feelings, caused her to cease speaking upon that subject. In opposition
to their wishes, I pledged myself not to leave them in the hand of the
oppressor. I took leave of them, and returned to the boat, and laid down
in my bunk; but "sleep departed from my eyes, and slumber from my
eyelids."

A few weeks after, on our downward passage, the boat took on board, at
Hannibal, a drove of slaves, bound for the New Orleans market. They
numbered from fifty to sixty, consisting of men and women from eighteen
to forty years of age. A drove of slaves on a southern steamboat, bound
for the cotton or sugar regions, is an occurrence so common, that no
one, not even the passengers, appear to notice it, though they clank
their chains at every step. There was, however, one in this gang that
attracted the attention of the passengers and crew. It was a beautiful
girl, apparently about twenty years of age, perfectly white, with
straight light hair and blue eyes. But it was not the whiteness of her
skin that created such a sensation among those who gazed upon her--it
was her almost unparalleled beauty. She had been on the boat but a short
time, before the attention of all the passengers, including the ladies,
had been called to her, and the common topic of conversation was about
the beautiful slave-girl. She was not in chains. The man who claimed
this article of human merchandize was a Mr. Walker,--a well known
slave-trader, residing in St. Louis. There was a general anxiety among
the passengers and crew to learn the history of the girl. Her master
kept close by her side, and it would have been considered impudent for
any of the passengers to have spoken to her, and the crew were not
allowed to have any conversation with them. When we reached St. Louis,
the slaves were removed to a boat bound for New Orleans, and the history
of the beautiful slave-girl remained a mystery.