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IMPROVEMENTS IN THE NAVIGATION OF THE
MISSISSIPPI.
I H A V E so frequently spoken of the Mississippi, that an account of the
progress of navigation on that extraordinary stream may be interestingeven
to the student of nature. I shall commence with the year 1808, at
which time a great portion of the western country, and the banks of the
Mississippi River, from above the City of Natchez particularly, were little
more than a waste, or, to use words better suited to my feelings, remained
in their natural state. To ascend the great stream against a
powerful current, rendered still stronger wherever islands occurred, togegether
with the thousands of-sand-banks, as liable to changes and shiftings
as the alluvial shores themselves, which at every deep curve or bend
were seen giving way, as if crushed down by the weight of the great
forests that everywhere reached to the very edge of the water, and falling
and sinking in the muddy stream, by acres at a time, was an adventure
of no small difficulty and risk, and which was rendered more so by the
innumerable logs, called sawyers and jrtanters, that everywhere raised
their heads above the water, as if bidding defiance to all intruders. Few
white inhabitants had yet marched towards its shores, and these few were
of a class little able to assist the navigator. Here and there a solitary
encampment of native Indians might be seen, but its inmates were as
likely to prove foes as friends, having from their birth been made keenly
sensible of the encroachments of the white men upon their lands.
Such was then the nature of the Mississippi and its shores. That
river was navigated principally in the direction of the current, in small
canoes, pirogues, keel-boats, some flat-boats, and a few barges. The canoes
and pirogues being generally laden with furs from the different heads of
streams that feed the great river, were of little worth after reaching the market
of New Orleans, and seldom reascended, the owners making their way
home through the woods, amidst innumerable difficulties. The flat-boats
were demolished and used as fire-wood. The keel-boats and barges were employed
in conveying produce of different kinds besides furs, such as lead,
flour, pork, and other articles. These returned laden with sugar, coffee,
and dry goods suited for the markets of St Genevieve and St Louis on
the Upper Mississippi, or branched off and ascended the Ohio to the
N A V I G A T I O N O F T H E M I S S I S S I P P I. 131
foot of the Falls near Louisville in Kentucky. But, reader, follow their
movements, and judge for yourself of the fatigues, troubles and risks of
the men employed in that navigation. A keel-boat was generally manned
by ten hands, principally Canadian French, and a patroon or master.
These boats seldom carried more than from twenty to thirty tons. The
barges frequently had forty or fifty men, with a patroon, and carried fifty
or sixty tons. Both these kinds of vessels were provided with a mast, a
square-sail, and coils of cordage, known by the name of cordelles. Each
boat or barge carried its own provisions. We shall suppose one of these
boats under way, and, having passed Natchez, entering upon what were
called the difficulties of their ascent. Wherever a point projected, so as to
render the course or bend below it of some magnitude, there was an eddy,
the returning current of which was sometimes as strong as that of the
middle of the great stream. The bargemen therefore rowed up pretty
close under the bank, and had merely to keep watch in the bow, lest the
boat should run against a planter or sawyer. But the boat has reached
the point, and there the current is to all appearance of double strength,
and right against it. The men, who have all rested a few minutes, are
ordered to take their stations, and lay hold of their oars, for the river
must be crossed, it being seldom possible to double such a point and proceed
along the same shore. The boat is crossing, its head slanting to
the current, which is however too strong for the rowers, and when the
other side of the river has been reached, it has drifted perhaps a quarter
of a mile. The men are by this time exhausted, and, as we shall suppose
it to be twelve o'clock, fasten the boat to the shore or to a tree. A
small glass of whisky is given to each, when they cook and eat their
dinner, and after repairing their fatigue by an hour's repose, recommence
their labours. The boat is again seen slowly advancing against
the stream. It has reached the lower end of a large sand-bar, along the
edge of which it is propelled by means of long poles, if the bottom be
hard. Two men called bowsmen remain at the prow, to assist, in concert
with the steers-man, in managing the boat, and keeping its head right
against the current. The rest ?place themselves on the land side of the
footway of the vessel, put one end of their poles on the ground, the other
against their shoulders, and push with all their might. As each of the
men reaches the stern, he crosses to the other side, runs along it, and
comes again to the landward side of the bow, when he recommences opei
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