of +their club house. During the time our boat was building our goods lay +out under a tree with no protection, not even a dog, and not a thing was +touched. These fishermen surely are of a race to be perpetuated. Mr. +Grazier also allowed us to use his ferryboat while endeavoring to raise +the sunken boat and to store goods, and Mrs. Hurt offered to accommodate +part of our family on her houseboat while our cabin was being moved to +the new scow.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE LOWER ILLINOIS.</p> + +<p>Saturday, Oct. 31, we bade adieu to the kind friends at Swan Lake, who +had done so much to make us comfortable, and pulled down to Henry, +passing the locks. Here we tied up till Sunday afternoon, the engine +still giving trouble, and then set off. We passed Lacon pontoon bridge +and town about 5 p. m., and three miles below tied up for the night. +Next morning, the engine proving still refractory, we floated down to +the Chillicothe bridge, which was sighted about 11 a. m. This day was +rainy and the new unpainted roof let in the water freely.</p> + +<p>We waited at Chillicothe for the <i>Fred Swain</i> to pass, and then swung +down to the bank below town, where we tied up. A farm house stood near +the bank, and as we tied up a woman came out and in a loud voice called +to some one to lock the chicken-house, and rattled a chain, +suggestively; from which we infer that houseboat people have not the +best reputation. We played<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> the phonograph that evening, and the +household gathered on shore to listen; so that we trust they slept +somewhat securely. In the morning we bought some of the chickens we had +had no chance to steal, and found the folks quite willing to deal with +us. We had to wait for the <i>Swain</i>, as it was quite foggy and without +the launch we could not have gotten out of her way.</p> + +<p>We drifted slowly down past Sand Point and The Circle lights, and tied +up to a fallen tree, opposite the little village of Spring Bay. The boys +were out of tobacco and had to row in for it. About 9 p. m. I heard +shouts and then shots, and went out, to find a thick fog. They had lost +their direction and it was only after some time and considerable +shouting that they came near enough to see the lantern. We heard that +the previous night the man who lights the channel lamps was out all +night in the fog.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i056.jpg" alt="HOUSEBOAT TOWN, PEORIA" /></div> + +<p class="bold">HOUSEBOAT TOWN, PEORIA.</p> + +<p>Again we had to wait for the <i>Swain</i> to pass, and then floated down past +Blue Creek Point. Here we saw a houseboat tied up, which a fisherman +told us belonged to a wealthy old bachelor who lived there from choice. +The current was slow as the river was wide, so about 2 p. m. we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> took a +line from the good canal boat <i>City of Henry</i>, which for three dollars +agreed to tow us to Peoria. This was faster traveling, but not a bit +nice. However, it was necessary to get the engine in order, so we put up +with it. We tied up above the upper bridge, with a nasty row of jagged +piles between us and the shore. About 5 a. m. a northeast gale sprang up +and washed us against the piles, to our great danger. Our boys arranged +a two-by-four, nailing it against the side, so that the end stuck into +the sand and fended us off the piles, and our gangway plank served the +same purpose at the other end. This is a most important matter, as the +snags might loosen a plank from the bottom.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Nov. 6, 1903.—At last we seem to have found a real expert on +gasoline engines. Instead of guessing that "mebbe" this or "mebbe" that +was the matter, he went at it and soon found the difficulty. In a short +time the boat was circling 'round the lake at a most enticing rate. We +laid in a new store of groceries and at 9 a. m. today set out. By lunch +time we had passed Pekin, and are now heading for the locks at Cop<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>peras +Creek, the engine going beautifully and the weather bright and cool. +About Peoria we saw great numbers of houseboats, many in the water, but +the aged members had climbed out upon the banks and perched among a +wonderful array of shanties. One house seemed to be roosting among the +branches of several large trees. Many were seen along the river below, +some quite pretty, but none we fancied as well as our own.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Nov. 8, 1903.—We were held back by head winds and stopped +before we reached the lock. Saturday we had good weather and little +wind, and reached Copperas Creek just after lunch. There were three feet +of water on the dam, and even the <i>Bald Eagle</i>, the largest steamer +here, runs over it; but as we had paid for the lock we went through it. +The lock-keeper took it out of us, though, by charging 15 cents for two +quarts of milk, the highest price paid yet.</p> + +<p>We got off this morning at 8:15, and although a heavy head wind prevails +are making good time. Many loons are passing south, in large flights, +and some ducks. The marshes on either side seem to be well supplied, but +are club<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> grounds, we are told. It is much warmer than yesterday, the +south wind blowing strongly. We moored with the anchor out at the outer +corner, up the river, and the line and gangway plank on shore, allowing +about ten feet from boat to shore; and when the <i>Eva Alma</i> and the +<i>Ebaugh</i> passed us there was no bumping against the shore. Evidently +that is the way to moor, though in the great river we must give more +space and more cable to the anchor.</p> + +<p>At 10 a. m. we passed Liverpool, a hamlet of 150 inhabitants, half of +whom must reside in houseboats. Some of these were quite large and well +built.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>We reached Havana about 4 p. m. Sunday, and as the south wind had become +too fierce for our power we tied up below the bridge, at a fisherman's +shanty. Monday morning it looked like rain, and the wind blew harder +than ever, so we lay by and the boys finished putting on the tar paper +roofing. When the wind is strong enough to blow the boat up stream +against the current, the launch will be unable to make head against it. +A couple live in an old freight car by us, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> their home is worth +seeing. The sand bluff is dug out for a chicken cave and pig-pen, and +beautiful chrysanthemums are growing in boxes and pans, placed so as to +retain the earth that would otherwise wash away. Fruit trees are also +planted, and the woman tells me that the whole place is filled with +flowering plants, now covered with sand for the winter. We notice two dracaenas.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1903.—The storm lasted all day yesterday, pinioning +us relentlessly to the beach. By 5 p. m. it let up, but we concluded to +remain at our moorings till morning. This morning we got off at 7 a. m., +and passed the Devil's Elbow lights before lunch. We did not tie up +then, but threw out our anchor, which is less trouble and in every way +better, as there is less danger of the snags that beset the shore. The +air is rather cool for sitting outside but we spend much time there. The +river is narrowing. Each little creek has a houseboat, or several, +generally drawn up out of the water and out of reach of the ice. We saw +a woman at one of the shabbiest shanty boats washing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> clothes. She +stooped down and swung the garment to and fro in the water a few moments +and then hung it up to dry.</p> + +<p>The shores are thickly dotted with little flags and squares of muslin, +put up by the surveyors who are marking out the channel for the proposed +deep waterway. These were few in the upper river. Every shallow is +appropriated by some fisherman's nets, and at intervals a cleared space +with sheds or fish boxes shows how important are the fisheries of this river.</p> + +<p>There is a great deal of dispute along shore over the fishing rights. +The submerging of thousands of acres of good land has greatly extended +the limits of what is legally navigable water. The fishermen claim the +right to set their nets wherever a skiff or a sawlog can float; but the +owners think that since they bought the land from the Government and +paid for it, and have paid taxes for forty years, they have something +more of rights than any outsider. If not, what did they buy? The right +to set nets, they claim, would give the right to plant crops if the +water receded. Eventually the courts will have to decide it; but if +these lands are thrown open<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> to the public, the Drainage Board will have +a heavy bill of damages. For it seems clear that it is the canal which +has raised the level of the water.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the fishing is not profitable. The fish have so wide a range +that netting does not result in much of a catch. But if this rise proves +only temporary, there will be good fishing when the water subsides.</p> + +<p>The boy does not get enough exercise, and his constant movement is +almost choreic; so we sent him out to cut firewood, which is good for +his soul. The girl amuses herself all day long with some little dolls, +but is ever ready to aid when there is a task within her strength. She +is possessed with a laughing demon, and has been in a constant state of +cachinnation the whole trip. At table some sternness is requisite to +keep the fun within due bounds. All hands mess together—we are a +democratic crowd. Saturday John W. Gates' palatial yacht, the <i>Roxana</i>, +passed down while we were at lunch. We saw a cook on deck; and two +persons, wrapped up well, reclined behind the smokestack.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Nov. 11, 1903.—After a run of 22 miles—our best yet—we tied up at the +Sangamon Chute, just below the mouth of that river. The day had been +very pleasant. During the night our old friend the South Wind returned, +but we were well moored and rode easily. The launch bumped a little, so +the doctor rose and moved it, setting the fenders, also. Rain, thunder +and lightning came, but secure in our floating home we were content. +Today the wind has pinioned us to the shore, though the sun is shining +and the wind not specially cold. The boys cut wood for the stove and +then went after ducks, returning at noon with a pair of mallards. The +new roof is tight, the stove draws well, and we ought to be happy, as +all are well. But we should be far to the south, out of reach of this +weather. We can see the whitecaps in the river at the bend below, but an +island protects us from the full sweep of wind and wave.</p> + +<p>Regular trade-wind weather, sun shining, wind blowing steadily, great +bulks of white cloud floating overhead, and just too cold to permit +enjoyable exposure when not exercising.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Nov. 13, 1903.—This thing grows monotonous. Yesterday we set +out and got to Browning, a mile, when the wind blew us ashore against a +ferry boat that was moored there, and just then the engine refused to +work. We remained there all day. The wind was pitiless, driving us +against the boat till we feared the cable would break. We got the anchor +into the skiff and carried it out to windward as far as the cable +reached, and then drew in till there were five feet between the +ferryboat and ours. In half an hour the anchor, firmly embedded in +tenacious clay, had dragged us back to the boat and we had again to draw +in cable by bracing against the ferry.</p> + +<p>At 2 p. m. the wind had subsided, and after working with the engine till +4 we got off, and drew down a mile beyond the turn, where we would be +sheltered. We moored with the anchor out up stream, and a cable fast +ashore at the other end, lying with broadside up stream to the current, +and a fender out to the shore. This fender is made of two two-by-fours +set on edge and cross pieces let in near each end. The boat end is tied +to the side and the shore end rams<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> down into the mud. While at dinner +the <i>Bald Eagle</i> came up, but we hardly noticed her wash. Moored thus, +far enough out to avoid snags, we are safe and comfortable. But if too +close in shore there may be a submerged snag that when the boat is +lifted on a wave and let down upon it punches a hole in the bottom or +loosens a plank.</p> + +<p>The night was quiet. We had our first duck supper, the boys getting a +brace and a hunter at the fish house giving us two more. They had +hundreds of them, four men having had good shooting on the Sangamon. +This morning it is cool and cloudy, the wind aft and light, and the boys +are coaxing the engine. If we can get a tow we will take it, as there is +some danger we may be frozen in if we delay much longer.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Saturday, Nov. 14, 1903.—Despite the hoodoo of yesterday, Friday the +13th, we got safely to Beardstown before lunch, in a drizzle of rain +that turned to a light snow. Temperature all day about 35. After lunch +we started down and passed La Grange about 4:30 p. m. Probably this was +a town in the days when the river was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> the great highway, but stranded +when the railways replaced the waterways. There is a very large frame +building at the landing, evidently once a tavern, and what looks like an +old street, with no houses on it now. The tavern is propped up to keep +it from falling down. No postoffice. We tied up about a mile above the +La Grange lock, so that we may be ready to go through at 8 a. m. We hear +that the locks are only opened to small fry like gasolines at 8 a. m. +and 4 p. m., and it behooves us to be there at one of those hours. Just +why a distinction should be made between steamers and gasolines is for +officialdom to tell.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Twice yesterday the launch propeller fouled the towrope, once requiring +the knife to relieve it. This accident is apt to occur and needs +constant attention to prevent. We arranged two poles to hold up the +ropes, and this did well. It is good to have a few poles, boards and +various bits of timber aboard for emergencies. Heavy frost last night, +but the sun is coming up clear and bright, and not a breath of wind. We +look for a great run today if we manage the lock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> without delay. The +quail are whistling all around us, but we are in a hurry. The <i>Bald +Eagle</i> passed down last evening, running quite near us and sending in +big waves, but thanks to our mooring, we were comfortable and had no +bumping. The water does no harm; it is the shore and the snags we fear.</p> + +<p>We were told that we would find the lockmen at La Grange grouty and +indisposed to open the locks except at the hours named above; but this +proved a mistake. They showed us the unvarying courtesy we have received +from all canal officials since starting. They opened the gate without +waiting for us. They said that in the summer, picnic parties gave them +so much unnecessary trouble that they had to establish the rule quoted, +but at present there was no need for it. The day is decidedly cool and a +heavy fog drifting in from the south.</p> + +<p>At Meredosia at 11 a. m., where Dr. Neville kindly assisted us to get a +check cashed. Found a youngster there who "knew gasoline engines," and +by his help the difficulty was found and remedied. Laid in supplies and +set out for Naples. Weather cool, but fog lifted, though the sun refused +to be tempted out.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">TOWING.</p> + +<p>Monday, Nov. 16, 1903.—The engine bucked yesterday, for a change, so we +'phoned to Meredosia and secured the services of the <i>Celine</i>, a +gasoline launch of five-horse-power. She started at once, but arriving +in sight of Naples she also stopped and lay two hours before she +condescended to resume. About 3 p. m. we got under way, the <i>Celine</i> +pushing, with a V of two-by-fours for her nose and a strong rope +reaching from her stern to each after corner of the scow. Then our own +engine awoke, and ran all day, as if she never knew what a tantrum was. +We made Florence, a town of 100 people, and tied up for the night. An +old "doctor" had a boat with a ten-horse-power gasoline tied up next us. +He travels up and down the river selling medicines. As these small towns +could scarcely support a doctor, there is possibly an opening for a real +physician, who would thus supply a number of them. Telephonic +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>communication is so free along the river that he could cover a large +territory—at least better than no doctor at all.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i068.jpg" alt="LAUNCH TOWING" /></div> + +<p class="bold">LAUNCH TOWING.</p> + +<p>During the night it blew hard, and rain, thunder and lightning made us +feel sorry for the poor folk who were exposed to such dangers on shore. +This morning we got off about 7:15, with a dull, lowering sky, fog, but +a wind dead astern and a strong current, so that we are in hopes of a +record run. So far our best has been 22 miles in one day.</p> + +<p>The right bank shows a series of pretty high bluffs, the stratified rock +showing through. Ferries grow numerous. A good deal of timber is at the +riverside awaiting shipment—a good deal, that is, for Illinois—and +remarkably large logs at that. It seems to go to Meredosia. The boy and +his father had made a gangway plank, and a limber affair it was; so the +boys are taking it to pieces and setting the two-by-fours up on edge, +which gives more strength. There is a right and a wrong way of doing +most things, and we invariably choose the wrong till shown better.</p> + +<p>Bought some pecans at Meredosia—$3.00 a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> bushel. It ought to pay to +raise them at that price, which is rather low than high. The river is +said to be lined with the trees, and one woman says she and her two +daughters made $150 gathering them this season. Hickory nuts cost 80 +cents to $1.20, the latter for big coarse nuts we would not gather in +the East.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1903.—Kampsville, Ill. Yesterday Mr. Hauser brought +us this far with the gasoline launch <i>Celine</i>, and then quit—too cold. +Cost $12 for the tow. By the time we got here the northeast wind was +blowing so fierce and cold that we tied up. The town seems very lively +for so small a place, having a number of stores. They charged us 25 +cents a gallon for stove gasoline, but only 8 cents a pound for very +fair roasting beef. We were moored on a lee shore, with our port bow to +land, lines from both ends to stakes on shore, and the gangway plank +roped to the port corner side and staked down firmly; the anchor out +from the starboard stern, so as to present that side to the wind and +current. She swung easily without bumping, but the plank complained all +night. We scarcely felt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> the waves from the <i>Bald Eagle</i> when she came +in, but the wind raised not only whitecaps but breakers and we rocked +some. It grew so cold that there was a draft through the unlined sides +of the boat that kept our heads cold. Fire was kept up all night and yet +we were cold.</p> + +<p>We now see as never before how much harm was done by the old boat, that +compelled us to remain so long in this northern latitude and get the +November storms. But for this we would have been well below Memphis, and +escaped these gales.</p> + +<p>We got new batteries here, but this morning all the gasolines are frozen +up, and we lay at our moorings, unable to move. They wanted $20 to tow +us 29 miles to Grafton, but have come down to $15 this morning. We will +accept if they can get up power, though it is steep—$5.00 being about +the usual price for a day's excursion in summer. All hands are stuffing +caulking around the windows and trying to keep in some of the heat. Sun +shining, but the northeast wind still blows whitecaps, with little if +any sign of letting up. The launch that proposes to tow us is busy +thawing out her frozen pump. We have put the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> canoe and skiff on the +front "porch," so as to have less difficulty steering.</p> + +<p>The little Puritan still sits on the stove in the cabin, and easily +furnishes two gallons of water a day when sitting on top of the stove +lid. Four times we have turned on the water and forgotten it till it ran +over. We might arrange it to let a drop fall into the still just as fast +as it evaporates, if the rate were uniform, but on a wood stove this is +impossible. Last night it burned dry and some solder melted out of the +nozzle, but not enough to make it leak. It did not hurt the still, but +such things must be guarded against.</p> + +<p>The weather is warmer, sun shining brightly, but we must wait for our +tow. The boys are getting tired of the monotony, especially Jim, who +likes action. We have the first and only cold of the trip, contracted +the cold night when our heads were chilled.</p> + +<p>This afternoon Jim and the boy went one way for pecans and squirrels, +and the three women another for pecans alone. This is the pecan country, +the river being lined with the trees for many miles. In the cabin-boat +alongside, the old proprietor is still trying to get his engine to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +work, while both his men are drunk. And he never did get them and the +engine in shape, but lost the job. He did not know how to run his own +engine, which is unpardonable in anyone who lives in such a boat or +makes long trips in it.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Thursday, Nov. 19, 1903.—Another tedious day of waiting. Cold and +bright; but the cold kept us in. After dark Capt. Fluent arrived with +his yacht, the <i>Rosalie</i>, 21-horse-power gasoline; and at 9 a. m. we got +under way. Passed the last of the locks at 9:15, and made about five +miles an hour down the river. Passed Hardin, the last of the Illinois +river towns. Many ducks in the river, more than we had previously seen. +Clear and cold; temperature at 8 a. m. 19; at 2 p. m., 60. About 3:25 p. +m. we swung into the Mississippi. The water was smooth and did not seem +terrible to us—in fact we had passed through so many "wides" in the +Illinois that we were not much impressed. But we are not saying anything +derogatory to the river god, for we do not want him to give us a sample +of his powers. We are unpretentious passers by, no Aeneases or other +distinguished bummers, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> just a set of little river tramps not worth +his godship's notice.</p> + +<p>Grafton is a straggling town built well back from the river, and looking +as if ready to take to the bluffs at the first warning. The Missouri +shore is edged with willows and lies low. We notice that our pilot +steers by the lights, making for one till close, and then turning +towards the next, keeping just to the right or left, as the Government +list directs: Probably our craft, drawing so little water, might go +almost anywhere, but the channel is probably clear of snags and other +obstructions and it is better to take no chances. It was after 6 when we +moored in Alton. Day's run, 45 miles in nine hours. We picked up enough +ducks on the way down for to-night's dinner—two mallards and two teal.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Nov. 20, 1903.—Cold this morning, enough to make us wish we +were much farther south. Capt. Fluent has quite a plant here—a ferry +boat, many small boats for hire, etc. In the night a steamer jolted us a +little, but nothing to matter. Even in the channel the launch ran over a +sunken log yesterday. We note a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>gasoline launch alongside that has one +of the towing cleats and a board pulled off, and hear it was in pulling +her off a sand bar; so there is evidently wisdom in keeping in the +channel, even if we only draw eight inches.</p> + +<p>A friend called last evening. Waiting at the depot he saw our lights and +recognized the two side windows with the door between. It was good to +see a familiar face.</p> + +<p>We are now free from the danger of ice blockade. The current at the +mouth of the Illinois is so slow that ice forming above may be banked up +there, and from this cause Fluent was held six weeks once—the blocking +occurring in November. But the great river is not liable to this +trouble. Still we will push south fast. This morning we had a visit from +a bright young reporter from an Alton paper, who wrote up some notes of +our trip. The first brother quill we had met, so we gave him a welcome.</p> + +<p>At 9 a. m. we set out for St. Louis, Mrs. Fluent and children +accompanying her husband. The most curious houseboat we have yet seen +lay on shore near our mooring place. It was a small raft sustained on +barrels, with a cabin about six<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> feet by twelve. A stovepipe through the +roof showed that it was inhabited. Reminded us of the flimsy structures +on which the South American Indians entrust themselves to the ocean.</p> + +<p>The <i>Reynard</i> and her tender are following us, to get the benefit of +Fluent's pilotage. A head wind and some sea caused disagreeable pounding +against the front overhang, which alarmed the inexperienced and made us +glad it was no wider. But what will it do when the waves are really +high?</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i076.jpg" alt="BLUFF THE DESPLAINES" /></div> + +<p class="bold">"BLUFF." <span class="s9"> </span>THE DESPLAINES.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">ST. LOUIS.</p> + +<p>St. Louis, Nov. 26, 1903.—We moored at the private landing belonging to +Mr. Gardner, whose handsome yacht, the <i>Annie Russell</i>, came in on the +following day. This was a great comfort, affording a sense of security, +which the reputation of the levee made important. A reporter from the +<i>Globe-Democrat</i> paid us a visit, and a notice of the boat and crew +brought swarms of visitors. We were deluged with invitations so numerous +that we were compelled to decline all, that no offense might be given. +But Dr. Lanphear and his wife were not to be put off, so they drove down +to take us for a drive through the Fair grounds, with their huge, +inchoate buildings; and then brought to the boat materials for a dinner +which they served and cooked there. It is needless to add that we had a +jolly time.</p> + +<p>Many applications were made for berths on the boat, which also we had to +decline. One distinguished professor of national repute offered to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +clean guns and boots if he were taken along. Despite the bad reputation +of the levee we saw absolutely nothing to annoy us. We heard of the +cruelty of the negroes to animals but scarcely saw a negro here. It is +said that they catch rats on the steamers and let them out in a circle +of negro drivers, who with their blacksnake whips tear the animal to +pieces at the first blow.</p> + +<p>We visited the market and had <i>bon marche</i> there, and at Luyties' large +grocery. Meat is cheap here, steak being from 10 to 12 cents a pound.</p> + +<p>Foreman turned up with the <i>Bella</i>, and tried to get an interview; but +we refused to see him, the memory of the perils to which he had exposed +a family of helpless women and children, as well as the delay that +exposed us to the November gales, rendering any further acquaintance +undesirable.</p> + +<p>Frank Taylor, the engineer of the <i>Desplaines</i>, was recommended to us by +his employer, Mr. Wilcox, of Joliet, as the best gasoline expert in +America; and he has been at work on our engine since we reached St. +Louis. It is a new make to him, and he finds it obscure. We have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> had so +much trouble with it, and the season is so far advanced, that we +arranged with the <i>Desplaines</i>, whose owner very kindly agreed to tow us +to Memphis. This is done to get the invalid below the frost line as +quickly as possible. The <i>Desplaines</i> is selling powder fire +extinguishers along the river; and we are to stop wherever they think +there is a chance for some business.</p> + +<p>At St. Louis we threw away our stove, which was a relic of Foreman, and +no good; and bought for $8.00 a small wood-burning range. It works well +and we can do about all our cooking on it, except frying. As we can pick +up all the wood we wish along the river, this is more economic than the +gasoline stove, which has burned 70 gallons of fuel since leaving +Chicago.</p> + +<p>We stopped for Thanksgiving dinner above Crystal City, and the +<i>Desplaines</i> crowd dined with us—Woodruff, Allen, Clements, Taylor and +Jake. A nice crowd, and we enjoyed their company. Also the turkey, +goose, mince pie, macaroni, potatoes, onions, celery, cranberries, +pickles, nuts, raisins, nut-candy, oranges and coffee. The current of +the river is swifter than at any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> place before met, and carries us along +fast. The <i>Desplaines</i> is a steamer and works well.</p> + +<p>We made about 50 miles today and tied up on the Illinois side, just +above a big two-story Government boat, which was apparently engaged in +protecting the banks from washing. Great piles of stone were being +dumped along the shore and timber frames laid down. It was quite cold. +The shore was lined with driftwood and young uprooted willows, and we +laid in a supply of small firewood—enough to last a week.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday morning, Nov. 27.—Temperature 20; clear and cold, with a south +wind blowing, which makes the waves bump the boat some, the wind +opposing the swift current. Got off about 7:45, heading for Chester, +where the <i>Desplaines</i> expects to stop for letters.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE MISSISSIPPI.</p> + +<p>Nov. 28, 1903.—Yesterday morning we left our moorings 45 miles below +St. Louis, and came down the river against the wind. This made waves +that pounded our prow unpleasantly. We passed the Kaskaskia chute, +through which the whole river now passes, since the Government has +blocked up the old river bed. A few houses mark the site of old +Kaskaskia. Nearing the end of the chute, the <i>Desplaines</i> ran on a sand +bar, as the channel is very narrow and runs close to the shore, which it +is cutting away rapidly. It took two hours to free her. We tied up early +at Chester, as they desired to work the town. During the night we were +severely rocked by passing steamers, and bumped by the launch and skiff. +This morning the river was smooth as glass. The <i>Desplaines</i> was not +through with their work, so we did not set out till 10:30. By that time +a gale had sprung up from the north and we had trouble. We were moored +by a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> single line to the shore, and as this was cast off and the +<i>Desplaines</i> began to move, her towline fouled the propeller. We drifted +swiftly down toward a row of piles, but were brought up by the anchor +hastily dropped. The steamer drifted down against us, narrowly missing +smashing our launch, and getting right across our anchor rope. Blessed +be the anchor to windward. But the staple to which the cable was fast +began to show signs of pulling out, so we got a chain and small lines +and made them fast to the timbers of the scow, so that if the cable +broke they might still hold. Finally the rope was removed from the +propeller, and after several attempts they got hold of us and steamed up +to the anchor, so that five strong men could raise it. Then we went down +stream at a rate to terrify one who knew the danger, if we should strike +a sandbank. On we go, past the crumbling banks of sand stratified with +earth, with government channel lights at close intervals. The channel +changes from side to side constantly. We run by the lights, and are +somehow absorbing a wholesome respect for this great, mighty, +uncontrollable Mississippi. Today he is covered with whitecaps and the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>current runs like a millrace. It is cold and the fire eats up wood +pretty fast.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Monday, Nov. 30, 1903.—Cape Girardeau, Mo.—We passed Grand Tower, and +greatly regretted the absence of sunlight, which prevented us getting +snap-shots of the scenery. Two miles below the town we tied up on the +Missouri side, with a good sandy beach alongside, our anchor carried +ashore and rooted into the gravel. A bad way, for if there were a gale +from the west the anchor would have soon dragged out. But the high +bluffs protected us against wind from that quarter, and our fenders kept +us out from the shore. Four steamers passed in the night, one of them +the fine <i>Peters Lee</i>. Who is it said that the commerce of the +Mississippi was a thing of the past? Just let him lie here on a +houseboat and he will change his views. No nets are to be seen here, +though probably the small affluents of the river would prove to be +provided therewith, were we to examine them. In the morning we found a +loaded hickory tree just opposite us, and the boys gathered a few nuts. +We also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> picked up a few white oak slabs, which make a fire quite +different from the light rotten drift.</p> + +<p>The boys set out ahead in the launch with designs on the geese. The wind +set in about 10 a. m., but the river is so crooked that we could +scarcely tell from what quarter it blew. It was cold, though, and the +waves rough. As Glazier says, it seems to set in from the same quarter, +about that time daily, and were we to float without a tow we would start +early and tie up before the wind began. But that would depend on finding +a good place to tie, and altogether a man who would try to float a heavy +boat without power should take out heavy insurance first, and leave the +family at home.</p> + +<p>Where the river is cutting into a bank and the current strong, the wind +whirling the cabin around, now with the current and again across or +against it, there is every reason to look for being driven ashore and +wrecked. Even were one to start about September 1st, and float only when +the river is smooth, he would run great risks. At one place the +Government had evidently tried to block up one of the channels by rows +of piling and brush, but the water ran through and was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> piled up several +feet high against the obstructions. The wind drove us directly down +against it and the fifteen-horse-power tug could just keep us off.</p> + +<p>Without the power our boat would have been driven against the piling +with force enough to burst her sides and the piles as well, and a +crevasse and shipwreck would have resulted. In the afternoon a large +steamer passed up, leaving a train of waves so large that they washed up +on the front deck and under the cabin, wetting our floor in a moment. J. +J. is now nailing quarter-rounds along the edges, to prevent such an +accident again. We are told to have guards placed in front of our doors +to prevent them being driven in when waves hit us on the side; and I +think stout bars inside will be advisable. A stout wave would drive +these flimsy doors off their hinges.</p> + +<p>Here we moored inside the bar, which protects us from waves coming from +the river. A number of cabin boats are drawn up on shore, the occupants +seeming mainly of the river tramp class. This is a nice looking town, of +possibly 10,000 people. Unpaved streets. Many brick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> blocks. Saw one +doctor, who seemed to have sunk into a mere drudge—no animation, no +enthusiasm, it was impossible to get any expression of interest out of +him. They bring milk here from an Illinois town 100 miles up the river.</p> + +<p>We paid 25 cents for a gallon.</p> + +<p>A very courteous druggist near the landing seemed to make amends for the +impassive doctor. Our pharmacal friend was a man of enterprise and had +an ice-cream factory as well as a large and well-appointed shop.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>December 1, 1903.—Yesterday the <i>Desplaines</i> wasted the morning trying +to do business in Cape Girardeau. Good town, but no enterprise, they +report. Excellent opportunity for a good grocery and provision store, +judging by the prices and quality of food products offered us. We ran +but 13 miles, tieing up in front of the warehouse at Commerce, Mo. A +small place, but they found a market for their extinguishers, with men +who had the old kind that required refilling twice a year. Curious +two-story stores, a gallery running around the whole room.</p> + +<p>Shortly before reaching this place we passed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> two little cabin boats, +tied up; seemingly occupied by two big men each. They called to us that +they had been three weeks getting this far from St. Louis—about 145 +miles. This morning we passed them a mile below Commerce, each with a +row-boat towing and a man at the stem working two sweeps. Looked like +work, but that is the real thing when it comes to cabin boating. They +were in the current, but working cautiously near shore.</p> + +<p>It was snowing smartly as we set out about 7:30, but warmer than for +some days. The little one has had asthma badly for some days, but it +began to give way, and she had a fairly comfortable night. During the +morning we got in a place where the channel seemed so intricate that the +tug ran in to inquire of some men on shore; and in turning in, the house +ran against a projecting tree so swiftly that had we not rushed out and +held her off, the snag would have crushed in the thin side of the house. +To even matters, we picked out of the drift a fine hardwood board, +evidently but a short time in the water. Never lose a chance to get a +bit of good timber for firewood—you never have too much.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p><p>Plenty of geese flying and on the bars, but the wary fellows keep out +of range. Cleaned the Spencer and reloaded the magazine.</p> + +<p>Miggles simply outdoes herself, nursing her sick mother, ironing and +otherwise helping Millie, and picking nuts for us. She has improved +wonderfully this trip, which is developing her in all ways. She eats +better than ever before, and is simply sweet. Cheeks rival the boy's in +rosiness. The boy likes to get in with the men, and we see no evidence +of talk unfit for an 11-year-old boy, but he returns very impatient of +control, and ready to pout out his lips if any authority is manifested. +The spirit of a man, and a man's impatience of control—but what would a +boy be worth who did not feel thus? No milksops for us.</p> + +<p>We pass many men and steamers, barges, etc., doing Government work on +this river. Just above they are weaving mattresses of wood, which are +laid along where the river cuts into the land, and covered with brush, +earth and stones. Many miles of bank are thus treated, and some control +exerted on the course of the river. But what a task! Do the men engaged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +in it get to take a personal interest in it, as does the trainer of a +race horse?</p> + +<p>We now look for reminders of the civil war, and yesterday we saw on the +Missouri shore the white tents of a camp. Not the destructive army of +war, but the constructive forces of the modern genius of civilization. +The St. Louis and Mississippi Valley Railroad is building its tracks +along the shore, and every cliff is scarred by the cuts. And the great, +giant river sweeps lazily by, as if he disdained to notice the liberties +being taken with his lordship. But away back in the hills of +Pennsylvania, the prairies of the Midwest, the lakes of Minnesota and +the headwaters of the Missouri, in the Northwest Rockies, the forces are +silently gathering; and in due time the old river god will swoop down +with an avalanche of roaring, whirling waters, and the St. L. & M. V. R. +R. will have, not a bill for repairs, but a new construction account.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">CAIRO AND THE OHIO.</p> + +<p>Cairo, Ill., Dec. 3, 1903.—We ran in here Thursday afternoon, and the +little steamer had some trouble in pulling us against the current of the +Ohio. The water is yellower than the Mississippi. We tied up below town, +as we hear that they charge $5.00 wharfage for mooring, or even making a +landing in the city. The place where we moored was full of snags, but J. +J. got into the water with his rubber waders and pulled the worst ones +out from under the boat, till all was secure. Moored with the gangway +plank out front and the other fender at the rear, both tied to the boat +and staked at the shore end. Lines were also made fast to trees at each +end. Thus we rode the waves easily—and well it was, for never yet have +we seen so many steamers coming and going, not even at St. Louis. +Several ferry boats ply between the Missouri and Kentucky shores and the +city, transfer steamers carry freight cars across, and many vessels ply<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +on the rivers with passengers and freight. Surely the men who advised +Charles Dickens to locate lots here were not far out, as things were +then; for the railroads had not as yet superseded the waterways. Not +that they have yet, for that matter. Since coming here we have been +inquiring for the man who proclaimed the rivers obsolete as lines for +transportation.</p> + +<p>Cairo is the biggest and busiest town of 12,000 inhabitants we have yet +seen. Many darkies are here, and the worst looking set of levee loafers +yet. We had some oysters at "Uncle Joe's," on the main business street, +the only restaurant we saw; and when we surveyed the drunken gang there, +we were glad we came in our old clothes. Where we moored, the shore is +covered with driftwood, and we piled high our front deck, selecting good +solid oak, hard maple and hemlock, with some beautiful red cedar. Soft, +rotten wood is not worth picking up, as there is no heat derived from +it. Oak and hickory are the best. Old rails are good. Take no +water-soaked wood if you can get any other—it will dry out in a week or +two perhaps, but you may need it sooner, and when dry it may be +worthless. Several men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> had erected a shack along shore which we should +have taken shots at, but the sun was not out enough. <i>Desplaines</i> is +doing a fair business.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Hickman, Ky., Dec. 5, 1903.—We tied up here after a run of 38 miles +from Cairo. The boys stopped at Columbus, Ky., but did no business—town +full of extinguishers. Hickman is built of brick and stone, as to the +business section, and lit by electricity. Made a bad moor, on a rocky +shore, with anchor out and front starboard bow firmly embedded in mud; +and this worried us so we slept poorly. Wind sprang up about 9 p. m., +but not fierce. During the night several steamers passed and rocked us, +but not much—the bow was too firmly washed into the mud by the strong +current. This morning it took all hands half an hour to get us off, +about 10 a. m. We were told at Hickman that 100 dwellings had been +erected during the year, and not one was unoccupied. About 3,000 people, +four drug stores, and an alert lot of business men in fine stores. Paid +30 cents a dozen for eggs, 10 cents for steak. We see many floaters, +some every day. Ice formed along shore last night, but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> sun is +coming out bright and warm. Wind from the south, not heavy but enough to +kick up a disagreeable bumping against our prow. This is always so when +the wind is against the current.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Donaldson's Point, Mo.—We stopped here yesterday afternoon about 2 p. +m., that the boys might have a day's shooting. J. J., Allen and Taylor +went out on the sand bar all night, and got nothing except an exalted +idea of the perspicuity of the wild goose. <i>En passant</i> they were almost +frozen, despite a huge fire of drift they kindled.</p> + +<p>We tied up on the channel side, just below Phillips' Bar light, a good +sandy shore with deep water and no snags—an ideal mooring place. We +moored with the port side in, the <i>Desplaines</i> outside, lines fore and +aft and the fore gangway plank out. But the launch was uneasy and would +bump the stern, and there must have been a review of the ghosts of +departed steamers during the night, for many times we were awakened by +the swell of passing vessels rocking us.</p> + +<p>This morning is clear and cold, temperature 20, with a keenness and +penetrating quality not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> felt with a temperature twenty degrees lower in +the north. We saw some green foliage in the woods, and Clement said it +was "fishing pole"—cane! Our first sight of the canebrake. The Doctor, +J. J., the boy and Clement went up through the cornfields to the woods, +but found no game. A few doves got up, but too far away for a shot. Jim +got a mallard, Woodruff a fox squirrel—and one whose name we will not +disclose shot a young pig. An old darkey came down to the <i>Desplaines</i> +with milk, chickens and eggs, for which he got a fabulous price; also a +drink, and a few tunes on the phonograph, and he hinted that if they +should shoot a pig he would not know it, or words to that effect. +Hundreds of hogs ran the woods, and showed the tendency to reversion by +their long, pointed heads and agile movements. Apparently they eat the +pecans, for their tracks were thick under the trees. Rather expensive +food, with the nuts worth 30 cents a pound.</p> + +<p>About 3:20 we got under way for down the river. This morning a floater +passed quite close to the boat. Two men and a dog manned the craft. Said +they were bound for Red River. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> children gathered a bag of fine +walnuts of unusual size. As we never lose a chance of adding to the +wood-pile, we gathered in a couple of oak rails and a fine stick of +cedar, which we sawed and split for exercise.</p> + +<p>There are no cows on the negro farms, no chickens. In fact, their +traditional fondness for the fowl is strictly limited to a penchant for +someone else's chickens. When we ask for milk they always take it to +mean buttermilk, until enlightened. Here we saw a remarkable boat, a +dugout canoe not over four inches in depth, and warped at that, but the +women told us they went about in it during the floods. We bought some +pecans, paying 7 cents a quart.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1903.—Sunday evening we ran till we reached New +Madrid, Mo., about 8 p. m. We made a good landing, tying up with the tug +alongside, lines out at each end, both fenders out and the launch +astern. The boys did a good business here, and enjoyed the visit. Got +meat and some drugs, but could get no milk or eggs, and only two pounds +of butter in the town. After noon we got off and ran down to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> Point +Pleasant, a decaying town isolated by a big sand bar in front of her, +covered with snags. The <i>Desplaines</i> picked up a fine lot of wood here, +enough to run them a week, which they piled on our front deck. This +morning we came on to Tiptonville landing, where we saw a cotton field +and gin. This is the northern limit of cotton cultivation, and it was +poor stuff.</p> + +<p>Everyone who accosts us asks for whisky, which seems to be scarce. The +temperance movement evidently has made great progress in these places. +The bluffs grow higher as we go south, and no attempt seems made to +restrain the river from cutting in at its own sweet will. Crumbling +banks of loose sand and earth, fringed with slim willows and larger +trees, at every rod some of them hanging over into the stream. The snag +boat <i>Wright</i> seems busy removing these when menacing navigation, but we +see many awaiting her.</p> + +<p>This afternoon we passed a floater who had gone by us at New Madrid. +Propelled by two stout paddles and four stout arms, they have made as +good time as we with our tug. When we see how these men entrust +themselves to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> mercies of the great river in such a frail craft, it +seems as if we had little to fear in our big boat. They have a little +scow about six feet by ten, all but the front covered by a cabin, +leaving just enough room in front for the sweeps, and they tow a skiff. +If the wind is contrary or too stiff they must lie up, but at other +times the current carries them along with slight exertion at the sweeps. +The river is falling fast. Each night we tie up with all the boat +floating easily, and every morning find ourselves aground. It seems to +fall about six inches a night.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Thursday, Dec. 10, 1903.—For two nights and a day we lay at +Caruthersville, Mo., where the <i>Desplaines</i> had <i>bon marche</i>, selling 16 +extinguishers and getting the promise of a dozen more. A large town, +full of business and saloons, gambling houses, booths for rifle shooting +and "nigger babies," etc. Tradespeople seemed surly and ungracious, +except one woman who kept a restaurant and sold us oysters and bread. +She was from Illinois. Still, it must be a place of unusual +intelligence, as a doctor is Mayor.</p> + +<p>Last night we had a disagreeable blow from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> the northwest. We went out +and overhauled our mooring carefully before retiring. The back line was +insecure, as there was nothing to which it could be attached, and the +boys had merely piled a lot of rocks on the end; but we could see +nothing better; so merely strengthened the lines fastening the fenders +to the boat. It was a circular storm, apparently, as the wind died out +and in a few hours returned. When we set out at 7:30 this morning it was +fairly calm, but at 8:20 it is again blowing hard from the same quarter. +The sun is out brightly and it is not cold. Whitecaps in plenty but +little motion, as we travel across the wind. There are now no large +towns before us and we hope to run rapidly to Memphis. The river is big, +wide, deep and powerful. Huge trunks of trees lie along the bars. What a +giant it must be in flood. Not a day or night passes without several +steamers going up and down. The quantity of lumber handled is great, and +growing greater as we get south. Our chart shows the levees as beginning +above Caruthersville, but we saw nothing there except a little stone +dumped alongshore. Waves pounding hard.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p><p>Gold Dust Landing, Tenn., Dec. 10, 1903. In spite of a head wind we +made a run of 52 miles today, and moored below a Government barge. The +fine steamer <i>Robert E. Lee</i> was at the landing and pulled out just as +we ran in. The day was clear and sunny, not very cold, about 39, but +whenever we ran into a reach with the west or southwest wind ahead the +boat pounded most unpleasantly. No floaters afloat today, but numbers +along shore in sheltered nooks. The levees here are simply banked +fascines, stone land earth, to keep the river from cutting into the +shores. Even at low water there is an enormous amount of erosion going +on. It takes unremitting vigilance to keep the river in bounds and the +snags pulled out.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Fogleman's Chute, Dec. 12, 1903.—We made a famous run yesterday of over +60 miles, and tied up here about 5 p. m. on the eastern shore, the +channel being on the west. A small cabin boat stands near us, in which +are a man and three boys who have come down from Indiana, intending to +seek work at Memphis. Their first experience cabin boating. We asked one +of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> boys if he liked it, and he looked up with a sudden flash of +wildness and keen appreciation.</p> + +<p>A fierce south wind came up in the night, and there are situations more +enviable than trying to sleep in a houseboat with three boats using her +for a punching bag. And the little woman had asthma, badly, to make it +worse. This morning it was blowing hard and raining. The rain beat in on +the front deck and ran into the hold and under the quarter-rounds into +the cabin. The roof leaked into the storeroom also. Millie was seasick +and some one else would have been, but he took the children out for a +rove. Found a walnut tree and gathered a large bag of fine nuts. The +others brought in some squirrels and pocketsful of pecans, but we found +neither. Stretched the skins on wood and applied alum to the raw +surface, intending to make the little woman some buskins to keep her +feet warm. Quantities of mistletoe grow on the trees about us. The sun +came out about 2 p. m., when too late to make the run to Memphis, 22 +miles, before dark. Yesterday was so warm that we could sit out in the +open air without wraps. We are tied up to Brandywine Island, near the +lower end.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p><p>After lunch we sallied out again and met the owner of the soil, who +ordered us off in a surly manner. In the whole trip this is the first +bit of downright incivility we have met. After he found we were not +after his squirrels he became somewhat less ungracious. The sky soon +became overcast again, and the rain returned. About sunset it set in to +blow a gale from the northwest, and the billows rolled in on us. We got +the launch and skiff out of danger, carefully overlooked our lines and +fenders, but still the tug bumped against the side. How the wind blows, +and the waves dash against the side of the tug driving her against our +side with a steady succession of blows. It worried us to know that the +safety of the boats depended on a single one-inch rope, and the tug +lashed against the outside strained on it. The rope was tense as a +fiddle-string. If it broke the stern of our boat would swing out and +throw us on an ugly snag that projected slightly about six feet below +us; and the tug would be thrown into the branches of a huge fallen +cypress. So we took the long rope and carried it ashore to the north +end, from which the wind came, and lashed it securely to a huge stump, +then tied the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> other end through the overhang of our boat at that end. +If the line parts the new line will hold us against the soft, sandy +bank, and give time for further effort to keep us off the snag. As it +turned out the line held, but it does no harm to take precautions, and +one sleeps better.</p> + +<p>During the night the wind died out, and the morning of Sunday, Dec. 13, +1903, is clear and cold, a heavy frost visible. The river is full of +floaters, one above us, two directly across, one below, another above, +and one floating past near the other shore. The <i>Desplaines</i> is getting +up steam and we hope to see Memphis by noon.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i102.jpg" alt="MEMPHIS LEVEE. TOUGH CROWD THE CANOE" /></div> + +<p class="bold">MEMPHIS LEVEE. "TOUGH CROWD." <span class="s6"> </span>THE CANOE.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">DUCK SHOOTING.</p> + +<p>Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 20, 1903.—We ran in here last Sunday morning, Dec. +13, intending to stock up and get out on Wednesday. But Handwerker had +arranged a shoot for us at Beaver Dam Club, and there we spent Tuesday +afternoon and Wednesday morning, bagging 26 ducks—12 mallards, 8 +green-winged teal, 4 pintails, one widgeon and one spoonbill. Met Mr. +Selden, the president of the club, and Mr. O'Sullivan, and of course +enjoyed every minute of the time.</p> + +<p>The club is built on social principles, with a large sleeping room with +four beds; better conducive to fun than seclusion—and the first is what +we seek at such resorts. After lunch we set out, with negro boatmen, +finding a thin coat of ice over the lake. This is an old river bed, of +half-moon shape, with a little water and bottomless mud. Thousands of +ducks were perched on the ice and swimming in the few small open spaces. +We laboriously broke our way through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> the ice to our chosen stands, and +constructed blinds. Each boat had three live decoys; and after this +first experience with these we must say that we retired fully convinced +of our innate regularity as physicians—for we cannot quack a bit! Every +time a flight of ducks appeared, our tethered ducks quacked lustily, the +drake keeping silent; and it was effective. That evening the shooting +was the most exasperating in our experience. Twice we brought down +doubles, but not a bird of either did we bag. We had eight birds down, +wounded, which in falling broke holes in the ice—and we left them till +we were going in, as they could neither fly nor swim off; but the sun +came out warmer, melted the ice, and not a bird of the lot did we bag. +If there is anything that takes the edge off a duck hunter's +pleasure—at least of this one's—it is wounding a bird and not being +able to put it out of misery.</p> + +<p>A good dinner made some amends, and the story telling continued far into +the night—in fact was still going when the writer fell asleep.</p> + +<p>Next morning we had better luck, and got every bird knocked down, as +well as one of those winged the preceding day. In all we bagged 26<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +ducks during the two days—and that for a party of 12 on the two boats +is not an excessive supply. Not an ounce of the meat was wasted, and we +could have enjoyed another meal of them.</p> + +<p>One singular accident robbed us of a fine greenhead. A flock of five +passed directly over our heads, so high that the guide said it was +useless to try for them; but strong in our confidence in the Winchester +we took the leader, and he tumbled. Yes, tumbled so hard, from such a +height that he broke through the ice and plunged so deeply into the mud +that we were unable to find him, after most diligent trials. We had been +impressed with the force of a duck's fall, when shooting one coming +directly head on, and can realize that a blow from one may be dangerous. +In Utah we heard of a man who was knocked out of his boat and his head +driven into the mud so far that he would have been smothered had not the +guide been able to draw him out.</p> + +<p>On reaching the boat Wednesday evening we found that J. J. had improved +the opportunity of our absence by getting drunk, and had frightened the +folk by developing that most objectionable form of it, a fighting drunk. +After a few days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> he wound up in the lock-up, and there we leave +him—thoroughly disgusted that he should have done such a thing when +entrusted with the care of the sick wife and little ones.</p> + +<p>The wife and Doctor took dinner with some friends, meeting a number of +Memphis folk; and it is with unusual regret we bid adieu to this fine +city. Stores are dearer than in St. Louis.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>We were all ready to start by Saturday morning, but it was raining and +foggy, the wind from the south too strong for our launch. Then the bank +to which we were tied began to cave in, and soon our towlines were +adrift. The <i>Desplaines</i> got up steam and took us north, where we +remained all day; but as it was changing toward the north by evening we +pulled down below town and tied in a little cove under but at a distance +from the bluff. All night it blew hard from the west, and drove us into +the mud bank, where we are solidly planted now. Three lines out and the +anchor, with the mud, held us pretty steady, but the tug heaved against +us all night. Jim had cemented the front baseboard with white lead and +this kept out the water, but it came in under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> the sides, and we will +have to treat them similarly. The roof seemed tight. The windows leak, +too, and will have to be sealed somehow—with putty, or the seams +covered with strips of muslin glued on with varnish.</p> + +<p>Our Cairo wood is gone, and we are using drift, which is wet. We must +saw and split about a cord, and let it dry out. There is great plenty +along the shores. The Missis has had asthma as bad as ever before—small +wonder.</p> + +<p>The <i>Desplaines</i> seems to be overmanned, for the owner, Mr. Woodruff, +asked us to take Taylor off his hands. This we are very glad to do, as +we are short, since losing J. J., and Taylor has gotten our launch in +good shape at last. In fact we might have used her from St. Louis if we +had had him. Taylor is an Englishman, a teetotaler, and is studying with +a correspondence school to fit himself for the highest positions +attainable by an engineer.</p> + +<p>One has to be careful what he says to the Memphis people. We mentioned +to Prof. Handwerker our need of a dog, and added that we preferred one +that did not like negroes, as we wanted him to give warning when any +stray ones<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> came near. Next day down came a crate containing a little +dog, a brindle terrier, with the word that he could not abide negroes. +He at once proceeded to endear himself to every one on board, and fully +verified his recommendations. His name is Bluff; and surely never was +dog better named. The brave little creature would, we verily believe, +bluff an elephant.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">SNAGGED IN TENNESSEE CHUTE.</p> + +<p>President's Island, Dec. 21, 1903.—Yesterday was one of high hopes and +unexpected disaster. All morning Taylor wrestled with the engine; Fluent +ran down to tell of a telegram awaiting us; we went up in the +<i>Desplaines</i> and found it was concerning some mss. not delivered by the +express; found the office open, the mss. had been returned to Chicago +Saturday on wire from there, and no explanation as to why it had not +been delivered during the week, on every day of which we had been to the +express office after it. Holiday rush.</p> + +<p>At 1 p. m. we got off, the launch behind and steered by ropes running +around the cabin to its front. All went well till Jim came in to dinner +and we took the ropes—gave one turn to see which way the steering ran, +found we were wrong and at once turned the other way, but that one turn +gave the unwieldy craft a cant in to the shore, along which ran the +swift current,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> and we drifted among a lot of snags, the launch caught, +the boat caught, tore the blades off the propeller, broke the coupling; +let go the anchor, and came to. In the melee we noticed the front end of +a gasoline launch rise from some snags—a wreck, buoyed up by the air in +the tank. The boys rowed back but could not locate it. Then we tried to +lift our anchor, to find it fouled with something too heavy to be +raised, and had to buoy it and cast loose with the 75 feet of cable +attached to it.</p> + +<p>We drifted quietly down to the southern end of this island, where we +tied up to the sand bar.</p> + +<p>Out fenders, one long line to a half-buried log far up the shore, the +boat held well off to guard against the falling water leaving us +aground. Well we did, for this morning the launch was so firm in the +sand that we had trouble to get loose. The night was clear and quiet, +and this morning the same—a light wind blowing us along down the river. +Laid in a lot of driftwood in long sticks. Missy had a good night but is +a little asthmatic this morning. Swept out into the current and floating +now in true cabinboat style. We will keep clear of the Tennessee Chute +next time.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p><p>The <i>Desplaines</i> came along as we were lying at the lower end of the +island, and came in to our signal. As we were totally disabled and would +have to send to Auburn, N. Y., for new flukes for our propeller, they +agreed to help us out, and took us in tow. They ran back to see if they +could find the anchor or the sunken boat, but failed to locate either.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Hardin's Point, Ark., Dec. 23, 1903.—Yesterday we ran in here after a +fifty-mile run. Tied up quite near the light, which was not well, as the +<i>Kate Adams</i> coming near rocked us as badly as any steamer we have yet +met. We passed her and her consort, the <i>James Lee</i>, both aground within +half a mile of each other, near Mhoon's. Both got off, as the <i>Lee</i> came +down today. The river is lower than usual, as the Mhoon gauge showed +minus three.</p> + +<p>We laid in a good supply of wood, and then Jim and Frank found a lot of +cannel coal over on the sand bar, and all day they have been loading up +the <i>Desplaines</i> and our boat with it. Some barge has been wrecked there +and the small pieces washed away, so that what is left is in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> large +pieces, the smallest taking a strong man to lift. It is curiously +water-burnt. The edges are well rounded, so it must have been long under +water. A little darkey brought around six silver bass, weighing possibly +half a pound each, for which he accepted forty cents. They have a barrel +ready for shipment. He called them game fish.</p> + +<p>A fine buck shot out of the woods on the other side, followed at a +distance by ten hounds, and the deer nearly ran into Woodruff's boat, +then swam to this side, where our boys vainly tried to get a shot. An +old darkey said he could have been easily drowned by the man in the +skiff; but we are glad that species of murder did not offer attractions +to Woodruff. The bars are resonant with the honking of the geese. The +natives have no cows, chickens, nothing to sell, not even pecans—which +here become "puckawns." This evening Jake brought in a fine wild goose, +the first we have seen on board as yet. It has blown from the south all +day, but is quiet this evening.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Helena, Ark., Dec. 25, 1903.—We left Hardin Point about 9 a. m., with +the wind dead ahead,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> and strong enough to make the beating unpleasant. +The front deck is loaded with over a ton of coal, and this seems to make +the boat steadier, less inclined to pitch and toss like a cork on the +waves.</p> + +<p>Christmas day is clear and bright, the sun out, thermometer at 10:30 +standing at 55 outside in the shade, and with a little wood fire running +up to 90 in the cabin. The Missis is better, her asthma becoming more +spasmodic and better controlled by smoke. It rained all last night, and +though the caulking did good, there was still some water came in around +the surbases. We got some putty to help out the lead. At every stop we +pick up something of value to us; usually some good hard firewood. Here +we found a section of the side of a boat washed ashore, solid oak, with +several bolts a yard long through it. Frank lugged it in and has broken +it up into stovewood, and secured the bolts for stakes.</p> + +<p>About 2 p. m. we reached Helena, a town of about 25,000. Moored at a +distance up the stream, and landed on a muddy shore. The muddy south. We +are all coated with the most adhesive of muds, the fineness of the grain +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>rendering it difficult to remove from the clothes. The town is full of +negroes, celebrating the holiday; and nearly all carry suspicious +looking jugs. The costumes and shouting would make the fortune of a +museum in the north. Found it impossible to secure a turkey fit to eat, +but got the Missis some fine oysters and a chicken, and bear-steaks for +our dinner—at 25 cents a pound. Game is not allowed to be sold in the +state. Pity they do not extend the prohibition to whisky.</p> + +<p>We made candy, and in the evening had the crew all in, and grabbed for +presents in a big basket under a newspaper. We had a happy time, +although we were all out on the big river far from home. The +<i>Desplaines</i> let their wild goose spoil, and threw it overboard this +morning. At 10 a. m. we set out for down the river.</p> + +<p>We searched the Memphis papers for some intimation as to J. J.'s fate, +but found none. Found the tale of an Indiana man who was coming down on +a houseboat with his wife, intending to make his home in Greenville, +Miss. He was told at Cairo that there was a law in Tennessee against +carrying concealed weapons, so here he started out with his pistol in +his hands. He was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> arrested and sentenced to jail for a year less a day, +and $50 fine, the law forbidding the carrying of weapons. Such a +punishment, administered to a stranger unaware of the law seems a +travesty of justice. It is said here that it is safer to kill a man than +to carry a weapon; and it seems so.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">MOORING.</p> + +<p>We have been studying the subject of mooring, and present the following +as an ideal moor:</p> + +<p>The fenders are stout poles six inches thick at the butt, three at the +small end, which rests on shore. This end is deeply embedded in the +dirt, so that it will not float away or ride up on the bank. The big end +is firmly fastened to the side timbers, the four-by-fours running across +the boat under the floor, by a short chain, which will not chafe out +like a rope. The latter is better, as being elastic, however. Either +must be strong to spare. The cable is an inch Manilla rope. Thus moored +we are ready for all chances. The best thing to moor to is a stump or +log firmly embedded, and as far as possible from shore, if crumbly, for +the current may cut in fast. At Memphis our stake, forty feet from +shore, was washed out in an hour. Never tie close to a bank that may +fall in on the boat, or to a tree that may fall and crush you; or to a +bank that may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> hold you ashore if the water falls in the night; or, +worst of all, over a snag, for the waves of a passing steamer may lift +the boat up and drop it so hard on the snag as to knock a hole in the +bottom. When possible moor where you will have a bar to protect you from +the force of waves rolling in from a broad stretch of water. A narrow +creek or cove would be ideal, but as yet we have hardly seen such a +thing where we wanted to stop. When moored with the long side to the +shore, less surface is exposed to the current and the wind, and less +strain put upon the cables.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i117.jpg" alt="AN IDEAL MOOR" /></div> + +<p class="bold">AN IDEAL MOOR.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">A LEVEE CAMP.</p> + +<p>Allison's Landing, Ark., Dec. 26, 1903.—We landed here after dark last +night, having been delayed at Friars' Point by the tug getting aground. +The cabinboat floated down the river some distance, and then the back +current and wind carried her on a sand bar. The tug was three hours +getting free, by warping off with the anchor.</p> + +<p>We found this a levee camp. Hardly had we landed when a big negress came +aboard to see what we had for sale. They wanted drygoods badly, and were +much disappointed. Two pleasant gentlemen boarded us, the heads of the +camp; and spent the evening on the tug, with singing and music. They are +here surrounded by negroes, and a little white association seemed as +agreeable to them as it was to us. In the night all hands but Dr. and +Taylor went cat-hunting.</p> + +<p>At 11 p. m. a furious wind storm sprang up from the northeast, exactly +the direction from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> which to blow us on shore; which was providential, +as we only had one long line out and that poorly secured to a stake in +the soft, oozy bank. Frank saw that everything was right, and wisely +went to bed; but we could not rest easy, and sat up till 4 a. m. The +canoe on the roof blew over against the stovepipe and we had to get out +four times and push it back with a pole. It grew quite cold and the fire +was grateful.</p> + +<p>About midnight the hunters came back with the usual luck to tell of. +This morning Jake, the boy and Doctor went out to a bayou after ducks, +but saw none. This country is said to swarm with game but it keeps +hidden from us. What a thing is a bad reputation!</p> + +<p>In the woods we noted the buds springing from the roots of the cypress, +the size of an egg, and growing upward in hollow cones, called cypress +knees. It is a remarkable and noble tree, the buttressed stumps giving +promise of superb height, which seems rarely realized. Half a mile back +from the landing we came upon the levee, a great bank of earth but +partly covered with grass. Deep and narrow bayous run parallel with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> it, +in which could be seen the movements of quite large fish.</p> + +<p>Robins, redbirds, jays, woodpeckers, blackbirds, and a variety of still +smaller birds abounded; but we did not get any game. The two gentlemen +in charge of the levee camp, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Ward, went with us into +the woods, but the game was wary. All hands so thoroughly enjoyed the +visit at this hospitable camp that for the rest of the trip we talked of +it. We were indebted to these gentlemen for a roast of fresh pork. Their +task is a difficult one, to keep in order so many negroes, all of the +rough and illiterate sort. Quarrels over "craps" and shooting among the +negroes are not infrequent, and in one a white man, passing by, was +killed. Mr. Rogers has the repute of getting his men to work, and we +heard a scrap of a song among them, expressive of their sentiments or +impressions:</p> + +<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Blisters on yo' feet an' co'ns on yo' han',</div> +<div>Wat yo' git for wo'kin' fo' de black-haired man."</div> +</div></div></div> + +<p>A firm hand is absolutely necessary to rule these men, with whom +weakness is perilous. Only a few weeks after our visit to one of these +camps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> a negro got in a dispute over a trivial sum in his account, got +hold of the pistol the white man in charge had incautiously left in the +negro's reach, and shot him dead. If there is anything in the art of +physiognomy, many of these levee men are desperadoes.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Dec. 28, 1903.—We left our friendly entertainers at Allison's and ran +down to a bar, where Woodruff took in several tons of very good coal, +costing nothing but the trouble of shipping. Mr. Rogers accompanied us +to Modoc.</p> + +<p>Tied up at Mayflower landing, a good moor. A German there told us a +trading boat at the landing above took away $6,000 in three days last +year. The trader has a large scow, with a cabin, and a steamer to handle +it. Every place we stop the people come to inquire what we have to sell. +We got off at 7 a. m. today, passed the mouths of the White and +Arkansas, and have run at least 60 miles. We have landed after dark, and +we are not sure as to where we are. The weather has been most pleasant, +temperature about 60 all day, little wind. The river is full of drift, +but there is little traffic. Just now a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> steamer passed up. At +Riverton were several small ones, but otherwise the solitude is +unbroken.</p> + +<p>The shores are wild, the banks continually crumbling into the river. A +prodigious number of snags must be furnished yearly. Very few wild fowl +appear. Floaters appear occasionally, but probably there will be fewer +now, as many are directed to the White river. This is probably near +Monterey Landing. As the landing was narrow and beset with snags we +moored with the prow to the bank, two lines to the shore and the anchor +out astern. We have much to say about mooring; but it is a matter of +supreme importance to the comfort and even the safety of the crew. It is +not specially pleasant to turn out of bed in one's nightclothes, with +the temperature below freezing, to find the boat adrift in a furious +storm and pounding her bottom out on snags.</p> + +<p>We bought a new anchor from a trading boat at Allison's. It is 50 +pounds, galvanized, with folding flukes and a ring at the end for a guy +rope, so that if fouled as the other was, we can pull the flukes +together and free it. Paid four dollars for it—same as for the other, +but this is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> a much better anchor, though not as strong as the solid +one.</p> + +<p>Jim has gone around the cabin and puttied up the cracks, and we hope the +next rain will keep out. If not, we will get deck pitch and pay the +seams.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Arkansas City, Ark., Dec. 30, 1903.—Landed here shortly after noon, and +spent the balance of the day. About 1,000 people, mostly black; some +good stores; got a few New Orleans oysters, which are sold by number, 25 +cents for two dozen; bought a new anchor rope, 75 feet, 3.4 inch, for +$3.04, or 14½ cents a pound. Eggs, 35 cents a dozen. No trade for +extinguishers, though Woodruff had a nibble for his steamer. Weather +clear, and temperature rising to about 60 in midday, cold at night. This +morning at 8, temperature 34. No wind. River smooth. What a lot of +gasoline engines are in use. There are at least six boats rigged with +them here. One Memphis party is building a new hull ashore and moving an +old cabin on it. The lady who owns the hotel and drug store has mocking +birds for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> sale, $25.00 for a singer—lady birds not worth selling.</p> + +<p>Got off near 9 a. m., for Greenville.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>January 1st, 1904.—We left Arkansas City on the 30th, at 9 a. m., and +reached Greenville, Miss., that evening just before dark. It is a +rambling town, behind the levee, about 10,000 people, but evidently has +considerable business. Twenty-five mills of various kinds are there. +Supplies higher than since leaving Chicago—15 cents for meat of any +sort, 35 cents for eggs or butter, 25 cents for a dozen fine large shell +oysters from New Orleans, the first we have met, and which the sick +woman appreciated $25.00 worth.</p> + +<p>The <i>Desplaines</i> did some business, but many of the mills are owned in +the cities and the managers cannot buy here.</p> + +<p>An old negro lives in a little gully washed by the rain in the bank, +close to where we tied up. He has a little fire, and lies there all +night with a board on edge to rest his back against. In the morning we +took him a cup of coffee which he took eagerly, but without thanks. An +old negress brought him something—presumably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> food. Last night it +rained some, but this morning he was still there. During the day we saw +him wandering about the streets, reminding one of a lost dog.</p> + +<p>We left at noon, but as it was still raining it was equally +uncomfortable going or lying still. They tried the tug alongside, but +the rudder would not swing the big cabinboat and they had to return to +towing. About 2 p. m. the fog shut in so dense that we had to make a +landing, presumably in Walker's Bend, on the Arkansas side. Frank +brought off some of the finest persimmons we have yet seen. The cabin is +so warm that some flies have appeared, probably left-overs, though the +Missis says they have them all the winter down here. Picked up a nice +lot of drifting boards for stove.</p> + +<p>Exploration establishes the fact that we are just below Vaucluse +Landing, and that the land is rich in pecan trees, well laden with nuts, +which these lazy darkies let go to waste. Frank found a store in the +neighborhood. Chicot lake, back of us, is said to be rich in ducks, and +if the fog lasts tomorrow we must have some. The putty has kept out the +rain today very well. We suffer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> for ventilation, though, and awake in +the morning with headaches. It is bright moonlight, but still foggy. It +rained during the night and we secured a fine supply of rainwater in the +launch cover.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Shiloh Landing, Miss., Jan. 3, 1904.—We lay last night at Wilson's +Point, La., and all night we listened to the creaking of our fenders +against the side, and felt the heave of the tug as she surged against +our side under the influence of a driving northwest wind. Said wind +carried us along yesterday for a run of over 44 miles, sometimes with +and at others against us, as the river curved. It was a cold wind and +made the cabin fire comfortable. Two sailboats passed us going down, one +a two-master from Chicago and the other the <i>Delhi</i>, from Michigan City. +They made good with the wind. There was a large trading boat with stern +wheel above our landing, but we did not visit her.</p> + +<p>About 1 p. m. we ran in here, and the tug people stopped because Mr. +Rogers' brother was in charge. We found a levee camp with 36 tents, and +examined the commissary with interest. Got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> some canned oysters for the +Missis. No milk or eggs, fresh meat or chickens. The men all carry big +44s, and sometimes use them, we hear. It grows colder—at 5 p. m. +temperature outside 30—and the cold is harder to bear than a much lower +one up north. Every few miles there is a landing, and a pile of cotton +bales and bags of seed waiting for the <i>Delta</i> or <i>American</i>, fine +steamers that ply between Vicksburg and Greenville.</p> + +<p>The great, greedy river, forever eating its banks, which crumble into +the current constantly, even now when the water is so low. Every sand +bar has its wrecks, and opposite Lake Providence we saw men and teams +busy over the coal in sunken barges.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Monday, Jan. 4, we left Shiloh at 7:20, clear and cold, temperature 28, +moon shining, but the sun not yet visible from behind the bluff.</p> + +<p>Yesterday we passed the steamer <i>City of Wheeling</i>, fast on a bar, and +we hear she has been there for two months—grounded on her first trip. +But the water is rising and she expects to be soon released.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">VICKSBURG.</p> + +<p>Thursday, Jan. 7. 1904.—We arrived at Vicksburg in the afternoon of +Monday, Jan. 4, and were much impressed by the beauty of the city as +seen from the river. Spread along the heights it looks like a large +city, though it only claims a population of about 22,000. Contrary to +expectation we found it busy, with evidences of life and enterprise. The +Government has built a levee which blocks up the mouth of the Yazoo, and +by a canal diverted the water of that river into the channel that runs +along the front of the city; the old bed of the river Mississippi +previous to 1876, when it cut a new bed for itself and threatened to +leave the historic fortress an inland town.</p> + +<p>Just before reaching the city we met a row of whirlpools reaching across +the channel, whose violence would make a man in a skiff feel queer. +These are the only notable ones we have seen, except just before +reaching Arkansas City.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p><p>The <i>Desplaines</i> could not tow us against the swift current in the +Yazoo, so left the houseboat about 300 yards up that stream and steamed +up to the city. After visiting the postoffice we started to walk back +along the levee, reaching the place we had left the boat just before +dark. She was not there, and we walked along the bank up stream till it +grew too dark to see, then got lost among the railway buildings till +directed by a friendly youth to the street where the cars ran. Reached +the tug at last, and the owner took us back with a lantern along the +levee, finding the boat in the great river, the boys having dropped down +out of the Yazoo. As we received the flukes for our launch, which Taylor +put on, we concluded to part company from the tug, and settled up with +them. Meanwhile the quarreling among her crew came to a climax and Jake +was set on shore by them. He was pilot, cook, hunter and general +all-round utility man, coming for the trip without wages, and it seems +to us suicidal for them to dismiss him, when negro roustabouts are +refusing $4.00 a day from the steamers, and engineers impossible to +secure at any price. We were full handed, but liked Jake, so we took +him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> aboard as a supernumerary till he could do better.</p> + +<p>The 6th was dull and rainy but we got off, and ran about 16 miles in the +afternoon, tying up somewhere in Diamond Bend, probably below Moore's +Landing.</p> + +<p>At V. had a letter from J. J., saying he had been sentenced to a year in +the workhouse and $50.00 fine for carrying weapons.</p> + +<p>During the night it rained heavily, and we caught a fine lot of +rainwater in the launch cover. One learns to appreciate this on the +river.</p> + +<p>During the afternoon we saw a negro shoot from the bank directly down on +a few geese, of which he wounded one. It swam across the river and we +got out the skiff and followed. On shore it crouched down as if dead, +and waited till Jim got within ten feet, when it got up and flew across +the river. We followed, and he shot it with a rifle when about 150 yards off.</p> + +<p>By that time we were miles below the darky, and as he has no boat we +fear he will not be on hand to put in a claim for the goose. We bought +one at V. for 90 cents; also eight jack-snipe for a dollar. Roast beef +was 12½ cents for round,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> 25 for rib, and 17½ for corned beef. +Milk 10 cents a quart from wagon, buttermilk 20 cents a gallon, butter, +30 for creamery and 25 for country.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Waterproof Cutoff, Friday, Jan. 8, 1904.—We ran about 23 miles on the +7th, the engine simply refusing to go; and we drifted most of the time. +Once we got fast on a nasty snag and it took all our force to get off. +We tied up to a sand bar near Hard Times Landing, in the bend of that +name. Bluff and the children had a refreshing run on the sand. Got off +today at 8 a. m., and by 1O the engine started off in good shape and has +been running well all day. The weather is clear and warm, thermometer +standing at 72 this afternoon. Little wind, but that from the south. +Some clouds betoken a possible rain. Our first wild goose for dinner on +the 6th, and all liked it well.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Saturday, Jan. 9, 1904.—We ran about forty miles yesterday, tying up +above L'Argent in a quicksandy nook. At 4 this morning these lazy boys +got up and started to float, making several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> miles before daybreak. It +is foggy at 8 and the sun invisible, but warm and with little wind. The +launch is running fitfully. Passed Hole-in-the-Wall and now opposite +Quitman Bluff.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Jan. 10, 1904.—Yesterday we reached Natchez at 1 p. m., and by 4 had +got our mail and supplies and were off down the river. The engine balked +under the influence of a lower temperature, and we had only made about +five miles when we had to tie up on account of the darkness. It rained hard.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">RIVER PIRATES.</p> + +<p>We had had our suppers, the children and Missis had gone to bed, and we +were about following them, when through the rain we heard someone get +upon the front deck. It was raining hard. We called out, asking who was +there. A man replied in a wheedling voice, saying that he was alone, +lost in the rain, and wished to remain till it was light enough to see +his way. We asked who he was, and he responded that he was a prominent +citizen of the neighborhood and asked us to open up the cabin a little +bit. The doors are on the sides, and he was evidently puzzled as to how +to get into the cabin. We were undressed and told him we could not let +him in; but he insisted. We called to the boys to see what was wanted, +thinking it might be some one in trouble; so Jake went out. The man +began to talk pretty saucily, but then Jim and Frank got out, and at +once his tone changed. He suddenly got very drunk, though perfectly +sober a moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> before. Another man turned up also, in a skiff +alongside. He gave a rambling incoherent account of why he was there; +but the other man called angrily for him to come on, and soon they left, +rowing into the darkness. The man who came aboard was about 5 feet 6; +45, red-faced, deep-set eyes; his hat drawn well over his face; rather +heavily set. The other was a sulky-faced man about 25, with light hair. +That they were river pirates there is not a doubt; and had we been +short-handed there would have been trouble.</p> + +<p>Next morning we set out, slowly floating with a little headwind, through +a fog. Temperature at 8 a. m., 50. Natchez-under-the-hill has +disappeared under the assaults of the river, and with it the wild +characters that made it famous, or rather notorious. The city is now +said to be as orderly and safe as any in the south. We now get fine gulf +oysters at 50 cents to $1 a hundred. They come in buckets. Shell oysters +are still rare. We got a small bunch of bananas at Natchez, for 60 cents.</p> + +<p>We passed Morville, floating about three miles an hour. We have never +been able to secure any data as to the speed of the current in the rivers.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p><hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Jan. 11, 1904.—We ran 42 miles yesterday, to near Union Point, tying up +to a sand bar. The boys crossed to a railway camp and were told game was +very abundant, so that it was hardly safe for a single man to go out +with the hounds at night—bear, panther and cat. We had a head wind all +day, from the west, sometimes strong enough to raise a few whitecaps, +and the engine did her stunt of bucking—which shows what she is good +for when in good humor. Temperature went up to 72 and hung around 70 all +day. This morning at 8 it is 42. The children and dog had a much needed +run on the sand. The boy needs much exercise and laboriously chops at +the heaviest wood he can find.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE ATCHAFALAYA.</p> + +<p>By lunch time we reached the mouth of the Red River, and found a rapid +current running into it from the Mississippi. We landed on the bar and +sent to town for mail, but found the postoffice had been moved to +Torrasdale, several miles away—and after walking up there found no +letters. At 3 p. m. we started up the Red, rapid, crooked, much in need +of the services of a snag boat; weather so warm the invalid came out on +deck for an hour or more. Turned into the Atchafalaya about 5 p. m., a +deep stream, said to be never less than 50 feet deep. The same shelving +banks as the great river, formed by the continual caving. We found a bed +of pebbles at the mouth of the Red and really they were like old +friends. Stone is a rarity here.</p> + +<p>We tied up a little way beyond Elmwood Landing. Henceforth we have +neither charts nor lights, but we have a born pilot in Jake, and he will +pull us through. A bad day for the asthma, in spite of the warmth.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i136.jpg" alt="RED RIVER" /></div> + +<p class="bold">RED RIVER.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p><hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Jan. 12, 1904.—If solitude exists along the Atchafalaya it is not here. +The left bank is leveed and roofs appear about every 100 yards. The +right bank is lined with little trees growing down to and into the +water. At Denson's Landing, or Simmesport, the right bank begins a +levee; there is the inevitable gas launch, a tug, and numerous other +craft, with a fish market. The wind blows dead ahead, and raises waves +nearly as big as in the big river. Pretty bum houseboats, apparently +occupied by blacks. Some noble trees with festoons of Spanish moss. No +nibbles on the trotline last night, but a huge fish heaved his side out +of the water just now. Alligator gar.</p> + +<p>Pleasant traveling now. All day long we have voyaged along the +Atchafalaya with a wind from—where? It requires a compass to determine +directions here. In fact the uncertainty of things usually regarded as +sure is singular. Now up north we know just where the sun is going to +rise; but here the only certainty about it is its uncertainty. Now it +comes up in the east—that is, over the east bank of the river; but next +day it may appear in the west, north or south.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p><p>The wind was against us all morning, but since lunch—which we had at +Woodside—it has been back of us or sideways, and has driven us along. +Fine levees line the banks. Just now we are passing a camp at work. It +is a noble river, wide and deep, with a current about as swift as the +great river. Even now, when the Barbre gauge shows 6¾ feet above low +water only, there is no obstruction to navigation by as large steamers +as plow the Mississippi. Now and then a little spire or black stack +peeping above the levee shows the presence of a village. Temperature +hovers about 62. Only a solitary brace of ducks seen in this river as yet.</p> + +<p>All afternoon we have been pursuing Melville. At 3 p. m. it was four +miles away; an hour later it was five miles off, and at 5 we had gotten +within three miles of the elusive town. We concluded to stop, in hopes +it might get over its fear and settle down; so tied up. We ascended the +levee, and a boy told us the town was within half a mile. The river is +lonely, not a steamer since leaving the mouth of Red, where the <i>Little +Rufus</i> came down and out, politely slowing up as she neared the cabin +boat, to avoid rocking us. An<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> occasional skiff is all we see, though +the landing is common, but no cotton or seed, nothing but lumber.</p> + +<p>We were correct as to our estimate of the visitors we had the other +night—river pirates. Their method is to come on rainy nights when the +dogs are under cover. By some plausible story they gain admittance to +the cabin and then—? Have the windows guarded by stout wire screens, +the doors fitted with bars, and a chain. Any visitor to a cabin boat +after night is a thief, and on occasion a murderer. If he desires +admittance after being told you are not a trader or whisky boat, open +the chain and when he tries to enter shoot him at once. It is the +sheerest folly to let one of those fellows have the first chance. No +jury in the world would fail to congratulate you for ridding the river +of such a character. There are no circumstances that can be imagined in +which an honest man would act in the way these men did. If they wanted +shelter from the rain the shore was handy. If they mistook the boat for +friends, the mistake was apparent and they knew very well they had no +business to continue their visit.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p><hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1904.—Made a good start. We got under way about +8:30, and Melville bridge soon came in view. The day is clear and warm, +water smooth as glass, with no perceptible current, and the engine +starts off as if nothing ever ruffled her temper.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">MELVILLE—FIRST DEER HUNT.</p> + +<p>Melville, La., Jan. 19, 1904.—We found this a quiet little town of 600 +people, including negroes; with sufficient stores for our simple needs, +and a daily mail east and west. We found some pleasant young gentlemen +here, with plenty of leisure and hounds, and some of us go out for deer +every day. So far no one has brought in any venison, but Jim and Frank +have had shots.</p> + +<p>The thermometer stands at about 60 to 70 all day; fires are superfluous +except at night for the weak one, the grass and clover show up green in +spots, and really we seem to have skipped winter. In the swamps the +palmettoes raise their broad fans, the live oaks rear their brawny +trunks, and bits of green life show up on all sides. Really, we do not +see what excuse the grass has for being brown, if it be not simple force +of habit, or recollection of a northern ancestry.</p> + +<p>The negro women wear extraordinary sunbonnets, huge flaring crowns with +gay trimming.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> The foreigners are Italians or Greeks; and are in the +fruit and grocery trade. An old superannuated Confed. brings us a small +pail of milk daily, for which he gets 10 cents a quart.</p> + +<p>The river is leveed 15 miles down, and the system is being extended +southward. There is a difference of opinion as to the levees, some +claiming they are injurious as preventing the elevation of the land by +deposit of mud; while one large sugar raiser said it would be impossible +to raise crops without them. The truth seems to be that the immediate +needs require the levees; but if one could let the land lie idle, or +take what crops could be raised after the floods subside, it would be +better for the owner of the next century to let in the water.</p> + +<p>We have had our first deer hunt. Six of us, with four hounds, set out in +the launch. Arriving at the right place we disembarked and walked +through the woods about a mile, the dogs having meanwhile started out +independently. Here they located us, in a small clear space, and the +rest went on to their respective stands. We looked about us and were not +favorably impressed with our location. It was too open. Deer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> coming +from any quarter would see us long before we could see them. So we +selected a spot where we could sit down on a log, in the shade of a huge +cypress, with the best cover attainable, and yet see all over the +clearing. Then we waited.</p> + +<p>By and by we heard a noise as of breaking twigs to one side. We crouched +down and held our breath, getting the rifle up so as to allow it to bear +in the right direction. Waited. A little more noise, but slight. Waited. +No more. Sat till our backs got stiff and feet cold. Then carefully and +quietly paced up and down the path. Sat down again. Concluded to eat +lunch, an expedient that rarely fails to start the ducks flying. No good +for deer.</p> + +<p>Shifted position, walked up the path to a bunch of hollies, laden with +berries. A bird was at them, and as by this time our faith in deer was +growing cool we concluded to take a shot at a robin. Did so. Missed +him—but to our horror and relief he turned out to be a mocking bird!</p> + +<p>Walked up the path and found a sluggish bayou with running water across +it. Weren't thirsty, but doubted the wisdom of drinking that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> water, and +that made us thirsty. Circled around the center of our clearing. Noted +the way the cypresses throw up stumps from the roots. Saw a big turtle +in the bayou. Red birds came about, but no robins—they are game birds +here. Searched the trees for squirrels—none there. Thought of +everything we could recollect—even began to enumerate our sins—and got +into an animated discussion with a stranger on the negro question, +awaking with a start. Shot at a hawk that roosted on a tree just out of +gunshot. Scared him, anyhow.</p> + +<p>Finally, when desperate with the task of finding expedients to keep us +awake, we heard a horn blown—or wound?—and not knowing but that some +one might be lost, whistled shrilly in reply. Occasionally a shot was +heard here and there; once in a moon the dogs gave tongue in the remote +distance. Finally one of the boys appeared, then the old uncle, and the +rest came stringing in. One had seen a deer but did not get a shot at +it. So we took up the line of march for the river, where the launch +returned us to the cabin boat. And so ended our first deer hunt.</p> + +<p>We have now been at it a week, and several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> of the boys have had shots +at the animals, but no horns decorate our boat, nor does venison fill +our craving stomachs. There are deer here, their evidences are as plain +as those of sheep in a pasture. But the only benefit they have been to +us is in the stimulation of the fancy. The weird and wonderful tales +spun by those who have had shots at the elusive creatures, to account +for the continued longevity and activity of their targets, are worth +coming here to hear. Surely never did deer go through such antics; never +did the most expert tumbler in any circus accomplish such feats of +acrobatic skill. The man who catches flying bullets in his teeth should +come down here and receive instruction from these deer.</p> + +<p>We took the Missis and daughter over to Baton Rouge, and installed them +in a huge, old-fashioned room, on Church St., a block from the +postoffice and the leading stores; with a lady of means, who sets an +excellent table, lavishly spread, and with the best of cookery, at a +price that seems nominal to us. The lofty ceilings seem doubly so after +the low deck of the cabin; the big canopied bed of walnut and quilted +silk recalls the east; while violets, camellias, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>hyacinths and +narcissus blooming in the open air, as well as sweet olive, and the +budding magnolias, make one realize that the frozen north is not a +necessity.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>January 23, 1904.—We find Melville a very good place to stay—supplies +plentiful, the people pleasant, and the place safe. The boys go out for +deer every day, but as yet no success has rewarded them. One day they +chased a doe into the river, where two boys caught her with their hands +and slaughtered her. Bah!</p> + +<p>The weather has been ideal—warm enough to make a fire oppressive save +nights and mornings—but we are now having a cold snap, whose severity +would make you northern folk, who sit in comfort over your registers, +shiver. We have actually had a white frost two nights in succession. +Fact!</p> + +<p>On the shore close by roost at least 100 buzzards. They are protected +and seem aware of it; roosting on the roof of the fish boat below us. +They tell us the sharks come up here so that bathing is unsafe, and tell +queer stories of the voracity and daring of the alligator gars. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +alligator is by no means extinct in Louisiana, being still found of +gigantic size in the bayous.</p> + +<p>Little is said here on the negro question, which seems to be settled so +well that no discussion is needed.</p> + +<p>Day after day we sit at the typewriter and the work grows fast. Tomorrow +we go to Barrow's convict camp for a shoot, and quite a lot have +gathered, and are waiting till the engine chooses to start. Every day we +have to push the boat from shore or we might be hard aground in the +morning, as we are today. The water fell last night till it uncovered +six feet of mud by the shore. The river is said to be over 100 feet deep +opposite. The bridge is built on iron tubular piers that seem to be +driven down till they strike a stratum capable of supporting the weight. +These are said to be 100 feet deep.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>January 24, 1904, we all went down to Capt. Barrow's camp for a deer +hunt, which possessed no features differing from those of the five +preceding. At 4 p. m. we quit, and started on our return. But the dogs +had not come in, so when we got up to the old convict camp we stopped,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +and Budd and Jake went back for them. And there we waited till after 10 +p. m. It grew quite cool so that the boys built a fire. Just on the +bluff above us was an old deserted house, about ready to fall into the +river when the banks shall have crumbled away a little more. We found in +it an ancient mahogany four-post bedstead and a spinning-wheel, an old +horn powderhorn, and other relics of antiquity.</p> + +<p>There were our own party of four, Budd and Wally, Thomassen and his son +"Sugar," Mr. Sellers (from one of the Melville stores), and two negro +hunters, Brown and Pinkham—and right worthy men and good hunters they +are. The fire was fed by beams from the old house, and as its cheerful +warmth was felt, the scene would have been a worthy one for an artist's +pencil. The odd stories and ceaseless banter of the negroes and the boy +were enhanced by the curious dialect. Constantly one blew his horn, and +was answered by the party who were out, or by others; and some one else +was blowing for other lost dogs, so that the woods were musical. An old +hound had come in early, tired out, and when the horns blew he would try +to get off, but was tied; so he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> would give vent to his discontent in +the most doleful of long-drawn-out howls, like a prolonged note from an +owl. At last boys and hounds came in, and we were home to our boat by +midnight.</p> + +<p>Somehow the yoke once worn till thoroughly fitted to the neck, becomes a +part of the bearer; and the best contented of the negroes were those who +held with their old masters. Even the shackles of civilization become +attractive in time—and we have resumed the reading of a daily paper +since we can get it regularly. And we like the <i>Picayune</i>, finding in +its editorials a quiet dignity that we appreciate, even though we may +not agree with the political sentiments. And there is an air of +responsibility about it; a consciousness that what it says counts, and +must therefore be preceded by due deliberation, that is novel. The local +color is also attractive. For instance the river news, and—the +jackstaffs! Now, don't say you do not know what jackstaffs are. We will +not spoil it by telling. And Lagniappe!</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">BATON ROUGE—THE PANTHER.</p> + +<p>Baton Rouge, La., Feb. 1, 1904.—While you in the North are wrestling +with zero temperatures, we are experiencing what these folk term +terrible winter weather. Men go about with heavy overcoats buttoned up +to the chin, and I saw one the other day with a tall coonskin cap, with +folds down over his neck, and earflaps. An open-grate fire is +comfortable in the mornings and tempers the chill of night for the +little one. Even the Chicago man finds a light overcoat advisable in the +mornings, though with light-weight underwear and thin outer clothes.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the violets bloom everywhere, jonquils, polyanthus +narcissus, camellias and sweet olive are in bloom, and the big rose +bushes are covered with leaves and buds that already show the color of +the flower. The grass is green in New Orleans parks, and the magnolias +are budding. Masses of chickweed cover the margins of drains and several +plants of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>unknown lineage—to the writer—are in bloom. And this is the +weather to which we constantly hear the epithet "terrible" applied here.</p> + +<p>But residents of the North who were raised in Dixie do not freeze. +Exposure to cold brings with it the ability to withstand it, and not +only that but all other morbific influences as well. It increases the +vitality, the power of resisting all noxious powers that threaten the +health and life of man.</p> + +<p>But this applies to the sound and well, not to those who already possess +a material lesion of one or more organs. For them this soft, balmy air, +this temperature that permits a maximum of exposure to the open air, are +health-giving, life-prolonging, comfort-securing.</p> + +<p>People speak of the sudden changes here—warm today and tomorrow +cold—as objectionable; but so they do everywhere, and we have found no +more changeability than elsewhere. And as to the rains: When it does +rain it pours, but most of it has been at night so far, and during the +day it dries off nicely. It it said that this is the rainy month, and we +may have to modify this view later. So far the rains have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> not been a +feature worthy of citation, as against the climate.</p> + +<p>Much attention has been given the drinking water of late years in the +riverine cities, and generally they have water on which they pride +themselves. Artesian wells are mostly utilized. The river water is muddy +and unsightly, but probably safe and certainly palatable. We depend on +our Puritan still, and a tripoli filter, and utilize the rain water we +catch in the canvas cover of the launch. No trouble has as yet affected +us from this source; and we are satisfied it pays well to take +precautions.</p> + +<p>From St. Louis down the river fairly bristles with opportunities for men +who understand business and have a little capital. But timber lands are +pretty well taken up. An Ohio party paid $100 an acre for 100 acres here +in this Atchafalaya country the other day.</p> + +<p>The people? Well, we have simply adopted the whole—white—population, +and find them delightful. There has not been a discordant note in our +intercourse with this warm-hearted, hospitable folk, who unite the +courtesy of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> French with a sincerity that makes itself felt every +moment.</p> + +<p>Dogs! Everyone seems to own hounds here. We had a few runs with them; +they came aboard and inspected us, and after due deliberation approved +of us, took up their home with us and declined to stay away; so that at +night one can scarcely set foot outside the cabin without stepping on a +sleeping hound. Even the women folk are disarmed when these dogs look up +with their big, beautiful eyes and nuzzle their cold noses into the hand +for a caress. One great fellow reared up against us, placed his paws on +our shoulders and silently studied our face awhile, then dropped to the +ground and henceforth devoted himself to us, never being far from our +side. We felt complimented!</p> + +<p>Go out with the gun, and see how these slumberous animals awake to +joyous life and activity. Then the long, musical bay, the ringing of the +hunters' horns, the quick dash of the deer past your stand, with the +dogs after, in full cry—say, brother, these low lands when leveed, +cleared and cultivated, will yield two bales of cotton to the acre, and +with cotton at 15 cents<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> and over, is not that splendid? So shut your +ears against the cry of the wild, and only consider what Progress means, +and how the individual and civic wealth is increasing as these wild +lands are brought under the plow and made productive of dollars. For is +not all of life simply a question of dollars, and success measurable +only in the bank account? So put away from you the things that make life +worth living, and devote yourself with a whole heart to the task of +making your son a millionaire, that he may make his son a +multimillionaire, and so on. It will do you so much good in the Great +Beyond to know this. That the money for which we give up all that +renders life enjoyable will either render our descendants dissipated and +useless, or enable them to oppress their fellowmen, need not be +considered. Money is all there is in life.</p> + +<p>The wife, daughter and Doctor are domiciled at Baton Rouge, while the +boys took the boats down to Alabama Bayou for a week with the big game. +Here is the small boy's report, verbatim:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p><p>Dear Mama and Papa: You talk about us not sending you any venison. If I +had any money I would send you enough to make you sick. I went hunting +with the boys this morning. Jim, Hudson and I went together. Bud drove +with the dogs. Jake and Frank went together. Frank took his shotgun and +he got lost from Jake, went to shooting robins. Jake got on an island +and did not know where he got on at. He had to wade a stream two feet +deep. After we had been looking for a stand we heard a shot behind us, +and then a rifle shot to the right of us, and three blows of Bud's horn, +which means dead deer. Jake was the first one to him, being only 300 +yards. We walked two and one-half miles before we got to him. When we +got there he had a big doe laying over a log. Bud drew him and they took +turns carrying him home. Every tooth in my head aches from chewing +venison. How are all of you? I waded about 30 ditches today over my shoe +tops and one over my knees. Bud said if I followed the dogs with him he +would give me first shot, and if I missed he would get him. Millie made +me a belt to fit the rifle cartridges. I christened my axe in deer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +blood. Bud said Queen was 10 feet behind it, King 20 feet and Diamond +ran up and threw the deer after it was shot. Then it got up and Diamond +got it in the throat and brought it down. I will have to close as it is +time to go to bed. With love to all,</p> + +<p class="right">William.</p> + +<p>Not bad for an 11-year-old. Everyone has been complaining of the +terrible weather here—frost three nights last week, and a light +overcoat not oppressive, though it is hardly necessary except for the +tendency one has to put his hands in his pockets otherwise. We asked one +of the natives what they would do in Chicago with zero weather, and he +replied with an air of conviction: "Freeze to death."</p> + +<p>We have a nibble for the boat. The river at Memphis is so full of +floating ice that the ferry boats cannot run; and that looks as if we +might not be able to get our boats towed to St. Louis before late +spring—and we want to be free. We note blooming in the open many +violets, polyanthus narcissus, camellias, sweet olive, magnolias just +budding out, and white hyacinths. The grass is putting up green shoots. +Large beds of chickweed are plentiful. The vinca was nipped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> by frost +last night. Next door is a fine palmetto and the great roses covering +the gallery are full of green leaves and the remains of the last crop of +blossoms, with new buds coming out. What a terrible winter!</p> + +<p>There is a street fair here. These people go about the country and +exhibit wherever they find a town that will pay them, their price here +being, it is said, $2,000 for a week. The Red Men pay them, and probably +the merchants subscribe to it, the business brought to town compensating +them. There are a number of attractions, like a little splinter broken +off the poorest part of Atlantic City. But it gives something to see and +do and talk about, to a town where there is too little of either for the +demand. There are a huge and a dwarf horse, glass blowers, a human +dwarf, contortionist, jubilee singers, kinetoscope, trained dogs and +monkeys, dissolving statue, and of course the nigger babies and knives +to throw at and miss. We have run against these aggregations all the way +down, and they are evidently becoming a feature of the smaller towns.</p> + +<p>Curious place for a State Capital. In our room stands a fine walnut +wardrobe with a door<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> broken open; and there is not a mechanic in the +city who can mend it. Glass is broken, and it remains so; any quantity +of miscellaneous mending and repairing needed, but it stands. The sunny +south is a bit slipshod; the ladies are delightful, but they do not work +their finger ends off cleaning out the last possibilities of dust and +dirt—they leave it to the darkies, who do what they cannot avoid doing +and stop right there.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>That our boys are not devoid of descriptive ability—and +imagination?—this chapter, written by Frank, will demonstrate.</p> + +<p>"At Melville, on the Atchafalaya, we became acquainted with some young +men who had a fine pack of deer hounds. They also call these "nigger +dogs," because they are employed for trailing convicts who escape from +the camps along the river.</p> + +<p>"Early in the morning our hunting party gathered on the levee—the +Doctor, Budd Tell, his brother Wylie, and two uncles, and four of us. +The old men were settlers and hunters of bobcat, deer, panther, bear and +other game. They said they had killed 160 deer in one winter, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +though we doubted this, we afterward found it was true.</p> + +<p>"We penetrated the woods till a desirable spot was reached, and here +Budd posted us on our stands. These are places clear of underbrush for a +space, so that the hunter may see to shoot anything that invades his +location. One man remains with the dogs, termed the driver. He was left +about two miles behind. When all had been placed the signal was given, +to start the dogs. Soon we could hear the music of their baying, as it +did not take long for them to strike a deer trail, and a fresh one at +that. The chase led in the Doctor's direction and presently we heard him +shoot—and he had downed his first deer. He got two that day. I shot +one, and Budd got a little fat doe. The others were fine bucks, weighing +175, 150 and 123 lbs. At least we thought so, after taking turns packing +them, on a pole; and that was the only scale we had; so we think it was +legal, under the circumstances.</p> + +<p>"As we were returning to the boat with our four deer, two men to each, +one man could be taking it easy all the time. Somehow the bunch got +separated in the cypress swamp, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>suddenly we heard the scream of a +panther. Then there were a number of shots, and after that silence, for +a couple of minutes. Then came a rifle shot. Jake and I being together, +we hurried in the direction of the shots. Soon we heard a noise that we +could not make out the cause of. We were still packing the deer. Then we +came in sight of the Doctor, stooping over Budd's brother. Close by lay +a dead panther. Budd's breast and arms were badly torn by the claws of +the animal, and his brother had a scalp wound and was insensible. +However, we all turned in to help, and he was soon on his feet, somewhat +damaged and rather faint, but still in the ring.</p> + +<p>"The panther had sprang on them from a tree, knocking Wylie down, then +turning on Budd who attacked the animal as soon as he realized what was +the trouble. The panther started for him like a cyclone and had his +shirt and some skin jerked off in less time than it takes for me to tell +it. Budd says he sure thought his time had come, and being somewhat of a +church member he put up a little call for help. Just then the Doctor ran +up, and by a lucky shot disabled the beast, which was soon dispatched. +He got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> the hide. The panther weighed over 100 lbs. and measured 5 feet +10 inches from nose to tip of tail.</p> + +<p>"As Budd and Wylie were too weak to carry the deer, the big cat was +allotted to them, and two of us took each a deer till we got out of the +timber, about dark. We reached the boat at 6 p. m., very tired. But we +had had our fun, and some of us had had an experience not usual even to +houseboat travelers. And we got the panther—though it came very near +getting two of the best fellows to be found in the south."</p> + +<p>Unfortunately the prize so highly valued was lost. The skin was +stretched out and placed on the roof to dry; that night the wind blew, +and next morning the skin had disappeared. The one now ornamenting the +Doctor's den was purchased to replace the original.</p> + +<p>Will some one explain how it happens that an indifferent shot, when +brought in face of such a proposition will make an unerring snap shot, +when a slight deviation would endanger the life of the companion? Many +years ago, while traversing the woods of Pennsylvania, we heard our +companion cry for help, after two shots close<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> together. We ran at full +speed, and saw him standing still, gazing at a huge snake at his feet. +Even as we ran we brought our double-barrel to our shoulder and without +taking aim blew the serpent's head off. There was no time to aim, and +had we done so it is doubtful if we could have made as good a shot.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE BOBCAT.</p> + +<p>Melville, La., Feb. 3, 1904.—Budd was watching some deer down the +river, when he saw a bobcat come out of the brush near by. He shot the +cat, when a buck ran out within twenty feet of him. He made a quick shot +at the buck, got him, and then ran after the cat. She had crawled under +some brush and thinking her dead he crawled after her. Just as he caught +hold of her leg to pull her out she turned on him and flew at his chest, +in which she embedded her claws. There was a lively tussle for a few +minutes, when he got away, and the cat crawled under a log. But when he +again attempted to pull her out she flew at him, apparently little the +worse for her wounds; and it was not till he succeeded in cutting her +throat that she died. He was pretty well clawed up, sufficiently to +deprive him of any further desire to tackle a bobcat, only a few of +whose lives had been expended.</p> + +<p>Here is a native's sample story:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p><p>"Father had been troubled by a bear that ate his corn, so he sat up one +night to get him. He noted where the bear came in from the canebrake, +and placed himself so that the wind blew from that place to his stand. +It was bright moonlight. Along in the night came Bruin, sniffing and +grunting. He paused at the fence till satisfied the way was clear, then +knocked a rail off the top and clambered over. He made his way among the +corn, and rearing up began to pull off the ears and eat them. Then dad +fired a handful of buckshot into him, breaking his shoulder. The bear +made for the place he had crossed the fence, scrambled over, and crashed +through the brake. Dad marked him down as stopping at a huge dead tree +that could easily be seen above the canes.</p> + +<p>"By this time the shot had aroused the folks, and dogs, darkies and men +came running out. The dogs sought the trail, but the only one that found +it was a little mongrel tyke, who started off after the bear and was +soon followed by the rest. The men tried to keep up, but dad ran right +for the big tree. A crooked branch across his path sprang into a coil +and rattled a warning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> at him. He stopped and gave it the other barrel, +and ran on. Coming up to the tree there was the bear, standing up, and +with his one arm raking the dogs whenever they ventured within reach. +Already the bravest showed evidences of his skill. One of the men shot +him—in fact they all shot, and the bear rolled over. Dad went up to +him, and some one remarked that he must be a tame bear, as his ear was +nicked. Dad felt the ear, and remarked how warm it was—and just then +the old bear whirled around, reared up, and seized dad in a real bear +hug. Fortunately it was a one-armed hug, and by a quick movement he was +able to wriggle away, and then one man who had not shot put his gun to +the bear's ear and shot half his head away. On the way home they picked +up the snake, which was seven feet long, and had 11 rattles and a button."</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>At Shiloh Landing, Miss., our boys were told of a negro who ate glass. +He came in while they were there, and cracked up a lamp chimney and ate +it, literally and without deception. He said he could walk over broken +glass without harm. He also was impervious to snakes. And while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> they +talked a huge cotton-mouth copperhead wriggled out on the floor. There +was a unanimous and speedy resort to boxes, barrels and tables, till the +serpent was killed. It seems the negro has a fancy for collecting snakes +and had brought this one in in a box, from which he made his escape.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>This morning we went out for robins, and got a mess; of which we +contributed one—could not shoot a little bit. After lunch we waited for +the mail and then bid good-bye to the kindly folk who had made Melville +so pleasant to us, and started on our journey up the Atchafalaya. The +river is wider, swifter and bigger than when we came down; and we will +be glad to get into the great river again. We have quite a collection of +skins—deer, cat and coon—gifts of our friends. We ran a few miles and +then the engine pump quit, and we tied up. Fair and clear, warm at +midday enough to make a vest a burden.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i166.jpg" alt="SPANISH MOSS (ATCHAFALAYA)" /></div> + +<p class="bold">SPANISH MOSS (ATCHAFALAYA).</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">ASCENDING THE ATCHAFALAYA.</p> + +<p>Atchafalaya River, Feb. 4, 1904.—There is a very perceptible difference +between descending a river and ascending it. Our gallant little launch +finds the cabinboat a difficult proposition against the current, as +aggravated by the rising floods. We made but a few miles yesterday and +tied up for the night. An unexpected steamer came along about 12:30 and +gave us a good tumbling. She returned later, having doubtless taken in +her freight at Melville meanwhile. This morning an east wind drives us +against the shore, so that we have to steer out, and that makes it a +head wind; so the shore creeps slowly past. It is cloudy and feels like +rain, though warm. The river is very muddy, and full of drift over which +the boat rumbles constantly. Many doves are seen on the trees along +shore but, as usual, we are in a hurry and cannot stop for sport.</p> + +<p>During the Civil War, we are told, the Atchafalaya could be bridged by +three carts, so that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> soldiers could cross. Now it is nowhere less than +sixty feet deep, and two-fifths of the water of the Mississippi go +through it to the Gulf. Every year it is enlarging, and the day may come +when the Mississippi will discharge through it altogether, and Baton +Rouge and New Orleans be inland cities. This route to the Gulf is 150 +miles shorter.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Atchafalaya River, Feb. 6, 1904.—We made but a short run yesterday, the +wind stopping us two miles below Oderberg, just within 150 yards of a +turn around which we had to go to get the wind in our favor. But we +could not do it. Boy and Dr. shot some robins and Jake got a mud hen; +and from a passing wagon we secured a roast of beef. An old colored +woman sold us some buttermilk, for two bits. This morning it was rainy +and foggy, but under great difficulties we pushed ahead and made +Simmesport by lunch. Here we engaged a gasoline boat to take us around +into the Mississippi, for seven dollars—about 14 miles—and felt we got +off well at that. The current in the Red is said to be too fierce for +our little boat. We did as well as possible,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> by hugging the low shore, +and when the one we were on became high and eroded we crossed to the +other. In that way we avoided the swift current and often got a back +one, or eddy. The steamer <i>Electra</i> dogged us all morning, passing and +stopping at numerous landings till we passed her. When we land we find +houses quite close along either shore. The rural population must be +large along the leveed part of the river. At Simmesport we obtained +butter, milk and lard, besides crackers and canned oysters. No meat. One +bunch of brant appeared in the fog this morning, but refused to listen +to our arguments favoring closer acquaintance.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Red River, Feb. 7, 1904.—That is, we suppose you call it the Red, but +it is now in truth an outlet of the Mississippi. We got to Simmesport, +had lunch, and arranged with a boy there to tow us through to the +Mississippi with a 5-horsepower gasoline. Hitched it behind, our launch +alongside, and started. The wind was as often contrary as favorable, and +we labored up the Atchafalaya till we got to Red River. The water is +decidedly red, but is backed up into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> Red by the lordship of the +Great River, which sweeps up the Old River channel with resistless +force. None of the Red water gets past Barbre Landing, either into the +Atchafalaya or the Mississippi. We turned into the Red or Old River +about 2:30, and by 6 had made about three miles, stopping in sight of +Turnbull Island Light No. 2. First the lever of our reversing gear +broke, and here a log swept under the launch and broke the coupling +bolt. This had happened the preceding day, and we had no extra left, so +had to stop as the other boat alone could make no headway against the +swift current. As it was, with both boats we had to coast along as close +as possible to the shore, where the current was slowest, to make any +progress at all. In the middle we were swept back. The boys left us to +return to Simmesport, where they were to make new coupling bolts and +return here this morning. We had a sleepless night. All day it was foggy +and rainy; in the night occasional showers pattered on the roof; and +floating wood rumbled under the boat. The water is full of this stuff +and it is impossible to prevent it going under the scow, where it sticks +and retards progress or emerges<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> to foul our propeller. This morning it +is still sticky, showery and slightly foggy; temperature at 9 a. m., 72. +When the steamer rocked us the other night Jake and Doctor turned out in +their nightgowns to fend off, and then stood leaning over the rail +talking for a time. Catch cold, turning out of a warm bed in January? +Naw! Whatchergivinus? This terrible winter weather!</p> + +<p>About 11:30 the boys returned with the tug and new bolts for our +coupler. We had hard work getting through the bridge, where the current +was fierce; but by 2 p. m. we were in the Mississippi and headed down +stream.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Bayou Sara, Feb. 8, 1904.—We tied up last night in Morgan's Bend, after +dark. Started to float all night, but the fog came up, lightning showed +in the east, and we thought it wise to take no chances. We had the +launch hitched behind and when a steamer passed up quite near, it made +her leap and try to get her nose under the overhang, which might have +swamped her. This morning we got off at 5 a. m., floating till after +breakfast, when we set the old churn at work. Now the sun is up +brightly, a breeze<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> freshening up from the east, which is dead ahead +just now, and the town in sight. We talk of loading the boat with +palmettoes for the St. Louis fair market, and getting a tow north, if we +cannot get a fair price for the outfit.</p> + +<p>By 9 we reached Bayou Sara, where we increased our crew by three of +Louisiana's fair ladies, and at 11 resumed our journey. The wind had +subsided and we journeyed south over a river smooth as glass. Much +driftwood annoyed us, threatening our propeller blades. The poetry of +travel today, too warm for the folk to stand in the sun. Historic Port +Hudson was soon before us. It is now back from the river, Port Hickey +being its successor. Temperature 80 at 2 p. m. This terrible winter! We +are counting the miles between us and our dear ones at Baton Rouge.</p> + +<p>We reached Baton Rouge about 6 p. m., having made over 50 miles, and the +longest run of the trip.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">DUCKING AT CATAHOULA LAKE.</p> + +<p>Prof. Handwerker came down to Memphis, and we went for a duck shoot. We +went by rail to Alexandria and chartered a wagon with two sketchy ponies +and an aged veteran as driver, who took us about 20 miles to Catahoula +Lake. The toll man at the bridge valued our outfit at 40 cents, and +collected the entire price each way. The road lay through a lumber +country, where the yellow pine was being rapidly cut out. Arriving +within a mile of the lake, we concluded to stop with Mr. S., rather than +rest our old limbs in the doubtful protection of the tent we had brought.</p> + +<p>S. lived on a tract he had homesteaded, in a "plank-up" house of three +rooms. At the end of the living room was a large chimney of mud and +sticks, with andirons, in which a large fire burned constantly. There +were holes in the chimney of a size convenient for the cat to crawl +through, which the men had not had time to mend. Cracks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> an inch wide +between the plank let in a sufficiency of air, when the one +window—unencumbered with sash and glass—a simple wooden shutter, swung +shut. The family consisted of the man, his wife, two sons aged 16 and +12; horses, cows, oxen, chickens and numerous pigs. The latter were +dying off, and we saw numerous carcasses in the woods, the consequence +of a lot of diseased animals being brought in by a neighbor. S. had had +a sawmill, and with the aid of his sons and wife—the latter the +engineer—had turned out about 7,000 feet of lumber a day. For this he +had received his stock; but the wife did not feel that they were doing +well enough and persuaded him to sell the mill and raise cotton.</p> + +<p>They cleared a few acres which they farmed till the yield fell off, when +they let it lie fallow and farmed another bit. They had intended to saw +up a lot of wood for a new house, but somehow it had been neglected, or +when a lot had been got out some one made a dicker for it. The stock of +food for the animals had run short, and chop sold at the stores for +$1.00 a bag for cash, $1.60 on credit; so the animals ran in the woods +and ate Spanish moss. This, we were assured,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> was a good, nutritious +food, when the animals got used to it. All were very thin. One horse +looked like a walking skeleton, and in fact died during our stay—but +then it was so reduced by the time it died that the loss was trifling. +The horses had long since stripped the berries from the china berry +trees. We were told that eight crops of alfalfa had been cut from a +field in this region last summer; so that it is simply a question of +cultivating a few more acres to supply proper food to the stock. The +five cows gave about a quart of milk a day. They were milked once a +day—if they came up to the house in time; if not, it went over till next day.</p> + +<p>Mr. S. was a fine, good-natured man, who did not drink, or permit liquor +or cards in his house. He had some trouble with his shoulder, which +seriously interfered with his work, though he hauled logs to the +sawmill, the small boy driving. He was very proud of his wife; vaunting +her as the best worker in the parish, excepting their nearest neighbor; +and those two women, he averred, could equal any men in farming cotton, +chopping or sawing wood, and cultivating the garden. It was +edifying—touching—to see Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> S. bridle with pleasure under this +well-deserved approval.</p> + +<p>The two boys attended to the fires, on alternate days; and they sure did +show great mathematical talent, for they could calculate to a certainty +the exact quantity of wood that sufficed for the day and next morning, +so as to leave over not a scrap for the lessening of the other boy's +labors. In the evening a huge backlog was placed in the big chimney, +with two smaller pieces underneath, and some cypress under that to keep +up a blaze. Then all hands gathered around, S., the Professor and the +aged driver, with their pipes, the two boys chewing, and Mrs. S., with a +little stick projecting from her mouth, which puzzled us, till the idea +of its significance flashed across our mind—snuff! And then they set in +persistently and systematically to put the fire out, by well-directed +expectoration. And we are bound to say that in accuracy of aim Mrs. S. +was not behind the menfolk.</p> + +<p>Bedtime came. A big feather-bed was dragged out and placed on the floor +in front of the fire, some comforters thrown over it, with pillows, and +we were politely offered our choice of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> bed on the floor or that on +the wooden bedstead. It was left to us, and we took one apprehensive +look at the ancient stead—quite undeserved was the suspicion—and chose +the floor, remarking that we could not turn a lady out of her bed. This +was met with remonstrances on the part of these warm-hearted people, but +it was left that way. The old man and the two boys took the other bed, +and the seven of us lay down to sleep in the one room. First the lady +retired to the kitchen while we disrobed; then we offered to do the same +to give her a chance, but this was unnecessary, as she didn't disrobe. +The old man got in bed and lit his pipe; she took a fresh portion of +snuff, and we presume the boys a new quid. During the night we +occasionally heard S. scratching matches to light up. The bed of wild +duck feathers favorably modified the hardness of the floor, and we slept well.</p> + +<p>Before daybreak we heard S. lighting up, and then, with difficulty, he +induced the boy on duty to arouse and attend to the fire. Then Mrs. S. +arose and when we showed signs of consciousness we had a cup of +coffee—black, good quality, well sweetened, but without milk. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>Breakfast of smoked pork, more coffee, and hot bread—corn or wheat. We +may add that this was also our dinner and our supper, varied by +cracklin' bread, hot biscuits, and an occasional pie of berries or +peaches. Once sweet potatoes and once dried peas. If a visitor dropped +in, coffee was served around. And we had ducks.</p> + +<p>In the morning we hooked up the team and went down to the lake. The +formation is similar to that at Bear River, Utah; broad flats covered +with a few inches of water, the soil a stiff clay that will generally +hold a man up, but not always. But the people here have no boats, build +no blinds, and their only idea of duck shooting is to crawl on their +bellies through the mud till they can get a pot shot at a flock of ducks +in the water. They use heavy loads and No. 2 shot. As we did not shoot +ducks that way, our success was not very great. Still we got as many as +we could eat—and that's enough.</p> + +<p>The older boy suggested that we cross the lake to a group of cypresses, +where the shooting was good. We waded in about a hundred yards, when the +wading began to get pretty heavy, our feet sinking in over the ankles. +The Professor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> concluded to turn back, and took up his stand by a lone +cypress near the margin of the water. We felt that it was the part of +wisdom to do so also; but the boy began to chuckle and a smile of +derision appeared on his face. Now we don't like to be "backed down" by +a "kid," and he assured us the boggy place did not extend far and then +the bottom became firmer; so we kept on across the lake. It was said to +be a mile, but it proved to be at least ten. We had not gone far when we +began to realize several things: That the boy lied; that we weighed +nearly 200 lbs.; that the borrowed waders we had on were much too large; +that though in our life of 54 years we had ascertained that we were a +great many different kinds of a darned fool, this was one more kind. The +waders were tied to our waist, but soon pulled off so that we walked on +the legs; sank in over ankles at each step, but had to immediately +withdraw the foot to keep from going still deeper. We got tired—very +tired—but dared not stop. Out of breath, the throat burned as if we had +taken a dose of red pepper, but we could not stop for breath. Fell down +and struggled up with boots full of water; and after an eternity of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +effort struggled out on the other side, to stand in the cold, teeth +chattering, trying to get shelter against the cold wind in the hollow of +the cypress, and still keep a lookout for ducks. The fingers were too +cold to pull the trigger, almost, but a sprig came in and we nailed him. +And no more came our way.</p> + +<p>Just before we had frozen stiff the boy came back and we set out to walk +around the lake. It was only half as far as straight across. Some strays +passed over, and in response to our call a mallard duck settled down +upon the ground. The boy looked inquiringly at us, but we told him we +did not take such shots, and he crawled up and executed the bird. A jack +snipe rose, and fell promptly. Wading across a bayou we caught a glimpse +of green shining on the shore, and it proved to be a teal, directly in +front. He rose when we were within 40 feet, and fell with his head shot +off; which evidently elevated us in the estimation of the boy. Meanwhile +the Professor had accumulated a respectable collection of birds; and we +had game enough for the table.</p> + +<p>Arriving at the house, a discussion arose as to the way to cook them. We +stoutly maintained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> that a bird that had a distinctive flavor like a +teal should be lightly broiled. But the lady intimated that she had +something else in contemplation that would open our eyes and enlarge our +views. It did both. Will it be believed that those delicate little teal, +the snipe, sundry squirrels and quail subsequently brought in, were +ground up with smoked pork and onions into an undistinguishable mass of +sausage, and fried? Shades of Vatel!</p> + +<p>One look at the proud face of the designer of the dish, and the +Professor loudly vaunted the idea, and took another helping. No one +could have had the heart to dissent—and our virtue was rewarded, for +nothing could induce our good hostess to cook the birds any other way. +The Professor's praise settled that. Though his name indicates an origin +Teutonic rather than Milesian, and his huge frame would have easily +sustained the armor of Goetz von Berlichingen, he must have kissed the +Blarney stone, and no living woman could resist the charm of his approval.</p> + +<p>We lived on the food described for a week, and drank enough coffee to +paralyze the Postum<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> Cereal man—the Professor negotiated 14 cups a +day—and had not a trace of our acid dyspepsia. Is there any remedy for +this complaint, except hard work?</p> + +<p>One evening a neighbor came over with his wife, the one who had so high +a reputation as a worker. She was a thin little woman, with hollow +cheeks and great brown eyes, sad, as their only child had been recently +killed by accident, while out hunting. The inevitable snuff stick +protruded from her lips. The husband was a bright, merry fellow, who at +once struck up a trade with our old driver. They traded wagons, then +fell to about their horses, and as the spirit of trade aroused the +sporting blood the younger man asked if the other had a "trading hat," +or jackknife, and finally proposed they should go out on the gallery and +trade clothes to the skin. "Would trade everything he owned but the old +woman," he announced.</p> + +<p>The driver was a character in his way. He owned to 75 years, rivaled the +Professor's 6 feet 4 inches when erect, but was wholly longitudinal in +dimensions. On the road he informed us at intervals of five minutes that +the road was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>"pretty heavy today." He stood in awe of the Professor's +deep bass, and seeing this that irreverent youth played it on the old +man in a way to be reprobated. Mrs. S. gave us a pie one day for lunch, +and smilingly announced that it was the exclusive property of the +Professor. Accordingly the latter authoritatively forbade all others +meddling with his pie. About noon S. and the Doctor came across the lake +to the wagon, and began foraging for lunch. S. got out the pie and each +of us took a liberal slice, in spite of the old driver's protest that it +was the Professor's pie, and he must be held guiltless. Pretty soon the +Professor came over, and on seeing the hole in the pie bellowed in an +awful voice: "Who took my pie?" The old man threw up his arm as if to +protect his head, and anxiously cackled that he had no hand in it, that +it was the Doctor and S., and that he had told them they should not do +it. Just then the Doctor sauntered in, and the Professor tackled him +about who ate the pie. Dr. at once assured him it was the old driver; +that he had seen the stains of the berries on his lips; which mendacious +statement was received by the old man with voluble indignation. S. came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +up, and on being appealed to at once "caught on," and put the blame on +the driver. He was simply speechless with this most unjust charge. All +the rest of the day the Professor scolded over the pie, and we thought +of new arguments showing that no one but the driver could have purloined +it. But about bedtime, after there had been stillness for a time, a +still small voice came from the old man saying with a tone of dawning +comprehension: "I believe you fellows have been having fun with me about +that pie." This was too much, and the walls fairly cracked with the +howls of delight.</p> + +<p>We did not treat the old man very badly, though, as on leaving he +assured us if we ever came again into that country he would be only too +willing to join us in a similar trip.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">SOME LOUISIANA FOLKS.</p> + +<p>No negroes have ever been allowed to settle in the Catahoula country. +The dead line is seven miles from Alexandria. No objection is made if +anyone desires to bring a negro servant temporarily into the country, +but he must go out with his employer. Once a lumberman brought negroes +in, and determined to work them. They were warned, and left. Next year +be brought in a new lot, and announced that he would protect them. They +were duly warned, but refused to leave. One morning they were +found—seven of them—hanging to the rafters of their house. Years +elapsed before the experiment was again tried. The coroner's jury +brought in a verdict of suicide—and this was in dead earnest—no joke +or hilarity intended. To disregard due warning was equivalent to any +other method of self-destruction.</p> + +<p>When in after years an attempt was made to work negroes here, warnings +were duly posted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> on their doors. The negroes left. But the employer was +a determined man, and swore he would be eternally dingbusted—or words +to that effect—if he didn't work all the niggers he pleased; and he +enlisted a new lot of the most desperate characters he could find. +Warning was given and neglected; when one evening, as the darkies sat at +supper, a rifle bullet knocked the nail keg from under one of them, and +next morning not a negro was to be found in the vicinity.</p> + +<p>Observe the dispassionate, thoroughly conservative and gentlemanly way +the people handled the affair. There was no thirsting for gore, no +disposition to immolate these misguided folks to their employer's +obstinacy; just a gentle hint that Catahoula did not allow negroes. An +intimation to the employer followed, that a repetition would be followed +by a rifle aimed at him, not the keg this time, and he was wise enough +to see the point.</p> + +<p>We have heard these people spoken of as being dangerous characters. They +might be such, if misunderstood and their prejudices rudely affronted. +But we found them a simple, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>warm-hearted, scrupulously honest set, with +whom we thoroughly enjoyed a week's companionship, and expect to go back +for another one. Their interests are limited, their viewpoint may not +permit an extensive outlook, but their doors are always open to the +stranger, the coffee-pot on the stove, and the best they have is offered +him with a courtesy that never fails. They take little interest in +politics, newspapers we did not once see there, and schooling is +limited. Mrs. S. did not go to church in summer, because that would +involve the putting on of shoes—though she did say that if she chose to +go she would not hesitate to march into church in her bare feet, let +those dislike it who might!</p> + +<p>But do not imagine that these worthy people are deficient in common +sense. Mr. S. was perfectly aware that the timber he does not cut now is +worth three times what is was when he took up this land, and will be +worth more every year.</p> + +<p>This pine must reproduce itself with marvelous rapidity. We saw the +furrows of the old cotton cultivation running away back through the +woods, in which the trees were about ready for the saw. There is plenty +of land still open<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> for homesteading, but one must hunt it up for +himself, as the government gives absolutely no information to inquirers, +except that township maps cost a dollar apiece. If you want to know what +townships of what parishes have land available, just get on your horse +and explore, till you find out.</p> + +<p>The land companies make amends for this. There are about ten million +acres of land in Louisiana, and of this over six millions are offered +for sale in one little pamphlet before me. Much of this is sea marsh, +which ought to produce sea island cotton. We could find no one who knew +of its ever having been tried, but presume there is some reason for not +raising it, as this is a very profitable crop, selling for double the +market price of ordinary cotton.</p> + +<p>Why is there so much land for sale? For we did not meet a solitary man, +northern or southern by birth, who seemed to contemplate leaving the +state. The truth is there are not enough inhabitants to utilize the +land. Millions of acres are lying idle for want of workers. Every +inducement is extended to men to settle here and utilize the resources +now going to waste.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p><p>The South needs "Yankees." An ex-Confederate, discussing Baton Rouge, +said: "A dozen live Yankees would regenerate this town, and make +fortunes at it." They would pave the streets, cover in the sewers, build +up the vacant spots in the heart of the city, supply mechanical work at +less inhuman prices than are now charged, and make this rich and +intelligent community as attractive in appearance as the citizens are +socially.</p> + +<p>One such man has made a new city of Alexandria. He has made the people +pave their streets, put in modern sewerage, water, electricity, etc., +build most creditable structures to house the public officials, and in a +word, has "hustled the South," till it had to put him temporarily out of +office until it got its "second wind."</p> + +<p>In consequence Alexandria has no rival in the state except Shreveport. +And the people like it; they brag of Walsh and his work, take immense +pride in the progress of their beautiful city, and have developed into +keen, wide-awake Americans of the type that has built up our country.</p> + +<p>It seems essential for the incentive, the leaven, to come from outside; +but this is the lesson<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> of history. Xanthippus did nothing for Corinth, +but aroused Syracuse. Marion Sims vegetated in comparative obscurity +till he left the South, to become the leading surgeon of New York and +Paris. What would Ricord have been had he remained in America? The +interchange of blood, the entering of a stranger among any community, +acts as a disturbing element, that arouses action. And without action +there is no progress.</p> + +<p>The most promising indication is that this seems fully comprehended in +the South, and the immigrant is welcomed.</p> + +<p>It is well to be cautious about accepting as literally true the +statements made to strangers. People will exaggerate; and the temptation +to fill up a more or less gullible "tenderfoot" is often irresistible.</p> + +<p>Thus, we are told that connections between white men and negro women are +quite common; in fact, almost a matter of course. And these connections +are defended, as exalting the white woman to such a pinnacle that the +seduction of one would be followed by lynching the seducer; while there +is no wrong done the negro woman, because she has no moral sense in such +matters,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> to be injured. Instead of feeling that she is "lost," she +brags of her "conquest."</p> + +<p>But several facts lead us to doubt the literal truth of these +statements. We note that the same tales are told in illustration that we +heard when here five years ago. No new material seems to have appeared +in that time. Then again, the mulatto is exceedingly rare; the negroes +met on the streets and in the fields being pure black. These and similar +facts lead us to receive the above accounts with a very large grain of salt.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">FROM WINTER TO SUMMER IN A DAY.</p> + +<p>March 11. 1904.—We left Chicago at 6 p. m. The ground was covered with +snow, the winds cutting through our clothes, and winter still held his +own relentlessly. By the time we reached Cairo the change was evident; +and next evening at the same hour we were well down in Mississippi, and +our clothes oppressively warm. Trees were in full leaf, and numerous +cold frames showed that trucking was in full operation. Rain set in and +followed us to Memphis, but then the sky cleared. We found full summer +at New Orleans, the grass in the parks green, the foliage that of +midsummer. At Baton Rouge the violets were about over, but the roses +were enough to discourage one from ever again trying to raise them in Chicago.</p> + +<p>Why do people suffer from the winter north when they need not do so? +Many shiver and pine for the warm days, during this month of blustering +cold, when everyone has had enough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> winter and longs for spring, while +all they have to do is to jump on a train and in 24 hours they are in +this delightful clime. When need compels, we must take our medicine +without a grumble; but to many all that keeps them north in March is +inertia and thoughtlessness.</p> + +<p>There are many little businesses carried on in these river boats. We saw +many trading boats which supplied ordinary necessaries and carried small +freights, or gathered up skins and other little products not worth the +while of steamers to stop for. Photographers ply up and down the +streams; a fortune teller makes good profits; a quack sells liniments +and other drugs, and does a bit of unlicensed practice; and very likely +some boats sell whisky. We did not hear of an evangelist, yet there +seems to be a need for some work of this sort. One man sold roofing +paint along the river for good profits.</p> + +<p>The South would do well to study the practical applications of the +maxim: "Put yourself in his place." The Italians keep goats as the Irish +do pigs. Both forage for a living, and supply an important place in the +social economies. The goat is to the Italian a matter of course. But a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +doctor was annoyed by the animals, and told his Italian neighbor he must +keep his goats shut up. He did not do so, and so the doctor shot the +goats. Next morning, as the doctor passed the Italian's stand, the +latter drew a pistol, remarking: "You shoot my goat; I shoot you," and +shot the doctor dead. This nearly precipitated a race riot.</p> + +<p>If there was no law against allowing goats to run at large, the Italian +was strictly within his rights. It was up to the doctor to fence his +premises. If there was such a law, the doctor should have called on the +proper officers to enforce it. In either case he was in the wrong; and +the habit of taking the law in one's own hands was responsible for the tragedy.</p> + +<p>The discontent of the negro with plantation life and work is not, we are +everywhere told, a matter of wages. Then why is there no intelligent +attempt made to study the question with a view to devising means of +attaching him to the place? He is a child in many respects, and +amusement goes far in rendering him contented and happy. Were he these, +he would not be restless to leave the plantations. A barbecue next +week,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> a dance Saturday night, a little fun in expectation, would go far +to keep him quiet, and need not cost more than a trifle of what it would +be worth. The problem seems easy enough, but we have heard of no attempt +to solve it on such lines.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">VOYAGE ENDED.</p> + +<p>And here our voyage ended. The doctor moved ashore to join his wife and +children. Millie went to St. Louis, and Jim to Oklahoma; while Frank and +Jake remained on the boat until it was finally disposed of. Frank had +worked on the engine until he had mastered her, and found the +difficulties. She had never been properly installed, so we got blue +prints from her builders and reset the engine in accordance with them. +We got new batteries, a block tin pipe in place of the iron one which +took the gasoline from the tank to the engine, and rust from which had +figured largely in the troubles we experienced. The pump had been +literally cut to pieces by the mud in the river water and a new one was +obtained. When thus refitted, she ran without a balk; and we really +believe a child could have managed her. She turned out to be what had +been claimed for her, remarkably fast. In fact, we left her with the +determination that our next engine should be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> a Fay and Bowen, also. She +was sold to a resident of Baton Rouge, for $300; the alterations having +cost the Doctor about $50, in addition to the boys' wages. One thing we +learned—never order work down here without a distinct agreement as to +the work and the price. Frank ordered a little fixing at a local shop, +for which he said $6 was a liberal price; but the man brought in a bill +of over $16.</p> + +<p>The small boats, guns and shells were sent back to Chicago, most of the +furniture sold for trivial sums, and the cabin boat left in the charge +of Mr. S. S. Lewis, of the Lewis Lumber Co. for sale. All attempts to +obtain a tow up the river failed. The big coal companies' agents +referred us to the home office, but said the price would not be less +than $300. We heard that the captains of tow boats going up would take +us up for a trifle, but we did not find one of these chances, after +waiting two months. Some men talked of buying the cabin and launch and +taking it around to the Bayou Manchac for a hunting and fishing lodge, +but nothing came of it.</p> + +<p>We might have sold by bringing the outfit around to the Gulf ports, but +had no leisure for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> this. A plan was suggested to load the cabin with +palmettoes and take them to St. Louis to serve as decorative plants at +the Fair; but the Superintendent of Audubon Park said the plants would +not live, that when the root of a palm was cut it died back to the +stalk, and it was doubtful if a new growth of roots would take place. +But men who try to extirpate the palms say they are unkillable; and the +two we took up and replanted in the boat were still living after two +months, and had out two new leaves each. Possibly we might have made a +good thing, as the boat could have carried 1,000 good-sized palms.</p> + +<p>At New Orleans we hear these cabin boats are so plentiful they cannot be +given away. The <i>Desplaines</i> was sold there for a good price.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i198.jpg" alt="BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS" /></div> + +<p class="bold">BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">DANGERS AND DELIGHTS.</p> + +<p>A few words as to certain dangers that might be expected on such a trip. +We were never annoyed by loafers, tramps, or unpleasant visitors of any +sort, with the one exception of the probable river pirates whose visit +is described. At the towns people let us alone, and those who were +interested enough to call on us were entirely unobjectionable. Of course +our numbers may have had some influence.</p> + +<p>We never had any malaria or other febrile affection, and most of our +drug supply was superfluous. Half a dozen articles would comprise the +list for any ordinary party.</p> + +<p>During the entire trip we never saw a snake, alligator, centipede, +scorpion or any other venomous reptile. Flies and mosquitoes left us at +the first frost, and our mosquito hats and veils were never used. The +other insect pests of the south—fleas, gnats, redbugs, ticks and +jiggers—began to show up in April, after we had left the boat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> and were +living on shore. We were out in the wrong season for fish, turtles and +frogs, and in fact found difficulty in procuring any fish at all, +excepting carp, for our table. But a little more activity on our part +would probably have remedied this—we did not try to fish much. So with +the shooting—we did not try very hard, and never shot more than we +could eat without waste.</p> + +<p>It was our impression that the South fairly bristles with opportunities +for business. There is plenty of cheap land, room for hundreds of +thousands of farmers and lumbermen, dairies, general stores, supply +houses of every sort. Fruit, berries, garden truck of all sorts, nuts, +milk, butter, chickens and ducks, eggs, and many other articles might be +raised and a market found for them along the river. There is a very +short supply of nearly all these products, right where they could be raised.</p> + +<p>The old prejudice against a white man's working alongside a negro seems +to be dying out. We saw men of both colors working together too often +for it to be in any degree exceptional. Negro mechanics in New Orleans +get from four to seven dollars a day, and are very independent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> as to +their work. Many large planters rent small lots to negroes, others to +Italians, and sell on easy terms to either whenever they wish to buy. So +far has the disdain of manual work subsided that we were informed that +in one of the most prominent (white) universities many of the pupils +support themselves in part by waiting on the table, washing dishes, and +in other ways.</p> + +<p>Assuredly it is not now looked upon as degrading to any white man in the +south, that he should work with his hands, if need be.</p> + +<p>If there is any prejudice now against northern men who come to settle in +the south, it kept itself out of our sight. Instead, we find immigration +agents established by the state, to set before the men of the north the +advantages they can secure by coming south. Of the numerous northern men +we met and talked with, who had come south, but one spoke of +encountering prejudice—and we strongly suspect he had given good cause. +Many northern men, like the writer, have married southern girls, and +thus the lines of separation between the sections are becoming confused +and indistinct.</p> + +<p>One Indiana man, who had come south, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>expressed what may be taken for +the usual view, as we received it: "Any northern man who has $3,000 is a +fool if he does not bring it down here and make his fortune in ten years +out of it." And this is the man for whom there are such abundant +openings here—the one who has a small capital and good business sense.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>The River—that great, wonderful river. We descended its current at the +time the water was at the lowest; but the impression of its giant power +grew on us daily; the resistless sweep of the current, the huge boils +rising from the depths, the whirlpools; but above all the cutting away +of the banks. We soon discovered that levees are not meant as restraints +of this erosion—the river flows how and where it will—but to protect +against the flood waters. From Alton to the gulf there is scarcely a +stone to be seen, and the current flounders about through the soft +alluvium, like a whale in blankets. When the cutting approaches the +levees new ones are constructed further back; and the intervening +country is handed over to its fluvial master.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p><p>The commerce of the river systems is a thing of the past, but a shadow +of what it was about wartime. The railways carry the freights now. But +how is it more people do not travel by water? Years ago we went by +steamer from Cincinnati to Louisville, and thoroughly enjoyed the +trip—the quiet, absence of rattle and smoke, the lovely panorama +floating by, the music, the well-served meals, and the leisurely, +cultured folk who were really taking time to travel pleasantly, instead +of the hustle of limited expresses. Surely, the only reason more people +do not enjoy this mode of travel is that they do not know of it.</p> + +<p>But when one floats on the bosom of the great river there grows up a +certain fascination for it. We saw one cabin boat in which an elderly +man was said to have lived for years, alone. A man of wealth, who could +have utilized Pullmans had he chosen. One can readily comprehend this; +for long will it be ere the beating of the waves against the side of the +boat ceases from our dreams. A little cabin boat that one could manage, +dogs for the only companions, guns and rods, and the long, quiet sojourn +where the coal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> and other trusts matter not a whit—and where could +hermit find such a delightful retreat!</p> + +<p>Then for the elderly man who has outlived his family and the period of +active participation in the world's warfare. What a home for a group of +such men, who could be company for each other.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">RESULTS.</p> + +<p>The Doctor enjoyed every moment of the trip. While we have recorded all +the accidents and drawbacks, the reader must not imagine that they were +really serious or detracted much from the pleasure. If we fished and +hunted but little it was because we found so much of interest and +delight that the time was filled without these pastimes. We did not use +our wheels much for the same reason—we had so much going on that we +rarely felt the desirability of more means of occupying our time. The +work went on well, and in this respect the plan worked out as expected. +There were abundance of time and few interruptions; time for study, for +putting the thoughts on paper; and the little breaks when called on +deck, never disarranged the mental machinery. The exercise was most +beneficial. Chopping or sawing wood, and helping with the boat work, +brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> the digestion into good condition, and we came home much +stronger than we left.</p> + +<p>The same may be said of the children. The boy enjoyed it all; the girl +did well, but naturally got tired and longed for her little friends. +Both improved in physique and broadened their ideas, and laid in a store +of knowledge. They learned much and were not roughened in manners.</p> + +<p>The invalid did pretty well and would have done much better had our +original plan been followed; but the delay caused by building the new +boat allowed us to be caught in the November storms on the Illinois, and +then it was a constant hurry to get south. Toward the last she tired of +the boat and longed for the flesh-pots of Egypt—other women to talk +clothes to, dry goods stores, the luxuries of civilization. Few women +have enough of the gipsy in their blood to stand seven months' travel +without ennui.</p> + +<p>The experience of the <i>Desplaines</i> showed the wisdom of beginning with a +clear understanding with the crew and paying them fair wages. They took +the crew on an indefinite arrangement, paying no wages. When they fell +in with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> us their crew became discontented, constant quarreling +resulted, and the crew broke up. Naturally, when they found our men +receiving wages for easier work than theirs, dissatisfaction resulted. +Don't go on such an expedition with the crew on a "no wages" basis. Pay +fairly, or else make up the party on the basis of equal participation in +the expenses; but don't mix matters.</p> + +<p>Don't buy an old boat. There is a satisfaction in knowing that the +timbers beneath you are sound and put together in the strongest possible +manner, and amply able to withstand the fiercest trials they can +possibly receive. Especially if women and children are to form part of +your crew, you want to feel easy on the score of your boat. Have the +boat built at a place like Henry, where well-selected lumber and honest +work will go in the building. Have it brought to Chicago and start in +the boat here.</p> + +<p>Do not have a boat more than sixteen feet wide, outside measure, that is +to pass through the canal.</p> + +<p>Have the roof thoroughly watertight and the crevices about the base of +the cabin protected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> by quarter-rounds and calking so that there will be +no water leaking in there when waves wash over the deck. Have a good +large open deck in front, for there you will live in pleasant weather. +Get a good wood-burning stove for cooking—gasoline and oil are too +expensive, when you get wood for nothing.</p> + +<p>Select your party with care; not everyone who goes into such a trip with +enthusiasm will wear well, when living half a year in a boat with you. +Leave out people who expect the luxuries of a well-appointed hotel. +Limit the clothing for men and women to two suits each; one for the boat +and one for town. You may not disturb the latter for months. If you can +possibly avoid it, take no one in the party who drinks liquor even in +moderation—certainly not in the crew. Every modification of this opens +the door to trouble. If a guest takes his morning eye-opener the crew +will want to do so; and some one of them may be of the sort that can not +taste it without getting crazy drunk.</p> + +<p>It seemed to us that anyone of a mercantile turn could do a good +business along the river; pay expenses and make money. Everywhere<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> along +the great river people boarded our boat, asking what we were selling. +The men asked for whisky, the women for dry goods or dressmaking. At one +landing a trader sold eighteen skiffs. On the Atchafalaya we passed a +cabinboat bearing in large letters the title: "The White Elephant +Saloon." We heard that this boat had given the authorities much trouble, +but can not vouch for the truth of the report. She was selling liquor, +evidently, and we gave her a wide berth. Melville was a temperance town, +but there was a shanty across the river known as "the Goose," where +liquor was sold, and a skiff ferry to it was well patronized. The owner +was building a large cabinboat at a cost of $1,000, but for what purpose +we could only presume; and our presumption was that it would be a +profitable investment.</p> + +<p>To make a similar trip leave Chicago between the 15th and 30th of +September, provide for towage through the canal to La Salle, and float +down the rivers, stopping when the weather is unpleasant. You should +take a tow from Kampsville to the Mississippi, as there is little +current from the Illinois into it. Thereafter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> even so small an engine +as our 3-horse-power will suffice, as you will not be hurried and can +await favorable winds. The larger the boat the more men will be +required. Ours was right for four men; and that is a good number for a +party. There will be no danger of annoyance, while a smaller party might +meet some ugly customers. With every additional member the chances for +disagreement increase—and life is too short for quarreling. On reaching +the mouth of Red River, ascend that stream till you can reach Catahoula +Lake, if you are after ducks and geese; though the old river-bed lakes +along the Mississippi will furnish plenty. But if deer and other large +game attract you, descend the Atchafalaya to Alabama bayou; then pass +through Grand Lake to the gulf and coast around to the string of resorts +along the coast from Bay St. Louis to Pensacola and the Florida coast, +if so long a trip is desired. If you ascend the rivers you will need +tows, unless your power is large.</p> + +<p>The results of the trip to the writer may be summed up as: Better work, +better done, and more of it, than would have been possible in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> same +time at the city home; a renewal of vitality, digestion improved, years +rolled back so that again has come that sense of capacity to work +without limit, that has not been present for years; and a crowd of +pleasant recollections that will endure for life.</p> + +<p>Would we like to go again? Just give us the chance!</p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44656 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/44656-h/images/cover.jpg b/44656-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..960e8f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/dec.jpg b/44656-h/images/dec.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..73c21e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/dec.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i000.jpg b/44656-h/images/i000.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b6873b --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i000.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i026.jpg b/44656-h/images/i026.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..62f2f03 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i026.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i056.jpg b/44656-h/images/i056.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8179f4d --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i056.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i068.jpg b/44656-h/images/i068.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6bb0b86 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i068.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i076.jpg b/44656-h/images/i076.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3ca86c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i076.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i102.jpg b/44656-h/images/i102.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..781dd38 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i102.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i117.jpg b/44656-h/images/i117.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e2cd1e --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i117.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i136.jpg b/44656-h/images/i136.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..88d0bb1 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i136.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i166.jpg b/44656-h/images/i166.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1638fa3 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i166.jpg diff --git a/44656-h/images/i198.jpg b/44656-h/images/i198.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fcfacb3 --- /dev/null +++ b/44656-h/images/i198.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..75c3471 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #44656 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44656) diff --git a/old/44656-8.txt b/old/44656-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..25eb485 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44656-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4433 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The houseboat book, by William F. Waugh + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: The houseboat book + The Log of a Cruise from Chicago to New Orleans + +Author: William F. Waugh + +Release Date: January 13, 2014 [EBook #44656] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK + +The Log of a Cruise from Chicago to New Orleans + +BY + +WILLIAM F. WAUGH + +[Illustration: Decoration] + +THE CLINIC PUBLISHING COMPANY +CHICAGO +1904 + + +COPYRIGHT, 1904, +BY WILLIAM F. WAUGH. + +PRESS OF +THE CLINIC PUBLISHING CO. +CHICAGO. + + +[Illustration: THE HELEN W. OF CHICAGO.] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + PAGE + I. Prelude 5 + + II. Gathering Information 9 + + III. Preparations 13 + + IV. The First Shipwreck 23 + + V. The Canal 27 + + VI. The Illinois River 40 + + VII. Building the Boat 46 + + VIII. The Lower Illinois 55 + + IX. Towing 68 + + X. St. Louis 77 + + XI. The Mississippi 81 + + XII. Cairo and the Ohio 90 + + XIII. Duck Shooting 103 + + XIV. Snagged in Tennessee Chute 109 + + XV. Mooring 116 + + XVI. A Levee Camp 118 + + XVII. Vicksburg 128 + + XVIII. River Pirates 133 + + XIX. The Atchafalaya 136 + + XX. Melville. Deer Hunting 141 + + XXI. Baton Rouge. The Panther 150 + + XXII. The Bobcat 163 + + XXIII. Ascending the Atchafalaya 167 + + XXIV. Ducking at Catahoula Lake 173 + + XXV. Some Louisiana Folks 185 + + XXVI. From Winter to Summer in a Day 192 + + XXVII. Voyage Ended 196 + +XXVIII. Dangers and Delights 199 + + XXIX. Results 205 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +PRELUDE. + + +Once upon a time there was a doctor who, after many years spent in that +pursuit concluded to reform. But strong is the influence of evil +associates, and those who had abetted him in his old ways still +endeavored to lead him therein. + +One day his good angel whispered in his ear the magic words, "House +boat;" and straightway there arose in his mental vision the picture of a +broad river, the boat lazily floating, children fishing, wife's cheery +call to view bits of scenery too lovely for solitary enjoyment, and a +long year of blissful seclusion where no tale of woe could penetrate, no +printer's devil cry for copy. Incidentally the tired eyes could rest, +and the long stretches of uninterrupted time be transmuted into creative +work; with no banging telephone or boring visitor to scatter the +faculties into hopeless desuetude. Sandwich with hours busy with those +recuperative implements, the rod and gun, the adventures and +explorations incident to the trip, and here was a scheme to make the +heart of a city-tired man leap. + +So he went to the friend whose kindly appreciation had put a monetary +value upon the emanations from his brain, and suggested that now was the +time for the besom of reform to get in its work, and by discharging him +to clear the way for new and improved editorial talent. But the friend +received the suggestion with contumely, threatening to do the editor +bodily harm if he so much as mentioned or even contemplated any attempt +to escape. The scheme was perforce postponed for a year, and in the +meantime attempts were made to gather useful information upon the +subject. + +The plan seemed simple enough--to leave Chicago by the Drainage Canal, +float down to the Illinois River, then down it to the Mississippi, by it +to New Orleans, then to strike off through the bayous or canals into the +watery wastes southwest, and spend there the time until the approach of +the Carnival called us back to the southern metropolis. By starting +about September 1st we could accompany the ducks on their southern +journey, and have plenty of time to dawdle along, stopping wherever it +seemed good to us. + +So we went to work to gather information. The great bookstores were +ransacked for books descriptive of houseboat trips down the Mississippi. +There were none. Then we asked for charts of the Illinois and +Mississippi. There were none of the former in existence; of the latter +the Government was said to have published charts of the river from St. +Louis to the Gulf; and these were ordered, though they were somewhat +old, and the river changes constantly. Then a search was made for books +on American houseboats and trips made upon them; books giving some +rational information as to what such things are, how they are procured, +furnished, managed, what is to be had and what avoided; but without +avail. Even logs of canoe trips on the great river, and accounts of +recent steamer trips, are singularly scarce. People insisted on forcing +upon our notice Bangs' "Houseboat on the Styx," despite our reiterated +asseverations that we did not care to travel over that route just now. +Black's "Strange Adventures of a Houseboat" is principally remarkable +for the practical information it does not give. + +Scarcely a juvenile was to be found treating of the subjects; nor have +the novelists paid any attention to the rivers for a third of a century. +Books of travel on the great system of inland American waters are +similarly rare. + +It has finally come home to us that this is a virgin field; that the +great American people reside in the valley of the greatest river in the +world, and pay no attention to it; write nothing of it, know nothing, +and we fear care nothing. And while many persons utilize houseboats, and +many more would do so if they knew what they are, and how much pleasure +is to be derived therefrom, no one has seen fit to print a book that +would make some amends to an intending purchaser for his lack of +experience. Possibly the experiences detailed in the following pages may +in some degree fulfill this need, and aid some one to avoid the mistakes +we made. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GATHERING INFORMATION. + + +From magazine articles we gathered that a new boat would cost about +$1,000. We were assured, however, that we could buy an old one that +would answer all needs for about $100. We were told that if the boat +measures 15 tons or more our rapidly-becoming-paternal government +requires the services of a licensed pilot. All steamers are required to +have licensed engineers, though the requirements for an owner's license +are not very rigid. Gasoline boats as yet do not come under any laws, +though there is talk of legislation upon them, and there may be, by the +time this book reaches its readers. + +Houseboats usually have no direct power, but are gently propelled by +long sweeps. If the boat is small this is all right; but as large a boat +as ours would require about four strong men to hold her steady in +dangerous places. It takes a much smaller investment if power is +excluded; and if the boat goes only down stream, with force enough to +manage her in currents and blows it is cheaper to hire towage when +requisite. But if possible have power, and enough. Many boats we saw in +the Mississippi are fitted with stern wheels and gasoline engines, and +these have great advantages. In cold weather the engineer is protected, +and can run in and get warm, while if in a towing boat he may suffer. +The expense is less, as there is the hull of the towboat to buy when +separate. The motion communicated to the cabin by an attached engine is +soon forgotten. You should not calculate in selling either cabin, engine +or towboat when ready to leave for the north, as prices in the south are +uncertain; and if you have not invested in power you lose that much less +if you desert your outfit. + +Between steam and gasoline as power there is much to be said. With steam +you require a license, it is dirty, more dangerous, takes time to get up +steam, and care to keep it up. But you can always pick up wood along +shore, though an engine of any size burns up a whole lot, and it takes +so much time to collect, cut and saw the wood, and to dry it, that if +you are paying a crew their time makes it costly. Low down the river, +in times of low water, coal is to be gathered from the sand bars; but +this cannot be counted upon as a regular supply. But you can always get +fuel for a wood-burning engine, and if you contemplate trips beyond +civilization it may be impossible to obtain gasoline. + +Gasoline boats are cleaner, safer, always ready to start by turning a +few buttons, and cheaper, if you have to buy your fuel. If you are going +beyond the reach of ordinary supplies you may run out, and then your +power is useless; but in such cases you must use foresight and lay in a +supply enough for emergencies. + +Both varieties of engines are liable to get out of order, and require +that there shall be someone in charge who understands their mechanism +and can find and remedy the difficulty. Our own preference in +Mississippi navigation is unquestionably for the gasoline. If we go to +the West Indies or the Amazon we will employ steam. Were we +contemplating a prolonged life on a boat, or a trading trip, we would +have the power attached to the cabin boat; and the saved cost of the +hull of a towboat would buy a small gasoline cutter--perhaps $150--which +could be used as a tender. But when you get power, get enough. It saves +more in tow bills than the cost of the engine; and if it is advisable to +bring the outfit back to the north full power saves a great loss. _Quod +est demonstrandum_ in the course of this narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +PREPARATIONS. + + +Our search for a second-hand houseboat was not very productive. At +Chicago the choice lay between three, and of these we naturally chose +the worst. It was the old Jackson Park boat, that after long service had +finally become so completely watersoaked that she sank at her moorings; +but this we learned later. In fact, as in many instances, our foresight +was far inferior to our hindsight--and that is why we are giving our +experiences exactly as they occurred, so that readers may avoid our +mistakes. + +This houseboat was purchased for $200, the vendor warranting her as +sound and safe, in every way fit and suitable for the trip contemplated. +He even said she had been through the canal as far as the Illinois +river, so there was no danger but that she could pass the locks. The +cabin measured 24 x 14.3 x 7 feet; and there was a six-foot open deck in +front, three feet behind, and two feet on either side, making her width +18 feet 3 inches. One end of the cabin was partitioned off, making two +staterooms and a kitchen, each 7 feet in depth. The rest formed one +large room. It was well lighted, with 14 windows; and had doors in each +side and two at the front opening into the kitchen and one stateroom. +The roof was formed of two thicknesses of wood and over this a canvas +cover, thickly painted. + +The staterooms were fitted with wire mattress frames, arranged to be +folded against the sides when not in use for beds. In the large room we +placed an iron double bed and two single ones, shielded from view by a +curtain. There was a stove capable of burning any sort of fuel; two +bookcases, dining table, work table, dresser, chairs, sewing machine, +sewing table, etc. We had a canvas awning made with stanchions to go on +the top, but this we never used, finding it pleasanter to sit on the +front deck. + +Among the equipment were the following: A canoe with oars and paddle, +50-lb. anchor, 75 feet ¾-inch rope, 75 feet 1-inch rope, 100 feet ½-inch +rope, boat pump, dinner horn, 6 life preservers, 2 boathooks, 2 +hammocks, 4 cots, Puritan water still, small tripoli filter, a tube of +chemical powder fire extinguisher, large and small axes, hatchet, brace +and bits, saws, sawbuck, tool-box well furnished, soldering set, repair +kit, paper napkins, mattresses, bedding, towels, and a liberal supply of +old clothes, over and under. We had an Edison Home phonograph and about +50 records; and this was a useful addition. But many articles we took +were only in the way, and we shall not mention them. + +We had a full supply of fishing material, frog spears, minnow seine, +minnow trap, railroad lantern, tubular searchlight with bull's-eye +reflector, electric flashlight with extra batteries, twine, trotline, +revolver and cartridges, 50-gauge Spencer for big game, and as a second +gun, with 150 cartridges; 32-H. P. S. Marlin rifle, with 400 cartridges; +Winchester 12-gauge pump, with 2,000 shells; Browning automatic shotgun; +folding decoys, 4 shell bags, McMillan shell extractor, U. S. Gov't +rifle cleaner, Marlin gun grease, grass suit, shooting clothes heavy and +light, hip boots, leggings, sweaters, chamois vest, mosquito hats, two +cameras with supplies, including developers, compass (pocket), copper +wire, whetstone, can opener and corkscrew, coffee pot to screw to wall, +matches in waterproof box, a Lehman footwarmer and two Japanese muff +stoves, with fuel. For the kitchen we got a gasoline stove with an oven. +There was a good kerosene lamp, giving sufficient light to allow all +hands to read about the table; also three lamps with brackets for the +small rooms. + +In preparing our lists of supplies we derived great assistance from +Buzzacott's "Complete Camper's Manual." It was a mistake to buy so many +shot-gun shells. All along the river we found it easy to get 12-gauge +shells, better than those we had. + +The boy rejoiced in a 20-gauge single barrel. We had so much trouble in +getting ammunition for it that we purchased a reloading outfit and +materials at Antoine's. This little gun was very useful, especially when +we wanted little birds. + +A full supply of medicines went along, mainly in alkaloidal granules, +which economize space and give extra efficiency and many other +advantages. A pocket surgical case, a few of the instruments most likely +to be needed, surgical dressings, quinidine (which is the best +preventive of malaria among the cinchona derivatives), insect powder, +sulphur for fumigation, potassium permanganate for the water, +petrolatum, absorbent cotton, a magnifying glass to facilitate removal +of splinters, extra glasses for those wearing them; and a little whisky, +which was, I believe, never opened on the entire trip. + +The boy was presented with a shell belt; and a week before starting we +found he was sleeping with the belt on, filled with loaded shells. Say, +tired and listless brethren, don't you envy him? Wouldn't you like to +enjoy the anticipation of such a pleasure that much? + +Among the things that were useful we may add a game and shell carrier, a +Marble axe with sheath, and a Val de Weese hunter's knife. After serving +their time these made acceptable presents to some kindly folk who had +done much to make our stay at Melville pleasant. + +We fitted out our table and kitchen from the cast offs of our home, +taking things we would not miss were we to leave them with the boat when +through with her. It matters little that you will find the most complete +lists wanting in important particulars, for ample opportunity is given +to add necessaries at the first town. But the Missis insisted on taking +a full supply of provisions, and we were very glad she did. Buzzacott +gives a list of necessaries for a party of five men camping five days. +It seems liberal, when added to the produce of rod and gun. + + + 20 lbs. self-raising flour. + 6 lbs. fresh biscuit. + 6 lbs. corn meal. + 6 lbs. navy beans. + 3 lbs. rice. + 5 lbs. salt pork. + 5 lbs. bacon. + 10 lbs. ham. + 15 lbs. potatoes. + 6 lbs. onions. + 3 lbs. can butter. + 3 lbs. dried fruits. + ½ gallon vinegar pickles. + ½ gallon preserves. + 1 qt. syrup. + 1 box pepper. + 1 box mustard. + 6 lbs. coffee. + 6 lbs. sugar. + ½ lb. tea. + ½ lb. baking powder. + 4 cans milk and cream. + 1 sack salt. + 6 boxes matches (tin case). + 1 lb. soap. + 1 lb. corn starch. + 1 lb. candles. + 1 jar cheese. + 1 box ginger. + 1 box allspice. + 1 lb. currants. + 1 lb. raisins. + 6 boxes sardines. + 1 screwtop flask. + + +Fresh bread, meat, sausage, eggs for first days. + +The wife laid in her stock of provisions, costing about sixty dollars +and including the articles we use generally. + +Among the books we found that seemed likely to provide some useful +information are: + + + Trapper Jim--Sandys. + + Last of the Flatboats--Eggleston. + + Houseboat series--Castlemon. + + Bonaventure--Cable. + + Down the Mississippi--Ellis. + + Down the Great River--Glazier. + + Four Months in a Sneak Box--Bishop. + + The Wild-Fowlers--Bradford. + + The Mississippi--Greene. + + The Gulf and Inland Waters--Mahan. + + The Blockade and the Cruisers--Soley. + + The History of Our Navy--Spears. + + In the Louisiana Lowlands--Mather. + + Hitting and Missing with the Shotgun--Hammond. + + Among the Waterfowl--Job. + + Up the North Branch--Farrar. + + Botanist and Florist--Wood. + + The Mushroom Book--Marshall. + + Wild Sports in the South--Whitehead. + + Cooper's Novels. + + Catalog from Montgomery Ward's mail order house. + + And a good supply of other novels, besides the children's + schoolbooks. + + +By writing to the U. S. port office at St. Louis we secured a list of +the lights on the Western rivers, a bit antique, but quite useful. From +Rand & McNally we also obtained a chart of the Mississippi River from +St. Louis to the Gulf, which was invaluable. The Desplaines had a lot of +separate charts obtained from the St. Louis port officers, which were +larger and easier to decipher. + +The question of motive power was one on which we received so much and +such contradictory advice that we were bewildered. It seemed preferable +to have the power in a tender, so that if we were moored anywhere and +wished to send for mail, supplies or aid, the tender could be so +dispatched without having to tow the heavy cabin boat. So we purchased a +small gasoline boat with a two-horse-power engine. At the last moment, +however, Jim persuaded us to exchange it for a larger one, a 20-footer, +with three-horse-power Fay & Bowen engine. In getting a small boat see +that it is a "water cooler," as an air-cooler will run a few minutes and +stop, as the piston swells. Also see that she is fitted with reversing +gear. Not all boats are. This was a fine sea boat, the engine very fast, +and she was well worth the $365 paid for her. + +The crew of the "Helen W. of Chicago," consisted of the Doctor, the +Missis, the Boy (aged 11), Miss Miggles (aged 10), Millie the +house-keeper, Jim and J. J. We should have had two dogs, little and big; +and next time they go in as an essential part of the crew. + +We carried far too many things, especially clothes. The most comfortable +proved to be flannel shirt or sweater, blue cloth cap, tennis shoes, +knickerbockers, long wool stockings, and a cheap canvas hunting suit +that would bear dirt and wet. Knicks attract too much attention outside +the city. One good suit will do for visiting in the cities. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE FIRST SHIPWRECK. + + +Our first experience in shipwrecks came early. We were all ready to +start; the home had been rented, furniture disposed of, the outfit +ordered, and the boat lay ready for occupancy, fresh and clean in new +paint--when we discovered that we had to go through the old canal--the +Illinois and Michigan--to La Salle, instead of the drainage ditch, on +which we were aware that Chicago had spent many millions more than +drainage demanded, with the ulterior object of making a deep waterway +between the great city and the Gulf! Here was an anxious thought--would +the old canal admit our boat? We visited headquarters, but naturally no +one there knew anything about so essential a matter. We went down to the +first lock at Bridgeport, and the lockmaster telephoned to Lockport, but +the Chief Engineer was out and no one else knew the width of the locks. +But finally we met an old seafarer who carried in his pocket a list of +all the locks of all the canals in the U. S., including Canada; and +from him we got the decisive information that the narrowest lock +admitted boats with a maximum width of 17 feet. Ours measured 18 feet 3 +inches! + +After prolonged consultation it was determined that the only way out was +to cut off enough of the side to admit her. So the purveyor, who had +guaranteed the boat as fit in every way for the trip, began to cut, +first building an inner wall or side with two-by-fours. Getting this up +to a convenient height he concluded to try for leaks, and slid the scow +back into the water with the side half up. It was just an inch too low; +and when he rose next morning the scow reposed peacefully on the bottom +of the river, the water having, in the night, come in at the low side. +The following week was consumed in endeavors to raise the boat and get +the water out. Meanwhile we were camping out in an empty house, eating +off the kitchen table, sleeping anywhere, and putting in spare time +hurrying the very deliberate boatmen. + +Just then we received from the Sanitary District folks the belated +information that the locks are 18 feet wide, and 110 feet long, and +that the height of the boat from the water line must not exceed 17 feet +to enable it to pass under bridges. + +For nearly a week various means of raising the craft were tried, without +success. Finally the wind shifted during the night, and in the morning +we found the upper margin of the hull out of water. The pumps were put +in operation and by noon the boat was free from water. It was found to +be reasonably watertight, despite the straining by jacks, levers, +windlasses, and other means employed to raise first one corner and then +another, the breaking of ropes and planks by which the corners had been +violently dropped, etc. But the absence of flotation, as evidenced by +the difficulty of raising an unloaded boat, wholly constructed of wood, +should have opened our eyes to her character. + +The side was rapidly completed, the furniture and stores brought aboard, +and the boats started down the canal, while the Doctor and Missis went +to Joliet to meet the outfit and avoid the odors of the drainage. The +men ran all night and reached Lock No. 5, at Joliet, about 5 p. m., +Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1903. This was altogether unnecessary, and we +might as well have come down on the boat. Meanwhile we found a shelter +in a little bakery near the Joliet bridge, where the kindly folk took +care of the little invalid while we watched for the arrival of the +boats. + +[Illustration: THE OLD CANAL.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CANAL. + + +That night was our first on board. We found the boat piled high with the +"necessaries" deemed imperative by the Missis. Days were spent in the +arrangement of these, and in heaving overboard articles whose value was +more than counterbalanced by the space they occupied. Hooks were +inserted, trunks unpacked, curtains hung, and it is safe to say that our +first week was thus occupied. The single beds were taken down and the +children put to sleep on cots consisting of strips of canvas with +eye-holes at the corners. These were fastened to stout hooks, screwed +into the walls. Difficulty supervened in finding a place to fasten the +outer ends, and we had to run ropes across the cabin, to our great +annoyance when rising during the night. Otherwise these are the best of +cots, as they can be taken down and rolled away during the day. + +The delight of those days, drifting lazily down the old canal, the +lovely vistas with long rows of elms along the deserted towpath, the +quiet farms. Sometimes it was showery, at others shiny, but we scarcely +noticed the difference. It is surely a lazy man's paradise. There is no +current in the canal, and the launch could only drag the heavy scow +along at about a mile and a half an hour; while but little wind sufficed +to seriously retard all progress. Even with our reduced width it was all +we could do to squeeze through the locks, which are smaller toward the +bottom. At No. 5 we only got through after repeated trials, when the +lock-keeper opened the upper gates and let in a flood of water, after +the lower had been opened, and the boat worked down as close as possible +to the lower gate. And here let us say a word as to the uniform courtesy +we received from these canal officials; something we were scarcely +prepared to expect after our experience with the minor official of the +city. Without an exception we found the canal officials at their posts, +ready to do their duty in a courteous, obliging manner. + +Friday, Oct. 2, we reached Lock 8 just at dusk, passing down as a string +of three canal boats passed up for Chicago, laden with corn. We are +surprised at the number of boats engaged in this traffic; as we had +thought the canal obsolete, judging from the caricatures in the daily +papers. Coal was passing down and corn and wood up. During this day 12 +laden boats went by us. + +Saturday, Oct. 3.--Head winds blew the boat about, to the distraction of +the crew. We tried towing, with a line along the towpath, and the boat +banged against the bank constantly. But the weather was lovely and +clear, everyone happy and the interior economy getting in order. It was +well the wise little Missis insisted on bringing a full supply of +provisions, for we have not passed a town or a store since leaving +Joliet, and we would have fared poorly but for her forethought. We +stopped at a farm, where we secured some milk for which we, with +difficulty, persuaded the farmer to accept a nickel--for a gallon. He +said milk was not so precious as in the city. But at Lock 8 the keeper's +wife was alive to her opportunities and charged us city prices. + +We were well pleased with our crew. Jim is a guide from Swan Lake, aged +24; fisher, hunter, trapper and boatman all his life. J. J. is a +baseball player and athlete about the same age. Both volunteered for the +trip, for the pleasure of it. They asked to go for nothing, but we do +not care to make such an arrangement, which never works well and leads +to disagreements and desertions when the novelty has worn off; so we +paid them wages. During the months they were with us we never asked them +to do a thing they did not willingly do, nor was there ever a complaint +of them in the score of behavior, lack of respect for the ladies, +language before the children, or any of those things that might have led +to unpleasantness had they not been gentlemen by instinct and training. +They are built of muscle and steel springs, never shirk work, have good, +healthy appetites and are always ready to meet any of the various +requirements of the trip. Everything comes handy to them. They put the +boat in shape, run the engine, do carpentry and any other trade that is +needed. It was hard to guide the unwieldy boat so they designed a +rudder, went to town for material, hunted up a blacksmith and showed him +what they wanted, and put the rudder together and hung it in good shape. +It has a tiller up on the roof, whence the steersman can see ahead. + +We secured some food at Morris, with difficulty. By noon the rudder was +hung and we were off for Seneca, the boy happy in charge of the tiller. +We wish we were a word painter, to describe the beauty of the scenery +along the canal. The water has lost all reminiscence of Chicago's +drainage. At 3 p. m. we stopped at a farm and obtained milk, eggs and +chickens, with half a bushel of apples for good measure. The boat +excites much interest among the farmers. At Morris we had our first call +upon the drugs, the boys finding a friend whose horse had a suppurating +wound. Dressed it with antiseptics and left a supply. We each took two +grains of quinine, to ward off possible malaria. Millie suffered serious +discomfort, her whole body breaking out, with itching and flushing, +lasting some hours. And this was about the only time we took quinine +during the trip, except when wet, to prevent a cold. We never saw +anything like malaria. + +After tea we had a delightful run by moonlight, stopping several miles +from Seneca. It is a good rule to stop before coming to a town, as the +loafers do not get sight of the boat until it comes in next morning. + +On Monday we ran into Seneca, and stopped for supplies. We always needed +something, ample as we thought our outfit. It is always ice, milk, eggs, +butter, or fruit. Here it is gasoline, on which we depend for our motive +power. + +It is useless to look for the picturesque in the Illinois farmer. He +speaks the language of the schools, with the accent of culture, and +wears his hair and whiskers in modern style. Probably he hears more +lectures, sees more operatic and histrionic stars, reads more books and +gets more out of his newspapers than does the city man. In fact, there +is no country now; the whole State is merely a series of suburbs. + +During the afternoon we reached Marseilles, where we tied up for the +night. We obtained a gallon of milk here, and a can of gasoline. A +neighboring well supplied artesian water, which tasted too much of +sulphur for palates accustomed to Chicago water. In fact, we now hear +that there is no such water as that of the great lake metropolis. + +Tuesday, Oct. 6, we left Marseilles with a favoring breeze. Our craft +sails best with the wind about two points abaft the beam. When it shifts +to two points forward we are driven against the shore. We had hard work +to reach the viaduct over the Fox river. At 2 p. m. we reached Ottawa, +and there replenished our gasoline barrel. _Hinc illae lachrymae._ At +Seneca and Marseilles we had been able to obtain only five gallons each, +and that of the grade used for stoves. We also learned that we might +have saved three dollars in lock fees, as below La Salle the water is so +high that the dams are out of sight and steamers pass over them. The +registry and lock fees from Chicago to St. Louis are $6.88. + +We had now passed ten locks with safety, but the captain of the Lulu +tells us the next is the worst of all. + +It is evident that our boat is not fit for this expedition, and we must +take the first opportunity to exchange her for one with a larger and +stronger scow, to cope with the dangers of the great river. The scow +should stand well up from the water so that the waves will not come +over the deck. Every morning and night there is over a barrel of water +to be pumped out, but that might be remedied by calking. + +Near Marseilles we passed a number of houseboats, and hear that many are +being prepared for the trip to St. Louis next summer. Berths along the +river front there are now being secured. + +Among our useful supplies is a portable rubber folding bath tub. It +works well now, but I am doubtful as to its wearing qualities. The +water-still is all right when we have a wood or coal fire going, but +when run by a gasoline stove it distils nearly as much water as it burns +gasoline. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday.--We came in sight of the lock below Ottawa about 5 p. m. last +night, and tied up. All night the wind blew hard and rattled the stores +on the roof. Rain comes is around the stovepipe, in spite of cement. +This morning it is still raining but the wind has fallen. A rain-coat +comes in handy. We must add oilskins to our outfit. A little fire goes +well these damp mornings, taking off the chill and drying out the cabin. +Fuel is the cheapest thing yet. We pick up a few sticks every day, +enough for the morning fire, and could load the boat with wood, if worth +while. And there is no better exercise for the chest than sawing wood. +We keep a small pile behind the stove to have it dry. + +The gasoline launch is a jewel--exactly what we need; and works in a way +to win the respect of all. The boys got wire rope for steering, as the +hemp stretched; but the wire soon wore through. + +Thirty cents a pound for creamery butter at Ottawa. We must rely on the +farms. + +Whence come the flies? The ceiling is black with them. We talk of +fumigating with sulphur. The cabin is screened, but whenever the door is +opened they come streaming in. The little wire fly-killer is a prime +necessity. It is a wire broom six inches long and as wide, with a +handle; and gets the fly every time. Burning insect powder gets rid of +mosquitoes, but has no effect on flies. + +A string of canal boats passed up this morning, the first we have seen +since leaving Seneca. The traffic seems to be much lighter in the lower +part of the canal. + +The canal official at Ottawa seems to be something of a joker. A dog +boarded our craft there and this man informed us it had no owner, so we +allowed the animal to accompany us. But further down the line the dog's +owner telephoned dire threats after us, and we sent him back from La +Salle. + +After lunch we tackled Lock No. 11, and a terror it was. The walls were +so dilapidated that care had to be exercised to keep the edges of the +scow and roof from catching. Then the roof caught on the left front and +the bottom on the right rear, and it was only at the fourth trial, when +we had worked the boat as far forward as possible, that we managed to +scrape through. The wind was still very brisk and dead ahead, so we tied +up just below the lock. A steam launch, the Lorain, passed through bound +down. She filled the lock with smoke, and we realized how much gasoline +excels steam in cleanliness. A foraging expedition secured a quart of +milk and four dozen eggs, with the promise of spring chickens when their +supper afforded a chance to catch them. + + * * * * * + +Thursday, Oct. 8, 1903.--All night we were held by the fierce wind +against which we were powerless. The squeeze in the lock increased the +leakage and this morning it took quite a lot of pumping to free the hull +of water. After breakfast we set out, and found Lock 12 much better than +its predecessor. All afternoon the wind continued dead ahead, and the +towing rope and poles were required to make even slight headway. Then we +passed under a low bridge, and the stovepipe fell down. If we do not +reach a town we will be cold tonight. Two small launches passed us, +going to La Salle, where there is some sort of function on. + +The children's lessons go on daily; with the girl because she is a girl +and therefore tractable, with the boy because he can not get out till +they are learned. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Oct. 9.--We lay in the canal all day yesterday, the folks +fishing for catfish. Our foraging was unsuccessful, the nearest house +containing a delegation of Chicago boys--17 of them--sent out by a West +Side church, who took all the milk of the place. The boy fell in the +canal and was promptly rescued by J. J., who is an expert swimmer. His +mother was excited, but not frightened. After tea, as the wind had +fallen, we used the launch for two hours to get through the most of the +"wide water," so as to have the protection of the high banks next day. +The lights of a large town--electric--are visible below. Very little +water that evening, not a fourth what we pumped in the morning. + +On Friday morning the water is smooth and we hope to make La Salle +today. + +And then the gasoline engine stopped! + +It had done good service so far, but there was a defect in it: a cup for +holding lubricating oil that had a hole in it. Curious for a new engine, +and some of the crew were unkind enough to suggest that the seller had +taken off the new cup and put on a broken one from his old boat. All day +we worked with it, till at lunch time it consented to go; and then our +old enemy, the west wind, came up, but less violent than before, so that +we made several miles before the engine again quit. We were well through +the wide water, and tied up in a lovely spot, where someone had been +picnicking during the morning. The boys towed the launch to Utica with +the canoe, while we secured some milk at a Swede's near by, and a jar of +honey from another house. + + * * * * * + +Saturday, Oct. 10, 1903.--At 7 p. m. the boys returned with a little +steam launch they had hired for six dollars to tow us the eight miles to +La Salle. Lock No. 13 was true to its hoodoo, and gave us some trouble. +About midnight we tied up just above Lock 14, which looks dubious this +morning. We missed some fine scenery during the night, but are tired of +the canal and glad to be near its end. A Street Fair is going on here, +and the streets are full of booths. Jim says J. J. will throw a few +balls at the "nigger babies," and then write home how he "missed the +children!" These things indicate that he is enjoying his meals. + +Not much water today in the hold. Temp. 39 at 7 a. m. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE ILLINOIS RIVER. + + +Monday, Oct. 12, 1903.--We passed Locks 14 and 15 without difficulty and +moored in the basin with a number of other houseboats. We find them very +polite and obliging, ready to give any information and assistance in +their power. All hands took in the Street Fair, and aided in +replenishing our constantly wasting stores. The boy drove a thriving +trade in minnows which he captured with the seine. In the afternoon Dr. +Abbott came down, to our great pleasure. A man from the shop came and +tinkered with the gasoline engine a few hours' worth, to no purpose. +Several others volunteered advice which did not pan out. + +Sunday we lay quiet, until near noon, when the engineer of the +government boat _Fox_ most kindly pointed out the trouble, which was, as +to be expected, a very simple one--the sparker was so arranged that the +single explosion caught the piston at the wrong angle and there was no +second explosion following. Then all hands went for a ride down into +the Illinois river. Dr. Abbott got off at 8:15 and the boys took a run +up to Tiskilwa--for what reason we do not hear, but have our suspicions. +We still recollect the days when we would travel at night over a +five-mile road, lined with farms, each fully and over-provided with the +meanest of dogs--so we ask no questions. + +This morning the temperature is 48, foggy; all up for an early start. + +One undesirable acquisition we made here was a numerous colony of mice, +which must have boarded us from a boat that lay alongside. The animals +did much damage, ruining a new dress and disturbing us at night with +their scampering. Nor did we finally get rid of them until the boat +sank--which is not a method to be recommended. Fumigation with sulphur, +if liberally done, is about the best remedy for any living pests. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Oct. 13, finds us still tied up below La Salle. The +fortune-teller kindly towed us to the mouth of the canal, where we spent +the day trying to persuade the engine to work. After an expert from the +shops here had put in the day over it, he announced that the fault lay +with the gasoline bought at Ottawa. In truth our troubles date from that +gasoline, and we hope he may be right. The engine he pronounces in +perfect order. Nothing here to do, and the little Missis has a cold and +is getting impatient to be going. So far we have met none but friendly +and honest folks along the canal, all anxious to be neighborly and do +what they can to aid us. All hands are discouraged with the delay and +trouble with the engine--all, that is, except one old man, who has been +buffeted about the world enough to realize that some share of bad luck +must enter every human life, and who rather welcomes what comes because +it might have been so much worse. Come to think of it, we usually expect +from Fate a whole lot more than we deserve. What are we that we should +look for an uninterrupted career of prosperity? Is it natural? Is it the +usual lot of man? What are we that we should expect our own lot to be +such an exceptional career of good fortune? Think of our deserts, and +what some men suffer, and humbly thank the good Lord that we are let off +so easily. + +If that is not good philosophy we can answer for its helping us a whole +lot to bear what ills come our way. + +We got off early and began our first day's floating. It was quite +pleasant, much more so than lying idle. The _Fox_ came along and rocked +us a bit, but not unpleasantly. We tied up below the bridge at Spring +Valley, and the boys went up to town, where they succeeded in getting +five gallons of gasoline, grade 88. After lunch we pumped out the old +stuff and put in the new and the little engine started off as if there +had never been a disagreement. At 4 p. m. we are still going +beautifully, passed Marquette, and all happy. But if the man who sold us +low-grade gasoline at Ottawa, for high, were in reach he might hear +something he would not like. + +At night we tied up a mile above Hennepin, where we obtained some milk +and a few eggs at a farm house. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday, Oct. 14, 1903.--Yesterday we passed the opening of the +Hennepin canal, that monument of official corruption, which after the +expenditure of fifty millions is not yet ready for use--the locks not +even built. Compare with the work done on the Drainage Canal, and we +conclude Chicago is not so very bad. At Hennepin this morning we secured +three gallons of gasoline at 74, the best available; also fresh beef, +for which we are all hungry. Left at 9 a. m. for Henry. + +During the preceding night the _Fred Swain_ passed down and bumped us +against the rocky shore harder than at any time previously. Next morning +there was less water in the hull than ever before, so it seems to have +tightened her seams. We ran into the creek above Henry and moored at the +landing of the Swan River Club, where Jim's father resides. Here we lay +for several weeks, for reasons that will appear. Millie kindly varied +the monotony and added to the general gaiety by tumbling into the creek; +but as the water was only about three feet deep no serious danger +resulted. The boys usually disappeared at bedtime and talked +mysteriously of Tiskilwa next morning, and appeared sleepy. We examined +several boats that were for sale, but did not find any that suited us. +We wished to feel perfectly safe, no matter what we might encounter on +the great river. Some one has been trying to scare the boys with tales +of the whirlpools to be encountered there; and of the waves that will +wash over the deck. These we afterward found to be unfounded. No +whirlpool we saw would endanger anything larger than a canoe, and our +two-strake gunwales were high enough for any waves on the river. + +We found few ducks; not enough to repay one for the trouble of going out +after them. Until we left Henry we caught a few fish, but not enough to +satisfy our needs. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +BUILDING THE BOAT. + + +November 1, 1903.--We had settled that the scow was not strong enough +for the river voyage, and she kindly confirmed this view by quietly +sinking as she was moored in the creek. There was no accident--the +timbers separated from decay. We were awaked by the sound of water +running as if poured from a very large pitcher; jumped up, ran to the +stern of the boat, and saw that the rudder, which was usually six inches +above water, was then below it. We awoke the family and hastily removed +the articles in the outer end of the boat to the end resting on shore, +and summoned the boys. It was just getting towards dawn. By the time +this was done the lower end of the cabin floor was covered with water. +Had this happened while we were in the river the consequences would have +been serious. + + * * * * * + +Jim's father, Frank Wood, went to Peoria and selected materials for the +new scow. The sides are technically termed gunwales--"gunnels"--and +should be of solid three-inch plank. But we found it might take six +months to get three-inch plank forty feet long, so we had to splice. He +got eight plank, 22 to 24 feet long. Two of these were spliced in the +center for the lower strake, and one long one placed in the center +above, with half a length at each end. This prevented both splices +coming together. The plank were sawed in a Z shape. Holes were then +bored through both plank at intervals of four feet, and half-inch iron +braces driven through and screwed firmly together. The ends were then +sawn for the sloping projections. + +Through the middle, from end to end, was set a six-by-six timber, and on +each side midway between this and the gunwales ran a three-by-six. Then +the two-inch plank were nailed firmly to the gunwales and intermediate +braces, each with twenty-three 60- and 40-penny nails. We find a strong +prejudice against wire nails, these fishers and boatbuilders preferring +the old-fashioned square nails when they can get them. They say the wire +is more apt to rust; but this may be simply the conservatism that always +meets an innovation. The cheapness of the wire is an item. + +The plank were placed as closely together as possible. Here a difficulty +arose, as they were warped, so that when one end was laid close, the +other was an inch from its fellow. But this did not bother our men. They +put a triangular block up to the refractory end, nailed it firmly to the +beam underneath, and drove wedges between till the crooked plank was +forced as nearly straight as possible--or as prudent, for too great a +strain would be followed by warping. + +When all the planks were nailed on, two coats of tar and rosin were +applied, and next day the boat was turned over. It was brought down till +one side was in two feet of water, then the upper side was hoisted by +blocks and tackles applied on upright timbers, till nearly upright, when +the men pushed it over with big poles. She had first been braced +carefully with an eight-by-eight across the middle, and by a number of +other timbers. The eight-by-eight was broken and the middle of the boat +forced up six inches by the shock, requiring the services of a jack to +press it down to its place. + +What fine workers these men are, and how silently they work, keeping at +the big spikes hour after hour, driving every one with thought and care, +and yet wasting no time. What use they make of a few simple mechanical +aids--the lever, the wheel and screw, the jack, buck, etc.; and they +constantly use the square before sawing. Americans, every one of them; +and not a drop of beer or whisky seen about the work, from first to +last. + +The seams in the gunwales were caulked with hemp and payed with white +lead, before the boat was turned. Then they went over the inside and +wherever a trickle of water appeared they stuffed in cotton. + +The scow is 40 feet long and 16 feet wide. Over the gunwales were laid +four-by-fours, 18 feet long, and spiked down. Then supports were placed +under these and toenailed to the three inner braces, and to the +four-by-fours. A two-foot projection was made at each end, making the +floor 44 feet long. The flooring is of Georgia pine, tongued and +grooved. + +The lumber cost, including freight from Peoria to Henry, about $100; the +work about fifty more. There were over 100 pounds of nails used, 50 +pounds of white lead in filling cracks, and several hundred pounds of +tar on the bottom. + +The gunwales are of Oregon fir, straight and knotless. It would not add +to the strength to have them of oak, as they are amply able to withstand +any strain that can possibly be put on them in navigating even the +greatest of rivers. Oak would, however, add largely to the weight, and +if we were pounding upon a snag this would add to the danger. As it was, +we many times had this experience, and felt the comfort of knowing that +a sound, well-braced, nailed and in every way secure hull was under us. +The planking was of white pine, the four-by-fours on which the deck +rested of Georgia pine. The cabin was of light wood, Oregon fir. When +completed the hull formed a strong box, secure against any damage that +could befall her. We cannot now conjure up any accident that could have +injured her so as to endanger her crew. Were we to build another boat +she should be like this one, but if larger we would have water-tight +compartments stretching across her, so that even if a plank were to be +torn off the bottom she would still be safe. And we would go down to +Henry to have "Abe" De Haas and "Frank" Wood and "Jack" Hurt build her. + +Some leakage continued for some weeks, till the seams had swelled +completely shut, and she did not leak a drop during the whole of the +cruise. + + * * * * * + +During this time we continued to live in the cabin, the deck sloping so +that it was difficult to walk without support. When the cabin was being +moved we availed ourselves of Mrs. Wood's courtesy and slept in her +house one night. After the cabin had been moved off we took the old scow +apart, and a terrible scene of rottenness was revealed. The men who saw +it, fishermen and boatbuilders, said it was a case for the grand jury, +that any man should send a family of women and little children afloat on +such a boat. There was no sign of an accident. The water had receded, +leaving the shore end of the scow resting on the mud. This let down the +stern a little. The new side was constructed of two-by-fours laid on +their sides, one above the other, and to the ends were nailed the plank +forming the bow and stern. Of these the wood was so rotten that the +long sixty-penny spikes pulled out, leaving a triangular opening, the +broad end up. As the stern of the boat sank the water ran in through a +wider orifice and filled up the hull more and more rapidly. The danger +lay in the absolute lack of flotation. New wood would have kept her +afloat even when the hull was full of water, but her timbers were so +completely watersoaked that the stout ropes broke in the attempt to +raise her, even though with no load. + +Through the favor of Providence this occurred while we were moored in a +shallow creek. Had it happened while in the deep river nothing could +have saved us from drowning. As it was, we lost a good deal of canned +goods and jelly, soap, flour, and other stores. But the most serious +harm was that we were delayed by the necessity of building a new boat, +so that we were caught in the November storms, and the exposure brought +back the invalid's asthma; so that the main object of the trip was +practically lost. We are thus particular to specify the nature of the +trouble, as the vendor of the boat has claimed that the accident was due +to the inexperience of our crew. That this was a mistake must be +evident to even an inexperienced sailor, who reads this account. + +The old house on the sunken scow was cut loose and moved over onto the +new one, and securely nailed down. An addition 8 feet square was added +at the back for a storeroom, and the roof extended to the ends of the +scow at both ends. This gives us a porch 11 by 18 feet in front, and one +10 by 8 behind. These are roofed with beaded siding and covered with the +canvas we got for an awning, which we have decided we do not need. This +is to be heavily painted as soon as we have time. + +The entire cost of the new boat, the additional room and roofs, labor +and materials, was about $250; the old boat cost $200, but the cabin +that we moved onto the new hull could not have been built and painted +for that, so that there was no money loss on the purchase. The launch, +with its engine, cost $365, so that the entire outfit stood us at $830, +including $15 for a fine gunning skiff Jim got at Henry. The furniture +is not included, as we took little but cast-offs; nor the outfit of +fishing and sporting goods. + +We must stop here to say a word as to the good people at Henry. Frank +Wood and his family opened their house to us and furnished us milk and +other supplies, for which we could not induce them to accept pay. +Members of the Swan Lake Club placed at our disposal the conveniences of +their club house. During the time our boat was building our goods lay +out under a tree with no protection, not even a dog, and not a thing was +touched. These fishermen surely are of a race to be perpetuated. Mr. +Grazier also allowed us to use his ferryboat while endeavoring to raise +the sunken boat and to store goods, and Mrs. Hurt offered to accommodate +part of our family on her houseboat while our cabin was being moved to +the new scow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE LOWER ILLINOIS. + + +Saturday, Oct. 31, we bade adieu to the kind friends at Swan Lake, who +had done so much to make us comfortable, and pulled down to Henry, +passing the locks. Here we tied up till Sunday afternoon, the engine +still giving trouble, and then set off. We passed Lacon pontoon bridge +and town about 5 p. m., and three miles below tied up for the night. +Next morning, the engine proving still refractory, we floated down to +the Chillicothe bridge, which was sighted about 11 a. m. This day was +rainy and the new unpainted roof let in the water freely. + +We waited at Chillicothe for the _Fred Swain_ to pass, and then swung +down to the bank below town, where we tied up. A farm house stood near +the bank, and as we tied up a woman came out and in a loud voice called +to some one to lock the chicken-house, and rattled a chain, +suggestively; from which we infer that houseboat people have not the +best reputation. We played the phonograph that evening, and the +household gathered on shore to listen; so that we trust they slept +somewhat securely. In the morning we bought some of the chickens we had +had no chance to steal, and found the folks quite willing to deal with +us. We had to wait for the _Swain_, as it was quite foggy and without +the launch we could not have gotten out of her way. + +We drifted slowly down past Sand Point and The Circle lights, and tied +up to a fallen tree, opposite the little village of Spring Bay. The boys +were out of tobacco and had to row in for it. About 9 p. m. I heard +shouts and then shots, and went out, to find a thick fog. They had lost +their direction and it was only after some time and considerable +shouting that they came near enough to see the lantern. We heard that +the previous night the man who lights the channel lamps was out all +night in the fog. + +[Illustration: HOUSEBOAT TOWN, PEORIA.] + +Again we had to wait for the _Swain_ to pass, and then floated down past +Blue Creek Point. Here we saw a houseboat tied up, which a fisherman +told us belonged to a wealthy old bachelor who lived there from choice. +The current was slow as the river was wide, so about 2 p. m. we took a +line from the good canal boat _City of Henry_, which for three dollars +agreed to tow us to Peoria. This was faster traveling, but not a bit +nice. However, it was necessary to get the engine in order, so we put up +with it. We tied up above the upper bridge, with a nasty row of jagged +piles between us and the shore. About 5 a. m. a northeast gale sprang up +and washed us against the piles, to our great danger. Our boys arranged +a two-by-four, nailing it against the side, so that the end stuck into +the sand and fended us off the piles, and our gangway plank served the +same purpose at the other end. This is a most important matter, as the +snags might loosen a plank from the bottom. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 6, 1903.--At last we seem to have found a real expert on +gasoline engines. Instead of guessing that "mebbe" this or "mebbe" that +was the matter, he went at it and soon found the difficulty. In a short +time the boat was circling 'round the lake at a most enticing rate. We +laid in a new store of groceries and at 9 a. m. today set out. By lunch +time we had passed Pekin, and are now heading for the locks at Copperas +Creek, the engine going beautifully and the weather bright and cool. +About Peoria we saw great numbers of houseboats, many in the water, but +the aged members had climbed out upon the banks and perched among a +wonderful array of shanties. One house seemed to be roosting among the +branches of several large trees. Many were seen along the river below, +some quite pretty, but none we fancied as well as our own. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 8, 1903.--We were held back by head winds and stopped +before we reached the lock. Saturday we had good weather and little +wind, and reached Copperas Creek just after lunch. There were three feet +of water on the dam, and even the _Bald Eagle_, the largest steamer +here, runs over it; but as we had paid for the lock we went through it. +The lock-keeper took it out of us, though, by charging 15 cents for two +quarts of milk, the highest price paid yet. + +We got off this morning at 8:15, and although a heavy head wind prevails +are making good time. Many loons are passing south, in large flights, +and some ducks. The marshes on either side seem to be well supplied, but +are club grounds, we are told. It is much warmer than yesterday, the +south wind blowing strongly. We moored with the anchor out at the outer +corner, up the river, and the line and gangway plank on shore, allowing +about ten feet from boat to shore; and when the _Eva Alma_ and the +_Ebaugh_ passed us there was no bumping against the shore. Evidently +that is the way to moor, though in the great river we must give more +space and more cable to the anchor. + +At 10 a. m. we passed Liverpool, a hamlet of 150 inhabitants, half of +whom must reside in houseboats. Some of these were quite large and well +built. + + * * * * * + +We reached Havana about 4 p. m. Sunday, and as the south wind had become +too fierce for our power we tied up below the bridge, at a fisherman's +shanty. Monday morning it looked like rain, and the wind blew harder +than ever, so we lay by and the boys finished putting on the tar paper +roofing. When the wind is strong enough to blow the boat up stream +against the current, the launch will be unable to make head against it. +A couple live in an old freight car by us, and their home is worth +seeing. The sand bluff is dug out for a chicken cave and pig-pen, and +beautiful chrysanthemums are growing in boxes and pans, placed so as to +retain the earth that would otherwise wash away. Fruit trees are also +planted, and the woman tells me that the whole place is filled with +flowering plants, now covered with sand for the winter. We notice two +dracaenas. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1903.--The storm lasted all day yesterday, pinioning +us relentlessly to the beach. By 5 p. m. it let up, but we concluded to +remain at our moorings till morning. This morning we got off at 7 a. m., +and passed the Devil's Elbow lights before lunch. We did not tie up +then, but threw out our anchor, which is less trouble and in every way +better, as there is less danger of the snags that beset the shore. The +air is rather cool for sitting outside but we spend much time there. The +river is narrowing. Each little creek has a houseboat, or several, +generally drawn up out of the water and out of reach of the ice. We saw +a woman at one of the shabbiest shanty boats washing clothes. She +stooped down and swung the garment to and fro in the water a few moments +and then hung it up to dry. + +The shores are thickly dotted with little flags and squares of muslin, +put up by the surveyors who are marking out the channel for the proposed +deep waterway. These were few in the upper river. Every shallow is +appropriated by some fisherman's nets, and at intervals a cleared space +with sheds or fish boxes shows how important are the fisheries of this +river. + +There is a great deal of dispute along shore over the fishing rights. +The submerging of thousands of acres of good land has greatly extended +the limits of what is legally navigable water. The fishermen claim the +right to set their nets wherever a skiff or a sawlog can float; but the +owners think that since they bought the land from the Government and +paid for it, and have paid taxes for forty years, they have something +more of rights than any outsider. If not, what did they buy? The right +to set nets, they claim, would give the right to plant crops if the +water receded. Eventually the courts will have to decide it; but if +these lands are thrown open to the public, the Drainage Board will have +a heavy bill of damages. For it seems clear that it is the canal which +has raised the level of the water. + +Meanwhile the fishing is not profitable. The fish have so wide a range +that netting does not result in much of a catch. But if this rise proves +only temporary, there will be good fishing when the water subsides. + +The boy does not get enough exercise, and his constant movement is +almost choreic; so we sent him out to cut firewood, which is good for +his soul. The girl amuses herself all day long with some little dolls, +but is ever ready to aid when there is a task within her strength. She +is possessed with a laughing demon, and has been in a constant state of +cachinnation the whole trip. At table some sternness is requisite to +keep the fun within due bounds. All hands mess together--we are a +democratic crowd. Saturday John W. Gates' palatial yacht, the _Roxana_, +passed down while we were at lunch. We saw a cook on deck; and two +persons, wrapped up well, reclined behind the smokestack. + + * * * * * + +Nov. 11, 1903.--After a run of 22 miles--our best yet--we tied up at the +Sangamon Chute, just below the mouth of that river. The day had been +very pleasant. During the night our old friend the South Wind returned, +but we were well moored and rode easily. The launch bumped a little, so +the doctor rose and moved it, setting the fenders, also. Rain, thunder +and lightning came, but secure in our floating home we were content. +Today the wind has pinioned us to the shore, though the sun is shining +and the wind not specially cold. The boys cut wood for the stove and +then went after ducks, returning at noon with a pair of mallards. The +new roof is tight, the stove draws well, and we ought to be happy, as +all are well. But we should be far to the south, out of reach of this +weather. We can see the whitecaps in the river at the bend below, but an +island protects us from the full sweep of wind and wave. + +Regular trade-wind weather, sun shining, wind blowing steadily, great +bulks of white cloud floating overhead, and just too cold to permit +enjoyable exposure when not exercising. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 13, 1903.--This thing grows monotonous. Yesterday we set +out and got to Browning, a mile, when the wind blew us ashore against a +ferry boat that was moored there, and just then the engine refused to +work. We remained there all day. The wind was pitiless, driving us +against the boat till we feared the cable would break. We got the anchor +into the skiff and carried it out to windward as far as the cable +reached, and then drew in till there were five feet between the +ferryboat and ours. In half an hour the anchor, firmly embedded in +tenacious clay, had dragged us back to the boat and we had again to draw +in cable by bracing against the ferry. + +At 2 p. m. the wind had subsided, and after working with the engine till +4 we got off, and drew down a mile beyond the turn, where we would be +sheltered. We moored with the anchor out up stream, and a cable fast +ashore at the other end, lying with broadside up stream to the current, +and a fender out to the shore. This fender is made of two two-by-fours +set on edge and cross pieces let in near each end. The boat end is tied +to the side and the shore end rams down into the mud. While at dinner +the _Bald Eagle_ came up, but we hardly noticed her wash. Moored thus, +far enough out to avoid snags, we are safe and comfortable. But if too +close in shore there may be a submerged snag that when the boat is +lifted on a wave and let down upon it punches a hole in the bottom or +loosens a plank. + +The night was quiet. We had our first duck supper, the boys getting a +brace and a hunter at the fish house giving us two more. They had +hundreds of them, four men having had good shooting on the Sangamon. +This morning it is cool and cloudy, the wind aft and light, and the boys +are coaxing the engine. If we can get a tow we will take it, as there is +some danger we may be frozen in if we delay much longer. + + * * * * * + +Saturday, Nov. 14, 1903.--Despite the hoodoo of yesterday, Friday the +13th, we got safely to Beardstown before lunch, in a drizzle of rain +that turned to a light snow. Temperature all day about 35. After lunch +we started down and passed La Grange about 4:30 p. m. Probably this was +a town in the days when the river was the great highway, but stranded +when the railways replaced the waterways. There is a very large frame +building at the landing, evidently once a tavern, and what looks like an +old street, with no houses on it now. The tavern is propped up to keep +it from falling down. No postoffice. We tied up about a mile above the +La Grange lock, so that we may be ready to go through at 8 a. m. We hear +that the locks are only opened to small fry like gasolines at 8 a. m. +and 4 p. m., and it behooves us to be there at one of those hours. Just +why a distinction should be made between steamers and gasolines is for +officialdom to tell. + + * * * * * + +Twice yesterday the launch propeller fouled the towrope, once requiring +the knife to relieve it. This accident is apt to occur and needs +constant attention to prevent. We arranged two poles to hold up the +ropes, and this did well. It is good to have a few poles, boards and +various bits of timber aboard for emergencies. Heavy frost last night, +but the sun is coming up clear and bright, and not a breath of wind. We +look for a great run today if we manage the lock without delay. The +quail are whistling all around us, but we are in a hurry. The _Bald +Eagle_ passed down last evening, running quite near us and sending in +big waves, but thanks to our mooring, we were comfortable and had no +bumping. The water does no harm; it is the shore and the snags we fear. + +We were told that we would find the lockmen at La Grange grouty and +indisposed to open the locks except at the hours named above; but this +proved a mistake. They showed us the unvarying courtesy we have received +from all canal officials since starting. They opened the gate without +waiting for us. They said that in the summer, picnic parties gave them +so much unnecessary trouble that they had to establish the rule quoted, +but at present there was no need for it. The day is decidedly cool and a +heavy fog drifting in from the south. + +At Meredosia at 11 a. m., where Dr. Neville kindly assisted us to get a +check cashed. Found a youngster there who "knew gasoline engines," and +by his help the difficulty was found and remedied. Laid in supplies and +set out for Naples. Weather cool, but fog lifted, though the sun refused +to be tempted out. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +TOWING. + + +Monday, Nov. 16, 1903.--The engine bucked yesterday, for a change, so we +'phoned to Meredosia and secured the services of the _Celine_, a +gasoline launch of five-horse-power. She started at once, but arriving +in sight of Naples she also stopped and lay two hours before she +condescended to resume. About 3 p. m. we got under way, the _Celine_ +pushing, with a V of two-by-fours for her nose and a strong rope +reaching from her stern to each after corner of the scow. Then our own +engine awoke, and ran all day, as if she never knew what a tantrum was. +We made Florence, a town of 100 people, and tied up for the night. An +old "doctor" had a boat with a ten-horse-power gasoline tied up next us. +He travels up and down the river selling medicines. As these small towns +could scarcely support a doctor, there is possibly an opening for a real +physician, who would thus supply a number of them. Telephonic +communication is so free along the river that he could cover a large +territory--at least better than no doctor at all. + +[Illustration: LAUNCH TOWING.] + +During the night it blew hard, and rain, thunder and lightning made us +feel sorry for the poor folk who were exposed to such dangers on shore. +This morning we got off about 7:15, with a dull, lowering sky, fog, but +a wind dead astern and a strong current, so that we are in hopes of a +record run. So far our best has been 22 miles in one day. + +The right bank shows a series of pretty high bluffs, the stratified rock +showing through. Ferries grow numerous. A good deal of timber is at the +riverside awaiting shipment--a good deal, that is, for Illinois--and +remarkably large logs at that. It seems to go to Meredosia. The boy and +his father had made a gangway plank, and a limber affair it was; so the +boys are taking it to pieces and setting the two-by-fours up on edge, +which gives more strength. There is a right and a wrong way of doing +most things, and we invariably choose the wrong till shown better. + +Bought some pecans at Meredosia--$3.00 a bushel. It ought to pay to +raise them at that price, which is rather low than high. The river is +said to be lined with the trees, and one woman says she and her two +daughters made $150 gathering them this season. Hickory nuts cost 80 +cents to $1.20, the latter for big coarse nuts we would not gather in +the East. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1903.--Kampsville, Ill. Yesterday Mr. Hauser brought +us this far with the gasoline launch _Celine_, and then quit--too cold. +Cost $12 for the tow. By the time we got here the northeast wind was +blowing so fierce and cold that we tied up. The town seems very lively +for so small a place, having a number of stores. They charged us 25 +cents a gallon for stove gasoline, but only 8 cents a pound for very +fair roasting beef. We were moored on a lee shore, with our port bow to +land, lines from both ends to stakes on shore, and the gangway plank +roped to the port corner side and staked down firmly; the anchor out +from the starboard stern, so as to present that side to the wind and +current. She swung easily without bumping, but the plank complained all +night. We scarcely felt the waves from the _Bald Eagle_ when she came +in, but the wind raised not only whitecaps but breakers and we rocked +some. It grew so cold that there was a draft through the unlined sides +of the boat that kept our heads cold. Fire was kept up all night and yet +we were cold. + +We now see as never before how much harm was done by the old boat, that +compelled us to remain so long in this northern latitude and get the +November storms. But for this we would have been well below Memphis, and +escaped these gales. + +We got new batteries here, but this morning all the gasolines are frozen +up, and we lay at our moorings, unable to move. They wanted $20 to tow +us 29 miles to Grafton, but have come down to $15 this morning. We will +accept if they can get up power, though it is steep--$5.00 being about +the usual price for a day's excursion in summer. All hands are stuffing +caulking around the windows and trying to keep in some of the heat. Sun +shining, but the northeast wind still blows whitecaps, with little if +any sign of letting up. The launch that proposes to tow us is busy +thawing out her frozen pump. We have put the canoe and skiff on the +front "porch," so as to have less difficulty steering. + +The little Puritan still sits on the stove in the cabin, and easily +furnishes two gallons of water a day when sitting on top of the stove +lid. Four times we have turned on the water and forgotten it till it ran +over. We might arrange it to let a drop fall into the still just as fast +as it evaporates, if the rate were uniform, but on a wood stove this is +impossible. Last night it burned dry and some solder melted out of the +nozzle, but not enough to make it leak. It did not hurt the still, but +such things must be guarded against. + +The weather is warmer, sun shining brightly, but we must wait for our +tow. The boys are getting tired of the monotony, especially Jim, who +likes action. We have the first and only cold of the trip, contracted +the cold night when our heads were chilled. + +This afternoon Jim and the boy went one way for pecans and squirrels, +and the three women another for pecans alone. This is the pecan country, +the river being lined with the trees for many miles. In the cabin-boat +alongside, the old proprietor is still trying to get his engine to +work, while both his men are drunk. And he never did get them and the +engine in shape, but lost the job. He did not know how to run his own +engine, which is unpardonable in anyone who lives in such a boat or +makes long trips in it. + + * * * * * + +Thursday, Nov. 19, 1903.--Another tedious day of waiting. Cold and +bright; but the cold kept us in. After dark Capt. Fluent arrived with +his yacht, the _Rosalie_, 21-horse-power gasoline; and at 9 a. m. we got +under way. Passed the last of the locks at 9:15, and made about five +miles an hour down the river. Passed Hardin, the last of the Illinois +river towns. Many ducks in the river, more than we had previously seen. +Clear and cold; temperature at 8 a. m. 19; at 2 p. m., 60. About 3:25 p. +m. we swung into the Mississippi. The water was smooth and did not seem +terrible to us--in fact we had passed through so many "wides" in the +Illinois that we were not much impressed. But we are not saying anything +derogatory to the river god, for we do not want him to give us a sample +of his powers. We are unpretentious passers by, no Aeneases or other +distinguished bummers, but just a set of little river tramps not worth +his godship's notice. + +Grafton is a straggling town built well back from the river, and looking +as if ready to take to the bluffs at the first warning. The Missouri +shore is edged with willows and lies low. We notice that our pilot +steers by the lights, making for one till close, and then turning +towards the next, keeping just to the right or left, as the Government +list directs: Probably our craft, drawing so little water, might go +almost anywhere, but the channel is probably clear of snags and other +obstructions and it is better to take no chances. It was after 6 when we +moored in Alton. Day's run, 45 miles in nine hours. We picked up enough +ducks on the way down for to-night's dinner--two mallards and two teal. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 20, 1903.--Cold this morning, enough to make us wish we +were much farther south. Capt. Fluent has quite a plant here--a ferry +boat, many small boats for hire, etc. In the night a steamer jolted us a +little, but nothing to matter. Even in the channel the launch ran over a +sunken log yesterday. We note a gasoline launch alongside that has one +of the towing cleats and a board pulled off, and hear it was in pulling +her off a sand bar; so there is evidently wisdom in keeping in the +channel, even if we only draw eight inches. + +A friend called last evening. Waiting at the depot he saw our lights and +recognized the two side windows with the door between. It was good to +see a familiar face. + +We are now free from the danger of ice blockade. The current at the +mouth of the Illinois is so slow that ice forming above may be banked up +there, and from this cause Fluent was held six weeks once--the blocking +occurring in November. But the great river is not liable to this +trouble. Still we will push south fast. This morning we had a visit from +a bright young reporter from an Alton paper, who wrote up some notes of +our trip. The first brother quill we had met, so we gave him a welcome. + +At 9 a. m. we set out for St. Louis, Mrs. Fluent and children +accompanying her husband. The most curious houseboat we have yet seen +lay on shore near our mooring place. It was a small raft sustained on +barrels, with a cabin about six feet by twelve. A stovepipe through the +roof showed that it was inhabited. Reminded us of the flimsy structures +on which the South American Indians entrust themselves to the ocean. + +The _Reynard_ and her tender are following us, to get the benefit of +Fluent's pilotage. A head wind and some sea caused disagreeable pounding +against the front overhang, which alarmed the inexperienced and made us +glad it was no wider. But what will it do when the waves are really +high? + +[Illustration: "BLUFF."] + +[Illustration: THE DESPLAINES.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ST. LOUIS. + + +St. Louis, Nov. 26, 1903.--We moored at the private landing belonging to +Mr. Gardner, whose handsome yacht, the _Annie Russell_, came in on the +following day. This was a great comfort, affording a sense of security, +which the reputation of the levee made important. A reporter from the +_Globe-Democrat_ paid us a visit, and a notice of the boat and crew +brought swarms of visitors. We were deluged with invitations so numerous +that we were compelled to decline all, that no offense might be given. +But Dr. Lanphear and his wife were not to be put off, so they drove down +to take us for a drive through the Fair grounds, with their huge, +inchoate buildings; and then brought to the boat materials for a dinner +which they served and cooked there. It is needless to add that we had a +jolly time. + +Many applications were made for berths on the boat, which also we had to +decline. One distinguished professor of national repute offered to +clean guns and boots if he were taken along. Despite the bad reputation +of the levee we saw absolutely nothing to annoy us. We heard of the +cruelty of the negroes to animals but scarcely saw a negro here. It is +said that they catch rats on the steamers and let them out in a circle +of negro drivers, who with their blacksnake whips tear the animal to +pieces at the first blow. + +We visited the market and had _bon marche_ there, and at Luyties' large +grocery. Meat is cheap here, steak being from 10 to 12 cents a pound. + +Foreman turned up with the _Bella_, and tried to get an interview; but +we refused to see him, the memory of the perils to which he had exposed +a family of helpless women and children, as well as the delay that +exposed us to the November gales, rendering any further acquaintance +undesirable. + +Frank Taylor, the engineer of the _Desplaines_, was recommended to us by +his employer, Mr. Wilcox, of Joliet, as the best gasoline expert in +America; and he has been at work on our engine since we reached St. +Louis. It is a new make to him, and he finds it obscure. We have had so +much trouble with it, and the season is so far advanced, that we +arranged with the _Desplaines_, whose owner very kindly agreed to tow us +to Memphis. This is done to get the invalid below the frost line as +quickly as possible. The _Desplaines_ is selling powder fire +extinguishers along the river; and we are to stop wherever they think +there is a chance for some business. + +At St. Louis we threw away our stove, which was a relic of Foreman, and +no good; and bought for $8.00 a small wood-burning range. It works well +and we can do about all our cooking on it, except frying. As we can pick +up all the wood we wish along the river, this is more economic than the +gasoline stove, which has burned 70 gallons of fuel since leaving +Chicago. + +We stopped for Thanksgiving dinner above Crystal City, and the +_Desplaines_ crowd dined with us--Woodruff, Allen, Clements, Taylor and +Jake. A nice crowd, and we enjoyed their company. Also the turkey, +goose, mince pie, macaroni, potatoes, onions, celery, cranberries, +pickles, nuts, raisins, nut-candy, oranges and coffee. The current of +the river is swifter than at any place before met, and carries us along +fast. The _Desplaines_ is a steamer and works well. + +We made about 50 miles today and tied up on the Illinois side, just +above a big two-story Government boat, which was apparently engaged in +protecting the banks from washing. Great piles of stone were being +dumped along the shore and timber frames laid down. It was quite cold. +The shore was lined with driftwood and young uprooted willows, and we +laid in a supply of small firewood--enough to last a week. + + * * * * * + +Friday morning, Nov. 27.--Temperature 20; clear and cold, with a south +wind blowing, which makes the waves bump the boat some, the wind +opposing the swift current. Got off about 7:45, heading for Chester, +where the _Desplaines_ expects to stop for letters. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE MISSISSIPPI. + + +Nov. 28, 1903.--Yesterday morning we left our moorings 45 miles below +St. Louis, and came down the river against the wind. This made waves +that pounded our prow unpleasantly. We passed the Kaskaskia chute, +through which the whole river now passes, since the Government has +blocked up the old river bed. A few houses mark the site of old +Kaskaskia. Nearing the end of the chute, the _Desplaines_ ran on a sand +bar, as the channel is very narrow and runs close to the shore, which it +is cutting away rapidly. It took two hours to free her. We tied up early +at Chester, as they desired to work the town. During the night we were +severely rocked by passing steamers, and bumped by the launch and skiff. +This morning the river was smooth as glass. The _Desplaines_ was not +through with their work, so we did not set out till 10:30. By that time +a gale had sprung up from the north and we had trouble. We were moored +by a single line to the shore, and as this was cast off and the +_Desplaines_ began to move, her towline fouled the propeller. We drifted +swiftly down toward a row of piles, but were brought up by the anchor +hastily dropped. The steamer drifted down against us, narrowly missing +smashing our launch, and getting right across our anchor rope. Blessed +be the anchor to windward. But the staple to which the cable was fast +began to show signs of pulling out, so we got a chain and small lines +and made them fast to the timbers of the scow, so that if the cable +broke they might still hold. Finally the rope was removed from the +propeller, and after several attempts they got hold of us and steamed up +to the anchor, so that five strong men could raise it. Then we went down +stream at a rate to terrify one who knew the danger, if we should strike +a sandbank. On we go, past the crumbling banks of sand stratified with +earth, with government channel lights at close intervals. The channel +changes from side to side constantly. We run by the lights, and are +somehow absorbing a wholesome respect for this great, mighty, +uncontrollable Mississippi. Today he is covered with whitecaps and the +current runs like a millrace. It is cold and the fire eats up wood +pretty fast. + + * * * * * + +Monday, Nov. 30, 1903.--Cape Girardeau, Mo.--We passed Grand Tower, and +greatly regretted the absence of sunlight, which prevented us getting +snap-shots of the scenery. Two miles below the town we tied up on the +Missouri side, with a good sandy beach alongside, our anchor carried +ashore and rooted into the gravel. A bad way, for if there were a gale +from the west the anchor would have soon dragged out. But the high +bluffs protected us against wind from that quarter, and our fenders kept +us out from the shore. Four steamers passed in the night, one of them +the fine _Peters Lee_. Who is it said that the commerce of the +Mississippi was a thing of the past? Just let him lie here on a +houseboat and he will change his views. No nets are to be seen here, +though probably the small affluents of the river would prove to be +provided therewith, were we to examine them. In the morning we found a +loaded hickory tree just opposite us, and the boys gathered a few nuts. +We also picked up a few white oak slabs, which make a fire quite +different from the light rotten drift. + +The boys set out ahead in the launch with designs on the geese. The wind +set in about 10 a. m., but the river is so crooked that we could +scarcely tell from what quarter it blew. It was cold, though, and the +waves rough. As Glazier says, it seems to set in from the same quarter, +about that time daily, and were we to float without a tow we would start +early and tie up before the wind began. But that would depend on finding +a good place to tie, and altogether a man who would try to float a heavy +boat without power should take out heavy insurance first, and leave the +family at home. + +Where the river is cutting into a bank and the current strong, the wind +whirling the cabin around, now with the current and again across or +against it, there is every reason to look for being driven ashore and +wrecked. Even were one to start about September 1st, and float only when +the river is smooth, he would run great risks. At one place the +Government had evidently tried to block up one of the channels by rows +of piling and brush, but the water ran through and was piled up several +feet high against the obstructions. The wind drove us directly down +against it and the fifteen-horse-power tug could just keep us off. + +Without the power our boat would have been driven against the piling +with force enough to burst her sides and the piles as well, and a +crevasse and shipwreck would have resulted. In the afternoon a large +steamer passed up, leaving a train of waves so large that they washed up +on the front deck and under the cabin, wetting our floor in a moment. J. +J. is now nailing quarter-rounds along the edges, to prevent such an +accident again. We are told to have guards placed in front of our doors +to prevent them being driven in when waves hit us on the side; and I +think stout bars inside will be advisable. A stout wave would drive +these flimsy doors off their hinges. + +Here we moored inside the bar, which protects us from waves coming from +the river. A number of cabin boats are drawn up on shore, the occupants +seeming mainly of the river tramp class. This is a nice looking town, of +possibly 10,000 people. Unpaved streets. Many brick blocks. Saw one +doctor, who seemed to have sunk into a mere drudge--no animation, no +enthusiasm, it was impossible to get any expression of interest out of +him. They bring milk here from an Illinois town 100 miles up the river. + +We paid 25 cents for a gallon. + +A very courteous druggist near the landing seemed to make amends for the +impassive doctor. Our pharmacal friend was a man of enterprise and had +an ice-cream factory as well as a large and well-appointed shop. + + * * * * * + +December 1, 1903.--Yesterday the _Desplaines_ wasted the morning trying +to do business in Cape Girardeau. Good town, but no enterprise, they +report. Excellent opportunity for a good grocery and provision store, +judging by the prices and quality of food products offered us. We ran +but 13 miles, tieing up in front of the warehouse at Commerce, Mo. A +small place, but they found a market for their extinguishers, with men +who had the old kind that required refilling twice a year. Curious +two-story stores, a gallery running around the whole room. + +Shortly before reaching this place we passed two little cabin boats, +tied up; seemingly occupied by two big men each. They called to us that +they had been three weeks getting this far from St. Louis--about 145 +miles. This morning we passed them a mile below Commerce, each with a +row-boat towing and a man at the stem working two sweeps. Looked like +work, but that is the real thing when it comes to cabin boating. They +were in the current, but working cautiously near shore. + +It was snowing smartly as we set out about 7:30, but warmer than for +some days. The little one has had asthma badly for some days, but it +began to give way, and she had a fairly comfortable night. During the +morning we got in a place where the channel seemed so intricate that the +tug ran in to inquire of some men on shore; and in turning in, the house +ran against a projecting tree so swiftly that had we not rushed out and +held her off, the snag would have crushed in the thin side of the house. +To even matters, we picked out of the drift a fine hardwood board, +evidently but a short time in the water. Never lose a chance to get a +bit of good timber for firewood--you never have too much. + +Plenty of geese flying and on the bars, but the wary fellows keep out +of range. Cleaned the Spencer and reloaded the magazine. + +Miggles simply outdoes herself, nursing her sick mother, ironing and +otherwise helping Millie, and picking nuts for us. She has improved +wonderfully this trip, which is developing her in all ways. She eats +better than ever before, and is simply sweet. Cheeks rival the boy's in +rosiness. The boy likes to get in with the men, and we see no evidence +of talk unfit for an 11-year-old boy, but he returns very impatient of +control, and ready to pout out his lips if any authority is manifested. +The spirit of a man, and a man's impatience of control--but what would a +boy be worth who did not feel thus? No milksops for us. + +We pass many men and steamers, barges, etc., doing Government work on +this river. Just above they are weaving mattresses of wood, which are +laid along where the river cuts into the land, and covered with brush, +earth and stones. Many miles of bank are thus treated, and some control +exerted on the course of the river. But what a task! Do the men engaged +in it get to take a personal interest in it, as does the trainer of a +race horse? + +We now look for reminders of the civil war, and yesterday we saw on the +Missouri shore the white tents of a camp. Not the destructive army of +war, but the constructive forces of the modern genius of civilization. +The St. Louis and Mississippi Valley Railroad is building its tracks +along the shore, and every cliff is scarred by the cuts. And the great, +giant river sweeps lazily by, as if he disdained to notice the liberties +being taken with his lordship. But away back in the hills of +Pennsylvania, the prairies of the Midwest, the lakes of Minnesota and +the headwaters of the Missouri, in the Northwest Rockies, the forces are +silently gathering; and in due time the old river god will swoop down +with an avalanche of roaring, whirling waters, and the St. L. & M. V. R. +R. will have, not a bill for repairs, but a new construction account. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CAIRO AND THE OHIO. + + +Cairo, Ill., Dec. 3, 1903.--We ran in here Thursday afternoon, and the +little steamer had some trouble in pulling us against the current of the +Ohio. The water is yellower than the Mississippi. We tied up below town, +as we hear that they charge $5.00 wharfage for mooring, or even making a +landing in the city. The place where we moored was full of snags, but J. +J. got into the water with his rubber waders and pulled the worst ones +out from under the boat, till all was secure. Moored with the gangway +plank out front and the other fender at the rear, both tied to the boat +and staked at the shore end. Lines were also made fast to trees at each +end. Thus we rode the waves easily--and well it was, for never yet have +we seen so many steamers coming and going, not even at St. Louis. +Several ferry boats ply between the Missouri and Kentucky shores and the +city, transfer steamers carry freight cars across, and many vessels ply +on the rivers with passengers and freight. Surely the men who advised +Charles Dickens to locate lots here were not far out, as things were +then; for the railroads had not as yet superseded the waterways. Not +that they have yet, for that matter. Since coming here we have been +inquiring for the man who proclaimed the rivers obsolete as lines for +transportation. + +Cairo is the biggest and busiest town of 12,000 inhabitants we have yet +seen. Many darkies are here, and the worst looking set of levee loafers +yet. We had some oysters at "Uncle Joe's," on the main business street, +the only restaurant we saw; and when we surveyed the drunken gang there, +we were glad we came in our old clothes. Where we moored, the shore is +covered with driftwood, and we piled high our front deck, selecting good +solid oak, hard maple and hemlock, with some beautiful red cedar. Soft, +rotten wood is not worth picking up, as there is no heat derived from +it. Oak and hickory are the best. Old rails are good. Take no +water-soaked wood if you can get any other--it will dry out in a week or +two perhaps, but you may need it sooner, and when dry it may be +worthless. Several men had erected a shack along shore which we should +have taken shots at, but the sun was not out enough. _Desplaines_ is +doing a fair business. + + * * * * * + +Hickman, Ky., Dec. 5, 1903.--We tied up here after a run of 38 miles +from Cairo. The boys stopped at Columbus, Ky., but did no business--town +full of extinguishers. Hickman is built of brick and stone, as to the +business section, and lit by electricity. Made a bad moor, on a rocky +shore, with anchor out and front starboard bow firmly embedded in mud; +and this worried us so we slept poorly. Wind sprang up about 9 p. m., +but not fierce. During the night several steamers passed and rocked us, +but not much--the bow was too firmly washed into the mud by the strong +current. This morning it took all hands half an hour to get us off, +about 10 a. m. We were told at Hickman that 100 dwellings had been +erected during the year, and not one was unoccupied. About 3,000 people, +four drug stores, and an alert lot of business men in fine stores. Paid +30 cents a dozen for eggs, 10 cents for steak. We see many floaters, +some every day. Ice formed along shore last night, but the sun is +coming out bright and warm. Wind from the south, not heavy but enough to +kick up a disagreeable bumping against our prow. This is always so when +the wind is against the current. + + * * * * * + +Donaldson's Point, Mo.--We stopped here yesterday afternoon about 2 p. +m., that the boys might have a day's shooting. J. J., Allen and Taylor +went out on the sand bar all night, and got nothing except an exalted +idea of the perspicuity of the wild goose. _En passant_ they were almost +frozen, despite a huge fire of drift they kindled. + +We tied up on the channel side, just below Phillips' Bar light, a good +sandy shore with deep water and no snags--an ideal mooring place. We +moored with the port side in, the _Desplaines_ outside, lines fore and +aft and the fore gangway plank out. But the launch was uneasy and would +bump the stern, and there must have been a review of the ghosts of +departed steamers during the night, for many times we were awakened by +the swell of passing vessels rocking us. + +This morning is clear and cold, temperature 20, with a keenness and +penetrating quality not felt with a temperature twenty degrees lower in +the north. We saw some green foliage in the woods, and Clement said it +was "fishing pole"--cane! Our first sight of the canebrake. The Doctor, +J. J., the boy and Clement went up through the cornfields to the woods, +but found no game. A few doves got up, but too far away for a shot. Jim +got a mallard, Woodruff a fox squirrel--and one whose name we will not +disclose shot a young pig. An old darkey came down to the _Desplaines_ +with milk, chickens and eggs, for which he got a fabulous price; also a +drink, and a few tunes on the phonograph, and he hinted that if they +should shoot a pig he would not know it, or words to that effect. +Hundreds of hogs ran the woods, and showed the tendency to reversion by +their long, pointed heads and agile movements. Apparently they eat the +pecans, for their tracks were thick under the trees. Rather expensive +food, with the nuts worth 30 cents a pound. + +About 3:20 we got under way for down the river. This morning a floater +passed quite close to the boat. Two men and a dog manned the craft. Said +they were bound for Red River. The children gathered a bag of fine +walnuts of unusual size. As we never lose a chance of adding to the +wood-pile, we gathered in a couple of oak rails and a fine stick of +cedar, which we sawed and split for exercise. + +There are no cows on the negro farms, no chickens. In fact, their +traditional fondness for the fowl is strictly limited to a penchant for +someone else's chickens. When we ask for milk they always take it to +mean buttermilk, until enlightened. Here we saw a remarkable boat, a +dugout canoe not over four inches in depth, and warped at that, but the +women told us they went about in it during the floods. We bought some +pecans, paying 7 cents a quart. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1903.--Sunday evening we ran till we reached New +Madrid, Mo., about 8 p. m. We made a good landing, tying up with the tug +alongside, lines out at each end, both fenders out and the launch +astern. The boys did a good business here, and enjoyed the visit. Got +meat and some drugs, but could get no milk or eggs, and only two pounds +of butter in the town. After noon we got off and ran down to Point +Pleasant, a decaying town isolated by a big sand bar in front of her, +covered with snags. The _Desplaines_ picked up a fine lot of wood here, +enough to run them a week, which they piled on our front deck. This +morning we came on to Tiptonville landing, where we saw a cotton field +and gin. This is the northern limit of cotton cultivation, and it was +poor stuff. + +Everyone who accosts us asks for whisky, which seems to be scarce. The +temperance movement evidently has made great progress in these places. +The bluffs grow higher as we go south, and no attempt seems made to +restrain the river from cutting in at its own sweet will. Crumbling +banks of loose sand and earth, fringed with slim willows and larger +trees, at every rod some of them hanging over into the stream. The snag +boat _Wright_ seems busy removing these when menacing navigation, but we +see many awaiting her. + +This afternoon we passed a floater who had gone by us at New Madrid. +Propelled by two stout paddles and four stout arms, they have made as +good time as we with our tug. When we see how these men entrust +themselves to the mercies of the great river in such a frail craft, it +seems as if we had little to fear in our big boat. They have a little +scow about six feet by ten, all but the front covered by a cabin, +leaving just enough room in front for the sweeps, and they tow a skiff. +If the wind is contrary or too stiff they must lie up, but at other +times the current carries them along with slight exertion at the sweeps. +The river is falling fast. Each night we tie up with all the boat +floating easily, and every morning find ourselves aground. It seems to +fall about six inches a night. + + * * * * * + +Thursday, Dec. 10, 1903.--For two nights and a day we lay at +Caruthersville, Mo., where the _Desplaines_ had _bon marche_, selling 16 +extinguishers and getting the promise of a dozen more. A large town, +full of business and saloons, gambling houses, booths for rifle shooting +and "nigger babies," etc. Tradespeople seemed surly and ungracious, +except one woman who kept a restaurant and sold us oysters and bread. +She was from Illinois. Still, it must be a place of unusual +intelligence, as a doctor is Mayor. + +Last night we had a disagreeable blow from the northwest. We went out +and overhauled our mooring carefully before retiring. The back line was +insecure, as there was nothing to which it could be attached, and the +boys had merely piled a lot of rocks on the end; but we could see +nothing better; so merely strengthened the lines fastening the fenders +to the boat. It was a circular storm, apparently, as the wind died out +and in a few hours returned. When we set out at 7:30 this morning it was +fairly calm, but at 8:20 it is again blowing hard from the same quarter. +The sun is out brightly and it is not cold. Whitecaps in plenty but +little motion, as we travel across the wind. There are now no large +towns before us and we hope to run rapidly to Memphis. The river is big, +wide, deep and powerful. Huge trunks of trees lie along the bars. What a +giant it must be in flood. Not a day or night passes without several +steamers going up and down. The quantity of lumber handled is great, and +growing greater as we get south. Our chart shows the levees as beginning +above Caruthersville, but we saw nothing there except a little stone +dumped alongshore. Waves pounding hard. + +Gold Dust Landing, Tenn., Dec. 10, 1903. In spite of a head wind we +made a run of 52 miles today, and moored below a Government barge. The +fine steamer _Robert E. Lee_ was at the landing and pulled out just as +we ran in. The day was clear and sunny, not very cold, about 39, but +whenever we ran into a reach with the west or southwest wind ahead the +boat pounded most unpleasantly. No floaters afloat today, but numbers +along shore in sheltered nooks. The levees here are simply banked +fascines, stone land earth, to keep the river from cutting into the +shores. Even at low water there is an enormous amount of erosion going +on. It takes unremitting vigilance to keep the river in bounds and the +snags pulled out. + + * * * * * + +Fogleman's Chute, Dec. 12, 1903.--We made a famous run yesterday of over +60 miles, and tied up here about 5 p. m. on the eastern shore, the +channel being on the west. A small cabin boat stands near us, in which +are a man and three boys who have come down from Indiana, intending to +seek work at Memphis. Their first experience cabin boating. We asked one +of the boys if he liked it, and he looked up with a sudden flash of +wildness and keen appreciation. + +A fierce south wind came up in the night, and there are situations more +enviable than trying to sleep in a houseboat with three boats using her +for a punching bag. And the little woman had asthma, badly, to make it +worse. This morning it was blowing hard and raining. The rain beat in on +the front deck and ran into the hold and under the quarter-rounds into +the cabin. The roof leaked into the storeroom also. Millie was seasick +and some one else would have been, but he took the children out for a +rove. Found a walnut tree and gathered a large bag of fine nuts. The +others brought in some squirrels and pocketsful of pecans, but we found +neither. Stretched the skins on wood and applied alum to the raw +surface, intending to make the little woman some buskins to keep her +feet warm. Quantities of mistletoe grow on the trees about us. The sun +came out about 2 p. m., when too late to make the run to Memphis, 22 +miles, before dark. Yesterday was so warm that we could sit out in the +open air without wraps. We are tied up to Brandywine Island, near the +lower end. + +After lunch we sallied out again and met the owner of the soil, who +ordered us off in a surly manner. In the whole trip this is the first +bit of downright incivility we have met. After he found we were not +after his squirrels he became somewhat less ungracious. The sky soon +became overcast again, and the rain returned. About sunset it set in to +blow a gale from the northwest, and the billows rolled in on us. We got +the launch and skiff out of danger, carefully overlooked our lines and +fenders, but still the tug bumped against the side. How the wind blows, +and the waves dash against the side of the tug driving her against our +side with a steady succession of blows. It worried us to know that the +safety of the boats depended on a single one-inch rope, and the tug +lashed against the outside strained on it. The rope was tense as a +fiddle-string. If it broke the stern of our boat would swing out and +throw us on an ugly snag that projected slightly about six feet below +us; and the tug would be thrown into the branches of a huge fallen +cypress. So we took the long rope and carried it ashore to the north +end, from which the wind came, and lashed it securely to a huge stump, +then tied the other end through the overhang of our boat at that end. +If the line parts the new line will hold us against the soft, sandy +bank, and give time for further effort to keep us off the snag. As it +turned out the line held, but it does no harm to take precautions, and +one sleeps better. + +During the night the wind died out, and the morning of Sunday, Dec. 13, +1903, is clear and cold, a heavy frost visible. The river is full of +floaters, one above us, two directly across, one below, another above, +and one floating past near the other shore. The _Desplaines_ is getting +up steam and we hope to see Memphis by noon. + +[Illustration: MEMPHIS LEVEE. "TOUGH CROWD."] + +[Illustration: THE CANOE.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +DUCK SHOOTING. + + +Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 20, 1903.--We ran in here last Sunday morning, Dec. +13, intending to stock up and get out on Wednesday. But Handwerker had +arranged a shoot for us at Beaver Dam Club, and there we spent Tuesday +afternoon and Wednesday morning, bagging 26 ducks--12 mallards, 8 +green-winged teal, 4 pintails, one widgeon and one spoonbill. Met Mr. +Selden, the president of the club, and Mr. O'Sullivan, and of course +enjoyed every minute of the time. + +The club is built on social principles, with a large sleeping room with +four beds; better conducive to fun than seclusion--and the first is what +we seek at such resorts. After lunch we set out, with negro boatmen, +finding a thin coat of ice over the lake. This is an old river bed, of +half-moon shape, with a little water and bottomless mud. Thousands of +ducks were perched on the ice and swimming in the few small open spaces. +We laboriously broke our way through the ice to our chosen stands, and +constructed blinds. Each boat had three live decoys; and after this +first experience with these we must say that we retired fully convinced +of our innate regularity as physicians--for we cannot quack a bit! Every +time a flight of ducks appeared, our tethered ducks quacked lustily, the +drake keeping silent; and it was effective. That evening the shooting +was the most exasperating in our experience. Twice we brought down +doubles, but not a bird of either did we bag. We had eight birds down, +wounded, which in falling broke holes in the ice--and we left them till +we were going in, as they could neither fly nor swim off; but the sun +came out warmer, melted the ice, and not a bird of the lot did we bag. +If there is anything that takes the edge off a duck hunter's +pleasure--at least of this one's--it is wounding a bird and not being +able to put it out of misery. + +A good dinner made some amends, and the story telling continued far into +the night--in fact was still going when the writer fell asleep. + +Next morning we had better luck, and got every bird knocked down, as +well as one of those winged the preceding day. In all we bagged 26 +ducks during the two days--and that for a party of 12 on the two boats +is not an excessive supply. Not an ounce of the meat was wasted, and we +could have enjoyed another meal of them. + +One singular accident robbed us of a fine greenhead. A flock of five +passed directly over our heads, so high that the guide said it was +useless to try for them; but strong in our confidence in the Winchester +we took the leader, and he tumbled. Yes, tumbled so hard, from such a +height that he broke through the ice and plunged so deeply into the mud +that we were unable to find him, after most diligent trials. We had been +impressed with the force of a duck's fall, when shooting one coming +directly head on, and can realize that a blow from one may be dangerous. +In Utah we heard of a man who was knocked out of his boat and his head +driven into the mud so far that he would have been smothered had not the +guide been able to draw him out. + +On reaching the boat Wednesday evening we found that J. J. had improved +the opportunity of our absence by getting drunk, and had frightened the +folk by developing that most objectionable form of it, a fighting drunk. +After a few days he wound up in the lock-up, and there we leave +him--thoroughly disgusted that he should have done such a thing when +entrusted with the care of the sick wife and little ones. + +The wife and Doctor took dinner with some friends, meeting a number of +Memphis folk; and it is with unusual regret we bid adieu to this fine +city. Stores are dearer than in St. Louis. + + * * * * * + +We were all ready to start by Saturday morning, but it was raining and +foggy, the wind from the south too strong for our launch. Then the bank +to which we were tied began to cave in, and soon our towlines were +adrift. The _Desplaines_ got up steam and took us north, where we +remained all day; but as it was changing toward the north by evening we +pulled down below town and tied in a little cove under but at a distance +from the bluff. All night it blew hard from the west, and drove us into +the mud bank, where we are solidly planted now. Three lines out and the +anchor, with the mud, held us pretty steady, but the tug heaved against +us all night. Jim had cemented the front baseboard with white lead and +this kept out the water, but it came in under the sides, and we will +have to treat them similarly. The roof seemed tight. The windows leak, +too, and will have to be sealed somehow--with putty, or the seams +covered with strips of muslin glued on with varnish. + +Our Cairo wood is gone, and we are using drift, which is wet. We must +saw and split about a cord, and let it dry out. There is great plenty +along the shores. The Missis has had asthma as bad as ever before--small +wonder. + +The _Desplaines_ seems to be overmanned, for the owner, Mr. Woodruff, +asked us to take Taylor off his hands. This we are very glad to do, as +we are short, since losing J. J., and Taylor has gotten our launch in +good shape at last. In fact we might have used her from St. Louis if we +had had him. Taylor is an Englishman, a teetotaler, and is studying with +a correspondence school to fit himself for the highest positions +attainable by an engineer. + +One has to be careful what he says to the Memphis people. We mentioned +to Prof. Handwerker our need of a dog, and added that we preferred one +that did not like negroes, as we wanted him to give warning when any +stray ones came near. Next day down came a crate containing a little +dog, a brindle terrier, with the word that he could not abide negroes. +He at once proceeded to endear himself to every one on board, and fully +verified his recommendations. His name is Bluff; and surely never was +dog better named. The brave little creature would, we verily believe, +bluff an elephant. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +SNAGGED IN TENNESSEE CHUTE. + + +President's Island, Dec. 21, 1903.--Yesterday was one of high hopes and +unexpected disaster. All morning Taylor wrestled with the engine; Fluent +ran down to tell of a telegram awaiting us; we went up in the +_Desplaines_ and found it was concerning some mss. not delivered by the +express; found the office open, the mss. had been returned to Chicago +Saturday on wire from there, and no explanation as to why it had not +been delivered during the week, on every day of which we had been to the +express office after it. Holiday rush. + +At 1 p. m. we got off, the launch behind and steered by ropes running +around the cabin to its front. All went well till Jim came in to dinner +and we took the ropes--gave one turn to see which way the steering ran, +found we were wrong and at once turned the other way, but that one turn +gave the unwieldy craft a cant in to the shore, along which ran the +swift current, and we drifted among a lot of snags, the launch caught, +the boat caught, tore the blades off the propeller, broke the coupling; +let go the anchor, and came to. In the melee we noticed the front end of +a gasoline launch rise from some snags--a wreck, buoyed up by the air in +the tank. The boys rowed back but could not locate it. Then we tried to +lift our anchor, to find it fouled with something too heavy to be +raised, and had to buoy it and cast loose with the 75 feet of cable +attached to it. + +We drifted quietly down to the southern end of this island, where we +tied up to the sand bar. + +Out fenders, one long line to a half-buried log far up the shore, the +boat held well off to guard against the falling water leaving us +aground. Well we did, for this morning the launch was so firm in the +sand that we had trouble to get loose. The night was clear and quiet, +and this morning the same--a light wind blowing us along down the river. +Laid in a lot of driftwood in long sticks. Missy had a good night but is +a little asthmatic this morning. Swept out into the current and floating +now in true cabinboat style. We will keep clear of the Tennessee Chute +next time. + +The _Desplaines_ came along as we were lying at the lower end of the +island, and came in to our signal. As we were totally disabled and would +have to send to Auburn, N. Y., for new flukes for our propeller, they +agreed to help us out, and took us in tow. They ran back to see if they +could find the anchor or the sunken boat, but failed to locate either. + + * * * * * + +Hardin's Point, Ark., Dec. 23, 1903.--Yesterday we ran in here after a +fifty-mile run. Tied up quite near the light, which was not well, as the +_Kate Adams_ coming near rocked us as badly as any steamer we have yet +met. We passed her and her consort, the _James Lee_, both aground within +half a mile of each other, near Mhoon's. Both got off, as the _Lee_ came +down today. The river is lower than usual, as the Mhoon gauge showed +minus three. + +We laid in a good supply of wood, and then Jim and Frank found a lot of +cannel coal over on the sand bar, and all day they have been loading up +the _Desplaines_ and our boat with it. Some barge has been wrecked there +and the small pieces washed away, so that what is left is in large +pieces, the smallest taking a strong man to lift. It is curiously +water-burnt. The edges are well rounded, so it must have been long under +water. A little darkey brought around six silver bass, weighing possibly +half a pound each, for which he accepted forty cents. They have a barrel +ready for shipment. He called them game fish. + +A fine buck shot out of the woods on the other side, followed at a +distance by ten hounds, and the deer nearly ran into Woodruff's boat, +then swam to this side, where our boys vainly tried to get a shot. An +old darkey said he could have been easily drowned by the man in the +skiff; but we are glad that species of murder did not offer attractions +to Woodruff. The bars are resonant with the honking of the geese. The +natives have no cows, chickens, nothing to sell, not even pecans--which +here become "puckawns." This evening Jake brought in a fine wild goose, +the first we have seen on board as yet. It has blown from the south all +day, but is quiet this evening. + + * * * * * + +Helena, Ark., Dec. 25, 1903.--We left Hardin Point about 9 a. m., with +the wind dead ahead, and strong enough to make the beating unpleasant. +The front deck is loaded with over a ton of coal, and this seems to make +the boat steadier, less inclined to pitch and toss like a cork on the +waves. + +Christmas day is clear and bright, the sun out, thermometer at 10:30 +standing at 55 outside in the shade, and with a little wood fire running +up to 90 in the cabin. The Missis is better, her asthma becoming more +spasmodic and better controlled by smoke. It rained all last night, and +though the caulking did good, there was still some water came in around +the surbases. We got some putty to help out the lead. At every stop we +pick up something of value to us; usually some good hard firewood. Here +we found a section of the side of a boat washed ashore, solid oak, with +several bolts a yard long through it. Frank lugged it in and has broken +it up into stovewood, and secured the bolts for stakes. + +About 2 p. m. we reached Helena, a town of about 25,000. Moored at a +distance up the stream, and landed on a muddy shore. The muddy south. We +are all coated with the most adhesive of muds, the fineness of the grain +rendering it difficult to remove from the clothes. The town is full of +negroes, celebrating the holiday; and nearly all carry suspicious +looking jugs. The costumes and shouting would make the fortune of a +museum in the north. Found it impossible to secure a turkey fit to eat, +but got the Missis some fine oysters and a chicken, and bear-steaks for +our dinner--at 25 cents a pound. Game is not allowed to be sold in the +state. Pity they do not extend the prohibition to whisky. + +We made candy, and in the evening had the crew all in, and grabbed for +presents in a big basket under a newspaper. We had a happy time, +although we were all out on the big river far from home. The +_Desplaines_ let their wild goose spoil, and threw it overboard this +morning. At 10 a. m. we set out for down the river. + +We searched the Memphis papers for some intimation as to J. J.'s fate, +but found none. Found the tale of an Indiana man who was coming down on +a houseboat with his wife, intending to make his home in Greenville, +Miss. He was told at Cairo that there was a law in Tennessee against +carrying concealed weapons, so here he started out with his pistol in +his hands. He was arrested and sentenced to jail for a year less a day, +and $50 fine, the law forbidding the carrying of weapons. Such a +punishment, administered to a stranger unaware of the law seems a +travesty of justice. It is said here that it is safer to kill a man than +to carry a weapon; and it seems so. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +MOORING. + + +We have been studying the subject of mooring, and present the following +as an ideal moor: + +The fenders are stout poles six inches thick at the butt, three at the +small end, which rests on shore. This end is deeply embedded in the +dirt, so that it will not float away or ride up on the bank. The big end +is firmly fastened to the side timbers, the four-by-fours running across +the boat under the floor, by a short chain, which will not chafe out +like a rope. The latter is better, as being elastic, however. Either +must be strong to spare. The cable is an inch Manilla rope. Thus moored +we are ready for all chances. The best thing to moor to is a stump or +log firmly embedded, and as far as possible from shore, if crumbly, for +the current may cut in fast. At Memphis our stake, forty feet from +shore, was washed out in an hour. Never tie close to a bank that may +fall in on the boat, or to a tree that may fall and crush you; or to a +bank that may hold you ashore if the water falls in the night; or, +worst of all, over a snag, for the waves of a passing steamer may lift +the boat up and drop it so hard on the snag as to knock a hole in the +bottom. When possible moor where you will have a bar to protect you from +the force of waves rolling in from a broad stretch of water. A narrow +creek or cove would be ideal, but as yet we have hardly seen such a +thing where we wanted to stop. When moored with the long side to the +shore, less surface is exposed to the current and the wind, and less +strain put upon the cables. + +[Illustration: AN IDEAL MOOR.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A LEVEE CAMP. + + +Allison's Landing, Ark., Dec. 26, 1903.--We landed here after dark last +night, having been delayed at Friars' Point by the tug getting aground. +The cabinboat floated down the river some distance, and then the back +current and wind carried her on a sand bar. The tug was three hours +getting free, by warping off with the anchor. + +We found this a levee camp. Hardly had we landed when a big negress came +aboard to see what we had for sale. They wanted drygoods badly, and were +much disappointed. Two pleasant gentlemen boarded us, the heads of the +camp; and spent the evening on the tug, with singing and music. They are +here surrounded by negroes, and a little white association seemed as +agreeable to them as it was to us. In the night all hands but Dr. and +Taylor went cat-hunting. + +At 11 p. m. a furious wind storm sprang up from the northeast, exactly +the direction from which to blow us on shore; which was providential, +as we only had one long line out and that poorly secured to a stake in +the soft, oozy bank. Frank saw that everything was right, and wisely +went to bed; but we could not rest easy, and sat up till 4 a. m. The +canoe on the roof blew over against the stovepipe and we had to get out +four times and push it back with a pole. It grew quite cold and the fire +was grateful. + +About midnight the hunters came back with the usual luck to tell of. +This morning Jake, the boy and Doctor went out to a bayou after ducks, +but saw none. This country is said to swarm with game but it keeps +hidden from us. What a thing is a bad reputation! + +In the woods we noted the buds springing from the roots of the cypress, +the size of an egg, and growing upward in hollow cones, called cypress +knees. It is a remarkable and noble tree, the buttressed stumps giving +promise of superb height, which seems rarely realized. Half a mile back +from the landing we came upon the levee, a great bank of earth but +partly covered with grass. Deep and narrow bayous run parallel with it, +in which could be seen the movements of quite large fish. + +Robins, redbirds, jays, woodpeckers, blackbirds, and a variety of still +smaller birds abounded; but we did not get any game. The two gentlemen +in charge of the levee camp, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Ward, went with us into +the woods, but the game was wary. All hands so thoroughly enjoyed the +visit at this hospitable camp that for the rest of the trip we talked of +it. We were indebted to these gentlemen for a roast of fresh pork. Their +task is a difficult one, to keep in order so many negroes, all of the +rough and illiterate sort. Quarrels over "craps" and shooting among the +negroes are not infrequent, and in one a white man, passing by, was +killed. Mr. Rogers has the repute of getting his men to work, and we +heard a scrap of a song among them, expressive of their sentiments or +impressions: + + + "Blisters on yo' feet an' co'ns on yo' han', + Wat yo' git for wo'kin' fo' de black-haired man." + + +A firm hand is absolutely necessary to rule these men, with whom +weakness is perilous. Only a few weeks after our visit to one of these +camps a negro got in a dispute over a trivial sum in his account, got +hold of the pistol the white man in charge had incautiously left in the +negro's reach, and shot him dead. If there is anything in the art of +physiognomy, many of these levee men are desperadoes. + + * * * * * + +Dec. 28, 1903.--We left our friendly entertainers at Allison's and ran +down to a bar, where Woodruff took in several tons of very good coal, +costing nothing but the trouble of shipping. Mr. Rogers accompanied us +to Modoc. + +Tied up at Mayflower landing, a good moor. A German there told us a +trading boat at the landing above took away $6,000 in three days last +year. The trader has a large scow, with a cabin, and a steamer to handle +it. Every place we stop the people come to inquire what we have to sell. +We got off at 7 a. m. today, passed the mouths of the White and +Arkansas, and have run at least 60 miles. We have landed after dark, and +we are not sure as to where we are. The weather has been most pleasant, +temperature about 60 all day, little wind. The river is full of drift, +but there is little traffic. Just now a little steamer passed up. At +Riverton were several small ones, but otherwise the solitude is +unbroken. + +The shores are wild, the banks continually crumbling into the river. A +prodigious number of snags must be furnished yearly. Very few wild fowl +appear. Floaters appear occasionally, but probably there will be fewer +now, as many are directed to the White river. This is probably near +Monterey Landing. As the landing was narrow and beset with snags we +moored with the prow to the bank, two lines to the shore and the anchor +out astern. We have much to say about mooring; but it is a matter of +supreme importance to the comfort and even the safety of the crew. It is +not specially pleasant to turn out of bed in one's nightclothes, with +the temperature below freezing, to find the boat adrift in a furious +storm and pounding her bottom out on snags. + +We bought a new anchor from a trading boat at Allison's. It is 50 +pounds, galvanized, with folding flukes and a ring at the end for a guy +rope, so that if fouled as the other was, we can pull the flukes +together and free it. Paid four dollars for it--same as for the other, +but this is a much better anchor, though not as strong as the solid +one. + +Jim has gone around the cabin and puttied up the cracks, and we hope the +next rain will keep out. If not, we will get deck pitch and pay the +seams. + + * * * * * + +Arkansas City, Ark., Dec. 30, 1903.--Landed here shortly after noon, and +spent the balance of the day. About 1,000 people, mostly black; some +good stores; got a few New Orleans oysters, which are sold by number, 25 +cents for two dozen; bought a new anchor rope, 75 feet, 3.4 inch, for +$3.04, or 14½ cents a pound. Eggs, 35 cents a dozen. No trade for +extinguishers, though Woodruff had a nibble for his steamer. Weather +clear, and temperature rising to about 60 in midday, cold at night. This +morning at 8, temperature 34. No wind. River smooth. What a lot of +gasoline engines are in use. There are at least six boats rigged with +them here. One Memphis party is building a new hull ashore and moving an +old cabin on it. The lady who owns the hotel and drug store has mocking +birds for sale, $25.00 for a singer--lady birds not worth selling. + +Got off near 9 a. m., for Greenville. + + * * * * * + +January 1st, 1904.--We left Arkansas City on the 30th, at 9 a. m., and +reached Greenville, Miss., that evening just before dark. It is a +rambling town, behind the levee, about 10,000 people, but evidently has +considerable business. Twenty-five mills of various kinds are there. +Supplies higher than since leaving Chicago--15 cents for meat of any +sort, 35 cents for eggs or butter, 25 cents for a dozen fine large shell +oysters from New Orleans, the first we have met, and which the sick +woman appreciated $25.00 worth. + +The _Desplaines_ did some business, but many of the mills are owned in +the cities and the managers cannot buy here. + +An old negro lives in a little gully washed by the rain in the bank, +close to where we tied up. He has a little fire, and lies there all +night with a board on edge to rest his back against. In the morning we +took him a cup of coffee which he took eagerly, but without thanks. An +old negress brought him something--presumably food. Last night it +rained some, but this morning he was still there. During the day we saw +him wandering about the streets, reminding one of a lost dog. + +We left at noon, but as it was still raining it was equally +uncomfortable going or lying still. They tried the tug alongside, but +the rudder would not swing the big cabinboat and they had to return to +towing. About 2 p. m. the fog shut in so dense that we had to make a +landing, presumably in Walker's Bend, on the Arkansas side. Frank +brought off some of the finest persimmons we have yet seen. The cabin is +so warm that some flies have appeared, probably left-overs, though the +Missis says they have them all the winter down here. Picked up a nice +lot of drifting boards for stove. + +Exploration establishes the fact that we are just below Vaucluse +Landing, and that the land is rich in pecan trees, well laden with nuts, +which these lazy darkies let go to waste. Frank found a store in the +neighborhood. Chicot lake, back of us, is said to be rich in ducks, and +if the fog lasts tomorrow we must have some. The putty has kept out the +rain today very well. We suffer for ventilation, though, and awake in +the morning with headaches. It is bright moonlight, but still foggy. It +rained during the night and we secured a fine supply of rainwater in the +launch cover. + + * * * * * + +Shiloh Landing, Miss., Jan. 3, 1904.--We lay last night at Wilson's +Point, La., and all night we listened to the creaking of our fenders +against the side, and felt the heave of the tug as she surged against +our side under the influence of a driving northwest wind. Said wind +carried us along yesterday for a run of over 44 miles, sometimes with +and at others against us, as the river curved. It was a cold wind and +made the cabin fire comfortable. Two sailboats passed us going down, one +a two-master from Chicago and the other the _Delhi_, from Michigan City. +They made good with the wind. There was a large trading boat with stern +wheel above our landing, but we did not visit her. + +About 1 p. m. we ran in here, and the tug people stopped because Mr. +Rogers' brother was in charge. We found a levee camp with 36 tents, and +examined the commissary with interest. Got some canned oysters for the +Missis. No milk or eggs, fresh meat or chickens. The men all carry big +44s, and sometimes use them, we hear. It grows colder--at 5 p. m. +temperature outside 30--and the cold is harder to bear than a much lower +one up north. Every few miles there is a landing, and a pile of cotton +bales and bags of seed waiting for the _Delta_ or _American_, fine +steamers that ply between Vicksburg and Greenville. + +The great, greedy river, forever eating its banks, which crumble into +the current constantly, even now when the water is so low. Every sand +bar has its wrecks, and opposite Lake Providence we saw men and teams +busy over the coal in sunken barges. + + * * * * * + +Monday, Jan. 4, we left Shiloh at 7:20, clear and cold, temperature 28, +moon shining, but the sun not yet visible from behind the bluff. + +Yesterday we passed the steamer _City of Wheeling_, fast on a bar, and +we hear she has been there for two months--grounded on her first trip. +But the water is rising and she expects to be soon released. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +VICKSBURG. + + +Thursday, Jan. 7. 1904.--We arrived at Vicksburg in the afternoon of +Monday, Jan. 4, and were much impressed by the beauty of the city as +seen from the river. Spread along the heights it looks like a large +city, though it only claims a population of about 22,000. Contrary to +expectation we found it busy, with evidences of life and enterprise. The +Government has built a levee which blocks up the mouth of the Yazoo, and +by a canal diverted the water of that river into the channel that runs +along the front of the city; the old bed of the river Mississippi +previous to 1876, when it cut a new bed for itself and threatened to +leave the historic fortress an inland town. + +Just before reaching the city we met a row of whirlpools reaching across +the channel, whose violence would make a man in a skiff feel queer. +These are the only notable ones we have seen, except just before +reaching Arkansas City. + +The _Desplaines_ could not tow us against the swift current in the +Yazoo, so left the houseboat about 300 yards up that stream and steamed +up to the city. After visiting the postoffice we started to walk back +along the levee, reaching the place we had left the boat just before +dark. She was not there, and we walked along the bank up stream till it +grew too dark to see, then got lost among the railway buildings till +directed by a friendly youth to the street where the cars ran. Reached +the tug at last, and the owner took us back with a lantern along the +levee, finding the boat in the great river, the boys having dropped down +out of the Yazoo. As we received the flukes for our launch, which Taylor +put on, we concluded to part company from the tug, and settled up with +them. Meanwhile the quarreling among her crew came to a climax and Jake +was set on shore by them. He was pilot, cook, hunter and general +all-round utility man, coming for the trip without wages, and it seems +to us suicidal for them to dismiss him, when negro roustabouts are +refusing $4.00 a day from the steamers, and engineers impossible to +secure at any price. We were full handed, but liked Jake, so we took +him aboard as a supernumerary till he could do better. + +The 6th was dull and rainy but we got off, and ran about 16 miles in the +afternoon, tying up somewhere in Diamond Bend, probably below Moore's +Landing. + +At V. had a letter from J. J., saying he had been sentenced to a year in +the workhouse and $50.00 fine for carrying weapons. + +During the night it rained heavily, and we caught a fine lot of +rainwater in the launch cover. One learns to appreciate this on the +river. + +During the afternoon we saw a negro shoot from the bank directly down on +a few geese, of which he wounded one. It swam across the river and we +got out the skiff and followed. On shore it crouched down as if dead, +and waited till Jim got within ten feet, when it got up and flew across +the river. We followed, and he shot it with a rifle when about 150 yards +off. + +By that time we were miles below the darky, and as he has no boat we +fear he will not be on hand to put in a claim for the goose. We bought +one at V. for 90 cents; also eight jack-snipe for a dollar. Roast beef +was 12½ cents for round, 25 for rib, and 17½ for corned beef. Milk 10 +cents a quart from wagon, buttermilk 20 cents a gallon, butter, 30 for +creamery and 25 for country. + + * * * * * + +Waterproof Cutoff, Friday, Jan. 8, 1904.--We ran about 23 miles on the +7th, the engine simply refusing to go; and we drifted most of the time. +Once we got fast on a nasty snag and it took all our force to get off. +We tied up to a sand bar near Hard Times Landing, in the bend of that +name. Bluff and the children had a refreshing run on the sand. Got off +today at 8 a. m., and by 1O the engine started off in good shape and has +been running well all day. The weather is clear and warm, thermometer +standing at 72 this afternoon. Little wind, but that from the south. +Some clouds betoken a possible rain. Our first wild goose for dinner on +the 6th, and all liked it well. + + * * * * * + +Saturday, Jan. 9, 1904.--We ran about forty miles yesterday, tying up +above L'Argent in a quicksandy nook. At 4 this morning these lazy boys +got up and started to float, making several miles before daybreak. It +is foggy at 8 and the sun invisible, but warm and with little wind. The +launch is running fitfully. Passed Hole-in-the-Wall and now opposite +Quitman Bluff. + + * * * * * + +Jan. 10, 1904.--Yesterday we reached Natchez at 1 p. m., and by 4 had +got our mail and supplies and were off down the river. The engine balked +under the influence of a lower temperature, and we had only made about +five miles when we had to tie up on account of the darkness. It rained +hard. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +RIVER PIRATES. + + +We had had our suppers, the children and Missis had gone to bed, and we +were about following them, when through the rain we heard someone get +upon the front deck. It was raining hard. We called out, asking who was +there. A man replied in a wheedling voice, saying that he was alone, +lost in the rain, and wished to remain till it was light enough to see +his way. We asked who he was, and he responded that he was a prominent +citizen of the neighborhood and asked us to open up the cabin a little +bit. The doors are on the sides, and he was evidently puzzled as to how +to get into the cabin. We were undressed and told him we could not let +him in; but he insisted. We called to the boys to see what was wanted, +thinking it might be some one in trouble; so Jake went out. The man +began to talk pretty saucily, but then Jim and Frank got out, and at +once his tone changed. He suddenly got very drunk, though perfectly +sober a moment before. Another man turned up also, in a skiff +alongside. He gave a rambling incoherent account of why he was there; +but the other man called angrily for him to come on, and soon they left, +rowing into the darkness. The man who came aboard was about 5 feet 6; +45, red-faced, deep-set eyes; his hat drawn well over his face; rather +heavily set. The other was a sulky-faced man about 25, with light hair. +That they were river pirates there is not a doubt; and had we been +short-handed there would have been trouble. + +Next morning we set out, slowly floating with a little headwind, through +a fog. Temperature at 8 a. m., 50. Natchez-under-the-hill has +disappeared under the assaults of the river, and with it the wild +characters that made it famous, or rather notorious. The city is now +said to be as orderly and safe as any in the south. We now get fine gulf +oysters at 50 cents to $1 a hundred. They come in buckets. Shell oysters +are still rare. We got a small bunch of bananas at Natchez, for 60 +cents. + +We passed Morville, floating about three miles an hour. We have never +been able to secure any data as to the speed of the current in the +rivers. + + * * * * * + +Jan. 11, 1904.--We ran 42 miles yesterday, to near Union Point, tying up +to a sand bar. The boys crossed to a railway camp and were told game was +very abundant, so that it was hardly safe for a single man to go out +with the hounds at night--bear, panther and cat. We had a head wind all +day, from the west, sometimes strong enough to raise a few whitecaps, +and the engine did her stunt of bucking--which shows what she is good +for when in good humor. Temperature went up to 72 and hung around 70 all +day. This morning at 8 it is 42. The children and dog had a much needed +run on the sand. The boy needs much exercise and laboriously chops at +the heaviest wood he can find. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE ATCHAFALAYA. + + +By lunch time we reached the mouth of the Red River, and found a rapid +current running into it from the Mississippi. We landed on the bar and +sent to town for mail, but found the postoffice had been moved to +Torrasdale, several miles away--and after walking up there found no +letters. At 3 p. m. we started up the Red, rapid, crooked, much in need +of the services of a snag boat; weather so warm the invalid came out on +deck for an hour or more. Turned into the Atchafalaya about 5 p. m., a +deep stream, said to be never less than 50 feet deep. The same shelving +banks as the great river, formed by the continual caving. We found a bed +of pebbles at the mouth of the Red and really they were like old +friends. Stone is a rarity here. + +We tied up a little way beyond Elmwood Landing. Henceforth we have +neither charts nor lights, but we have a born pilot in Jake, and he will +pull us through. A bad day for the asthma, in spite of the warmth. + +[Illustration: RED RIVER.] + + * * * * * + +Jan. 12, 1904.--If solitude exists along the Atchafalaya it is not here. +The left bank is leveed and roofs appear about every 100 yards. The +right bank is lined with little trees growing down to and into the +water. At Denson's Landing, or Simmesport, the right bank begins a +levee; there is the inevitable gas launch, a tug, and numerous other +craft, with a fish market. The wind blows dead ahead, and raises waves +nearly as big as in the big river. Pretty bum houseboats, apparently +occupied by blacks. Some noble trees with festoons of Spanish moss. No +nibbles on the trotline last night, but a huge fish heaved his side out +of the water just now. Alligator gar. + +Pleasant traveling now. All day long we have voyaged along the +Atchafalaya with a wind from--where? It requires a compass to determine +directions here. In fact the uncertainty of things usually regarded as +sure is singular. Now up north we know just where the sun is going to +rise; but here the only certainty about it is its uncertainty. Now it +comes up in the east--that is, over the east bank of the river; but next +day it may appear in the west, north or south. + +The wind was against us all morning, but since lunch--which we had at +Woodside--it has been back of us or sideways, and has driven us along. +Fine levees line the banks. Just now we are passing a camp at work. It +is a noble river, wide and deep, with a current about as swift as the +great river. Even now, when the Barbre gauge shows 6¾ feet above low +water only, there is no obstruction to navigation by as large steamers +as plow the Mississippi. Now and then a little spire or black stack +peeping above the levee shows the presence of a village. Temperature +hovers about 62. Only a solitary brace of ducks seen in this river as +yet. + +All afternoon we have been pursuing Melville. At 3 p. m. it was four +miles away; an hour later it was five miles off, and at 5 we had gotten +within three miles of the elusive town. We concluded to stop, in hopes +it might get over its fear and settle down; so tied up. We ascended the +levee, and a boy told us the town was within half a mile. The river is +lonely, not a steamer since leaving the mouth of Red, where the _Little +Rufus_ came down and out, politely slowing up as she neared the cabin +boat, to avoid rocking us. An occasional skiff is all we see, though +the landing is common, but no cotton or seed, nothing but lumber. + +We were correct as to our estimate of the visitors we had the other +night--river pirates. Their method is to come on rainy nights when the +dogs are under cover. By some plausible story they gain admittance to +the cabin and then--? Have the windows guarded by stout wire screens, +the doors fitted with bars, and a chain. Any visitor to a cabin boat +after night is a thief, and on occasion a murderer. If he desires +admittance after being told you are not a trader or whisky boat, open +the chain and when he tries to enter shoot him at once. It is the +sheerest folly to let one of those fellows have the first chance. No +jury in the world would fail to congratulate you for ridding the river +of such a character. There are no circumstances that can be imagined in +which an honest man would act in the way these men did. If they wanted +shelter from the rain the shore was handy. If they mistook the boat for +friends, the mistake was apparent and they knew very well they had no +business to continue their visit. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1904.--Made a good start. We got under way about +8:30, and Melville bridge soon came in view. The day is clear and warm, +water smooth as glass, with no perceptible current, and the engine +starts off as if nothing ever ruffled her temper. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +MELVILLE--FIRST DEER HUNT. + + +Melville, La., Jan. 19, 1904.--We found this a quiet little town of 600 +people, including negroes; with sufficient stores for our simple needs, +and a daily mail east and west. We found some pleasant young gentlemen +here, with plenty of leisure and hounds, and some of us go out for deer +every day. So far no one has brought in any venison, but Jim and Frank +have had shots. + +The thermometer stands at about 60 to 70 all day; fires are superfluous +except at night for the weak one, the grass and clover show up green in +spots, and really we seem to have skipped winter. In the swamps the +palmettoes raise their broad fans, the live oaks rear their brawny +trunks, and bits of green life show up on all sides. Really, we do not +see what excuse the grass has for being brown, if it be not simple force +of habit, or recollection of a northern ancestry. + +The negro women wear extraordinary sunbonnets, huge flaring crowns with +gay trimming. The foreigners are Italians or Greeks; and are in the +fruit and grocery trade. An old superannuated Confed. brings us a small +pail of milk daily, for which he gets 10 cents a quart. + +The river is leveed 15 miles down, and the system is being extended +southward. There is a difference of opinion as to the levees, some +claiming they are injurious as preventing the elevation of the land by +deposit of mud; while one large sugar raiser said it would be impossible +to raise crops without them. The truth seems to be that the immediate +needs require the levees; but if one could let the land lie idle, or +take what crops could be raised after the floods subside, it would be +better for the owner of the next century to let in the water. + +We have had our first deer hunt. Six of us, with four hounds, set out in +the launch. Arriving at the right place we disembarked and walked +through the woods about a mile, the dogs having meanwhile started out +independently. Here they located us, in a small clear space, and the +rest went on to their respective stands. We looked about us and were not +favorably impressed with our location. It was too open. Deer coming +from any quarter would see us long before we could see them. So we +selected a spot where we could sit down on a log, in the shade of a huge +cypress, with the best cover attainable, and yet see all over the +clearing. Then we waited. + +By and by we heard a noise as of breaking twigs to one side. We crouched +down and held our breath, getting the rifle up so as to allow it to bear +in the right direction. Waited. A little more noise, but slight. Waited. +No more. Sat till our backs got stiff and feet cold. Then carefully and +quietly paced up and down the path. Sat down again. Concluded to eat +lunch, an expedient that rarely fails to start the ducks flying. No good +for deer. + +Shifted position, walked up the path to a bunch of hollies, laden with +berries. A bird was at them, and as by this time our faith in deer was +growing cool we concluded to take a shot at a robin. Did so. Missed +him--but to our horror and relief he turned out to be a mocking bird! + +Walked up the path and found a sluggish bayou with running water across +it. Weren't thirsty, but doubted the wisdom of drinking that water, and +that made us thirsty. Circled around the center of our clearing. Noted +the way the cypresses throw up stumps from the roots. Saw a big turtle +in the bayou. Red birds came about, but no robins--they are game birds +here. Searched the trees for squirrels--none there. Thought of +everything we could recollect--even began to enumerate our sins--and got +into an animated discussion with a stranger on the negro question, +awaking with a start. Shot at a hawk that roosted on a tree just out of +gunshot. Scared him, anyhow. + +Finally, when desperate with the task of finding expedients to keep us +awake, we heard a horn blown--or wound?--and not knowing but that some +one might be lost, whistled shrilly in reply. Occasionally a shot was +heard here and there; once in a moon the dogs gave tongue in the remote +distance. Finally one of the boys appeared, then the old uncle, and the +rest came stringing in. One had seen a deer but did not get a shot at +it. So we took up the line of march for the river, where the launch +returned us to the cabin boat. And so ended our first deer hunt. + +We have now been at it a week, and several of the boys have had shots +at the animals, but no horns decorate our boat, nor does venison fill +our craving stomachs. There are deer here, their evidences are as plain +as those of sheep in a pasture. But the only benefit they have been to +us is in the stimulation of the fancy. The weird and wonderful tales +spun by those who have had shots at the elusive creatures, to account +for the continued longevity and activity of their targets, are worth +coming here to hear. Surely never did deer go through such antics; never +did the most expert tumbler in any circus accomplish such feats of +acrobatic skill. The man who catches flying bullets in his teeth should +come down here and receive instruction from these deer. + +We took the Missis and daughter over to Baton Rouge, and installed them +in a huge, old-fashioned room, on Church St., a block from the +postoffice and the leading stores; with a lady of means, who sets an +excellent table, lavishly spread, and with the best of cookery, at a +price that seems nominal to us. The lofty ceilings seem doubly so after +the low deck of the cabin; the big canopied bed of walnut and quilted +silk recalls the east; while violets, camellias, hyacinths and +narcissus blooming in the open air, as well as sweet olive, and the +budding magnolias, make one realize that the frozen north is not a +necessity. + + * * * * * + +January 23, 1904.--We find Melville a very good place to stay--supplies +plentiful, the people pleasant, and the place safe. The boys go out for +deer every day, but as yet no success has rewarded them. One day they +chased a doe into the river, where two boys caught her with their hands +and slaughtered her. Bah! + +The weather has been ideal--warm enough to make a fire oppressive save +nights and mornings--but we are now having a cold snap, whose severity +would make you northern folk, who sit in comfort over your registers, +shiver. We have actually had a white frost two nights in succession. +Fact! + +On the shore close by roost at least 100 buzzards. They are protected +and seem aware of it; roosting on the roof of the fish boat below us. +They tell us the sharks come up here so that bathing is unsafe, and tell +queer stories of the voracity and daring of the alligator gars. The +alligator is by no means extinct in Louisiana, being still found of +gigantic size in the bayous. + +Little is said here on the negro question, which seems to be settled so +well that no discussion is needed. + +Day after day we sit at the typewriter and the work grows fast. Tomorrow +we go to Barrow's convict camp for a shoot, and quite a lot have +gathered, and are waiting till the engine chooses to start. Every day we +have to push the boat from shore or we might be hard aground in the +morning, as we are today. The water fell last night till it uncovered +six feet of mud by the shore. The river is said to be over 100 feet deep +opposite. The bridge is built on iron tubular piers that seem to be +driven down till they strike a stratum capable of supporting the weight. +These are said to be 100 feet deep. + + * * * * * + +January 24, 1904, we all went down to Capt. Barrow's camp for a deer +hunt, which possessed no features differing from those of the five +preceding. At 4 p. m. we quit, and started on our return. But the dogs +had not come in, so when we got up to the old convict camp we stopped, +and Budd and Jake went back for them. And there we waited till after 10 +p. m. It grew quite cool so that the boys built a fire. Just on the +bluff above us was an old deserted house, about ready to fall into the +river when the banks shall have crumbled away a little more. We found in +it an ancient mahogany four-post bedstead and a spinning-wheel, an old +horn powderhorn, and other relics of antiquity. + +There were our own party of four, Budd and Wally, Thomassen and his son +"Sugar," Mr. Sellers (from one of the Melville stores), and two negro +hunters, Brown and Pinkham--and right worthy men and good hunters they +are. The fire was fed by beams from the old house, and as its cheerful +warmth was felt, the scene would have been a worthy one for an artist's +pencil. The odd stories and ceaseless banter of the negroes and the boy +were enhanced by the curious dialect. Constantly one blew his horn, and +was answered by the party who were out, or by others; and some one else +was blowing for other lost dogs, so that the woods were musical. An old +hound had come in early, tired out, and when the horns blew he would try +to get off, but was tied; so he would give vent to his discontent in +the most doleful of long-drawn-out howls, like a prolonged note from an +owl. At last boys and hounds came in, and we were home to our boat by +midnight. + +Somehow the yoke once worn till thoroughly fitted to the neck, becomes a +part of the bearer; and the best contented of the negroes were those who +held with their old masters. Even the shackles of civilization become +attractive in time--and we have resumed the reading of a daily paper +since we can get it regularly. And we like the _Picayune_, finding in +its editorials a quiet dignity that we appreciate, even though we may +not agree with the political sentiments. And there is an air of +responsibility about it; a consciousness that what it says counts, and +must therefore be preceded by due deliberation, that is novel. The local +color is also attractive. For instance the river news, and--the +jackstaffs! Now, don't say you do not know what jackstaffs are. We will +not spoil it by telling. And Lagniappe! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +BATON ROUGE--THE PANTHER. + + +Baton Rouge, La., Feb. 1, 1904.--While you in the North are wrestling +with zero temperatures, we are experiencing what these folk term +terrible winter weather. Men go about with heavy overcoats buttoned up +to the chin, and I saw one the other day with a tall coonskin cap, with +folds down over his neck, and earflaps. An open-grate fire is +comfortable in the mornings and tempers the chill of night for the +little one. Even the Chicago man finds a light overcoat advisable in the +mornings, though with light-weight underwear and thin outer clothes. + +Nevertheless, the violets bloom everywhere, jonquils, polyanthus +narcissus, camellias and sweet olive are in bloom, and the big rose +bushes are covered with leaves and buds that already show the color of +the flower. The grass is green in New Orleans parks, and the magnolias +are budding. Masses of chickweed cover the margins of drains and several +plants of unknown lineage--to the writer--are in bloom. And this is the +weather to which we constantly hear the epithet "terrible" applied here. + +But residents of the North who were raised in Dixie do not freeze. +Exposure to cold brings with it the ability to withstand it, and not +only that but all other morbific influences as well. It increases the +vitality, the power of resisting all noxious powers that threaten the +health and life of man. + +But this applies to the sound and well, not to those who already possess +a material lesion of one or more organs. For them this soft, balmy air, +this temperature that permits a maximum of exposure to the open air, are +health-giving, life-prolonging, comfort-securing. + +People speak of the sudden changes here--warm today and tomorrow +cold--as objectionable; but so they do everywhere, and we have found no +more changeability than elsewhere. And as to the rains: When it does +rain it pours, but most of it has been at night so far, and during the +day it dries off nicely. It it said that this is the rainy month, and we +may have to modify this view later. So far the rains have not been a +feature worthy of citation, as against the climate. + +Much attention has been given the drinking water of late years in the +riverine cities, and generally they have water on which they pride +themselves. Artesian wells are mostly utilized. The river water is muddy +and unsightly, but probably safe and certainly palatable. We depend on +our Puritan still, and a tripoli filter, and utilize the rain water we +catch in the canvas cover of the launch. No trouble has as yet affected +us from this source; and we are satisfied it pays well to take +precautions. + +From St. Louis down the river fairly bristles with opportunities for men +who understand business and have a little capital. But timber lands are +pretty well taken up. An Ohio party paid $100 an acre for 100 acres here +in this Atchafalaya country the other day. + +The people? Well, we have simply adopted the whole--white--population, +and find them delightful. There has not been a discordant note in our +intercourse with this warm-hearted, hospitable folk, who unite the +courtesy of the French with a sincerity that makes itself felt every +moment. + +Dogs! Everyone seems to own hounds here. We had a few runs with them; +they came aboard and inspected us, and after due deliberation approved +of us, took up their home with us and declined to stay away; so that at +night one can scarcely set foot outside the cabin without stepping on a +sleeping hound. Even the women folk are disarmed when these dogs look up +with their big, beautiful eyes and nuzzle their cold noses into the hand +for a caress. One great fellow reared up against us, placed his paws on +our shoulders and silently studied our face awhile, then dropped to the +ground and henceforth devoted himself to us, never being far from our +side. We felt complimented! + +Go out with the gun, and see how these slumberous animals awake to +joyous life and activity. Then the long, musical bay, the ringing of the +hunters' horns, the quick dash of the deer past your stand, with the +dogs after, in full cry--say, brother, these low lands when leveed, +cleared and cultivated, will yield two bales of cotton to the acre, and +with cotton at 15 cents and over, is not that splendid? So shut your +ears against the cry of the wild, and only consider what Progress means, +and how the individual and civic wealth is increasing as these wild +lands are brought under the plow and made productive of dollars. For is +not all of life simply a question of dollars, and success measurable +only in the bank account? So put away from you the things that make life +worth living, and devote yourself with a whole heart to the task of +making your son a millionaire, that he may make his son a +multimillionaire, and so on. It will do you so much good in the Great +Beyond to know this. That the money for which we give up all that +renders life enjoyable will either render our descendants dissipated and +useless, or enable them to oppress their fellowmen, need not be +considered. Money is all there is in life. + +The wife, daughter and Doctor are domiciled at Baton Rouge, while the +boys took the boats down to Alabama Bayou for a week with the big game. +Here is the small boy's report, verbatim: + +Dear Mama and Papa: You talk about us not sending you any venison. If I +had any money I would send you enough to make you sick. I went hunting +with the boys this morning. Jim, Hudson and I went together. Bud drove +with the dogs. Jake and Frank went together. Frank took his shotgun and +he got lost from Jake, went to shooting robins. Jake got on an island +and did not know where he got on at. He had to wade a stream two feet +deep. After we had been looking for a stand we heard a shot behind us, +and then a rifle shot to the right of us, and three blows of Bud's horn, +which means dead deer. Jake was the first one to him, being only 300 +yards. We walked two and one-half miles before we got to him. When we +got there he had a big doe laying over a log. Bud drew him and they took +turns carrying him home. Every tooth in my head aches from chewing +venison. How are all of you? I waded about 30 ditches today over my shoe +tops and one over my knees. Bud said if I followed the dogs with him he +would give me first shot, and if I missed he would get him. Millie made +me a belt to fit the rifle cartridges. I christened my axe in deer +blood. Bud said Queen was 10 feet behind it, King 20 feet and Diamond +ran up and threw the deer after it was shot. Then it got up and Diamond +got it in the throat and brought it down. I will have to close as it is +time to go to bed. With love to all, + +William. + +Not bad for an 11-year-old. Everyone has been complaining of the +terrible weather here--frost three nights last week, and a light +overcoat not oppressive, though it is hardly necessary except for the +tendency one has to put his hands in his pockets otherwise. We asked one +of the natives what they would do in Chicago with zero weather, and he +replied with an air of conviction: "Freeze to death." + +We have a nibble for the boat. The river at Memphis is so full of +floating ice that the ferry boats cannot run; and that looks as if we +might not be able to get our boats towed to St. Louis before late +spring--and we want to be free. We note blooming in the open many +violets, polyanthus narcissus, camellias, sweet olive, magnolias just +budding out, and white hyacinths. The grass is putting up green shoots. +Large beds of chickweed are plentiful. The vinca was nipped by frost +last night. Next door is a fine palmetto and the great roses covering +the gallery are full of green leaves and the remains of the last crop of +blossoms, with new buds coming out. What a terrible winter! + +There is a street fair here. These people go about the country and +exhibit wherever they find a town that will pay them, their price here +being, it is said, $2,000 for a week. The Red Men pay them, and probably +the merchants subscribe to it, the business brought to town compensating +them. There are a number of attractions, like a little splinter broken +off the poorest part of Atlantic City. But it gives something to see and +do and talk about, to a town where there is too little of either for the +demand. There are a huge and a dwarf horse, glass blowers, a human +dwarf, contortionist, jubilee singers, kinetoscope, trained dogs and +monkeys, dissolving statue, and of course the nigger babies and knives +to throw at and miss. We have run against these aggregations all the way +down, and they are evidently becoming a feature of the smaller towns. + +Curious place for a State Capital. In our room stands a fine walnut +wardrobe with a door broken open; and there is not a mechanic in the +city who can mend it. Glass is broken, and it remains so; any quantity +of miscellaneous mending and repairing needed, but it stands. The sunny +south is a bit slipshod; the ladies are delightful, but they do not work +their finger ends off cleaning out the last possibilities of dust and +dirt--they leave it to the darkies, who do what they cannot avoid doing +and stop right there. + + * * * * * + +That our boys are not devoid of descriptive ability--and +imagination?--this chapter, written by Frank, will demonstrate. + +"At Melville, on the Atchafalaya, we became acquainted with some young +men who had a fine pack of deer hounds. They also call these "nigger +dogs," because they are employed for trailing convicts who escape from +the camps along the river. + +"Early in the morning our hunting party gathered on the levee--the +Doctor, Budd Tell, his brother Wylie, and two uncles, and four of us. +The old men were settlers and hunters of bobcat, deer, panther, bear and +other game. They said they had killed 160 deer in one winter, and +though we doubted this, we afterward found it was true. + +"We penetrated the woods till a desirable spot was reached, and here +Budd posted us on our stands. These are places clear of underbrush for a +space, so that the hunter may see to shoot anything that invades his +location. One man remains with the dogs, termed the driver. He was left +about two miles behind. When all had been placed the signal was given, +to start the dogs. Soon we could hear the music of their baying, as it +did not take long for them to strike a deer trail, and a fresh one at +that. The chase led in the Doctor's direction and presently we heard him +shoot--and he had downed his first deer. He got two that day. I shot +one, and Budd got a little fat doe. The others were fine bucks, weighing +175, 150 and 123 lbs. At least we thought so, after taking turns packing +them, on a pole; and that was the only scale we had; so we think it was +legal, under the circumstances. + +"As we were returning to the boat with our four deer, two men to each, +one man could be taking it easy all the time. Somehow the bunch got +separated in the cypress swamp, and suddenly we heard the scream of a +panther. Then there were a number of shots, and after that silence, for +a couple of minutes. Then came a rifle shot. Jake and I being together, +we hurried in the direction of the shots. Soon we heard a noise that we +could not make out the cause of. We were still packing the deer. Then we +came in sight of the Doctor, stooping over Budd's brother. Close by lay +a dead panther. Budd's breast and arms were badly torn by the claws of +the animal, and his brother had a scalp wound and was insensible. +However, we all turned in to help, and he was soon on his feet, somewhat +damaged and rather faint, but still in the ring. + +"The panther had sprang on them from a tree, knocking Wylie down, then +turning on Budd who attacked the animal as soon as he realized what was +the trouble. The panther started for him like a cyclone and had his +shirt and some skin jerked off in less time than it takes for me to tell +it. Budd says he sure thought his time had come, and being somewhat of a +church member he put up a little call for help. Just then the Doctor ran +up, and by a lucky shot disabled the beast, which was soon dispatched. +He got the hide. The panther weighed over 100 lbs. and measured 5 feet +10 inches from nose to tip of tail. + +"As Budd and Wylie were too weak to carry the deer, the big cat was +allotted to them, and two of us took each a deer till we got out of the +timber, about dark. We reached the boat at 6 p. m., very tired. But we +had had our fun, and some of us had had an experience not usual even to +houseboat travelers. And we got the panther--though it came very near +getting two of the best fellows to be found in the south." + +Unfortunately the prize so highly valued was lost. The skin was +stretched out and placed on the roof to dry; that night the wind blew, +and next morning the skin had disappeared. The one now ornamenting the +Doctor's den was purchased to replace the original. + +Will some one explain how it happens that an indifferent shot, when +brought in face of such a proposition will make an unerring snap shot, +when a slight deviation would endanger the life of the companion? Many +years ago, while traversing the woods of Pennsylvania, we heard our +companion cry for help, after two shots close together. We ran at full +speed, and saw him standing still, gazing at a huge snake at his feet. +Even as we ran we brought our double-barrel to our shoulder and without +taking aim blew the serpent's head off. There was no time to aim, and +had we done so it is doubtful if we could have made as good a shot. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE BOBCAT. + + +Melville, La., Feb. 3, 1904.--Budd was watching some deer down the +river, when he saw a bobcat come out of the brush near by. He shot the +cat, when a buck ran out within twenty feet of him. He made a quick shot +at the buck, got him, and then ran after the cat. She had crawled under +some brush and thinking her dead he crawled after her. Just as he caught +hold of her leg to pull her out she turned on him and flew at his chest, +in which she embedded her claws. There was a lively tussle for a few +minutes, when he got away, and the cat crawled under a log. But when he +again attempted to pull her out she flew at him, apparently little the +worse for her wounds; and it was not till he succeeded in cutting her +throat that she died. He was pretty well clawed up, sufficiently to +deprive him of any further desire to tackle a bobcat, only a few of +whose lives had been expended. + +Here is a native's sample story: + +"Father had been troubled by a bear that ate his corn, so he sat up one +night to get him. He noted where the bear came in from the canebrake, +and placed himself so that the wind blew from that place to his stand. +It was bright moonlight. Along in the night came Bruin, sniffing and +grunting. He paused at the fence till satisfied the way was clear, then +knocked a rail off the top and clambered over. He made his way among the +corn, and rearing up began to pull off the ears and eat them. Then dad +fired a handful of buckshot into him, breaking his shoulder. The bear +made for the place he had crossed the fence, scrambled over, and crashed +through the brake. Dad marked him down as stopping at a huge dead tree +that could easily be seen above the canes. + +"By this time the shot had aroused the folks, and dogs, darkies and men +came running out. The dogs sought the trail, but the only one that found +it was a little mongrel tyke, who started off after the bear and was +soon followed by the rest. The men tried to keep up, but dad ran right +for the big tree. A crooked branch across his path sprang into a coil +and rattled a warning at him. He stopped and gave it the other barrel, +and ran on. Coming up to the tree there was the bear, standing up, and +with his one arm raking the dogs whenever they ventured within reach. +Already the bravest showed evidences of his skill. One of the men shot +him--in fact they all shot, and the bear rolled over. Dad went up to +him, and some one remarked that he must be a tame bear, as his ear was +nicked. Dad felt the ear, and remarked how warm it was--and just then +the old bear whirled around, reared up, and seized dad in a real bear +hug. Fortunately it was a one-armed hug, and by a quick movement he was +able to wriggle away, and then one man who had not shot put his gun to +the bear's ear and shot half his head away. On the way home they picked +up the snake, which was seven feet long, and had 11 rattles and a +button." + + * * * * * + +At Shiloh Landing, Miss., our boys were told of a negro who ate glass. +He came in while they were there, and cracked up a lamp chimney and ate +it, literally and without deception. He said he could walk over broken +glass without harm. He also was impervious to snakes. And while they +talked a huge cotton-mouth copperhead wriggled out on the floor. There +was a unanimous and speedy resort to boxes, barrels and tables, till the +serpent was killed. It seems the negro has a fancy for collecting snakes +and had brought this one in in a box, from which he made his escape. + + * * * * * + +This morning we went out for robins, and got a mess; of which we +contributed one--could not shoot a little bit. After lunch we waited for +the mail and then bid good-bye to the kindly folk who had made Melville +so pleasant to us, and started on our journey up the Atchafalaya. The +river is wider, swifter and bigger than when we came down; and we will +be glad to get into the great river again. We have quite a collection of +skins--deer, cat and coon--gifts of our friends. We ran a few miles and +then the engine pump quit, and we tied up. Fair and clear, warm at +midday enough to make a vest a burden. + +[Illustration: SPANISH MOSS (ATCHAFALAYA).] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ASCENDING THE ATCHAFALAYA. + + +Atchafalaya River, Feb. 4, 1904.--There is a very perceptible difference +between descending a river and ascending it. Our gallant little launch +finds the cabinboat a difficult proposition against the current, as +aggravated by the rising floods. We made but a few miles yesterday and +tied up for the night. An unexpected steamer came along about 12:30 and +gave us a good tumbling. She returned later, having doubtless taken in +her freight at Melville meanwhile. This morning an east wind drives us +against the shore, so that we have to steer out, and that makes it a +head wind; so the shore creeps slowly past. It is cloudy and feels like +rain, though warm. The river is very muddy, and full of drift over which +the boat rumbles constantly. Many doves are seen on the trees along +shore but, as usual, we are in a hurry and cannot stop for sport. + +During the Civil War, we are told, the Atchafalaya could be bridged by +three carts, so that soldiers could cross. Now it is nowhere less than +sixty feet deep, and two-fifths of the water of the Mississippi go +through it to the Gulf. Every year it is enlarging, and the day may come +when the Mississippi will discharge through it altogether, and Baton +Rouge and New Orleans be inland cities. This route to the Gulf is 150 +miles shorter. + + * * * * * + +Atchafalaya River, Feb. 6, 1904.--We made but a short run yesterday, the +wind stopping us two miles below Oderberg, just within 150 yards of a +turn around which we had to go to get the wind in our favor. But we +could not do it. Boy and Dr. shot some robins and Jake got a mud hen; +and from a passing wagon we secured a roast of beef. An old colored +woman sold us some buttermilk, for two bits. This morning it was rainy +and foggy, but under great difficulties we pushed ahead and made +Simmesport by lunch. Here we engaged a gasoline boat to take us around +into the Mississippi, for seven dollars--about 14 miles--and felt we got +off well at that. The current in the Red is said to be too fierce for +our little boat. We did as well as possible, by hugging the low shore, +and when the one we were on became high and eroded we crossed to the +other. In that way we avoided the swift current and often got a back +one, or eddy. The steamer _Electra_ dogged us all morning, passing and +stopping at numerous landings till we passed her. When we land we find +houses quite close along either shore. The rural population must be +large along the leveed part of the river. At Simmesport we obtained +butter, milk and lard, besides crackers and canned oysters. No meat. One +bunch of brant appeared in the fog this morning, but refused to listen +to our arguments favoring closer acquaintance. + + * * * * * + +Red River, Feb. 7, 1904.--That is, we suppose you call it the Red, but +it is now in truth an outlet of the Mississippi. We got to Simmesport, +had lunch, and arranged with a boy there to tow us through to the +Mississippi with a 5-horsepower gasoline. Hitched it behind, our launch +alongside, and started. The wind was as often contrary as favorable, and +we labored up the Atchafalaya till we got to Red River. The water is +decidedly red, but is backed up into the Red by the lordship of the +Great River, which sweeps up the Old River channel with resistless +force. None of the Red water gets past Barbre Landing, either into the +Atchafalaya or the Mississippi. We turned into the Red or Old River +about 2:30, and by 6 had made about three miles, stopping in sight of +Turnbull Island Light No. 2. First the lever of our reversing gear +broke, and here a log swept under the launch and broke the coupling +bolt. This had happened the preceding day, and we had no extra left, so +had to stop as the other boat alone could make no headway against the +swift current. As it was, with both boats we had to coast along as close +as possible to the shore, where the current was slowest, to make any +progress at all. In the middle we were swept back. The boys left us to +return to Simmesport, where they were to make new coupling bolts and +return here this morning. We had a sleepless night. All day it was foggy +and rainy; in the night occasional showers pattered on the roof; and +floating wood rumbled under the boat. The water is full of this stuff +and it is impossible to prevent it going under the scow, where it sticks +and retards progress or emerges to foul our propeller. This morning it +is still sticky, showery and slightly foggy; temperature at 9 a. m., 72. +When the steamer rocked us the other night Jake and Doctor turned out in +their nightgowns to fend off, and then stood leaning over the rail +talking for a time. Catch cold, turning out of a warm bed in January? +Naw! Whatchergivinus? This terrible winter weather! + +About 11:30 the boys returned with the tug and new bolts for our +coupler. We had hard work getting through the bridge, where the current +was fierce; but by 2 p. m. we were in the Mississippi and headed down +stream. + + * * * * * + +Bayou Sara, Feb. 8, 1904.--We tied up last night in Morgan's Bend, after +dark. Started to float all night, but the fog came up, lightning showed +in the east, and we thought it wise to take no chances. We had the +launch hitched behind and when a steamer passed up quite near, it made +her leap and try to get her nose under the overhang, which might have +swamped her. This morning we got off at 5 a. m., floating till after +breakfast, when we set the old churn at work. Now the sun is up +brightly, a breeze freshening up from the east, which is dead ahead +just now, and the town in sight. We talk of loading the boat with +palmettoes for the St. Louis fair market, and getting a tow north, if we +cannot get a fair price for the outfit. + +By 9 we reached Bayou Sara, where we increased our crew by three of +Louisiana's fair ladies, and at 11 resumed our journey. The wind had +subsided and we journeyed south over a river smooth as glass. Much +driftwood annoyed us, threatening our propeller blades. The poetry of +travel today, too warm for the folk to stand in the sun. Historic Port +Hudson was soon before us. It is now back from the river, Port Hickey +being its successor. Temperature 80 at 2 p. m. This terrible winter! We +are counting the miles between us and our dear ones at Baton Rouge. + +We reached Baton Rouge about 6 p. m., having made over 50 miles, and the +longest run of the trip. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +DUCKING AT CATAHOULA LAKE. + + +Prof. Handwerker came down to Memphis, and we went for a duck shoot. We +went by rail to Alexandria and chartered a wagon with two sketchy ponies +and an aged veteran as driver, who took us about 20 miles to Catahoula +Lake. The toll man at the bridge valued our outfit at 40 cents, and +collected the entire price each way. The road lay through a lumber +country, where the yellow pine was being rapidly cut out. Arriving +within a mile of the lake, we concluded to stop with Mr. S., rather than +rest our old limbs in the doubtful protection of the tent we had +brought. + +S. lived on a tract he had homesteaded, in a "plank-up" house of three +rooms. At the end of the living room was a large chimney of mud and +sticks, with andirons, in which a large fire burned constantly. There +were holes in the chimney of a size convenient for the cat to crawl +through, which the men had not had time to mend. Cracks an inch wide +between the plank let in a sufficiency of air, when the one +window--unencumbered with sash and glass--a simple wooden shutter, swung +shut. The family consisted of the man, his wife, two sons aged 16 and +12; horses, cows, oxen, chickens and numerous pigs. The latter were +dying off, and we saw numerous carcasses in the woods, the consequence +of a lot of diseased animals being brought in by a neighbor. S. had had +a sawmill, and with the aid of his sons and wife--the latter the +engineer--had turned out about 7,000 feet of lumber a day. For this he +had received his stock; but the wife did not feel that they were doing +well enough and persuaded him to sell the mill and raise cotton. + +They cleared a few acres which they farmed till the yield fell off, when +they let it lie fallow and farmed another bit. They had intended to saw +up a lot of wood for a new house, but somehow it had been neglected, or +when a lot had been got out some one made a dicker for it. The stock of +food for the animals had run short, and chop sold at the stores for +$1.00 a bag for cash, $1.60 on credit; so the animals ran in the woods +and ate Spanish moss. This, we were assured, was a good, nutritious +food, when the animals got used to it. All were very thin. One horse +looked like a walking skeleton, and in fact died during our stay--but +then it was so reduced by the time it died that the loss was trifling. +The horses had long since stripped the berries from the china berry +trees. We were told that eight crops of alfalfa had been cut from a +field in this region last summer; so that it is simply a question of +cultivating a few more acres to supply proper food to the stock. The +five cows gave about a quart of milk a day. They were milked once a +day--if they came up to the house in time; if not, it went over till +next day. + +Mr. S. was a fine, good-natured man, who did not drink, or permit liquor +or cards in his house. He had some trouble with his shoulder, which +seriously interfered with his work, though he hauled logs to the +sawmill, the small boy driving. He was very proud of his wife; vaunting +her as the best worker in the parish, excepting their nearest neighbor; +and those two women, he averred, could equal any men in farming cotton, +chopping or sawing wood, and cultivating the garden. It was +edifying--touching--to see Mrs. S. bridle with pleasure under this +well-deserved approval. + +The two boys attended to the fires, on alternate days; and they sure did +show great mathematical talent, for they could calculate to a certainty +the exact quantity of wood that sufficed for the day and next morning, +so as to leave over not a scrap for the lessening of the other boy's +labors. In the evening a huge backlog was placed in the big chimney, +with two smaller pieces underneath, and some cypress under that to keep +up a blaze. Then all hands gathered around, S., the Professor and the +aged driver, with their pipes, the two boys chewing, and Mrs. S., with a +little stick projecting from her mouth, which puzzled us, till the idea +of its significance flashed across our mind--snuff! And then they set in +persistently and systematically to put the fire out, by well-directed +expectoration. And we are bound to say that in accuracy of aim Mrs. S. +was not behind the menfolk. + +Bedtime came. A big feather-bed was dragged out and placed on the floor +in front of the fire, some comforters thrown over it, with pillows, and +we were politely offered our choice of the bed on the floor or that on +the wooden bedstead. It was left to us, and we took one apprehensive +look at the ancient stead--quite undeserved was the suspicion--and chose +the floor, remarking that we could not turn a lady out of her bed. This +was met with remonstrances on the part of these warm-hearted people, but +it was left that way. The old man and the two boys took the other bed, +and the seven of us lay down to sleep in the one room. First the lady +retired to the kitchen while we disrobed; then we offered to do the same +to give her a chance, but this was unnecessary, as she didn't disrobe. +The old man got in bed and lit his pipe; she took a fresh portion of +snuff, and we presume the boys a new quid. During the night we +occasionally heard S. scratching matches to light up. The bed of wild +duck feathers favorably modified the hardness of the floor, and we slept +well. + +Before daybreak we heard S. lighting up, and then, with difficulty, he +induced the boy on duty to arouse and attend to the fire. Then Mrs. S. +arose and when we showed signs of consciousness we had a cup of +coffee--black, good quality, well sweetened, but without milk. +Breakfast of smoked pork, more coffee, and hot bread--corn or wheat. We +may add that this was also our dinner and our supper, varied by +cracklin' bread, hot biscuits, and an occasional pie of berries or +peaches. Once sweet potatoes and once dried peas. If a visitor dropped +in, coffee was served around. And we had ducks. + +In the morning we hooked up the team and went down to the lake. The +formation is similar to that at Bear River, Utah; broad flats covered +with a few inches of water, the soil a stiff clay that will generally +hold a man up, but not always. But the people here have no boats, build +no blinds, and their only idea of duck shooting is to crawl on their +bellies through the mud till they can get a pot shot at a flock of ducks +in the water. They use heavy loads and No. 2 shot. As we did not shoot +ducks that way, our success was not very great. Still we got as many as +we could eat--and that's enough. + +The older boy suggested that we cross the lake to a group of cypresses, +where the shooting was good. We waded in about a hundred yards, when the +wading began to get pretty heavy, our feet sinking in over the ankles. +The Professor concluded to turn back, and took up his stand by a lone +cypress near the margin of the water. We felt that it was the part of +wisdom to do so also; but the boy began to chuckle and a smile of +derision appeared on his face. Now we don't like to be "backed down" by +a "kid," and he assured us the boggy place did not extend far and then +the bottom became firmer; so we kept on across the lake. It was said to +be a mile, but it proved to be at least ten. We had not gone far when we +began to realize several things: That the boy lied; that we weighed +nearly 200 lbs.; that the borrowed waders we had on were much too large; +that though in our life of 54 years we had ascertained that we were a +great many different kinds of a darned fool, this was one more kind. The +waders were tied to our waist, but soon pulled off so that we walked on +the legs; sank in over ankles at each step, but had to immediately +withdraw the foot to keep from going still deeper. We got tired--very +tired--but dared not stop. Out of breath, the throat burned as if we had +taken a dose of red pepper, but we could not stop for breath. Fell down +and struggled up with boots full of water; and after an eternity of +effort struggled out on the other side, to stand in the cold, teeth +chattering, trying to get shelter against the cold wind in the hollow of +the cypress, and still keep a lookout for ducks. The fingers were too +cold to pull the trigger, almost, but a sprig came in and we nailed him. +And no more came our way. + +Just before we had frozen stiff the boy came back and we set out to walk +around the lake. It was only half as far as straight across. Some strays +passed over, and in response to our call a mallard duck settled down +upon the ground. The boy looked inquiringly at us, but we told him we +did not take such shots, and he crawled up and executed the bird. A jack +snipe rose, and fell promptly. Wading across a bayou we caught a glimpse +of green shining on the shore, and it proved to be a teal, directly in +front. He rose when we were within 40 feet, and fell with his head shot +off; which evidently elevated us in the estimation of the boy. Meanwhile +the Professor had accumulated a respectable collection of birds; and we +had game enough for the table. + +Arriving at the house, a discussion arose as to the way to cook them. We +stoutly maintained that a bird that had a distinctive flavor like a +teal should be lightly broiled. But the lady intimated that she had +something else in contemplation that would open our eyes and enlarge our +views. It did both. Will it be believed that those delicate little teal, +the snipe, sundry squirrels and quail subsequently brought in, were +ground up with smoked pork and onions into an undistinguishable mass of +sausage, and fried? Shades of Vatel! + +One look at the proud face of the designer of the dish, and the +Professor loudly vaunted the idea, and took another helping. No one +could have had the heart to dissent--and our virtue was rewarded, for +nothing could induce our good hostess to cook the birds any other way. +The Professor's praise settled that. Though his name indicates an origin +Teutonic rather than Milesian, and his huge frame would have easily +sustained the armor of Goetz von Berlichingen, he must have kissed the +Blarney stone, and no living woman could resist the charm of his +approval. + +We lived on the food described for a week, and drank enough coffee to +paralyze the Postum Cereal man--the Professor negotiated 14 cups a +day--and had not a trace of our acid dyspepsia. Is there any remedy for +this complaint, except hard work? + +One evening a neighbor came over with his wife, the one who had so high +a reputation as a worker. She was a thin little woman, with hollow +cheeks and great brown eyes, sad, as their only child had been recently +killed by accident, while out hunting. The inevitable snuff stick +protruded from her lips. The husband was a bright, merry fellow, who at +once struck up a trade with our old driver. They traded wagons, then +fell to about their horses, and as the spirit of trade aroused the +sporting blood the younger man asked if the other had a "trading hat," +or jackknife, and finally proposed they should go out on the gallery and +trade clothes to the skin. "Would trade everything he owned but the old +woman," he announced. + +The driver was a character in his way. He owned to 75 years, rivaled the +Professor's 6 feet 4 inches when erect, but was wholly longitudinal in +dimensions. On the road he informed us at intervals of five minutes that +the road was "pretty heavy today." He stood in awe of the Professor's +deep bass, and seeing this that irreverent youth played it on the old +man in a way to be reprobated. Mrs. S. gave us a pie one day for lunch, +and smilingly announced that it was the exclusive property of the +Professor. Accordingly the latter authoritatively forbade all others +meddling with his pie. About noon S. and the Doctor came across the lake +to the wagon, and began foraging for lunch. S. got out the pie and each +of us took a liberal slice, in spite of the old driver's protest that it +was the Professor's pie, and he must be held guiltless. Pretty soon the +Professor came over, and on seeing the hole in the pie bellowed in an +awful voice: "Who took my pie?" The old man threw up his arm as if to +protect his head, and anxiously cackled that he had no hand in it, that +it was the Doctor and S., and that he had told them they should not do +it. Just then the Doctor sauntered in, and the Professor tackled him +about who ate the pie. Dr. at once assured him it was the old driver; +that he had seen the stains of the berries on his lips; which mendacious +statement was received by the old man with voluble indignation. S. came +up, and on being appealed to at once "caught on," and put the blame on +the driver. He was simply speechless with this most unjust charge. All +the rest of the day the Professor scolded over the pie, and we thought +of new arguments showing that no one but the driver could have purloined +it. But about bedtime, after there had been stillness for a time, a +still small voice came from the old man saying with a tone of dawning +comprehension: "I believe you fellows have been having fun with me about +that pie." This was too much, and the walls fairly cracked with the +howls of delight. + +We did not treat the old man very badly, though, as on leaving he +assured us if we ever came again into that country he would be only too +willing to join us in a similar trip. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +SOME LOUISIANA FOLKS. + + +No negroes have ever been allowed to settle in the Catahoula country. +The dead line is seven miles from Alexandria. No objection is made if +anyone desires to bring a negro servant temporarily into the country, +but he must go out with his employer. Once a lumberman brought negroes +in, and determined to work them. They were warned, and left. Next year +be brought in a new lot, and announced that he would protect them. They +were duly warned, but refused to leave. One morning they were +found--seven of them--hanging to the rafters of their house. Years +elapsed before the experiment was again tried. The coroner's jury +brought in a verdict of suicide--and this was in dead earnest--no joke +or hilarity intended. To disregard due warning was equivalent to any +other method of self-destruction. + +When in after years an attempt was made to work negroes here, warnings +were duly posted on their doors. The negroes left. But the employer was +a determined man, and swore he would be eternally dingbusted--or words +to that effect--if he didn't work all the niggers he pleased; and he +enlisted a new lot of the most desperate characters he could find. +Warning was given and neglected; when one evening, as the darkies sat at +supper, a rifle bullet knocked the nail keg from under one of them, and +next morning not a negro was to be found in the vicinity. + +Observe the dispassionate, thoroughly conservative and gentlemanly way +the people handled the affair. There was no thirsting for gore, no +disposition to immolate these misguided folks to their employer's +obstinacy; just a gentle hint that Catahoula did not allow negroes. An +intimation to the employer followed, that a repetition would be followed +by a rifle aimed at him, not the keg this time, and he was wise enough +to see the point. + +We have heard these people spoken of as being dangerous characters. They +might be such, if misunderstood and their prejudices rudely affronted. +But we found them a simple, warm-hearted, scrupulously honest set, with +whom we thoroughly enjoyed a week's companionship, and expect to go back +for another one. Their interests are limited, their viewpoint may not +permit an extensive outlook, but their doors are always open to the +stranger, the coffee-pot on the stove, and the best they have is offered +him with a courtesy that never fails. They take little interest in +politics, newspapers we did not once see there, and schooling is +limited. Mrs. S. did not go to church in summer, because that would +involve the putting on of shoes--though she did say that if she chose to +go she would not hesitate to march into church in her bare feet, let +those dislike it who might! + +But do not imagine that these worthy people are deficient in common +sense. Mr. S. was perfectly aware that the timber he does not cut now is +worth three times what is was when he took up this land, and will be +worth more every year. + +This pine must reproduce itself with marvelous rapidity. We saw the +furrows of the old cotton cultivation running away back through the +woods, in which the trees were about ready for the saw. There is plenty +of land still open for homesteading, but one must hunt it up for +himself, as the government gives absolutely no information to inquirers, +except that township maps cost a dollar apiece. If you want to know what +townships of what parishes have land available, just get on your horse +and explore, till you find out. + +The land companies make amends for this. There are about ten million +acres of land in Louisiana, and of this over six millions are offered +for sale in one little pamphlet before me. Much of this is sea marsh, +which ought to produce sea island cotton. We could find no one who knew +of its ever having been tried, but presume there is some reason for not +raising it, as this is a very profitable crop, selling for double the +market price of ordinary cotton. + +Why is there so much land for sale? For we did not meet a solitary man, +northern or southern by birth, who seemed to contemplate leaving the +state. The truth is there are not enough inhabitants to utilize the +land. Millions of acres are lying idle for want of workers. Every +inducement is extended to men to settle here and utilize the resources +now going to waste. + +The South needs "Yankees." An ex-Confederate, discussing Baton Rouge, +said: "A dozen live Yankees would regenerate this town, and make +fortunes at it." They would pave the streets, cover in the sewers, build +up the vacant spots in the heart of the city, supply mechanical work at +less inhuman prices than are now charged, and make this rich and +intelligent community as attractive in appearance as the citizens are +socially. + +One such man has made a new city of Alexandria. He has made the people +pave their streets, put in modern sewerage, water, electricity, etc., +build most creditable structures to house the public officials, and in a +word, has "hustled the South," till it had to put him temporarily out of +office until it got its "second wind." + +In consequence Alexandria has no rival in the state except Shreveport. +And the people like it; they brag of Walsh and his work, take immense +pride in the progress of their beautiful city, and have developed into +keen, wide-awake Americans of the type that has built up our country. + +It seems essential for the incentive, the leaven, to come from outside; +but this is the lesson of history. Xanthippus did nothing for Corinth, +but aroused Syracuse. Marion Sims vegetated in comparative obscurity +till he left the South, to become the leading surgeon of New York and +Paris. What would Ricord have been had he remained in America? The +interchange of blood, the entering of a stranger among any community, +acts as a disturbing element, that arouses action. And without action +there is no progress. + +The most promising indication is that this seems fully comprehended in +the South, and the immigrant is welcomed. + +It is well to be cautious about accepting as literally true the +statements made to strangers. People will exaggerate; and the temptation +to fill up a more or less gullible "tenderfoot" is often irresistible. + +Thus, we are told that connections between white men and negro women are +quite common; in fact, almost a matter of course. And these connections +are defended, as exalting the white woman to such a pinnacle that the +seduction of one would be followed by lynching the seducer; while there +is no wrong done the negro woman, because she has no moral sense in such +matters, to be injured. Instead of feeling that she is "lost," she +brags of her "conquest." + +But several facts lead us to doubt the literal truth of these +statements. We note that the same tales are told in illustration that we +heard when here five years ago. No new material seems to have appeared +in that time. Then again, the mulatto is exceedingly rare; the negroes +met on the streets and in the fields being pure black. These and similar +facts lead us to receive the above accounts with a very large grain of +salt. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +FROM WINTER TO SUMMER IN A DAY. + + +March 11. 1904.--We left Chicago at 6 p. m. The ground was covered with +snow, the winds cutting through our clothes, and winter still held his +own relentlessly. By the time we reached Cairo the change was evident; +and next evening at the same hour we were well down in Mississippi, and +our clothes oppressively warm. Trees were in full leaf, and numerous +cold frames showed that trucking was in full operation. Rain set in and +followed us to Memphis, but then the sky cleared. We found full summer +at New Orleans, the grass in the parks green, the foliage that of +midsummer. At Baton Rouge the violets were about over, but the roses +were enough to discourage one from ever again trying to raise them in +Chicago. + +Why do people suffer from the winter north when they need not do so? +Many shiver and pine for the warm days, during this month of blustering +cold, when everyone has had enough winter and longs for spring, while +all they have to do is to jump on a train and in 24 hours they are in +this delightful clime. When need compels, we must take our medicine +without a grumble; but to many all that keeps them north in March is +inertia and thoughtlessness. + +There are many little businesses carried on in these river boats. We saw +many trading boats which supplied ordinary necessaries and carried small +freights, or gathered up skins and other little products not worth the +while of steamers to stop for. Photographers ply up and down the +streams; a fortune teller makes good profits; a quack sells liniments +and other drugs, and does a bit of unlicensed practice; and very likely +some boats sell whisky. We did not hear of an evangelist, yet there +seems to be a need for some work of this sort. One man sold roofing +paint along the river for good profits. + +The South would do well to study the practical applications of the +maxim: "Put yourself in his place." The Italians keep goats as the Irish +do pigs. Both forage for a living, and supply an important place in the +social economies. The goat is to the Italian a matter of course. But a +doctor was annoyed by the animals, and told his Italian neighbor he must +keep his goats shut up. He did not do so, and so the doctor shot the +goats. Next morning, as the doctor passed the Italian's stand, the +latter drew a pistol, remarking: "You shoot my goat; I shoot you," and +shot the doctor dead. This nearly precipitated a race riot. + +If there was no law against allowing goats to run at large, the Italian +was strictly within his rights. It was up to the doctor to fence his +premises. If there was such a law, the doctor should have called on the +proper officers to enforce it. In either case he was in the wrong; and +the habit of taking the law in one's own hands was responsible for the +tragedy. + +The discontent of the negro with plantation life and work is not, we are +everywhere told, a matter of wages. Then why is there no intelligent +attempt made to study the question with a view to devising means of +attaching him to the place? He is a child in many respects, and +amusement goes far in rendering him contented and happy. Were he these, +he would not be restless to leave the plantations. A barbecue next +week, a dance Saturday night, a little fun in expectation, would go far +to keep him quiet, and need not cost more than a trifle of what it would +be worth. The problem seems easy enough, but we have heard of no attempt +to solve it on such lines. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +VOYAGE ENDED. + + +And here our voyage ended. The doctor moved ashore to join his wife and +children. Millie went to St. Louis, and Jim to Oklahoma; while Frank and +Jake remained on the boat until it was finally disposed of. Frank had +worked on the engine until he had mastered her, and found the +difficulties. She had never been properly installed, so we got blue +prints from her builders and reset the engine in accordance with them. +We got new batteries, a block tin pipe in place of the iron one which +took the gasoline from the tank to the engine, and rust from which had +figured largely in the troubles we experienced. The pump had been +literally cut to pieces by the mud in the river water and a new one was +obtained. When thus refitted, she ran without a balk; and we really +believe a child could have managed her. She turned out to be what had +been claimed for her, remarkably fast. In fact, we left her with the +determination that our next engine should be a Fay and Bowen, also. She +was sold to a resident of Baton Rouge, for $300; the alterations having +cost the Doctor about $50, in addition to the boys' wages. One thing we +learned--never order work down here without a distinct agreement as to +the work and the price. Frank ordered a little fixing at a local shop, +for which he said $6 was a liberal price; but the man brought in a bill +of over $16. + +The small boats, guns and shells were sent back to Chicago, most of the +furniture sold for trivial sums, and the cabin boat left in the charge +of Mr. S. S. Lewis, of the Lewis Lumber Co. for sale. All attempts to +obtain a tow up the river failed. The big coal companies' agents +referred us to the home office, but said the price would not be less +than $300. We heard that the captains of tow boats going up would take +us up for a trifle, but we did not find one of these chances, after +waiting two months. Some men talked of buying the cabin and launch and +taking it around to the Bayou Manchac for a hunting and fishing lodge, +but nothing came of it. + +We might have sold by bringing the outfit around to the Gulf ports, but +had no leisure for this. A plan was suggested to load the cabin with +palmettoes and take them to St. Louis to serve as decorative plants at +the Fair; but the Superintendent of Audubon Park said the plants would +not live, that when the root of a palm was cut it died back to the +stalk, and it was doubtful if a new growth of roots would take place. +But men who try to extirpate the palms say they are unkillable; and the +two we took up and replanted in the boat were still living after two +months, and had out two new leaves each. Possibly we might have made a +good thing, as the boat could have carried 1,000 good-sized palms. + +At New Orleans we hear these cabin boats are so plentiful they cannot be +given away. The _Desplaines_ was sold there for a good price. + +[Illustration: BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +DANGERS AND DELIGHTS. + + +A few words as to certain dangers that might be expected on such a trip. +We were never annoyed by loafers, tramps, or unpleasant visitors of any +sort, with the one exception of the probable river pirates whose visit +is described. At the towns people let us alone, and those who were +interested enough to call on us were entirely unobjectionable. Of course +our numbers may have had some influence. + +We never had any malaria or other febrile affection, and most of our +drug supply was superfluous. Half a dozen articles would comprise the +list for any ordinary party. + +During the entire trip we never saw a snake, alligator, centipede, +scorpion or any other venomous reptile. Flies and mosquitoes left us at +the first frost, and our mosquito hats and veils were never used. The +other insect pests of the south--fleas, gnats, redbugs, ticks and +jiggers--began to show up in April, after we had left the boat and were +living on shore. We were out in the wrong season for fish, turtles and +frogs, and in fact found difficulty in procuring any fish at all, +excepting carp, for our table. But a little more activity on our part +would probably have remedied this--we did not try to fish much. So with +the shooting--we did not try very hard, and never shot more than we +could eat without waste. + +It was our impression that the South fairly bristles with opportunities +for business. There is plenty of cheap land, room for hundreds of +thousands of farmers and lumbermen, dairies, general stores, supply +houses of every sort. Fruit, berries, garden truck of all sorts, nuts, +milk, butter, chickens and ducks, eggs, and many other articles might be +raised and a market found for them along the river. There is a very +short supply of nearly all these products, right where they could be +raised. + +The old prejudice against a white man's working alongside a negro seems +to be dying out. We saw men of both colors working together too often +for it to be in any degree exceptional. Negro mechanics in New Orleans +get from four to seven dollars a day, and are very independent as to +their work. Many large planters rent small lots to negroes, others to +Italians, and sell on easy terms to either whenever they wish to buy. So +far has the disdain of manual work subsided that we were informed that +in one of the most prominent (white) universities many of the pupils +support themselves in part by waiting on the table, washing dishes, and +in other ways. + +Assuredly it is not now looked upon as degrading to any white man in the +south, that he should work with his hands, if need be. + +If there is any prejudice now against northern men who come to settle in +the south, it kept itself out of our sight. Instead, we find immigration +agents established by the state, to set before the men of the north the +advantages they can secure by coming south. Of the numerous northern men +we met and talked with, who had come south, but one spoke of +encountering prejudice--and we strongly suspect he had given good cause. +Many northern men, like the writer, have married southern girls, and +thus the lines of separation between the sections are becoming confused +and indistinct. + +One Indiana man, who had come south, expressed what may be taken for +the usual view, as we received it: "Any northern man who has $3,000 is a +fool if he does not bring it down here and make his fortune in ten years +out of it." And this is the man for whom there are such abundant +openings here--the one who has a small capital and good business sense. + + * * * * * + +The River--that great, wonderful river. We descended its current at the +time the water was at the lowest; but the impression of its giant power +grew on us daily; the resistless sweep of the current, the huge boils +rising from the depths, the whirlpools; but above all the cutting away +of the banks. We soon discovered that levees are not meant as restraints +of this erosion--the river flows how and where it will--but to protect +against the flood waters. From Alton to the gulf there is scarcely a +stone to be seen, and the current flounders about through the soft +alluvium, like a whale in blankets. When the cutting approaches the +levees new ones are constructed further back; and the intervening +country is handed over to its fluvial master. + +The commerce of the river systems is a thing of the past, but a shadow +of what it was about wartime. The railways carry the freights now. But +how is it more people do not travel by water? Years ago we went by +steamer from Cincinnati to Louisville, and thoroughly enjoyed the +trip--the quiet, absence of rattle and smoke, the lovely panorama +floating by, the music, the well-served meals, and the leisurely, +cultured folk who were really taking time to travel pleasantly, instead +of the hustle of limited expresses. Surely, the only reason more people +do not enjoy this mode of travel is that they do not know of it. + +But when one floats on the bosom of the great river there grows up a +certain fascination for it. We saw one cabin boat in which an elderly +man was said to have lived for years, alone. A man of wealth, who could +have utilized Pullmans had he chosen. One can readily comprehend this; +for long will it be ere the beating of the waves against the side of the +boat ceases from our dreams. A little cabin boat that one could manage, +dogs for the only companions, guns and rods, and the long, quiet sojourn +where the coal and other trusts matter not a whit--and where could +hermit find such a delightful retreat! + +Then for the elderly man who has outlived his family and the period of +active participation in the world's warfare. What a home for a group of +such men, who could be company for each other. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +RESULTS. + + +The Doctor enjoyed every moment of the trip. While we have recorded all +the accidents and drawbacks, the reader must not imagine that they were +really serious or detracted much from the pleasure. If we fished and +hunted but little it was because we found so much of interest and +delight that the time was filled without these pastimes. We did not use +our wheels much for the same reason--we had so much going on that we +rarely felt the desirability of more means of occupying our time. The +work went on well, and in this respect the plan worked out as expected. +There were abundance of time and few interruptions; time for study, for +putting the thoughts on paper; and the little breaks when called on +deck, never disarranged the mental machinery. The exercise was most +beneficial. Chopping or sawing wood, and helping with the boat work, +brought the digestion into good condition, and we came home much +stronger than we left. + +The same may be said of the children. The boy enjoyed it all; the girl +did well, but naturally got tired and longed for her little friends. +Both improved in physique and broadened their ideas, and laid in a store +of knowledge. They learned much and were not roughened in manners. + +The invalid did pretty well and would have done much better had our +original plan been followed; but the delay caused by building the new +boat allowed us to be caught in the November storms on the Illinois, and +then it was a constant hurry to get south. Toward the last she tired of +the boat and longed for the flesh-pots of Egypt--other women to talk +clothes to, dry goods stores, the luxuries of civilization. Few women +have enough of the gipsy in their blood to stand seven months' travel +without ennui. + +The experience of the _Desplaines_ showed the wisdom of beginning with a +clear understanding with the crew and paying them fair wages. They took +the crew on an indefinite arrangement, paying no wages. When they fell +in with us their crew became discontented, constant quarreling +resulted, and the crew broke up. Naturally, when they found our men +receiving wages for easier work than theirs, dissatisfaction resulted. +Don't go on such an expedition with the crew on a "no wages" basis. Pay +fairly, or else make up the party on the basis of equal participation in +the expenses; but don't mix matters. + +Don't buy an old boat. There is a satisfaction in knowing that the +timbers beneath you are sound and put together in the strongest possible +manner, and amply able to withstand the fiercest trials they can +possibly receive. Especially if women and children are to form part of +your crew, you want to feel easy on the score of your boat. Have the +boat built at a place like Henry, where well-selected lumber and honest +work will go in the building. Have it brought to Chicago and start in +the boat here. + +Do not have a boat more than sixteen feet wide, outside measure, that is +to pass through the canal. + +Have the roof thoroughly watertight and the crevices about the base of +the cabin protected by quarter-rounds and calking so that there will be +no water leaking in there when waves wash over the deck. Have a good +large open deck in front, for there you will live in pleasant weather. +Get a good wood-burning stove for cooking--gasoline and oil are too +expensive, when you get wood for nothing. + +Select your party with care; not everyone who goes into such a trip with +enthusiasm will wear well, when living half a year in a boat with you. +Leave out people who expect the luxuries of a well-appointed hotel. +Limit the clothing for men and women to two suits each; one for the boat +and one for town. You may not disturb the latter for months. If you can +possibly avoid it, take no one in the party who drinks liquor even in +moderation--certainly not in the crew. Every modification of this opens +the door to trouble. If a guest takes his morning eye-opener the crew +will want to do so; and some one of them may be of the sort that can not +taste it without getting crazy drunk. + +It seemed to us that anyone of a mercantile turn could do a good +business along the river; pay expenses and make money. Everywhere along +the great river people boarded our boat, asking what we were selling. +The men asked for whisky, the women for dry goods or dressmaking. At one +landing a trader sold eighteen skiffs. On the Atchafalaya we passed a +cabinboat bearing in large letters the title: "The White Elephant +Saloon." We heard that this boat had given the authorities much trouble, +but can not vouch for the truth of the report. She was selling liquor, +evidently, and we gave her a wide berth. Melville was a temperance town, +but there was a shanty across the river known as "the Goose," where +liquor was sold, and a skiff ferry to it was well patronized. The owner +was building a large cabinboat at a cost of $1,000, but for what purpose +we could only presume; and our presumption was that it would be a +profitable investment. + +To make a similar trip leave Chicago between the 15th and 30th of +September, provide for towage through the canal to La Salle, and float +down the rivers, stopping when the weather is unpleasant. You should +take a tow from Kampsville to the Mississippi, as there is little +current from the Illinois into it. Thereafter even so small an engine +as our 3-horse-power will suffice, as you will not be hurried and can +await favorable winds. The larger the boat the more men will be +required. Ours was right for four men; and that is a good number for a +party. There will be no danger of annoyance, while a smaller party might +meet some ugly customers. With every additional member the chances for +disagreement increase--and life is too short for quarreling. On reaching +the mouth of Red River, ascend that stream till you can reach Catahoula +Lake, if you are after ducks and geese; though the old river-bed lakes +along the Mississippi will furnish plenty. But if deer and other large +game attract you, descend the Atchafalaya to Alabama bayou; then pass +through Grand Lake to the gulf and coast around to the string of resorts +along the coast from Bay St. Louis to Pensacola and the Florida coast, +if so long a trip is desired. If you ascend the rivers you will need +tows, unless your power is large. + +The results of the trip to the writer may be summed up as: Better work, +better done, and more of it, than would have been possible in the same +time at the city home; a renewal of vitality, digestion improved, years +rolled back so that again has come that sense of capacity to work +without limit, that has not been present for years; and a crowd of +pleasant recollections that will endure for life. + +Would we like to go again? Just give us the chance! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The houseboat book, by William F. Waugh + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK *** + +***** This file should be named 44656-8.txt or 44656-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/6/5/44656/ + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Waugh + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: The houseboat book + The Log of a Cruise from Chicago to New Orleans + +Author: William F. Waugh + +Release Date: January 13, 2014 [EBook #44656] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="center"><a name="cover.jpg" id="cover.jpg"></a><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" /></div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i000.jpg" alt="THE HELEN W. OF CHICAGO" /></div> + +<p class="bold">THE HELEN W. OF CHICAGO.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE<br />HOUSEBOAT<br />BOOK</h1> + +<p class="bold">The Log of a Cruise from<br />Chicago to New Orleans</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">BY</p> + +<p class="bold2">WILLIAM F. WAUGH</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/dec.jpg" alt="decoration" /></div> + +<p class="bold">THE CLINIC PUBLISHING COMPANY<br />CHICAGO<br />1904</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1904,<br />By William F. Waugh.</span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center">PRESS OF<br />THE CLINIC PUBLISHING CO.<br />CHICAGO.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<table summary="CONTENTS"> + <tr> + <td colspan="2"></td> + <td><small>PAGE</small></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>I.</td> + <td class="left"> Prelude</td> + <td><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>II.</td> + <td class="left"> Gathering Information</td> + <td><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>III.</td> + <td class="left"> Preparations</td> + <td><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>IV.</td> + <td class="left"> The First Shipwreck</td> + <td><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>V.</td> + <td class="left"> The Canal</td> + <td><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VI.</td> + <td class="left"> The Illinois River</td> + <td><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VII.</td> + <td class="left"> Building the Boat</td> + <td><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VIII.</td> + <td class="left"> The Lower Illinois</td> + <td><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>IX.</td> + <td class="left"> Towing</td> + <td><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>X.</td> + <td class="left"> St. Louis</td> + <td><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XI.</td> + <td class="left"> The Mississippi</td> + <td><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XII.</td> + <td class="left"> Cairo and the Ohio</td> + <td><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XIII.</td> + <td class="left"> Duck Shooting</td> + <td><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XIV.</td> + <td class="left"> Snagged in Tennessee Chute</td> + <td><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XV.</td> + <td class="left"> Mooring</td> + <td><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XVI.</td> + <td class="left"> A Levee Camp</td> + <td><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XVII.</td> + <td class="left"> Vicksburg</td> + <td><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XVIII.</td> + <td class="left"> River Pirates</td> + <td><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XIX.</td> + <td class="left"> The Atchafalaya</td> + <td><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XX.</td> + <td class="left"> Melville. Deer Hunting</td> + <td><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXI.</td> + <td class="left"> Baton Rouge. The Panther</td> + <td><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXII.</td> + <td class="left"> The Bobcat</td> + <td><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXIII.</td> + <td class="left"> Ascending the Atchafalaya</td> + <td><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXIV.</td> + <td class="left"> Ducking at Catahoula Lake</td> + <td><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXV.</td> + <td class="left"> Some Louisiana Folks</td> + <td><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXVI.</td> + <td class="left"> From Winter to Summer in a Day</td> + <td><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXVII.</td> + <td class="left"> Voyage Ended</td> + <td><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXVIII.</td> + <td class="left"> Dangers and Delights</td> + <td><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XXIX.</td> + <td class="left"> Results</td> + <td><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">PRELUDE.</p> + +<p>Once upon a time there was a doctor who, after many years spent in that +pursuit concluded to reform. But strong is the influence of evil +associates, and those who had abetted him in his old ways still +endeavored to lead him therein.</p> + +<p>One day his good angel whispered in his ear the magic words, "House +boat;" and straightway there arose in his mental vision the picture of a +broad river, the boat lazily floating, children fishing, wife's cheery +call to view bits of scenery too lovely for solitary enjoyment, and a +long year of blissful seclusion where no tale of woe could penetrate, no +printer's devil cry for copy. Incidentally the tired eyes could rest, +and the long stretches of uninterrupted time be transmuted into creative +work; with no banging telephone or boring visitor to scatter the +faculties into hopeless desuetude. Sandwich with hours<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> busy with those +recuperative implements, the rod and gun, the adventures and +explorations incident to the trip, and here was a scheme to make the +heart of a city-tired man leap.</p> + +<p>So he went to the friend whose kindly appreciation had put a monetary +value upon the emanations from his brain, and suggested that now was the +time for the besom of reform to get in its work, and by discharging him +to clear the way for new and improved editorial talent. But the friend +received the suggestion with contumely, threatening to do the editor +bodily harm if he so much as mentioned or even contemplated any attempt +to escape. The scheme was perforce postponed for a year, and in the +meantime attempts were made to gather useful information upon the subject.</p> + +<p>The plan seemed simple enough—to leave Chicago by the Drainage Canal, +float down to the Illinois River, then down it to the Mississippi, by it +to New Orleans, then to strike off through the bayous or canals into the +watery wastes southwest, and spend there the time until the approach of +the Carnival called us back to the southern metropolis. By starting +about <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>September 1st we could accompany the ducks on their southern +journey, and have plenty of time to dawdle along, stopping wherever it +seemed good to us.</p> + +<p>So we went to work to gather information. The great bookstores were +ransacked for books descriptive of houseboat trips down the Mississippi. +There were none. Then we asked for charts of the Illinois and +Mississippi. There were none of the former in existence; of the latter +the Government was said to have published charts of the river from St. +Louis to the Gulf; and these were ordered, though they were somewhat +old, and the river changes constantly. Then a search was made for books +on American houseboats and trips made upon them; books giving some +rational information as to what such things are, how they are procured, +furnished, managed, what is to be had and what avoided; but without +avail. Even logs of canoe trips on the great river, and accounts of +recent steamer trips, are singularly scarce. People insisted on forcing +upon our notice Bangs' "Houseboat on the Styx," despite our reiterated +asseverations that we did not care to travel over that route just now.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +Black's "Strange Adventures of a Houseboat" is principally remarkable +for the practical information it does not give.</p> + +<p>Scarcely a juvenile was to be found treating of the subjects; nor have +the novelists paid any attention to the rivers for a third of a century. +Books of travel on the great system of inland American waters are +similarly rare.</p> + +<p>It has finally come home to us that this is a virgin field; that the +great American people reside in the valley of the greatest river in the +world, and pay no attention to it; write nothing of it, know nothing, +and we fear care nothing. And while many persons utilize houseboats, and +many more would do so if they knew what they are, and how much pleasure +is to be derived therefrom, no one has seen fit to print a book that +would make some amends to an intending purchaser for his lack of +experience. Possibly the experiences detailed in the following pages may +in some degree fulfill this need, and aid some one to avoid the mistakes we made.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">GATHERING INFORMATION.</p> + +<p>From magazine articles we gathered that a new boat would cost about +$1,000. We were assured, however, that we could buy an old one that +would answer all needs for about $100. We were told that if the boat +measures 15 tons or more our rapidly-becoming-paternal government +requires the services of a licensed pilot. All steamers are required to +have licensed engineers, though the requirements for an owner's license +are not very rigid. Gasoline boats as yet do not come under any laws, +though there is talk of legislation upon them, and there may be, by the +time this book reaches its readers.</p> + +<p>Houseboats usually have no direct power, but are gently propelled by +long sweeps. If the boat is small this is all right; but as large a boat +as ours would require about four strong men to hold her steady in +dangerous places. It takes a much smaller investment if power is +excluded; and if the boat goes only down stream, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> force enough to +manage her in currents and blows it is cheaper to hire towage when +requisite. But if possible have power, and enough. Many boats we saw in +the Mississippi are fitted with stern wheels and gasoline engines, and +these have great advantages. In cold weather the engineer is protected, +and can run in and get warm, while if in a towing boat he may suffer. +The expense is less, as there is the hull of the towboat to buy when +separate. The motion communicated to the cabin by an attached engine is +soon forgotten. You should not calculate in selling either cabin, engine +or towboat when ready to leave for the north, as prices in the south are +uncertain; and if you have not invested in power you lose that much less +if you desert your outfit.</p> + +<p>Between steam and gasoline as power there is much to be said. With steam +you require a license, it is dirty, more dangerous, takes time to get up +steam, and care to keep it up. But you can always pick up wood along +shore, though an engine of any size burns up a whole lot, and it takes +so much time to collect, cut and saw the wood, and to dry it, that if +you are paying a crew their time makes it costly. Low down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> river, +in times of low water, coal is to be gathered from the sand bars; but +this cannot be counted upon as a regular supply. But you can always get +fuel for a wood-burning engine, and if you contemplate trips beyond +civilization it may be impossible to obtain gasoline.</p> + +<p>Gasoline boats are cleaner, safer, always ready to start by turning a +few buttons, and cheaper, if you have to buy your fuel. If you are going +beyond the reach of ordinary supplies you may run out, and then your +power is useless; but in such cases you must use foresight and lay in a +supply enough for emergencies.</p> + +<p>Both varieties of engines are liable to get out of order, and require +that there shall be someone in charge who understands their mechanism +and can find and remedy the difficulty. Our own preference in +Mississippi navigation is unquestionably for the gasoline. If we go to +the West Indies or the Amazon we will employ steam. Were we +contemplating a prolonged life on a boat, or a trading trip, we would +have the power attached to the cabin boat; and the saved cost of the +hull of a towboat would buy a small gasoline cutter—perhaps $150—which +could be used as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> tender. But when you get power, get enough. It saves +more in tow bills than the cost of the engine; and if it is advisable to +bring the outfit back to the north full power saves a great loss. <i>Quod +est demonstrandum</i> in the course of this narrative.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">PREPARATIONS.</p> + +<p>Our search for a second-hand houseboat was not very productive. At +Chicago the choice lay between three, and of these we naturally chose +the worst. It was the old Jackson Park boat, that after long service had +finally become so completely watersoaked that she sank at her moorings; +but this we learned later. In fact, as in many instances, our foresight +was far inferior to our hindsight—and that is why we are giving our +experiences exactly as they occurred, so that readers may avoid our +mistakes.</p> + +<p>This houseboat was purchased for $200, the vendor warranting her as +sound and safe, in every way fit and suitable for the trip contemplated. +He even said she had been through the canal as far as the Illinois +river, so there was no danger but that she could pass the locks. The +cabin measured 24 x 14.3 x 7 feet; and there was a six-foot open deck in +front, three feet behind, and two feet on either side, making her width +18 feet 3 inches. One end of the cabin was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>partitioned off, making two +staterooms and a kitchen, each 7 feet in depth. The rest formed one +large room. It was well lighted, with 14 windows; and had doors in each +side and two at the front opening into the kitchen and one stateroom. +The roof was formed of two thicknesses of wood and over this a canvas +cover, thickly painted.</p> + +<p>The staterooms were fitted with wire mattress frames, arranged to be +folded against the sides when not in use for beds. In the large room we +placed an iron double bed and two single ones, shielded from view by a +curtain. There was a stove capable of burning any sort of fuel; two +bookcases, dining table, work table, dresser, chairs, sewing machine, +sewing table, etc. We had a canvas awning made with stanchions to go on +the top, but this we never used, finding it pleasanter to sit on the +front deck.</p> + +<p>Among the equipment were the following: A canoe with oars and paddle, +50-lb. anchor, 75 feet ¾-inch rope, 75 feet 1-inch rope, 100 feet +½-inch rope, boat pump, dinner horn, 6 life preservers, 2 boathooks, 2 +hammocks, 4 cots, Puritan water still, small tripoli filter, a tube of +chemical powder fire extinguisher, large and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> small axes, hatchet, brace +and bits, saws, sawbuck, tool-box well furnished, soldering set, repair +kit, paper napkins, mattresses, bedding, towels, and a liberal supply of +old clothes, over and under. We had an Edison Home phonograph and about +50 records; and this was a useful addition. But many articles we took +were only in the way, and we shall not mention them.</p> + +<p>We had a full supply of fishing material, frog spears, minnow seine, +minnow trap, railroad lantern, tubular searchlight with bull's-eye +reflector, electric flashlight with extra batteries, twine, trotline, +revolver and cartridges, 50-gauge Spencer for big game, and as a second +gun, with 150 cartridges; 32-H. P. S. Marlin rifle, with 400 cartridges; +Winchester 12-gauge pump, with 2,000 shells; Browning automatic shotgun; +folding decoys, 4 shell bags, McMillan shell extractor, U. S. Gov't +rifle cleaner, Marlin gun grease, grass suit, shooting clothes heavy and +light, hip boots, leggings, sweaters, chamois vest, mosquito hats, two +cameras with supplies, including developers, compass (pocket), copper +wire, whetstone, can opener and corkscrew, coffee pot to screw to wall, +matches in waterproof<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> box, a Lehman footwarmer and two Japanese muff +stoves, with fuel. For the kitchen we got a gasoline stove with an oven. +There was a good kerosene lamp, giving sufficient light to allow all +hands to read about the table; also three lamps with brackets for the +small rooms.</p> + +<p>In preparing our lists of supplies we derived great assistance from +Buzzacott's "Complete Camper's Manual." It was a mistake to buy so many +shot-gun shells. All along the river we found it easy to get 12-gauge +shells, better than those we had.</p> + +<p>The boy rejoiced in a 20-gauge single barrel. We had so much trouble in +getting ammunition for it that we purchased a reloading outfit and +materials at Antoine's. This little gun was very useful, especially when +we wanted little birds.</p> + +<p>A full supply of medicines went along, mainly in alkaloidal granules, +which economize space and give extra efficiency and many other +advantages. A pocket surgical case, a few of the instruments most likely +to be needed, surgical dressings, quinidine (which is the best +preventive of malaria among the cinchona derivatives), insect powder, +sulphur for fumigation, potassium<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> permanganate for the water, +petrolatum, absorbent cotton, a magnifying glass to facilitate removal +of splinters, extra glasses for those wearing them; and a little whisky, +which was, I believe, never opened on the entire trip.</p> + +<p>The boy was presented with a shell belt; and a week before starting we +found he was sleeping with the belt on, filled with loaded shells. Say, +tired and listless brethren, don't you envy him? Wouldn't you like to +enjoy the anticipation of such a pleasure that much?</p> + +<p>Among the things that were useful we may add a game and shell carrier, a +Marble axe with sheath, and a Val de Weese hunter's knife. After serving +their time these made acceptable presents to some kindly folk who had +done much to make our stay at Melville pleasant.</p> + +<p>We fitted out our table and kitchen from the cast offs of our home, +taking things we would not miss were we to leave them with the boat when +through with her. It matters little that you will find the most complete +lists wanting in important particulars, for ample opportunity is given +to add necessaries at the first town. But the Missis insisted on taking +a full supply of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> provisions, and we were very glad she did. Buzzacott +gives a list of necessaries for a party of five men camping five days. +It seems liberal, when added to the produce of rod and gun.</p> + +<div class="box"> +<p>20 lbs. self-raising flour.<br /> +6 lbs. fresh biscuit.<br /> +6 lbs. corn meal.<br /> +6 lbs. navy beans.<br /> +3 lbs. rice.<br /> +5 lbs. salt pork.<br /> +5 lbs. bacon.<br /> +10 lbs. ham.<br /> +15 lbs. potatoes.<br /> +6 lbs. onions.<br /> +3 lbs. can butter.<br /> +3 lbs. dried fruits.<br /> +½ gallon vinegar pickles.<br /> +½ gallon preserves.<br /> +1 qt. syrup.<br /> +1 box pepper.<br /> +1 box mustard.<br /> +6 lbs. coffee.<br /> +6 lbs. sugar.<br /> +½ lb. tea.<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>½ lb. baking powder.<br /> +4 cans milk and cream.<br /> +1 sack salt.<br /> +6 boxes matches (tin case).<br /> +1 lb. soap.<br /> +1 lb. corn starch.<br /> +1 lb. candles.<br /> +1 jar cheese.<br /> +1 box ginger.<br /> +1 box allspice.<br /> +1 lb. currants.<br /> +1 lb. raisins.<br /> +6 boxes sardines.<br /> +1 screwtop flask.</p></div> + +<p>Fresh bread, meat, sausage, eggs for first days.</p> + +<p>The wife laid in her stock of provisions, costing about sixty dollars +and including the articles we use generally.</p> + +<p>Among the books we found that seemed likely to provide some useful +information are:</p> + +<blockquote><p>Trapper Jim—Sandys.</p> + +<p>Last of the Flatboats—Eggleston.</p> + +<p>Houseboat series—Castlemon.</p> + +<p>Bonaventure—Cable.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p><p>Down the Mississippi—Ellis.</p> + +<p>Down the Great River—Glazier.</p> + +<p>Four Months in a Sneak Box—Bishop.</p> + +<p>The Wild-Fowlers—Bradford.</p> + +<p>The Mississippi—Greene.</p> + +<p>The Gulf and Inland Waters—Mahan.</p> + +<p>The Blockade and the Cruisers—Soley.</p> + +<p>The History of Our Navy—Spears.</p> + +<p>In the Louisiana Lowlands—Mather.</p> + +<p>Hitting and Missing with the Shotgun—Hammond.</p> + +<p>Among the Waterfowl—Job.</p> + +<p>Up the North Branch—Farrar.</p> + +<p>Botanist and Florist—Wood.</p> + +<p>The Mushroom Book—Marshall.</p> + +<p>Wild Sports in the South—Whitehead.</p> + +<p>Cooper's Novels.</p> + +<p>Catalog from Montgomery Ward's mail order house.</p> + +<p>And a good supply of other novels, besides the children's +schoolbooks.</p></blockquote> + +<p>By writing to the U. S. port office at St. Louis we secured a list of +the lights on the Western rivers, a bit antique, but quite useful. From +Rand & McNally we also obtained a chart of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> Mississippi River from +St. Louis to the Gulf, which was invaluable. The Desplaines had a lot of +separate charts obtained from the St. Louis port officers, which were +larger and easier to decipher.</p> + +<p>The question of motive power was one on which we received so much and +such contradictory advice that we were bewildered. It seemed preferable +to have the power in a tender, so that if we were moored anywhere and +wished to send for mail, supplies or aid, the tender could be so +dispatched without having to tow the heavy cabin boat. So we purchased a +small gasoline boat with a two-horse-power engine. At the last moment, +however, Jim persuaded us to exchange it for a larger one, a 20-footer, +with three-horse-power Fay & Bowen engine. In getting a small boat see +that it is a "water cooler," as an air-cooler will run a few minutes and +stop, as the piston swells. Also see that she is fitted with reversing +gear. Not all boats are. This was a fine sea boat, the engine very fast, +and she was well worth the $365 paid for her.</p> + +<p>The crew of the "Helen W. of Chicago," consisted of the Doctor, the +Missis, the Boy (aged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> 11), Miss Miggles (aged 10), Millie the +house-keeper, Jim and J. J. We should have had two dogs, little and big; +and next time they go in as an essential part of the crew.</p> + +<p>We carried far too many things, especially clothes. The most comfortable +proved to be flannel shirt or sweater, blue cloth cap, tennis shoes, +knickerbockers, long wool stockings, and a cheap canvas hunting suit +that would bear dirt and wet. Knicks attract too much attention outside +the city. One good suit will do for visiting in the cities.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE FIRST SHIPWRECK.</p> + +<p>Our first experience in shipwrecks came early. We were all ready to +start; the home had been rented, furniture disposed of, the outfit +ordered, and the boat lay ready for occupancy, fresh and clean in new +paint—when we discovered that we had to go through the old canal—the +Illinois and Michigan—to La Salle, instead of the drainage ditch, on +which we were aware that Chicago had spent many millions more than +drainage demanded, with the ulterior object of making a deep waterway +between the great city and the Gulf! Here was an anxious thought—would +the old canal admit our boat? We visited headquarters, but naturally no +one there knew anything about so essential a matter. We went down to the +first lock at Bridgeport, and the lockmaster telephoned to Lockport, but +the Chief Engineer was out and no one else knew the width of the locks. +But finally we met an old seafarer who carried in his pocket a list of +all the locks of all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> the canals in the U. S., including Canada; and +from him we got the decisive information that the narrowest lock +admitted boats with a maximum width of 17 feet. Ours measured 18 feet 3 +inches!</p> + +<p>After prolonged consultation it was determined that the only way out was +to cut off enough of the side to admit her. So the purveyor, who had +guaranteed the boat as fit in every way for the trip, began to cut, +first building an inner wall or side with two-by-fours. Getting this up +to a convenient height he concluded to try for leaks, and slid the scow +back into the water with the side half up. It was just an inch too low; +and when he rose next morning the scow reposed peacefully on the bottom +of the river, the water having, in the night, come in at the low side. +The following week was consumed in endeavors to raise the boat and get +the water out. Meanwhile we were camping out in an empty house, eating +off the kitchen table, sleeping anywhere, and putting in spare time +hurrying the very deliberate boatmen.</p> + +<p>Just then we received from the Sanitary District folks the belated +information that the locks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> are 18 feet wide, and 110 feet long, and +that the height of the boat from the water line must not exceed 17 feet +to enable it to pass under bridges.</p> + +<p>For nearly a week various means of raising the craft were tried, without +success. Finally the wind shifted during the night, and in the morning +we found the upper margin of the hull out of water. The pumps were put +in operation and by noon the boat was free from water. It was found to +be reasonably watertight, despite the straining by jacks, levers, +windlasses, and other means employed to raise first one corner and then +another, the breaking of ropes and planks by which the corners had been +violently dropped, etc. But the absence of flotation, as evidenced by +the difficulty of raising an unloaded boat, wholly constructed of wood, +should have opened our eyes to her character.</p> + +<p>The side was rapidly completed, the furniture and stores brought aboard, +and the boats started down the canal, while the Doctor and Missis went +to Joliet to meet the outfit and avoid the odors of the drainage. The +men ran all night and reached Lock No. 5, at Joliet, about 5 p. m., +Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1903. This was altogether unnecessary,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> and we +might as well have come down on the boat. Meanwhile we found a shelter +in a little bakery near the Joliet bridge, where the kindly folk took +care of the little invalid while we watched for the arrival of the boats.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i026.jpg" alt="THE OLD CANAL" /></div> + +<p class="bold">THE OLD CANAL.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE CANAL.</p> + +<p>That night was our first on board. We found the boat piled high with the +"necessaries" deemed imperative by the Missis. Days were spent in the +arrangement of these, and in heaving overboard articles whose value was +more than counterbalanced by the space they occupied. Hooks were +inserted, trunks unpacked, curtains hung, and it is safe to say that our +first week was thus occupied. The single beds were taken down and the +children put to sleep on cots consisting of strips of canvas with +eye-holes at the corners. These were fastened to stout hooks, screwed +into the walls. Difficulty supervened in finding a place to fasten the +outer ends, and we had to run ropes across the cabin, to our great +annoyance when rising during the night. Otherwise these are the best of +cots, as they can be taken down and rolled away during the day.</p> + +<p>The delight of those days, drifting lazily down the old canal, the +lovely vistas with long rows of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> elms along the deserted towpath, the +quiet farms. Sometimes it was showery, at others shiny, but we scarcely +noticed the difference. It is surely a lazy man's paradise. There is no +current in the canal, and the launch could only drag the heavy scow +along at about a mile and a half an hour; while but little wind sufficed +to seriously retard all progress. Even with our reduced width it was all +we could do to squeeze through the locks, which are smaller toward the +bottom. At No. 5 we only got through after repeated trials, when the +lock-keeper opened the upper gates and let in a flood of water, after +the lower had been opened, and the boat worked down as close as possible +to the lower gate. And here let us say a word as to the uniform courtesy +we received from these canal officials; something we were scarcely +prepared to expect after our experience with the minor official of the +city. Without an exception we found the canal officials at their posts, +ready to do their duty in a courteous, obliging manner.</p> + +<p>Friday, Oct. 2, we reached Lock 8 just at dusk, passing down as a string +of three canal boats passed up for Chicago, laden with corn. We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> are +surprised at the number of boats engaged in this traffic; as we had +thought the canal obsolete, judging from the caricatures in the daily +papers. Coal was passing down and corn and wood up. During this day 12 +laden boats went by us.</p> + +<p>Saturday, Oct. 3.—Head winds blew the boat about, to the distraction of +the crew. We tried towing, with a line along the towpath, and the boat +banged against the bank constantly. But the weather was lovely and +clear, everyone happy and the interior economy getting in order. It was +well the wise little Missis insisted on bringing a full supply of +provisions, for we have not passed a town or a store since leaving +Joliet, and we would have fared poorly but for her forethought. We +stopped at a farm, where we secured some milk for which we, with +difficulty, persuaded the farmer to accept a nickel—for a gallon. He +said milk was not so precious as in the city. But at Lock 8 the keeper's +wife was alive to her opportunities and charged us city prices.</p> + +<p>We were well pleased with our crew. Jim is a guide from Swan Lake, aged +24; fisher, hunter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> trapper and boatman all his life. J. J. is a +baseball player and athlete about the same age. Both volunteered for the +trip, for the pleasure of it. They asked to go for nothing, but we do +not care to make such an arrangement, which never works well and leads +to disagreements and desertions when the novelty has worn off; so we +paid them wages. During the months they were with us we never asked them +to do a thing they did not willingly do, nor was there ever a complaint +of them in the score of behavior, lack of respect for the ladies, +language before the children, or any of those things that might have led +to unpleasantness had they not been gentlemen by instinct and training. +They are built of muscle and steel springs, never shirk work, have good, +healthy appetites and are always ready to meet any of the various +requirements of the trip. Everything comes handy to them. They put the +boat in shape, run the engine, do carpentry and any other trade that is +needed. It was hard to guide the unwieldy boat so they designed a +rudder, went to town for material, hunted up a blacksmith and showed him +what they wanted, and put the rudder together and hung it in good shape. +It has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> a tiller up on the roof, whence the steersman can see ahead.</p> + +<p>We secured some food at Morris, with difficulty. By noon the rudder was +hung and we were off for Seneca, the boy happy in charge of the tiller. +We wish we were a word painter, to describe the beauty of the scenery +along the canal. The water has lost all reminiscence of Chicago's +drainage. At 3 p. m. we stopped at a farm and obtained milk, eggs and +chickens, with half a bushel of apples for good measure. The boat +excites much interest among the farmers. At Morris we had our first call +upon the drugs, the boys finding a friend whose horse had a suppurating +wound. Dressed it with antiseptics and left a supply. We each took two +grains of quinine, to ward off possible malaria. Millie suffered serious +discomfort, her whole body breaking out, with itching and flushing, +lasting some hours. And this was about the only time we took quinine +during the trip, except when wet, to prevent a cold. We never saw +anything like malaria.</p> + +<p>After tea we had a delightful run by moonlight, stopping several miles +from Seneca. It is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> a good rule to stop before coming to a town, as the +loafers do not get sight of the boat until it comes in next morning.</p> + +<p>On Monday we ran into Seneca, and stopped for supplies. We always needed +something, ample as we thought our outfit. It is always ice, milk, eggs, +butter, or fruit. Here it is gasoline, on which we depend for our motive power.</p> + +<p>It is useless to look for the picturesque in the Illinois farmer. He +speaks the language of the schools, with the accent of culture, and +wears his hair and whiskers in modern style. Probably he hears more +lectures, sees more operatic and histrionic stars, reads more books and +gets more out of his newspapers than does the city man. In fact, there +is no country now; the whole State is merely a series of suburbs.</p> + +<p>During the afternoon we reached Marseilles, where we tied up for the +night. We obtained a gallon of milk here, and a can of gasoline. A +neighboring well supplied artesian water, which tasted too much of +sulphur for palates accustomed to Chicago water. In fact, we now hear +that there is no such water as that of the great lake metropolis.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p><p>Tuesday, Oct. 6, we left Marseilles with a favoring breeze. Our craft +sails best with the wind about two points abaft the beam. When it shifts +to two points forward we are driven against the shore. We had hard work +to reach the viaduct over the Fox river. At 2 p. m. we reached Ottawa, +and there replenished our gasoline barrel. <i>Hinc illae lachrymae.</i> At +Seneca and Marseilles we had been able to obtain only five gallons each, +and that of the grade used for stoves. We also learned that we might +have saved three dollars in lock fees, as below La Salle the water is so +high that the dams are out of sight and steamers pass over them. The +registry and lock fees from Chicago to St. Louis are $6.88.</p> + +<p>We had now passed ten locks with safety, but the captain of the Lulu +tells us the next is the worst of all.</p> + +<p>It is evident that our boat is not fit for this expedition, and we must +take the first opportunity to exchange her for one with a larger and +stronger scow, to cope with the dangers of the great river. The scow +should stand well up from the water so that the waves will not come +over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> the deck. Every morning and night there is over a barrel of water +to be pumped out, but that might be remedied by calking.</p> + +<p>Near Marseilles we passed a number of houseboats, and hear that many are +being prepared for the trip to St. Louis next summer. Berths along the +river front there are now being secured.</p> + +<p>Among our useful supplies is a portable rubber folding bath tub. It +works well now, but I am doubtful as to its wearing qualities. The +water-still is all right when we have a wood or coal fire going, but +when run by a gasoline stove it distils nearly as much water as it burns gasoline.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Wednesday.—We came in sight of the lock below Ottawa about 5 p. m. last +night, and tied up. All night the wind blew hard and rattled the stores +on the roof. Rain comes is around the stovepipe, in spite of cement. +This morning it is still raining but the wind has fallen. A rain-coat +comes in handy. We must add oilskins to our outfit. A little fire goes +well these damp mornings, taking off the chill and drying out the cabin. +Fuel is the cheapest thing yet. We pick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> up a few sticks every day, +enough for the morning fire, and could load the boat with wood, if worth +while. And there is no better exercise for the chest than sawing wood. +We keep a small pile behind the stove to have it dry.</p> + +<p>The gasoline launch is a jewel—exactly what we need; and works in a way +to win the respect of all. The boys got wire rope for steering, as the +hemp stretched; but the wire soon wore through.</p> + +<p>Thirty cents a pound for creamery butter at Ottawa. We must rely on the +farms.</p> + +<p>Whence come the flies? The ceiling is black with them. We talk of +fumigating with sulphur. The cabin is screened, but whenever the door is +opened they come streaming in. The little wire fly-killer is a prime +necessity. It is a wire broom six inches long and as wide, with a +handle; and gets the fly every time. Burning insect powder gets rid of +mosquitoes, but has no effect on flies.</p> + +<p>A string of canal boats passed up this morning, the first we have seen +since leaving Seneca. The traffic seems to be much lighter in the lower +part of the canal.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p><p>The canal official at Ottawa seems to be something of a joker. A dog +boarded our craft there and this man informed us it had no owner, so we +allowed the animal to accompany us. But further down the line the dog's +owner telephoned dire threats after us, and we sent him back from La +Salle.</p> + +<p>After lunch we tackled Lock No. 11, and a terror it was. The walls were +so dilapidated that care had to be exercised to keep the edges of the +scow and roof from catching. Then the roof caught on the left front and +the bottom on the right rear, and it was only at the fourth trial, when +we had worked the boat as far forward as possible, that we managed to +scrape through. The wind was still very brisk and dead ahead, so we tied +up just below the lock. A steam launch, the Lorain, passed through bound +down. She filled the lock with smoke, and we realized how much gasoline +excels steam in cleanliness. A foraging expedition secured a quart of +milk and four dozen eggs, with the promise of spring chickens when their +supper afforded a chance to catch them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Thursday, Oct. 8, 1903.—All night we were held by the fierce wind +against which we were powerless. The squeeze in the lock increased the +leakage and this morning it took quite a lot of pumping to free the hull +of water. After breakfast we set out, and found Lock 12 much better than +its predecessor. All afternoon the wind continued dead ahead, and the +towing rope and poles were required to make even slight headway. Then we +passed under a low bridge, and the stovepipe fell down. If we do not +reach a town we will be cold tonight. Two small launches passed us, +going to La Salle, where there is some sort of function on.</p> + +<p>The children's lessons go on daily; with the girl because she is a girl +and therefore tractable, with the boy because he can not get out till +they are learned.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Oct. 9.—We lay in the canal all day yesterday, the folks +fishing for catfish. Our foraging was unsuccessful, the nearest house +containing a delegation of Chicago boys—17 of them—sent out by a West +Side church, who took all the milk of the place. The boy fell in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +canal and was promptly rescued by J. J., who is an expert swimmer. His +mother was excited, but not frightened. After tea, as the wind had +fallen, we used the launch for two hours to get through the most of the +"wide water," so as to have the protection of the high banks next day. +The lights of a large town—electric—are visible below. Very little +water that evening, not a fourth what we pumped in the morning.</p> + +<p>On Friday morning the water is smooth and we hope to make La Salle today.</p> + +<p>And then the gasoline engine stopped!</p> + +<p>It had done good service so far, but there was a defect in it: a cup for +holding lubricating oil that had a hole in it. Curious for a new engine, +and some of the crew were unkind enough to suggest that the seller had +taken off the new cup and put on a broken one from his old boat. All day +we worked with it, till at lunch time it consented to go; and then our +old enemy, the west wind, came up, but less violent than before, so that +we made several miles before the engine again quit. We were well through +the wide water, and tied up in a lovely spot, where someone had been +picnicking during the morning. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> boys towed the launch to Utica with +the canoe, while we secured some milk at a Swede's near by, and a jar of +honey from another house.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Saturday, Oct. 10, 1903.—At 7 p. m. the boys returned with a little +steam launch they had hired for six dollars to tow us the eight miles to +La Salle. Lock No. 13 was true to its hoodoo, and gave us some trouble. +About midnight we tied up just above Lock 14, which looks dubious this +morning. We missed some fine scenery during the night, but are tired of +the canal and glad to be near its end. A Street Fair is going on here, +and the streets are full of booths. Jim says J. J. will throw a few +balls at the "nigger babies," and then write home how he "missed the +children!" These things indicate that he is enjoying his meals.</p> + +<p>Not much water today in the hold. Temp. 39 at 7 a. m.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE ILLINOIS RIVER.</p> + +<p>Monday, Oct. 12, 1903.—We passed Locks 14 and 15 without difficulty and +moored in the basin with a number of other houseboats. We find them very +polite and obliging, ready to give any information and assistance in +their power. All hands took in the Street Fair, and aided in +replenishing our constantly wasting stores. The boy drove a thriving +trade in minnows which he captured with the seine. In the afternoon Dr. +Abbott came down, to our great pleasure. A man from the shop came and +tinkered with the gasoline engine a few hours' worth, to no purpose. +Several others volunteered advice which did not pan out.</p> + +<p>Sunday we lay quiet, until near noon, when the engineer of the +government boat <i>Fox</i> most kindly pointed out the trouble, which was, as +to be expected, a very simple one—the sparker was so arranged that the +single explosion caught the piston at the wrong angle and there was no +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>second explosion following. Then all hands went for a ride down into +the Illinois river. Dr. Abbott got off at 8:15 and the boys took a run +up to Tiskilwa—for what reason we do not hear, but have our suspicions. +We still recollect the days when we would travel at night over a +five-mile road, lined with farms, each fully and over-provided with the +meanest of dogs—so we ask no questions.</p> + +<p>This morning the temperature is 48, foggy; all up for an early start.</p> + +<p>One undesirable acquisition we made here was a numerous colony of mice, +which must have boarded us from a boat that lay alongside. The animals +did much damage, ruining a new dress and disturbing us at night with +their scampering. Nor did we finally get rid of them until the boat +sank—which is not a method to be recommended. Fumigation with sulphur, +if liberally done, is about the best remedy for any living pests.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Tuesday, Oct. 13, finds us still tied up below La Salle. The +fortune-teller kindly towed us to the mouth of the canal, where we spent +the day trying to persuade the engine to work. After an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> expert from the +shops here had put in the day over it, he announced that the fault lay +with the gasoline bought at Ottawa. In truth our troubles date from that +gasoline, and we hope he may be right. The engine he pronounces in +perfect order. Nothing here to do, and the little Missis has a cold and +is getting impatient to be going. So far we have met none but friendly +and honest folks along the canal, all anxious to be neighborly and do +what they can to aid us. All hands are discouraged with the delay and +trouble with the engine—all, that is, except one old man, who has been +buffeted about the world enough to realize that some share of bad luck +must enter every human life, and who rather welcomes what comes because +it might have been so much worse. Come to think of it, we usually expect +from Fate a whole lot more than we deserve. What are we that we should +look for an uninterrupted career of prosperity? Is it natural? Is it the +usual lot of man? What are we that we should expect our own lot to be +such an exceptional career of good fortune? Think of our deserts, and +what some men suffer, and humbly thank the good Lord that we are let off +so easily.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p><p>If that is not good philosophy we can answer for its helping us a whole +lot to bear what ills come our way.</p> + +<p>We got off early and began our first day's floating. It was quite +pleasant, much more so than lying idle. The <i>Fox</i> came along and rocked +us a bit, but not unpleasantly. We tied up below the bridge at Spring +Valley, and the boys went up to town, where they succeeded in getting +five gallons of gasoline, grade 88. After lunch we pumped out the old +stuff and put in the new and the little engine started off as if there +had never been a disagreement. At 4 p. m. we are still going +beautifully, passed Marquette, and all happy. But if the man who sold us +low-grade gasoline at Ottawa, for high, were in reach he might hear +something he would not like.</p> + +<p>At night we tied up a mile above Hennepin, where we obtained some milk +and a few eggs at a farm house.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Wednesday, Oct. 14, 1903.—Yesterday we passed the opening of the +Hennepin canal, that monument of official corruption, which after the +expenditure of fifty millions is not yet ready for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> use—the locks not +even built. Compare with the work done on the Drainage Canal, and we +conclude Chicago is not so very bad. At Hennepin this morning we secured +three gallons of gasoline at 74, the best available; also fresh beef, +for which we are all hungry. Left at 9 a. m. for Henry.</p> + +<p>During the preceding night the <i>Fred Swain</i> passed down and bumped us +against the rocky shore harder than at any time previously. Next morning +there was less water in the hull than ever before, so it seems to have +tightened her seams. We ran into the creek above Henry and moored at the +landing of the Swan River Club, where Jim's father resides. Here we lay +for several weeks, for reasons that will appear. Millie kindly varied +the monotony and added to the general gaiety by tumbling into the creek; +but as the water was only about three feet deep no serious danger +resulted. The boys usually disappeared at bedtime and talked +mysteriously of Tiskilwa next morning, and appeared sleepy. We examined +several boats that were for sale, but did not find any that suited us. +We wished to feel perfectly safe, no matter what we might <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>encounter on +the great river. Some one has been trying to scare the boys with tales +of the whirlpools to be encountered there; and of the waves that will +wash over the deck. These we afterward found to be unfounded. No +whirlpool we saw would endanger anything larger than a canoe, and our +two-strake gunwales were high enough for any waves on the river.</p> + +<p>We found few ducks; not enough to repay one for the trouble of going out +after them. Until we left Henry we caught a few fish, but not enough to +satisfy our needs.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">BUILDING THE BOAT.</p> + +<p>November 1, 1903.—We had settled that the scow was not strong enough +for the river voyage, and she kindly confirmed this view by quietly +sinking as she was moored in the creek. There was no accident—the +timbers separated from decay. We were awaked by the sound of water +running as if poured from a very large pitcher; jumped up, ran to the +stern of the boat, and saw that the rudder, which was usually six inches +above water, was then below it. We awoke the family and hastily removed +the articles in the outer end of the boat to the end resting on shore, +and summoned the boys. It was just getting towards dawn. By the time +this was done the lower end of the cabin floor was covered with water. +Had this happened while we were in the river the consequences would have +been serious.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Jim's father, Frank Wood, went to Peoria and selected materials for the +new scow. The sides<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> are technically termed gunwales—"gunnels"—and +should be of solid three-inch plank. But we found it might take six +months to get three-inch plank forty feet long, so we had to splice. He +got eight plank, 22 to 24 feet long. Two of these were spliced in the +center for the lower strake, and one long one placed in the center +above, with half a length at each end. This prevented both splices +coming together. The plank were sawed in a Z shape. Holes were then +bored through both plank at intervals of four feet, and half-inch iron +braces driven through and screwed firmly together. The ends were then +sawn for the sloping projections.</p> + +<p>Through the middle, from end to end, was set a six-by-six timber, and on +each side midway between this and the gunwales ran a three-by-six. Then +the two-inch plank were nailed firmly to the gunwales and intermediate +braces, each with twenty-three 60- and 40-penny nails. We find a strong +prejudice against wire nails, these fishers and boatbuilders preferring +the old-fashioned square nails when they can get them. They say the wire +is more apt to rust; but this may be simply the conservatism that always +meets an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>innovation. The cheapness of the wire is an item.</p> + +<p>The plank were placed as closely together as possible. Here a difficulty +arose, as they were warped, so that when one end was laid close, the +other was an inch from its fellow. But this did not bother our men. They +put a triangular block up to the refractory end, nailed it firmly to the +beam underneath, and drove wedges between till the crooked plank was +forced as nearly straight as possible—or as prudent, for too great a +strain would be followed by warping.</p> + +<p>When all the planks were nailed on, two coats of tar and rosin were +applied, and next day the boat was turned over. It was brought down till +one side was in two feet of water, then the upper side was hoisted by +blocks and tackles applied on upright timbers, till nearly upright, when +the men pushed it over with big poles. She had first been braced +carefully with an eight-by-eight across the middle, and by a number of +other timbers. The eight-by-eight was broken and the middle of the boat +forced up six inches by the shock, requiring the services of a jack to +press it down to its place.</p> + +<p>What fine workers these men are, and how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> silently they work, keeping at +the big spikes hour after hour, driving every one with thought and care, +and yet wasting no time. What use they make of a few simple mechanical +aids—the lever, the wheel and screw, the jack, buck, etc.; and they +constantly use the square before sawing. Americans, every one of them; +and not a drop of beer or whisky seen about the work, from first to last.</p> + +<p>The seams in the gunwales were caulked with hemp and payed with white +lead, before the boat was turned. Then they went over the inside and +wherever a trickle of water appeared they stuffed in cotton.</p> + +<p>The scow is 40 feet long and 16 feet wide. Over the gunwales were laid +four-by-fours, 18 feet long, and spiked down. Then supports were placed +under these and toenailed to the three inner braces, and to the +four-by-fours. A two-foot projection was made at each end, making the +floor 44 feet long. The flooring is of Georgia pine, tongued and grooved.</p> + +<p>The lumber cost, including freight from Peoria to Henry, about $100; the +work about fifty more. There were over 100 pounds of nails used,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> 50 +pounds of white lead in filling cracks, and several hundred pounds of +tar on the bottom.</p> + +<p>The gunwales are of Oregon fir, straight and knotless. It would not add +to the strength to have them of oak, as they are amply able to withstand +any strain that can possibly be put on them in navigating even the +greatest of rivers. Oak would, however, add largely to the weight, and +if we were pounding upon a snag this would add to the danger. As it was, +we many times had this experience, and felt the comfort of knowing that +a sound, well-braced, nailed and in every way secure hull was under us. +The planking was of white pine, the four-by-fours on which the deck +rested of Georgia pine. The cabin was of light wood, Oregon fir. When +completed the hull formed a strong box, secure against any damage that +could befall her. We cannot now conjure up any accident that could have +injured her so as to endanger her crew. Were we to build another boat +she should be like this one, but if larger we would have water-tight +compartments stretching across her, so that even if a plank were to be +torn off the bottom she would still be safe. And we would go down to +Henry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> to have "Abe" De Haas and "Frank" Wood and "Jack" Hurt build her.</p> + +<p>Some leakage continued for some weeks, till the seams had swelled +completely shut, and she did not leak a drop during the whole of the cruise.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>During this time we continued to live in the cabin, the deck sloping so +that it was difficult to walk without support. When the cabin was being +moved we availed ourselves of Mrs. Wood's courtesy and slept in her +house one night. After the cabin had been moved off we took the old scow +apart, and a terrible scene of rottenness was revealed. The men who saw +it, fishermen and boatbuilders, said it was a case for the grand jury, +that any man should send a family of women and little children afloat on +such a boat. There was no sign of an accident. The water had receded, +leaving the shore end of the scow resting on the mud. This let down the +stern a little. The new side was constructed of two-by-fours laid on +their sides, one above the other, and to the ends were nailed the plank +forming the bow and stern. Of these the wood was so rotten that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> the +long sixty-penny spikes pulled out, leaving a triangular opening, the +broad end up. As the stern of the boat sank the water ran in through a +wider orifice and filled up the hull more and more rapidly. The danger +lay in the absolute lack of flotation. New wood would have kept her +afloat even when the hull was full of water, but her timbers were so +completely watersoaked that the stout ropes broke in the attempt to +raise her, even though with no load.</p> + +<p>Through the favor of Providence this occurred while we were moored in a +shallow creek. Had it happened while in the deep river nothing could +have saved us from drowning. As it was, we lost a good deal of canned +goods and jelly, soap, flour, and other stores. But the most serious +harm was that we were delayed by the necessity of building a new boat, +so that we were caught in the November storms, and the exposure brought +back the invalid's asthma; so that the main object of the trip was +practically lost. We are thus particular to specify the nature of the +trouble, as the vendor of the boat has claimed that the accident was due +to the inexperience of our crew. That this was a mistake must be +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>evident to even an inexperienced sailor, who reads this account.</p> + +<p>The old house on the sunken scow was cut loose and moved over onto the +new one, and securely nailed down. An addition 8 feet square was added +at the back for a storeroom, and the roof extended to the ends of the +scow at both ends. This gives us a porch 11 by 18 feet in front, and one +10 by 8 behind. These are roofed with beaded siding and covered with the +canvas we got for an awning, which we have decided we do not need. This +is to be heavily painted as soon as we have time.</p> + +<p>The entire cost of the new boat, the additional room and roofs, labor +and materials, was about $250; the old boat cost $200, but the cabin +that we moved onto the new hull could not have been built and painted +for that, so that there was no money loss on the purchase. The launch, +with its engine, cost $365, so that the entire outfit stood us at $830, +including $15 for a fine gunning skiff Jim got at Henry. The furniture +is not included, as we took little but cast-offs; nor the outfit of +fishing and sporting goods.</p> + +<p>We must stop here to say a word as to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> good people at Henry. Frank +Wood and his family opened their house to us and furnished us milk and +other supplies, for which we could not induce them to accept pay. +Members of the Swan Lake Club placed at our disposal the conveniences of +their club house. During the time our boat was building our goods lay +out under a tree with no protection, not even a dog, and not a thing was +touched. These fishermen surely are of a race to be perpetuated. Mr. +Grazier also allowed us to use his ferryboat while endeavoring to raise +the sunken boat and to store goods, and Mrs. Hurt offered to accommodate +part of our family on her houseboat while our cabin was being moved to +the new scow.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE LOWER ILLINOIS.</p> + +<p>Saturday, Oct. 31, we bade adieu to the kind friends at Swan Lake, who +had done so much to make us comfortable, and pulled down to Henry, +passing the locks. Here we tied up till Sunday afternoon, the engine +still giving trouble, and then set off. We passed Lacon pontoon bridge +and town about 5 p. m., and three miles below tied up for the night. +Next morning, the engine proving still refractory, we floated down to +the Chillicothe bridge, which was sighted about 11 a. m. This day was +rainy and the new unpainted roof let in the water freely.</p> + +<p>We waited at Chillicothe for the <i>Fred Swain</i> to pass, and then swung +down to the bank below town, where we tied up. A farm house stood near +the bank, and as we tied up a woman came out and in a loud voice called +to some one to lock the chicken-house, and rattled a chain, +suggestively; from which we infer that houseboat people have not the +best reputation. We played<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> the phonograph that evening, and the +household gathered on shore to listen; so that we trust they slept +somewhat securely. In the morning we bought some of the chickens we had +had no chance to steal, and found the folks quite willing to deal with +us. We had to wait for the <i>Swain</i>, as it was quite foggy and without +the launch we could not have gotten out of her way.</p> + +<p>We drifted slowly down past Sand Point and The Circle lights, and tied +up to a fallen tree, opposite the little village of Spring Bay. The boys +were out of tobacco and had to row in for it. About 9 p. m. I heard +shouts and then shots, and went out, to find a thick fog. They had lost +their direction and it was only after some time and considerable +shouting that they came near enough to see the lantern. We heard that +the previous night the man who lights the channel lamps was out all +night in the fog.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i056.jpg" alt="HOUSEBOAT TOWN, PEORIA" /></div> + +<p class="bold">HOUSEBOAT TOWN, PEORIA.</p> + +<p>Again we had to wait for the <i>Swain</i> to pass, and then floated down past +Blue Creek Point. Here we saw a houseboat tied up, which a fisherman +told us belonged to a wealthy old bachelor who lived there from choice. +The current was slow as the river was wide, so about 2 p. m. we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> took a +line from the good canal boat <i>City of Henry</i>, which for three dollars +agreed to tow us to Peoria. This was faster traveling, but not a bit +nice. However, it was necessary to get the engine in order, so we put up +with it. We tied up above the upper bridge, with a nasty row of jagged +piles between us and the shore. About 5 a. m. a northeast gale sprang up +and washed us against the piles, to our great danger. Our boys arranged +a two-by-four, nailing it against the side, so that the end stuck into +the sand and fended us off the piles, and our gangway plank served the +same purpose at the other end. This is a most important matter, as the +snags might loosen a plank from the bottom.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Nov. 6, 1903.—At last we seem to have found a real expert on +gasoline engines. Instead of guessing that "mebbe" this or "mebbe" that +was the matter, he went at it and soon found the difficulty. In a short +time the boat was circling 'round the lake at a most enticing rate. We +laid in a new store of groceries and at 9 a. m. today set out. By lunch +time we had passed Pekin, and are now heading for the locks at Cop<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>peras +Creek, the engine going beautifully and the weather bright and cool. +About Peoria we saw great numbers of houseboats, many in the water, but +the aged members had climbed out upon the banks and perched among a +wonderful array of shanties. One house seemed to be roosting among the +branches of several large trees. Many were seen along the river below, +some quite pretty, but none we fancied as well as our own.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Nov. 8, 1903.—We were held back by head winds and stopped +before we reached the lock. Saturday we had good weather and little +wind, and reached Copperas Creek just after lunch. There were three feet +of water on the dam, and even the <i>Bald Eagle</i>, the largest steamer +here, runs over it; but as we had paid for the lock we went through it. +The lock-keeper took it out of us, though, by charging 15 cents for two +quarts of milk, the highest price paid yet.</p> + +<p>We got off this morning at 8:15, and although a heavy head wind prevails +are making good time. Many loons are passing south, in large flights, +and some ducks. The marshes on either side seem to be well supplied, but +are club<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> grounds, we are told. It is much warmer than yesterday, the +south wind blowing strongly. We moored with the anchor out at the outer +corner, up the river, and the line and gangway plank on shore, allowing +about ten feet from boat to shore; and when the <i>Eva Alma</i> and the +<i>Ebaugh</i> passed us there was no bumping against the shore. Evidently +that is the way to moor, though in the great river we must give more +space and more cable to the anchor.</p> + +<p>At 10 a. m. we passed Liverpool, a hamlet of 150 inhabitants, half of +whom must reside in houseboats. Some of these were quite large and well +built.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>We reached Havana about 4 p. m. Sunday, and as the south wind had become +too fierce for our power we tied up below the bridge, at a fisherman's +shanty. Monday morning it looked like rain, and the wind blew harder +than ever, so we lay by and the boys finished putting on the tar paper +roofing. When the wind is strong enough to blow the boat up stream +against the current, the launch will be unable to make head against it. +A couple live in an old freight car by us, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> their home is worth +seeing. The sand bluff is dug out for a chicken cave and pig-pen, and +beautiful chrysanthemums are growing in boxes and pans, placed so as to +retain the earth that would otherwise wash away. Fruit trees are also +planted, and the woman tells me that the whole place is filled with +flowering plants, now covered with sand for the winter. We notice two dracaenas.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1903.—The storm lasted all day yesterday, pinioning +us relentlessly to the beach. By 5 p. m. it let up, but we concluded to +remain at our moorings till morning. This morning we got off at 7 a. m., +and passed the Devil's Elbow lights before lunch. We did not tie up +then, but threw out our anchor, which is less trouble and in every way +better, as there is less danger of the snags that beset the shore. The +air is rather cool for sitting outside but we spend much time there. The +river is narrowing. Each little creek has a houseboat, or several, +generally drawn up out of the water and out of reach of the ice. We saw +a woman at one of the shabbiest shanty boats washing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> clothes. She +stooped down and swung the garment to and fro in the water a few moments +and then hung it up to dry.</p> + +<p>The shores are thickly dotted with little flags and squares of muslin, +put up by the surveyors who are marking out the channel for the proposed +deep waterway. These were few in the upper river. Every shallow is +appropriated by some fisherman's nets, and at intervals a cleared space +with sheds or fish boxes shows how important are the fisheries of this river.</p> + +<p>There is a great deal of dispute along shore over the fishing rights. +The submerging of thousands of acres of good land has greatly extended +the limits of what is legally navigable water. The fishermen claim the +right to set their nets wherever a skiff or a sawlog can float; but the +owners think that since they bought the land from the Government and +paid for it, and have paid taxes for forty years, they have something +more of rights than any outsider. If not, what did they buy? The right +to set nets, they claim, would give the right to plant crops if the +water receded. Eventually the courts will have to decide it; but if +these lands are thrown open<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> to the public, the Drainage Board will have +a heavy bill of damages. For it seems clear that it is the canal which +has raised the level of the water.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the fishing is not profitable. The fish have so wide a range +that netting does not result in much of a catch. But if this rise proves +only temporary, there will be good fishing when the water subsides.</p> + +<p>The boy does not get enough exercise, and his constant movement is +almost choreic; so we sent him out to cut firewood, which is good for +his soul. The girl amuses herself all day long with some little dolls, +but is ever ready to aid when there is a task within her strength. She +is possessed with a laughing demon, and has been in a constant state of +cachinnation the whole trip. At table some sternness is requisite to +keep the fun within due bounds. All hands mess together—we are a +democratic crowd. Saturday John W. Gates' palatial yacht, the <i>Roxana</i>, +passed down while we were at lunch. We saw a cook on deck; and two +persons, wrapped up well, reclined behind the smokestack.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Nov. 11, 1903.—After a run of 22 miles—our best yet—we tied up at the +Sangamon Chute, just below the mouth of that river. The day had been +very pleasant. During the night our old friend the South Wind returned, +but we were well moored and rode easily. The launch bumped a little, so +the doctor rose and moved it, setting the fenders, also. Rain, thunder +and lightning came, but secure in our floating home we were content. +Today the wind has pinioned us to the shore, though the sun is shining +and the wind not specially cold. The boys cut wood for the stove and +then went after ducks, returning at noon with a pair of mallards. The +new roof is tight, the stove draws well, and we ought to be happy, as +all are well. But we should be far to the south, out of reach of this +weather. We can see the whitecaps in the river at the bend below, but an +island protects us from the full sweep of wind and wave.</p> + +<p>Regular trade-wind weather, sun shining, wind blowing steadily, great +bulks of white cloud floating overhead, and just too cold to permit +enjoyable exposure when not exercising.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Nov. 13, 1903.—This thing grows monotonous. Yesterday we set +out and got to Browning, a mile, when the wind blew us ashore against a +ferry boat that was moored there, and just then the engine refused to +work. We remained there all day. The wind was pitiless, driving us +against the boat till we feared the cable would break. We got the anchor +into the skiff and carried it out to windward as far as the cable +reached, and then drew in till there were five feet between the +ferryboat and ours. In half an hour the anchor, firmly embedded in +tenacious clay, had dragged us back to the boat and we had again to draw +in cable by bracing against the ferry.</p> + +<p>At 2 p. m. the wind had subsided, and after working with the engine till +4 we got off, and drew down a mile beyond the turn, where we would be +sheltered. We moored with the anchor out up stream, and a cable fast +ashore at the other end, lying with broadside up stream to the current, +and a fender out to the shore. This fender is made of two two-by-fours +set on edge and cross pieces let in near each end. The boat end is tied +to the side and the shore end rams<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> down into the mud. While at dinner +the <i>Bald Eagle</i> came up, but we hardly noticed her wash. Moored thus, +far enough out to avoid snags, we are safe and comfortable. But if too +close in shore there may be a submerged snag that when the boat is +lifted on a wave and let down upon it punches a hole in the bottom or +loosens a plank.</p> + +<p>The night was quiet. We had our first duck supper, the boys getting a +brace and a hunter at the fish house giving us two more. They had +hundreds of them, four men having had good shooting on the Sangamon. +This morning it is cool and cloudy, the wind aft and light, and the boys +are coaxing the engine. If we can get a tow we will take it, as there is +some danger we may be frozen in if we delay much longer.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Saturday, Nov. 14, 1903.—Despite the hoodoo of yesterday, Friday the +13th, we got safely to Beardstown before lunch, in a drizzle of rain +that turned to a light snow. Temperature all day about 35. After lunch +we started down and passed La Grange about 4:30 p. m. Probably this was +a town in the days when the river was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> the great highway, but stranded +when the railways replaced the waterways. There is a very large frame +building at the landing, evidently once a tavern, and what looks like an +old street, with no houses on it now. The tavern is propped up to keep +it from falling down. No postoffice. We tied up about a mile above the +La Grange lock, so that we may be ready to go through at 8 a. m. We hear +that the locks are only opened to small fry like gasolines at 8 a. m. +and 4 p. m., and it behooves us to be there at one of those hours. Just +why a distinction should be made between steamers and gasolines is for +officialdom to tell.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Twice yesterday the launch propeller fouled the towrope, once requiring +the knife to relieve it. This accident is apt to occur and needs +constant attention to prevent. We arranged two poles to hold up the +ropes, and this did well. It is good to have a few poles, boards and +various bits of timber aboard for emergencies. Heavy frost last night, +but the sun is coming up clear and bright, and not a breath of wind. We +look for a great run today if we manage the lock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> without delay. The +quail are whistling all around us, but we are in a hurry. The <i>Bald +Eagle</i> passed down last evening, running quite near us and sending in +big waves, but thanks to our mooring, we were comfortable and had no +bumping. The water does no harm; it is the shore and the snags we fear.</p> + +<p>We were told that we would find the lockmen at La Grange grouty and +indisposed to open the locks except at the hours named above; but this +proved a mistake. They showed us the unvarying courtesy we have received +from all canal officials since starting. They opened the gate without +waiting for us. They said that in the summer, picnic parties gave them +so much unnecessary trouble that they had to establish the rule quoted, +but at present there was no need for it. The day is decidedly cool and a +heavy fog drifting in from the south.</p> + +<p>At Meredosia at 11 a. m., where Dr. Neville kindly assisted us to get a +check cashed. Found a youngster there who "knew gasoline engines," and +by his help the difficulty was found and remedied. Laid in supplies and +set out for Naples. Weather cool, but fog lifted, though the sun refused +to be tempted out.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">TOWING.</p> + +<p>Monday, Nov. 16, 1903.—The engine bucked yesterday, for a change, so we +'phoned to Meredosia and secured the services of the <i>Celine</i>, a +gasoline launch of five-horse-power. She started at once, but arriving +in sight of Naples she also stopped and lay two hours before she +condescended to resume. About 3 p. m. we got under way, the <i>Celine</i> +pushing, with a V of two-by-fours for her nose and a strong rope +reaching from her stern to each after corner of the scow. Then our own +engine awoke, and ran all day, as if she never knew what a tantrum was. +We made Florence, a town of 100 people, and tied up for the night. An +old "doctor" had a boat with a ten-horse-power gasoline tied up next us. +He travels up and down the river selling medicines. As these small towns +could scarcely support a doctor, there is possibly an opening for a real +physician, who would thus supply a number of them. Telephonic +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>communication is so free along the river that he could cover a large +territory—at least better than no doctor at all.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i068.jpg" alt="LAUNCH TOWING" /></div> + +<p class="bold">LAUNCH TOWING.</p> + +<p>During the night it blew hard, and rain, thunder and lightning made us +feel sorry for the poor folk who were exposed to such dangers on shore. +This morning we got off about 7:15, with a dull, lowering sky, fog, but +a wind dead astern and a strong current, so that we are in hopes of a +record run. So far our best has been 22 miles in one day.</p> + +<p>The right bank shows a series of pretty high bluffs, the stratified rock +showing through. Ferries grow numerous. A good deal of timber is at the +riverside awaiting shipment—a good deal, that is, for Illinois—and +remarkably large logs at that. It seems to go to Meredosia. The boy and +his father had made a gangway plank, and a limber affair it was; so the +boys are taking it to pieces and setting the two-by-fours up on edge, +which gives more strength. There is a right and a wrong way of doing +most things, and we invariably choose the wrong till shown better.</p> + +<p>Bought some pecans at Meredosia—$3.00 a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> bushel. It ought to pay to +raise them at that price, which is rather low than high. The river is +said to be lined with the trees, and one woman says she and her two +daughters made $150 gathering them this season. Hickory nuts cost 80 +cents to $1.20, the latter for big coarse nuts we would not gather in +the East.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1903.—Kampsville, Ill. Yesterday Mr. Hauser brought +us this far with the gasoline launch <i>Celine</i>, and then quit—too cold. +Cost $12 for the tow. By the time we got here the northeast wind was +blowing so fierce and cold that we tied up. The town seems very lively +for so small a place, having a number of stores. They charged us 25 +cents a gallon for stove gasoline, but only 8 cents a pound for very +fair roasting beef. We were moored on a lee shore, with our port bow to +land, lines from both ends to stakes on shore, and the gangway plank +roped to the port corner side and staked down firmly; the anchor out +from the starboard stern, so as to present that side to the wind and +current. She swung easily without bumping, but the plank complained all +night. We scarcely felt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> the waves from the <i>Bald Eagle</i> when she came +in, but the wind raised not only whitecaps but breakers and we rocked +some. It grew so cold that there was a draft through the unlined sides +of the boat that kept our heads cold. Fire was kept up all night and yet +we were cold.</p> + +<p>We now see as never before how much harm was done by the old boat, that +compelled us to remain so long in this northern latitude and get the +November storms. But for this we would have been well below Memphis, and +escaped these gales.</p> + +<p>We got new batteries here, but this morning all the gasolines are frozen +up, and we lay at our moorings, unable to move. They wanted $20 to tow +us 29 miles to Grafton, but have come down to $15 this morning. We will +accept if they can get up power, though it is steep—$5.00 being about +the usual price for a day's excursion in summer. All hands are stuffing +caulking around the windows and trying to keep in some of the heat. Sun +shining, but the northeast wind still blows whitecaps, with little if +any sign of letting up. The launch that proposes to tow us is busy +thawing out her frozen pump. We have put the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> canoe and skiff on the +front "porch," so as to have less difficulty steering.</p> + +<p>The little Puritan still sits on the stove in the cabin, and easily +furnishes two gallons of water a day when sitting on top of the stove +lid. Four times we have turned on the water and forgotten it till it ran +over. We might arrange it to let a drop fall into the still just as fast +as it evaporates, if the rate were uniform, but on a wood stove this is +impossible. Last night it burned dry and some solder melted out of the +nozzle, but not enough to make it leak. It did not hurt the still, but +such things must be guarded against.</p> + +<p>The weather is warmer, sun shining brightly, but we must wait for our +tow. The boys are getting tired of the monotony, especially Jim, who +likes action. We have the first and only cold of the trip, contracted +the cold night when our heads were chilled.</p> + +<p>This afternoon Jim and the boy went one way for pecans and squirrels, +and the three women another for pecans alone. This is the pecan country, +the river being lined with the trees for many miles. In the cabin-boat +alongside, the old proprietor is still trying to get his engine to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +work, while both his men are drunk. And he never did get them and the +engine in shape, but lost the job. He did not know how to run his own +engine, which is unpardonable in anyone who lives in such a boat or +makes long trips in it.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Thursday, Nov. 19, 1903.—Another tedious day of waiting. Cold and +bright; but the cold kept us in. After dark Capt. Fluent arrived with +his yacht, the <i>Rosalie</i>, 21-horse-power gasoline; and at 9 a. m. we got +under way. Passed the last of the locks at 9:15, and made about five +miles an hour down the river. Passed Hardin, the last of the Illinois +river towns. Many ducks in the river, more than we had previously seen. +Clear and cold; temperature at 8 a. m. 19; at 2 p. m., 60. About 3:25 p. +m. we swung into the Mississippi. The water was smooth and did not seem +terrible to us—in fact we had passed through so many "wides" in the +Illinois that we were not much impressed. But we are not saying anything +derogatory to the river god, for we do not want him to give us a sample +of his powers. We are unpretentious passers by, no Aeneases or other +distinguished bummers, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> just a set of little river tramps not worth +his godship's notice.</p> + +<p>Grafton is a straggling town built well back from the river, and looking +as if ready to take to the bluffs at the first warning. The Missouri +shore is edged with willows and lies low. We notice that our pilot +steers by the lights, making for one till close, and then turning +towards the next, keeping just to the right or left, as the Government +list directs: Probably our craft, drawing so little water, might go +almost anywhere, but the channel is probably clear of snags and other +obstructions and it is better to take no chances. It was after 6 when we +moored in Alton. Day's run, 45 miles in nine hours. We picked up enough +ducks on the way down for to-night's dinner—two mallards and two teal.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday, Nov. 20, 1903.—Cold this morning, enough to make us wish we +were much farther south. Capt. Fluent has quite a plant here—a ferry +boat, many small boats for hire, etc. In the night a steamer jolted us a +little, but nothing to matter. Even in the channel the launch ran over a +sunken log yesterday. We note a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>gasoline launch alongside that has one +of the towing cleats and a board pulled off, and hear it was in pulling +her off a sand bar; so there is evidently wisdom in keeping in the +channel, even if we only draw eight inches.</p> + +<p>A friend called last evening. Waiting at the depot he saw our lights and +recognized the two side windows with the door between. It was good to +see a familiar face.</p> + +<p>We are now free from the danger of ice blockade. The current at the +mouth of the Illinois is so slow that ice forming above may be banked up +there, and from this cause Fluent was held six weeks once—the blocking +occurring in November. But the great river is not liable to this +trouble. Still we will push south fast. This morning we had a visit from +a bright young reporter from an Alton paper, who wrote up some notes of +our trip. The first brother quill we had met, so we gave him a welcome.</p> + +<p>At 9 a. m. we set out for St. Louis, Mrs. Fluent and children +accompanying her husband. The most curious houseboat we have yet seen +lay on shore near our mooring place. It was a small raft sustained on +barrels, with a cabin about six<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> feet by twelve. A stovepipe through the +roof showed that it was inhabited. Reminded us of the flimsy structures +on which the South American Indians entrust themselves to the ocean.</p> + +<p>The <i>Reynard</i> and her tender are following us, to get the benefit of +Fluent's pilotage. A head wind and some sea caused disagreeable pounding +against the front overhang, which alarmed the inexperienced and made us +glad it was no wider. But what will it do when the waves are really +high?</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i076.jpg" alt="BLUFF THE DESPLAINES" /></div> + +<p class="bold">"BLUFF." <span class="s9"> </span>THE DESPLAINES.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">ST. LOUIS.</p> + +<p>St. Louis, Nov. 26, 1903.—We moored at the private landing belonging to +Mr. Gardner, whose handsome yacht, the <i>Annie Russell</i>, came in on the +following day. This was a great comfort, affording a sense of security, +which the reputation of the levee made important. A reporter from the +<i>Globe-Democrat</i> paid us a visit, and a notice of the boat and crew +brought swarms of visitors. We were deluged with invitations so numerous +that we were compelled to decline all, that no offense might be given. +But Dr. Lanphear and his wife were not to be put off, so they drove down +to take us for a drive through the Fair grounds, with their huge, +inchoate buildings; and then brought to the boat materials for a dinner +which they served and cooked there. It is needless to add that we had a +jolly time.</p> + +<p>Many applications were made for berths on the boat, which also we had to +decline. One distinguished professor of national repute offered to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +clean guns and boots if he were taken along. Despite the bad reputation +of the levee we saw absolutely nothing to annoy us. We heard of the +cruelty of the negroes to animals but scarcely saw a negro here. It is +said that they catch rats on the steamers and let them out in a circle +of negro drivers, who with their blacksnake whips tear the animal to +pieces at the first blow.</p> + +<p>We visited the market and had <i>bon marche</i> there, and at Luyties' large +grocery. Meat is cheap here, steak being from 10 to 12 cents a pound.</p> + +<p>Foreman turned up with the <i>Bella</i>, and tried to get an interview; but +we refused to see him, the memory of the perils to which he had exposed +a family of helpless women and children, as well as the delay that +exposed us to the November gales, rendering any further acquaintance +undesirable.</p> + +<p>Frank Taylor, the engineer of the <i>Desplaines</i>, was recommended to us by +his employer, Mr. Wilcox, of Joliet, as the best gasoline expert in +America; and he has been at work on our engine since we reached St. +Louis. It is a new make to him, and he finds it obscure. We have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> had so +much trouble with it, and the season is so far advanced, that we +arranged with the <i>Desplaines</i>, whose owner very kindly agreed to tow us +to Memphis. This is done to get the invalid below the frost line as +quickly as possible. The <i>Desplaines</i> is selling powder fire +extinguishers along the river; and we are to stop wherever they think +there is a chance for some business.</p> + +<p>At St. Louis we threw away our stove, which was a relic of Foreman, and +no good; and bought for $8.00 a small wood-burning range. It works well +and we can do about all our cooking on it, except frying. As we can pick +up all the wood we wish along the river, this is more economic than the +gasoline stove, which has burned 70 gallons of fuel since leaving +Chicago.</p> + +<p>We stopped for Thanksgiving dinner above Crystal City, and the +<i>Desplaines</i> crowd dined with us—Woodruff, Allen, Clements, Taylor and +Jake. A nice crowd, and we enjoyed their company. Also the turkey, +goose, mince pie, macaroni, potatoes, onions, celery, cranberries, +pickles, nuts, raisins, nut-candy, oranges and coffee. The current of +the river is swifter than at any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> place before met, and carries us along +fast. The <i>Desplaines</i> is a steamer and works well.</p> + +<p>We made about 50 miles today and tied up on the Illinois side, just +above a big two-story Government boat, which was apparently engaged in +protecting the banks from washing. Great piles of stone were being +dumped along the shore and timber frames laid down. It was quite cold. +The shore was lined with driftwood and young uprooted willows, and we +laid in a supply of small firewood—enough to last a week.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Friday morning, Nov. 27.—Temperature 20; clear and cold, with a south +wind blowing, which makes the waves bump the boat some, the wind +opposing the swift current. Got off about 7:45, heading for Chester, +where the <i>Desplaines</i> expects to stop for letters.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE MISSISSIPPI.</p> + +<p>Nov. 28, 1903.—Yesterday morning we left our moorings 45 miles below +St. Louis, and came down the river against the wind. This made waves +that pounded our prow unpleasantly. We passed the Kaskaskia chute, +through which the whole river now passes, since the Government has +blocked up the old river bed. A few houses mark the site of old +Kaskaskia. Nearing the end of the chute, the <i>Desplaines</i> ran on a sand +bar, as the channel is very narrow and runs close to the shore, which it +is cutting away rapidly. It took two hours to free her. We tied up early +at Chester, as they desired to work the town. During the night we were +severely rocked by passing steamers, and bumped by the launch and skiff. +This morning the river was smooth as glass. The <i>Desplaines</i> was not +through with their work, so we did not set out till 10:30. By that time +a gale had sprung up from the north and we had trouble. We were moored +by a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> single line to the shore, and as this was cast off and the +<i>Desplaines</i> began to move, her towline fouled the propeller. We drifted +swiftly down toward a row of piles, but were brought up by the anchor +hastily dropped. The steamer drifted down against us, narrowly missing +smashing our launch, and getting right across our anchor rope. Blessed +be the anchor to windward. But the staple to which the cable was fast +began to show signs of pulling out, so we got a chain and small lines +and made them fast to the timbers of the scow, so that if the cable +broke they might still hold. Finally the rope was removed from the +propeller, and after several attempts they got hold of us and steamed up +to the anchor, so that five strong men could raise it. Then we went down +stream at a rate to terrify one who knew the danger, if we should strike +a sandbank. On we go, past the crumbling banks of sand stratified with +earth, with government channel lights at close intervals. The channel +changes from side to side constantly. We run by the lights, and are +somehow absorbing a wholesome respect for this great, mighty, +uncontrollable Mississippi. Today he is covered with whitecaps and the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>current runs like a millrace. It is cold and the fire eats up wood +pretty fast.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Monday, Nov. 30, 1903.—Cape Girardeau, Mo.—We passed Grand Tower, and +greatly regretted the absence of sunlight, which prevented us getting +snap-shots of the scenery. Two miles below the town we tied up on the +Missouri side, with a good sandy beach alongside, our anchor carried +ashore and rooted into the gravel. A bad way, for if there were a gale +from the west the anchor would have soon dragged out. But the high +bluffs protected us against wind from that quarter, and our fenders kept +us out from the shore. Four steamers passed in the night, one of them +the fine <i>Peters Lee</i>. Who is it said that the commerce of the +Mississippi was a thing of the past? Just let him lie here on a +houseboat and he will change his views. No nets are to be seen here, +though probably the small affluents of the river would prove to be +provided therewith, were we to examine them. In the morning we found a +loaded hickory tree just opposite us, and the boys gathered a few nuts. +We also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> picked up a few white oak slabs, which make a fire quite +different from the light rotten drift.</p> + +<p>The boys set out ahead in the launch with designs on the geese. The wind +set in about 10 a. m., but the river is so crooked that we could +scarcely tell from what quarter it blew. It was cold, though, and the +waves rough. As Glazier says, it seems to set in from the same quarter, +about that time daily, and were we to float without a tow we would start +early and tie up before the wind began. But that would depend on finding +a good place to tie, and altogether a man who would try to float a heavy +boat without power should take out heavy insurance first, and leave the +family at home.</p> + +<p>Where the river is cutting into a bank and the current strong, the wind +whirling the cabin around, now with the current and again across or +against it, there is every reason to look for being driven ashore and +wrecked. Even were one to start about September 1st, and float only when +the river is smooth, he would run great risks. At one place the +Government had evidently tried to block up one of the channels by rows +of piling and brush, but the water ran through and was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> piled up several +feet high against the obstructions. The wind drove us directly down +against it and the fifteen-horse-power tug could just keep us off.</p> + +<p>Without the power our boat would have been driven against the piling +with force enough to burst her sides and the piles as well, and a +crevasse and shipwreck would have resulted. In the afternoon a large +steamer passed up, leaving a train of waves so large that they washed up +on the front deck and under the cabin, wetting our floor in a moment. J. +J. is now nailing quarter-rounds along the edges, to prevent such an +accident again. We are told to have guards placed in front of our doors +to prevent them being driven in when waves hit us on the side; and I +think stout bars inside will be advisable. A stout wave would drive +these flimsy doors off their hinges.</p> + +<p>Here we moored inside the bar, which protects us from waves coming from +the river. A number of cabin boats are drawn up on shore, the occupants +seeming mainly of the river tramp class. This is a nice looking town, of +possibly 10,000 people. Unpaved streets. Many brick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> blocks. Saw one +doctor, who seemed to have sunk into a mere drudge—no animation, no +enthusiasm, it was impossible to get any expression of interest out of +him. They bring milk here from an Illinois town 100 miles up the river.</p> + +<p>We paid 25 cents for a gallon.</p> + +<p>A very courteous druggist near the landing seemed to make amends for the +impassive doctor. Our pharmacal friend was a man of enterprise and had +an ice-cream factory as well as a large and well-appointed shop.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>December 1, 1903.—Yesterday the <i>Desplaines</i> wasted the morning trying +to do business in Cape Girardeau. Good town, but no enterprise, they +report. Excellent opportunity for a good grocery and provision store, +judging by the prices and quality of food products offered us. We ran +but 13 miles, tieing up in front of the warehouse at Commerce, Mo. A +small place, but they found a market for their extinguishers, with men +who had the old kind that required refilling twice a year. Curious +two-story stores, a gallery running around the whole room.</p> + +<p>Shortly before reaching this place we passed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> two little cabin boats, +tied up; seemingly occupied by two big men each. They called to us that +they had been three weeks getting this far from St. Louis—about 145 +miles. This morning we passed them a mile below Commerce, each with a +row-boat towing and a man at the stem working two sweeps. Looked like +work, but that is the real thing when it comes to cabin boating. They +were in the current, but working cautiously near shore.</p> + +<p>It was snowing smartly as we set out about 7:30, but warmer than for +some days. The little one has had asthma badly for some days, but it +began to give way, and she had a fairly comfortable night. During the +morning we got in a place where the channel seemed so intricate that the +tug ran in to inquire of some men on shore; and in turning in, the house +ran against a projecting tree so swiftly that had we not rushed out and +held her off, the snag would have crushed in the thin side of the house. +To even matters, we picked out of the drift a fine hardwood board, +evidently but a short time in the water. Never lose a chance to get a +bit of good timber for firewood—you never have too much.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p><p>Plenty of geese flying and on the bars, but the wary fellows keep out +of range. Cleaned the Spencer and reloaded the magazine.</p> + +<p>Miggles simply outdoes herself, nursing her sick mother, ironing and +otherwise helping Millie, and picking nuts for us. She has improved +wonderfully this trip, which is developing her in all ways. She eats +better than ever before, and is simply sweet. Cheeks rival the boy's in +rosiness. The boy likes to get in with the men, and we see no evidence +of talk unfit for an 11-year-old boy, but he returns very impatient of +control, and ready to pout out his lips if any authority is manifested. +The spirit of a man, and a man's impatience of control—but what would a +boy be worth who did not feel thus? No milksops for us.</p> + +<p>We pass many men and steamers, barges, etc., doing Government work on +this river. Just above they are weaving mattresses of wood, which are +laid along where the river cuts into the land, and covered with brush, +earth and stones. Many miles of bank are thus treated, and some control +exerted on the course of the river. But what a task! Do the men engaged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +in it get to take a personal interest in it, as does the trainer of a +race horse?</p> + +<p>We now look for reminders of the civil war, and yesterday we saw on the +Missouri shore the white tents of a camp. Not the destructive army of +war, but the constructive forces of the modern genius of civilization. +The St. Louis and Mississippi Valley Railroad is building its tracks +along the shore, and every cliff is scarred by the cuts. And the great, +giant river sweeps lazily by, as if he disdained to notice the liberties +being taken with his lordship. But away back in the hills of +Pennsylvania, the prairies of the Midwest, the lakes of Minnesota and +the headwaters of the Missouri, in the Northwest Rockies, the forces are +silently gathering; and in due time the old river god will swoop down +with an avalanche of roaring, whirling waters, and the St. L. & M. V. R. +R. will have, not a bill for repairs, but a new construction account.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">CAIRO AND THE OHIO.</p> + +<p>Cairo, Ill., Dec. 3, 1903.—We ran in here Thursday afternoon, and the +little steamer had some trouble in pulling us against the current of the +Ohio. The water is yellower than the Mississippi. We tied up below town, +as we hear that they charge $5.00 wharfage for mooring, or even making a +landing in the city. The place where we moored was full of snags, but J. +J. got into the water with his rubber waders and pulled the worst ones +out from under the boat, till all was secure. Moored with the gangway +plank out front and the other fender at the rear, both tied to the boat +and staked at the shore end. Lines were also made fast to trees at each +end. Thus we rode the waves easily—and well it was, for never yet have +we seen so many steamers coming and going, not even at St. Louis. +Several ferry boats ply between the Missouri and Kentucky shores and the +city, transfer steamers carry freight cars across, and many vessels ply<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +on the rivers with passengers and freight. Surely the men who advised +Charles Dickens to locate lots here were not far out, as things were +then; for the railroads had not as yet superseded the waterways. Not +that they have yet, for that matter. Since coming here we have been +inquiring for the man who proclaimed the rivers obsolete as lines for +transportation.</p> + +<p>Cairo is the biggest and busiest town of 12,000 inhabitants we have yet +seen. Many darkies are here, and the worst looking set of levee loafers +yet. We had some oysters at "Uncle Joe's," on the main business street, +the only restaurant we saw; and when we surveyed the drunken gang there, +we were glad we came in our old clothes. Where we moored, the shore is +covered with driftwood, and we piled high our front deck, selecting good +solid oak, hard maple and hemlock, with some beautiful red cedar. Soft, +rotten wood is not worth picking up, as there is no heat derived from +it. Oak and hickory are the best. Old rails are good. Take no +water-soaked wood if you can get any other—it will dry out in a week or +two perhaps, but you may need it sooner, and when dry it may be +worthless. Several men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> had erected a shack along shore which we should +have taken shots at, but the sun was not out enough. <i>Desplaines</i> is +doing a fair business.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Hickman, Ky., Dec. 5, 1903.—We tied up here after a run of 38 miles +from Cairo. The boys stopped at Columbus, Ky., but did no business—town +full of extinguishers. Hickman is built of brick and stone, as to the +business section, and lit by electricity. Made a bad moor, on a rocky +shore, with anchor out and front starboard bow firmly embedded in mud; +and this worried us so we slept poorly. Wind sprang up about 9 p. m., +but not fierce. During the night several steamers passed and rocked us, +but not much—the bow was too firmly washed into the mud by the strong +current. This morning it took all hands half an hour to get us off, +about 10 a. m. We were told at Hickman that 100 dwellings had been +erected during the year, and not one was unoccupied. About 3,000 people, +four drug stores, and an alert lot of business men in fine stores. Paid +30 cents a dozen for eggs, 10 cents for steak. We see many floaters, +some every day. Ice formed along shore last night, but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> sun is +coming out bright and warm. Wind from the south, not heavy but enough to +kick up a disagreeable bumping against our prow. This is always so when +the wind is against the current.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Donaldson's Point, Mo.—We stopped here yesterday afternoon about 2 p. +m., that the boys might have a day's shooting. J. J., Allen and Taylor +went out on the sand bar all night, and got nothing except an exalted +idea of the perspicuity of the wild goose. <i>En passant</i> they were almost +frozen, despite a huge fire of drift they kindled.</p> + +<p>We tied up on the channel side, just below Phillips' Bar light, a good +sandy shore with deep water and no snags—an ideal mooring place. We +moored with the port side in, the <i>Desplaines</i> outside, lines fore and +aft and the fore gangway plank out. But the launch was uneasy and would +bump the stern, and there must have been a review of the ghosts of +departed steamers during the night, for many times we were awakened by +the swell of passing vessels rocking us.</p> + +<p>This morning is clear and cold, temperature 20, with a keenness and +penetrating quality not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> felt with a temperature twenty degrees lower in +the north. We saw some green foliage in the woods, and Clement said it +was "fishing pole"—cane! Our first sight of the canebrake. The Doctor, +J. J., the boy and Clement went up through the cornfields to the woods, +but found no game. A few doves got up, but too far away for a shot. Jim +got a mallard, Woodruff a fox squirrel—and one whose name we will not +disclose shot a young pig. An old darkey came down to the <i>Desplaines</i> +with milk, chickens and eggs, for which he got a fabulous price; also a +drink, and a few tunes on the phonograph, and he hinted that if they +should shoot a pig he would not know it, or words to that effect. +Hundreds of hogs ran the woods, and showed the tendency to reversion by +their long, pointed heads and agile movements. Apparently they eat the +pecans, for their tracks were thick under the trees. Rather expensive +food, with the nuts worth 30 cents a pound.</p> + +<p>About 3:20 we got under way for down the river. This morning a floater +passed quite close to the boat. Two men and a dog manned the craft. Said +they were bound for Red River. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> children gathered a bag of fine +walnuts of unusual size. As we never lose a chance of adding to the +wood-pile, we gathered in a couple of oak rails and a fine stick of +cedar, which we sawed and split for exercise.</p> + +<p>There are no cows on the negro farms, no chickens. In fact, their +traditional fondness for the fowl is strictly limited to a penchant for +someone else's chickens. When we ask for milk they always take it to +mean buttermilk, until enlightened. Here we saw a remarkable boat, a +dugout canoe not over four inches in depth, and warped at that, but the +women told us they went about in it during the floods. We bought some +pecans, paying 7 cents a quart.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1903.—Sunday evening we ran till we reached New +Madrid, Mo., about 8 p. m. We made a good landing, tying up with the tug +alongside, lines out at each end, both fenders out and the launch +astern. The boys did a good business here, and enjoyed the visit. Got +meat and some drugs, but could get no milk or eggs, and only two pounds +of butter in the town. After noon we got off and ran down to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> Point +Pleasant, a decaying town isolated by a big sand bar in front of her, +covered with snags. The <i>Desplaines</i> picked up a fine lot of wood here, +enough to run them a week, which they piled on our front deck. This +morning we came on to Tiptonville landing, where we saw a cotton field +and gin. This is the northern limit of cotton cultivation, and it was +poor stuff.</p> + +<p>Everyone who accosts us asks for whisky, which seems to be scarce. The +temperance movement evidently has made great progress in these places. +The bluffs grow higher as we go south, and no attempt seems made to +restrain the river from cutting in at its own sweet will. Crumbling +banks of loose sand and earth, fringed with slim willows and larger +trees, at every rod some of them hanging over into the stream. The snag +boat <i>Wright</i> seems busy removing these when menacing navigation, but we +see many awaiting her.</p> + +<p>This afternoon we passed a floater who had gone by us at New Madrid. +Propelled by two stout paddles and four stout arms, they have made as +good time as we with our tug. When we see how these men entrust +themselves to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> mercies of the great river in such a frail craft, it +seems as if we had little to fear in our big boat. They have a little +scow about six feet by ten, all but the front covered by a cabin, +leaving just enough room in front for the sweeps, and they tow a skiff. +If the wind is contrary or too stiff they must lie up, but at other +times the current carries them along with slight exertion at the sweeps. +The river is falling fast. Each night we tie up with all the boat +floating easily, and every morning find ourselves aground. It seems to +fall about six inches a night.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Thursday, Dec. 10, 1903.—For two nights and a day we lay at +Caruthersville, Mo., where the <i>Desplaines</i> had <i>bon marche</i>, selling 16 +extinguishers and getting the promise of a dozen more. A large town, +full of business and saloons, gambling houses, booths for rifle shooting +and "nigger babies," etc. Tradespeople seemed surly and ungracious, +except one woman who kept a restaurant and sold us oysters and bread. +She was from Illinois. Still, it must be a place of unusual +intelligence, as a doctor is Mayor.</p> + +<p>Last night we had a disagreeable blow from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> the northwest. We went out +and overhauled our mooring carefully before retiring. The back line was +insecure, as there was nothing to which it could be attached, and the +boys had merely piled a lot of rocks on the end; but we could see +nothing better; so merely strengthened the lines fastening the fenders +to the boat. It was a circular storm, apparently, as the wind died out +and in a few hours returned. When we set out at 7:30 this morning it was +fairly calm, but at 8:20 it is again blowing hard from the same quarter. +The sun is out brightly and it is not cold. Whitecaps in plenty but +little motion, as we travel across the wind. There are now no large +towns before us and we hope to run rapidly to Memphis. The river is big, +wide, deep and powerful. Huge trunks of trees lie along the bars. What a +giant it must be in flood. Not a day or night passes without several +steamers going up and down. The quantity of lumber handled is great, and +growing greater as we get south. Our chart shows the levees as beginning +above Caruthersville, but we saw nothing there except a little stone +dumped alongshore. Waves pounding hard.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p><p>Gold Dust Landing, Tenn., Dec. 10, 1903. In spite of a head wind we +made a run of 52 miles today, and moored below a Government barge. The +fine steamer <i>Robert E. Lee</i> was at the landing and pulled out just as +we ran in. The day was clear and sunny, not very cold, about 39, but +whenever we ran into a reach with the west or southwest wind ahead the +boat pounded most unpleasantly. No floaters afloat today, but numbers +along shore in sheltered nooks. The levees here are simply banked +fascines, stone land earth, to keep the river from cutting into the +shores. Even at low water there is an enormous amount of erosion going +on. It takes unremitting vigilance to keep the river in bounds and the +snags pulled out.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Fogleman's Chute, Dec. 12, 1903.—We made a famous run yesterday of over +60 miles, and tied up here about 5 p. m. on the eastern shore, the +channel being on the west. A small cabin boat stands near us, in which +are a man and three boys who have come down from Indiana, intending to +seek work at Memphis. Their first experience cabin boating. We asked one +of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> boys if he liked it, and he looked up with a sudden flash of +wildness and keen appreciation.</p> + +<p>A fierce south wind came up in the night, and there are situations more +enviable than trying to sleep in a houseboat with three boats using her +for a punching bag. And the little woman had asthma, badly, to make it +worse. This morning it was blowing hard and raining. The rain beat in on +the front deck and ran into the hold and under the quarter-rounds into +the cabin. The roof leaked into the storeroom also. Millie was seasick +and some one else would have been, but he took the children out for a +rove. Found a walnut tree and gathered a large bag of fine nuts. The +others brought in some squirrels and pocketsful of pecans, but we found +neither. Stretched the skins on wood and applied alum to the raw +surface, intending to make the little woman some buskins to keep her +feet warm. Quantities of mistletoe grow on the trees about us. The sun +came out about 2 p. m., when too late to make the run to Memphis, 22 +miles, before dark. Yesterday was so warm that we could sit out in the +open air without wraps. We are tied up to Brandywine Island, near the +lower end.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p><p>After lunch we sallied out again and met the owner of the soil, who +ordered us off in a surly manner. In the whole trip this is the first +bit of downright incivility we have met. After he found we were not +after his squirrels he became somewhat less ungracious. The sky soon +became overcast again, and the rain returned. About sunset it set in to +blow a gale from the northwest, and the billows rolled in on us. We got +the launch and skiff out of danger, carefully overlooked our lines and +fenders, but still the tug bumped against the side. How the wind blows, +and the waves dash against the side of the tug driving her against our +side with a steady succession of blows. It worried us to know that the +safety of the boats depended on a single one-inch rope, and the tug +lashed against the outside strained on it. The rope was tense as a +fiddle-string. If it broke the stern of our boat would swing out and +throw us on an ugly snag that projected slightly about six feet below +us; and the tug would be thrown into the branches of a huge fallen +cypress. So we took the long rope and carried it ashore to the north +end, from which the wind came, and lashed it securely to a huge stump, +then tied the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> other end through the overhang of our boat at that end. +If the line parts the new line will hold us against the soft, sandy +bank, and give time for further effort to keep us off the snag. As it +turned out the line held, but it does no harm to take precautions, and +one sleeps better.</p> + +<p>During the night the wind died out, and the morning of Sunday, Dec. 13, +1903, is clear and cold, a heavy frost visible. The river is full of +floaters, one above us, two directly across, one below, another above, +and one floating past near the other shore. The <i>Desplaines</i> is getting +up steam and we hope to see Memphis by noon.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i102.jpg" alt="MEMPHIS LEVEE. TOUGH CROWD THE CANOE" /></div> + +<p class="bold">MEMPHIS LEVEE. "TOUGH CROWD." <span class="s6"> </span>THE CANOE.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">DUCK SHOOTING.</p> + +<p>Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 20, 1903.—We ran in here last Sunday morning, Dec. +13, intending to stock up and get out on Wednesday. But Handwerker had +arranged a shoot for us at Beaver Dam Club, and there we spent Tuesday +afternoon and Wednesday morning, bagging 26 ducks—12 mallards, 8 +green-winged teal, 4 pintails, one widgeon and one spoonbill. Met Mr. +Selden, the president of the club, and Mr. O'Sullivan, and of course +enjoyed every minute of the time.</p> + +<p>The club is built on social principles, with a large sleeping room with +four beds; better conducive to fun than seclusion—and the first is what +we seek at such resorts. After lunch we set out, with negro boatmen, +finding a thin coat of ice over the lake. This is an old river bed, of +half-moon shape, with a little water and bottomless mud. Thousands of +ducks were perched on the ice and swimming in the few small open spaces. +We laboriously broke our way through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> the ice to our chosen stands, and +constructed blinds. Each boat had three live decoys; and after this +first experience with these we must say that we retired fully convinced +of our innate regularity as physicians—for we cannot quack a bit! Every +time a flight of ducks appeared, our tethered ducks quacked lustily, the +drake keeping silent; and it was effective. That evening the shooting +was the most exasperating in our experience. Twice we brought down +doubles, but not a bird of either did we bag. We had eight birds down, +wounded, which in falling broke holes in the ice—and we left them till +we were going in, as they could neither fly nor swim off; but the sun +came out warmer, melted the ice, and not a bird of the lot did we bag. +If there is anything that takes the edge off a duck hunter's +pleasure—at least of this one's—it is wounding a bird and not being +able to put it out of misery.</p> + +<p>A good dinner made some amends, and the story telling continued far into +the night—in fact was still going when the writer fell asleep.</p> + +<p>Next morning we had better luck, and got every bird knocked down, as +well as one of those winged the preceding day. In all we bagged 26<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +ducks during the two days—and that for a party of 12 on the two boats +is not an excessive supply. Not an ounce of the meat was wasted, and we +could have enjoyed another meal of them.</p> + +<p>One singular accident robbed us of a fine greenhead. A flock of five +passed directly over our heads, so high that the guide said it was +useless to try for them; but strong in our confidence in the Winchester +we took the leader, and he tumbled. Yes, tumbled so hard, from such a +height that he broke through the ice and plunged so deeply into the mud +that we were unable to find him, after most diligent trials. We had been +impressed with the force of a duck's fall, when shooting one coming +directly head on, and can realize that a blow from one may be dangerous. +In Utah we heard of a man who was knocked out of his boat and his head +driven into the mud so far that he would have been smothered had not the +guide been able to draw him out.</p> + +<p>On reaching the boat Wednesday evening we found that J. J. had improved +the opportunity of our absence by getting drunk, and had frightened the +folk by developing that most objectionable form of it, a fighting drunk. +After a few days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> he wound up in the lock-up, and there we leave +him—thoroughly disgusted that he should have done such a thing when +entrusted with the care of the sick wife and little ones.</p> + +<p>The wife and Doctor took dinner with some friends, meeting a number of +Memphis folk; and it is with unusual regret we bid adieu to this fine +city. Stores are dearer than in St. Louis.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>We were all ready to start by Saturday morning, but it was raining and +foggy, the wind from the south too strong for our launch. Then the bank +to which we were tied began to cave in, and soon our towlines were +adrift. The <i>Desplaines</i> got up steam and took us north, where we +remained all day; but as it was changing toward the north by evening we +pulled down below town and tied in a little cove under but at a distance +from the bluff. All night it blew hard from the west, and drove us into +the mud bank, where we are solidly planted now. Three lines out and the +anchor, with the mud, held us pretty steady, but the tug heaved against +us all night. Jim had cemented the front baseboard with white lead and +this kept out the water, but it came in under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> the sides, and we will +have to treat them similarly. The roof seemed tight. The windows leak, +too, and will have to be sealed somehow—with putty, or the seams +covered with strips of muslin glued on with varnish.</p> + +<p>Our Cairo wood is gone, and we are using drift, which is wet. We must +saw and split about a cord, and let it dry out. There is great plenty +along the shores. The Missis has had asthma as bad as ever before—small +wonder.</p> + +<p>The <i>Desplaines</i> seems to be overmanned, for the owner, Mr. Woodruff, +asked us to take Taylor off his hands. This we are very glad to do, as +we are short, since losing J. J., and Taylor has gotten our launch in +good shape at last. In fact we might have used her from St. Louis if we +had had him. Taylor is an Englishman, a teetotaler, and is studying with +a correspondence school to fit himself for the highest positions +attainable by an engineer.</p> + +<p>One has to be careful what he says to the Memphis people. We mentioned +to Prof. Handwerker our need of a dog, and added that we preferred one +that did not like negroes, as we wanted him to give warning when any +stray ones<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> came near. Next day down came a crate containing a little +dog, a brindle terrier, with the word that he could not abide negroes. +He at once proceeded to endear himself to every one on board, and fully +verified his recommendations. His name is Bluff; and surely never was +dog better named. The brave little creature would, we verily believe, +bluff an elephant.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">SNAGGED IN TENNESSEE CHUTE.</p> + +<p>President's Island, Dec. 21, 1903.—Yesterday was one of high hopes and +unexpected disaster. All morning Taylor wrestled with the engine; Fluent +ran down to tell of a telegram awaiting us; we went up in the +<i>Desplaines</i> and found it was concerning some mss. not delivered by the +express; found the office open, the mss. had been returned to Chicago +Saturday on wire from there, and no explanation as to why it had not +been delivered during the week, on every day of which we had been to the +express office after it. Holiday rush.</p> + +<p>At 1 p. m. we got off, the launch behind and steered by ropes running +around the cabin to its front. All went well till Jim came in to dinner +and we took the ropes—gave one turn to see which way the steering ran, +found we were wrong and at once turned the other way, but that one turn +gave the unwieldy craft a cant in to the shore, along which ran the +swift current,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> and we drifted among a lot of snags, the launch caught, +the boat caught, tore the blades off the propeller, broke the coupling; +let go the anchor, and came to. In the melee we noticed the front end of +a gasoline launch rise from some snags—a wreck, buoyed up by the air in +the tank. The boys rowed back but could not locate it. Then we tried to +lift our anchor, to find it fouled with something too heavy to be +raised, and had to buoy it and cast loose with the 75 feet of cable +attached to it.</p> + +<p>We drifted quietly down to the southern end of this island, where we +tied up to the sand bar.</p> + +<p>Out fenders, one long line to a half-buried log far up the shore, the +boat held well off to guard against the falling water leaving us +aground. Well we did, for this morning the launch was so firm in the +sand that we had trouble to get loose. The night was clear and quiet, +and this morning the same—a light wind blowing us along down the river. +Laid in a lot of driftwood in long sticks. Missy had a good night but is +a little asthmatic this morning. Swept out into the current and floating +now in true cabinboat style. We will keep clear of the Tennessee Chute +next time.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p><p>The <i>Desplaines</i> came along as we were lying at the lower end of the +island, and came in to our signal. As we were totally disabled and would +have to send to Auburn, N. Y., for new flukes for our propeller, they +agreed to help us out, and took us in tow. They ran back to see if they +could find the anchor or the sunken boat, but failed to locate either.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Hardin's Point, Ark., Dec. 23, 1903.—Yesterday we ran in here after a +fifty-mile run. Tied up quite near the light, which was not well, as the +<i>Kate Adams</i> coming near rocked us as badly as any steamer we have yet +met. We passed her and her consort, the <i>James Lee</i>, both aground within +half a mile of each other, near Mhoon's. Both got off, as the <i>Lee</i> came +down today. The river is lower than usual, as the Mhoon gauge showed +minus three.</p> + +<p>We laid in a good supply of wood, and then Jim and Frank found a lot of +cannel coal over on the sand bar, and all day they have been loading up +the <i>Desplaines</i> and our boat with it. Some barge has been wrecked there +and the small pieces washed away, so that what is left is in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> large +pieces, the smallest taking a strong man to lift. It is curiously +water-burnt. The edges are well rounded, so it must have been long under +water. A little darkey brought around six silver bass, weighing possibly +half a pound each, for which he accepted forty cents. They have a barrel +ready for shipment. He called them game fish.</p> + +<p>A fine buck shot out of the woods on the other side, followed at a +distance by ten hounds, and the deer nearly ran into Woodruff's boat, +then swam to this side, where our boys vainly tried to get a shot. An +old darkey said he could have been easily drowned by the man in the +skiff; but we are glad that species of murder did not offer attractions +to Woodruff. The bars are resonant with the honking of the geese. The +natives have no cows, chickens, nothing to sell, not even pecans—which +here become "puckawns." This evening Jake brought in a fine wild goose, +the first we have seen on board as yet. It has blown from the south all +day, but is quiet this evening.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Helena, Ark., Dec. 25, 1903.—We left Hardin Point about 9 a. m., with +the wind dead ahead,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> and strong enough to make the beating unpleasant. +The front deck is loaded with over a ton of coal, and this seems to make +the boat steadier, less inclined to pitch and toss like a cork on the +waves.</p> + +<p>Christmas day is clear and bright, the sun out, thermometer at 10:30 +standing at 55 outside in the shade, and with a little wood fire running +up to 90 in the cabin. The Missis is better, her asthma becoming more +spasmodic and better controlled by smoke. It rained all last night, and +though the caulking did good, there was still some water came in around +the surbases. We got some putty to help out the lead. At every stop we +pick up something of value to us; usually some good hard firewood. Here +we found a section of the side of a boat washed ashore, solid oak, with +several bolts a yard long through it. Frank lugged it in and has broken +it up into stovewood, and secured the bolts for stakes.</p> + +<p>About 2 p. m. we reached Helena, a town of about 25,000. Moored at a +distance up the stream, and landed on a muddy shore. The muddy south. We +are all coated with the most adhesive of muds, the fineness of the grain +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>rendering it difficult to remove from the clothes. The town is full of +negroes, celebrating the holiday; and nearly all carry suspicious +looking jugs. The costumes and shouting would make the fortune of a +museum in the north. Found it impossible to secure a turkey fit to eat, +but got the Missis some fine oysters and a chicken, and bear-steaks for +our dinner—at 25 cents a pound. Game is not allowed to be sold in the +state. Pity they do not extend the prohibition to whisky.</p> + +<p>We made candy, and in the evening had the crew all in, and grabbed for +presents in a big basket under a newspaper. We had a happy time, +although we were all out on the big river far from home. The +<i>Desplaines</i> let their wild goose spoil, and threw it overboard this +morning. At 10 a. m. we set out for down the river.</p> + +<p>We searched the Memphis papers for some intimation as to J. J.'s fate, +but found none. Found the tale of an Indiana man who was coming down on +a houseboat with his wife, intending to make his home in Greenville, +Miss. He was told at Cairo that there was a law in Tennessee against +carrying concealed weapons, so here he started out with his pistol in +his hands. He was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> arrested and sentenced to jail for a year less a day, +and $50 fine, the law forbidding the carrying of weapons. Such a +punishment, administered to a stranger unaware of the law seems a +travesty of justice. It is said here that it is safer to kill a man than +to carry a weapon; and it seems so.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">MOORING.</p> + +<p>We have been studying the subject of mooring, and present the following +as an ideal moor:</p> + +<p>The fenders are stout poles six inches thick at the butt, three at the +small end, which rests on shore. This end is deeply embedded in the +dirt, so that it will not float away or ride up on the bank. The big end +is firmly fastened to the side timbers, the four-by-fours running across +the boat under the floor, by a short chain, which will not chafe out +like a rope. The latter is better, as being elastic, however. Either +must be strong to spare. The cable is an inch Manilla rope. Thus moored +we are ready for all chances. The best thing to moor to is a stump or +log firmly embedded, and as far as possible from shore, if crumbly, for +the current may cut in fast. At Memphis our stake, forty feet from +shore, was washed out in an hour. Never tie close to a bank that may +fall in on the boat, or to a tree that may fall and crush you; or to a +bank that may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> hold you ashore if the water falls in the night; or, +worst of all, over a snag, for the waves of a passing steamer may lift +the boat up and drop it so hard on the snag as to knock a hole in the +bottom. When possible moor where you will have a bar to protect you from +the force of waves rolling in from a broad stretch of water. A narrow +creek or cove would be ideal, but as yet we have hardly seen such a +thing where we wanted to stop. When moored with the long side to the +shore, less surface is exposed to the current and the wind, and less +strain put upon the cables.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i117.jpg" alt="AN IDEAL MOOR" /></div> + +<p class="bold">AN IDEAL MOOR.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">A LEVEE CAMP.</p> + +<p>Allison's Landing, Ark., Dec. 26, 1903.—We landed here after dark last +night, having been delayed at Friars' Point by the tug getting aground. +The cabinboat floated down the river some distance, and then the back +current and wind carried her on a sand bar. The tug was three hours +getting free, by warping off with the anchor.</p> + +<p>We found this a levee camp. Hardly had we landed when a big negress came +aboard to see what we had for sale. They wanted drygoods badly, and were +much disappointed. Two pleasant gentlemen boarded us, the heads of the +camp; and spent the evening on the tug, with singing and music. They are +here surrounded by negroes, and a little white association seemed as +agreeable to them as it was to us. In the night all hands but Dr. and +Taylor went cat-hunting.</p> + +<p>At 11 p. m. a furious wind storm sprang up from the northeast, exactly +the direction from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> which to blow us on shore; which was providential, +as we only had one long line out and that poorly secured to a stake in +the soft, oozy bank. Frank saw that everything was right, and wisely +went to bed; but we could not rest easy, and sat up till 4 a. m. The +canoe on the roof blew over against the stovepipe and we had to get out +four times and push it back with a pole. It grew quite cold and the fire +was grateful.</p> + +<p>About midnight the hunters came back with the usual luck to tell of. +This morning Jake, the boy and Doctor went out to a bayou after ducks, +but saw none. This country is said to swarm with game but it keeps +hidden from us. What a thing is a bad reputation!</p> + +<p>In the woods we noted the buds springing from the roots of the cypress, +the size of an egg, and growing upward in hollow cones, called cypress +knees. It is a remarkable and noble tree, the buttressed stumps giving +promise of superb height, which seems rarely realized. Half a mile back +from the landing we came upon the levee, a great bank of earth but +partly covered with grass. Deep and narrow bayous run parallel with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> it, +in which could be seen the movements of quite large fish.</p> + +<p>Robins, redbirds, jays, woodpeckers, blackbirds, and a variety of still +smaller birds abounded; but we did not get any game. The two gentlemen +in charge of the levee camp, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Ward, went with us into +the woods, but the game was wary. All hands so thoroughly enjoyed the +visit at this hospitable camp that for the rest of the trip we talked of +it. We were indebted to these gentlemen for a roast of fresh pork. Their +task is a difficult one, to keep in order so many negroes, all of the +rough and illiterate sort. Quarrels over "craps" and shooting among the +negroes are not infrequent, and in one a white man, passing by, was +killed. Mr. Rogers has the repute of getting his men to work, and we +heard a scrap of a song among them, expressive of their sentiments or +impressions:</p> + +<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Blisters on yo' feet an' co'ns on yo' han',</div> +<div>Wat yo' git for wo'kin' fo' de black-haired man."</div> +</div></div></div> + +<p>A firm hand is absolutely necessary to rule these men, with whom +weakness is perilous. Only a few weeks after our visit to one of these +camps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> a negro got in a dispute over a trivial sum in his account, got +hold of the pistol the white man in charge had incautiously left in the +negro's reach, and shot him dead. If there is anything in the art of +physiognomy, many of these levee men are desperadoes.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Dec. 28, 1903.—We left our friendly entertainers at Allison's and ran +down to a bar, where Woodruff took in several tons of very good coal, +costing nothing but the trouble of shipping. Mr. Rogers accompanied us +to Modoc.</p> + +<p>Tied up at Mayflower landing, a good moor. A German there told us a +trading boat at the landing above took away $6,000 in three days last +year. The trader has a large scow, with a cabin, and a steamer to handle +it. Every place we stop the people come to inquire what we have to sell. +We got off at 7 a. m. today, passed the mouths of the White and +Arkansas, and have run at least 60 miles. We have landed after dark, and +we are not sure as to where we are. The weather has been most pleasant, +temperature about 60 all day, little wind. The river is full of drift, +but there is little traffic. Just now a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> steamer passed up. At +Riverton were several small ones, but otherwise the solitude is +unbroken.</p> + +<p>The shores are wild, the banks continually crumbling into the river. A +prodigious number of snags must be furnished yearly. Very few wild fowl +appear. Floaters appear occasionally, but probably there will be fewer +now, as many are directed to the White river. This is probably near +Monterey Landing. As the landing was narrow and beset with snags we +moored with the prow to the bank, two lines to the shore and the anchor +out astern. We have much to say about mooring; but it is a matter of +supreme importance to the comfort and even the safety of the crew. It is +not specially pleasant to turn out of bed in one's nightclothes, with +the temperature below freezing, to find the boat adrift in a furious +storm and pounding her bottom out on snags.</p> + +<p>We bought a new anchor from a trading boat at Allison's. It is 50 +pounds, galvanized, with folding flukes and a ring at the end for a guy +rope, so that if fouled as the other was, we can pull the flukes +together and free it. Paid four dollars for it—same as for the other, +but this is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> a much better anchor, though not as strong as the solid +one.</p> + +<p>Jim has gone around the cabin and puttied up the cracks, and we hope the +next rain will keep out. If not, we will get deck pitch and pay the +seams.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Arkansas City, Ark., Dec. 30, 1903.—Landed here shortly after noon, and +spent the balance of the day. About 1,000 people, mostly black; some +good stores; got a few New Orleans oysters, which are sold by number, 25 +cents for two dozen; bought a new anchor rope, 75 feet, 3.4 inch, for +$3.04, or 14½ cents a pound. Eggs, 35 cents a dozen. No trade for +extinguishers, though Woodruff had a nibble for his steamer. Weather +clear, and temperature rising to about 60 in midday, cold at night. This +morning at 8, temperature 34. No wind. River smooth. What a lot of +gasoline engines are in use. There are at least six boats rigged with +them here. One Memphis party is building a new hull ashore and moving an +old cabin on it. The lady who owns the hotel and drug store has mocking +birds for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> sale, $25.00 for a singer—lady birds not worth selling.</p> + +<p>Got off near 9 a. m., for Greenville.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>January 1st, 1904.—We left Arkansas City on the 30th, at 9 a. m., and +reached Greenville, Miss., that evening just before dark. It is a +rambling town, behind the levee, about 10,000 people, but evidently has +considerable business. Twenty-five mills of various kinds are there. +Supplies higher than since leaving Chicago—15 cents for meat of any +sort, 35 cents for eggs or butter, 25 cents for a dozen fine large shell +oysters from New Orleans, the first we have met, and which the sick +woman appreciated $25.00 worth.</p> + +<p>The <i>Desplaines</i> did some business, but many of the mills are owned in +the cities and the managers cannot buy here.</p> + +<p>An old negro lives in a little gully washed by the rain in the bank, +close to where we tied up. He has a little fire, and lies there all +night with a board on edge to rest his back against. In the morning we +took him a cup of coffee which he took eagerly, but without thanks. An +old negress brought him something—presumably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> food. Last night it +rained some, but this morning he was still there. During the day we saw +him wandering about the streets, reminding one of a lost dog.</p> + +<p>We left at noon, but as it was still raining it was equally +uncomfortable going or lying still. They tried the tug alongside, but +the rudder would not swing the big cabinboat and they had to return to +towing. About 2 p. m. the fog shut in so dense that we had to make a +landing, presumably in Walker's Bend, on the Arkansas side. Frank +brought off some of the finest persimmons we have yet seen. The cabin is +so warm that some flies have appeared, probably left-overs, though the +Missis says they have them all the winter down here. Picked up a nice +lot of drifting boards for stove.</p> + +<p>Exploration establishes the fact that we are just below Vaucluse +Landing, and that the land is rich in pecan trees, well laden with nuts, +which these lazy darkies let go to waste. Frank found a store in the +neighborhood. Chicot lake, back of us, is said to be rich in ducks, and +if the fog lasts tomorrow we must have some. The putty has kept out the +rain today very well. We suffer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> for ventilation, though, and awake in +the morning with headaches. It is bright moonlight, but still foggy. It +rained during the night and we secured a fine supply of rainwater in the +launch cover.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Shiloh Landing, Miss., Jan. 3, 1904.—We lay last night at Wilson's +Point, La., and all night we listened to the creaking of our fenders +against the side, and felt the heave of the tug as she surged against +our side under the influence of a driving northwest wind. Said wind +carried us along yesterday for a run of over 44 miles, sometimes with +and at others against us, as the river curved. It was a cold wind and +made the cabin fire comfortable. Two sailboats passed us going down, one +a two-master from Chicago and the other the <i>Delhi</i>, from Michigan City. +They made good with the wind. There was a large trading boat with stern +wheel above our landing, but we did not visit her.</p> + +<p>About 1 p. m. we ran in here, and the tug people stopped because Mr. +Rogers' brother was in charge. We found a levee camp with 36 tents, and +examined the commissary with interest. Got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> some canned oysters for the +Missis. No milk or eggs, fresh meat or chickens. The men all carry big +44s, and sometimes use them, we hear. It grows colder—at 5 p. m. +temperature outside 30—and the cold is harder to bear than a much lower +one up north. Every few miles there is a landing, and a pile of cotton +bales and bags of seed waiting for the <i>Delta</i> or <i>American</i>, fine +steamers that ply between Vicksburg and Greenville.</p> + +<p>The great, greedy river, forever eating its banks, which crumble into +the current constantly, even now when the water is so low. Every sand +bar has its wrecks, and opposite Lake Providence we saw men and teams +busy over the coal in sunken barges.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Monday, Jan. 4, we left Shiloh at 7:20, clear and cold, temperature 28, +moon shining, but the sun not yet visible from behind the bluff.</p> + +<p>Yesterday we passed the steamer <i>City of Wheeling</i>, fast on a bar, and +we hear she has been there for two months—grounded on her first trip. +But the water is rising and she expects to be soon released.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">VICKSBURG.</p> + +<p>Thursday, Jan. 7. 1904.—We arrived at Vicksburg in the afternoon of +Monday, Jan. 4, and were much impressed by the beauty of the city as +seen from the river. Spread along the heights it looks like a large +city, though it only claims a population of about 22,000. Contrary to +expectation we found it busy, with evidences of life and enterprise. The +Government has built a levee which blocks up the mouth of the Yazoo, and +by a canal diverted the water of that river into the channel that runs +along the front of the city; the old bed of the river Mississippi +previous to 1876, when it cut a new bed for itself and threatened to +leave the historic fortress an inland town.</p> + +<p>Just before reaching the city we met a row of whirlpools reaching across +the channel, whose violence would make a man in a skiff feel queer. +These are the only notable ones we have seen, except just before +reaching Arkansas City.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p><p>The <i>Desplaines</i> could not tow us against the swift current in the +Yazoo, so left the houseboat about 300 yards up that stream and steamed +up to the city. After visiting the postoffice we started to walk back +along the levee, reaching the place we had left the boat just before +dark. She was not there, and we walked along the bank up stream till it +grew too dark to see, then got lost among the railway buildings till +directed by a friendly youth to the street where the cars ran. Reached +the tug at last, and the owner took us back with a lantern along the +levee, finding the boat in the great river, the boys having dropped down +out of the Yazoo. As we received the flukes for our launch, which Taylor +put on, we concluded to part company from the tug, and settled up with +them. Meanwhile the quarreling among her crew came to a climax and Jake +was set on shore by them. He was pilot, cook, hunter and general +all-round utility man, coming for the trip without wages, and it seems +to us suicidal for them to dismiss him, when negro roustabouts are +refusing $4.00 a day from the steamers, and engineers impossible to +secure at any price. We were full handed, but liked Jake, so we took +him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> aboard as a supernumerary till he could do better.</p> + +<p>The 6th was dull and rainy but we got off, and ran about 16 miles in the +afternoon, tying up somewhere in Diamond Bend, probably below Moore's +Landing.</p> + +<p>At V. had a letter from J. J., saying he had been sentenced to a year in +the workhouse and $50.00 fine for carrying weapons.</p> + +<p>During the night it rained heavily, and we caught a fine lot of +rainwater in the launch cover. One learns to appreciate this on the +river.</p> + +<p>During the afternoon we saw a negro shoot from the bank directly down on +a few geese, of which he wounded one. It swam across the river and we +got out the skiff and followed. On shore it crouched down as if dead, +and waited till Jim got within ten feet, when it got up and flew across +the river. We followed, and he shot it with a rifle when about 150 yards off.</p> + +<p>By that time we were miles below the darky, and as he has no boat we +fear he will not be on hand to put in a claim for the goose. We bought +one at V. for 90 cents; also eight jack-snipe for a dollar. Roast beef +was 12½ cents for round,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> 25 for rib, and 17½ for corned beef. +Milk 10 cents a quart from wagon, buttermilk 20 cents a gallon, butter, +30 for creamery and 25 for country.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Waterproof Cutoff, Friday, Jan. 8, 1904.—We ran about 23 miles on the +7th, the engine simply refusing to go; and we drifted most of the time. +Once we got fast on a nasty snag and it took all our force to get off. +We tied up to a sand bar near Hard Times Landing, in the bend of that +name. Bluff and the children had a refreshing run on the sand. Got off +today at 8 a. m., and by 1O the engine started off in good shape and has +been running well all day. The weather is clear and warm, thermometer +standing at 72 this afternoon. Little wind, but that from the south. +Some clouds betoken a possible rain. Our first wild goose for dinner on +the 6th, and all liked it well.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Saturday, Jan. 9, 1904.—We ran about forty miles yesterday, tying up +above L'Argent in a quicksandy nook. At 4 this morning these lazy boys +got up and started to float, making several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> miles before daybreak. It +is foggy at 8 and the sun invisible, but warm and with little wind. The +launch is running fitfully. Passed Hole-in-the-Wall and now opposite +Quitman Bluff.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Jan. 10, 1904.—Yesterday we reached Natchez at 1 p. m., and by 4 had +got our mail and supplies and were off down the river. The engine balked +under the influence of a lower temperature, and we had only made about +five miles when we had to tie up on account of the darkness. It rained hard.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">RIVER PIRATES.</p> + +<p>We had had our suppers, the children and Missis had gone to bed, and we +were about following them, when through the rain we heard someone get +upon the front deck. It was raining hard. We called out, asking who was +there. A man replied in a wheedling voice, saying that he was alone, +lost in the rain, and wished to remain till it was light enough to see +his way. We asked who he was, and he responded that he was a prominent +citizen of the neighborhood and asked us to open up the cabin a little +bit. The doors are on the sides, and he was evidently puzzled as to how +to get into the cabin. We were undressed and told him we could not let +him in; but he insisted. We called to the boys to see what was wanted, +thinking it might be some one in trouble; so Jake went out. The man +began to talk pretty saucily, but then Jim and Frank got out, and at +once his tone changed. He suddenly got very drunk, though perfectly +sober a moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> before. Another man turned up also, in a skiff +alongside. He gave a rambling incoherent account of why he was there; +but the other man called angrily for him to come on, and soon they left, +rowing into the darkness. The man who came aboard was about 5 feet 6; +45, red-faced, deep-set eyes; his hat drawn well over his face; rather +heavily set. The other was a sulky-faced man about 25, with light hair. +That they were river pirates there is not a doubt; and had we been +short-handed there would have been trouble.</p> + +<p>Next morning we set out, slowly floating with a little headwind, through +a fog. Temperature at 8 a. m., 50. Natchez-under-the-hill has +disappeared under the assaults of the river, and with it the wild +characters that made it famous, or rather notorious. The city is now +said to be as orderly and safe as any in the south. We now get fine gulf +oysters at 50 cents to $1 a hundred. They come in buckets. Shell oysters +are still rare. We got a small bunch of bananas at Natchez, for 60 cents.</p> + +<p>We passed Morville, floating about three miles an hour. We have never +been able to secure any data as to the speed of the current in the rivers.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p><hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Jan. 11, 1904.—We ran 42 miles yesterday, to near Union Point, tying up +to a sand bar. The boys crossed to a railway camp and were told game was +very abundant, so that it was hardly safe for a single man to go out +with the hounds at night—bear, panther and cat. We had a head wind all +day, from the west, sometimes strong enough to raise a few whitecaps, +and the engine did her stunt of bucking—which shows what she is good +for when in good humor. Temperature went up to 72 and hung around 70 all +day. This morning at 8 it is 42. The children and dog had a much needed +run on the sand. The boy needs much exercise and laboriously chops at +the heaviest wood he can find.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE ATCHAFALAYA.</p> + +<p>By lunch time we reached the mouth of the Red River, and found a rapid +current running into it from the Mississippi. We landed on the bar and +sent to town for mail, but found the postoffice had been moved to +Torrasdale, several miles away—and after walking up there found no +letters. At 3 p. m. we started up the Red, rapid, crooked, much in need +of the services of a snag boat; weather so warm the invalid came out on +deck for an hour or more. Turned into the Atchafalaya about 5 p. m., a +deep stream, said to be never less than 50 feet deep. The same shelving +banks as the great river, formed by the continual caving. We found a bed +of pebbles at the mouth of the Red and really they were like old +friends. Stone is a rarity here.</p> + +<p>We tied up a little way beyond Elmwood Landing. Henceforth we have +neither charts nor lights, but we have a born pilot in Jake, and he will +pull us through. A bad day for the asthma, in spite of the warmth.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i136.jpg" alt="RED RIVER" /></div> + +<p class="bold">RED RIVER.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p><hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Jan. 12, 1904.—If solitude exists along the Atchafalaya it is not here. +The left bank is leveed and roofs appear about every 100 yards. The +right bank is lined with little trees growing down to and into the +water. At Denson's Landing, or Simmesport, the right bank begins a +levee; there is the inevitable gas launch, a tug, and numerous other +craft, with a fish market. The wind blows dead ahead, and raises waves +nearly as big as in the big river. Pretty bum houseboats, apparently +occupied by blacks. Some noble trees with festoons of Spanish moss. No +nibbles on the trotline last night, but a huge fish heaved his side out +of the water just now. Alligator gar.</p> + +<p>Pleasant traveling now. All day long we have voyaged along the +Atchafalaya with a wind from—where? It requires a compass to determine +directions here. In fact the uncertainty of things usually regarded as +sure is singular. Now up north we know just where the sun is going to +rise; but here the only certainty about it is its uncertainty. Now it +comes up in the east—that is, over the east bank of the river; but next +day it may appear in the west, north or south.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p><p>The wind was against us all morning, but since lunch—which we had at +Woodside—it has been back of us or sideways, and has driven us along. +Fine levees line the banks. Just now we are passing a camp at work. It +is a noble river, wide and deep, with a current about as swift as the +great river. Even now, when the Barbre gauge shows 6¾ feet above low +water only, there is no obstruction to navigation by as large steamers +as plow the Mississippi. Now and then a little spire or black stack +peeping above the levee shows the presence of a village. Temperature +hovers about 62. Only a solitary brace of ducks seen in this river as yet.</p> + +<p>All afternoon we have been pursuing Melville. At 3 p. m. it was four +miles away; an hour later it was five miles off, and at 5 we had gotten +within three miles of the elusive town. We concluded to stop, in hopes +it might get over its fear and settle down; so tied up. We ascended the +levee, and a boy told us the town was within half a mile. The river is +lonely, not a steamer since leaving the mouth of Red, where the <i>Little +Rufus</i> came down and out, politely slowing up as she neared the cabin +boat, to avoid rocking us. An<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> occasional skiff is all we see, though +the landing is common, but no cotton or seed, nothing but lumber.</p> + +<p>We were correct as to our estimate of the visitors we had the other +night—river pirates. Their method is to come on rainy nights when the +dogs are under cover. By some plausible story they gain admittance to +the cabin and then—? Have the windows guarded by stout wire screens, +the doors fitted with bars, and a chain. Any visitor to a cabin boat +after night is a thief, and on occasion a murderer. If he desires +admittance after being told you are not a trader or whisky boat, open +the chain and when he tries to enter shoot him at once. It is the +sheerest folly to let one of those fellows have the first chance. No +jury in the world would fail to congratulate you for ridding the river +of such a character. There are no circumstances that can be imagined in +which an honest man would act in the way these men did. If they wanted +shelter from the rain the shore was handy. If they mistook the boat for +friends, the mistake was apparent and they knew very well they had no +business to continue their visit.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p><hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1904.—Made a good start. We got under way about +8:30, and Melville bridge soon came in view. The day is clear and warm, +water smooth as glass, with no perceptible current, and the engine +starts off as if nothing ever ruffled her temper.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">MELVILLE—FIRST DEER HUNT.</p> + +<p>Melville, La., Jan. 19, 1904.—We found this a quiet little town of 600 +people, including negroes; with sufficient stores for our simple needs, +and a daily mail east and west. We found some pleasant young gentlemen +here, with plenty of leisure and hounds, and some of us go out for deer +every day. So far no one has brought in any venison, but Jim and Frank +have had shots.</p> + +<p>The thermometer stands at about 60 to 70 all day; fires are superfluous +except at night for the weak one, the grass and clover show up green in +spots, and really we seem to have skipped winter. In the swamps the +palmettoes raise their broad fans, the live oaks rear their brawny +trunks, and bits of green life show up on all sides. Really, we do not +see what excuse the grass has for being brown, if it be not simple force +of habit, or recollection of a northern ancestry.</p> + +<p>The negro women wear extraordinary sunbonnets, huge flaring crowns with +gay trimming.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> The foreigners are Italians or Greeks; and are in the +fruit and grocery trade. An old superannuated Confed. brings us a small +pail of milk daily, for which he gets 10 cents a quart.</p> + +<p>The river is leveed 15 miles down, and the system is being extended +southward. There is a difference of opinion as to the levees, some +claiming they are injurious as preventing the elevation of the land by +deposit of mud; while one large sugar raiser said it would be impossible +to raise crops without them. The truth seems to be that the immediate +needs require the levees; but if one could let the land lie idle, or +take what crops could be raised after the floods subside, it would be +better for the owner of the next century to let in the water.</p> + +<p>We have had our first deer hunt. Six of us, with four hounds, set out in +the launch. Arriving at the right place we disembarked and walked +through the woods about a mile, the dogs having meanwhile started out +independently. Here they located us, in a small clear space, and the +rest went on to their respective stands. We looked about us and were not +favorably impressed with our location. It was too open. Deer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> coming +from any quarter would see us long before we could see them. So we +selected a spot where we could sit down on a log, in the shade of a huge +cypress, with the best cover attainable, and yet see all over the +clearing. Then we waited.</p> + +<p>By and by we heard a noise as of breaking twigs to one side. We crouched +down and held our breath, getting the rifle up so as to allow it to bear +in the right direction. Waited. A little more noise, but slight. Waited. +No more. Sat till our backs got stiff and feet cold. Then carefully and +quietly paced up and down the path. Sat down again. Concluded to eat +lunch, an expedient that rarely fails to start the ducks flying. No good +for deer.</p> + +<p>Shifted position, walked up the path to a bunch of hollies, laden with +berries. A bird was at them, and as by this time our faith in deer was +growing cool we concluded to take a shot at a robin. Did so. Missed +him—but to our horror and relief he turned out to be a mocking bird!</p> + +<p>Walked up the path and found a sluggish bayou with running water across +it. Weren't thirsty, but doubted the wisdom of drinking that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> water, and +that made us thirsty. Circled around the center of our clearing. Noted +the way the cypresses throw up stumps from the roots. Saw a big turtle +in the bayou. Red birds came about, but no robins—they are game birds +here. Searched the trees for squirrels—none there. Thought of +everything we could recollect—even began to enumerate our sins—and got +into an animated discussion with a stranger on the negro question, +awaking with a start. Shot at a hawk that roosted on a tree just out of +gunshot. Scared him, anyhow.</p> + +<p>Finally, when desperate with the task of finding expedients to keep us +awake, we heard a horn blown—or wound?—and not knowing but that some +one might be lost, whistled shrilly in reply. Occasionally a shot was +heard here and there; once in a moon the dogs gave tongue in the remote +distance. Finally one of the boys appeared, then the old uncle, and the +rest came stringing in. One had seen a deer but did not get a shot at +it. So we took up the line of march for the river, where the launch +returned us to the cabin boat. And so ended our first deer hunt.</p> + +<p>We have now been at it a week, and several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> of the boys have had shots +at the animals, but no horns decorate our boat, nor does venison fill +our craving stomachs. There are deer here, their evidences are as plain +as those of sheep in a pasture. But the only benefit they have been to +us is in the stimulation of the fancy. The weird and wonderful tales +spun by those who have had shots at the elusive creatures, to account +for the continued longevity and activity of their targets, are worth +coming here to hear. Surely never did deer go through such antics; never +did the most expert tumbler in any circus accomplish such feats of +acrobatic skill. The man who catches flying bullets in his teeth should +come down here and receive instruction from these deer.</p> + +<p>We took the Missis and daughter over to Baton Rouge, and installed them +in a huge, old-fashioned room, on Church St., a block from the +postoffice and the leading stores; with a lady of means, who sets an +excellent table, lavishly spread, and with the best of cookery, at a +price that seems nominal to us. The lofty ceilings seem doubly so after +the low deck of the cabin; the big canopied bed of walnut and quilted +silk recalls the east; while violets, camellias, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>hyacinths and +narcissus blooming in the open air, as well as sweet olive, and the +budding magnolias, make one realize that the frozen north is not a +necessity.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>January 23, 1904.—We find Melville a very good place to stay—supplies +plentiful, the people pleasant, and the place safe. The boys go out for +deer every day, but as yet no success has rewarded them. One day they +chased a doe into the river, where two boys caught her with their hands +and slaughtered her. Bah!</p> + +<p>The weather has been ideal—warm enough to make a fire oppressive save +nights and mornings—but we are now having a cold snap, whose severity +would make you northern folk, who sit in comfort over your registers, +shiver. We have actually had a white frost two nights in succession. +Fact!</p> + +<p>On the shore close by roost at least 100 buzzards. They are protected +and seem aware of it; roosting on the roof of the fish boat below us. +They tell us the sharks come up here so that bathing is unsafe, and tell +queer stories of the voracity and daring of the alligator gars. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +alligator is by no means extinct in Louisiana, being still found of +gigantic size in the bayous.</p> + +<p>Little is said here on the negro question, which seems to be settled so +well that no discussion is needed.</p> + +<p>Day after day we sit at the typewriter and the work grows fast. Tomorrow +we go to Barrow's convict camp for a shoot, and quite a lot have +gathered, and are waiting till the engine chooses to start. Every day we +have to push the boat from shore or we might be hard aground in the +morning, as we are today. The water fell last night till it uncovered +six feet of mud by the shore. The river is said to be over 100 feet deep +opposite. The bridge is built on iron tubular piers that seem to be +driven down till they strike a stratum capable of supporting the weight. +These are said to be 100 feet deep.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>January 24, 1904, we all went down to Capt. Barrow's camp for a deer +hunt, which possessed no features differing from those of the five +preceding. At 4 p. m. we quit, and started on our return. But the dogs +had not come in, so when we got up to the old convict camp we stopped,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +and Budd and Jake went back for them. And there we waited till after 10 +p. m. It grew quite cool so that the boys built a fire. Just on the +bluff above us was an old deserted house, about ready to fall into the +river when the banks shall have crumbled away a little more. We found in +it an ancient mahogany four-post bedstead and a spinning-wheel, an old +horn powderhorn, and other relics of antiquity.</p> + +<p>There were our own party of four, Budd and Wally, Thomassen and his son +"Sugar," Mr. Sellers (from one of the Melville stores), and two negro +hunters, Brown and Pinkham—and right worthy men and good hunters they +are. The fire was fed by beams from the old house, and as its cheerful +warmth was felt, the scene would have been a worthy one for an artist's +pencil. The odd stories and ceaseless banter of the negroes and the boy +were enhanced by the curious dialect. Constantly one blew his horn, and +was answered by the party who were out, or by others; and some one else +was blowing for other lost dogs, so that the woods were musical. An old +hound had come in early, tired out, and when the horns blew he would try +to get off, but was tied; so he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> would give vent to his discontent in +the most doleful of long-drawn-out howls, like a prolonged note from an +owl. At last boys and hounds came in, and we were home to our boat by +midnight.</p> + +<p>Somehow the yoke once worn till thoroughly fitted to the neck, becomes a +part of the bearer; and the best contented of the negroes were those who +held with their old masters. Even the shackles of civilization become +attractive in time—and we have resumed the reading of a daily paper +since we can get it regularly. And we like the <i>Picayune</i>, finding in +its editorials a quiet dignity that we appreciate, even though we may +not agree with the political sentiments. And there is an air of +responsibility about it; a consciousness that what it says counts, and +must therefore be preceded by due deliberation, that is novel. The local +color is also attractive. For instance the river news, and—the +jackstaffs! Now, don't say you do not know what jackstaffs are. We will +not spoil it by telling. And Lagniappe!</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">BATON ROUGE—THE PANTHER.</p> + +<p>Baton Rouge, La., Feb. 1, 1904.—While you in the North are wrestling +with zero temperatures, we are experiencing what these folk term +terrible winter weather. Men go about with heavy overcoats buttoned up +to the chin, and I saw one the other day with a tall coonskin cap, with +folds down over his neck, and earflaps. An open-grate fire is +comfortable in the mornings and tempers the chill of night for the +little one. Even the Chicago man finds a light overcoat advisable in the +mornings, though with light-weight underwear and thin outer clothes.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the violets bloom everywhere, jonquils, polyanthus +narcissus, camellias and sweet olive are in bloom, and the big rose +bushes are covered with leaves and buds that already show the color of +the flower. The grass is green in New Orleans parks, and the magnolias +are budding. Masses of chickweed cover the margins of drains and several +plants of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>unknown lineage—to the writer—are in bloom. And this is the +weather to which we constantly hear the epithet "terrible" applied here.</p> + +<p>But residents of the North who were raised in Dixie do not freeze. +Exposure to cold brings with it the ability to withstand it, and not +only that but all other morbific influences as well. It increases the +vitality, the power of resisting all noxious powers that threaten the +health and life of man.</p> + +<p>But this applies to the sound and well, not to those who already possess +a material lesion of one or more organs. For them this soft, balmy air, +this temperature that permits a maximum of exposure to the open air, are +health-giving, life-prolonging, comfort-securing.</p> + +<p>People speak of the sudden changes here—warm today and tomorrow +cold—as objectionable; but so they do everywhere, and we have found no +more changeability than elsewhere. And as to the rains: When it does +rain it pours, but most of it has been at night so far, and during the +day it dries off nicely. It it said that this is the rainy month, and we +may have to modify this view later. So far the rains have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> not been a +feature worthy of citation, as against the climate.</p> + +<p>Much attention has been given the drinking water of late years in the +riverine cities, and generally they have water on which they pride +themselves. Artesian wells are mostly utilized. The river water is muddy +and unsightly, but probably safe and certainly palatable. We depend on +our Puritan still, and a tripoli filter, and utilize the rain water we +catch in the canvas cover of the launch. No trouble has as yet affected +us from this source; and we are satisfied it pays well to take +precautions.</p> + +<p>From St. Louis down the river fairly bristles with opportunities for men +who understand business and have a little capital. But timber lands are +pretty well taken up. An Ohio party paid $100 an acre for 100 acres here +in this Atchafalaya country the other day.</p> + +<p>The people? Well, we have simply adopted the whole—white—population, +and find them delightful. There has not been a discordant note in our +intercourse with this warm-hearted, hospitable folk, who unite the +courtesy of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> French with a sincerity that makes itself felt every +moment.</p> + +<p>Dogs! Everyone seems to own hounds here. We had a few runs with them; +they came aboard and inspected us, and after due deliberation approved +of us, took up their home with us and declined to stay away; so that at +night one can scarcely set foot outside the cabin without stepping on a +sleeping hound. Even the women folk are disarmed when these dogs look up +with their big, beautiful eyes and nuzzle their cold noses into the hand +for a caress. One great fellow reared up against us, placed his paws on +our shoulders and silently studied our face awhile, then dropped to the +ground and henceforth devoted himself to us, never being far from our +side. We felt complimented!</p> + +<p>Go out with the gun, and see how these slumberous animals awake to +joyous life and activity. Then the long, musical bay, the ringing of the +hunters' horns, the quick dash of the deer past your stand, with the +dogs after, in full cry—say, brother, these low lands when leveed, +cleared and cultivated, will yield two bales of cotton to the acre, and +with cotton at 15 cents<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> and over, is not that splendid? So shut your +ears against the cry of the wild, and only consider what Progress means, +and how the individual and civic wealth is increasing as these wild +lands are brought under the plow and made productive of dollars. For is +not all of life simply a question of dollars, and success measurable +only in the bank account? So put away from you the things that make life +worth living, and devote yourself with a whole heart to the task of +making your son a millionaire, that he may make his son a +multimillionaire, and so on. It will do you so much good in the Great +Beyond to know this. That the money for which we give up all that +renders life enjoyable will either render our descendants dissipated and +useless, or enable them to oppress their fellowmen, need not be +considered. Money is all there is in life.</p> + +<p>The wife, daughter and Doctor are domiciled at Baton Rouge, while the +boys took the boats down to Alabama Bayou for a week with the big game. +Here is the small boy's report, verbatim:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p><p>Dear Mama and Papa: You talk about us not sending you any venison. If I +had any money I would send you enough to make you sick. I went hunting +with the boys this morning. Jim, Hudson and I went together. Bud drove +with the dogs. Jake and Frank went together. Frank took his shotgun and +he got lost from Jake, went to shooting robins. Jake got on an island +and did not know where he got on at. He had to wade a stream two feet +deep. After we had been looking for a stand we heard a shot behind us, +and then a rifle shot to the right of us, and three blows of Bud's horn, +which means dead deer. Jake was the first one to him, being only 300 +yards. We walked two and one-half miles before we got to him. When we +got there he had a big doe laying over a log. Bud drew him and they took +turns carrying him home. Every tooth in my head aches from chewing +venison. How are all of you? I waded about 30 ditches today over my shoe +tops and one over my knees. Bud said if I followed the dogs with him he +would give me first shot, and if I missed he would get him. Millie made +me a belt to fit the rifle cartridges. I christened my axe in deer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +blood. Bud said Queen was 10 feet behind it, King 20 feet and Diamond +ran up and threw the deer after it was shot. Then it got up and Diamond +got it in the throat and brought it down. I will have to close as it is +time to go to bed. With love to all,</p> + +<p class="right">William.</p> + +<p>Not bad for an 11-year-old. Everyone has been complaining of the +terrible weather here—frost three nights last week, and a light +overcoat not oppressive, though it is hardly necessary except for the +tendency one has to put his hands in his pockets otherwise. We asked one +of the natives what they would do in Chicago with zero weather, and he +replied with an air of conviction: "Freeze to death."</p> + +<p>We have a nibble for the boat. The river at Memphis is so full of +floating ice that the ferry boats cannot run; and that looks as if we +might not be able to get our boats towed to St. Louis before late +spring—and we want to be free. We note blooming in the open many +violets, polyanthus narcissus, camellias, sweet olive, magnolias just +budding out, and white hyacinths. The grass is putting up green shoots. +Large beds of chickweed are plentiful. The vinca was nipped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> by frost +last night. Next door is a fine palmetto and the great roses covering +the gallery are full of green leaves and the remains of the last crop of +blossoms, with new buds coming out. What a terrible winter!</p> + +<p>There is a street fair here. These people go about the country and +exhibit wherever they find a town that will pay them, their price here +being, it is said, $2,000 for a week. The Red Men pay them, and probably +the merchants subscribe to it, the business brought to town compensating +them. There are a number of attractions, like a little splinter broken +off the poorest part of Atlantic City. But it gives something to see and +do and talk about, to a town where there is too little of either for the +demand. There are a huge and a dwarf horse, glass blowers, a human +dwarf, contortionist, jubilee singers, kinetoscope, trained dogs and +monkeys, dissolving statue, and of course the nigger babies and knives +to throw at and miss. We have run against these aggregations all the way +down, and they are evidently becoming a feature of the smaller towns.</p> + +<p>Curious place for a State Capital. In our room stands a fine walnut +wardrobe with a door<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> broken open; and there is not a mechanic in the +city who can mend it. Glass is broken, and it remains so; any quantity +of miscellaneous mending and repairing needed, but it stands. The sunny +south is a bit slipshod; the ladies are delightful, but they do not work +their finger ends off cleaning out the last possibilities of dust and +dirt—they leave it to the darkies, who do what they cannot avoid doing +and stop right there.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>That our boys are not devoid of descriptive ability—and +imagination?—this chapter, written by Frank, will demonstrate.</p> + +<p>"At Melville, on the Atchafalaya, we became acquainted with some young +men who had a fine pack of deer hounds. They also call these "nigger +dogs," because they are employed for trailing convicts who escape from +the camps along the river.</p> + +<p>"Early in the morning our hunting party gathered on the levee—the +Doctor, Budd Tell, his brother Wylie, and two uncles, and four of us. +The old men were settlers and hunters of bobcat, deer, panther, bear and +other game. They said they had killed 160 deer in one winter, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +though we doubted this, we afterward found it was true.</p> + +<p>"We penetrated the woods till a desirable spot was reached, and here +Budd posted us on our stands. These are places clear of underbrush for a +space, so that the hunter may see to shoot anything that invades his +location. One man remains with the dogs, termed the driver. He was left +about two miles behind. When all had been placed the signal was given, +to start the dogs. Soon we could hear the music of their baying, as it +did not take long for them to strike a deer trail, and a fresh one at +that. The chase led in the Doctor's direction and presently we heard him +shoot—and he had downed his first deer. He got two that day. I shot +one, and Budd got a little fat doe. The others were fine bucks, weighing +175, 150 and 123 lbs. At least we thought so, after taking turns packing +them, on a pole; and that was the only scale we had; so we think it was +legal, under the circumstances.</p> + +<p>"As we were returning to the boat with our four deer, two men to each, +one man could be taking it easy all the time. Somehow the bunch got +separated in the cypress swamp, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>suddenly we heard the scream of a +panther. Then there were a number of shots, and after that silence, for +a couple of minutes. Then came a rifle shot. Jake and I being together, +we hurried in the direction of the shots. Soon we heard a noise that we +could not make out the cause of. We were still packing the deer. Then we +came in sight of the Doctor, stooping over Budd's brother. Close by lay +a dead panther. Budd's breast and arms were badly torn by the claws of +the animal, and his brother had a scalp wound and was insensible. +However, we all turned in to help, and he was soon on his feet, somewhat +damaged and rather faint, but still in the ring.</p> + +<p>"The panther had sprang on them from a tree, knocking Wylie down, then +turning on Budd who attacked the animal as soon as he realized what was +the trouble. The panther started for him like a cyclone and had his +shirt and some skin jerked off in less time than it takes for me to tell +it. Budd says he sure thought his time had come, and being somewhat of a +church member he put up a little call for help. Just then the Doctor ran +up, and by a lucky shot disabled the beast, which was soon dispatched. +He got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> the hide. The panther weighed over 100 lbs. and measured 5 feet +10 inches from nose to tip of tail.</p> + +<p>"As Budd and Wylie were too weak to carry the deer, the big cat was +allotted to them, and two of us took each a deer till we got out of the +timber, about dark. We reached the boat at 6 p. m., very tired. But we +had had our fun, and some of us had had an experience not usual even to +houseboat travelers. And we got the panther—though it came very near +getting two of the best fellows to be found in the south."</p> + +<p>Unfortunately the prize so highly valued was lost. The skin was +stretched out and placed on the roof to dry; that night the wind blew, +and next morning the skin had disappeared. The one now ornamenting the +Doctor's den was purchased to replace the original.</p> + +<p>Will some one explain how it happens that an indifferent shot, when +brought in face of such a proposition will make an unerring snap shot, +when a slight deviation would endanger the life of the companion? Many +years ago, while traversing the woods of Pennsylvania, we heard our +companion cry for help, after two shots close<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> together. We ran at full +speed, and saw him standing still, gazing at a huge snake at his feet. +Even as we ran we brought our double-barrel to our shoulder and without +taking aim blew the serpent's head off. There was no time to aim, and +had we done so it is doubtful if we could have made as good a shot.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">THE BOBCAT.</p> + +<p>Melville, La., Feb. 3, 1904.—Budd was watching some deer down the +river, when he saw a bobcat come out of the brush near by. He shot the +cat, when a buck ran out within twenty feet of him. He made a quick shot +at the buck, got him, and then ran after the cat. She had crawled under +some brush and thinking her dead he crawled after her. Just as he caught +hold of her leg to pull her out she turned on him and flew at his chest, +in which she embedded her claws. There was a lively tussle for a few +minutes, when he got away, and the cat crawled under a log. But when he +again attempted to pull her out she flew at him, apparently little the +worse for her wounds; and it was not till he succeeded in cutting her +throat that she died. He was pretty well clawed up, sufficiently to +deprive him of any further desire to tackle a bobcat, only a few of +whose lives had been expended.</p> + +<p>Here is a native's sample story:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p><p>"Father had been troubled by a bear that ate his corn, so he sat up one +night to get him. He noted where the bear came in from the canebrake, +and placed himself so that the wind blew from that place to his stand. +It was bright moonlight. Along in the night came Bruin, sniffing and +grunting. He paused at the fence till satisfied the way was clear, then +knocked a rail off the top and clambered over. He made his way among the +corn, and rearing up began to pull off the ears and eat them. Then dad +fired a handful of buckshot into him, breaking his shoulder. The bear +made for the place he had crossed the fence, scrambled over, and crashed +through the brake. Dad marked him down as stopping at a huge dead tree +that could easily be seen above the canes.</p> + +<p>"By this time the shot had aroused the folks, and dogs, darkies and men +came running out. The dogs sought the trail, but the only one that found +it was a little mongrel tyke, who started off after the bear and was +soon followed by the rest. The men tried to keep up, but dad ran right +for the big tree. A crooked branch across his path sprang into a coil +and rattled a warning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> at him. He stopped and gave it the other barrel, +and ran on. Coming up to the tree there was the bear, standing up, and +with his one arm raking the dogs whenever they ventured within reach. +Already the bravest showed evidences of his skill. One of the men shot +him—in fact they all shot, and the bear rolled over. Dad went up to +him, and some one remarked that he must be a tame bear, as his ear was +nicked. Dad felt the ear, and remarked how warm it was—and just then +the old bear whirled around, reared up, and seized dad in a real bear +hug. Fortunately it was a one-armed hug, and by a quick movement he was +able to wriggle away, and then one man who had not shot put his gun to +the bear's ear and shot half his head away. On the way home they picked +up the snake, which was seven feet long, and had 11 rattles and a button."</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>At Shiloh Landing, Miss., our boys were told of a negro who ate glass. +He came in while they were there, and cracked up a lamp chimney and ate +it, literally and without deception. He said he could walk over broken +glass without harm. He also was impervious to snakes. And while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> they +talked a huge cotton-mouth copperhead wriggled out on the floor. There +was a unanimous and speedy resort to boxes, barrels and tables, till the +serpent was killed. It seems the negro has a fancy for collecting snakes +and had brought this one in in a box, from which he made his escape.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>This morning we went out for robins, and got a mess; of which we +contributed one—could not shoot a little bit. After lunch we waited for +the mail and then bid good-bye to the kindly folk who had made Melville +so pleasant to us, and started on our journey up the Atchafalaya. The +river is wider, swifter and bigger than when we came down; and we will +be glad to get into the great river again. We have quite a collection of +skins—deer, cat and coon—gifts of our friends. We ran a few miles and +then the engine pump quit, and we tied up. Fair and clear, warm at +midday enough to make a vest a burden.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i166.jpg" alt="SPANISH MOSS (ATCHAFALAYA)" /></div> + +<p class="bold">SPANISH MOSS (ATCHAFALAYA).</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">ASCENDING THE ATCHAFALAYA.</p> + +<p>Atchafalaya River, Feb. 4, 1904.—There is a very perceptible difference +between descending a river and ascending it. Our gallant little launch +finds the cabinboat a difficult proposition against the current, as +aggravated by the rising floods. We made but a few miles yesterday and +tied up for the night. An unexpected steamer came along about 12:30 and +gave us a good tumbling. She returned later, having doubtless taken in +her freight at Melville meanwhile. This morning an east wind drives us +against the shore, so that we have to steer out, and that makes it a +head wind; so the shore creeps slowly past. It is cloudy and feels like +rain, though warm. The river is very muddy, and full of drift over which +the boat rumbles constantly. Many doves are seen on the trees along +shore but, as usual, we are in a hurry and cannot stop for sport.</p> + +<p>During the Civil War, we are told, the Atchafalaya could be bridged by +three carts, so that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> soldiers could cross. Now it is nowhere less than +sixty feet deep, and two-fifths of the water of the Mississippi go +through it to the Gulf. Every year it is enlarging, and the day may come +when the Mississippi will discharge through it altogether, and Baton +Rouge and New Orleans be inland cities. This route to the Gulf is 150 +miles shorter.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Atchafalaya River, Feb. 6, 1904.—We made but a short run yesterday, the +wind stopping us two miles below Oderberg, just within 150 yards of a +turn around which we had to go to get the wind in our favor. But we +could not do it. Boy and Dr. shot some robins and Jake got a mud hen; +and from a passing wagon we secured a roast of beef. An old colored +woman sold us some buttermilk, for two bits. This morning it was rainy +and foggy, but under great difficulties we pushed ahead and made +Simmesport by lunch. Here we engaged a gasoline boat to take us around +into the Mississippi, for seven dollars—about 14 miles—and felt we got +off well at that. The current in the Red is said to be too fierce for +our little boat. We did as well as possible,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> by hugging the low shore, +and when the one we were on became high and eroded we crossed to the +other. In that way we avoided the swift current and often got a back +one, or eddy. The steamer <i>Electra</i> dogged us all morning, passing and +stopping at numerous landings till we passed her. When we land we find +houses quite close along either shore. The rural population must be +large along the leveed part of the river. At Simmesport we obtained +butter, milk and lard, besides crackers and canned oysters. No meat. One +bunch of brant appeared in the fog this morning, but refused to listen +to our arguments favoring closer acquaintance.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Red River, Feb. 7, 1904.—That is, we suppose you call it the Red, but +it is now in truth an outlet of the Mississippi. We got to Simmesport, +had lunch, and arranged with a boy there to tow us through to the +Mississippi with a 5-horsepower gasoline. Hitched it behind, our launch +alongside, and started. The wind was as often contrary as favorable, and +we labored up the Atchafalaya till we got to Red River. The water is +decidedly red, but is backed up into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> Red by the lordship of the +Great River, which sweeps up the Old River channel with resistless +force. None of the Red water gets past Barbre Landing, either into the +Atchafalaya or the Mississippi. We turned into the Red or Old River +about 2:30, and by 6 had made about three miles, stopping in sight of +Turnbull Island Light No. 2. First the lever of our reversing gear +broke, and here a log swept under the launch and broke the coupling +bolt. This had happened the preceding day, and we had no extra left, so +had to stop as the other boat alone could make no headway against the +swift current. As it was, with both boats we had to coast along as close +as possible to the shore, where the current was slowest, to make any +progress at all. In the middle we were swept back. The boys left us to +return to Simmesport, where they were to make new coupling bolts and +return here this morning. We had a sleepless night. All day it was foggy +and rainy; in the night occasional showers pattered on the roof; and +floating wood rumbled under the boat. The water is full of this stuff +and it is impossible to prevent it going under the scow, where it sticks +and retards progress or emerges<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> to foul our propeller. This morning it +is still sticky, showery and slightly foggy; temperature at 9 a. m., 72. +When the steamer rocked us the other night Jake and Doctor turned out in +their nightgowns to fend off, and then stood leaning over the rail +talking for a time. Catch cold, turning out of a warm bed in January? +Naw! Whatchergivinus? This terrible winter weather!</p> + +<p>About 11:30 the boys returned with the tug and new bolts for our +coupler. We had hard work getting through the bridge, where the current +was fierce; but by 2 p. m. we were in the Mississippi and headed down +stream.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>Bayou Sara, Feb. 8, 1904.—We tied up last night in Morgan's Bend, after +dark. Started to float all night, but the fog came up, lightning showed +in the east, and we thought it wise to take no chances. We had the +launch hitched behind and when a steamer passed up quite near, it made +her leap and try to get her nose under the overhang, which might have +swamped her. This morning we got off at 5 a. m., floating till after +breakfast, when we set the old churn at work. Now the sun is up +brightly, a breeze<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> freshening up from the east, which is dead ahead +just now, and the town in sight. We talk of loading the boat with +palmettoes for the St. Louis fair market, and getting a tow north, if we +cannot get a fair price for the outfit.</p> + +<p>By 9 we reached Bayou Sara, where we increased our crew by three of +Louisiana's fair ladies, and at 11 resumed our journey. The wind had +subsided and we journeyed south over a river smooth as glass. Much +driftwood annoyed us, threatening our propeller blades. The poetry of +travel today, too warm for the folk to stand in the sun. Historic Port +Hudson was soon before us. It is now back from the river, Port Hickey +being its successor. Temperature 80 at 2 p. m. This terrible winter! We +are counting the miles between us and our dear ones at Baton Rouge.</p> + +<p>We reached Baton Rouge about 6 p. m., having made over 50 miles, and the +longest run of the trip.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">DUCKING AT CATAHOULA LAKE.</p> + +<p>Prof. Handwerker came down to Memphis, and we went for a duck shoot. We +went by rail to Alexandria and chartered a wagon with two sketchy ponies +and an aged veteran as driver, who took us about 20 miles to Catahoula +Lake. The toll man at the bridge valued our outfit at 40 cents, and +collected the entire price each way. The road lay through a lumber +country, where the yellow pine was being rapidly cut out. Arriving +within a mile of the lake, we concluded to stop with Mr. S., rather than +rest our old limbs in the doubtful protection of the tent we had brought.</p> + +<p>S. lived on a tract he had homesteaded, in a "plank-up" house of three +rooms. At the end of the living room was a large chimney of mud and +sticks, with andirons, in which a large fire burned constantly. There +were holes in the chimney of a size convenient for the cat to crawl +through, which the men had not had time to mend. Cracks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> an inch wide +between the plank let in a sufficiency of air, when the one +window—unencumbered with sash and glass—a simple wooden shutter, swung +shut. The family consisted of the man, his wife, two sons aged 16 and +12; horses, cows, oxen, chickens and numerous pigs. The latter were +dying off, and we saw numerous carcasses in the woods, the consequence +of a lot of diseased animals being brought in by a neighbor. S. had had +a sawmill, and with the aid of his sons and wife—the latter the +engineer—had turned out about 7,000 feet of lumber a day. For this he +had received his stock; but the wife did not feel that they were doing +well enough and persuaded him to sell the mill and raise cotton.</p> + +<p>They cleared a few acres which they farmed till the yield fell off, when +they let it lie fallow and farmed another bit. They had intended to saw +up a lot of wood for a new house, but somehow it had been neglected, or +when a lot had been got out some one made a dicker for it. The stock of +food for the animals had run short, and chop sold at the stores for +$1.00 a bag for cash, $1.60 on credit; so the animals ran in the woods +and ate Spanish moss. This, we were assured,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> was a good, nutritious +food, when the animals got used to it. All were very thin. One horse +looked like a walking skeleton, and in fact died during our stay—but +then it was so reduced by the time it died that the loss was trifling. +The horses had long since stripped the berries from the china berry +trees. We were told that eight crops of alfalfa had been cut from a +field in this region last summer; so that it is simply a question of +cultivating a few more acres to supply proper food to the stock. The +five cows gave about a quart of milk a day. They were milked once a +day—if they came up to the house in time; if not, it went over till next day.</p> + +<p>Mr. S. was a fine, good-natured man, who did not drink, or permit liquor +or cards in his house. He had some trouble with his shoulder, which +seriously interfered with his work, though he hauled logs to the +sawmill, the small boy driving. He was very proud of his wife; vaunting +her as the best worker in the parish, excepting their nearest neighbor; +and those two women, he averred, could equal any men in farming cotton, +chopping or sawing wood, and cultivating the garden. It was +edifying—touching—to see Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> S. bridle with pleasure under this +well-deserved approval.</p> + +<p>The two boys attended to the fires, on alternate days; and they sure did +show great mathematical talent, for they could calculate to a certainty +the exact quantity of wood that sufficed for the day and next morning, +so as to leave over not a scrap for the lessening of the other boy's +labors. In the evening a huge backlog was placed in the big chimney, +with two smaller pieces underneath, and some cypress under that to keep +up a blaze. Then all hands gathered around, S., the Professor and the +aged driver, with their pipes, the two boys chewing, and Mrs. S., with a +little stick projecting from her mouth, which puzzled us, till the idea +of its significance flashed across our mind—snuff! And then they set in +persistently and systematically to put the fire out, by well-directed +expectoration. And we are bound to say that in accuracy of aim Mrs. S. +was not behind the menfolk.</p> + +<p>Bedtime came. A big feather-bed was dragged out and placed on the floor +in front of the fire, some comforters thrown over it, with pillows, and +we were politely offered our choice of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> bed on the floor or that on +the wooden bedstead. It was left to us, and we took one apprehensive +look at the ancient stead—quite undeserved was the suspicion—and chose +the floor, remarking that we could not turn a lady out of her bed. This +was met with remonstrances on the part of these warm-hearted people, but +it was left that way. The old man and the two boys took the other bed, +and the seven of us lay down to sleep in the one room. First the lady +retired to the kitchen while we disrobed; then we offered to do the same +to give her a chance, but this was unnecessary, as she didn't disrobe. +The old man got in bed and lit his pipe; she took a fresh portion of +snuff, and we presume the boys a new quid. During the night we +occasionally heard S. scratching matches to light up. The bed of wild +duck feathers favorably modified the hardness of the floor, and we slept well.</p> + +<p>Before daybreak we heard S. lighting up, and then, with difficulty, he +induced the boy on duty to arouse and attend to the fire. Then Mrs. S. +arose and when we showed signs of consciousness we had a cup of +coffee—black, good quality, well sweetened, but without milk. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>Breakfast of smoked pork, more coffee, and hot bread—corn or wheat. We +may add that this was also our dinner and our supper, varied by +cracklin' bread, hot biscuits, and an occasional pie of berries or +peaches. Once sweet potatoes and once dried peas. If a visitor dropped +in, coffee was served around. And we had ducks.</p> + +<p>In the morning we hooked up the team and went down to the lake. The +formation is similar to that at Bear River, Utah; broad flats covered +with a few inches of water, the soil a stiff clay that will generally +hold a man up, but not always. But the people here have no boats, build +no blinds, and their only idea of duck shooting is to crawl on their +bellies through the mud till they can get a pot shot at a flock of ducks +in the water. They use heavy loads and No. 2 shot. As we did not shoot +ducks that way, our success was not very great. Still we got as many as +we could eat—and that's enough.</p> + +<p>The older boy suggested that we cross the lake to a group of cypresses, +where the shooting was good. We waded in about a hundred yards, when the +wading began to get pretty heavy, our feet sinking in over the ankles. +The Professor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> concluded to turn back, and took up his stand by a lone +cypress near the margin of the water. We felt that it was the part of +wisdom to do so also; but the boy began to chuckle and a smile of +derision appeared on his face. Now we don't like to be "backed down" by +a "kid," and he assured us the boggy place did not extend far and then +the bottom became firmer; so we kept on across the lake. It was said to +be a mile, but it proved to be at least ten. We had not gone far when we +began to realize several things: That the boy lied; that we weighed +nearly 200 lbs.; that the borrowed waders we had on were much too large; +that though in our life of 54 years we had ascertained that we were a +great many different kinds of a darned fool, this was one more kind. The +waders were tied to our waist, but soon pulled off so that we walked on +the legs; sank in over ankles at each step, but had to immediately +withdraw the foot to keep from going still deeper. We got tired—very +tired—but dared not stop. Out of breath, the throat burned as if we had +taken a dose of red pepper, but we could not stop for breath. Fell down +and struggled up with boots full of water; and after an eternity of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +effort struggled out on the other side, to stand in the cold, teeth +chattering, trying to get shelter against the cold wind in the hollow of +the cypress, and still keep a lookout for ducks. The fingers were too +cold to pull the trigger, almost, but a sprig came in and we nailed him. +And no more came our way.</p> + +<p>Just before we had frozen stiff the boy came back and we set out to walk +around the lake. It was only half as far as straight across. Some strays +passed over, and in response to our call a mallard duck settled down +upon the ground. The boy looked inquiringly at us, but we told him we +did not take such shots, and he crawled up and executed the bird. A jack +snipe rose, and fell promptly. Wading across a bayou we caught a glimpse +of green shining on the shore, and it proved to be a teal, directly in +front. He rose when we were within 40 feet, and fell with his head shot +off; which evidently elevated us in the estimation of the boy. Meanwhile +the Professor had accumulated a respectable collection of birds; and we +had game enough for the table.</p> + +<p>Arriving at the house, a discussion arose as to the way to cook them. We +stoutly maintained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> that a bird that had a distinctive flavor like a +teal should be lightly broiled. But the lady intimated that she had +something else in contemplation that would open our eyes and enlarge our +views. It did both. Will it be believed that those delicate little teal, +the snipe, sundry squirrels and quail subsequently brought in, were +ground up with smoked pork and onions into an undistinguishable mass of +sausage, and fried? Shades of Vatel!</p> + +<p>One look at the proud face of the designer of the dish, and the +Professor loudly vaunted the idea, and took another helping. No one +could have had the heart to dissent—and our virtue was rewarded, for +nothing could induce our good hostess to cook the birds any other way. +The Professor's praise settled that. Though his name indicates an origin +Teutonic rather than Milesian, and his huge frame would have easily +sustained the armor of Goetz von Berlichingen, he must have kissed the +Blarney stone, and no living woman could resist the charm of his approval.</p> + +<p>We lived on the food described for a week, and drank enough coffee to +paralyze the Postum<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> Cereal man—the Professor negotiated 14 cups a +day—and had not a trace of our acid dyspepsia. Is there any remedy for +this complaint, except hard work?</p> + +<p>One evening a neighbor came over with his wife, the one who had so high +a reputation as a worker. She was a thin little woman, with hollow +cheeks and great brown eyes, sad, as their only child had been recently +killed by accident, while out hunting. The inevitable snuff stick +protruded from her lips. The husband was a bright, merry fellow, who at +once struck up a trade with our old driver. They traded wagons, then +fell to about their horses, and as the spirit of trade aroused the +sporting blood the younger man asked if the other had a "trading hat," +or jackknife, and finally proposed they should go out on the gallery and +trade clothes to the skin. "Would trade everything he owned but the old +woman," he announced.</p> + +<p>The driver was a character in his way. He owned to 75 years, rivaled the +Professor's 6 feet 4 inches when erect, but was wholly longitudinal in +dimensions. On the road he informed us at intervals of five minutes that +the road was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>"pretty heavy today." He stood in awe of the Professor's +deep bass, and seeing this that irreverent youth played it on the old +man in a way to be reprobated. Mrs. S. gave us a pie one day for lunch, +and smilingly announced that it was the exclusive property of the +Professor. Accordingly the latter authoritatively forbade all others +meddling with his pie. About noon S. and the Doctor came across the lake +to the wagon, and began foraging for lunch. S. got out the pie and each +of us took a liberal slice, in spite of the old driver's protest that it +was the Professor's pie, and he must be held guiltless. Pretty soon the +Professor came over, and on seeing the hole in the pie bellowed in an +awful voice: "Who took my pie?" The old man threw up his arm as if to +protect his head, and anxiously cackled that he had no hand in it, that +it was the Doctor and S., and that he had told them they should not do +it. Just then the Doctor sauntered in, and the Professor tackled him +about who ate the pie. Dr. at once assured him it was the old driver; +that he had seen the stains of the berries on his lips; which mendacious +statement was received by the old man with voluble indignation. S. came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +up, and on being appealed to at once "caught on," and put the blame on +the driver. He was simply speechless with this most unjust charge. All +the rest of the day the Professor scolded over the pie, and we thought +of new arguments showing that no one but the driver could have purloined +it. But about bedtime, after there had been stillness for a time, a +still small voice came from the old man saying with a tone of dawning +comprehension: "I believe you fellows have been having fun with me about +that pie." This was too much, and the walls fairly cracked with the +howls of delight.</p> + +<p>We did not treat the old man very badly, though, as on leaving he +assured us if we ever came again into that country he would be only too +willing to join us in a similar trip.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">SOME LOUISIANA FOLKS.</p> + +<p>No negroes have ever been allowed to settle in the Catahoula country. +The dead line is seven miles from Alexandria. No objection is made if +anyone desires to bring a negro servant temporarily into the country, +but he must go out with his employer. Once a lumberman brought negroes +in, and determined to work them. They were warned, and left. Next year +be brought in a new lot, and announced that he would protect them. They +were duly warned, but refused to leave. One morning they were +found—seven of them—hanging to the rafters of their house. Years +elapsed before the experiment was again tried. The coroner's jury +brought in a verdict of suicide—and this was in dead earnest—no joke +or hilarity intended. To disregard due warning was equivalent to any +other method of self-destruction.</p> + +<p>When in after years an attempt was made to work negroes here, warnings +were duly posted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> on their doors. The negroes left. But the employer was +a determined man, and swore he would be eternally dingbusted—or words +to that effect—if he didn't work all the niggers he pleased; and he +enlisted a new lot of the most desperate characters he could find. +Warning was given and neglected; when one evening, as the darkies sat at +supper, a rifle bullet knocked the nail keg from under one of them, and +next morning not a negro was to be found in the vicinity.</p> + +<p>Observe the dispassionate, thoroughly conservative and gentlemanly way +the people handled the affair. There was no thirsting for gore, no +disposition to immolate these misguided folks to their employer's +obstinacy; just a gentle hint that Catahoula did not allow negroes. An +intimation to the employer followed, that a repetition would be followed +by a rifle aimed at him, not the keg this time, and he was wise enough +to see the point.</p> + +<p>We have heard these people spoken of as being dangerous characters. They +might be such, if misunderstood and their prejudices rudely affronted. +But we found them a simple, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>warm-hearted, scrupulously honest set, with +whom we thoroughly enjoyed a week's companionship, and expect to go back +for another one. Their interests are limited, their viewpoint may not +permit an extensive outlook, but their doors are always open to the +stranger, the coffee-pot on the stove, and the best they have is offered +him with a courtesy that never fails. They take little interest in +politics, newspapers we did not once see there, and schooling is +limited. Mrs. S. did not go to church in summer, because that would +involve the putting on of shoes—though she did say that if she chose to +go she would not hesitate to march into church in her bare feet, let +those dislike it who might!</p> + +<p>But do not imagine that these worthy people are deficient in common +sense. Mr. S. was perfectly aware that the timber he does not cut now is +worth three times what is was when he took up this land, and will be +worth more every year.</p> + +<p>This pine must reproduce itself with marvelous rapidity. We saw the +furrows of the old cotton cultivation running away back through the +woods, in which the trees were about ready for the saw. There is plenty +of land still open<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> for homesteading, but one must hunt it up for +himself, as the government gives absolutely no information to inquirers, +except that township maps cost a dollar apiece. If you want to know what +townships of what parishes have land available, just get on your horse +and explore, till you find out.</p> + +<p>The land companies make amends for this. There are about ten million +acres of land in Louisiana, and of this over six millions are offered +for sale in one little pamphlet before me. Much of this is sea marsh, +which ought to produce sea island cotton. We could find no one who knew +of its ever having been tried, but presume there is some reason for not +raising it, as this is a very profitable crop, selling for double the +market price of ordinary cotton.</p> + +<p>Why is there so much land for sale? For we did not meet a solitary man, +northern or southern by birth, who seemed to contemplate leaving the +state. The truth is there are not enough inhabitants to utilize the +land. Millions of acres are lying idle for want of workers. Every +inducement is extended to men to settle here and utilize the resources +now going to waste.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p><p>The South needs "Yankees." An ex-Confederate, discussing Baton Rouge, +said: "A dozen live Yankees would regenerate this town, and make +fortunes at it." They would pave the streets, cover in the sewers, build +up the vacant spots in the heart of the city, supply mechanical work at +less inhuman prices than are now charged, and make this rich and +intelligent community as attractive in appearance as the citizens are +socially.</p> + +<p>One such man has made a new city of Alexandria. He has made the people +pave their streets, put in modern sewerage, water, electricity, etc., +build most creditable structures to house the public officials, and in a +word, has "hustled the South," till it had to put him temporarily out of +office until it got its "second wind."</p> + +<p>In consequence Alexandria has no rival in the state except Shreveport. +And the people like it; they brag of Walsh and his work, take immense +pride in the progress of their beautiful city, and have developed into +keen, wide-awake Americans of the type that has built up our country.</p> + +<p>It seems essential for the incentive, the leaven, to come from outside; +but this is the lesson<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> of history. Xanthippus did nothing for Corinth, +but aroused Syracuse. Marion Sims vegetated in comparative obscurity +till he left the South, to become the leading surgeon of New York and +Paris. What would Ricord have been had he remained in America? The +interchange of blood, the entering of a stranger among any community, +acts as a disturbing element, that arouses action. And without action +there is no progress.</p> + +<p>The most promising indication is that this seems fully comprehended in +the South, and the immigrant is welcomed.</p> + +<p>It is well to be cautious about accepting as literally true the +statements made to strangers. People will exaggerate; and the temptation +to fill up a more or less gullible "tenderfoot" is often irresistible.</p> + +<p>Thus, we are told that connections between white men and negro women are +quite common; in fact, almost a matter of course. And these connections +are defended, as exalting the white woman to such a pinnacle that the +seduction of one would be followed by lynching the seducer; while there +is no wrong done the negro woman, because she has no moral sense in such +matters,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> to be injured. Instead of feeling that she is "lost," she +brags of her "conquest."</p> + +<p>But several facts lead us to doubt the literal truth of these +statements. We note that the same tales are told in illustration that we +heard when here five years ago. No new material seems to have appeared +in that time. Then again, the mulatto is exceedingly rare; the negroes +met on the streets and in the fields being pure black. These and similar +facts lead us to receive the above accounts with a very large grain of salt.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">FROM WINTER TO SUMMER IN A DAY.</p> + +<p>March 11. 1904.—We left Chicago at 6 p. m. The ground was covered with +snow, the winds cutting through our clothes, and winter still held his +own relentlessly. By the time we reached Cairo the change was evident; +and next evening at the same hour we were well down in Mississippi, and +our clothes oppressively warm. Trees were in full leaf, and numerous +cold frames showed that trucking was in full operation. Rain set in and +followed us to Memphis, but then the sky cleared. We found full summer +at New Orleans, the grass in the parks green, the foliage that of +midsummer. At Baton Rouge the violets were about over, but the roses +were enough to discourage one from ever again trying to raise them in Chicago.</p> + +<p>Why do people suffer from the winter north when they need not do so? +Many shiver and pine for the warm days, during this month of blustering +cold, when everyone has had enough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> winter and longs for spring, while +all they have to do is to jump on a train and in 24 hours they are in +this delightful clime. When need compels, we must take our medicine +without a grumble; but to many all that keeps them north in March is +inertia and thoughtlessness.</p> + +<p>There are many little businesses carried on in these river boats. We saw +many trading boats which supplied ordinary necessaries and carried small +freights, or gathered up skins and other little products not worth the +while of steamers to stop for. Photographers ply up and down the +streams; a fortune teller makes good profits; a quack sells liniments +and other drugs, and does a bit of unlicensed practice; and very likely +some boats sell whisky. We did not hear of an evangelist, yet there +seems to be a need for some work of this sort. One man sold roofing +paint along the river for good profits.</p> + +<p>The South would do well to study the practical applications of the +maxim: "Put yourself in his place." The Italians keep goats as the Irish +do pigs. Both forage for a living, and supply an important place in the +social economies. The goat is to the Italian a matter of course. But a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +doctor was annoyed by the animals, and told his Italian neighbor he must +keep his goats shut up. He did not do so, and so the doctor shot the +goats. Next morning, as the doctor passed the Italian's stand, the +latter drew a pistol, remarking: "You shoot my goat; I shoot you," and +shot the doctor dead. This nearly precipitated a race riot.</p> + +<p>If there was no law against allowing goats to run at large, the Italian +was strictly within his rights. It was up to the doctor to fence his +premises. If there was such a law, the doctor should have called on the +proper officers to enforce it. In either case he was in the wrong; and +the habit of taking the law in one's own hands was responsible for the tragedy.</p> + +<p>The discontent of the negro with plantation life and work is not, we are +everywhere told, a matter of wages. Then why is there no intelligent +attempt made to study the question with a view to devising means of +attaching him to the place? He is a child in many respects, and +amusement goes far in rendering him contented and happy. Were he these, +he would not be restless to leave the plantations. A barbecue next +week,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> a dance Saturday night, a little fun in expectation, would go far +to keep him quiet, and need not cost more than a trifle of what it would +be worth. The problem seems easy enough, but we have heard of no attempt +to solve it on such lines.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">VOYAGE ENDED.</p> + +<p>And here our voyage ended. The doctor moved ashore to join his wife and +children. Millie went to St. Louis, and Jim to Oklahoma; while Frank and +Jake remained on the boat until it was finally disposed of. Frank had +worked on the engine until he had mastered her, and found the +difficulties. She had never been properly installed, so we got blue +prints from her builders and reset the engine in accordance with them. +We got new batteries, a block tin pipe in place of the iron one which +took the gasoline from the tank to the engine, and rust from which had +figured largely in the troubles we experienced. The pump had been +literally cut to pieces by the mud in the river water and a new one was +obtained. When thus refitted, she ran without a balk; and we really +believe a child could have managed her. She turned out to be what had +been claimed for her, remarkably fast. In fact, we left her with the +determination that our next engine should be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> a Fay and Bowen, also. She +was sold to a resident of Baton Rouge, for $300; the alterations having +cost the Doctor about $50, in addition to the boys' wages. One thing we +learned—never order work down here without a distinct agreement as to +the work and the price. Frank ordered a little fixing at a local shop, +for which he said $6 was a liberal price; but the man brought in a bill +of over $16.</p> + +<p>The small boats, guns and shells were sent back to Chicago, most of the +furniture sold for trivial sums, and the cabin boat left in the charge +of Mr. S. S. Lewis, of the Lewis Lumber Co. for sale. All attempts to +obtain a tow up the river failed. The big coal companies' agents +referred us to the home office, but said the price would not be less +than $300. We heard that the captains of tow boats going up would take +us up for a trifle, but we did not find one of these chances, after +waiting two months. Some men talked of buying the cabin and launch and +taking it around to the Bayou Manchac for a hunting and fishing lodge, +but nothing came of it.</p> + +<p>We might have sold by bringing the outfit around to the Gulf ports, but +had no leisure for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> this. A plan was suggested to load the cabin with +palmettoes and take them to St. Louis to serve as decorative plants at +the Fair; but the Superintendent of Audubon Park said the plants would +not live, that when the root of a palm was cut it died back to the +stalk, and it was doubtful if a new growth of roots would take place. +But men who try to extirpate the palms say they are unkillable; and the +two we took up and replanted in the boat were still living after two +months, and had out two new leaves each. Possibly we might have made a +good thing, as the boat could have carried 1,000 good-sized palms.</p> + +<p>At New Orleans we hear these cabin boats are so plentiful they cannot be +given away. The <i>Desplaines</i> was sold there for a good price.</p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/i198.jpg" alt="BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS" /></div> + +<p class="bold">BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">DANGERS AND DELIGHTS.</p> + +<p>A few words as to certain dangers that might be expected on such a trip. +We were never annoyed by loafers, tramps, or unpleasant visitors of any +sort, with the one exception of the probable river pirates whose visit +is described. At the towns people let us alone, and those who were +interested enough to call on us were entirely unobjectionable. Of course +our numbers may have had some influence.</p> + +<p>We never had any malaria or other febrile affection, and most of our +drug supply was superfluous. Half a dozen articles would comprise the +list for any ordinary party.</p> + +<p>During the entire trip we never saw a snake, alligator, centipede, +scorpion or any other venomous reptile. Flies and mosquitoes left us at +the first frost, and our mosquito hats and veils were never used. The +other insect pests of the south—fleas, gnats, redbugs, ticks and +jiggers—began to show up in April, after we had left the boat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> and were +living on shore. We were out in the wrong season for fish, turtles and +frogs, and in fact found difficulty in procuring any fish at all, +excepting carp, for our table. But a little more activity on our part +would probably have remedied this—we did not try to fish much. So with +the shooting—we did not try very hard, and never shot more than we +could eat without waste.</p> + +<p>It was our impression that the South fairly bristles with opportunities +for business. There is plenty of cheap land, room for hundreds of +thousands of farmers and lumbermen, dairies, general stores, supply +houses of every sort. Fruit, berries, garden truck of all sorts, nuts, +milk, butter, chickens and ducks, eggs, and many other articles might be +raised and a market found for them along the river. There is a very +short supply of nearly all these products, right where they could be raised.</p> + +<p>The old prejudice against a white man's working alongside a negro seems +to be dying out. We saw men of both colors working together too often +for it to be in any degree exceptional. Negro mechanics in New Orleans +get from four to seven dollars a day, and are very independent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> as to +their work. Many large planters rent small lots to negroes, others to +Italians, and sell on easy terms to either whenever they wish to buy. So +far has the disdain of manual work subsided that we were informed that +in one of the most prominent (white) universities many of the pupils +support themselves in part by waiting on the table, washing dishes, and +in other ways.</p> + +<p>Assuredly it is not now looked upon as degrading to any white man in the +south, that he should work with his hands, if need be.</p> + +<p>If there is any prejudice now against northern men who come to settle in +the south, it kept itself out of our sight. Instead, we find immigration +agents established by the state, to set before the men of the north the +advantages they can secure by coming south. Of the numerous northern men +we met and talked with, who had come south, but one spoke of +encountering prejudice—and we strongly suspect he had given good cause. +Many northern men, like the writer, have married southern girls, and +thus the lines of separation between the sections are becoming confused +and indistinct.</p> + +<p>One Indiana man, who had come south, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>expressed what may be taken for +the usual view, as we received it: "Any northern man who has $3,000 is a +fool if he does not bring it down here and make his fortune in ten years +out of it." And this is the man for whom there are such abundant +openings here—the one who has a small capital and good business sense.</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>The River—that great, wonderful river. We descended its current at the +time the water was at the lowest; but the impression of its giant power +grew on us daily; the resistless sweep of the current, the huge boils +rising from the depths, the whirlpools; but above all the cutting away +of the banks. We soon discovered that levees are not meant as restraints +of this erosion—the river flows how and where it will—but to protect +against the flood waters. From Alton to the gulf there is scarcely a +stone to be seen, and the current flounders about through the soft +alluvium, like a whale in blankets. When the cutting approaches the +levees new ones are constructed further back; and the intervening +country is handed over to its fluvial master.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p><p>The commerce of the river systems is a thing of the past, but a shadow +of what it was about wartime. The railways carry the freights now. But +how is it more people do not travel by water? Years ago we went by +steamer from Cincinnati to Louisville, and thoroughly enjoyed the +trip—the quiet, absence of rattle and smoke, the lovely panorama +floating by, the music, the well-served meals, and the leisurely, +cultured folk who were really taking time to travel pleasantly, instead +of the hustle of limited expresses. Surely, the only reason more people +do not enjoy this mode of travel is that they do not know of it.</p> + +<p>But when one floats on the bosom of the great river there grows up a +certain fascination for it. We saw one cabin boat in which an elderly +man was said to have lived for years, alone. A man of wealth, who could +have utilized Pullmans had he chosen. One can readily comprehend this; +for long will it be ere the beating of the waves against the side of the +boat ceases from our dreams. A little cabin boat that one could manage, +dogs for the only companions, guns and rods, and the long, quiet sojourn +where the coal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> and other trusts matter not a whit—and where could +hermit find such a delightful retreat!</p> + +<p>Then for the elderly man who has outlived his family and the period of +active participation in the world's warfare. What a home for a group of +such men, who could be company for each other.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">RESULTS.</p> + +<p>The Doctor enjoyed every moment of the trip. While we have recorded all +the accidents and drawbacks, the reader must not imagine that they were +really serious or detracted much from the pleasure. If we fished and +hunted but little it was because we found so much of interest and +delight that the time was filled without these pastimes. We did not use +our wheels much for the same reason—we had so much going on that we +rarely felt the desirability of more means of occupying our time. The +work went on well, and in this respect the plan worked out as expected. +There were abundance of time and few interruptions; time for study, for +putting the thoughts on paper; and the little breaks when called on +deck, never disarranged the mental machinery. The exercise was most +beneficial. Chopping or sawing wood, and helping with the boat work, +brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> the digestion into good condition, and we came home much +stronger than we left.</p> + +<p>The same may be said of the children. The boy enjoyed it all; the girl +did well, but naturally got tired and longed for her little friends. +Both improved in physique and broadened their ideas, and laid in a store +of knowledge. They learned much and were not roughened in manners.</p> + +<p>The invalid did pretty well and would have done much better had our +original plan been followed; but the delay caused by building the new +boat allowed us to be caught in the November storms on the Illinois, and +then it was a constant hurry to get south. Toward the last she tired of +the boat and longed for the flesh-pots of Egypt—other women to talk +clothes to, dry goods stores, the luxuries of civilization. Few women +have enough of the gipsy in their blood to stand seven months' travel +without ennui.</p> + +<p>The experience of the <i>Desplaines</i> showed the wisdom of beginning with a +clear understanding with the crew and paying them fair wages. They took +the crew on an indefinite arrangement, paying no wages. When they fell +in with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> us their crew became discontented, constant quarreling +resulted, and the crew broke up. Naturally, when they found our men +receiving wages for easier work than theirs, dissatisfaction resulted. +Don't go on such an expedition with the crew on a "no wages" basis. Pay +fairly, or else make up the party on the basis of equal participation in +the expenses; but don't mix matters.</p> + +<p>Don't buy an old boat. There is a satisfaction in knowing that the +timbers beneath you are sound and put together in the strongest possible +manner, and amply able to withstand the fiercest trials they can +possibly receive. Especially if women and children are to form part of +your crew, you want to feel easy on the score of your boat. Have the +boat built at a place like Henry, where well-selected lumber and honest +work will go in the building. Have it brought to Chicago and start in +the boat here.</p> + +<p>Do not have a boat more than sixteen feet wide, outside measure, that is +to pass through the canal.</p> + +<p>Have the roof thoroughly watertight and the crevices about the base of +the cabin protected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> by quarter-rounds and calking so that there will be +no water leaking in there when waves wash over the deck. Have a good +large open deck in front, for there you will live in pleasant weather. +Get a good wood-burning stove for cooking—gasoline and oil are too +expensive, when you get wood for nothing.</p> + +<p>Select your party with care; not everyone who goes into such a trip with +enthusiasm will wear well, when living half a year in a boat with you. +Leave out people who expect the luxuries of a well-appointed hotel. +Limit the clothing for men and women to two suits each; one for the boat +and one for town. You may not disturb the latter for months. If you can +possibly avoid it, take no one in the party who drinks liquor even in +moderation—certainly not in the crew. Every modification of this opens +the door to trouble. If a guest takes his morning eye-opener the crew +will want to do so; and some one of them may be of the sort that can not +taste it without getting crazy drunk.</p> + +<p>It seemed to us that anyone of a mercantile turn could do a good +business along the river; pay expenses and make money. Everywhere<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> along +the great river people boarded our boat, asking what we were selling. +The men asked for whisky, the women for dry goods or dressmaking. At one +landing a trader sold eighteen skiffs. On the Atchafalaya we passed a +cabinboat bearing in large letters the title: "The White Elephant +Saloon." We heard that this boat had given the authorities much trouble, +but can not vouch for the truth of the report. She was selling liquor, +evidently, and we gave her a wide berth. Melville was a temperance town, +but there was a shanty across the river known as "the Goose," where +liquor was sold, and a skiff ferry to it was well patronized. The owner +was building a large cabinboat at a cost of $1,000, but for what purpose +we could only presume; and our presumption was that it would be a +profitable investment.</p> + +<p>To make a similar trip leave Chicago between the 15th and 30th of +September, provide for towage through the canal to La Salle, and float +down the rivers, stopping when the weather is unpleasant. You should +take a tow from Kampsville to the Mississippi, as there is little +current from the Illinois into it. Thereafter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> even so small an engine +as our 3-horse-power will suffice, as you will not be hurried and can +await favorable winds. The larger the boat the more men will be +required. Ours was right for four men; and that is a good number for a +party. There will be no danger of annoyance, while a smaller party might +meet some ugly customers. With every additional member the chances for +disagreement increase—and life is too short for quarreling. On reaching +the mouth of Red River, ascend that stream till you can reach Catahoula +Lake, if you are after ducks and geese; though the old river-bed lakes +along the Mississippi will furnish plenty. But if deer and other large +game attract you, descend the Atchafalaya to Alabama bayou; then pass +through Grand Lake to the gulf and coast around to the string of resorts +along the coast from Bay St. Louis to Pensacola and the Florida coast, +if so long a trip is desired. If you ascend the rivers you will need +tows, unless your power is large.</p> + +<p>The results of the trip to the writer may be summed up as: Better work, +better done, and more of it, than would have been possible in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> same +time at the city home; a renewal of vitality, digestion improved, years +rolled back so that again has come that sense of capacity to work +without limit, that has not been present for years; and a crowd of +pleasant recollections that will endure for life.</p> + +<p>Would we like to go again? Just give us the chance!</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The houseboat book, by William F. Waugh + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK *** + +***** This file should be named 44656-h.htm or 44656-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/6/5/44656/ + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Waugh + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: The houseboat book + The Log of a Cruise from Chicago to New Orleans + +Author: William F. Waugh + +Release Date: January 13, 2014 [EBook #44656] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK + +The Log of a Cruise from Chicago to New Orleans + +BY + +WILLIAM F. WAUGH + +[Illustration: Decoration] + +THE CLINIC PUBLISHING COMPANY +CHICAGO +1904 + + +COPYRIGHT, 1904, +BY WILLIAM F. WAUGH. + +PRESS OF +THE CLINIC PUBLISHING CO. +CHICAGO. + + +[Illustration: THE HELEN W. OF CHICAGO.] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + PAGE + I. Prelude 5 + + II. Gathering Information 9 + + III. Preparations 13 + + IV. The First Shipwreck 23 + + V. The Canal 27 + + VI. The Illinois River 40 + + VII. Building the Boat 46 + + VIII. The Lower Illinois 55 + + IX. Towing 68 + + X. St. Louis 77 + + XI. The Mississippi 81 + + XII. Cairo and the Ohio 90 + + XIII. Duck Shooting 103 + + XIV. Snagged in Tennessee Chute 109 + + XV. Mooring 116 + + XVI. A Levee Camp 118 + + XVII. Vicksburg 128 + + XVIII. River Pirates 133 + + XIX. The Atchafalaya 136 + + XX. Melville. Deer Hunting 141 + + XXI. Baton Rouge. The Panther 150 + + XXII. The Bobcat 163 + + XXIII. Ascending the Atchafalaya 167 + + XXIV. Ducking at Catahoula Lake 173 + + XXV. Some Louisiana Folks 185 + + XXVI. From Winter to Summer in a Day 192 + + XXVII. Voyage Ended 196 + +XXVIII. Dangers and Delights 199 + + XXIX. Results 205 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +PRELUDE. + + +Once upon a time there was a doctor who, after many years spent in that +pursuit concluded to reform. But strong is the influence of evil +associates, and those who had abetted him in his old ways still +endeavored to lead him therein. + +One day his good angel whispered in his ear the magic words, "House +boat;" and straightway there arose in his mental vision the picture of a +broad river, the boat lazily floating, children fishing, wife's cheery +call to view bits of scenery too lovely for solitary enjoyment, and a +long year of blissful seclusion where no tale of woe could penetrate, no +printer's devil cry for copy. Incidentally the tired eyes could rest, +and the long stretches of uninterrupted time be transmuted into creative +work; with no banging telephone or boring visitor to scatter the +faculties into hopeless desuetude. Sandwich with hours busy with those +recuperative implements, the rod and gun, the adventures and +explorations incident to the trip, and here was a scheme to make the +heart of a city-tired man leap. + +So he went to the friend whose kindly appreciation had put a monetary +value upon the emanations from his brain, and suggested that now was the +time for the besom of reform to get in its work, and by discharging him +to clear the way for new and improved editorial talent. But the friend +received the suggestion with contumely, threatening to do the editor +bodily harm if he so much as mentioned or even contemplated any attempt +to escape. The scheme was perforce postponed for a year, and in the +meantime attempts were made to gather useful information upon the +subject. + +The plan seemed simple enough--to leave Chicago by the Drainage Canal, +float down to the Illinois River, then down it to the Mississippi, by it +to New Orleans, then to strike off through the bayous or canals into the +watery wastes southwest, and spend there the time until the approach of +the Carnival called us back to the southern metropolis. By starting +about September 1st we could accompany the ducks on their southern +journey, and have plenty of time to dawdle along, stopping wherever it +seemed good to us. + +So we went to work to gather information. The great bookstores were +ransacked for books descriptive of houseboat trips down the Mississippi. +There were none. Then we asked for charts of the Illinois and +Mississippi. There were none of the former in existence; of the latter +the Government was said to have published charts of the river from St. +Louis to the Gulf; and these were ordered, though they were somewhat +old, and the river changes constantly. Then a search was made for books +on American houseboats and trips made upon them; books giving some +rational information as to what such things are, how they are procured, +furnished, managed, what is to be had and what avoided; but without +avail. Even logs of canoe trips on the great river, and accounts of +recent steamer trips, are singularly scarce. People insisted on forcing +upon our notice Bangs' "Houseboat on the Styx," despite our reiterated +asseverations that we did not care to travel over that route just now. +Black's "Strange Adventures of a Houseboat" is principally remarkable +for the practical information it does not give. + +Scarcely a juvenile was to be found treating of the subjects; nor have +the novelists paid any attention to the rivers for a third of a century. +Books of travel on the great system of inland American waters are +similarly rare. + +It has finally come home to us that this is a virgin field; that the +great American people reside in the valley of the greatest river in the +world, and pay no attention to it; write nothing of it, know nothing, +and we fear care nothing. And while many persons utilize houseboats, and +many more would do so if they knew what they are, and how much pleasure +is to be derived therefrom, no one has seen fit to print a book that +would make some amends to an intending purchaser for his lack of +experience. Possibly the experiences detailed in the following pages may +in some degree fulfill this need, and aid some one to avoid the mistakes +we made. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GATHERING INFORMATION. + + +From magazine articles we gathered that a new boat would cost about +$1,000. We were assured, however, that we could buy an old one that +would answer all needs for about $100. We were told that if the boat +measures 15 tons or more our rapidly-becoming-paternal government +requires the services of a licensed pilot. All steamers are required to +have licensed engineers, though the requirements for an owner's license +are not very rigid. Gasoline boats as yet do not come under any laws, +though there is talk of legislation upon them, and there may be, by the +time this book reaches its readers. + +Houseboats usually have no direct power, but are gently propelled by +long sweeps. If the boat is small this is all right; but as large a boat +as ours would require about four strong men to hold her steady in +dangerous places. It takes a much smaller investment if power is +excluded; and if the boat goes only down stream, with force enough to +manage her in currents and blows it is cheaper to hire towage when +requisite. But if possible have power, and enough. Many boats we saw in +the Mississippi are fitted with stern wheels and gasoline engines, and +these have great advantages. In cold weather the engineer is protected, +and can run in and get warm, while if in a towing boat he may suffer. +The expense is less, as there is the hull of the towboat to buy when +separate. The motion communicated to the cabin by an attached engine is +soon forgotten. You should not calculate in selling either cabin, engine +or towboat when ready to leave for the north, as prices in the south are +uncertain; and if you have not invested in power you lose that much less +if you desert your outfit. + +Between steam and gasoline as power there is much to be said. With steam +you require a license, it is dirty, more dangerous, takes time to get up +steam, and care to keep it up. But you can always pick up wood along +shore, though an engine of any size burns up a whole lot, and it takes +so much time to collect, cut and saw the wood, and to dry it, that if +you are paying a crew their time makes it costly. Low down the river, +in times of low water, coal is to be gathered from the sand bars; but +this cannot be counted upon as a regular supply. But you can always get +fuel for a wood-burning engine, and if you contemplate trips beyond +civilization it may be impossible to obtain gasoline. + +Gasoline boats are cleaner, safer, always ready to start by turning a +few buttons, and cheaper, if you have to buy your fuel. If you are going +beyond the reach of ordinary supplies you may run out, and then your +power is useless; but in such cases you must use foresight and lay in a +supply enough for emergencies. + +Both varieties of engines are liable to get out of order, and require +that there shall be someone in charge who understands their mechanism +and can find and remedy the difficulty. Our own preference in +Mississippi navigation is unquestionably for the gasoline. If we go to +the West Indies or the Amazon we will employ steam. Were we +contemplating a prolonged life on a boat, or a trading trip, we would +have the power attached to the cabin boat; and the saved cost of the +hull of a towboat would buy a small gasoline cutter--perhaps $150--which +could be used as a tender. But when you get power, get enough. It saves +more in tow bills than the cost of the engine; and if it is advisable to +bring the outfit back to the north full power saves a great loss. _Quod +est demonstrandum_ in the course of this narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +PREPARATIONS. + + +Our search for a second-hand houseboat was not very productive. At +Chicago the choice lay between three, and of these we naturally chose +the worst. It was the old Jackson Park boat, that after long service had +finally become so completely watersoaked that she sank at her moorings; +but this we learned later. In fact, as in many instances, our foresight +was far inferior to our hindsight--and that is why we are giving our +experiences exactly as they occurred, so that readers may avoid our +mistakes. + +This houseboat was purchased for $200, the vendor warranting her as +sound and safe, in every way fit and suitable for the trip contemplated. +He even said she had been through the canal as far as the Illinois +river, so there was no danger but that she could pass the locks. The +cabin measured 24 x 14.3 x 7 feet; and there was a six-foot open deck in +front, three feet behind, and two feet on either side, making her width +18 feet 3 inches. One end of the cabin was partitioned off, making two +staterooms and a kitchen, each 7 feet in depth. The rest formed one +large room. It was well lighted, with 14 windows; and had doors in each +side and two at the front opening into the kitchen and one stateroom. +The roof was formed of two thicknesses of wood and over this a canvas +cover, thickly painted. + +The staterooms were fitted with wire mattress frames, arranged to be +folded against the sides when not in use for beds. In the large room we +placed an iron double bed and two single ones, shielded from view by a +curtain. There was a stove capable of burning any sort of fuel; two +bookcases, dining table, work table, dresser, chairs, sewing machine, +sewing table, etc. We had a canvas awning made with stanchions to go on +the top, but this we never used, finding it pleasanter to sit on the +front deck. + +Among the equipment were the following: A canoe with oars and paddle, +50-lb. anchor, 75 feet 3/4-inch rope, 75 feet 1-inch rope, 100 feet 1/2-inch +rope, boat pump, dinner horn, 6 life preservers, 2 boathooks, 2 +hammocks, 4 cots, Puritan water still, small tripoli filter, a tube of +chemical powder fire extinguisher, large and small axes, hatchet, brace +and bits, saws, sawbuck, tool-box well furnished, soldering set, repair +kit, paper napkins, mattresses, bedding, towels, and a liberal supply of +old clothes, over and under. We had an Edison Home phonograph and about +50 records; and this was a useful addition. But many articles we took +were only in the way, and we shall not mention them. + +We had a full supply of fishing material, frog spears, minnow seine, +minnow trap, railroad lantern, tubular searchlight with bull's-eye +reflector, electric flashlight with extra batteries, twine, trotline, +revolver and cartridges, 50-gauge Spencer for big game, and as a second +gun, with 150 cartridges; 32-H. P. S. Marlin rifle, with 400 cartridges; +Winchester 12-gauge pump, with 2,000 shells; Browning automatic shotgun; +folding decoys, 4 shell bags, McMillan shell extractor, U. S. Gov't +rifle cleaner, Marlin gun grease, grass suit, shooting clothes heavy and +light, hip boots, leggings, sweaters, chamois vest, mosquito hats, two +cameras with supplies, including developers, compass (pocket), copper +wire, whetstone, can opener and corkscrew, coffee pot to screw to wall, +matches in waterproof box, a Lehman footwarmer and two Japanese muff +stoves, with fuel. For the kitchen we got a gasoline stove with an oven. +There was a good kerosene lamp, giving sufficient light to allow all +hands to read about the table; also three lamps with brackets for the +small rooms. + +In preparing our lists of supplies we derived great assistance from +Buzzacott's "Complete Camper's Manual." It was a mistake to buy so many +shot-gun shells. All along the river we found it easy to get 12-gauge +shells, better than those we had. + +The boy rejoiced in a 20-gauge single barrel. We had so much trouble in +getting ammunition for it that we purchased a reloading outfit and +materials at Antoine's. This little gun was very useful, especially when +we wanted little birds. + +A full supply of medicines went along, mainly in alkaloidal granules, +which economize space and give extra efficiency and many other +advantages. A pocket surgical case, a few of the instruments most likely +to be needed, surgical dressings, quinidine (which is the best +preventive of malaria among the cinchona derivatives), insect powder, +sulphur for fumigation, potassium permanganate for the water, +petrolatum, absorbent cotton, a magnifying glass to facilitate removal +of splinters, extra glasses for those wearing them; and a little whisky, +which was, I believe, never opened on the entire trip. + +The boy was presented with a shell belt; and a week before starting we +found he was sleeping with the belt on, filled with loaded shells. Say, +tired and listless brethren, don't you envy him? Wouldn't you like to +enjoy the anticipation of such a pleasure that much? + +Among the things that were useful we may add a game and shell carrier, a +Marble axe with sheath, and a Val de Weese hunter's knife. After serving +their time these made acceptable presents to some kindly folk who had +done much to make our stay at Melville pleasant. + +We fitted out our table and kitchen from the cast offs of our home, +taking things we would not miss were we to leave them with the boat when +through with her. It matters little that you will find the most complete +lists wanting in important particulars, for ample opportunity is given +to add necessaries at the first town. But the Missis insisted on taking +a full supply of provisions, and we were very glad she did. Buzzacott +gives a list of necessaries for a party of five men camping five days. +It seems liberal, when added to the produce of rod and gun. + + + 20 lbs. self-raising flour. + 6 lbs. fresh biscuit. + 6 lbs. corn meal. + 6 lbs. navy beans. + 3 lbs. rice. + 5 lbs. salt pork. + 5 lbs. bacon. + 10 lbs. ham. + 15 lbs. potatoes. + 6 lbs. onions. + 3 lbs. can butter. + 3 lbs. dried fruits. + 1/2 gallon vinegar pickles. + 1/2 gallon preserves. + 1 qt. syrup. + 1 box pepper. + 1 box mustard. + 6 lbs. coffee. + 6 lbs. sugar. + 1/2 lb. tea. + 1/2 lb. baking powder. + 4 cans milk and cream. + 1 sack salt. + 6 boxes matches (tin case). + 1 lb. soap. + 1 lb. corn starch. + 1 lb. candles. + 1 jar cheese. + 1 box ginger. + 1 box allspice. + 1 lb. currants. + 1 lb. raisins. + 6 boxes sardines. + 1 screwtop flask. + + +Fresh bread, meat, sausage, eggs for first days. + +The wife laid in her stock of provisions, costing about sixty dollars +and including the articles we use generally. + +Among the books we found that seemed likely to provide some useful +information are: + + + Trapper Jim--Sandys. + + Last of the Flatboats--Eggleston. + + Houseboat series--Castlemon. + + Bonaventure--Cable. + + Down the Mississippi--Ellis. + + Down the Great River--Glazier. + + Four Months in a Sneak Box--Bishop. + + The Wild-Fowlers--Bradford. + + The Mississippi--Greene. + + The Gulf and Inland Waters--Mahan. + + The Blockade and the Cruisers--Soley. + + The History of Our Navy--Spears. + + In the Louisiana Lowlands--Mather. + + Hitting and Missing with the Shotgun--Hammond. + + Among the Waterfowl--Job. + + Up the North Branch--Farrar. + + Botanist and Florist--Wood. + + The Mushroom Book--Marshall. + + Wild Sports in the South--Whitehead. + + Cooper's Novels. + + Catalog from Montgomery Ward's mail order house. + + And a good supply of other novels, besides the children's + schoolbooks. + + +By writing to the U. S. port office at St. Louis we secured a list of +the lights on the Western rivers, a bit antique, but quite useful. From +Rand & McNally we also obtained a chart of the Mississippi River from +St. Louis to the Gulf, which was invaluable. The Desplaines had a lot of +separate charts obtained from the St. Louis port officers, which were +larger and easier to decipher. + +The question of motive power was one on which we received so much and +such contradictory advice that we were bewildered. It seemed preferable +to have the power in a tender, so that if we were moored anywhere and +wished to send for mail, supplies or aid, the tender could be so +dispatched without having to tow the heavy cabin boat. So we purchased a +small gasoline boat with a two-horse-power engine. At the last moment, +however, Jim persuaded us to exchange it for a larger one, a 20-footer, +with three-horse-power Fay & Bowen engine. In getting a small boat see +that it is a "water cooler," as an air-cooler will run a few minutes and +stop, as the piston swells. Also see that she is fitted with reversing +gear. Not all boats are. This was a fine sea boat, the engine very fast, +and she was well worth the $365 paid for her. + +The crew of the "Helen W. of Chicago," consisted of the Doctor, the +Missis, the Boy (aged 11), Miss Miggles (aged 10), Millie the +house-keeper, Jim and J. J. We should have had two dogs, little and big; +and next time they go in as an essential part of the crew. + +We carried far too many things, especially clothes. The most comfortable +proved to be flannel shirt or sweater, blue cloth cap, tennis shoes, +knickerbockers, long wool stockings, and a cheap canvas hunting suit +that would bear dirt and wet. Knicks attract too much attention outside +the city. One good suit will do for visiting in the cities. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE FIRST SHIPWRECK. + + +Our first experience in shipwrecks came early. We were all ready to +start; the home had been rented, furniture disposed of, the outfit +ordered, and the boat lay ready for occupancy, fresh and clean in new +paint--when we discovered that we had to go through the old canal--the +Illinois and Michigan--to La Salle, instead of the drainage ditch, on +which we were aware that Chicago had spent many millions more than +drainage demanded, with the ulterior object of making a deep waterway +between the great city and the Gulf! Here was an anxious thought--would +the old canal admit our boat? We visited headquarters, but naturally no +one there knew anything about so essential a matter. We went down to the +first lock at Bridgeport, and the lockmaster telephoned to Lockport, but +the Chief Engineer was out and no one else knew the width of the locks. +But finally we met an old seafarer who carried in his pocket a list of +all the locks of all the canals in the U. S., including Canada; and +from him we got the decisive information that the narrowest lock +admitted boats with a maximum width of 17 feet. Ours measured 18 feet 3 +inches! + +After prolonged consultation it was determined that the only way out was +to cut off enough of the side to admit her. So the purveyor, who had +guaranteed the boat as fit in every way for the trip, began to cut, +first building an inner wall or side with two-by-fours. Getting this up +to a convenient height he concluded to try for leaks, and slid the scow +back into the water with the side half up. It was just an inch too low; +and when he rose next morning the scow reposed peacefully on the bottom +of the river, the water having, in the night, come in at the low side. +The following week was consumed in endeavors to raise the boat and get +the water out. Meanwhile we were camping out in an empty house, eating +off the kitchen table, sleeping anywhere, and putting in spare time +hurrying the very deliberate boatmen. + +Just then we received from the Sanitary District folks the belated +information that the locks are 18 feet wide, and 110 feet long, and +that the height of the boat from the water line must not exceed 17 feet +to enable it to pass under bridges. + +For nearly a week various means of raising the craft were tried, without +success. Finally the wind shifted during the night, and in the morning +we found the upper margin of the hull out of water. The pumps were put +in operation and by noon the boat was free from water. It was found to +be reasonably watertight, despite the straining by jacks, levers, +windlasses, and other means employed to raise first one corner and then +another, the breaking of ropes and planks by which the corners had been +violently dropped, etc. But the absence of flotation, as evidenced by +the difficulty of raising an unloaded boat, wholly constructed of wood, +should have opened our eyes to her character. + +The side was rapidly completed, the furniture and stores brought aboard, +and the boats started down the canal, while the Doctor and Missis went +to Joliet to meet the outfit and avoid the odors of the drainage. The +men ran all night and reached Lock No. 5, at Joliet, about 5 p. m., +Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1903. This was altogether unnecessary, and we +might as well have come down on the boat. Meanwhile we found a shelter +in a little bakery near the Joliet bridge, where the kindly folk took +care of the little invalid while we watched for the arrival of the +boats. + +[Illustration: THE OLD CANAL.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CANAL. + + +That night was our first on board. We found the boat piled high with the +"necessaries" deemed imperative by the Missis. Days were spent in the +arrangement of these, and in heaving overboard articles whose value was +more than counterbalanced by the space they occupied. Hooks were +inserted, trunks unpacked, curtains hung, and it is safe to say that our +first week was thus occupied. The single beds were taken down and the +children put to sleep on cots consisting of strips of canvas with +eye-holes at the corners. These were fastened to stout hooks, screwed +into the walls. Difficulty supervened in finding a place to fasten the +outer ends, and we had to run ropes across the cabin, to our great +annoyance when rising during the night. Otherwise these are the best of +cots, as they can be taken down and rolled away during the day. + +The delight of those days, drifting lazily down the old canal, the +lovely vistas with long rows of elms along the deserted towpath, the +quiet farms. Sometimes it was showery, at others shiny, but we scarcely +noticed the difference. It is surely a lazy man's paradise. There is no +current in the canal, and the launch could only drag the heavy scow +along at about a mile and a half an hour; while but little wind sufficed +to seriously retard all progress. Even with our reduced width it was all +we could do to squeeze through the locks, which are smaller toward the +bottom. At No. 5 we only got through after repeated trials, when the +lock-keeper opened the upper gates and let in a flood of water, after +the lower had been opened, and the boat worked down as close as possible +to the lower gate. And here let us say a word as to the uniform courtesy +we received from these canal officials; something we were scarcely +prepared to expect after our experience with the minor official of the +city. Without an exception we found the canal officials at their posts, +ready to do their duty in a courteous, obliging manner. + +Friday, Oct. 2, we reached Lock 8 just at dusk, passing down as a string +of three canal boats passed up for Chicago, laden with corn. We are +surprised at the number of boats engaged in this traffic; as we had +thought the canal obsolete, judging from the caricatures in the daily +papers. Coal was passing down and corn and wood up. During this day 12 +laden boats went by us. + +Saturday, Oct. 3.--Head winds blew the boat about, to the distraction of +the crew. We tried towing, with a line along the towpath, and the boat +banged against the bank constantly. But the weather was lovely and +clear, everyone happy and the interior economy getting in order. It was +well the wise little Missis insisted on bringing a full supply of +provisions, for we have not passed a town or a store since leaving +Joliet, and we would have fared poorly but for her forethought. We +stopped at a farm, where we secured some milk for which we, with +difficulty, persuaded the farmer to accept a nickel--for a gallon. He +said milk was not so precious as in the city. But at Lock 8 the keeper's +wife was alive to her opportunities and charged us city prices. + +We were well pleased with our crew. Jim is a guide from Swan Lake, aged +24; fisher, hunter, trapper and boatman all his life. J. J. is a +baseball player and athlete about the same age. Both volunteered for the +trip, for the pleasure of it. They asked to go for nothing, but we do +not care to make such an arrangement, which never works well and leads +to disagreements and desertions when the novelty has worn off; so we +paid them wages. During the months they were with us we never asked them +to do a thing they did not willingly do, nor was there ever a complaint +of them in the score of behavior, lack of respect for the ladies, +language before the children, or any of those things that might have led +to unpleasantness had they not been gentlemen by instinct and training. +They are built of muscle and steel springs, never shirk work, have good, +healthy appetites and are always ready to meet any of the various +requirements of the trip. Everything comes handy to them. They put the +boat in shape, run the engine, do carpentry and any other trade that is +needed. It was hard to guide the unwieldy boat so they designed a +rudder, went to town for material, hunted up a blacksmith and showed him +what they wanted, and put the rudder together and hung it in good shape. +It has a tiller up on the roof, whence the steersman can see ahead. + +We secured some food at Morris, with difficulty. By noon the rudder was +hung and we were off for Seneca, the boy happy in charge of the tiller. +We wish we were a word painter, to describe the beauty of the scenery +along the canal. The water has lost all reminiscence of Chicago's +drainage. At 3 p. m. we stopped at a farm and obtained milk, eggs and +chickens, with half a bushel of apples for good measure. The boat +excites much interest among the farmers. At Morris we had our first call +upon the drugs, the boys finding a friend whose horse had a suppurating +wound. Dressed it with antiseptics and left a supply. We each took two +grains of quinine, to ward off possible malaria. Millie suffered serious +discomfort, her whole body breaking out, with itching and flushing, +lasting some hours. And this was about the only time we took quinine +during the trip, except when wet, to prevent a cold. We never saw +anything like malaria. + +After tea we had a delightful run by moonlight, stopping several miles +from Seneca. It is a good rule to stop before coming to a town, as the +loafers do not get sight of the boat until it comes in next morning. + +On Monday we ran into Seneca, and stopped for supplies. We always needed +something, ample as we thought our outfit. It is always ice, milk, eggs, +butter, or fruit. Here it is gasoline, on which we depend for our motive +power. + +It is useless to look for the picturesque in the Illinois farmer. He +speaks the language of the schools, with the accent of culture, and +wears his hair and whiskers in modern style. Probably he hears more +lectures, sees more operatic and histrionic stars, reads more books and +gets more out of his newspapers than does the city man. In fact, there +is no country now; the whole State is merely a series of suburbs. + +During the afternoon we reached Marseilles, where we tied up for the +night. We obtained a gallon of milk here, and a can of gasoline. A +neighboring well supplied artesian water, which tasted too much of +sulphur for palates accustomed to Chicago water. In fact, we now hear +that there is no such water as that of the great lake metropolis. + +Tuesday, Oct. 6, we left Marseilles with a favoring breeze. Our craft +sails best with the wind about two points abaft the beam. When it shifts +to two points forward we are driven against the shore. We had hard work +to reach the viaduct over the Fox river. At 2 p. m. we reached Ottawa, +and there replenished our gasoline barrel. _Hinc illae lachrymae._ At +Seneca and Marseilles we had been able to obtain only five gallons each, +and that of the grade used for stoves. We also learned that we might +have saved three dollars in lock fees, as below La Salle the water is so +high that the dams are out of sight and steamers pass over them. The +registry and lock fees from Chicago to St. Louis are $6.88. + +We had now passed ten locks with safety, but the captain of the Lulu +tells us the next is the worst of all. + +It is evident that our boat is not fit for this expedition, and we must +take the first opportunity to exchange her for one with a larger and +stronger scow, to cope with the dangers of the great river. The scow +should stand well up from the water so that the waves will not come +over the deck. Every morning and night there is over a barrel of water +to be pumped out, but that might be remedied by calking. + +Near Marseilles we passed a number of houseboats, and hear that many are +being prepared for the trip to St. Louis next summer. Berths along the +river front there are now being secured. + +Among our useful supplies is a portable rubber folding bath tub. It +works well now, but I am doubtful as to its wearing qualities. The +water-still is all right when we have a wood or coal fire going, but +when run by a gasoline stove it distils nearly as much water as it burns +gasoline. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday.--We came in sight of the lock below Ottawa about 5 p. m. last +night, and tied up. All night the wind blew hard and rattled the stores +on the roof. Rain comes is around the stovepipe, in spite of cement. +This morning it is still raining but the wind has fallen. A rain-coat +comes in handy. We must add oilskins to our outfit. A little fire goes +well these damp mornings, taking off the chill and drying out the cabin. +Fuel is the cheapest thing yet. We pick up a few sticks every day, +enough for the morning fire, and could load the boat with wood, if worth +while. And there is no better exercise for the chest than sawing wood. +We keep a small pile behind the stove to have it dry. + +The gasoline launch is a jewel--exactly what we need; and works in a way +to win the respect of all. The boys got wire rope for steering, as the +hemp stretched; but the wire soon wore through. + +Thirty cents a pound for creamery butter at Ottawa. We must rely on the +farms. + +Whence come the flies? The ceiling is black with them. We talk of +fumigating with sulphur. The cabin is screened, but whenever the door is +opened they come streaming in. The little wire fly-killer is a prime +necessity. It is a wire broom six inches long and as wide, with a +handle; and gets the fly every time. Burning insect powder gets rid of +mosquitoes, but has no effect on flies. + +A string of canal boats passed up this morning, the first we have seen +since leaving Seneca. The traffic seems to be much lighter in the lower +part of the canal. + +The canal official at Ottawa seems to be something of a joker. A dog +boarded our craft there and this man informed us it had no owner, so we +allowed the animal to accompany us. But further down the line the dog's +owner telephoned dire threats after us, and we sent him back from La +Salle. + +After lunch we tackled Lock No. 11, and a terror it was. The walls were +so dilapidated that care had to be exercised to keep the edges of the +scow and roof from catching. Then the roof caught on the left front and +the bottom on the right rear, and it was only at the fourth trial, when +we had worked the boat as far forward as possible, that we managed to +scrape through. The wind was still very brisk and dead ahead, so we tied +up just below the lock. A steam launch, the Lorain, passed through bound +down. She filled the lock with smoke, and we realized how much gasoline +excels steam in cleanliness. A foraging expedition secured a quart of +milk and four dozen eggs, with the promise of spring chickens when their +supper afforded a chance to catch them. + + * * * * * + +Thursday, Oct. 8, 1903.--All night we were held by the fierce wind +against which we were powerless. The squeeze in the lock increased the +leakage and this morning it took quite a lot of pumping to free the hull +of water. After breakfast we set out, and found Lock 12 much better than +its predecessor. All afternoon the wind continued dead ahead, and the +towing rope and poles were required to make even slight headway. Then we +passed under a low bridge, and the stovepipe fell down. If we do not +reach a town we will be cold tonight. Two small launches passed us, +going to La Salle, where there is some sort of function on. + +The children's lessons go on daily; with the girl because she is a girl +and therefore tractable, with the boy because he can not get out till +they are learned. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Oct. 9.--We lay in the canal all day yesterday, the folks +fishing for catfish. Our foraging was unsuccessful, the nearest house +containing a delegation of Chicago boys--17 of them--sent out by a West +Side church, who took all the milk of the place. The boy fell in the +canal and was promptly rescued by J. J., who is an expert swimmer. His +mother was excited, but not frightened. After tea, as the wind had +fallen, we used the launch for two hours to get through the most of the +"wide water," so as to have the protection of the high banks next day. +The lights of a large town--electric--are visible below. Very little +water that evening, not a fourth what we pumped in the morning. + +On Friday morning the water is smooth and we hope to make La Salle +today. + +And then the gasoline engine stopped! + +It had done good service so far, but there was a defect in it: a cup for +holding lubricating oil that had a hole in it. Curious for a new engine, +and some of the crew were unkind enough to suggest that the seller had +taken off the new cup and put on a broken one from his old boat. All day +we worked with it, till at lunch time it consented to go; and then our +old enemy, the west wind, came up, but less violent than before, so that +we made several miles before the engine again quit. We were well through +the wide water, and tied up in a lovely spot, where someone had been +picnicking during the morning. The boys towed the launch to Utica with +the canoe, while we secured some milk at a Swede's near by, and a jar of +honey from another house. + + * * * * * + +Saturday, Oct. 10, 1903.--At 7 p. m. the boys returned with a little +steam launch they had hired for six dollars to tow us the eight miles to +La Salle. Lock No. 13 was true to its hoodoo, and gave us some trouble. +About midnight we tied up just above Lock 14, which looks dubious this +morning. We missed some fine scenery during the night, but are tired of +the canal and glad to be near its end. A Street Fair is going on here, +and the streets are full of booths. Jim says J. J. will throw a few +balls at the "nigger babies," and then write home how he "missed the +children!" These things indicate that he is enjoying his meals. + +Not much water today in the hold. Temp. 39 at 7 a. m. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE ILLINOIS RIVER. + + +Monday, Oct. 12, 1903.--We passed Locks 14 and 15 without difficulty and +moored in the basin with a number of other houseboats. We find them very +polite and obliging, ready to give any information and assistance in +their power. All hands took in the Street Fair, and aided in +replenishing our constantly wasting stores. The boy drove a thriving +trade in minnows which he captured with the seine. In the afternoon Dr. +Abbott came down, to our great pleasure. A man from the shop came and +tinkered with the gasoline engine a few hours' worth, to no purpose. +Several others volunteered advice which did not pan out. + +Sunday we lay quiet, until near noon, when the engineer of the +government boat _Fox_ most kindly pointed out the trouble, which was, as +to be expected, a very simple one--the sparker was so arranged that the +single explosion caught the piston at the wrong angle and there was no +second explosion following. Then all hands went for a ride down into +the Illinois river. Dr. Abbott got off at 8:15 and the boys took a run +up to Tiskilwa--for what reason we do not hear, but have our suspicions. +We still recollect the days when we would travel at night over a +five-mile road, lined with farms, each fully and over-provided with the +meanest of dogs--so we ask no questions. + +This morning the temperature is 48, foggy; all up for an early start. + +One undesirable acquisition we made here was a numerous colony of mice, +which must have boarded us from a boat that lay alongside. The animals +did much damage, ruining a new dress and disturbing us at night with +their scampering. Nor did we finally get rid of them until the boat +sank--which is not a method to be recommended. Fumigation with sulphur, +if liberally done, is about the best remedy for any living pests. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Oct. 13, finds us still tied up below La Salle. The +fortune-teller kindly towed us to the mouth of the canal, where we spent +the day trying to persuade the engine to work. After an expert from the +shops here had put in the day over it, he announced that the fault lay +with the gasoline bought at Ottawa. In truth our troubles date from that +gasoline, and we hope he may be right. The engine he pronounces in +perfect order. Nothing here to do, and the little Missis has a cold and +is getting impatient to be going. So far we have met none but friendly +and honest folks along the canal, all anxious to be neighborly and do +what they can to aid us. All hands are discouraged with the delay and +trouble with the engine--all, that is, except one old man, who has been +buffeted about the world enough to realize that some share of bad luck +must enter every human life, and who rather welcomes what comes because +it might have been so much worse. Come to think of it, we usually expect +from Fate a whole lot more than we deserve. What are we that we should +look for an uninterrupted career of prosperity? Is it natural? Is it the +usual lot of man? What are we that we should expect our own lot to be +such an exceptional career of good fortune? Think of our deserts, and +what some men suffer, and humbly thank the good Lord that we are let off +so easily. + +If that is not good philosophy we can answer for its helping us a whole +lot to bear what ills come our way. + +We got off early and began our first day's floating. It was quite +pleasant, much more so than lying idle. The _Fox_ came along and rocked +us a bit, but not unpleasantly. We tied up below the bridge at Spring +Valley, and the boys went up to town, where they succeeded in getting +five gallons of gasoline, grade 88. After lunch we pumped out the old +stuff and put in the new and the little engine started off as if there +had never been a disagreement. At 4 p. m. we are still going +beautifully, passed Marquette, and all happy. But if the man who sold us +low-grade gasoline at Ottawa, for high, were in reach he might hear +something he would not like. + +At night we tied up a mile above Hennepin, where we obtained some milk +and a few eggs at a farm house. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday, Oct. 14, 1903.--Yesterday we passed the opening of the +Hennepin canal, that monument of official corruption, which after the +expenditure of fifty millions is not yet ready for use--the locks not +even built. Compare with the work done on the Drainage Canal, and we +conclude Chicago is not so very bad. At Hennepin this morning we secured +three gallons of gasoline at 74, the best available; also fresh beef, +for which we are all hungry. Left at 9 a. m. for Henry. + +During the preceding night the _Fred Swain_ passed down and bumped us +against the rocky shore harder than at any time previously. Next morning +there was less water in the hull than ever before, so it seems to have +tightened her seams. We ran into the creek above Henry and moored at the +landing of the Swan River Club, where Jim's father resides. Here we lay +for several weeks, for reasons that will appear. Millie kindly varied +the monotony and added to the general gaiety by tumbling into the creek; +but as the water was only about three feet deep no serious danger +resulted. The boys usually disappeared at bedtime and talked +mysteriously of Tiskilwa next morning, and appeared sleepy. We examined +several boats that were for sale, but did not find any that suited us. +We wished to feel perfectly safe, no matter what we might encounter on +the great river. Some one has been trying to scare the boys with tales +of the whirlpools to be encountered there; and of the waves that will +wash over the deck. These we afterward found to be unfounded. No +whirlpool we saw would endanger anything larger than a canoe, and our +two-strake gunwales were high enough for any waves on the river. + +We found few ducks; not enough to repay one for the trouble of going out +after them. Until we left Henry we caught a few fish, but not enough to +satisfy our needs. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +BUILDING THE BOAT. + + +November 1, 1903.--We had settled that the scow was not strong enough +for the river voyage, and she kindly confirmed this view by quietly +sinking as she was moored in the creek. There was no accident--the +timbers separated from decay. We were awaked by the sound of water +running as if poured from a very large pitcher; jumped up, ran to the +stern of the boat, and saw that the rudder, which was usually six inches +above water, was then below it. We awoke the family and hastily removed +the articles in the outer end of the boat to the end resting on shore, +and summoned the boys. It was just getting towards dawn. By the time +this was done the lower end of the cabin floor was covered with water. +Had this happened while we were in the river the consequences would have +been serious. + + * * * * * + +Jim's father, Frank Wood, went to Peoria and selected materials for the +new scow. The sides are technically termed gunwales--"gunnels"--and +should be of solid three-inch plank. But we found it might take six +months to get three-inch plank forty feet long, so we had to splice. He +got eight plank, 22 to 24 feet long. Two of these were spliced in the +center for the lower strake, and one long one placed in the center +above, with half a length at each end. This prevented both splices +coming together. The plank were sawed in a Z shape. Holes were then +bored through both plank at intervals of four feet, and half-inch iron +braces driven through and screwed firmly together. The ends were then +sawn for the sloping projections. + +Through the middle, from end to end, was set a six-by-six timber, and on +each side midway between this and the gunwales ran a three-by-six. Then +the two-inch plank were nailed firmly to the gunwales and intermediate +braces, each with twenty-three 60- and 40-penny nails. We find a strong +prejudice against wire nails, these fishers and boatbuilders preferring +the old-fashioned square nails when they can get them. They say the wire +is more apt to rust; but this may be simply the conservatism that always +meets an innovation. The cheapness of the wire is an item. + +The plank were placed as closely together as possible. Here a difficulty +arose, as they were warped, so that when one end was laid close, the +other was an inch from its fellow. But this did not bother our men. They +put a triangular block up to the refractory end, nailed it firmly to the +beam underneath, and drove wedges between till the crooked plank was +forced as nearly straight as possible--or as prudent, for too great a +strain would be followed by warping. + +When all the planks were nailed on, two coats of tar and rosin were +applied, and next day the boat was turned over. It was brought down till +one side was in two feet of water, then the upper side was hoisted by +blocks and tackles applied on upright timbers, till nearly upright, when +the men pushed it over with big poles. She had first been braced +carefully with an eight-by-eight across the middle, and by a number of +other timbers. The eight-by-eight was broken and the middle of the boat +forced up six inches by the shock, requiring the services of a jack to +press it down to its place. + +What fine workers these men are, and how silently they work, keeping at +the big spikes hour after hour, driving every one with thought and care, +and yet wasting no time. What use they make of a few simple mechanical +aids--the lever, the wheel and screw, the jack, buck, etc.; and they +constantly use the square before sawing. Americans, every one of them; +and not a drop of beer or whisky seen about the work, from first to +last. + +The seams in the gunwales were caulked with hemp and payed with white +lead, before the boat was turned. Then they went over the inside and +wherever a trickle of water appeared they stuffed in cotton. + +The scow is 40 feet long and 16 feet wide. Over the gunwales were laid +four-by-fours, 18 feet long, and spiked down. Then supports were placed +under these and toenailed to the three inner braces, and to the +four-by-fours. A two-foot projection was made at each end, making the +floor 44 feet long. The flooring is of Georgia pine, tongued and +grooved. + +The lumber cost, including freight from Peoria to Henry, about $100; the +work about fifty more. There were over 100 pounds of nails used, 50 +pounds of white lead in filling cracks, and several hundred pounds of +tar on the bottom. + +The gunwales are of Oregon fir, straight and knotless. It would not add +to the strength to have them of oak, as they are amply able to withstand +any strain that can possibly be put on them in navigating even the +greatest of rivers. Oak would, however, add largely to the weight, and +if we were pounding upon a snag this would add to the danger. As it was, +we many times had this experience, and felt the comfort of knowing that +a sound, well-braced, nailed and in every way secure hull was under us. +The planking was of white pine, the four-by-fours on which the deck +rested of Georgia pine. The cabin was of light wood, Oregon fir. When +completed the hull formed a strong box, secure against any damage that +could befall her. We cannot now conjure up any accident that could have +injured her so as to endanger her crew. Were we to build another boat +she should be like this one, but if larger we would have water-tight +compartments stretching across her, so that even if a plank were to be +torn off the bottom she would still be safe. And we would go down to +Henry to have "Abe" De Haas and "Frank" Wood and "Jack" Hurt build her. + +Some leakage continued for some weeks, till the seams had swelled +completely shut, and she did not leak a drop during the whole of the +cruise. + + * * * * * + +During this time we continued to live in the cabin, the deck sloping so +that it was difficult to walk without support. When the cabin was being +moved we availed ourselves of Mrs. Wood's courtesy and slept in her +house one night. After the cabin had been moved off we took the old scow +apart, and a terrible scene of rottenness was revealed. The men who saw +it, fishermen and boatbuilders, said it was a case for the grand jury, +that any man should send a family of women and little children afloat on +such a boat. There was no sign of an accident. The water had receded, +leaving the shore end of the scow resting on the mud. This let down the +stern a little. The new side was constructed of two-by-fours laid on +their sides, one above the other, and to the ends were nailed the plank +forming the bow and stern. Of these the wood was so rotten that the +long sixty-penny spikes pulled out, leaving a triangular opening, the +broad end up. As the stern of the boat sank the water ran in through a +wider orifice and filled up the hull more and more rapidly. The danger +lay in the absolute lack of flotation. New wood would have kept her +afloat even when the hull was full of water, but her timbers were so +completely watersoaked that the stout ropes broke in the attempt to +raise her, even though with no load. + +Through the favor of Providence this occurred while we were moored in a +shallow creek. Had it happened while in the deep river nothing could +have saved us from drowning. As it was, we lost a good deal of canned +goods and jelly, soap, flour, and other stores. But the most serious +harm was that we were delayed by the necessity of building a new boat, +so that we were caught in the November storms, and the exposure brought +back the invalid's asthma; so that the main object of the trip was +practically lost. We are thus particular to specify the nature of the +trouble, as the vendor of the boat has claimed that the accident was due +to the inexperience of our crew. That this was a mistake must be +evident to even an inexperienced sailor, who reads this account. + +The old house on the sunken scow was cut loose and moved over onto the +new one, and securely nailed down. An addition 8 feet square was added +at the back for a storeroom, and the roof extended to the ends of the +scow at both ends. This gives us a porch 11 by 18 feet in front, and one +10 by 8 behind. These are roofed with beaded siding and covered with the +canvas we got for an awning, which we have decided we do not need. This +is to be heavily painted as soon as we have time. + +The entire cost of the new boat, the additional room and roofs, labor +and materials, was about $250; the old boat cost $200, but the cabin +that we moved onto the new hull could not have been built and painted +for that, so that there was no money loss on the purchase. The launch, +with its engine, cost $365, so that the entire outfit stood us at $830, +including $15 for a fine gunning skiff Jim got at Henry. The furniture +is not included, as we took little but cast-offs; nor the outfit of +fishing and sporting goods. + +We must stop here to say a word as to the good people at Henry. Frank +Wood and his family opened their house to us and furnished us milk and +other supplies, for which we could not induce them to accept pay. +Members of the Swan Lake Club placed at our disposal the conveniences of +their club house. During the time our boat was building our goods lay +out under a tree with no protection, not even a dog, and not a thing was +touched. These fishermen surely are of a race to be perpetuated. Mr. +Grazier also allowed us to use his ferryboat while endeavoring to raise +the sunken boat and to store goods, and Mrs. Hurt offered to accommodate +part of our family on her houseboat while our cabin was being moved to +the new scow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE LOWER ILLINOIS. + + +Saturday, Oct. 31, we bade adieu to the kind friends at Swan Lake, who +had done so much to make us comfortable, and pulled down to Henry, +passing the locks. Here we tied up till Sunday afternoon, the engine +still giving trouble, and then set off. We passed Lacon pontoon bridge +and town about 5 p. m., and three miles below tied up for the night. +Next morning, the engine proving still refractory, we floated down to +the Chillicothe bridge, which was sighted about 11 a. m. This day was +rainy and the new unpainted roof let in the water freely. + +We waited at Chillicothe for the _Fred Swain_ to pass, and then swung +down to the bank below town, where we tied up. A farm house stood near +the bank, and as we tied up a woman came out and in a loud voice called +to some one to lock the chicken-house, and rattled a chain, +suggestively; from which we infer that houseboat people have not the +best reputation. We played the phonograph that evening, and the +household gathered on shore to listen; so that we trust they slept +somewhat securely. In the morning we bought some of the chickens we had +had no chance to steal, and found the folks quite willing to deal with +us. We had to wait for the _Swain_, as it was quite foggy and without +the launch we could not have gotten out of her way. + +We drifted slowly down past Sand Point and The Circle lights, and tied +up to a fallen tree, opposite the little village of Spring Bay. The boys +were out of tobacco and had to row in for it. About 9 p. m. I heard +shouts and then shots, and went out, to find a thick fog. They had lost +their direction and it was only after some time and considerable +shouting that they came near enough to see the lantern. We heard that +the previous night the man who lights the channel lamps was out all +night in the fog. + +[Illustration: HOUSEBOAT TOWN, PEORIA.] + +Again we had to wait for the _Swain_ to pass, and then floated down past +Blue Creek Point. Here we saw a houseboat tied up, which a fisherman +told us belonged to a wealthy old bachelor who lived there from choice. +The current was slow as the river was wide, so about 2 p. m. we took a +line from the good canal boat _City of Henry_, which for three dollars +agreed to tow us to Peoria. This was faster traveling, but not a bit +nice. However, it was necessary to get the engine in order, so we put up +with it. We tied up above the upper bridge, with a nasty row of jagged +piles between us and the shore. About 5 a. m. a northeast gale sprang up +and washed us against the piles, to our great danger. Our boys arranged +a two-by-four, nailing it against the side, so that the end stuck into +the sand and fended us off the piles, and our gangway plank served the +same purpose at the other end. This is a most important matter, as the +snags might loosen a plank from the bottom. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 6, 1903.--At last we seem to have found a real expert on +gasoline engines. Instead of guessing that "mebbe" this or "mebbe" that +was the matter, he went at it and soon found the difficulty. In a short +time the boat was circling 'round the lake at a most enticing rate. We +laid in a new store of groceries and at 9 a. m. today set out. By lunch +time we had passed Pekin, and are now heading for the locks at Copperas +Creek, the engine going beautifully and the weather bright and cool. +About Peoria we saw great numbers of houseboats, many in the water, but +the aged members had climbed out upon the banks and perched among a +wonderful array of shanties. One house seemed to be roosting among the +branches of several large trees. Many were seen along the river below, +some quite pretty, but none we fancied as well as our own. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 8, 1903.--We were held back by head winds and stopped +before we reached the lock. Saturday we had good weather and little +wind, and reached Copperas Creek just after lunch. There were three feet +of water on the dam, and even the _Bald Eagle_, the largest steamer +here, runs over it; but as we had paid for the lock we went through it. +The lock-keeper took it out of us, though, by charging 15 cents for two +quarts of milk, the highest price paid yet. + +We got off this morning at 8:15, and although a heavy head wind prevails +are making good time. Many loons are passing south, in large flights, +and some ducks. The marshes on either side seem to be well supplied, but +are club grounds, we are told. It is much warmer than yesterday, the +south wind blowing strongly. We moored with the anchor out at the outer +corner, up the river, and the line and gangway plank on shore, allowing +about ten feet from boat to shore; and when the _Eva Alma_ and the +_Ebaugh_ passed us there was no bumping against the shore. Evidently +that is the way to moor, though in the great river we must give more +space and more cable to the anchor. + +At 10 a. m. we passed Liverpool, a hamlet of 150 inhabitants, half of +whom must reside in houseboats. Some of these were quite large and well +built. + + * * * * * + +We reached Havana about 4 p. m. Sunday, and as the south wind had become +too fierce for our power we tied up below the bridge, at a fisherman's +shanty. Monday morning it looked like rain, and the wind blew harder +than ever, so we lay by and the boys finished putting on the tar paper +roofing. When the wind is strong enough to blow the boat up stream +against the current, the launch will be unable to make head against it. +A couple live in an old freight car by us, and their home is worth +seeing. The sand bluff is dug out for a chicken cave and pig-pen, and +beautiful chrysanthemums are growing in boxes and pans, placed so as to +retain the earth that would otherwise wash away. Fruit trees are also +planted, and the woman tells me that the whole place is filled with +flowering plants, now covered with sand for the winter. We notice two +dracaenas. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1903.--The storm lasted all day yesterday, pinioning +us relentlessly to the beach. By 5 p. m. it let up, but we concluded to +remain at our moorings till morning. This morning we got off at 7 a. m., +and passed the Devil's Elbow lights before lunch. We did not tie up +then, but threw out our anchor, which is less trouble and in every way +better, as there is less danger of the snags that beset the shore. The +air is rather cool for sitting outside but we spend much time there. The +river is narrowing. Each little creek has a houseboat, or several, +generally drawn up out of the water and out of reach of the ice. We saw +a woman at one of the shabbiest shanty boats washing clothes. She +stooped down and swung the garment to and fro in the water a few moments +and then hung it up to dry. + +The shores are thickly dotted with little flags and squares of muslin, +put up by the surveyors who are marking out the channel for the proposed +deep waterway. These were few in the upper river. Every shallow is +appropriated by some fisherman's nets, and at intervals a cleared space +with sheds or fish boxes shows how important are the fisheries of this +river. + +There is a great deal of dispute along shore over the fishing rights. +The submerging of thousands of acres of good land has greatly extended +the limits of what is legally navigable water. The fishermen claim the +right to set their nets wherever a skiff or a sawlog can float; but the +owners think that since they bought the land from the Government and +paid for it, and have paid taxes for forty years, they have something +more of rights than any outsider. If not, what did they buy? The right +to set nets, they claim, would give the right to plant crops if the +water receded. Eventually the courts will have to decide it; but if +these lands are thrown open to the public, the Drainage Board will have +a heavy bill of damages. For it seems clear that it is the canal which +has raised the level of the water. + +Meanwhile the fishing is not profitable. The fish have so wide a range +that netting does not result in much of a catch. But if this rise proves +only temporary, there will be good fishing when the water subsides. + +The boy does not get enough exercise, and his constant movement is +almost choreic; so we sent him out to cut firewood, which is good for +his soul. The girl amuses herself all day long with some little dolls, +but is ever ready to aid when there is a task within her strength. She +is possessed with a laughing demon, and has been in a constant state of +cachinnation the whole trip. At table some sternness is requisite to +keep the fun within due bounds. All hands mess together--we are a +democratic crowd. Saturday John W. Gates' palatial yacht, the _Roxana_, +passed down while we were at lunch. We saw a cook on deck; and two +persons, wrapped up well, reclined behind the smokestack. + + * * * * * + +Nov. 11, 1903.--After a run of 22 miles--our best yet--we tied up at the +Sangamon Chute, just below the mouth of that river. The day had been +very pleasant. During the night our old friend the South Wind returned, +but we were well moored and rode easily. The launch bumped a little, so +the doctor rose and moved it, setting the fenders, also. Rain, thunder +and lightning came, but secure in our floating home we were content. +Today the wind has pinioned us to the shore, though the sun is shining +and the wind not specially cold. The boys cut wood for the stove and +then went after ducks, returning at noon with a pair of mallards. The +new roof is tight, the stove draws well, and we ought to be happy, as +all are well. But we should be far to the south, out of reach of this +weather. We can see the whitecaps in the river at the bend below, but an +island protects us from the full sweep of wind and wave. + +Regular trade-wind weather, sun shining, wind blowing steadily, great +bulks of white cloud floating overhead, and just too cold to permit +enjoyable exposure when not exercising. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 13, 1903.--This thing grows monotonous. Yesterday we set +out and got to Browning, a mile, when the wind blew us ashore against a +ferry boat that was moored there, and just then the engine refused to +work. We remained there all day. The wind was pitiless, driving us +against the boat till we feared the cable would break. We got the anchor +into the skiff and carried it out to windward as far as the cable +reached, and then drew in till there were five feet between the +ferryboat and ours. In half an hour the anchor, firmly embedded in +tenacious clay, had dragged us back to the boat and we had again to draw +in cable by bracing against the ferry. + +At 2 p. m. the wind had subsided, and after working with the engine till +4 we got off, and drew down a mile beyond the turn, where we would be +sheltered. We moored with the anchor out up stream, and a cable fast +ashore at the other end, lying with broadside up stream to the current, +and a fender out to the shore. This fender is made of two two-by-fours +set on edge and cross pieces let in near each end. The boat end is tied +to the side and the shore end rams down into the mud. While at dinner +the _Bald Eagle_ came up, but we hardly noticed her wash. Moored thus, +far enough out to avoid snags, we are safe and comfortable. But if too +close in shore there may be a submerged snag that when the boat is +lifted on a wave and let down upon it punches a hole in the bottom or +loosens a plank. + +The night was quiet. We had our first duck supper, the boys getting a +brace and a hunter at the fish house giving us two more. They had +hundreds of them, four men having had good shooting on the Sangamon. +This morning it is cool and cloudy, the wind aft and light, and the boys +are coaxing the engine. If we can get a tow we will take it, as there is +some danger we may be frozen in if we delay much longer. + + * * * * * + +Saturday, Nov. 14, 1903.--Despite the hoodoo of yesterday, Friday the +13th, we got safely to Beardstown before lunch, in a drizzle of rain +that turned to a light snow. Temperature all day about 35. After lunch +we started down and passed La Grange about 4:30 p. m. Probably this was +a town in the days when the river was the great highway, but stranded +when the railways replaced the waterways. There is a very large frame +building at the landing, evidently once a tavern, and what looks like an +old street, with no houses on it now. The tavern is propped up to keep +it from falling down. No postoffice. We tied up about a mile above the +La Grange lock, so that we may be ready to go through at 8 a. m. We hear +that the locks are only opened to small fry like gasolines at 8 a. m. +and 4 p. m., and it behooves us to be there at one of those hours. Just +why a distinction should be made between steamers and gasolines is for +officialdom to tell. + + * * * * * + +Twice yesterday the launch propeller fouled the towrope, once requiring +the knife to relieve it. This accident is apt to occur and needs +constant attention to prevent. We arranged two poles to hold up the +ropes, and this did well. It is good to have a few poles, boards and +various bits of timber aboard for emergencies. Heavy frost last night, +but the sun is coming up clear and bright, and not a breath of wind. We +look for a great run today if we manage the lock without delay. The +quail are whistling all around us, but we are in a hurry. The _Bald +Eagle_ passed down last evening, running quite near us and sending in +big waves, but thanks to our mooring, we were comfortable and had no +bumping. The water does no harm; it is the shore and the snags we fear. + +We were told that we would find the lockmen at La Grange grouty and +indisposed to open the locks except at the hours named above; but this +proved a mistake. They showed us the unvarying courtesy we have received +from all canal officials since starting. They opened the gate without +waiting for us. They said that in the summer, picnic parties gave them +so much unnecessary trouble that they had to establish the rule quoted, +but at present there was no need for it. The day is decidedly cool and a +heavy fog drifting in from the south. + +At Meredosia at 11 a. m., where Dr. Neville kindly assisted us to get a +check cashed. Found a youngster there who "knew gasoline engines," and +by his help the difficulty was found and remedied. Laid in supplies and +set out for Naples. Weather cool, but fog lifted, though the sun refused +to be tempted out. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +TOWING. + + +Monday, Nov. 16, 1903.--The engine bucked yesterday, for a change, so we +'phoned to Meredosia and secured the services of the _Celine_, a +gasoline launch of five-horse-power. She started at once, but arriving +in sight of Naples she also stopped and lay two hours before she +condescended to resume. About 3 p. m. we got under way, the _Celine_ +pushing, with a V of two-by-fours for her nose and a strong rope +reaching from her stern to each after corner of the scow. Then our own +engine awoke, and ran all day, as if she never knew what a tantrum was. +We made Florence, a town of 100 people, and tied up for the night. An +old "doctor" had a boat with a ten-horse-power gasoline tied up next us. +He travels up and down the river selling medicines. As these small towns +could scarcely support a doctor, there is possibly an opening for a real +physician, who would thus supply a number of them. Telephonic +communication is so free along the river that he could cover a large +territory--at least better than no doctor at all. + +[Illustration: LAUNCH TOWING.] + +During the night it blew hard, and rain, thunder and lightning made us +feel sorry for the poor folk who were exposed to such dangers on shore. +This morning we got off about 7:15, with a dull, lowering sky, fog, but +a wind dead astern and a strong current, so that we are in hopes of a +record run. So far our best has been 22 miles in one day. + +The right bank shows a series of pretty high bluffs, the stratified rock +showing through. Ferries grow numerous. A good deal of timber is at the +riverside awaiting shipment--a good deal, that is, for Illinois--and +remarkably large logs at that. It seems to go to Meredosia. The boy and +his father had made a gangway plank, and a limber affair it was; so the +boys are taking it to pieces and setting the two-by-fours up on edge, +which gives more strength. There is a right and a wrong way of doing +most things, and we invariably choose the wrong till shown better. + +Bought some pecans at Meredosia--$3.00 a bushel. It ought to pay to +raise them at that price, which is rather low than high. The river is +said to be lined with the trees, and one woman says she and her two +daughters made $150 gathering them this season. Hickory nuts cost 80 +cents to $1.20, the latter for big coarse nuts we would not gather in +the East. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1903.--Kampsville, Ill. Yesterday Mr. Hauser brought +us this far with the gasoline launch _Celine_, and then quit--too cold. +Cost $12 for the tow. By the time we got here the northeast wind was +blowing so fierce and cold that we tied up. The town seems very lively +for so small a place, having a number of stores. They charged us 25 +cents a gallon for stove gasoline, but only 8 cents a pound for very +fair roasting beef. We were moored on a lee shore, with our port bow to +land, lines from both ends to stakes on shore, and the gangway plank +roped to the port corner side and staked down firmly; the anchor out +from the starboard stern, so as to present that side to the wind and +current. She swung easily without bumping, but the plank complained all +night. We scarcely felt the waves from the _Bald Eagle_ when she came +in, but the wind raised not only whitecaps but breakers and we rocked +some. It grew so cold that there was a draft through the unlined sides +of the boat that kept our heads cold. Fire was kept up all night and yet +we were cold. + +We now see as never before how much harm was done by the old boat, that +compelled us to remain so long in this northern latitude and get the +November storms. But for this we would have been well below Memphis, and +escaped these gales. + +We got new batteries here, but this morning all the gasolines are frozen +up, and we lay at our moorings, unable to move. They wanted $20 to tow +us 29 miles to Grafton, but have come down to $15 this morning. We will +accept if they can get up power, though it is steep--$5.00 being about +the usual price for a day's excursion in summer. All hands are stuffing +caulking around the windows and trying to keep in some of the heat. Sun +shining, but the northeast wind still blows whitecaps, with little if +any sign of letting up. The launch that proposes to tow us is busy +thawing out her frozen pump. We have put the canoe and skiff on the +front "porch," so as to have less difficulty steering. + +The little Puritan still sits on the stove in the cabin, and easily +furnishes two gallons of water a day when sitting on top of the stove +lid. Four times we have turned on the water and forgotten it till it ran +over. We might arrange it to let a drop fall into the still just as fast +as it evaporates, if the rate were uniform, but on a wood stove this is +impossible. Last night it burned dry and some solder melted out of the +nozzle, but not enough to make it leak. It did not hurt the still, but +such things must be guarded against. + +The weather is warmer, sun shining brightly, but we must wait for our +tow. The boys are getting tired of the monotony, especially Jim, who +likes action. We have the first and only cold of the trip, contracted +the cold night when our heads were chilled. + +This afternoon Jim and the boy went one way for pecans and squirrels, +and the three women another for pecans alone. This is the pecan country, +the river being lined with the trees for many miles. In the cabin-boat +alongside, the old proprietor is still trying to get his engine to +work, while both his men are drunk. And he never did get them and the +engine in shape, but lost the job. He did not know how to run his own +engine, which is unpardonable in anyone who lives in such a boat or +makes long trips in it. + + * * * * * + +Thursday, Nov. 19, 1903.--Another tedious day of waiting. Cold and +bright; but the cold kept us in. After dark Capt. Fluent arrived with +his yacht, the _Rosalie_, 21-horse-power gasoline; and at 9 a. m. we got +under way. Passed the last of the locks at 9:15, and made about five +miles an hour down the river. Passed Hardin, the last of the Illinois +river towns. Many ducks in the river, more than we had previously seen. +Clear and cold; temperature at 8 a. m. 19; at 2 p. m., 60. About 3:25 p. +m. we swung into the Mississippi. The water was smooth and did not seem +terrible to us--in fact we had passed through so many "wides" in the +Illinois that we were not much impressed. But we are not saying anything +derogatory to the river god, for we do not want him to give us a sample +of his powers. We are unpretentious passers by, no Aeneases or other +distinguished bummers, but just a set of little river tramps not worth +his godship's notice. + +Grafton is a straggling town built well back from the river, and looking +as if ready to take to the bluffs at the first warning. The Missouri +shore is edged with willows and lies low. We notice that our pilot +steers by the lights, making for one till close, and then turning +towards the next, keeping just to the right or left, as the Government +list directs: Probably our craft, drawing so little water, might go +almost anywhere, but the channel is probably clear of snags and other +obstructions and it is better to take no chances. It was after 6 when we +moored in Alton. Day's run, 45 miles in nine hours. We picked up enough +ducks on the way down for to-night's dinner--two mallards and two teal. + + * * * * * + +Friday, Nov. 20, 1903.--Cold this morning, enough to make us wish we +were much farther south. Capt. Fluent has quite a plant here--a ferry +boat, many small boats for hire, etc. In the night a steamer jolted us a +little, but nothing to matter. Even in the channel the launch ran over a +sunken log yesterday. We note a gasoline launch alongside that has one +of the towing cleats and a board pulled off, and hear it was in pulling +her off a sand bar; so there is evidently wisdom in keeping in the +channel, even if we only draw eight inches. + +A friend called last evening. Waiting at the depot he saw our lights and +recognized the two side windows with the door between. It was good to +see a familiar face. + +We are now free from the danger of ice blockade. The current at the +mouth of the Illinois is so slow that ice forming above may be banked up +there, and from this cause Fluent was held six weeks once--the blocking +occurring in November. But the great river is not liable to this +trouble. Still we will push south fast. This morning we had a visit from +a bright young reporter from an Alton paper, who wrote up some notes of +our trip. The first brother quill we had met, so we gave him a welcome. + +At 9 a. m. we set out for St. Louis, Mrs. Fluent and children +accompanying her husband. The most curious houseboat we have yet seen +lay on shore near our mooring place. It was a small raft sustained on +barrels, with a cabin about six feet by twelve. A stovepipe through the +roof showed that it was inhabited. Reminded us of the flimsy structures +on which the South American Indians entrust themselves to the ocean. + +The _Reynard_ and her tender are following us, to get the benefit of +Fluent's pilotage. A head wind and some sea caused disagreeable pounding +against the front overhang, which alarmed the inexperienced and made us +glad it was no wider. But what will it do when the waves are really +high? + +[Illustration: "BLUFF."] + +[Illustration: THE DESPLAINES.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ST. LOUIS. + + +St. Louis, Nov. 26, 1903.--We moored at the private landing belonging to +Mr. Gardner, whose handsome yacht, the _Annie Russell_, came in on the +following day. This was a great comfort, affording a sense of security, +which the reputation of the levee made important. A reporter from the +_Globe-Democrat_ paid us a visit, and a notice of the boat and crew +brought swarms of visitors. We were deluged with invitations so numerous +that we were compelled to decline all, that no offense might be given. +But Dr. Lanphear and his wife were not to be put off, so they drove down +to take us for a drive through the Fair grounds, with their huge, +inchoate buildings; and then brought to the boat materials for a dinner +which they served and cooked there. It is needless to add that we had a +jolly time. + +Many applications were made for berths on the boat, which also we had to +decline. One distinguished professor of national repute offered to +clean guns and boots if he were taken along. Despite the bad reputation +of the levee we saw absolutely nothing to annoy us. We heard of the +cruelty of the negroes to animals but scarcely saw a negro here. It is +said that they catch rats on the steamers and let them out in a circle +of negro drivers, who with their blacksnake whips tear the animal to +pieces at the first blow. + +We visited the market and had _bon marche_ there, and at Luyties' large +grocery. Meat is cheap here, steak being from 10 to 12 cents a pound. + +Foreman turned up with the _Bella_, and tried to get an interview; but +we refused to see him, the memory of the perils to which he had exposed +a family of helpless women and children, as well as the delay that +exposed us to the November gales, rendering any further acquaintance +undesirable. + +Frank Taylor, the engineer of the _Desplaines_, was recommended to us by +his employer, Mr. Wilcox, of Joliet, as the best gasoline expert in +America; and he has been at work on our engine since we reached St. +Louis. It is a new make to him, and he finds it obscure. We have had so +much trouble with it, and the season is so far advanced, that we +arranged with the _Desplaines_, whose owner very kindly agreed to tow us +to Memphis. This is done to get the invalid below the frost line as +quickly as possible. The _Desplaines_ is selling powder fire +extinguishers along the river; and we are to stop wherever they think +there is a chance for some business. + +At St. Louis we threw away our stove, which was a relic of Foreman, and +no good; and bought for $8.00 a small wood-burning range. It works well +and we can do about all our cooking on it, except frying. As we can pick +up all the wood we wish along the river, this is more economic than the +gasoline stove, which has burned 70 gallons of fuel since leaving +Chicago. + +We stopped for Thanksgiving dinner above Crystal City, and the +_Desplaines_ crowd dined with us--Woodruff, Allen, Clements, Taylor and +Jake. A nice crowd, and we enjoyed their company. Also the turkey, +goose, mince pie, macaroni, potatoes, onions, celery, cranberries, +pickles, nuts, raisins, nut-candy, oranges and coffee. The current of +the river is swifter than at any place before met, and carries us along +fast. The _Desplaines_ is a steamer and works well. + +We made about 50 miles today and tied up on the Illinois side, just +above a big two-story Government boat, which was apparently engaged in +protecting the banks from washing. Great piles of stone were being +dumped along the shore and timber frames laid down. It was quite cold. +The shore was lined with driftwood and young uprooted willows, and we +laid in a supply of small firewood--enough to last a week. + + * * * * * + +Friday morning, Nov. 27.--Temperature 20; clear and cold, with a south +wind blowing, which makes the waves bump the boat some, the wind +opposing the swift current. Got off about 7:45, heading for Chester, +where the _Desplaines_ expects to stop for letters. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE MISSISSIPPI. + + +Nov. 28, 1903.--Yesterday morning we left our moorings 45 miles below +St. Louis, and came down the river against the wind. This made waves +that pounded our prow unpleasantly. We passed the Kaskaskia chute, +through which the whole river now passes, since the Government has +blocked up the old river bed. A few houses mark the site of old +Kaskaskia. Nearing the end of the chute, the _Desplaines_ ran on a sand +bar, as the channel is very narrow and runs close to the shore, which it +is cutting away rapidly. It took two hours to free her. We tied up early +at Chester, as they desired to work the town. During the night we were +severely rocked by passing steamers, and bumped by the launch and skiff. +This morning the river was smooth as glass. The _Desplaines_ was not +through with their work, so we did not set out till 10:30. By that time +a gale had sprung up from the north and we had trouble. We were moored +by a single line to the shore, and as this was cast off and the +_Desplaines_ began to move, her towline fouled the propeller. We drifted +swiftly down toward a row of piles, but were brought up by the anchor +hastily dropped. The steamer drifted down against us, narrowly missing +smashing our launch, and getting right across our anchor rope. Blessed +be the anchor to windward. But the staple to which the cable was fast +began to show signs of pulling out, so we got a chain and small lines +and made them fast to the timbers of the scow, so that if the cable +broke they might still hold. Finally the rope was removed from the +propeller, and after several attempts they got hold of us and steamed up +to the anchor, so that five strong men could raise it. Then we went down +stream at a rate to terrify one who knew the danger, if we should strike +a sandbank. On we go, past the crumbling banks of sand stratified with +earth, with government channel lights at close intervals. The channel +changes from side to side constantly. We run by the lights, and are +somehow absorbing a wholesome respect for this great, mighty, +uncontrollable Mississippi. Today he is covered with whitecaps and the +current runs like a millrace. It is cold and the fire eats up wood +pretty fast. + + * * * * * + +Monday, Nov. 30, 1903.--Cape Girardeau, Mo.--We passed Grand Tower, and +greatly regretted the absence of sunlight, which prevented us getting +snap-shots of the scenery. Two miles below the town we tied up on the +Missouri side, with a good sandy beach alongside, our anchor carried +ashore and rooted into the gravel. A bad way, for if there were a gale +from the west the anchor would have soon dragged out. But the high +bluffs protected us against wind from that quarter, and our fenders kept +us out from the shore. Four steamers passed in the night, one of them +the fine _Peters Lee_. Who is it said that the commerce of the +Mississippi was a thing of the past? Just let him lie here on a +houseboat and he will change his views. No nets are to be seen here, +though probably the small affluents of the river would prove to be +provided therewith, were we to examine them. In the morning we found a +loaded hickory tree just opposite us, and the boys gathered a few nuts. +We also picked up a few white oak slabs, which make a fire quite +different from the light rotten drift. + +The boys set out ahead in the launch with designs on the geese. The wind +set in about 10 a. m., but the river is so crooked that we could +scarcely tell from what quarter it blew. It was cold, though, and the +waves rough. As Glazier says, it seems to set in from the same quarter, +about that time daily, and were we to float without a tow we would start +early and tie up before the wind began. But that would depend on finding +a good place to tie, and altogether a man who would try to float a heavy +boat without power should take out heavy insurance first, and leave the +family at home. + +Where the river is cutting into a bank and the current strong, the wind +whirling the cabin around, now with the current and again across or +against it, there is every reason to look for being driven ashore and +wrecked. Even were one to start about September 1st, and float only when +the river is smooth, he would run great risks. At one place the +Government had evidently tried to block up one of the channels by rows +of piling and brush, but the water ran through and was piled up several +feet high against the obstructions. The wind drove us directly down +against it and the fifteen-horse-power tug could just keep us off. + +Without the power our boat would have been driven against the piling +with force enough to burst her sides and the piles as well, and a +crevasse and shipwreck would have resulted. In the afternoon a large +steamer passed up, leaving a train of waves so large that they washed up +on the front deck and under the cabin, wetting our floor in a moment. J. +J. is now nailing quarter-rounds along the edges, to prevent such an +accident again. We are told to have guards placed in front of our doors +to prevent them being driven in when waves hit us on the side; and I +think stout bars inside will be advisable. A stout wave would drive +these flimsy doors off their hinges. + +Here we moored inside the bar, which protects us from waves coming from +the river. A number of cabin boats are drawn up on shore, the occupants +seeming mainly of the river tramp class. This is a nice looking town, of +possibly 10,000 people. Unpaved streets. Many brick blocks. Saw one +doctor, who seemed to have sunk into a mere drudge--no animation, no +enthusiasm, it was impossible to get any expression of interest out of +him. They bring milk here from an Illinois town 100 miles up the river. + +We paid 25 cents for a gallon. + +A very courteous druggist near the landing seemed to make amends for the +impassive doctor. Our pharmacal friend was a man of enterprise and had +an ice-cream factory as well as a large and well-appointed shop. + + * * * * * + +December 1, 1903.--Yesterday the _Desplaines_ wasted the morning trying +to do business in Cape Girardeau. Good town, but no enterprise, they +report. Excellent opportunity for a good grocery and provision store, +judging by the prices and quality of food products offered us. We ran +but 13 miles, tieing up in front of the warehouse at Commerce, Mo. A +small place, but they found a market for their extinguishers, with men +who had the old kind that required refilling twice a year. Curious +two-story stores, a gallery running around the whole room. + +Shortly before reaching this place we passed two little cabin boats, +tied up; seemingly occupied by two big men each. They called to us that +they had been three weeks getting this far from St. Louis--about 145 +miles. This morning we passed them a mile below Commerce, each with a +row-boat towing and a man at the stem working two sweeps. Looked like +work, but that is the real thing when it comes to cabin boating. They +were in the current, but working cautiously near shore. + +It was snowing smartly as we set out about 7:30, but warmer than for +some days. The little one has had asthma badly for some days, but it +began to give way, and she had a fairly comfortable night. During the +morning we got in a place where the channel seemed so intricate that the +tug ran in to inquire of some men on shore; and in turning in, the house +ran against a projecting tree so swiftly that had we not rushed out and +held her off, the snag would have crushed in the thin side of the house. +To even matters, we picked out of the drift a fine hardwood board, +evidently but a short time in the water. Never lose a chance to get a +bit of good timber for firewood--you never have too much. + +Plenty of geese flying and on the bars, but the wary fellows keep out +of range. Cleaned the Spencer and reloaded the magazine. + +Miggles simply outdoes herself, nursing her sick mother, ironing and +otherwise helping Millie, and picking nuts for us. She has improved +wonderfully this trip, which is developing her in all ways. She eats +better than ever before, and is simply sweet. Cheeks rival the boy's in +rosiness. The boy likes to get in with the men, and we see no evidence +of talk unfit for an 11-year-old boy, but he returns very impatient of +control, and ready to pout out his lips if any authority is manifested. +The spirit of a man, and a man's impatience of control--but what would a +boy be worth who did not feel thus? No milksops for us. + +We pass many men and steamers, barges, etc., doing Government work on +this river. Just above they are weaving mattresses of wood, which are +laid along where the river cuts into the land, and covered with brush, +earth and stones. Many miles of bank are thus treated, and some control +exerted on the course of the river. But what a task! Do the men engaged +in it get to take a personal interest in it, as does the trainer of a +race horse? + +We now look for reminders of the civil war, and yesterday we saw on the +Missouri shore the white tents of a camp. Not the destructive army of +war, but the constructive forces of the modern genius of civilization. +The St. Louis and Mississippi Valley Railroad is building its tracks +along the shore, and every cliff is scarred by the cuts. And the great, +giant river sweeps lazily by, as if he disdained to notice the liberties +being taken with his lordship. But away back in the hills of +Pennsylvania, the prairies of the Midwest, the lakes of Minnesota and +the headwaters of the Missouri, in the Northwest Rockies, the forces are +silently gathering; and in due time the old river god will swoop down +with an avalanche of roaring, whirling waters, and the St. L. & M. V. R. +R. will have, not a bill for repairs, but a new construction account. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CAIRO AND THE OHIO. + + +Cairo, Ill., Dec. 3, 1903.--We ran in here Thursday afternoon, and the +little steamer had some trouble in pulling us against the current of the +Ohio. The water is yellower than the Mississippi. We tied up below town, +as we hear that they charge $5.00 wharfage for mooring, or even making a +landing in the city. The place where we moored was full of snags, but J. +J. got into the water with his rubber waders and pulled the worst ones +out from under the boat, till all was secure. Moored with the gangway +plank out front and the other fender at the rear, both tied to the boat +and staked at the shore end. Lines were also made fast to trees at each +end. Thus we rode the waves easily--and well it was, for never yet have +we seen so many steamers coming and going, not even at St. Louis. +Several ferry boats ply between the Missouri and Kentucky shores and the +city, transfer steamers carry freight cars across, and many vessels ply +on the rivers with passengers and freight. Surely the men who advised +Charles Dickens to locate lots here were not far out, as things were +then; for the railroads had not as yet superseded the waterways. Not +that they have yet, for that matter. Since coming here we have been +inquiring for the man who proclaimed the rivers obsolete as lines for +transportation. + +Cairo is the biggest and busiest town of 12,000 inhabitants we have yet +seen. Many darkies are here, and the worst looking set of levee loafers +yet. We had some oysters at "Uncle Joe's," on the main business street, +the only restaurant we saw; and when we surveyed the drunken gang there, +we were glad we came in our old clothes. Where we moored, the shore is +covered with driftwood, and we piled high our front deck, selecting good +solid oak, hard maple and hemlock, with some beautiful red cedar. Soft, +rotten wood is not worth picking up, as there is no heat derived from +it. Oak and hickory are the best. Old rails are good. Take no +water-soaked wood if you can get any other--it will dry out in a week or +two perhaps, but you may need it sooner, and when dry it may be +worthless. Several men had erected a shack along shore which we should +have taken shots at, but the sun was not out enough. _Desplaines_ is +doing a fair business. + + * * * * * + +Hickman, Ky., Dec. 5, 1903.--We tied up here after a run of 38 miles +from Cairo. The boys stopped at Columbus, Ky., but did no business--town +full of extinguishers. Hickman is built of brick and stone, as to the +business section, and lit by electricity. Made a bad moor, on a rocky +shore, with anchor out and front starboard bow firmly embedded in mud; +and this worried us so we slept poorly. Wind sprang up about 9 p. m., +but not fierce. During the night several steamers passed and rocked us, +but not much--the bow was too firmly washed into the mud by the strong +current. This morning it took all hands half an hour to get us off, +about 10 a. m. We were told at Hickman that 100 dwellings had been +erected during the year, and not one was unoccupied. About 3,000 people, +four drug stores, and an alert lot of business men in fine stores. Paid +30 cents a dozen for eggs, 10 cents for steak. We see many floaters, +some every day. Ice formed along shore last night, but the sun is +coming out bright and warm. Wind from the south, not heavy but enough to +kick up a disagreeable bumping against our prow. This is always so when +the wind is against the current. + + * * * * * + +Donaldson's Point, Mo.--We stopped here yesterday afternoon about 2 p. +m., that the boys might have a day's shooting. J. J., Allen and Taylor +went out on the sand bar all night, and got nothing except an exalted +idea of the perspicuity of the wild goose. _En passant_ they were almost +frozen, despite a huge fire of drift they kindled. + +We tied up on the channel side, just below Phillips' Bar light, a good +sandy shore with deep water and no snags--an ideal mooring place. We +moored with the port side in, the _Desplaines_ outside, lines fore and +aft and the fore gangway plank out. But the launch was uneasy and would +bump the stern, and there must have been a review of the ghosts of +departed steamers during the night, for many times we were awakened by +the swell of passing vessels rocking us. + +This morning is clear and cold, temperature 20, with a keenness and +penetrating quality not felt with a temperature twenty degrees lower in +the north. We saw some green foliage in the woods, and Clement said it +was "fishing pole"--cane! Our first sight of the canebrake. The Doctor, +J. J., the boy and Clement went up through the cornfields to the woods, +but found no game. A few doves got up, but too far away for a shot. Jim +got a mallard, Woodruff a fox squirrel--and one whose name we will not +disclose shot a young pig. An old darkey came down to the _Desplaines_ +with milk, chickens and eggs, for which he got a fabulous price; also a +drink, and a few tunes on the phonograph, and he hinted that if they +should shoot a pig he would not know it, or words to that effect. +Hundreds of hogs ran the woods, and showed the tendency to reversion by +their long, pointed heads and agile movements. Apparently they eat the +pecans, for their tracks were thick under the trees. Rather expensive +food, with the nuts worth 30 cents a pound. + +About 3:20 we got under way for down the river. This morning a floater +passed quite close to the boat. Two men and a dog manned the craft. Said +they were bound for Red River. The children gathered a bag of fine +walnuts of unusual size. As we never lose a chance of adding to the +wood-pile, we gathered in a couple of oak rails and a fine stick of +cedar, which we sawed and split for exercise. + +There are no cows on the negro farms, no chickens. In fact, their +traditional fondness for the fowl is strictly limited to a penchant for +someone else's chickens. When we ask for milk they always take it to +mean buttermilk, until enlightened. Here we saw a remarkable boat, a +dugout canoe not over four inches in depth, and warped at that, but the +women told us they went about in it during the floods. We bought some +pecans, paying 7 cents a quart. + + * * * * * + +Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1903.--Sunday evening we ran till we reached New +Madrid, Mo., about 8 p. m. We made a good landing, tying up with the tug +alongside, lines out at each end, both fenders out and the launch +astern. The boys did a good business here, and enjoyed the visit. Got +meat and some drugs, but could get no milk or eggs, and only two pounds +of butter in the town. After noon we got off and ran down to Point +Pleasant, a decaying town isolated by a big sand bar in front of her, +covered with snags. The _Desplaines_ picked up a fine lot of wood here, +enough to run them a week, which they piled on our front deck. This +morning we came on to Tiptonville landing, where we saw a cotton field +and gin. This is the northern limit of cotton cultivation, and it was +poor stuff. + +Everyone who accosts us asks for whisky, which seems to be scarce. The +temperance movement evidently has made great progress in these places. +The bluffs grow higher as we go south, and no attempt seems made to +restrain the river from cutting in at its own sweet will. Crumbling +banks of loose sand and earth, fringed with slim willows and larger +trees, at every rod some of them hanging over into the stream. The snag +boat _Wright_ seems busy removing these when menacing navigation, but we +see many awaiting her. + +This afternoon we passed a floater who had gone by us at New Madrid. +Propelled by two stout paddles and four stout arms, they have made as +good time as we with our tug. When we see how these men entrust +themselves to the mercies of the great river in such a frail craft, it +seems as if we had little to fear in our big boat. They have a little +scow about six feet by ten, all but the front covered by a cabin, +leaving just enough room in front for the sweeps, and they tow a skiff. +If the wind is contrary or too stiff they must lie up, but at other +times the current carries them along with slight exertion at the sweeps. +The river is falling fast. Each night we tie up with all the boat +floating easily, and every morning find ourselves aground. It seems to +fall about six inches a night. + + * * * * * + +Thursday, Dec. 10, 1903.--For two nights and a day we lay at +Caruthersville, Mo., where the _Desplaines_ had _bon marche_, selling 16 +extinguishers and getting the promise of a dozen more. A large town, +full of business and saloons, gambling houses, booths for rifle shooting +and "nigger babies," etc. Tradespeople seemed surly and ungracious, +except one woman who kept a restaurant and sold us oysters and bread. +She was from Illinois. Still, it must be a place of unusual +intelligence, as a doctor is Mayor. + +Last night we had a disagreeable blow from the northwest. We went out +and overhauled our mooring carefully before retiring. The back line was +insecure, as there was nothing to which it could be attached, and the +boys had merely piled a lot of rocks on the end; but we could see +nothing better; so merely strengthened the lines fastening the fenders +to the boat. It was a circular storm, apparently, as the wind died out +and in a few hours returned. When we set out at 7:30 this morning it was +fairly calm, but at 8:20 it is again blowing hard from the same quarter. +The sun is out brightly and it is not cold. Whitecaps in plenty but +little motion, as we travel across the wind. There are now no large +towns before us and we hope to run rapidly to Memphis. The river is big, +wide, deep and powerful. Huge trunks of trees lie along the bars. What a +giant it must be in flood. Not a day or night passes without several +steamers going up and down. The quantity of lumber handled is great, and +growing greater as we get south. Our chart shows the levees as beginning +above Caruthersville, but we saw nothing there except a little stone +dumped alongshore. Waves pounding hard. + +Gold Dust Landing, Tenn., Dec. 10, 1903. In spite of a head wind we +made a run of 52 miles today, and moored below a Government barge. The +fine steamer _Robert E. Lee_ was at the landing and pulled out just as +we ran in. The day was clear and sunny, not very cold, about 39, but +whenever we ran into a reach with the west or southwest wind ahead the +boat pounded most unpleasantly. No floaters afloat today, but numbers +along shore in sheltered nooks. The levees here are simply banked +fascines, stone land earth, to keep the river from cutting into the +shores. Even at low water there is an enormous amount of erosion going +on. It takes unremitting vigilance to keep the river in bounds and the +snags pulled out. + + * * * * * + +Fogleman's Chute, Dec. 12, 1903.--We made a famous run yesterday of over +60 miles, and tied up here about 5 p. m. on the eastern shore, the +channel being on the west. A small cabin boat stands near us, in which +are a man and three boys who have come down from Indiana, intending to +seek work at Memphis. Their first experience cabin boating. We asked one +of the boys if he liked it, and he looked up with a sudden flash of +wildness and keen appreciation. + +A fierce south wind came up in the night, and there are situations more +enviable than trying to sleep in a houseboat with three boats using her +for a punching bag. And the little woman had asthma, badly, to make it +worse. This morning it was blowing hard and raining. The rain beat in on +the front deck and ran into the hold and under the quarter-rounds into +the cabin. The roof leaked into the storeroom also. Millie was seasick +and some one else would have been, but he took the children out for a +rove. Found a walnut tree and gathered a large bag of fine nuts. The +others brought in some squirrels and pocketsful of pecans, but we found +neither. Stretched the skins on wood and applied alum to the raw +surface, intending to make the little woman some buskins to keep her +feet warm. Quantities of mistletoe grow on the trees about us. The sun +came out about 2 p. m., when too late to make the run to Memphis, 22 +miles, before dark. Yesterday was so warm that we could sit out in the +open air without wraps. We are tied up to Brandywine Island, near the +lower end. + +After lunch we sallied out again and met the owner of the soil, who +ordered us off in a surly manner. In the whole trip this is the first +bit of downright incivility we have met. After he found we were not +after his squirrels he became somewhat less ungracious. The sky soon +became overcast again, and the rain returned. About sunset it set in to +blow a gale from the northwest, and the billows rolled in on us. We got +the launch and skiff out of danger, carefully overlooked our lines and +fenders, but still the tug bumped against the side. How the wind blows, +and the waves dash against the side of the tug driving her against our +side with a steady succession of blows. It worried us to know that the +safety of the boats depended on a single one-inch rope, and the tug +lashed against the outside strained on it. The rope was tense as a +fiddle-string. If it broke the stern of our boat would swing out and +throw us on an ugly snag that projected slightly about six feet below +us; and the tug would be thrown into the branches of a huge fallen +cypress. So we took the long rope and carried it ashore to the north +end, from which the wind came, and lashed it securely to a huge stump, +then tied the other end through the overhang of our boat at that end. +If the line parts the new line will hold us against the soft, sandy +bank, and give time for further effort to keep us off the snag. As it +turned out the line held, but it does no harm to take precautions, and +one sleeps better. + +During the night the wind died out, and the morning of Sunday, Dec. 13, +1903, is clear and cold, a heavy frost visible. The river is full of +floaters, one above us, two directly across, one below, another above, +and one floating past near the other shore. The _Desplaines_ is getting +up steam and we hope to see Memphis by noon. + +[Illustration: MEMPHIS LEVEE. "TOUGH CROWD."] + +[Illustration: THE CANOE.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +DUCK SHOOTING. + + +Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 20, 1903.--We ran in here last Sunday morning, Dec. +13, intending to stock up and get out on Wednesday. But Handwerker had +arranged a shoot for us at Beaver Dam Club, and there we spent Tuesday +afternoon and Wednesday morning, bagging 26 ducks--12 mallards, 8 +green-winged teal, 4 pintails, one widgeon and one spoonbill. Met Mr. +Selden, the president of the club, and Mr. O'Sullivan, and of course +enjoyed every minute of the time. + +The club is built on social principles, with a large sleeping room with +four beds; better conducive to fun than seclusion--and the first is what +we seek at such resorts. After lunch we set out, with negro boatmen, +finding a thin coat of ice over the lake. This is an old river bed, of +half-moon shape, with a little water and bottomless mud. Thousands of +ducks were perched on the ice and swimming in the few small open spaces. +We laboriously broke our way through the ice to our chosen stands, and +constructed blinds. Each boat had three live decoys; and after this +first experience with these we must say that we retired fully convinced +of our innate regularity as physicians--for we cannot quack a bit! Every +time a flight of ducks appeared, our tethered ducks quacked lustily, the +drake keeping silent; and it was effective. That evening the shooting +was the most exasperating in our experience. Twice we brought down +doubles, but not a bird of either did we bag. We had eight birds down, +wounded, which in falling broke holes in the ice--and we left them till +we were going in, as they could neither fly nor swim off; but the sun +came out warmer, melted the ice, and not a bird of the lot did we bag. +If there is anything that takes the edge off a duck hunter's +pleasure--at least of this one's--it is wounding a bird and not being +able to put it out of misery. + +A good dinner made some amends, and the story telling continued far into +the night--in fact was still going when the writer fell asleep. + +Next morning we had better luck, and got every bird knocked down, as +well as one of those winged the preceding day. In all we bagged 26 +ducks during the two days--and that for a party of 12 on the two boats +is not an excessive supply. Not an ounce of the meat was wasted, and we +could have enjoyed another meal of them. + +One singular accident robbed us of a fine greenhead. A flock of five +passed directly over our heads, so high that the guide said it was +useless to try for them; but strong in our confidence in the Winchester +we took the leader, and he tumbled. Yes, tumbled so hard, from such a +height that he broke through the ice and plunged so deeply into the mud +that we were unable to find him, after most diligent trials. We had been +impressed with the force of a duck's fall, when shooting one coming +directly head on, and can realize that a blow from one may be dangerous. +In Utah we heard of a man who was knocked out of his boat and his head +driven into the mud so far that he would have been smothered had not the +guide been able to draw him out. + +On reaching the boat Wednesday evening we found that J. J. had improved +the opportunity of our absence by getting drunk, and had frightened the +folk by developing that most objectionable form of it, a fighting drunk. +After a few days he wound up in the lock-up, and there we leave +him--thoroughly disgusted that he should have done such a thing when +entrusted with the care of the sick wife and little ones. + +The wife and Doctor took dinner with some friends, meeting a number of +Memphis folk; and it is with unusual regret we bid adieu to this fine +city. Stores are dearer than in St. Louis. + + * * * * * + +We were all ready to start by Saturday morning, but it was raining and +foggy, the wind from the south too strong for our launch. Then the bank +to which we were tied began to cave in, and soon our towlines were +adrift. The _Desplaines_ got up steam and took us north, where we +remained all day; but as it was changing toward the north by evening we +pulled down below town and tied in a little cove under but at a distance +from the bluff. All night it blew hard from the west, and drove us into +the mud bank, where we are solidly planted now. Three lines out and the +anchor, with the mud, held us pretty steady, but the tug heaved against +us all night. Jim had cemented the front baseboard with white lead and +this kept out the water, but it came in under the sides, and we will +have to treat them similarly. The roof seemed tight. The windows leak, +too, and will have to be sealed somehow--with putty, or the seams +covered with strips of muslin glued on with varnish. + +Our Cairo wood is gone, and we are using drift, which is wet. We must +saw and split about a cord, and let it dry out. There is great plenty +along the shores. The Missis has had asthma as bad as ever before--small +wonder. + +The _Desplaines_ seems to be overmanned, for the owner, Mr. Woodruff, +asked us to take Taylor off his hands. This we are very glad to do, as +we are short, since losing J. J., and Taylor has gotten our launch in +good shape at last. In fact we might have used her from St. Louis if we +had had him. Taylor is an Englishman, a teetotaler, and is studying with +a correspondence school to fit himself for the highest positions +attainable by an engineer. + +One has to be careful what he says to the Memphis people. We mentioned +to Prof. Handwerker our need of a dog, and added that we preferred one +that did not like negroes, as we wanted him to give warning when any +stray ones came near. Next day down came a crate containing a little +dog, a brindle terrier, with the word that he could not abide negroes. +He at once proceeded to endear himself to every one on board, and fully +verified his recommendations. His name is Bluff; and surely never was +dog better named. The brave little creature would, we verily believe, +bluff an elephant. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +SNAGGED IN TENNESSEE CHUTE. + + +President's Island, Dec. 21, 1903.--Yesterday was one of high hopes and +unexpected disaster. All morning Taylor wrestled with the engine; Fluent +ran down to tell of a telegram awaiting us; we went up in the +_Desplaines_ and found it was concerning some mss. not delivered by the +express; found the office open, the mss. had been returned to Chicago +Saturday on wire from there, and no explanation as to why it had not +been delivered during the week, on every day of which we had been to the +express office after it. Holiday rush. + +At 1 p. m. we got off, the launch behind and steered by ropes running +around the cabin to its front. All went well till Jim came in to dinner +and we took the ropes--gave one turn to see which way the steering ran, +found we were wrong and at once turned the other way, but that one turn +gave the unwieldy craft a cant in to the shore, along which ran the +swift current, and we drifted among a lot of snags, the launch caught, +the boat caught, tore the blades off the propeller, broke the coupling; +let go the anchor, and came to. In the melee we noticed the front end of +a gasoline launch rise from some snags--a wreck, buoyed up by the air in +the tank. The boys rowed back but could not locate it. Then we tried to +lift our anchor, to find it fouled with something too heavy to be +raised, and had to buoy it and cast loose with the 75 feet of cable +attached to it. + +We drifted quietly down to the southern end of this island, where we +tied up to the sand bar. + +Out fenders, one long line to a half-buried log far up the shore, the +boat held well off to guard against the falling water leaving us +aground. Well we did, for this morning the launch was so firm in the +sand that we had trouble to get loose. The night was clear and quiet, +and this morning the same--a light wind blowing us along down the river. +Laid in a lot of driftwood in long sticks. Missy had a good night but is +a little asthmatic this morning. Swept out into the current and floating +now in true cabinboat style. We will keep clear of the Tennessee Chute +next time. + +The _Desplaines_ came along as we were lying at the lower end of the +island, and came in to our signal. As we were totally disabled and would +have to send to Auburn, N. Y., for new flukes for our propeller, they +agreed to help us out, and took us in tow. They ran back to see if they +could find the anchor or the sunken boat, but failed to locate either. + + * * * * * + +Hardin's Point, Ark., Dec. 23, 1903.--Yesterday we ran in here after a +fifty-mile run. Tied up quite near the light, which was not well, as the +_Kate Adams_ coming near rocked us as badly as any steamer we have yet +met. We passed her and her consort, the _James Lee_, both aground within +half a mile of each other, near Mhoon's. Both got off, as the _Lee_ came +down today. The river is lower than usual, as the Mhoon gauge showed +minus three. + +We laid in a good supply of wood, and then Jim and Frank found a lot of +cannel coal over on the sand bar, and all day they have been loading up +the _Desplaines_ and our boat with it. Some barge has been wrecked there +and the small pieces washed away, so that what is left is in large +pieces, the smallest taking a strong man to lift. It is curiously +water-burnt. The edges are well rounded, so it must have been long under +water. A little darkey brought around six silver bass, weighing possibly +half a pound each, for which he accepted forty cents. They have a barrel +ready for shipment. He called them game fish. + +A fine buck shot out of the woods on the other side, followed at a +distance by ten hounds, and the deer nearly ran into Woodruff's boat, +then swam to this side, where our boys vainly tried to get a shot. An +old darkey said he could have been easily drowned by the man in the +skiff; but we are glad that species of murder did not offer attractions +to Woodruff. The bars are resonant with the honking of the geese. The +natives have no cows, chickens, nothing to sell, not even pecans--which +here become "puckawns." This evening Jake brought in a fine wild goose, +the first we have seen on board as yet. It has blown from the south all +day, but is quiet this evening. + + * * * * * + +Helena, Ark., Dec. 25, 1903.--We left Hardin Point about 9 a. m., with +the wind dead ahead, and strong enough to make the beating unpleasant. +The front deck is loaded with over a ton of coal, and this seems to make +the boat steadier, less inclined to pitch and toss like a cork on the +waves. + +Christmas day is clear and bright, the sun out, thermometer at 10:30 +standing at 55 outside in the shade, and with a little wood fire running +up to 90 in the cabin. The Missis is better, her asthma becoming more +spasmodic and better controlled by smoke. It rained all last night, and +though the caulking did good, there was still some water came in around +the surbases. We got some putty to help out the lead. At every stop we +pick up something of value to us; usually some good hard firewood. Here +we found a section of the side of a boat washed ashore, solid oak, with +several bolts a yard long through it. Frank lugged it in and has broken +it up into stovewood, and secured the bolts for stakes. + +About 2 p. m. we reached Helena, a town of about 25,000. Moored at a +distance up the stream, and landed on a muddy shore. The muddy south. We +are all coated with the most adhesive of muds, the fineness of the grain +rendering it difficult to remove from the clothes. The town is full of +negroes, celebrating the holiday; and nearly all carry suspicious +looking jugs. The costumes and shouting would make the fortune of a +museum in the north. Found it impossible to secure a turkey fit to eat, +but got the Missis some fine oysters and a chicken, and bear-steaks for +our dinner--at 25 cents a pound. Game is not allowed to be sold in the +state. Pity they do not extend the prohibition to whisky. + +We made candy, and in the evening had the crew all in, and grabbed for +presents in a big basket under a newspaper. We had a happy time, +although we were all out on the big river far from home. The +_Desplaines_ let their wild goose spoil, and threw it overboard this +morning. At 10 a. m. we set out for down the river. + +We searched the Memphis papers for some intimation as to J. J.'s fate, +but found none. Found the tale of an Indiana man who was coming down on +a houseboat with his wife, intending to make his home in Greenville, +Miss. He was told at Cairo that there was a law in Tennessee against +carrying concealed weapons, so here he started out with his pistol in +his hands. He was arrested and sentenced to jail for a year less a day, +and $50 fine, the law forbidding the carrying of weapons. Such a +punishment, administered to a stranger unaware of the law seems a +travesty of justice. It is said here that it is safer to kill a man than +to carry a weapon; and it seems so. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +MOORING. + + +We have been studying the subject of mooring, and present the following +as an ideal moor: + +The fenders are stout poles six inches thick at the butt, three at the +small end, which rests on shore. This end is deeply embedded in the +dirt, so that it will not float away or ride up on the bank. The big end +is firmly fastened to the side timbers, the four-by-fours running across +the boat under the floor, by a short chain, which will not chafe out +like a rope. The latter is better, as being elastic, however. Either +must be strong to spare. The cable is an inch Manilla rope. Thus moored +we are ready for all chances. The best thing to moor to is a stump or +log firmly embedded, and as far as possible from shore, if crumbly, for +the current may cut in fast. At Memphis our stake, forty feet from +shore, was washed out in an hour. Never tie close to a bank that may +fall in on the boat, or to a tree that may fall and crush you; or to a +bank that may hold you ashore if the water falls in the night; or, +worst of all, over a snag, for the waves of a passing steamer may lift +the boat up and drop it so hard on the snag as to knock a hole in the +bottom. When possible moor where you will have a bar to protect you from +the force of waves rolling in from a broad stretch of water. A narrow +creek or cove would be ideal, but as yet we have hardly seen such a +thing where we wanted to stop. When moored with the long side to the +shore, less surface is exposed to the current and the wind, and less +strain put upon the cables. + +[Illustration: AN IDEAL MOOR.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A LEVEE CAMP. + + +Allison's Landing, Ark., Dec. 26, 1903.--We landed here after dark last +night, having been delayed at Friars' Point by the tug getting aground. +The cabinboat floated down the river some distance, and then the back +current and wind carried her on a sand bar. The tug was three hours +getting free, by warping off with the anchor. + +We found this a levee camp. Hardly had we landed when a big negress came +aboard to see what we had for sale. They wanted drygoods badly, and were +much disappointed. Two pleasant gentlemen boarded us, the heads of the +camp; and spent the evening on the tug, with singing and music. They are +here surrounded by negroes, and a little white association seemed as +agreeable to them as it was to us. In the night all hands but Dr. and +Taylor went cat-hunting. + +At 11 p. m. a furious wind storm sprang up from the northeast, exactly +the direction from which to blow us on shore; which was providential, +as we only had one long line out and that poorly secured to a stake in +the soft, oozy bank. Frank saw that everything was right, and wisely +went to bed; but we could not rest easy, and sat up till 4 a. m. The +canoe on the roof blew over against the stovepipe and we had to get out +four times and push it back with a pole. It grew quite cold and the fire +was grateful. + +About midnight the hunters came back with the usual luck to tell of. +This morning Jake, the boy and Doctor went out to a bayou after ducks, +but saw none. This country is said to swarm with game but it keeps +hidden from us. What a thing is a bad reputation! + +In the woods we noted the buds springing from the roots of the cypress, +the size of an egg, and growing upward in hollow cones, called cypress +knees. It is a remarkable and noble tree, the buttressed stumps giving +promise of superb height, which seems rarely realized. Half a mile back +from the landing we came upon the levee, a great bank of earth but +partly covered with grass. Deep and narrow bayous run parallel with it, +in which could be seen the movements of quite large fish. + +Robins, redbirds, jays, woodpeckers, blackbirds, and a variety of still +smaller birds abounded; but we did not get any game. The two gentlemen +in charge of the levee camp, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Ward, went with us into +the woods, but the game was wary. All hands so thoroughly enjoyed the +visit at this hospitable camp that for the rest of the trip we talked of +it. We were indebted to these gentlemen for a roast of fresh pork. Their +task is a difficult one, to keep in order so many negroes, all of the +rough and illiterate sort. Quarrels over "craps" and shooting among the +negroes are not infrequent, and in one a white man, passing by, was +killed. Mr. Rogers has the repute of getting his men to work, and we +heard a scrap of a song among them, expressive of their sentiments or +impressions: + + + "Blisters on yo' feet an' co'ns on yo' han', + Wat yo' git for wo'kin' fo' de black-haired man." + + +A firm hand is absolutely necessary to rule these men, with whom +weakness is perilous. Only a few weeks after our visit to one of these +camps a negro got in a dispute over a trivial sum in his account, got +hold of the pistol the white man in charge had incautiously left in the +negro's reach, and shot him dead. If there is anything in the art of +physiognomy, many of these levee men are desperadoes. + + * * * * * + +Dec. 28, 1903.--We left our friendly entertainers at Allison's and ran +down to a bar, where Woodruff took in several tons of very good coal, +costing nothing but the trouble of shipping. Mr. Rogers accompanied us +to Modoc. + +Tied up at Mayflower landing, a good moor. A German there told us a +trading boat at the landing above took away $6,000 in three days last +year. The trader has a large scow, with a cabin, and a steamer to handle +it. Every place we stop the people come to inquire what we have to sell. +We got off at 7 a. m. today, passed the mouths of the White and +Arkansas, and have run at least 60 miles. We have landed after dark, and +we are not sure as to where we are. The weather has been most pleasant, +temperature about 60 all day, little wind. The river is full of drift, +but there is little traffic. Just now a little steamer passed up. At +Riverton were several small ones, but otherwise the solitude is +unbroken. + +The shores are wild, the banks continually crumbling into the river. A +prodigious number of snags must be furnished yearly. Very few wild fowl +appear. Floaters appear occasionally, but probably there will be fewer +now, as many are directed to the White river. This is probably near +Monterey Landing. As the landing was narrow and beset with snags we +moored with the prow to the bank, two lines to the shore and the anchor +out astern. We have much to say about mooring; but it is a matter of +supreme importance to the comfort and even the safety of the crew. It is +not specially pleasant to turn out of bed in one's nightclothes, with +the temperature below freezing, to find the boat adrift in a furious +storm and pounding her bottom out on snags. + +We bought a new anchor from a trading boat at Allison's. It is 50 +pounds, galvanized, with folding flukes and a ring at the end for a guy +rope, so that if fouled as the other was, we can pull the flukes +together and free it. Paid four dollars for it--same as for the other, +but this is a much better anchor, though not as strong as the solid +one. + +Jim has gone around the cabin and puttied up the cracks, and we hope the +next rain will keep out. If not, we will get deck pitch and pay the +seams. + + * * * * * + +Arkansas City, Ark., Dec. 30, 1903.--Landed here shortly after noon, and +spent the balance of the day. About 1,000 people, mostly black; some +good stores; got a few New Orleans oysters, which are sold by number, 25 +cents for two dozen; bought a new anchor rope, 75 feet, 3.4 inch, for +$3.04, or 14-1/2 cents a pound. Eggs, 35 cents a dozen. No trade for +extinguishers, though Woodruff had a nibble for his steamer. Weather +clear, and temperature rising to about 60 in midday, cold at night. This +morning at 8, temperature 34. No wind. River smooth. What a lot of +gasoline engines are in use. There are at least six boats rigged with +them here. One Memphis party is building a new hull ashore and moving an +old cabin on it. The lady who owns the hotel and drug store has mocking +birds for sale, $25.00 for a singer--lady birds not worth selling. + +Got off near 9 a. m., for Greenville. + + * * * * * + +January 1st, 1904.--We left Arkansas City on the 30th, at 9 a. m., and +reached Greenville, Miss., that evening just before dark. It is a +rambling town, behind the levee, about 10,000 people, but evidently has +considerable business. Twenty-five mills of various kinds are there. +Supplies higher than since leaving Chicago--15 cents for meat of any +sort, 35 cents for eggs or butter, 25 cents for a dozen fine large shell +oysters from New Orleans, the first we have met, and which the sick +woman appreciated $25.00 worth. + +The _Desplaines_ did some business, but many of the mills are owned in +the cities and the managers cannot buy here. + +An old negro lives in a little gully washed by the rain in the bank, +close to where we tied up. He has a little fire, and lies there all +night with a board on edge to rest his back against. In the morning we +took him a cup of coffee which he took eagerly, but without thanks. An +old negress brought him something--presumably food. Last night it +rained some, but this morning he was still there. During the day we saw +him wandering about the streets, reminding one of a lost dog. + +We left at noon, but as it was still raining it was equally +uncomfortable going or lying still. They tried the tug alongside, but +the rudder would not swing the big cabinboat and they had to return to +towing. About 2 p. m. the fog shut in so dense that we had to make a +landing, presumably in Walker's Bend, on the Arkansas side. Frank +brought off some of the finest persimmons we have yet seen. The cabin is +so warm that some flies have appeared, probably left-overs, though the +Missis says they have them all the winter down here. Picked up a nice +lot of drifting boards for stove. + +Exploration establishes the fact that we are just below Vaucluse +Landing, and that the land is rich in pecan trees, well laden with nuts, +which these lazy darkies let go to waste. Frank found a store in the +neighborhood. Chicot lake, back of us, is said to be rich in ducks, and +if the fog lasts tomorrow we must have some. The putty has kept out the +rain today very well. We suffer for ventilation, though, and awake in +the morning with headaches. It is bright moonlight, but still foggy. It +rained during the night and we secured a fine supply of rainwater in the +launch cover. + + * * * * * + +Shiloh Landing, Miss., Jan. 3, 1904.--We lay last night at Wilson's +Point, La., and all night we listened to the creaking of our fenders +against the side, and felt the heave of the tug as she surged against +our side under the influence of a driving northwest wind. Said wind +carried us along yesterday for a run of over 44 miles, sometimes with +and at others against us, as the river curved. It was a cold wind and +made the cabin fire comfortable. Two sailboats passed us going down, one +a two-master from Chicago and the other the _Delhi_, from Michigan City. +They made good with the wind. There was a large trading boat with stern +wheel above our landing, but we did not visit her. + +About 1 p. m. we ran in here, and the tug people stopped because Mr. +Rogers' brother was in charge. We found a levee camp with 36 tents, and +examined the commissary with interest. Got some canned oysters for the +Missis. No milk or eggs, fresh meat or chickens. The men all carry big +44s, and sometimes use them, we hear. It grows colder--at 5 p. m. +temperature outside 30--and the cold is harder to bear than a much lower +one up north. Every few miles there is a landing, and a pile of cotton +bales and bags of seed waiting for the _Delta_ or _American_, fine +steamers that ply between Vicksburg and Greenville. + +The great, greedy river, forever eating its banks, which crumble into +the current constantly, even now when the water is so low. Every sand +bar has its wrecks, and opposite Lake Providence we saw men and teams +busy over the coal in sunken barges. + + * * * * * + +Monday, Jan. 4, we left Shiloh at 7:20, clear and cold, temperature 28, +moon shining, but the sun not yet visible from behind the bluff. + +Yesterday we passed the steamer _City of Wheeling_, fast on a bar, and +we hear she has been there for two months--grounded on her first trip. +But the water is rising and she expects to be soon released. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +VICKSBURG. + + +Thursday, Jan. 7. 1904.--We arrived at Vicksburg in the afternoon of +Monday, Jan. 4, and were much impressed by the beauty of the city as +seen from the river. Spread along the heights it looks like a large +city, though it only claims a population of about 22,000. Contrary to +expectation we found it busy, with evidences of life and enterprise. The +Government has built a levee which blocks up the mouth of the Yazoo, and +by a canal diverted the water of that river into the channel that runs +along the front of the city; the old bed of the river Mississippi +previous to 1876, when it cut a new bed for itself and threatened to +leave the historic fortress an inland town. + +Just before reaching the city we met a row of whirlpools reaching across +the channel, whose violence would make a man in a skiff feel queer. +These are the only notable ones we have seen, except just before +reaching Arkansas City. + +The _Desplaines_ could not tow us against the swift current in the +Yazoo, so left the houseboat about 300 yards up that stream and steamed +up to the city. After visiting the postoffice we started to walk back +along the levee, reaching the place we had left the boat just before +dark. She was not there, and we walked along the bank up stream till it +grew too dark to see, then got lost among the railway buildings till +directed by a friendly youth to the street where the cars ran. Reached +the tug at last, and the owner took us back with a lantern along the +levee, finding the boat in the great river, the boys having dropped down +out of the Yazoo. As we received the flukes for our launch, which Taylor +put on, we concluded to part company from the tug, and settled up with +them. Meanwhile the quarreling among her crew came to a climax and Jake +was set on shore by them. He was pilot, cook, hunter and general +all-round utility man, coming for the trip without wages, and it seems +to us suicidal for them to dismiss him, when negro roustabouts are +refusing $4.00 a day from the steamers, and engineers impossible to +secure at any price. We were full handed, but liked Jake, so we took +him aboard as a supernumerary till he could do better. + +The 6th was dull and rainy but we got off, and ran about 16 miles in the +afternoon, tying up somewhere in Diamond Bend, probably below Moore's +Landing. + +At V. had a letter from J. J., saying he had been sentenced to a year in +the workhouse and $50.00 fine for carrying weapons. + +During the night it rained heavily, and we caught a fine lot of +rainwater in the launch cover. One learns to appreciate this on the +river. + +During the afternoon we saw a negro shoot from the bank directly down on +a few geese, of which he wounded one. It swam across the river and we +got out the skiff and followed. On shore it crouched down as if dead, +and waited till Jim got within ten feet, when it got up and flew across +the river. We followed, and he shot it with a rifle when about 150 yards +off. + +By that time we were miles below the darky, and as he has no boat we +fear he will not be on hand to put in a claim for the goose. We bought +one at V. for 90 cents; also eight jack-snipe for a dollar. Roast beef +was 12-1/2 cents for round, 25 for rib, and 17-1/2 for corned beef. Milk 10 +cents a quart from wagon, buttermilk 20 cents a gallon, butter, 30 for +creamery and 25 for country. + + * * * * * + +Waterproof Cutoff, Friday, Jan. 8, 1904.--We ran about 23 miles on the +7th, the engine simply refusing to go; and we drifted most of the time. +Once we got fast on a nasty snag and it took all our force to get off. +We tied up to a sand bar near Hard Times Landing, in the bend of that +name. Bluff and the children had a refreshing run on the sand. Got off +today at 8 a. m., and by 1O the engine started off in good shape and has +been running well all day. The weather is clear and warm, thermometer +standing at 72 this afternoon. Little wind, but that from the south. +Some clouds betoken a possible rain. Our first wild goose for dinner on +the 6th, and all liked it well. + + * * * * * + +Saturday, Jan. 9, 1904.--We ran about forty miles yesterday, tying up +above L'Argent in a quicksandy nook. At 4 this morning these lazy boys +got up and started to float, making several miles before daybreak. It +is foggy at 8 and the sun invisible, but warm and with little wind. The +launch is running fitfully. Passed Hole-in-the-Wall and now opposite +Quitman Bluff. + + * * * * * + +Jan. 10, 1904.--Yesterday we reached Natchez at 1 p. m., and by 4 had +got our mail and supplies and were off down the river. The engine balked +under the influence of a lower temperature, and we had only made about +five miles when we had to tie up on account of the darkness. It rained +hard. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +RIVER PIRATES. + + +We had had our suppers, the children and Missis had gone to bed, and we +were about following them, when through the rain we heard someone get +upon the front deck. It was raining hard. We called out, asking who was +there. A man replied in a wheedling voice, saying that he was alone, +lost in the rain, and wished to remain till it was light enough to see +his way. We asked who he was, and he responded that he was a prominent +citizen of the neighborhood and asked us to open up the cabin a little +bit. The doors are on the sides, and he was evidently puzzled as to how +to get into the cabin. We were undressed and told him we could not let +him in; but he insisted. We called to the boys to see what was wanted, +thinking it might be some one in trouble; so Jake went out. The man +began to talk pretty saucily, but then Jim and Frank got out, and at +once his tone changed. He suddenly got very drunk, though perfectly +sober a moment before. Another man turned up also, in a skiff +alongside. He gave a rambling incoherent account of why he was there; +but the other man called angrily for him to come on, and soon they left, +rowing into the darkness. The man who came aboard was about 5 feet 6; +45, red-faced, deep-set eyes; his hat drawn well over his face; rather +heavily set. The other was a sulky-faced man about 25, with light hair. +That they were river pirates there is not a doubt; and had we been +short-handed there would have been trouble. + +Next morning we set out, slowly floating with a little headwind, through +a fog. Temperature at 8 a. m., 50. Natchez-under-the-hill has +disappeared under the assaults of the river, and with it the wild +characters that made it famous, or rather notorious. The city is now +said to be as orderly and safe as any in the south. We now get fine gulf +oysters at 50 cents to $1 a hundred. They come in buckets. Shell oysters +are still rare. We got a small bunch of bananas at Natchez, for 60 +cents. + +We passed Morville, floating about three miles an hour. We have never +been able to secure any data as to the speed of the current in the +rivers. + + * * * * * + +Jan. 11, 1904.--We ran 42 miles yesterday, to near Union Point, tying up +to a sand bar. The boys crossed to a railway camp and were told game was +very abundant, so that it was hardly safe for a single man to go out +with the hounds at night--bear, panther and cat. We had a head wind all +day, from the west, sometimes strong enough to raise a few whitecaps, +and the engine did her stunt of bucking--which shows what she is good +for when in good humor. Temperature went up to 72 and hung around 70 all +day. This morning at 8 it is 42. The children and dog had a much needed +run on the sand. The boy needs much exercise and laboriously chops at +the heaviest wood he can find. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE ATCHAFALAYA. + + +By lunch time we reached the mouth of the Red River, and found a rapid +current running into it from the Mississippi. We landed on the bar and +sent to town for mail, but found the postoffice had been moved to +Torrasdale, several miles away--and after walking up there found no +letters. At 3 p. m. we started up the Red, rapid, crooked, much in need +of the services of a snag boat; weather so warm the invalid came out on +deck for an hour or more. Turned into the Atchafalaya about 5 p. m., a +deep stream, said to be never less than 50 feet deep. The same shelving +banks as the great river, formed by the continual caving. We found a bed +of pebbles at the mouth of the Red and really they were like old +friends. Stone is a rarity here. + +We tied up a little way beyond Elmwood Landing. Henceforth we have +neither charts nor lights, but we have a born pilot in Jake, and he will +pull us through. A bad day for the asthma, in spite of the warmth. + +[Illustration: RED RIVER.] + + * * * * * + +Jan. 12, 1904.--If solitude exists along the Atchafalaya it is not here. +The left bank is leveed and roofs appear about every 100 yards. The +right bank is lined with little trees growing down to and into the +water. At Denson's Landing, or Simmesport, the right bank begins a +levee; there is the inevitable gas launch, a tug, and numerous other +craft, with a fish market. The wind blows dead ahead, and raises waves +nearly as big as in the big river. Pretty bum houseboats, apparently +occupied by blacks. Some noble trees with festoons of Spanish moss. No +nibbles on the trotline last night, but a huge fish heaved his side out +of the water just now. Alligator gar. + +Pleasant traveling now. All day long we have voyaged along the +Atchafalaya with a wind from--where? It requires a compass to determine +directions here. In fact the uncertainty of things usually regarded as +sure is singular. Now up north we know just where the sun is going to +rise; but here the only certainty about it is its uncertainty. Now it +comes up in the east--that is, over the east bank of the river; but next +day it may appear in the west, north or south. + +The wind was against us all morning, but since lunch--which we had at +Woodside--it has been back of us or sideways, and has driven us along. +Fine levees line the banks. Just now we are passing a camp at work. It +is a noble river, wide and deep, with a current about as swift as the +great river. Even now, when the Barbre gauge shows 6-3/4 feet above low +water only, there is no obstruction to navigation by as large steamers +as plow the Mississippi. Now and then a little spire or black stack +peeping above the levee shows the presence of a village. Temperature +hovers about 62. Only a solitary brace of ducks seen in this river as +yet. + +All afternoon we have been pursuing Melville. At 3 p. m. it was four +miles away; an hour later it was five miles off, and at 5 we had gotten +within three miles of the elusive town. We concluded to stop, in hopes +it might get over its fear and settle down; so tied up. We ascended the +levee, and a boy told us the town was within half a mile. The river is +lonely, not a steamer since leaving the mouth of Red, where the _Little +Rufus_ came down and out, politely slowing up as she neared the cabin +boat, to avoid rocking us. An occasional skiff is all we see, though +the landing is common, but no cotton or seed, nothing but lumber. + +We were correct as to our estimate of the visitors we had the other +night--river pirates. Their method is to come on rainy nights when the +dogs are under cover. By some plausible story they gain admittance to +the cabin and then--? Have the windows guarded by stout wire screens, +the doors fitted with bars, and a chain. Any visitor to a cabin boat +after night is a thief, and on occasion a murderer. If he desires +admittance after being told you are not a trader or whisky boat, open +the chain and when he tries to enter shoot him at once. It is the +sheerest folly to let one of those fellows have the first chance. No +jury in the world would fail to congratulate you for ridding the river +of such a character. There are no circumstances that can be imagined in +which an honest man would act in the way these men did. If they wanted +shelter from the rain the shore was handy. If they mistook the boat for +friends, the mistake was apparent and they knew very well they had no +business to continue their visit. + + * * * * * + +Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1904.--Made a good start. We got under way about +8:30, and Melville bridge soon came in view. The day is clear and warm, +water smooth as glass, with no perceptible current, and the engine +starts off as if nothing ever ruffled her temper. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +MELVILLE--FIRST DEER HUNT. + + +Melville, La., Jan. 19, 1904.--We found this a quiet little town of 600 +people, including negroes; with sufficient stores for our simple needs, +and a daily mail east and west. We found some pleasant young gentlemen +here, with plenty of leisure and hounds, and some of us go out for deer +every day. So far no one has brought in any venison, but Jim and Frank +have had shots. + +The thermometer stands at about 60 to 70 all day; fires are superfluous +except at night for the weak one, the grass and clover show up green in +spots, and really we seem to have skipped winter. In the swamps the +palmettoes raise their broad fans, the live oaks rear their brawny +trunks, and bits of green life show up on all sides. Really, we do not +see what excuse the grass has for being brown, if it be not simple force +of habit, or recollection of a northern ancestry. + +The negro women wear extraordinary sunbonnets, huge flaring crowns with +gay trimming. The foreigners are Italians or Greeks; and are in the +fruit and grocery trade. An old superannuated Confed. brings us a small +pail of milk daily, for which he gets 10 cents a quart. + +The river is leveed 15 miles down, and the system is being extended +southward. There is a difference of opinion as to the levees, some +claiming they are injurious as preventing the elevation of the land by +deposit of mud; while one large sugar raiser said it would be impossible +to raise crops without them. The truth seems to be that the immediate +needs require the levees; but if one could let the land lie idle, or +take what crops could be raised after the floods subside, it would be +better for the owner of the next century to let in the water. + +We have had our first deer hunt. Six of us, with four hounds, set out in +the launch. Arriving at the right place we disembarked and walked +through the woods about a mile, the dogs having meanwhile started out +independently. Here they located us, in a small clear space, and the +rest went on to their respective stands. We looked about us and were not +favorably impressed with our location. It was too open. Deer coming +from any quarter would see us long before we could see them. So we +selected a spot where we could sit down on a log, in the shade of a huge +cypress, with the best cover attainable, and yet see all over the +clearing. Then we waited. + +By and by we heard a noise as of breaking twigs to one side. We crouched +down and held our breath, getting the rifle up so as to allow it to bear +in the right direction. Waited. A little more noise, but slight. Waited. +No more. Sat till our backs got stiff and feet cold. Then carefully and +quietly paced up and down the path. Sat down again. Concluded to eat +lunch, an expedient that rarely fails to start the ducks flying. No good +for deer. + +Shifted position, walked up the path to a bunch of hollies, laden with +berries. A bird was at them, and as by this time our faith in deer was +growing cool we concluded to take a shot at a robin. Did so. Missed +him--but to our horror and relief he turned out to be a mocking bird! + +Walked up the path and found a sluggish bayou with running water across +it. Weren't thirsty, but doubted the wisdom of drinking that water, and +that made us thirsty. Circled around the center of our clearing. Noted +the way the cypresses throw up stumps from the roots. Saw a big turtle +in the bayou. Red birds came about, but no robins--they are game birds +here. Searched the trees for squirrels--none there. Thought of +everything we could recollect--even began to enumerate our sins--and got +into an animated discussion with a stranger on the negro question, +awaking with a start. Shot at a hawk that roosted on a tree just out of +gunshot. Scared him, anyhow. + +Finally, when desperate with the task of finding expedients to keep us +awake, we heard a horn blown--or wound?--and not knowing but that some +one might be lost, whistled shrilly in reply. Occasionally a shot was +heard here and there; once in a moon the dogs gave tongue in the remote +distance. Finally one of the boys appeared, then the old uncle, and the +rest came stringing in. One had seen a deer but did not get a shot at +it. So we took up the line of march for the river, where the launch +returned us to the cabin boat. And so ended our first deer hunt. + +We have now been at it a week, and several of the boys have had shots +at the animals, but no horns decorate our boat, nor does venison fill +our craving stomachs. There are deer here, their evidences are as plain +as those of sheep in a pasture. But the only benefit they have been to +us is in the stimulation of the fancy. The weird and wonderful tales +spun by those who have had shots at the elusive creatures, to account +for the continued longevity and activity of their targets, are worth +coming here to hear. Surely never did deer go through such antics; never +did the most expert tumbler in any circus accomplish such feats of +acrobatic skill. The man who catches flying bullets in his teeth should +come down here and receive instruction from these deer. + +We took the Missis and daughter over to Baton Rouge, and installed them +in a huge, old-fashioned room, on Church St., a block from the +postoffice and the leading stores; with a lady of means, who sets an +excellent table, lavishly spread, and with the best of cookery, at a +price that seems nominal to us. The lofty ceilings seem doubly so after +the low deck of the cabin; the big canopied bed of walnut and quilted +silk recalls the east; while violets, camellias, hyacinths and +narcissus blooming in the open air, as well as sweet olive, and the +budding magnolias, make one realize that the frozen north is not a +necessity. + + * * * * * + +January 23, 1904.--We find Melville a very good place to stay--supplies +plentiful, the people pleasant, and the place safe. The boys go out for +deer every day, but as yet no success has rewarded them. One day they +chased a doe into the river, where two boys caught her with their hands +and slaughtered her. Bah! + +The weather has been ideal--warm enough to make a fire oppressive save +nights and mornings--but we are now having a cold snap, whose severity +would make you northern folk, who sit in comfort over your registers, +shiver. We have actually had a white frost two nights in succession. +Fact! + +On the shore close by roost at least 100 buzzards. They are protected +and seem aware of it; roosting on the roof of the fish boat below us. +They tell us the sharks come up here so that bathing is unsafe, and tell +queer stories of the voracity and daring of the alligator gars. The +alligator is by no means extinct in Louisiana, being still found of +gigantic size in the bayous. + +Little is said here on the negro question, which seems to be settled so +well that no discussion is needed. + +Day after day we sit at the typewriter and the work grows fast. Tomorrow +we go to Barrow's convict camp for a shoot, and quite a lot have +gathered, and are waiting till the engine chooses to start. Every day we +have to push the boat from shore or we might be hard aground in the +morning, as we are today. The water fell last night till it uncovered +six feet of mud by the shore. The river is said to be over 100 feet deep +opposite. The bridge is built on iron tubular piers that seem to be +driven down till they strike a stratum capable of supporting the weight. +These are said to be 100 feet deep. + + * * * * * + +January 24, 1904, we all went down to Capt. Barrow's camp for a deer +hunt, which possessed no features differing from those of the five +preceding. At 4 p. m. we quit, and started on our return. But the dogs +had not come in, so when we got up to the old convict camp we stopped, +and Budd and Jake went back for them. And there we waited till after 10 +p. m. It grew quite cool so that the boys built a fire. Just on the +bluff above us was an old deserted house, about ready to fall into the +river when the banks shall have crumbled away a little more. We found in +it an ancient mahogany four-post bedstead and a spinning-wheel, an old +horn powderhorn, and other relics of antiquity. + +There were our own party of four, Budd and Wally, Thomassen and his son +"Sugar," Mr. Sellers (from one of the Melville stores), and two negro +hunters, Brown and Pinkham--and right worthy men and good hunters they +are. The fire was fed by beams from the old house, and as its cheerful +warmth was felt, the scene would have been a worthy one for an artist's +pencil. The odd stories and ceaseless banter of the negroes and the boy +were enhanced by the curious dialect. Constantly one blew his horn, and +was answered by the party who were out, or by others; and some one else +was blowing for other lost dogs, so that the woods were musical. An old +hound had come in early, tired out, and when the horns blew he would try +to get off, but was tied; so he would give vent to his discontent in +the most doleful of long-drawn-out howls, like a prolonged note from an +owl. At last boys and hounds came in, and we were home to our boat by +midnight. + +Somehow the yoke once worn till thoroughly fitted to the neck, becomes a +part of the bearer; and the best contented of the negroes were those who +held with their old masters. Even the shackles of civilization become +attractive in time--and we have resumed the reading of a daily paper +since we can get it regularly. And we like the _Picayune_, finding in +its editorials a quiet dignity that we appreciate, even though we may +not agree with the political sentiments. And there is an air of +responsibility about it; a consciousness that what it says counts, and +must therefore be preceded by due deliberation, that is novel. The local +color is also attractive. For instance the river news, and--the +jackstaffs! Now, don't say you do not know what jackstaffs are. We will +not spoil it by telling. And Lagniappe! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +BATON ROUGE--THE PANTHER. + + +Baton Rouge, La., Feb. 1, 1904.--While you in the North are wrestling +with zero temperatures, we are experiencing what these folk term +terrible winter weather. Men go about with heavy overcoats buttoned up +to the chin, and I saw one the other day with a tall coonskin cap, with +folds down over his neck, and earflaps. An open-grate fire is +comfortable in the mornings and tempers the chill of night for the +little one. Even the Chicago man finds a light overcoat advisable in the +mornings, though with light-weight underwear and thin outer clothes. + +Nevertheless, the violets bloom everywhere, jonquils, polyanthus +narcissus, camellias and sweet olive are in bloom, and the big rose +bushes are covered with leaves and buds that already show the color of +the flower. The grass is green in New Orleans parks, and the magnolias +are budding. Masses of chickweed cover the margins of drains and several +plants of unknown lineage--to the writer--are in bloom. And this is the +weather to which we constantly hear the epithet "terrible" applied here. + +But residents of the North who were raised in Dixie do not freeze. +Exposure to cold brings with it the ability to withstand it, and not +only that but all other morbific influences as well. It increases the +vitality, the power of resisting all noxious powers that threaten the +health and life of man. + +But this applies to the sound and well, not to those who already possess +a material lesion of one or more organs. For them this soft, balmy air, +this temperature that permits a maximum of exposure to the open air, are +health-giving, life-prolonging, comfort-securing. + +People speak of the sudden changes here--warm today and tomorrow +cold--as objectionable; but so they do everywhere, and we have found no +more changeability than elsewhere. And as to the rains: When it does +rain it pours, but most of it has been at night so far, and during the +day it dries off nicely. It it said that this is the rainy month, and we +may have to modify this view later. So far the rains have not been a +feature worthy of citation, as against the climate. + +Much attention has been given the drinking water of late years in the +riverine cities, and generally they have water on which they pride +themselves. Artesian wells are mostly utilized. The river water is muddy +and unsightly, but probably safe and certainly palatable. We depend on +our Puritan still, and a tripoli filter, and utilize the rain water we +catch in the canvas cover of the launch. No trouble has as yet affected +us from this source; and we are satisfied it pays well to take +precautions. + +From St. Louis down the river fairly bristles with opportunities for men +who understand business and have a little capital. But timber lands are +pretty well taken up. An Ohio party paid $100 an acre for 100 acres here +in this Atchafalaya country the other day. + +The people? Well, we have simply adopted the whole--white--population, +and find them delightful. There has not been a discordant note in our +intercourse with this warm-hearted, hospitable folk, who unite the +courtesy of the French with a sincerity that makes itself felt every +moment. + +Dogs! Everyone seems to own hounds here. We had a few runs with them; +they came aboard and inspected us, and after due deliberation approved +of us, took up their home with us and declined to stay away; so that at +night one can scarcely set foot outside the cabin without stepping on a +sleeping hound. Even the women folk are disarmed when these dogs look up +with their big, beautiful eyes and nuzzle their cold noses into the hand +for a caress. One great fellow reared up against us, placed his paws on +our shoulders and silently studied our face awhile, then dropped to the +ground and henceforth devoted himself to us, never being far from our +side. We felt complimented! + +Go out with the gun, and see how these slumberous animals awake to +joyous life and activity. Then the long, musical bay, the ringing of the +hunters' horns, the quick dash of the deer past your stand, with the +dogs after, in full cry--say, brother, these low lands when leveed, +cleared and cultivated, will yield two bales of cotton to the acre, and +with cotton at 15 cents and over, is not that splendid? So shut your +ears against the cry of the wild, and only consider what Progress means, +and how the individual and civic wealth is increasing as these wild +lands are brought under the plow and made productive of dollars. For is +not all of life simply a question of dollars, and success measurable +only in the bank account? So put away from you the things that make life +worth living, and devote yourself with a whole heart to the task of +making your son a millionaire, that he may make his son a +multimillionaire, and so on. It will do you so much good in the Great +Beyond to know this. That the money for which we give up all that +renders life enjoyable will either render our descendants dissipated and +useless, or enable them to oppress their fellowmen, need not be +considered. Money is all there is in life. + +The wife, daughter and Doctor are domiciled at Baton Rouge, while the +boys took the boats down to Alabama Bayou for a week with the big game. +Here is the small boy's report, verbatim: + +Dear Mama and Papa: You talk about us not sending you any venison. If I +had any money I would send you enough to make you sick. I went hunting +with the boys this morning. Jim, Hudson and I went together. Bud drove +with the dogs. Jake and Frank went together. Frank took his shotgun and +he got lost from Jake, went to shooting robins. Jake got on an island +and did not know where he got on at. He had to wade a stream two feet +deep. After we had been looking for a stand we heard a shot behind us, +and then a rifle shot to the right of us, and three blows of Bud's horn, +which means dead deer. Jake was the first one to him, being only 300 +yards. We walked two and one-half miles before we got to him. When we +got there he had a big doe laying over a log. Bud drew him and they took +turns carrying him home. Every tooth in my head aches from chewing +venison. How are all of you? I waded about 30 ditches today over my shoe +tops and one over my knees. Bud said if I followed the dogs with him he +would give me first shot, and if I missed he would get him. Millie made +me a belt to fit the rifle cartridges. I christened my axe in deer +blood. Bud said Queen was 10 feet behind it, King 20 feet and Diamond +ran up and threw the deer after it was shot. Then it got up and Diamond +got it in the throat and brought it down. I will have to close as it is +time to go to bed. With love to all, + +William. + +Not bad for an 11-year-old. Everyone has been complaining of the +terrible weather here--frost three nights last week, and a light +overcoat not oppressive, though it is hardly necessary except for the +tendency one has to put his hands in his pockets otherwise. We asked one +of the natives what they would do in Chicago with zero weather, and he +replied with an air of conviction: "Freeze to death." + +We have a nibble for the boat. The river at Memphis is so full of +floating ice that the ferry boats cannot run; and that looks as if we +might not be able to get our boats towed to St. Louis before late +spring--and we want to be free. We note blooming in the open many +violets, polyanthus narcissus, camellias, sweet olive, magnolias just +budding out, and white hyacinths. The grass is putting up green shoots. +Large beds of chickweed are plentiful. The vinca was nipped by frost +last night. Next door is a fine palmetto and the great roses covering +the gallery are full of green leaves and the remains of the last crop of +blossoms, with new buds coming out. What a terrible winter! + +There is a street fair here. These people go about the country and +exhibit wherever they find a town that will pay them, their price here +being, it is said, $2,000 for a week. The Red Men pay them, and probably +the merchants subscribe to it, the business brought to town compensating +them. There are a number of attractions, like a little splinter broken +off the poorest part of Atlantic City. But it gives something to see and +do and talk about, to a town where there is too little of either for the +demand. There are a huge and a dwarf horse, glass blowers, a human +dwarf, contortionist, jubilee singers, kinetoscope, trained dogs and +monkeys, dissolving statue, and of course the nigger babies and knives +to throw at and miss. We have run against these aggregations all the way +down, and they are evidently becoming a feature of the smaller towns. + +Curious place for a State Capital. In our room stands a fine walnut +wardrobe with a door broken open; and there is not a mechanic in the +city who can mend it. Glass is broken, and it remains so; any quantity +of miscellaneous mending and repairing needed, but it stands. The sunny +south is a bit slipshod; the ladies are delightful, but they do not work +their finger ends off cleaning out the last possibilities of dust and +dirt--they leave it to the darkies, who do what they cannot avoid doing +and stop right there. + + * * * * * + +That our boys are not devoid of descriptive ability--and +imagination?--this chapter, written by Frank, will demonstrate. + +"At Melville, on the Atchafalaya, we became acquainted with some young +men who had a fine pack of deer hounds. They also call these "nigger +dogs," because they are employed for trailing convicts who escape from +the camps along the river. + +"Early in the morning our hunting party gathered on the levee--the +Doctor, Budd Tell, his brother Wylie, and two uncles, and four of us. +The old men were settlers and hunters of bobcat, deer, panther, bear and +other game. They said they had killed 160 deer in one winter, and +though we doubted this, we afterward found it was true. + +"We penetrated the woods till a desirable spot was reached, and here +Budd posted us on our stands. These are places clear of underbrush for a +space, so that the hunter may see to shoot anything that invades his +location. One man remains with the dogs, termed the driver. He was left +about two miles behind. When all had been placed the signal was given, +to start the dogs. Soon we could hear the music of their baying, as it +did not take long for them to strike a deer trail, and a fresh one at +that. The chase led in the Doctor's direction and presently we heard him +shoot--and he had downed his first deer. He got two that day. I shot +one, and Budd got a little fat doe. The others were fine bucks, weighing +175, 150 and 123 lbs. At least we thought so, after taking turns packing +them, on a pole; and that was the only scale we had; so we think it was +legal, under the circumstances. + +"As we were returning to the boat with our four deer, two men to each, +one man could be taking it easy all the time. Somehow the bunch got +separated in the cypress swamp, and suddenly we heard the scream of a +panther. Then there were a number of shots, and after that silence, for +a couple of minutes. Then came a rifle shot. Jake and I being together, +we hurried in the direction of the shots. Soon we heard a noise that we +could not make out the cause of. We were still packing the deer. Then we +came in sight of the Doctor, stooping over Budd's brother. Close by lay +a dead panther. Budd's breast and arms were badly torn by the claws of +the animal, and his brother had a scalp wound and was insensible. +However, we all turned in to help, and he was soon on his feet, somewhat +damaged and rather faint, but still in the ring. + +"The panther had sprang on them from a tree, knocking Wylie down, then +turning on Budd who attacked the animal as soon as he realized what was +the trouble. The panther started for him like a cyclone and had his +shirt and some skin jerked off in less time than it takes for me to tell +it. Budd says he sure thought his time had come, and being somewhat of a +church member he put up a little call for help. Just then the Doctor ran +up, and by a lucky shot disabled the beast, which was soon dispatched. +He got the hide. The panther weighed over 100 lbs. and measured 5 feet +10 inches from nose to tip of tail. + +"As Budd and Wylie were too weak to carry the deer, the big cat was +allotted to them, and two of us took each a deer till we got out of the +timber, about dark. We reached the boat at 6 p. m., very tired. But we +had had our fun, and some of us had had an experience not usual even to +houseboat travelers. And we got the panther--though it came very near +getting two of the best fellows to be found in the south." + +Unfortunately the prize so highly valued was lost. The skin was +stretched out and placed on the roof to dry; that night the wind blew, +and next morning the skin had disappeared. The one now ornamenting the +Doctor's den was purchased to replace the original. + +Will some one explain how it happens that an indifferent shot, when +brought in face of such a proposition will make an unerring snap shot, +when a slight deviation would endanger the life of the companion? Many +years ago, while traversing the woods of Pennsylvania, we heard our +companion cry for help, after two shots close together. We ran at full +speed, and saw him standing still, gazing at a huge snake at his feet. +Even as we ran we brought our double-barrel to our shoulder and without +taking aim blew the serpent's head off. There was no time to aim, and +had we done so it is doubtful if we could have made as good a shot. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE BOBCAT. + + +Melville, La., Feb. 3, 1904.--Budd was watching some deer down the +river, when he saw a bobcat come out of the brush near by. He shot the +cat, when a buck ran out within twenty feet of him. He made a quick shot +at the buck, got him, and then ran after the cat. She had crawled under +some brush and thinking her dead he crawled after her. Just as he caught +hold of her leg to pull her out she turned on him and flew at his chest, +in which she embedded her claws. There was a lively tussle for a few +minutes, when he got away, and the cat crawled under a log. But when he +again attempted to pull her out she flew at him, apparently little the +worse for her wounds; and it was not till he succeeded in cutting her +throat that she died. He was pretty well clawed up, sufficiently to +deprive him of any further desire to tackle a bobcat, only a few of +whose lives had been expended. + +Here is a native's sample story: + +"Father had been troubled by a bear that ate his corn, so he sat up one +night to get him. He noted where the bear came in from the canebrake, +and placed himself so that the wind blew from that place to his stand. +It was bright moonlight. Along in the night came Bruin, sniffing and +grunting. He paused at the fence till satisfied the way was clear, then +knocked a rail off the top and clambered over. He made his way among the +corn, and rearing up began to pull off the ears and eat them. Then dad +fired a handful of buckshot into him, breaking his shoulder. The bear +made for the place he had crossed the fence, scrambled over, and crashed +through the brake. Dad marked him down as stopping at a huge dead tree +that could easily be seen above the canes. + +"By this time the shot had aroused the folks, and dogs, darkies and men +came running out. The dogs sought the trail, but the only one that found +it was a little mongrel tyke, who started off after the bear and was +soon followed by the rest. The men tried to keep up, but dad ran right +for the big tree. A crooked branch across his path sprang into a coil +and rattled a warning at him. He stopped and gave it the other barrel, +and ran on. Coming up to the tree there was the bear, standing up, and +with his one arm raking the dogs whenever they ventured within reach. +Already the bravest showed evidences of his skill. One of the men shot +him--in fact they all shot, and the bear rolled over. Dad went up to +him, and some one remarked that he must be a tame bear, as his ear was +nicked. Dad felt the ear, and remarked how warm it was--and just then +the old bear whirled around, reared up, and seized dad in a real bear +hug. Fortunately it was a one-armed hug, and by a quick movement he was +able to wriggle away, and then one man who had not shot put his gun to +the bear's ear and shot half his head away. On the way home they picked +up the snake, which was seven feet long, and had 11 rattles and a +button." + + * * * * * + +At Shiloh Landing, Miss., our boys were told of a negro who ate glass. +He came in while they were there, and cracked up a lamp chimney and ate +it, literally and without deception. He said he could walk over broken +glass without harm. He also was impervious to snakes. And while they +talked a huge cotton-mouth copperhead wriggled out on the floor. There +was a unanimous and speedy resort to boxes, barrels and tables, till the +serpent was killed. It seems the negro has a fancy for collecting snakes +and had brought this one in in a box, from which he made his escape. + + * * * * * + +This morning we went out for robins, and got a mess; of which we +contributed one--could not shoot a little bit. After lunch we waited for +the mail and then bid good-bye to the kindly folk who had made Melville +so pleasant to us, and started on our journey up the Atchafalaya. The +river is wider, swifter and bigger than when we came down; and we will +be glad to get into the great river again. We have quite a collection of +skins--deer, cat and coon--gifts of our friends. We ran a few miles and +then the engine pump quit, and we tied up. Fair and clear, warm at +midday enough to make a vest a burden. + +[Illustration: SPANISH MOSS (ATCHAFALAYA).] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ASCENDING THE ATCHAFALAYA. + + +Atchafalaya River, Feb. 4, 1904.--There is a very perceptible difference +between descending a river and ascending it. Our gallant little launch +finds the cabinboat a difficult proposition against the current, as +aggravated by the rising floods. We made but a few miles yesterday and +tied up for the night. An unexpected steamer came along about 12:30 and +gave us a good tumbling. She returned later, having doubtless taken in +her freight at Melville meanwhile. This morning an east wind drives us +against the shore, so that we have to steer out, and that makes it a +head wind; so the shore creeps slowly past. It is cloudy and feels like +rain, though warm. The river is very muddy, and full of drift over which +the boat rumbles constantly. Many doves are seen on the trees along +shore but, as usual, we are in a hurry and cannot stop for sport. + +During the Civil War, we are told, the Atchafalaya could be bridged by +three carts, so that soldiers could cross. Now it is nowhere less than +sixty feet deep, and two-fifths of the water of the Mississippi go +through it to the Gulf. Every year it is enlarging, and the day may come +when the Mississippi will discharge through it altogether, and Baton +Rouge and New Orleans be inland cities. This route to the Gulf is 150 +miles shorter. + + * * * * * + +Atchafalaya River, Feb. 6, 1904.--We made but a short run yesterday, the +wind stopping us two miles below Oderberg, just within 150 yards of a +turn around which we had to go to get the wind in our favor. But we +could not do it. Boy and Dr. shot some robins and Jake got a mud hen; +and from a passing wagon we secured a roast of beef. An old colored +woman sold us some buttermilk, for two bits. This morning it was rainy +and foggy, but under great difficulties we pushed ahead and made +Simmesport by lunch. Here we engaged a gasoline boat to take us around +into the Mississippi, for seven dollars--about 14 miles--and felt we got +off well at that. The current in the Red is said to be too fierce for +our little boat. We did as well as possible, by hugging the low shore, +and when the one we were on became high and eroded we crossed to the +other. In that way we avoided the swift current and often got a back +one, or eddy. The steamer _Electra_ dogged us all morning, passing and +stopping at numerous landings till we passed her. When we land we find +houses quite close along either shore. The rural population must be +large along the leveed part of the river. At Simmesport we obtained +butter, milk and lard, besides crackers and canned oysters. No meat. One +bunch of brant appeared in the fog this morning, but refused to listen +to our arguments favoring closer acquaintance. + + * * * * * + +Red River, Feb. 7, 1904.--That is, we suppose you call it the Red, but +it is now in truth an outlet of the Mississippi. We got to Simmesport, +had lunch, and arranged with a boy there to tow us through to the +Mississippi with a 5-horsepower gasoline. Hitched it behind, our launch +alongside, and started. The wind was as often contrary as favorable, and +we labored up the Atchafalaya till we got to Red River. The water is +decidedly red, but is backed up into the Red by the lordship of the +Great River, which sweeps up the Old River channel with resistless +force. None of the Red water gets past Barbre Landing, either into the +Atchafalaya or the Mississippi. We turned into the Red or Old River +about 2:30, and by 6 had made about three miles, stopping in sight of +Turnbull Island Light No. 2. First the lever of our reversing gear +broke, and here a log swept under the launch and broke the coupling +bolt. This had happened the preceding day, and we had no extra left, so +had to stop as the other boat alone could make no headway against the +swift current. As it was, with both boats we had to coast along as close +as possible to the shore, where the current was slowest, to make any +progress at all. In the middle we were swept back. The boys left us to +return to Simmesport, where they were to make new coupling bolts and +return here this morning. We had a sleepless night. All day it was foggy +and rainy; in the night occasional showers pattered on the roof; and +floating wood rumbled under the boat. The water is full of this stuff +and it is impossible to prevent it going under the scow, where it sticks +and retards progress or emerges to foul our propeller. This morning it +is still sticky, showery and slightly foggy; temperature at 9 a. m., 72. +When the steamer rocked us the other night Jake and Doctor turned out in +their nightgowns to fend off, and then stood leaning over the rail +talking for a time. Catch cold, turning out of a warm bed in January? +Naw! Whatchergivinus? This terrible winter weather! + +About 11:30 the boys returned with the tug and new bolts for our +coupler. We had hard work getting through the bridge, where the current +was fierce; but by 2 p. m. we were in the Mississippi and headed down +stream. + + * * * * * + +Bayou Sara, Feb. 8, 1904.--We tied up last night in Morgan's Bend, after +dark. Started to float all night, but the fog came up, lightning showed +in the east, and we thought it wise to take no chances. We had the +launch hitched behind and when a steamer passed up quite near, it made +her leap and try to get her nose under the overhang, which might have +swamped her. This morning we got off at 5 a. m., floating till after +breakfast, when we set the old churn at work. Now the sun is up +brightly, a breeze freshening up from the east, which is dead ahead +just now, and the town in sight. We talk of loading the boat with +palmettoes for the St. Louis fair market, and getting a tow north, if we +cannot get a fair price for the outfit. + +By 9 we reached Bayou Sara, where we increased our crew by three of +Louisiana's fair ladies, and at 11 resumed our journey. The wind had +subsided and we journeyed south over a river smooth as glass. Much +driftwood annoyed us, threatening our propeller blades. The poetry of +travel today, too warm for the folk to stand in the sun. Historic Port +Hudson was soon before us. It is now back from the river, Port Hickey +being its successor. Temperature 80 at 2 p. m. This terrible winter! We +are counting the miles between us and our dear ones at Baton Rouge. + +We reached Baton Rouge about 6 p. m., having made over 50 miles, and the +longest run of the trip. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +DUCKING AT CATAHOULA LAKE. + + +Prof. Handwerker came down to Memphis, and we went for a duck shoot. We +went by rail to Alexandria and chartered a wagon with two sketchy ponies +and an aged veteran as driver, who took us about 20 miles to Catahoula +Lake. The toll man at the bridge valued our outfit at 40 cents, and +collected the entire price each way. The road lay through a lumber +country, where the yellow pine was being rapidly cut out. Arriving +within a mile of the lake, we concluded to stop with Mr. S., rather than +rest our old limbs in the doubtful protection of the tent we had +brought. + +S. lived on a tract he had homesteaded, in a "plank-up" house of three +rooms. At the end of the living room was a large chimney of mud and +sticks, with andirons, in which a large fire burned constantly. There +were holes in the chimney of a size convenient for the cat to crawl +through, which the men had not had time to mend. Cracks an inch wide +between the plank let in a sufficiency of air, when the one +window--unencumbered with sash and glass--a simple wooden shutter, swung +shut. The family consisted of the man, his wife, two sons aged 16 and +12; horses, cows, oxen, chickens and numerous pigs. The latter were +dying off, and we saw numerous carcasses in the woods, the consequence +of a lot of diseased animals being brought in by a neighbor. S. had had +a sawmill, and with the aid of his sons and wife--the latter the +engineer--had turned out about 7,000 feet of lumber a day. For this he +had received his stock; but the wife did not feel that they were doing +well enough and persuaded him to sell the mill and raise cotton. + +They cleared a few acres which they farmed till the yield fell off, when +they let it lie fallow and farmed another bit. They had intended to saw +up a lot of wood for a new house, but somehow it had been neglected, or +when a lot had been got out some one made a dicker for it. The stock of +food for the animals had run short, and chop sold at the stores for +$1.00 a bag for cash, $1.60 on credit; so the animals ran in the woods +and ate Spanish moss. This, we were assured, was a good, nutritious +food, when the animals got used to it. All were very thin. One horse +looked like a walking skeleton, and in fact died during our stay--but +then it was so reduced by the time it died that the loss was trifling. +The horses had long since stripped the berries from the china berry +trees. We were told that eight crops of alfalfa had been cut from a +field in this region last summer; so that it is simply a question of +cultivating a few more acres to supply proper food to the stock. The +five cows gave about a quart of milk a day. They were milked once a +day--if they came up to the house in time; if not, it went over till +next day. + +Mr. S. was a fine, good-natured man, who did not drink, or permit liquor +or cards in his house. He had some trouble with his shoulder, which +seriously interfered with his work, though he hauled logs to the +sawmill, the small boy driving. He was very proud of his wife; vaunting +her as the best worker in the parish, excepting their nearest neighbor; +and those two women, he averred, could equal any men in farming cotton, +chopping or sawing wood, and cultivating the garden. It was +edifying--touching--to see Mrs. S. bridle with pleasure under this +well-deserved approval. + +The two boys attended to the fires, on alternate days; and they sure did +show great mathematical talent, for they could calculate to a certainty +the exact quantity of wood that sufficed for the day and next morning, +so as to leave over not a scrap for the lessening of the other boy's +labors. In the evening a huge backlog was placed in the big chimney, +with two smaller pieces underneath, and some cypress under that to keep +up a blaze. Then all hands gathered around, S., the Professor and the +aged driver, with their pipes, the two boys chewing, and Mrs. S., with a +little stick projecting from her mouth, which puzzled us, till the idea +of its significance flashed across our mind--snuff! And then they set in +persistently and systematically to put the fire out, by well-directed +expectoration. And we are bound to say that in accuracy of aim Mrs. S. +was not behind the menfolk. + +Bedtime came. A big feather-bed was dragged out and placed on the floor +in front of the fire, some comforters thrown over it, with pillows, and +we were politely offered our choice of the bed on the floor or that on +the wooden bedstead. It was left to us, and we took one apprehensive +look at the ancient stead--quite undeserved was the suspicion--and chose +the floor, remarking that we could not turn a lady out of her bed. This +was met with remonstrances on the part of these warm-hearted people, but +it was left that way. The old man and the two boys took the other bed, +and the seven of us lay down to sleep in the one room. First the lady +retired to the kitchen while we disrobed; then we offered to do the same +to give her a chance, but this was unnecessary, as she didn't disrobe. +The old man got in bed and lit his pipe; she took a fresh portion of +snuff, and we presume the boys a new quid. During the night we +occasionally heard S. scratching matches to light up. The bed of wild +duck feathers favorably modified the hardness of the floor, and we slept +well. + +Before daybreak we heard S. lighting up, and then, with difficulty, he +induced the boy on duty to arouse and attend to the fire. Then Mrs. S. +arose and when we showed signs of consciousness we had a cup of +coffee--black, good quality, well sweetened, but without milk. +Breakfast of smoked pork, more coffee, and hot bread--corn or wheat. We +may add that this was also our dinner and our supper, varied by +cracklin' bread, hot biscuits, and an occasional pie of berries or +peaches. Once sweet potatoes and once dried peas. If a visitor dropped +in, coffee was served around. And we had ducks. + +In the morning we hooked up the team and went down to the lake. The +formation is similar to that at Bear River, Utah; broad flats covered +with a few inches of water, the soil a stiff clay that will generally +hold a man up, but not always. But the people here have no boats, build +no blinds, and their only idea of duck shooting is to crawl on their +bellies through the mud till they can get a pot shot at a flock of ducks +in the water. They use heavy loads and No. 2 shot. As we did not shoot +ducks that way, our success was not very great. Still we got as many as +we could eat--and that's enough. + +The older boy suggested that we cross the lake to a group of cypresses, +where the shooting was good. We waded in about a hundred yards, when the +wading began to get pretty heavy, our feet sinking in over the ankles. +The Professor concluded to turn back, and took up his stand by a lone +cypress near the margin of the water. We felt that it was the part of +wisdom to do so also; but the boy began to chuckle and a smile of +derision appeared on his face. Now we don't like to be "backed down" by +a "kid," and he assured us the boggy place did not extend far and then +the bottom became firmer; so we kept on across the lake. It was said to +be a mile, but it proved to be at least ten. We had not gone far when we +began to realize several things: That the boy lied; that we weighed +nearly 200 lbs.; that the borrowed waders we had on were much too large; +that though in our life of 54 years we had ascertained that we were a +great many different kinds of a darned fool, this was one more kind. The +waders were tied to our waist, but soon pulled off so that we walked on +the legs; sank in over ankles at each step, but had to immediately +withdraw the foot to keep from going still deeper. We got tired--very +tired--but dared not stop. Out of breath, the throat burned as if we had +taken a dose of red pepper, but we could not stop for breath. Fell down +and struggled up with boots full of water; and after an eternity of +effort struggled out on the other side, to stand in the cold, teeth +chattering, trying to get shelter against the cold wind in the hollow of +the cypress, and still keep a lookout for ducks. The fingers were too +cold to pull the trigger, almost, but a sprig came in and we nailed him. +And no more came our way. + +Just before we had frozen stiff the boy came back and we set out to walk +around the lake. It was only half as far as straight across. Some strays +passed over, and in response to our call a mallard duck settled down +upon the ground. The boy looked inquiringly at us, but we told him we +did not take such shots, and he crawled up and executed the bird. A jack +snipe rose, and fell promptly. Wading across a bayou we caught a glimpse +of green shining on the shore, and it proved to be a teal, directly in +front. He rose when we were within 40 feet, and fell with his head shot +off; which evidently elevated us in the estimation of the boy. Meanwhile +the Professor had accumulated a respectable collection of birds; and we +had game enough for the table. + +Arriving at the house, a discussion arose as to the way to cook them. We +stoutly maintained that a bird that had a distinctive flavor like a +teal should be lightly broiled. But the lady intimated that she had +something else in contemplation that would open our eyes and enlarge our +views. It did both. Will it be believed that those delicate little teal, +the snipe, sundry squirrels and quail subsequently brought in, were +ground up with smoked pork and onions into an undistinguishable mass of +sausage, and fried? Shades of Vatel! + +One look at the proud face of the designer of the dish, and the +Professor loudly vaunted the idea, and took another helping. No one +could have had the heart to dissent--and our virtue was rewarded, for +nothing could induce our good hostess to cook the birds any other way. +The Professor's praise settled that. Though his name indicates an origin +Teutonic rather than Milesian, and his huge frame would have easily +sustained the armor of Goetz von Berlichingen, he must have kissed the +Blarney stone, and no living woman could resist the charm of his +approval. + +We lived on the food described for a week, and drank enough coffee to +paralyze the Postum Cereal man--the Professor negotiated 14 cups a +day--and had not a trace of our acid dyspepsia. Is there any remedy for +this complaint, except hard work? + +One evening a neighbor came over with his wife, the one who had so high +a reputation as a worker. She was a thin little woman, with hollow +cheeks and great brown eyes, sad, as their only child had been recently +killed by accident, while out hunting. The inevitable snuff stick +protruded from her lips. The husband was a bright, merry fellow, who at +once struck up a trade with our old driver. They traded wagons, then +fell to about their horses, and as the spirit of trade aroused the +sporting blood the younger man asked if the other had a "trading hat," +or jackknife, and finally proposed they should go out on the gallery and +trade clothes to the skin. "Would trade everything he owned but the old +woman," he announced. + +The driver was a character in his way. He owned to 75 years, rivaled the +Professor's 6 feet 4 inches when erect, but was wholly longitudinal in +dimensions. On the road he informed us at intervals of five minutes that +the road was "pretty heavy today." He stood in awe of the Professor's +deep bass, and seeing this that irreverent youth played it on the old +man in a way to be reprobated. Mrs. S. gave us a pie one day for lunch, +and smilingly announced that it was the exclusive property of the +Professor. Accordingly the latter authoritatively forbade all others +meddling with his pie. About noon S. and the Doctor came across the lake +to the wagon, and began foraging for lunch. S. got out the pie and each +of us took a liberal slice, in spite of the old driver's protest that it +was the Professor's pie, and he must be held guiltless. Pretty soon the +Professor came over, and on seeing the hole in the pie bellowed in an +awful voice: "Who took my pie?" The old man threw up his arm as if to +protect his head, and anxiously cackled that he had no hand in it, that +it was the Doctor and S., and that he had told them they should not do +it. Just then the Doctor sauntered in, and the Professor tackled him +about who ate the pie. Dr. at once assured him it was the old driver; +that he had seen the stains of the berries on his lips; which mendacious +statement was received by the old man with voluble indignation. S. came +up, and on being appealed to at once "caught on," and put the blame on +the driver. He was simply speechless with this most unjust charge. All +the rest of the day the Professor scolded over the pie, and we thought +of new arguments showing that no one but the driver could have purloined +it. But about bedtime, after there had been stillness for a time, a +still small voice came from the old man saying with a tone of dawning +comprehension: "I believe you fellows have been having fun with me about +that pie." This was too much, and the walls fairly cracked with the +howls of delight. + +We did not treat the old man very badly, though, as on leaving he +assured us if we ever came again into that country he would be only too +willing to join us in a similar trip. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +SOME LOUISIANA FOLKS. + + +No negroes have ever been allowed to settle in the Catahoula country. +The dead line is seven miles from Alexandria. No objection is made if +anyone desires to bring a negro servant temporarily into the country, +but he must go out with his employer. Once a lumberman brought negroes +in, and determined to work them. They were warned, and left. Next year +be brought in a new lot, and announced that he would protect them. They +were duly warned, but refused to leave. One morning they were +found--seven of them--hanging to the rafters of their house. Years +elapsed before the experiment was again tried. The coroner's jury +brought in a verdict of suicide--and this was in dead earnest--no joke +or hilarity intended. To disregard due warning was equivalent to any +other method of self-destruction. + +When in after years an attempt was made to work negroes here, warnings +were duly posted on their doors. The negroes left. But the employer was +a determined man, and swore he would be eternally dingbusted--or words +to that effect--if he didn't work all the niggers he pleased; and he +enlisted a new lot of the most desperate characters he could find. +Warning was given and neglected; when one evening, as the darkies sat at +supper, a rifle bullet knocked the nail keg from under one of them, and +next morning not a negro was to be found in the vicinity. + +Observe the dispassionate, thoroughly conservative and gentlemanly way +the people handled the affair. There was no thirsting for gore, no +disposition to immolate these misguided folks to their employer's +obstinacy; just a gentle hint that Catahoula did not allow negroes. An +intimation to the employer followed, that a repetition would be followed +by a rifle aimed at him, not the keg this time, and he was wise enough +to see the point. + +We have heard these people spoken of as being dangerous characters. They +might be such, if misunderstood and their prejudices rudely affronted. +But we found them a simple, warm-hearted, scrupulously honest set, with +whom we thoroughly enjoyed a week's companionship, and expect to go back +for another one. Their interests are limited, their viewpoint may not +permit an extensive outlook, but their doors are always open to the +stranger, the coffee-pot on the stove, and the best they have is offered +him with a courtesy that never fails. They take little interest in +politics, newspapers we did not once see there, and schooling is +limited. Mrs. S. did not go to church in summer, because that would +involve the putting on of shoes--though she did say that if she chose to +go she would not hesitate to march into church in her bare feet, let +those dislike it who might! + +But do not imagine that these worthy people are deficient in common +sense. Mr. S. was perfectly aware that the timber he does not cut now is +worth three times what is was when he took up this land, and will be +worth more every year. + +This pine must reproduce itself with marvelous rapidity. We saw the +furrows of the old cotton cultivation running away back through the +woods, in which the trees were about ready for the saw. There is plenty +of land still open for homesteading, but one must hunt it up for +himself, as the government gives absolutely no information to inquirers, +except that township maps cost a dollar apiece. If you want to know what +townships of what parishes have land available, just get on your horse +and explore, till you find out. + +The land companies make amends for this. There are about ten million +acres of land in Louisiana, and of this over six millions are offered +for sale in one little pamphlet before me. Much of this is sea marsh, +which ought to produce sea island cotton. We could find no one who knew +of its ever having been tried, but presume there is some reason for not +raising it, as this is a very profitable crop, selling for double the +market price of ordinary cotton. + +Why is there so much land for sale? For we did not meet a solitary man, +northern or southern by birth, who seemed to contemplate leaving the +state. The truth is there are not enough inhabitants to utilize the +land. Millions of acres are lying idle for want of workers. Every +inducement is extended to men to settle here and utilize the resources +now going to waste. + +The South needs "Yankees." An ex-Confederate, discussing Baton Rouge, +said: "A dozen live Yankees would regenerate this town, and make +fortunes at it." They would pave the streets, cover in the sewers, build +up the vacant spots in the heart of the city, supply mechanical work at +less inhuman prices than are now charged, and make this rich and +intelligent community as attractive in appearance as the citizens are +socially. + +One such man has made a new city of Alexandria. He has made the people +pave their streets, put in modern sewerage, water, electricity, etc., +build most creditable structures to house the public officials, and in a +word, has "hustled the South," till it had to put him temporarily out of +office until it got its "second wind." + +In consequence Alexandria has no rival in the state except Shreveport. +And the people like it; they brag of Walsh and his work, take immense +pride in the progress of their beautiful city, and have developed into +keen, wide-awake Americans of the type that has built up our country. + +It seems essential for the incentive, the leaven, to come from outside; +but this is the lesson of history. Xanthippus did nothing for Corinth, +but aroused Syracuse. Marion Sims vegetated in comparative obscurity +till he left the South, to become the leading surgeon of New York and +Paris. What would Ricord have been had he remained in America? The +interchange of blood, the entering of a stranger among any community, +acts as a disturbing element, that arouses action. And without action +there is no progress. + +The most promising indication is that this seems fully comprehended in +the South, and the immigrant is welcomed. + +It is well to be cautious about accepting as literally true the +statements made to strangers. People will exaggerate; and the temptation +to fill up a more or less gullible "tenderfoot" is often irresistible. + +Thus, we are told that connections between white men and negro women are +quite common; in fact, almost a matter of course. And these connections +are defended, as exalting the white woman to such a pinnacle that the +seduction of one would be followed by lynching the seducer; while there +is no wrong done the negro woman, because she has no moral sense in such +matters, to be injured. Instead of feeling that she is "lost," she +brags of her "conquest." + +But several facts lead us to doubt the literal truth of these +statements. We note that the same tales are told in illustration that we +heard when here five years ago. No new material seems to have appeared +in that time. Then again, the mulatto is exceedingly rare; the negroes +met on the streets and in the fields being pure black. These and similar +facts lead us to receive the above accounts with a very large grain of +salt. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +FROM WINTER TO SUMMER IN A DAY. + + +March 11. 1904.--We left Chicago at 6 p. m. The ground was covered with +snow, the winds cutting through our clothes, and winter still held his +own relentlessly. By the time we reached Cairo the change was evident; +and next evening at the same hour we were well down in Mississippi, and +our clothes oppressively warm. Trees were in full leaf, and numerous +cold frames showed that trucking was in full operation. Rain set in and +followed us to Memphis, but then the sky cleared. We found full summer +at New Orleans, the grass in the parks green, the foliage that of +midsummer. At Baton Rouge the violets were about over, but the roses +were enough to discourage one from ever again trying to raise them in +Chicago. + +Why do people suffer from the winter north when they need not do so? +Many shiver and pine for the warm days, during this month of blustering +cold, when everyone has had enough winter and longs for spring, while +all they have to do is to jump on a train and in 24 hours they are in +this delightful clime. When need compels, we must take our medicine +without a grumble; but to many all that keeps them north in March is +inertia and thoughtlessness. + +There are many little businesses carried on in these river boats. We saw +many trading boats which supplied ordinary necessaries and carried small +freights, or gathered up skins and other little products not worth the +while of steamers to stop for. Photographers ply up and down the +streams; a fortune teller makes good profits; a quack sells liniments +and other drugs, and does a bit of unlicensed practice; and very likely +some boats sell whisky. We did not hear of an evangelist, yet there +seems to be a need for some work of this sort. One man sold roofing +paint along the river for good profits. + +The South would do well to study the practical applications of the +maxim: "Put yourself in his place." The Italians keep goats as the Irish +do pigs. Both forage for a living, and supply an important place in the +social economies. The goat is to the Italian a matter of course. But a +doctor was annoyed by the animals, and told his Italian neighbor he must +keep his goats shut up. He did not do so, and so the doctor shot the +goats. Next morning, as the doctor passed the Italian's stand, the +latter drew a pistol, remarking: "You shoot my goat; I shoot you," and +shot the doctor dead. This nearly precipitated a race riot. + +If there was no law against allowing goats to run at large, the Italian +was strictly within his rights. It was up to the doctor to fence his +premises. If there was such a law, the doctor should have called on the +proper officers to enforce it. In either case he was in the wrong; and +the habit of taking the law in one's own hands was responsible for the +tragedy. + +The discontent of the negro with plantation life and work is not, we are +everywhere told, a matter of wages. Then why is there no intelligent +attempt made to study the question with a view to devising means of +attaching him to the place? He is a child in many respects, and +amusement goes far in rendering him contented and happy. Were he these, +he would not be restless to leave the plantations. A barbecue next +week, a dance Saturday night, a little fun in expectation, would go far +to keep him quiet, and need not cost more than a trifle of what it would +be worth. The problem seems easy enough, but we have heard of no attempt +to solve it on such lines. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +VOYAGE ENDED. + + +And here our voyage ended. The doctor moved ashore to join his wife and +children. Millie went to St. Louis, and Jim to Oklahoma; while Frank and +Jake remained on the boat until it was finally disposed of. Frank had +worked on the engine until he had mastered her, and found the +difficulties. She had never been properly installed, so we got blue +prints from her builders and reset the engine in accordance with them. +We got new batteries, a block tin pipe in place of the iron one which +took the gasoline from the tank to the engine, and rust from which had +figured largely in the troubles we experienced. The pump had been +literally cut to pieces by the mud in the river water and a new one was +obtained. When thus refitted, she ran without a balk; and we really +believe a child could have managed her. She turned out to be what had +been claimed for her, remarkably fast. In fact, we left her with the +determination that our next engine should be a Fay and Bowen, also. She +was sold to a resident of Baton Rouge, for $300; the alterations having +cost the Doctor about $50, in addition to the boys' wages. One thing we +learned--never order work down here without a distinct agreement as to +the work and the price. Frank ordered a little fixing at a local shop, +for which he said $6 was a liberal price; but the man brought in a bill +of over $16. + +The small boats, guns and shells were sent back to Chicago, most of the +furniture sold for trivial sums, and the cabin boat left in the charge +of Mr. S. S. Lewis, of the Lewis Lumber Co. for sale. All attempts to +obtain a tow up the river failed. The big coal companies' agents +referred us to the home office, but said the price would not be less +than $300. We heard that the captains of tow boats going up would take +us up for a trifle, but we did not find one of these chances, after +waiting two months. Some men talked of buying the cabin and launch and +taking it around to the Bayou Manchac for a hunting and fishing lodge, +but nothing came of it. + +We might have sold by bringing the outfit around to the Gulf ports, but +had no leisure for this. A plan was suggested to load the cabin with +palmettoes and take them to St. Louis to serve as decorative plants at +the Fair; but the Superintendent of Audubon Park said the plants would +not live, that when the root of a palm was cut it died back to the +stalk, and it was doubtful if a new growth of roots would take place. +But men who try to extirpate the palms say they are unkillable; and the +two we took up and replanted in the boat were still living after two +months, and had out two new leaves each. Possibly we might have made a +good thing, as the boat could have carried 1,000 good-sized palms. + +At New Orleans we hear these cabin boats are so plentiful they cannot be +given away. The _Desplaines_ was sold there for a good price. + +[Illustration: BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +DANGERS AND DELIGHTS. + + +A few words as to certain dangers that might be expected on such a trip. +We were never annoyed by loafers, tramps, or unpleasant visitors of any +sort, with the one exception of the probable river pirates whose visit +is described. At the towns people let us alone, and those who were +interested enough to call on us were entirely unobjectionable. Of course +our numbers may have had some influence. + +We never had any malaria or other febrile affection, and most of our +drug supply was superfluous. Half a dozen articles would comprise the +list for any ordinary party. + +During the entire trip we never saw a snake, alligator, centipede, +scorpion or any other venomous reptile. Flies and mosquitoes left us at +the first frost, and our mosquito hats and veils were never used. The +other insect pests of the south--fleas, gnats, redbugs, ticks and +jiggers--began to show up in April, after we had left the boat and were +living on shore. We were out in the wrong season for fish, turtles and +frogs, and in fact found difficulty in procuring any fish at all, +excepting carp, for our table. But a little more activity on our part +would probably have remedied this--we did not try to fish much. So with +the shooting--we did not try very hard, and never shot more than we +could eat without waste. + +It was our impression that the South fairly bristles with opportunities +for business. There is plenty of cheap land, room for hundreds of +thousands of farmers and lumbermen, dairies, general stores, supply +houses of every sort. Fruit, berries, garden truck of all sorts, nuts, +milk, butter, chickens and ducks, eggs, and many other articles might be +raised and a market found for them along the river. There is a very +short supply of nearly all these products, right where they could be +raised. + +The old prejudice against a white man's working alongside a negro seems +to be dying out. We saw men of both colors working together too often +for it to be in any degree exceptional. Negro mechanics in New Orleans +get from four to seven dollars a day, and are very independent as to +their work. Many large planters rent small lots to negroes, others to +Italians, and sell on easy terms to either whenever they wish to buy. So +far has the disdain of manual work subsided that we were informed that +in one of the most prominent (white) universities many of the pupils +support themselves in part by waiting on the table, washing dishes, and +in other ways. + +Assuredly it is not now looked upon as degrading to any white man in the +south, that he should work with his hands, if need be. + +If there is any prejudice now against northern men who come to settle in +the south, it kept itself out of our sight. Instead, we find immigration +agents established by the state, to set before the men of the north the +advantages they can secure by coming south. Of the numerous northern men +we met and talked with, who had come south, but one spoke of +encountering prejudice--and we strongly suspect he had given good cause. +Many northern men, like the writer, have married southern girls, and +thus the lines of separation between the sections are becoming confused +and indistinct. + +One Indiana man, who had come south, expressed what may be taken for +the usual view, as we received it: "Any northern man who has $3,000 is a +fool if he does not bring it down here and make his fortune in ten years +out of it." And this is the man for whom there are such abundant +openings here--the one who has a small capital and good business sense. + + * * * * * + +The River--that great, wonderful river. We descended its current at the +time the water was at the lowest; but the impression of its giant power +grew on us daily; the resistless sweep of the current, the huge boils +rising from the depths, the whirlpools; but above all the cutting away +of the banks. We soon discovered that levees are not meant as restraints +of this erosion--the river flows how and where it will--but to protect +against the flood waters. From Alton to the gulf there is scarcely a +stone to be seen, and the current flounders about through the soft +alluvium, like a whale in blankets. When the cutting approaches the +levees new ones are constructed further back; and the intervening +country is handed over to its fluvial master. + +The commerce of the river systems is a thing of the past, but a shadow +of what it was about wartime. The railways carry the freights now. But +how is it more people do not travel by water? Years ago we went by +steamer from Cincinnati to Louisville, and thoroughly enjoyed the +trip--the quiet, absence of rattle and smoke, the lovely panorama +floating by, the music, the well-served meals, and the leisurely, +cultured folk who were really taking time to travel pleasantly, instead +of the hustle of limited expresses. Surely, the only reason more people +do not enjoy this mode of travel is that they do not know of it. + +But when one floats on the bosom of the great river there grows up a +certain fascination for it. We saw one cabin boat in which an elderly +man was said to have lived for years, alone. A man of wealth, who could +have utilized Pullmans had he chosen. One can readily comprehend this; +for long will it be ere the beating of the waves against the side of the +boat ceases from our dreams. A little cabin boat that one could manage, +dogs for the only companions, guns and rods, and the long, quiet sojourn +where the coal and other trusts matter not a whit--and where could +hermit find such a delightful retreat! + +Then for the elderly man who has outlived his family and the period of +active participation in the world's warfare. What a home for a group of +such men, who could be company for each other. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +RESULTS. + + +The Doctor enjoyed every moment of the trip. While we have recorded all +the accidents and drawbacks, the reader must not imagine that they were +really serious or detracted much from the pleasure. If we fished and +hunted but little it was because we found so much of interest and +delight that the time was filled without these pastimes. We did not use +our wheels much for the same reason--we had so much going on that we +rarely felt the desirability of more means of occupying our time. The +work went on well, and in this respect the plan worked out as expected. +There were abundance of time and few interruptions; time for study, for +putting the thoughts on paper; and the little breaks when called on +deck, never disarranged the mental machinery. The exercise was most +beneficial. Chopping or sawing wood, and helping with the boat work, +brought the digestion into good condition, and we came home much +stronger than we left. + +The same may be said of the children. The boy enjoyed it all; the girl +did well, but naturally got tired and longed for her little friends. +Both improved in physique and broadened their ideas, and laid in a store +of knowledge. They learned much and were not roughened in manners. + +The invalid did pretty well and would have done much better had our +original plan been followed; but the delay caused by building the new +boat allowed us to be caught in the November storms on the Illinois, and +then it was a constant hurry to get south. Toward the last she tired of +the boat and longed for the flesh-pots of Egypt--other women to talk +clothes to, dry goods stores, the luxuries of civilization. Few women +have enough of the gipsy in their blood to stand seven months' travel +without ennui. + +The experience of the _Desplaines_ showed the wisdom of beginning with a +clear understanding with the crew and paying them fair wages. They took +the crew on an indefinite arrangement, paying no wages. When they fell +in with us their crew became discontented, constant quarreling +resulted, and the crew broke up. Naturally, when they found our men +receiving wages for easier work than theirs, dissatisfaction resulted. +Don't go on such an expedition with the crew on a "no wages" basis. Pay +fairly, or else make up the party on the basis of equal participation in +the expenses; but don't mix matters. + +Don't buy an old boat. There is a satisfaction in knowing that the +timbers beneath you are sound and put together in the strongest possible +manner, and amply able to withstand the fiercest trials they can +possibly receive. Especially if women and children are to form part of +your crew, you want to feel easy on the score of your boat. Have the +boat built at a place like Henry, where well-selected lumber and honest +work will go in the building. Have it brought to Chicago and start in +the boat here. + +Do not have a boat more than sixteen feet wide, outside measure, that is +to pass through the canal. + +Have the roof thoroughly watertight and the crevices about the base of +the cabin protected by quarter-rounds and calking so that there will be +no water leaking in there when waves wash over the deck. Have a good +large open deck in front, for there you will live in pleasant weather. +Get a good wood-burning stove for cooking--gasoline and oil are too +expensive, when you get wood for nothing. + +Select your party with care; not everyone who goes into such a trip with +enthusiasm will wear well, when living half a year in a boat with you. +Leave out people who expect the luxuries of a well-appointed hotel. +Limit the clothing for men and women to two suits each; one for the boat +and one for town. You may not disturb the latter for months. If you can +possibly avoid it, take no one in the party who drinks liquor even in +moderation--certainly not in the crew. Every modification of this opens +the door to trouble. If a guest takes his morning eye-opener the crew +will want to do so; and some one of them may be of the sort that can not +taste it without getting crazy drunk. + +It seemed to us that anyone of a mercantile turn could do a good +business along the river; pay expenses and make money. Everywhere along +the great river people boarded our boat, asking what we were selling. +The men asked for whisky, the women for dry goods or dressmaking. At one +landing a trader sold eighteen skiffs. On the Atchafalaya we passed a +cabinboat bearing in large letters the title: "The White Elephant +Saloon." We heard that this boat had given the authorities much trouble, +but can not vouch for the truth of the report. She was selling liquor, +evidently, and we gave her a wide berth. Melville was a temperance town, +but there was a shanty across the river known as "the Goose," where +liquor was sold, and a skiff ferry to it was well patronized. The owner +was building a large cabinboat at a cost of $1,000, but for what purpose +we could only presume; and our presumption was that it would be a +profitable investment. + +To make a similar trip leave Chicago between the 15th and 30th of +September, provide for towage through the canal to La Salle, and float +down the rivers, stopping when the weather is unpleasant. You should +take a tow from Kampsville to the Mississippi, as there is little +current from the Illinois into it. Thereafter even so small an engine +as our 3-horse-power will suffice, as you will not be hurried and can +await favorable winds. The larger the boat the more men will be +required. Ours was right for four men; and that is a good number for a +party. There will be no danger of annoyance, while a smaller party might +meet some ugly customers. With every additional member the chances for +disagreement increase--and life is too short for quarreling. On reaching +the mouth of Red River, ascend that stream till you can reach Catahoula +Lake, if you are after ducks and geese; though the old river-bed lakes +along the Mississippi will furnish plenty. But if deer and other large +game attract you, descend the Atchafalaya to Alabama bayou; then pass +through Grand Lake to the gulf and coast around to the string of resorts +along the coast from Bay St. Louis to Pensacola and the Florida coast, +if so long a trip is desired. If you ascend the rivers you will need +tows, unless your power is large. + +The results of the trip to the writer may be summed up as: Better work, +better done, and more of it, than would have been possible in the same +time at the city home; a renewal of vitality, digestion improved, years +rolled back so that again has come that sense of capacity to work +without limit, that has not been present for years; and a crowd of +pleasant recollections that will endure for life. + +Would we like to go again? Just give us the chance! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The houseboat book, by William F. Waugh + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK *** + +***** This file should be named 44656.txt or 44656.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/6/5/44656/ + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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