sake of
such a writer, and yet he might, peradventure, be smothered. I had a
comical squabble with the stewardess,--a dirty, funny, good-humored old
negress, who was driven almost wild by my exorbitant demands for towels,
of which she assured me one was a quite ample allowance. Mine, alas!
were deep down in my trunk, beyond all possibility of getting at, even
if I could have got at the trunk, which I very much doubt. Now I counted
no less than _seven_ handsome looking-glasses on board of this
steamboat, where one towel was considered all that was requisite, not
even for each individual, but for each washing-room. This addiction to
ornament, and neglect of comfort and convenience, is a strong
characteristic of Americans at present, luxuries often abounding where
decencies cannot be procured. 'Tis the necessary result of a young
civilization, and reminds me a little of Rosamond's purple jar, or Sir
Joshua Reynolds's charming picture of the naked child, with a court cap
full of flowers and feathers stuck on her head.

After a very wretched night on board the boat, we landed about nine
o'clock, at Portsmouth, Virginia. I must not omit to mention that my
morning ablutions were as much excepted to by the old negress as those
of the preceding evening. Indeed, she seemed perfectly indignant at the
forbearance of one lady, who withdrew from the dressing-room on finding
me there, exclaiming--

"Go in, go in, I tell you; they always washes two at a time in them
rooms."

At Portsmouth there is a fine dry dock and navy yard, as I was
informed.... The appearance of the place in general was mean and
unpicturesque. Here I encountered the first slaves I ever saw, and the
sight of them in no way tended to alter my previous opinions upon this
subject. They were poorly clothed; looked horribly dirty, and had a lazy
recklessness in their air and manner as they sauntered along, which
naturally belongs to creatures without one of the responsibilities
which are the honorable burthen of rational humanity.

Our next stopping-place was a small town called Suffolk. Here the
negroes gathered in admiring crowds round the railroad carriages. They
seem full of idle merriment and unmeaning glee, and regard with an
intensity of curiosity perfectly ludicrous the appearance and
proceedings of such whites as they easily perceive are strangers in
their part of the country. As my child leaned from the carriage-window,
her brilliant complexion drew forth