H. roused us at dawn. Reeney found light-wood enough on the raft to make a
good fire for coffee, which never tasted better. Then all hands assisted
in unloading; a rope was fastened to the boat, Max got in, H. held the
rope on the raft, and, by much pulling and pushing, it was forced through
a narrow passage to the farther side. Here it had to be calked, and while
that was being done we improvised a dressing-room in the shadow of our big
trunks. (During the trip I had to keep the time, therefore properly to
secure belt and watch was always an anxious part of my toilet.) The boat
is now repacked, and while Annie and Reeney are washing cups I have
scribbled, wishing much that mine were the hand of an artist.

_Friday morning, July 18, 1862. (House of Col. K., on Yazoo
River.)_--After leaving the raft yesterday all went well till noon, when
we came to a narrow place where an immense tree lay clear across the
stream. It seemed the insurmountable obstacle at last. We sat despairing
what to do, when a man appeared beside us in a pirogue. So sudden, so
silent was his arrival that we were thrilled with surprise. He said if we
had a hatchet he could help us. His fairy bark floated in among the
branches like a bubble, and he soon chopped a path for us, and was
delighted to get some matches in return. He said the cannon we heard
yesterday were in an engagement with the ram _Arkansas_, which ran out of
the Yazoo that morning. We did not stop for dinner to-day, but ate a hasty
lunch in the boat, after which nothing but a small piece of bread was
left. About two we reached the forks, one of which ran to the Yazoo, the
other to the Old River. Max said the right fork was our road; H. said the
left, that there was an error in Max's map; but Max steered into the right
fork. After pulling about three miles he admitted his mistake and turned
back; but I shall never forget Old River. It was the vision of a drowned
world, an illimitable waste of dead waters, stretching into a great,
silent, desolate forest. A horror chilled me and I begged them to row fast
out of that terrible place.

Just as we turned into the right way, down came the rain so hard and fast
we had to stop on the bank. It defied trees or umbrellas and nearly took
away the breath. The boat began to fill, and all five of us had to bail
as fast as possible for the half-hour the sheet of water was pouring down.
As it abated a cold breeze sprung up that, striking our wet clothe