r dinner was even better than on the day of our arrival,
closing with four or five omelettes soufflees, worthy of Paris, and the
same number of pyramids of Vanilla ice. So much for the progress of
civilisation across the Mississippi.

We paddled about in the muddy streets yesterday, and looked in at the
shop-windows. We found even here plenty of hoop petticoats, and of
tempting-looking bookseller's shops. Our hotel is close to the
Court-house, a handsome building of limestone, with a portico and a
cupola in process of building, being a humble imitation of the one at
Washington. Yesterday evening, one or two of the gentlemen amused us
after dinner with some nigger songs, ending, I suppose out of compliment
to us, with "God save the Queen." I studied the toilette of one of our
party this morning--the only young unmarried lady among us. I had often
seen the same sort of dress at the hotels, but never such a good
specimen as this. It is called here the French morning robe or wrapper,
and this one was made of crimson merino, with a wide shawl bordering
half-way up the depth of the skirt. The skirt is quite open in front,
displaying a white petticoat with an embroidered bordering. The body of
the wrapper was formed in the old-fashioned way, with a neck-piece, with
trimmings of narrow shawl borderings; there was no collar at all, the
crimson merino coming against the neck without any break of even a frill
of white. The sleeves were very large, of the latest fashion, with white
under sleeves, and the waist was very short, confined with a red band of
merino. These dresses are very common in the morning, and are, I
believe, thought to be very elegant. They are frequently made like this,
of some violent coloured merino, and often of silk, with trimmings of
another coloured ribbon.

Having digressed so far from my account of St. Louis, I will go back for
a few minutes to Cincinnati, to describe the grand fire-engines we saw
there, with horses all ready harnessed. One particular engine, in which
the water was forced up by steam, could have its steam up and be ready
for action in three minutes from its time of starting, and long,
therefore, in all probability before it reached the place where its
services were required. These engines all had stags' horns placed in a
prominent position in front, as a sign of swiftness, and on this
particular one there was printed under the horns, "Sure Thing, 287
feet," meaning that it could throw th