OPINIONS AND FEELINGS.

393

witnessed. Though opposed to royalty, and coming to seek an asylum in a republic, she looked, and spoke, and moved, as if she were "every inch a queen." She seemed to realize the idea I had often formed of the Egyptian Cleopatra; and it would not be hazarding much to say, that she was altogether, the most accomplished, elegant, and interesting woman that had ever landed on this continent since the days of her great ancestor whose name it bears.

Our conversation was at first in Italian; but when a French lady arrived to join our party, it changed to French, both of which languages she spoke with an eloquence rarely equalled; and her whole discourse seemed to be composed of "thoughts that breathe and words that burn." She spoke with great feeling, of the degraded and oppressed condition of her beloved country, Italy; and suppressed with some difficulty the emotion under which she was evidently struggling, when she said she had bidden it an eternal adieu! She expressed herself surprised and delighted at the grandeur and extent of the territory occupied by the several States of this great Republican Union; and charmed with all she had yet seen of the workings of its political system, in which freedom of sentiment and freedom of expression was enjoyed by all on topics of religion and government, and the freest exercise allowed to enterprize and industry in every branch of human undertaking. This was a state of things so new to her sight and experience, though often read of in books, dreamt of in theory, and hoped for in her aspirations after Italian liberty, but never before realized within her actual vision, that she sometimes

doubted whether all she saw around her was real, or merely an allusion. Sometimes she dreaded, too, lest so fair a fabric should be prematurely undermined by some destroying principle, or some corrupting power, and thus the great example of self-government which it was exhibiting to the world, be frustrated or destroyed, before the enemies of human liberty would allow its grand experiment to be completed. Her grief, at seeing the continued existence, and hearing the continued defence of negro slavery, was the only drawback to her satisfaction; but this she condemned in terms of just indignation, and admitted, that with all their many claims to admiration, the Americans could never be recognized as a great or truly free people, until they should put away this reproach from them, by emancipating their slaves.

Since my favoured and happy residence with Lady Hester Stanhope, in the mountains of Palestine, I had never witnessed so noble a union of high birth, mental power, lofty aspirations, and generous impulses, blended with so much refinement of manners, and the whole crowned by the utmost affability and kindness, as in the person of America Vespucci. It is not too much to say of her, that there is no throne in Europe, which she would not elevate by her wisdom; no court which she would not adorn by her manners; no family, that she would not delight by her conversation; and no man, however noble in birth, profound in erudition, high in station, or opulent in fortune, to whom she would not be a source of intellectual and social enjoyment, if he could but win her respect and confidence, and become the object of her esteem as well as of her affections.

CHAP. XXVIII.

Departure from New Orleans-Steam-vessel for Natchez-Sugar plantations on the banks of the Mississippi-Topic of slavery introduced and discussed-Practices of slaves to avoid labourExpensiveness of slavery-Cheapness of free labour-Sentiments in Kentucky and Ohio on these points-Plantations, wood, culture, and cattle-Steam-engines for propelling flat boats-Former and present navigation of the river-Passengers from India and France-Reminiscences of Calcutta and ParisBaton Rouge-The Mississippi and the Nile-Features of contrast or dissimilarity in these rivers-Curved bends-Junction of the Red river-Healthiness of the country-Arrival at Natchez.

THE morning of our departure having arrived, we were busily occupied in the payment of bills; and certainly the experience thus practically afforded us, was such as to confirm the general opinion that New Orleans is one of the most expensive places in the world. Our bill at the Hotel, for three persons and a man-servant, having no private sitting-room, as this is a comfort rarely to be obtained, dining at the public table, and using no wine, was at the rate of twelve dollars, or £2. 10s. per day; coach-hire, a dollar for each person for the shortest ride, or three dollars for an hour; printing charges about four times as high as at New York; articles of apparel most exorbitantly dear, five or six times the London prices at least; and the binding of a small manuscript octavo volume was charged five dollars, or a guinea, which

in England would have cost half-a-crown; and most other things in the same proportion of extravagance; so that we could bear testimony to the accuracy of the common saying at New Orleans, that "Economy is the greatest thief of time, as it takes longer to save anything than it does to make it."

At length, having settled our accounts, and taken leave of all our friends, with many a cordial and mutual expression of the hope that we should one day meet again, we embarked at noon on Saturday the 20th of April, on board the steam-vessel "Ambassador," Captain James, for Natchez. Soon after quitting the wharf, we were under way ascending the Mississippi-again admiring, as we quitted it, the beautiful curve of this noble river, the splendid line of ships moored along the Levée, with the mingling of not less than a hundred steam-vessels, and smaller craft of every rig, making altogether the finest marine picture that any river in the world could present.

The steamer in which we had embarked, was one of the first class, being 225 feet in length, measuring about 500 tons in burden, carrying 2,500 bales of cotton, each from 400 to 500 lbs. weight; and propelled by two engines of about 150-horse power each. The dining saloon, which was on the upper deck, exceeded 100 feet in length, by about 20 in breadth. On each side of this were double-berthed state-rooms, with doors leading from the saloon on one side and from the outer deck on the other, the bed-places lying athwart-ships one over the other. Abaft the saloon was a ladies' cabin about 40 feet in length, with similar double-berthed state-rooms on both sides of

the saloon, the cabins being each about fifteen feet in height, lighted and ventilated by side-lights running the whole length of both. The saloon was beautifully carpeted, and adorned with marble pier-tables, mirrors, and pictures, and formed altogether a splendidly furnished suite of rooms. The superior accommodations were adapted to about 100 passengers; but as the season for leaving New Orleans had but just commenced, our number did not exceed fifty; comprising about two-thirds gentlemen and one-third ladies; while of steeragepassengers, there were an equal number; and deck-passengers, as they are termed, a still inferior class, about the same. The fare to Natchez in the cabin was fifteen dollars, for about 300 miles; the steerage-passage, half that amount. The deckpassengers paid only five dollars for their fare all the way to Louisville, a distance of 1,500 miles; but then they found their own provisions, and assisted the crew at every place at which the vessel stopped for a supply of fuel for the engines, the labour of this being very great, as the consumption of wood was about forty cords, at three dollars per cord, for each twenty-four hours.

The captain was a very gentlemanly and intelligent man, a native of Cincinnati, and principal owner of the vessel; the engineers and firemen were sober and careful, and the crew was efficient and active. The waiters were numerous and attentive, the table was well supplied, and the passengers were not otherwise disagreeable than by the constant use of tobacco, the chewing or smoking of which was practised by all, and both by the greater number accompanied