Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-07-26

weather. aud altogether comfortable.
When people arc not in hurry, aud
come TO look Al the country, and note
the gradual changes Of scenery, people
and the ways Of the world from South
TO North. good boat with such com.
pany as il apt TO be found At this season
Of the year must be preferable TO a trip
by rail, aud Is considerably cheaper
These boats are not as large aud zine as
the boats below st. Louis, yet are spa
cious enough, and the fare Is as good as
may be expected at such low prices for
through tieketa, which include meals.
The distance from 81. Louis TO ST. Paul
is. in round figures. 800 miles. Tickets
for the round trip cost $50. This in
cludes eight days board on the boat, for
the trip occupies four days each way.
IL was a week yesterday since | len
Memphis, and will be some days
yet before | reach ST. Paul, OWING
TO stops made aud TO make on
the way. This is a big. rich and gen
orally well cultivated country, and every
hour Of the passage up presents some
new object OF interest. Aboveth mouth
OF the Missouri river, near the city OF
Alton, the Mississippi becomes much
clearer. The ridges on each side gradu-
ally come closer together and become
holder aud more rugged. aspiring to the
altitude and form Of little mountains.
Many Of those seen yesterday and to-day
are crowned with fields of golden, ripe
wheat, ready for the hArvester's scytbe-
Tor no moving machine can operate
upon these broken nights. We meet
continually immense RATS OF timber
floating down to the st. Louis market
and usually guided aud propelled by a
small steamboat and managed by a num-
Der OF hands working large oars. This
is a large trade and perpetnslly recur-
ring feature Of these rivers. The return
ing raftsmen are sometimes a rough set.
We had some Of them on this boat.
They were very quiet, civil men, but
looked with as much curiosity, if not
suspicion, at a man with white shirt on
as il be had escaped from a circus. Just
above the mouth Of the Wisconsin river
that is, ten or twelve miles on the east
side Of the Mississippi-is pointed out to
the eredulous traveller a little brown house
of no particular style or shape, in which
il is stated, Jefferson Davis met for the
first time his first wife, and where he
afterwards courted her. Not being pre-
pared to dispute this statement, or to 60
over to the house to see about 1t, con-
cluded to pass 1.-THE tradition-down
into the hopper of history, without copy
right. The future biographer Of Mr..
Davis has my consent to grind this out
with his grist, provided he gives credit.
The Father of Waters has long since
lost the majesty Of his bearing, and the
rolling swell which nearer the tropics is
so greatly reverenced and yet feared.
Jaunty little boats, with sail and rudder,
disport themselves before the light
breeze upon his bosom, and the little
waves which fash like silver fish upon
the CLASSY surface. mark no longer
depths ready to swallow up
richly freighted steamers. A boy could
swim across, or throw a stone with a
sling from bank to bank. We almost
imagine we can see the pebbly bottom in
the clear green water, corresponding
with the rocky shore. The mighty river
is by comparison but mountain torrent
dashing away between the bluffs, like a
fugitive running the gauntlet for life, to
escape evaporation by joining in the
waters that fall in snow and form river
yet more mighty than this. where it cuts
of the name of the Missouri, and
proudly rolls ON to the sea, bearing
its own name and prestige, with COM
merco more valued than ever was gath
cred in ancient Egypt or aoated on the
Nile. j. h. M.