sudden is the calamity that every individual, whether man or beast,
has to exert his utmost ingenuity to enable him to escape from the
dreaded element. The Indian quickly removes to the hills of the
interior, the cattle and game swim to the different strips of land
that remain uncovered in the midst of the flood, or attempt to force
their way through the waters until they perish from fatigue. Along
the banks of the river the inhabitants have rafts ready-made, on
which they remove themselves, their cattle, and their provisions, and
which they then fasten with ropes or grape-vines to the larger trees,
while they contemplate the melancholy spectacle presented by the
current, as it carries off their houses and wood-yards piece by
piece. Some, who have nothing to lose, and are usually known by the
name of Squatters, take this opportunity of traversing the woods in
canoes, for the purpose of procuring game, and particularly the skins
of animals, such as the deer and bear, which may be converted into
money. They resort to the low ridges surrounded by the waters, and
destroy thousands of deer, merely for their skins, leaving the flesh
to putrify.

"The river itself, rolling its swollen waters along, presents a
spectacle of the most imposing nature. Although no large vessel,
unless propelled by steam, can now make its way against the current,
it is seen covered by boats laden with produce, which, running out
from all the smaller streams, float silently towards the city of New
Orleans, their owners, meanwhile, not very well assured of finding a
landing-place even there. The water is covered with yellow foam and
pumice, the latter having floated from the rocky mountains of the
north-west. The eddies are larger and more powerful than ever. Here
and there tracts of forest are observed undermined, the trees
gradually giving way, and falling into the stream. Cattle, horses,
bears, and deer are seen at times attempting to swim across the
impetuous mass of foaming and boiling water; whilst, here and there,
a vulture or an eagle is observed perched on a bloated carcass,
tearing it up in pieces, as regardless of the flood, as on former
occasions it would have been of the numerous sawyers and planters
with which the surface of the river is covered when the water is low.
Even the steamer is freq