arter and his wife, Mrs. Badger
and Mrs. Worley, in two buggies; the three boys, who, of course,
followed on horseback, and the two gentlemen, Miriam, Anna, and I,
riding also. It was really a very pretty sight, when Captain Morrison
and I, who took the lead going, would reach the top of one of the steep
hills and look down on the procession in the hollow below. Fortunately
it was a very cloudy evening; for, starting at four, it would have been
very unpleasant to ride that distance with the sun in our faces.

As we reached the town we heard the loud report of two cannon which
caused the elder ladies to halt and suggest the propriety of a return.
But if it was a gunboat, that was the very thing I was anxious to see;
so we hurried on to the batteries. It proved to be only practicing,
however. At the first one we stopped at, the crew of the Arkansas were
drilling. After stopping a while there, we followed the river to see
the batteries below. It was delightful to ride on the edge of a high
bluff with the muddy Mississippi below, until you fancied what would be
the probable sensation if the horse should plunge down into the waters;
then it ceased to be so pleasant. The great, strong animal I rode could
have carried me over without a protest on my part; for the ridiculous
bit in his mouth was by no means suited to his strength; and it would
require a more powerful arm than mine to supply the deficiency. Miriam
had generously sacrificed her own comfort to give him to me; and rode
fiery Joe instead of her favorite. But it was by no means a comfort to
me. Then Anna was not reconciled to her pony while I was on such a fine
horse, until I proposed an exchange, and gladly dismounted near an old
mill two miles and a half below Port Hudson, as we returned home.

In leaving the town, we lost sight of the buggies, as there was no
carriage road that might follow the bluff; and though there was one
just back, we never saw our buggies again. Once, following a crescent,
far below us lay the water battery concealed by the trees that grew by
the water's edge, looking, from where we stood, like quite a formidable
precipice. Then still beyond, after leaving the river, we passed
through a camp where the soldiers divided their attention equally
between eating their supper and staring at us in the most profound
silence. Then, through an old gate, down a steep hill, past a long line
of rifle-pits, a winding road, and another camp where more men s