New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-02-21

them to watch the arrival and departure Of
the steamers that nothing could have
tempted them to give up single iota Of
that brief joy. Sometimes, long after We
had steamed away and were slowly work
ing around some great bend, We could,
favorite spots, intently watching our pro.
gress. The solemn calm and massive in
ertia of the lowlands seemed to have en-.
tered into their composition. One might
have riddled them with bullet holes before
they would have departed ere the boat dis.
appeared on the horizon. At night, had
they not been asleep, they would doubtless
have stood with the same impressive per.
sistence in the glare of the steamers ''pine
fat" torches.
When at night we carefully ran into
shore, and our swinging gang-planks were
momentarily fastened to some shelving
| bank, it was amusing to see a negro, with 8
mailbag in his hand, go up the steep
plank from the torch-light into the dark.
ness, and while swinging over the black
current, to see another negro approaching
him. his tiny lantern looking like glow
| worm pursued by some uncOuth monster.
The mails would be exchanged; the negro
on shore invariably asks for chew OF to-
bacco, which he would rarely get, and then
our boat would whirl about into the middle
| of the stream and get under way on
more.
Now and then we had night experience
which was wonderfully novel. Once we
| came to an island on which hundreds of
| gaining ensued between the captain on our
deck and the mysterious woOd-owners on
the dark mass. A watch.fire showed us
| where the figures stood, and lent dubious
aid to our uncertain progress toward the
| islet's shore. At last satisfactory turn in
the chatferiDg was reached; we came to the
shore where the watch-fre burned, and
while the negroes were busily loading cord
upon cord OF fuel, into which the beautiful
trees which once bordered the stream had
been transformed. we wandered to the land
and looked across the river.
Never before had the great "Father of
Waters" seemed 60 terribly grand, so
weirdly fascinating, 60 resistless. The
watch tireNthrew a strange reflection on
the immense current, and the added glare
of the torches, which busy negroes kept
constantly trimmed, made the superb volume
OF sad-colored wavelets seem majestic be.
yond description. The is1et's shore was go
nearly level with the Mississippi that sense
OF absolute insecurity Overcame US. We
seemed alone and helpless in the midst of q
water wilderness, out OF which we might
despair of ever finding our way. In these
remote and apparently limitless forests OF
swamns sn"h 40 +het o,nnn wh"ss "a vi g11st
r;var ION TIE hroad o.p. ~m oT s s. 'uc
water dotted 9TH cvnrass Sn " 'ao uasS
to be a labyrinth in which we were doomed
to remain. We we're not sorry to put our
feet upon the deck Of the steamer once
more, and it needed all the influence of the
negroes careless singing to bring US back to
nanorama ''" ~ 0"on 'o"oro
Sitting an deck IN tho 5o,kross .fx.- 4ho
long nrocess,on Of darIevs carr,;" ".'V ,o SM
to the lower deck had CEASED and *. h".t
was moving swiftly down straam = wa"
I;a.nIt ~ So Lown o.tea 1L,' ~ was
~ av b osernearng .ne !olla"ing
IDENTIFY nnedncated wb;+ap Tho1 80 o
nnite near-we could toll Nv Tho rorf,,"e &c
the whiskv which tbev We're ahont ~ I'M
hibe. and which imnraonataS tha o. III,
punrent odor az soon "a The corncoh s,an
Der was removed from the t]asI. sup
"Miehty ouare river. air
yes. air, Doc eona ar sir. sba,s tho
dog gonedest oneerest river I most ever
see Never can reIv % bar M NOV,
Them hends below !. Sb snaod dG ~ o ho no"
entirely since Last wear, I reckonn
eyes. sir. How's free niooers in vour
State SRA Thav,s m;1btvs Eaort ~.
this we're boat now. Reckon thev Son't
cit mnch of The ola d;sc;ni;na cir M N.Y.
hain't no use for a free nigger-dont |
want none in mine. he'd some likely bows;
reckon some on em wuz the smartest mig.
gers on this yer river seed one on EN-
down at this yer landin, where Ben Hates
got them log piles, one day, 1 reckon, last
year. Jim, 8 name wuz, big, stout niger,
with black, smilin' face. 1 seed Jim ther,
II sung out from the boat, SEE l, 'Hyar,
you -, niger, come to yer MASTER and
he looked ready to split with mad. When
he come on board he wuz bilin'. Me n
him he'd difficulty on the trip down. and
broke plank on .Jim's head. Don't want
no free niger to give me back talk.
don't"
mo sir. faint no use eucouraein' the
critters. They look like thew VIM about
spoiled now, reckon. But the Niger an
the mule is indispensable now, to Lo1isiany.
an the white man can't get on without 'em.
Jest make your mind up on to that an hang
IN to it. The nigger's the best friend the
white mans got in the South, Yankees
can't fool him. He'll come ronnd when he
)ut q MS black head. Dog gone me eft he |
low Thar VIZ n;aaar a. mn .u s,;sh laeu