The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1868-02-08
Sketches of Travel

travelling 20 and IN the State Of Arkansas, /
and while sojourning there for. the last five 7
months. Probably it viii not be entirely
uninteresting to your many readers. On
lovely, transparent day, In July last. I babe I
adieu to scenes endeared to me by many
pleasant memories, embarked on board the
cars at Bolivar, and arrived in Memphis just
in time to take tie steamer eleanor"
bound for the Arkansas river, fastening
TO the boat procured a comfortable berth
to Pine Bluf-for which had to pay Sl5-
and then felt as independent as any man
that was blessed with more Of the spondu-
lieks." The sun was setting most gloriously,
enveloped in clouds Of gold, orange and YER
million, when the whistle announced the
hour of departure. Reaching the middle
Of the stream, ran to the hurricane deck
and locked back upon the reeeding city with
a feeling akin to sadness, for the probabili-
ties OF. my never seeing 1t again were many
But as / looked upon its spires, its window
panes and its roofs, now glittering in the
amber ray of the departing sun, the spirit
Of poetry awoke in my bosom and chased
the demon, fear, to lis gloomy CELL
I was on the bosom Of the mighty 3Iissis-
sippi, stream that in the earliest days of
my geographical learning lad been woven
into my mental being as thing of romance
and Of wonder. The hours of my boyhood,
prattled away in my far eastern home, were
never cheered with the hope that would
even see this vast receptacle of rivers. I'm
der the circumstances, could I repress the
enthusiasm that seized my soul, or wish to
dissipate the soft serenity that difFused itself
through my mind Memory, through the
telescope of history, looked back upon the
time when this inland sea was as useless to
the commercial world as the little branch
that trickled down the vale; when its mag
nitude, its power, its swells and its subsi-
dings, in all their heaven-pointing grandeur,
were witnessed by no one but the savage
who prowled in utter apathy along its
shady margin. Then a savage majesty
reigned suprem me along It's borders, the sturdy
arm of industry and cultivation had not as
yet laid low the shadowy trees, nor had the
shrill whistle of commerce yet awakened
the profound solitude Of ages thought of
its discoyerer, Ferdinand de Soto, and i'm
agined what Overwhelming awe and wonder
must have rushed over his mind when his
eye first rested on this noble stream And
here he was buried, his body wrapped in the
waters-his winding sheet and his monu-
ment-a monument perennius acre. that
viii hand his name down to the remotest
period of time.
Had pleasant time to Pine Bluff The
ladies on board delighted US with some ex-
cellent piano. music, and after a general &C
quaintance had been formed, the passengers
whiled the evening hours away * on the
light fantastic toe
On landing soon ascertained that the
facilities for travelling were by no means Sc
abundant as in our more favored section.
was referred to the soqgon-yard for cheap
conveyance to bear me to Tulip distant 4C
miles from Pine Bluff. Not wishing to have
myself pulgerised, was revolving in my
mind what to do next, when l learned thai
two other gentlemen were there who wished
to go to Tulip So +" cohooting" together
we hired two u S. mules, an old Secesh u
ambulance, and one of the ImperiaZs to take
US out, paying the very moderate UNI of $50
all of whick would have had to pay had
been alone
Pine Bluff occupies a commanding posi-
ton on the south bank Of the Arkansas
and could be made a beautiful place; the
buildings are mostly frame and very small
and erected with no reference to architec
tural finish. I however saw several beautiful
residences, indicating that taste and refine
ment are not entirely strangers in that re
tired region. Pine Bluff is the second city
as far as regards size, in Arkansas, and, were
it not for the yearly failing Of the river
would be equal to Little Rock in commercial
Importance.
Well, our national conveyance being
ready, we packed our baggage in and ther
slowed ourselves away on that-quite loaC
for two "dumb brutes," four " respectable
size men, and two and half very large
trunks-aad were soon slowly vending ou
way down the street that leads into the vii
dernegs. After passing the suburbs of tn,
town, we moved over a lonely and desOlatC
road through aregiOn which, had it not beer
for the road. could have easily imagined n,
human foot had ever trod. 1t was an Gle
waited plateau, shaded alternately by tn
hugest Of the pine species, and by oaks, tn
pine however predoninating. The hotties
of suns streamed down in relentless fury
Lusling to =silsnce the native Wild birds ant
F compelling even the snakes to resort to tn
root-dyed waters for GOODNESS. Now au'
thea groups of wild hogs, frightened at on
civilized appearance, would DIRT off a
though they had seen the Diana of tn
forest Slowly, slowly VIC logged along tn
silence often broken by the commands 0
our Imperial driver and the crack Of hi
whip above the burdened beasts. at last, q
! intervals of several miles, we would spy rud
cabins where groups of ragged, dirty child
rem were gathered in the shade of an angl
AZ Z. ~ III