case in those situations. Large holes, called "sink-holes,"
are numerous along these banks; the shape of them is precisely that of an
inverted cone, through the apex of which the water sinks, and works its
way into the river. Cedar trees grow on the rocks, and the scenery is in
many places extremely grand. Wild-geese congregate in multitudes on the
islands in the Mississippi, and at night send forth the most wild and
piercing cries.

Our hostess was one of those sylvan Amazons who could handle any thing,
from the hunting-knife to the ponderous axe; and she dressed in the true
sylph-like costume of the backwoods. Her _robe_, which appeared to be the
only garment with which she encumbered herself, fitted her, as they say at
sea, "like a purser's shirt on a handspike," and looked for all the world
like an inverted sack, with appropriate apertures cut for head and arms;
she wore shoes, in compliment to her guests--her hair hung about her
shoulders in true Indian style; and altogether she was a genuine sample
of backwoods' civilization. We were placed in a good bed--the state-bed of
course--and as we lay, paid our devotions to Urania, and contemplated the
beauties of the starry firmament, through an aperture in the roof which
would have admitted a jackass.

The proprietor assured us that his slaves produced him no more than the
bare interest of the money invested in their purchase, and that he was a
slave-holder not from choice, but because it was the prevailing practice
of the country. He said he had two handsome Mulatto girls hired out at the
barracks for six dollars per month each.

In St. Louis there were seven Indian chiefs, hostages from the Ioway
nation. Their features were handsome--with one exception, they had all
aquiline noses--they were tall and finely proportioned, and altogether as
fine-looking fellows as I ever saw. The colour of these Indians was much
redder than that of any others I had seen; their heads were shaven, with
the exception of a small stripe, extending from the centre of the
crown back to the _organ of philoprogenitiveness_--the gallant
scalping-lock--which was decorated with feathers so as somewhat to
resemble the crest of a Greek or Roman helmet. Their bodies were uncovered
from the waist upwards, except when they wore blankets, a modern
substitute for the buffalo-robe, which they commonly wore over the left
shoulder, leaving the right arm and breast bare. The Ioways are a nation
dwelling in