862._--Sunday night about ten we reached the place
where, according to our map, Steele's Bayou comes nearest to the
Mississippi, and where the landing should be, but when we climbed the
steep bank there was no sign, of habitation. Max walked off into the woods
on a search, and was gone so long we feared he had lost his way. He could
find no road. H. suggested shouting and both began. At last a distant
halloo replied, and by cries the answerer was guided to us. A negro said
"Who are you? What do you want?" "Travelers seeking shelter for the
night." He came forward and said that was the right place, his master kept
the landing, and he would watch the boat for five dollars. He showed the
road, and said his master's house was one mile off and another house two
miles. We mistook and went to the one two miles off. There a legion of
dogs rushed at us, and several great, tall, black fellows surrounded us
till the master was roused. He put his head through the window and
said,--"I'll let nobody in. The Yankees have been here and took
twenty-five of my negroes to work on their fortifications, and I've no
beds nor anything for anybody." At 1 o'clock we reached Mr. Fetler's, who
was pleasant, and said we should have the best he had. The bed into whose
grateful softness I sank was piled with mattresses to within two or three
feet of the ceiling, and, with no step-ladder, getting in and out was a
problem. This morning we noticed the high-water mark, four feet above the
lower floor. Mrs. Fetler said they had lived up-stairs several weeks.

FOOTNOTES:
[31] Restored omission. See page 262.

X.

FRIGHTS AND PERILS IN STEELE'S BAYOU.

_Wednesday, July 16, 1862. (Under a tree on the bank of Steele's
Bayou.)_--Early this morning our boat was taken out of the Mississippi and
put on Mr. Fetler's ox-cart. After breakfast we followed on foot. The walk
in the woods was so delightful that all were disappointed when a silvery
gleam through the trees showed the bayou sweeping along, full to the
banks, with dense forest trees almost meeting over it. The boat was
launched, calked, and reloaded, and we were off again. Towards noon the
sound of distant cannon began to echo around, probably from Vicksburg
again. About the same time we began to encounter rafts. To get around them
required us to push through brush so thick that we had to lie down in the
boat. The banks were steep and the land on each side a bog. About 1
o'clock we reached this