ad collected
in honor of General Earl Van Dorn. He had recently resigned; and the
commission as colonel of the only regiment of regular cavalry in the
Confederacy was tendered him. Now, on the eve of departure for his
well-known expedition to Texas--then considered a momentous and
desperate one--numbers of fair women thronged the bluffs to catch a
glimpse of the hero of the hour, while friends gathered round to grasp
the hand, than which no firmer ever drew blade!

Few men had started in the war with brighter auspices and more ardent
well-wishings--none could have had a sadder ending! I remember well the
last sight I ever had of his neat but powerfully-knit figure, as he
stood with one hand resting on the rail of the upper deck and the other
raising his broad sombrero over the clear, sharp features, with the
peaked moustache and beard of the _cuirassier_. A brilliant and
handsome staff surrounded him; from the bluffs, the ladies waved their
handkerchiefs and the men their hats; the wild notes of the calliope
echoed back the "Marseillaise;" but in memory's photograph of the
scene, his figure alone--the proud swell of the thin nostril and the
deep, smothered flame in the cold gray eye--stands out clear and sharp.

We are aboard the "Southern Republic;" the last bell has sounded, the
last belated trunk has been trundled over the plank; and we are off,
the calliope screaming "Dixie" like ten thousand devils, the crowds on
the bank waving us _bon voyage_!

The main saloon of the boat was a spacious apartment, a hundred feet
long by thirty in breadth, gorgeously decorated with modern paint and
brilliantly lighted; the galleries leading to the state-rooms rising
tier upon tier entirely around it, while above, a skylight of tinted
glass shed a soft, warm light.

There were offices, card-rooms, bar-rooms aboard all these boats; and
as the down-trip occupies from forty-eight to one hundred
hours--according to the stage of the river and the luck in running
aground, a performance to be expected once in each trip--we become
quite a mutual amusement community by the time it is over.

This trip the boat was very crowded, and at supper the effect of the
line of small tables, filled with officers in uniform, ladies
tastefully dressed and a sprinkling of homespun coats--all reflected in
the long mirror--was very bright and gay. After meals, there is
generally a promenade on the upper deck, where people talk, smoke,
inspect each oth