第75章 A Few Specimen Bricks(3)

He sold the negro,first and last,for nearly two thousand dollars,and then put him for ever out of the reach of all pursuers;and they can never graze him unless they can find the negro;and that they cannot do,for his carcass has fed many a tortoise and catfish before this time,and the frogs have sung this many a long day to the silent repose of his skeleton.'

We were approaching Memphis,in front of which city,and witnessed by its people,was fought the most famous of the river battles of the Civil War.

Two men whom I had served under,in my river days,took part in that fight:

Mr.Bixby,head pilot of the Union fleet,and Montgomery,Commodore of the Confederate fleet.Both saw a great deal of active service during the war,and achieved high reputations for pluck and capacity.

As we neared Memphis,we began to cast about for an excuse to stay with the 'Gold Dust'to the end of her course--Vicksburg.We were so pleasantly situated,that we did not wish to make a change.

I had an errand of considerable importance to do at Napoleon,Arkansas,but perhaps I could manage it without quitting the 'Gold Dust.'

I said as much;so we decided to stick to present quarters.

The boat was to tarry at Memphis till ten the next morning.It is a beautiful city,nobly situated on a commanding bluff overlooking the river.

The streets are straight and spacious,though not paved in a way to incite distempered admiration.No,the admiration must be reserved for the town's sewerage system,which is called perfect;a recent reform,however,for it was just the other way,up to a few years ago--a reform resulting from the lesson taught by a desolating visitation of the yellow-fever.In those awful days the people were swept off by hundreds,by thousands;and so great was the reduction caused by flight and by death together,that the population was diminished three-fourths,and so remained for a time.

Business stood nearly still,and the streets bore an empty Sunday aspect.

Here is a picture of Memphis,at that disastrous time,drawn by a German tourist who seems to have been an eye-witness of the scenes which he describes.It is from Chapter VII,of his book,just published,in Leipzig,'Mississippi-Fahrten,von Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg.'--'In August the yellow-fever had reached its extremest height.

Daily,hundreds fell a sacrifice to the terrible epidemic.

The city was become a mighty graveyard,two-thirds of the population had deserted the place,and only the poor,the aged and the sick,remained behind,a sure prey for the insidious enemy.

The houses were closed:little lamps burned in front of many--a sign that here death had entered.Often,several lay dead in a single house;from the windows hung black crape.

The stores were shut up,for their owners were gone away or dead.

'Fearful evil!In the briefest space it struck down and swept away even the most vigorous victim.A slight indisposition,then an hour of fever,then the hideous delirium,then--the Yellow Death !

On the street corners,and in the squares,lay sick men,suddenly overtaken by the disease;and even corpses,distorted and rigid.Food failed.

Meat spoiled in a few hours in the fetid and pestiferous air,and turned black.