ing can exceed the excitement attendant upon the racing of
steamers on the Mississippi.

By the time the boats had reached Memphis they were side by side, and
each exerting itself to get in advance of the other. The night was
clear, the moon shining brightly, and the boats so near to each other
that the passengers were within speaking distance. On board the Patriot
the firemen were using oil, lard, butter, and even bacon, with wood, for
the purpose of raising the steam to its highest pitch. The blaze mingled
with the black smoke that issued from the pipes of the other boat, which
showed that she also was burning something more combustible than wood.

The firemen of both boats, who were slaves, were singing songs such
as can only be heard on board a Southern steamer. The boats now came
abreast of each other, and nearer and nearer, until they were locked
so that men could pass from one to the other. The wildest excitement
prevailed among the men employed on the steamers, in which the
passengers freely participated.

The Patriot now stopped to take in passengers, but still no steam was
permitted to escape. On the starting of the boat again, cold water
was forced into the boilers by the feed-pumps, and, as might have been
expected, one of the boilers exploded with terrific force, carrying away
the boiler-deck and tearing to pieces much of the machinery. One dense
fog of steam filled every part of the vessel, while shrieks, groans,
and cries were heard on every side. Men were running hither and thither
looking for their wives, and women were flying about in the wildest
confusion seeking for their husbands. Dismay appeared on every
countenance.

The saloons and cabins soon looked more like hospitals than anything
else; but by this time the Patriot had drifted to the shore, and the
other steamer had come alongside to render assistance to the disabled
boat. The killed and wounded (nineteen in number) were put on shore,
and the Patriot, taken in tow by the Washington, was once more on her
journey.

It was half-past twelve, and the passengers, instead of retiring to
their berths, once more assembled at the gambling-tables. The practice
of gambling on the western waters has long been a source of annoyance
to the more moral persons who travel on our great rivers. Thousands
of dollars often change owners during a passage from St. Louis or
Louisville to New Orleans, on a Mississippi steamer. Many men
are completely ruined on su