. As we proceeded we constantly saw trees topple over into the river,
the banks of which are continually widening, and which in many parts has
the appearance of a lake after a storm, impregnated with debris. The
trees, thus washed into the bed of the river, sink root downwards and
make the navigation perilous, as I have before described. We met
numerous steamers coming up the stream, one of them having a freight of
Indians from Florida, removing to the western frontier, under the
surveillance of U.S. soldiery and government agents. The compulsory
removal of Indians, from one remote state to another, whenever new
territory is needed, forms a disgraceful feature in internal American
policy. Transported to new hunting grounds, the poor Indians are brought
into contact with other tribes, when feuds arise from feelings of
jealousy, and the new-comers are often annihilated in a few years. Many
tribes have thus become totally extinct, and the remainder are rapidly
becoming so. As the steamer passed us with her freight of red men they
set up a loud yell, which reverberated through the forests on the
river-shores. It sounded to me very much like defiance, and probably
was, for they execrate the white men as hereditary enemies, and feel
deeply the wrongs inflicted on their people.

All the steamers we met were more or less crowded with passengers, the
visages of many of whom bore traces of fever and ague, and who were,
doubtless, removing to a healthier climate. This insidious disease often
terminates fatally in the cities and districts skirting the swamps of
Louisiana, and, to avoid its baneful effects, the more affluent people
migrate south-west or north when the sickly season sets in. The yellow
fever is also very fatal in such situations, and annually claims numbers
of victims.

We had by this time reached that latitude where perpetual summer reigns.
The banks of the mighty Mississippi, which has for ages rolled on in
increasing grandeur, present to the eye a wilderness of sombre scenery,
indescribably wild and romantic. The bays, formed by the current, are
choked with palmetto and other trees, and teem with alligators,
water-snakes, and freshwater turtle, the former basking in the sun in
conscious security. Overhead, pelicans, paroquets, and numberless other

"Strange bright birds on their starry wings,
Bear the rich hues of all glorious things;"

while the gorgeous magnolia, in luxuriant bloom, and a thousand other