The South-West By a Yankee. In Two Volumes. Volume 1   By: Joseph Holt Ingraham (1809-1860)

SOUTH WEST.

BY A YANKEE.

Where on my way I went; A pilgrim from the North Now more and more attracted, as I drew Nearer and nearer.

ROGERS' ITALY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, CLIFF ST. 1835.

[Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by HARPER & BROTHERS, in the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York.]

TO THE

HON. JOHN A. QUITMAN,

EX CHANCELLOR OF MISSISSIPPI,

THESE VOLUMES

ARE

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY

THE AUTHOR.

INTRODUCTION.

The succeeding pages grew out of a private correspondence, which the author, at the solicitation of his friends, has been led to throw into the present form, modifying in a great measure the epistolary vein, and excluding, so far as possible, such portions of the original papers as were of too personal a nature to be intruded upon the majesty of the public; while he has embodied, so far as was compatible with the new arrangement, every thing likely to interest the general reader.

The author has not written exclusively as a traveller or journalist. His aim has been to present the result of his experience and observations during a residence of several years in the South West. This extensive and important section of the United States is but little known. Perhaps there is no region between the Mississippi river and the Atlantic shores, of which so little accurate information is before the public; a flying tourist only, having occasionally added a note to his diary, as he skirted its forest lined borders.

New York, Sept. 1835.

CONTENTS.

I.

A state of bliss Cabin passenger Honey hunting Sea life Its effects Green horns Reading Tempicide Monotony Wish for excitement Superlative misery Log Combustible materials Cook and bucket Contrary winds All ready, good Sirs Impatient passengers Signal for sailing Leave takings Sheet home Under weigh. Page 13

II.

A tar's headway on land A gentleman's at sea An agreeable trio Musical sounds Helmsman Supper Steward A truism Helmsman's cry Effect Cases for bipeds Lullaby Sleep. 20

III.

Shakspeare Suicide or a 'foul' deed A conscientious table Fishing smacks A pretty boy Old Skipper, Skipper junior, and little Skipper A young Caliban An alliterate Man Fisherman Nurseries Navy The Way to train up a Child Gulf Stream Humboldt Crossing the Gulf Ice ships Yellow fields Flying fish A game at bowls Bermuda A post of observation Men, dwellings, and women of Bermuda St. George English society Washing decks Mornings at sea Evenings at sea A Moonlight scene The ocean on fire Its phosphorescence Hypotheses 25

IV.

Land Abaco Fleet Hole in the Wall A wrecker's hut Bahama vampyres Light houses Conspiracy Wall of Abaco Natural Bridge Cause Night scene Speak a packet ship A floating city Wrecker's lugger Signal of distress A Yankee lumber brig Portuguese Man of War. 42

V.

A calm A breeze on the water The land of flowers Juan Ponce de Leon The fountain of perpetual youth An irremediable loss to single gentlemen Gulf Stream New Providence Cuba Pan of Matanzas Blue hills of Cuba An armed cruiser Cape St. Antonio Pirates Enter the Mexican Gulf Mobile A southern winter A farewell to the North and a welcome to the South The close of the voyage Balize Fleet West Indiaman Portuguese polacre Land ho! The land Its formation Pilot or "little brief authority" Light house Revenue cutter Newspapers "The meeting of the waters" A singular appearance A morning off the Balize The tow boat 55