My hunting-shirt being finished, I took a kind leave of the old hunter and his family, and returned to Slowtrap’s, with whom I remained only a few days, notwithstanding his pressing invitation to pass the summer there, and then proceeded to Kelfer’s. From hence I revisited the salt licks, repaired the scaffold, collected kindlers, and passed twelve nights successively under the fire, until the mosquitoes, and other insects almost carried me off piecemeal; yet without getting a single shot. I never could imagine what had driven the game all away; perhaps it was too late in the season; I only know that I lay on the look-out many long, long nights, listening for the tread of a deer, watched the moon rise, follow her appointed course, and set behind the trees; hearkened patiently to the hootings of the owls, and the complaint of whip-poor-will, and left the place each succeeding morning, without seeing a single head of game, to seek some cool spot to sleep in, and await the coming night. At last, my provisions being exhausted, I was forced to return to Kelfer’s for a fresh supply. While there I decided on giving up the fire, and trying daylight again, when I succeeded in killing a few fine deer. One of them was the largest I ever shot. I was going along a mountain-side, and had just fired at and missed a young buck that was standing behind a fallen tree, with nothing but his head visible, when, just as I had reloaded, this splendid fellow showed himself above me, at about fifteen paces distance. My ball knocked him over, and I never saw fatter venison.
After some time, news arrived from Little Rock, to say that letters were awaiting me there. I was soon ready to start, intending if their contents were favorable, to embark for the south. My few things were easily packed up, and I now took a warm farewell of Kelfer and his amiable family, from whom it grieved me to part. I had lived in his house like one of his relations, and had never been treated as a stranger; and if I ever had found a home in America, it would have been with him; there was only one point on which we disagreed; I was passionately fond of field sports, and he often severely blamed my useless loitering about in the woods, seriously representing to me that I could not go on so for ever, and that I should be forced, sooner or later, to settle somewhere, and become a useful and reasonable member of society. I saw clearly enough, on such occasions, that he was right, and was often inclined to accept the brotherly offers which he made, and to hang up the rifle, and take to the axe; but I had become too fond of the wild unsteady life; besides, a burning desire to revisit my native land prevented me, and my love of change was now stronger than any other feeling; I took up my rifle, threw my luggage over my shoulder, shook hands all round, and followed the course of the Fourche le Fave on my way to Little Rock.
On arriving at the mouth of the river, I was undecided whether I should continue my course by land or water. Unluckily, however, I found good shooting-ground there; so, throwing my bundle under a tree, I formed a hut of loose bark, and began shooting again to my heart’s content.
The end of June came. My provisions had latterly much diminished, as I had shot nothing for several days, and as the meat was soon spoilt by the heat unless it was well dried, I began to get tired of sport, and resolved to shoot only one more deer for provision, then go to Little Rock, take up my letters, and come to some decision as to my future course.
The intention of shooting one more deer seemed this time to be easier conceived than executed, and I lived for two days on whortleberries, a fruit which by no means suited my stomach. It happened one morning when I came again on the banks of the Fourche le Fave, I saw a canoe jammed amongst some drift-wood, which had stuck fast in the river. This suited my purpose exactly; so, without further consideration, I swam off and secured it, took it up to my camp, threw in all my havings and gatherings, and gained the river Arkansas the same afternoon.
Gliding smoothly along near the bank, I observed numerous signs of deer in several places. I landed at one of them, where the ground was all trodden down by their feet, and where there was only one narrow rocky path, by which they could descend to drink the brackish water, that of the Arkansas containing a considerable portion of salt. My plan was soon formed. I was not only excessively hungry myself, but I had some friends in Little Rock, to whom a nice piece of venison would be a treat; so, taking my tomahawk, I soon erected a small scaffolding over the canoe, which was all the more easily accomplished as it had been made to serve this purpose before, holes having been bored below the gunwales to receive the poles. Covering it with twigs and some inches of earth, I collected kindlers from the neighboring hills, and patiently awaited the approaching night. As soon as it was dark I lighted my fire, then leant back, giving the reins to my fancy and gazing on the beautiful starry sky. After a time, raising myself silently and looking towards the place where I expected the deer, I saw a glowing eye just above the water, and another reflected from its surface; it was a deer, which had descended without the least noise, and was eagerly drinking the brackish water, about twenty paces from the canoe. I raised the rifle slowly, took a careful aim and fired; loud sounded the report over the water’s surface, returning in repeated echoes from the hills, and then all was as quiet and silent as the grave. Taking a brand from the fire, I found a yearling buck lying dead at a short distance from the spot where he had been drinking. After breaking him up, I cut off no small portion to roast, my hunger being truly painful; when this was satisfied I threw him into the canoe, cast off from the bank, rolled myself in my blanket, and, floating softly down the stream in the stillness of night, I arrived at Little Rock in good condition on the following morning.
I found a letter from Germany, and another from Kean in Louisiana, from whom I had not heard for a long time; he requested me to come to him, telling me I might easily find employment with a good salary. The steamer “Arkansas” arrived the next day from Fort Smith, and notice was given that on the morning of the 5th July she would start for New Orleans. My arrangements were soon made, and not having much packing to plague me, I passed the intervening days very happily in the society of my friends.
The 4th of July was to be celebrated as usual in Little Rock by a grand barbecue, or banquet, at the public expense. I went to the appointed place out of curiosity, and found a dozen black cooks, busily preparing for the grand affair. Two trenches, about two yards long and four wide, were dug in a garden near the town, the bottom of each was filled with red-hot charcoal, the supply being kept up from a large fire near at hand. Pieces of wood were laid across the trenches, and on the wood immense quantities of meat; two halves of an ox, a number of pigs, calves, deer, bears, sheep, &c., were roasting and stewing, while people with bottles or jugs full of whiskey went about offering it to all present. The meat itself was not particularly inviting, everybody going up and cutting off what he wanted, and holding it in his hand to eat, some standing, some walking to and fro. At a camp-fire this is all very well, but such a multitude with greasy hands and mouths is not attractive.
I did not remain long, but returned to the town, sleeping at the house of a German settler; and on the following morning proceeded on board the boat, which contrary to the usual custom, was punctual to her time and went off blustering down the river.
CHAPTER XII
LOUISIANA – NEW ORLEANS, AND HOME
Bayou Sara – German settlers – Jews – Pointe Coupée – My engagement at the hotel – Levées, or dams, on the banks of the Mississippi – Slave auction – Treatment of the slaves – Guinea negroes – Alligator shooting – Flesh of the alligator, and prejudices against it – Habits of the alligator – Scenes on the Mississippi – New Orleans; variety of its inhabitants – Coffee-houses – The “Olbers” clears for Bremen – The mouth of the Mississippi – My fellow-passengers – Sharks – Sickness and death on board – The English channel – Bremerhafen – Quarantine – The Lübecker and his unruly American wife – Fumigation – Arrival at home.
We entered the Mississippi the second day, and soon left the State of Arkansas far behind us. Of all I had seen in America it was the one which pleased me most; I may perhaps never see it again, but I shall never forget the happy days I passed there, where many a true heart beats under a coarse frock or leather hunting-shirt.
The boat went flying past the green banks, and on the third night, she set me ashore at Bayou Sara, in Louisiana. It may have been about one o’clock when I landed with my baggage. The little boat which brought me from the steamer pushed off, flying back to the smoking Colossus. The pilot gave the signal to go ahead, and, smoking and clattering, she soon vanished from my sight.
All was dark in the town, not a single light to be seen. Being quite a stranger in the place, I rolled myself in my blanket and lay down on the bank of the river. The night was warm and pleasant, but repose was out of the question. Millions of mosquitoes were swarming furiously around, and only left me in peace when I pulled the blanket over my head; but as that excluded air, and I removed it to breathe, it was a signal for all the swarm to fall upon me with renewed fury.
At length the first negro bell was heard from the opposite shore, for the negroes to turn out; soon afterwards a gleam was visible in the east. My tormentors now attacked me like mad, and it appeared as if all the mosquitoes in Louisiana had assembled with the intention of sucking me dry, so as to preserve me as a specimen: I jumped up, and ran about to baffle the attempt.
Day came at last, and with it some houses were opened; amongst others a German coffee-house. Leaving my baggage there I strolled about the place. After lounging about for an hour, I thought it was late enough to find out Kean, who was clerk in a merchant’s house; I soon found him, Bayou Sara not being very large, and met with a kind reception.
In the first place I had to change my costume; hunting-shirts and leggings are excellent things in the forest, but not so well adapted to a town, nor to the hot sun of Louisiana. Summer articles were not dear, a number of German Jews having settled in the place, underselling each other; for a few dollars I obtained a very respectable suit.
Most of the houses of Bayou Sara are built of wood, only three or four being of brick. It may contain about 800 inhabitants, among whom are several Germans, who are carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, sugar-bakers, coffee-house keepers, and a large number of German Jews, who by their low prices have managed to get the trade in ready-made clothes completely into their own hands. German shoemakers mustered very strong; and here I was again struck with a peculiarity which I have remarked among all the German shoemakers in America, namely the rage they have for selling gingerbread and sugar-plums, as well as boots and shoes.
In the United States as a matter of course, every person is free to buy and sell whatever he chooses. Therefore all sorts of wares are to be found at all the stores. In the smaller towns, apothecaries generally combine a trade in calicoes and hardware with that of drugs; and when a German shoemaker opens his shop, you are sure to see some glasses with parti-colored sugar-plums, and pieces of gingerbread in the little window, while boots and shoes are dangling on pack-thread above them. This was not only the case in Bayou Sara, and St. Francisville, a town of the same size on a hill about a quarter of a mile behind Bayou Sara, but in all the smaller towns in the United States which I had visited, and even in some parts of the large town of Cincinnati. It is at all events a strange medley.
I passed my time very agreeably in the society of Kean, whose employers were good kind people, until I obtained a remunerative occupation in Pointe Coupée, a large French settlement extending twenty miles along the opposite or western bank of the Mississippi; this office consisted in the management of the hotel formerly kept by Rutkin, and which he had sold before his departure; the purchaser, however, was weak and in bad health, and had been mostly confined to his bed, leaving the hotel to the management of another, who was driving every thing to wreck and ruin. The purchaser’s brother seeing that it would never do to leave it in such hands, placed me in the situation on Kean’s recommendation. Although my present sphere of action was very different from any thing to which I had hitherto been accustomed, I soon gained an insight into the business, and went on very well, as I was perfectly independent, acting on all occasions as I thought best: and I can fairly say that I soon brought things into better order.
Generally speaking, living in Pointe Coupée was much more agreeable than in Bayou Sara, as my principal dealings were with the opulent planters of the vicinity, amongst whom were some very pleasant people; there was also an Irish advocate living in the hotel, who had a very extensive practice, and we conceived a mutual friendship for each other: I shall always look back with hearty pleasure to my acquaintance with Mr. Beattie.
The little town of the settlement, lying rather higher up the stream on the opposite side to Bayou Sara, consists of the town-hall, the jail, the Roman Catholic church, the priest’s house, and the hotel.
As the land beyond the banks of the Mississippi, particularly in Louisiana, is lower than the river, when the latter is very full the settlers have been obliged to throw up a dam – levée, as it is called – which is generally from four to five feet high, but in some places from eighteen to twenty. It costs immense sums to keep this in repair, as the river constantly undermines it, and carries off large masses in its wild muddy waters; moreover, it is incumbent on those dwelling immediately on the banks to supply the means, while those living further from the river, whose property is more liable to damage, do not contribute any thing towards the dam; but last year there was a discussion on the subject, and it is probable that the system will be changed.
The principal productions of Pointe Coupée are cotton, Indian Corn, and sugar-cane. The gardens are filled with oranges, figs, peaches, and pomegranates, with quantities of all the most beautiful flowers. One great plague of the planters, in some parts of the settlement, for it does not extend everywhere, is the coco-grass, somewhat similar to our couch-grass. The roots extend from twelve to fifteen feet in the ground, as may be seen when the river tears away a part of the bank. Where it has once taken hold, it is very difficult to extirpate; it grows so fast that, when cut down at night, it is again about an inch high in the morning. It is not very good for cattle, though pigs are extremely fond of the pods, which have a strong smell and taste of camphor.
Most of the planters are French Creoles; but as several Americans live here also, the law proceedings are carried on both in French and English. The jailer is a poor wretched German shoemaker, and any prisoner that has a mind gives him a cudgelling, and takes his leave. Several cases of the kind occurred last year.
The system of slavery makes a very disagreeable impression upon those who are unaccustomed to it; and although I had long dwelt in slave States, and witnessed the oppressed condition and ill-treatment of the poor blacks, yet the horrors of the system were never so evident as when I first attended an auction, where slaves were sold like cattle to the highest bidder, and the poor creatures stood trembling, following the bidders with anxious eyes, in order to judge in advance whether they were to belong to a kind or severe master. It does not happen so often now as formerly that families are separated, at least mothers and children, so long as the latter are very young. In large auctions, the law has the humanity to decree that families are only to be sold together; but individuals are often sold, and then the most sacred ties are torn asunder for the sake of a few hundred dollars.
I have witnessed most heart-breaking scenes on such occasions. At the same time, I must admit that the treatment of slaves is generally better than it is represented by the Abolitionists and missionaries. It is to the advantage of the owner to keep his slaves healthy and fit for work, and not to overtax their strength, as he is bound to support them in their old age. Their food generally is not worse than that of the poor man in other lands. Though there are instances of rich planters treating their slaves most shamefully, there are others where they are treated as part of the family. In our hotel, we had a cook, chambermaid, and porter, all slaves, who never had occasion to complain of ill-treatment. A negro, or descendant of a negro, is not allowed to quit the place of his abode without a pass from his master, while the free negro must always have his papers about him. If a slave is found without a pass, he is imprisoned until his master claims him, and pays the expenses. Fugitive slaves frequently take refuge in the forests; and I remember how, in Tennessee, large parties used to go out to surround them, and recover possession of them. Although the law speaks in strong language against the importation of fresh negroes, yet I saw several slaves who had been brought over from Africa, and who were called Guinea negroes, to distinguish them from those born in America. The education of the poor blacks is strictly forbidden, for fear they should write their own passes, and thus escape. They are kept for use and increase like domestic animals; and yet these United States have this sentence in their declaration of independence: “that all men are free and equal!”
In the towns the Methodist preachers have driven what little understanding nature has given them, out of the poor blacks’ heads, teaching them to jump and shout, to thank God for being afflicted, and to kiss the rod that chastises them. They kiss it, indeed, but leave the marks of their teeth behind; and when they dare not openly oppose the tyranny of the whites, they do so in secret, and many of the hated race fall by the hand of the oppressed. Examples of this kind are frequent; and although the punishment which the negro has to expect for raising his hand against a white is appalling, it does not prevent the deed, but only makes the doer more cautious.
My present occupation did not allow much time for amusement, though now and then I got some duck-shooting in winter, when the ducks come in myriads from the north to this milder climate, where ice is very seldom seen on the lakes and standing pools, and snow was not seen during the whole winter. Snipe-shooting commenced early in spring, and I followed it up with great eagerness. It is a very different affair here from what it is in Europe; you go out in the evening, and shoot them by torchlight, when, of course, you must have a very small charge, as they approach within ten yards, often within five or six. The negro, who is not allowed to carry a gun without permission from his master, goes out with a torch, and a small bushy bough of a tree, to knock them down. There are two sorts, both smaller than ours, and they occur in such numbers, that in two hours I have often killed from eighteen to twenty. During the day they remain among the thick reeds and in the marshes, and in the evening flock to the meadows and cotton fields. They are delicate eating, and more tender than the European variety. As the weather gets hotter, they fly off to the north.
The spring in Louisiana is enchantingly beautiful. All the grasses and flowers springing out of the ground, all the buds and blossoms on the trees, fill the beholder with rapture: the gray silvery-haired moss dangling from the trees, giving them such a mournful appearance in winter, now added to the beauty of the scene; assuming a more lively color itself, it looked a transparent silvery veil thrown over the blossoms and fresh green of the leaves. The long slender cypresses shone to the greatest advantage under such a veil. All sorts of birds are now to be seen; among them numbers of the mocking-bird, sometimes called the American nightingale, warble sweetly, especially at night.
As usual in all the plantations in Louisiana, several China-trees stood before my house, for shade as well as for ornament. One of them was an old patriarch, whose branches spread far and wide, and which had been used as a summer-house by the former proprietor, who had had a flight of stairs built up to it, and fixed a round table, with several seats. In this tree my hammock was slung between two branches, with a mosquito net spread over it; – for these amiable little creatures were again beginning their wicked tricks; and I slept in the warm night wind, among the blossoms of the tree, which have something of the perfume of the heliotrope, surrounded by fire-flies, lulled by the notes of the mocking-bird, and by the rushing sound of the mighty Mississippi, flowing about twenty paces from the tree.
The heat in May, especially in the middle of the day, was oppressive; but when the other whites had retired to take their siesta, I went with my rifle and harpoon to the swamps, at a short distance from the river, to shoot alligators, which are to be found in incredible numbers, in the warm standing pools. What dreadful statements have been written about the formidable nature of these animals, and their fierce attacks on man! I have always found them gentle, harmless creatures, and was very active in shooting them. However, as I lost those I had shot, by their swimming a little way and then sinking, I took a harpoon with a twenty-feet line, and, going up to the waist in water, I placed myself under one of the many cypresses standing in the swamps, and awaited their approach, as they swam about slowly in the glowing mid-day heat, or sunned themselves on the bank. If one came within twelve or fifteen yards, I was sure of him. The best sport was when he was a great powerful fellow, and I pulled one way as he pulled the other. But as standing in the terrible heat of the sun did not suit me, I resolved to try torchlight, particularly as many of the Creoles told me that no one had ever attempted to shoot them by the light of a fire, it being supposed that the alligator was bolder and more dangerous at night. So, on the next evening, I went to the place with rifle, fire-pan, harpoon, and kindlers. The sight from the banks of the swamp was enchanting, and made me endure even mosquito bites with patience. The dark surface of the water, the immense cypresses standing in it, their moss waving in the night wind, the dark surrounding forest, the hooting of the owls, the melancholy croak of the bull-frog, I had long been accustomed to; but all in the water was wild commotion, and, when holding the flame behind me, the shadow of my head was cast upon the flood, hundreds of glowing eyes shone from all parts of it like balls of red-hot iron. As I had only one hand free, I could not hold the rifle and harpoon at the same time; so I fired at the head of the nearest, dropped the rifle, seized the harpoon, darted it into the animal at the distance of six or seven yards, and drew it by the line to the bank. I had secured two in this way, when I saw a pair of larger eyes coming straight towards me; I fired as before, and darted the harpoon into the wounded animal, as he turned and showed the white of his belly. At the instant of darting the harpoon, I was standing close to the edge of the water, with the end of the line fastened to my right wrist. The alligator had hardly felt the barbed iron, when he darted off and dived, jerking me into the water before I had time to hold back. The pan fell out of my hand, and the fire was extinguished with a loud hiss. The line was too securely fastened for me to free myself, and I was twice dragged under water before I felt firm bottom, when, holding back with all my might, I succeeded in stopping him, he being somewhat exhausted by his exertions and loss of blood; then pulling slowly and cautiously towards the bank, gradually increasing the strain, he collected his remaining strength, and darted off, dragging me head under again; but the water was not more than four feet deep, and this time I had less trouble in hauling the weakened animal to the shore.
Wet through and through, and in total darkness, I had fortunately left my matches, with the split wood, at the foot of a tree. I groped for and found my pan, and in a few minutes another bright flame rose flickering to the sky. The large alligator was about ten feet long, and I could make no use of him; for although the planters use the fat for their cotton machinery, for which it is well adapted, it was too old to be eatable; the two first caught were three and four feet long; I cut off their tails, and carried them home to eat.
Very few of the Creoles, or even the negroes, will eat the flesh of the alligator, partly because they feel disgust at it, and partly because they fancy it to be poisonous; but I found it excellent, and never experienced any bad consequences. It is white and firm, and looks and tastes like fish, but the tail must be cut off immediately, and the back-bone taken out, or it acquires the musty smell peculiar to these animals.
After this, I always took a companion with me, and when one had fired, the other harpooned, which made the work easier. However fearful the alligators may be of white men, it is extraordinary how furiously they will attack negroes and dogs, particularly the latter. I was standing one afternoon, harpoon in hand, up to the waist in water, and although plenty of alligators were swimming about, none of them would come close enough, when, acting on the impulse of the moment, I attempted to attract them by imitating the bark of a dog; – fifteen or sixteen big fellows came straight towards me, as soon as they heard it! This was too much of a good thing: standing so deep in water, I was hardly master of my movements, and began to step out as fast as possible for the shore, about a hundred feet distant; I then recommenced my bark, but as I was fully exposed to view, they were afraid of coming close, though they kept swimming round at a respectable distance.
The predominant religion in Louisiana is the Roman Catholic, with this difference in the arrangements, that the priest is chosen by the congregation, and the bishop has nothing to say in the matter. Some time since, the people had dismissed their priest, being dissatisfied with him; but, as he had been invested by the bishop, he maintained that the bishop alone could remove him, and taking Mr. Beattie for his advocate, he indicted his flock. Mr. Beattie gained his cause at the half-yearly sessions, but the parish appealed to the court of the United States at New Orleans. The priest repaired thither, took a new advocate, and obtained the following sentence: “That the citizens of Pointe Coupée might dismiss their priest, if they were dissatisfied with him, and that neither bishop nor pope could issue commands in the United States.”
It was about the end of June, when I made up my mind to return to Germany. Kean had been for some time in New Orleans, engaged in commission business, and I began to feel lonely in Pointe Coupée. I therefore arranged my affairs, and prevailed on a brother of the proprietor, who had formerly been in partnership with him, to undertake the management, now that all was in good order; then, taking a kind leave of all my good friends, I left Pointe Coupée on the 5th of July – the same day that I had left Little Rock the year before.
I embarked on board the Steamer “Eclipse” for New Orleans, and dashed down the swollen stream with the speed of an arrow. The banks of the Mississippi, in the lower part of Louisiana, offer a most beautiful panorama of towns and plantations, to the eyes of the passenger flying past in a steamer; the country-seats of the planters make a splendid appearance through the orange and pomegranate trees, with the rows of white cottages for the slaves, like so many villages, besides large cotton fields and sugar plantations, with gangs of negroes at work, under the inspection of a white on horseback; troops of mustangs, or ponies, galloping with flowing manes and tails, small schooners, and so-called chicken thieves dashing with swelling tails along the shores, give the whole an animated aspect. At present, however, it did not look everywhere so agreeable; the river had risen considerably, and in many places broken through the levée, laying a number of cotton fields and sugar plantations under water, and giving the landscape a wild and desolate look.
On the following morning, about nine o’clock, we approached the emporium of the south, and a multitude of boats, barges, schooners, brigs, and even ships lying above the town, gave evidence of the busy turmoil of an immense commercial place. We had about forty head of oxen on board, which had been brought from St. Louis, to be landed at Lafayette, a suburb of New Orleans. The steamer was stopped near the shore, and the oxen and cows bundled overboard to swim to land. This done, the engine was set going, and passing shipping of all sorts and nations, we landed about ten o’clock, among about sixty other steamers, on the levée of New Orleans.
I found Kean immediately, and accompanied him to the hotel where he lodged, left my things there, and lounged about the town with him, talking of bygone times. The heat was oppressive, and we were soon obliged to take shelter in the house to escape the scorching rays of the sun. In the evening we drove to Lafayette, where several Bremen vessels were lying, to have a look at them, and inquire their times of departure. We found two bound for Bremen, but the time of departure uncertain, and I saw that I should have to remain some time in New Orleans.