pipe at the helm and the eldest son rode one of the horses, on went
the family, travelling hundreds of miles in their own house and
carrying their fireside with them. The most frequent species of
craft were the "line-boats," which had a cabin at each end, and a
great bulk of barrels, bales, and boxes in the midst, or light
packets like our own decked all over with a row of curtained windows
from stem to stern, and a drowsy face at every one. Once we
encountered a boat of rude construction, painted all in gloomy
black, and manned by three Indians, who gazed at us in silence and
with a singular fixedness of eye. Perhaps these three alone, among
the ancient possessors of the land, had attempted to derive benefit
from the white mail's mighty projects and float along the current of
his enterprise. Not long after, in the midst of a swamp and beneath
a clouded sky, we overtook a vessel that seemed full of mirth and
sunshine. It contained a little colony of Swiss on their way to
Michigan, clad in garments of strange fashion and gay colors,
scarlet, yellow, and bright blue, singing, laughing, and making
merry in odd tones and a babble of outlandish words. One pretty
damsel, with a beautiful pair of naked white arms, addressed a
mirthful remark to me. She spoke in her native tongue, and I
retorted in good English, both of us laughing heartily at each
other's unintelligible wit. I cannot describe how pleasantly this
incident affected me. These honest Swiss were all itinerant
community of jest and fun journeying through a gloomy land and among
a dull race of money-getting drudges, meeting none to understand
their mirth, and only one to sympathize with it, yet still retaining
the happy lightness of their own spirit.

Had I been on my feet at the time instead of sailing slowly along in
a dirty canal-boat, I should often have paused to contemplate the