The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-18
A TRIP on TIE LOWER MISSISSIPPI.
isten for the Journal by r. Frcudley.

Written for the journal by +. Freudley.
If the stranger in New Orleans can muster up
81 in money, happen upon two days of pleas
ant weather, aud, finding the vessel Alvin, get
into the good graces of its master, Captain James
r. O'Pry, he may be quite sure of finding
trip to the Forts, seventy miles below the city,
one of the pleasantest memories of his South
ern trip.
In company with very pleasant party Oh
Northern people took passage on this boat--a
not very large Mississippi steamer-on the Mon
day following Christmas. Scarcely had we iefttne
wharf than the rain. which had been falling,
ceased. and the threatening clouds broke away,
letting down the sunshine which, they
saw in New Orleans, has a
wonderful power in chasing away every
yestige of cold About us were the evidences
of great commercial life Far up and down
the river ran the long wharf, to which were an
chored vessels bearing every fag-from the
little sail-boats, in whose shallow hulls were
stored away inconceivabe quantities of oranges,
vegetables and oysters to the large three
masted schooners, waiting to receive their car
goes of cotton or sugar. The wharves are
scenes of hustle and confusion. At the foot of
packets touch for passengers, most animated
scene usually prevails. The large crowds hur-
rying to or from Che boats, or standing about
the station of the harbor police; the various
kinds of goods thickly strewn about the plat
forms, either being deposited, or seized by long
lines of dock hands and conveyed across
the narrow gangways; vehicles of vari-
ous descriptions, but generally large
drays loaded with cotton, driven up
by men whose appearance and language did not
seem to indicate that they had been very tender
ly reared; all together could entertain the strang
er for hours with constant variety. Here were
boats representing lines for tho upper Mississip-
pi and the lower Mississippi and the coasts
steamers for Havana, Vera Cruz and South
America: ocean vessels from the principal
ports of Europe. Several lines of ferry boats
were engaged in conveying passengers and
freight to the little town opposite, while an oc-
casional revenue schooner, or man of war add
ed variety to the scene. Nor were these the
only forms of life. On the wharves focks of
little brown birds, like our sparrows, might be
seen seeking food among the rice straw and 9th
debris. while upon the river great numbers
of sea-gulls, with long, pointed wings, were
either lowering about the vessel on
the lookout for stray pieces of food
or resting themselves jauntily on the waves
After short waiting the vessel received its com
plement of freight and passengers, and backing
entirely around as it did from all its landings
going down, soon gained its position, and we
were off for the orange groves and sugar
plantations of the lower Mississippi
From this city southwark the river presents
a truly magnificent panorama. Not only is it
very wide-about three-quarters of mile-but
very deep, as was shown by the unusual size of
the waves with which the surface of the river
was disturbed by the strong gulf breeze which
blew in our faces. 1t is not very long ride
from the foot of Canal street south to where the
city loses itself in long stretches of plantations
for, for some reason, the city has built up the
river, and toward the Exposition grounds. So
much SO, that land on its lower edge, though the
highest in this city of swamps, has very consid
erably deprecated and can be bought to-day for a
very reasonable price.
We passed the barracks whore some ninety
federal soldiers are stationed; the slaughter
houses where about four hundred animals are
daily dressed, and very came opposite the
battle ground where Jackson SO thoroughly
chastised the British, The spot where the Cen
eral stood is marked by monument. half fin
ished but high enough toafford the visitors beau
tfulview of the country round without distracting
his attention by the artistic beauty of the brick
foundation on which it stands, or the stone
superstructure, or the half dismantled wooden
frame on top, originally designed to protect it
from decay. A little below, and fronting upon
the river, lies the long but narrow federal ceme-
terry of Chalinette. 1t is very elegantly kept. A
straight smell path empowered by beautiful
trees, among which stands prominent the
graceful magnolia, leads to a beautiful monu-
ment erected in the center, believe by the
Grand Army of the Republic. As at Arlington
and Nashville, the graves are marked by long
lines of low marble headstones, running parallel
to this path, with here and there elegant shrub
berry. while the iron tablets bearing selections
from that splendid poem, "The Bivouac of the
Dead give to the Northerner touches of that
far-off time, when federal ron-cads rode at
anchor where now floats the commerce of great
city, and this turbulent Crescent City of the
South lay under the vice-like grasp of a man
fitted for stormy times But, otherwise during
that trip down the river, not another suggestion
of the rebellion occurred except the forts which
were the limit of our trip, and one spot,
which the captain pointed out as the place
where the rebel cruiser Webb. finding it
impossible to run the blockade was blown up
All was at peace, and perfect peace The old
creole mansions, remote from the levee en-
powered by groves of orange, magnolia aud live
oak with their green. tight drawn blinds and
wide. cool verandas and lawns as fresh as ours
after rain in June, seemed never to have felt
the touch of war The homes of the sugar
planters, many of them very comfortable, in
deed and yet none of them elegant, had no con
tention with the cabins of the negroes, clustered
near by and whose inmates, as they gathered
about the landings or upon the levees to watch
the vessel, seemed never whit distracted with
the cares of this world or the decetfulness of
riches Up aud down the river we could