The Newtown bee., 1879-03-11
(Continued from last week s Issue.) NegnDhis. Tenn.

(Contnued from last week s Issue)
 Memphis. Tenn.
 We started down the bayou on New Years day, it was not very cold, but the sun was obscured by the clouds This part of Arkansas is not very thickly set tied, and no steamboats have been up to the k. R. in four years, consequently we found many fallen trees reaching clear across the stream. When night came we, pitched our tent, but our sleep was very much disturbed by the bowling of wolves in the vicinity. A few miles to the west ward, deer partners, and other wild ami malls are numerous.
 Two days brought us to a more thiekly settled part of that country, and the plau- tations were almost continuous, on either side of the bayou. Our gaily-painted skiff attracted considerable of attention. One thoughtful t'Son of Ham, wanted to know if U. $. E. meant you three" From Baxter to the mouth of Bayou Bar tholomew, q distance of about 300 miles by water, the stream varies from 100 to 2O0 feet in width, and at low water from } to 10 feet in depth Of course in the Summer 1t is impossible for steamboats to navigate it, but the difference between high and low water io about 21 feet. Cot ton is about the only crop raised to sell, this they begin to pluck and gin in Octo- Der. and it keeps them busy for three months. In December the rain falls, and the streams rise, so that steamboats car rying 1000 bales of cotton, go up to the bayou 130 miles, aId others with a capac- lty of 300 bales, go up to within few miles of Baxter. About months of the 1 year there is sufficient water, and in this time the cotton is sent down to New Or l leans, and groceries and other supplies | for the next s months are brought up
 There are few railroads in this part of the | country, and the people are dependent on the steamboats for everything from the outside world.
 a The inhabitants of this region do not enjoy perfect health they buy auinine by the pound ard every cabin has it's row of bottles, filled with the drug It is es- timated that two-thirds of the children die in infancy In the Winter, pneumonia IS prevalent, and often fatal, while through the Summer, they dread the swamp fe-
 yer. The climate is very changeable, the air at all times being damp, and inclined | to give one the ague, which they have | at all times Of the year. Before we
 reached the Louisiana line, Spanish moss
 made it's appearance, Changing to the trees) which is indicative of the malari- ous qualities in the air. Below the line the soil and timber is quite inferior to
 that in Arkansas, but the plantations are
 more numerous, it being d longer settled country. The soil has more sandy ma
 ture, and in number of places, bluffs
 from 60 to 70 feet high, of bright red
 sand, are found iu close proximity to the bayou, and upon these bluffs grow short
 leafed pine and scrub oak. From 4 to {
 miles west of Bayou Bartholomew, tn,
 land is similar to the above, the soil pro
 ducing less than one-half bale per acre
 l.l ! T
 snow being nearly inches in depth, the
 thermometer within f deg. of Zero, anf
 ice thick enough to skate on. It did no
 seem very much like the warm and sun
 ny south. -~~----- We left Bayou Bartholomew at Orichit,
 City and 30 miles on the Orichita river
 which GOO feet in width, brought us t. Trenton, which is a small place, but tn,
 shipping point for steamboats running be tween Orichita and Saline rivers, ant
 Bayou Bartholomew. Monroe, 2 mile below, on tho opposite side of the river is & good-sized town, and fer this part o , the world q very pretty place. The ma jority of the houses arc builr one story il height, for fear of the tornadoes whicl
 often prevail in this latitude.
 At Monroe we took the cars on tn , Vicksburg, Shreveport and Texas, R. R : for Vieksburg. For the greater part c , the way, the road passes over a low fla country, abounding in cane brakes an
 swamps, but there are number of snlal ' towns and villages, in each of which tn | most prominent object in sight from tn cars, is the word. Saloon" There ar , ] northern men here, but they came t , make money, and are mostly Jews an Germans, who seem to endure tn climate. Fortunately the trains ru } slow, but the great wonder is, that the , run at all, for the cars roll and pitch lik
 a ship in a storm. You walk to the req !, platform to convince yo lrself that yo | are i'll reality moving on rails, and her you see rotten ties from three to fou , feet apart, the rail on the right at leas x x six inches below it's companion on tn ee left, and 20 feet distant vice versa The ' the track will widen out in places to sue U an extent that you are sure the vince 7, must fall between the rails, but still tn ;, train z les on. and before long you begi /, to realize that the end of that car is vel U U much like a hard trotting horse, and yo ' go back to your seat, sensible ot the fla, . ? that you arc in reckless country.
 < The Mississippi river at Delta was z i filled with ice, that it was with the grca !, est difficulty that the ferry boat cou ,s make it's trip to Vicksbnrg. We four 'a the Hill City" q very muddy place; u " soil is clay, and recent rains had mac
 the streets almost impossible. It
 about half the size of Memphis, and c,
 dently from its location much heaIt
 fer place
 From Vicksburg by rail we reach,
 Memphis, passing through Jackson ar D, Grenada. where the yellow fever ma, s- such fearful havoc. Here it first ma,
 it's appearance by young lady sendil :, to New Orleans for her wedding dres 1T She was the first victim.
 q The part of Mississippi we pass eI through, differs much from Arkansas sl 'l Louisiana. The country is high and TO ~ = ing and the soil is inferior, but the heal q of the people is better, and the tew '. have more substantial appearanc to Cotton is the great staple and sweet D It. tatoes are about the only vegetables tn n. will keep in this climate. Apples, Fri ld potatoes ;lnd other vegetables for Wint
 use come from the north. No hay is p nv up for the Winter, and what little is us b- comes from tho north in bales. The (; ch tie and pigs run wild, finding their fo r's Winter and Summer in the woods u nd cane brakes. If you could rid the sou H. of malaria ill it's worst forrus, it Wol
 rapidly become settled up, for man c ,ts live here and do very little work
 hn Yours truly,
 V M. l.. LUM