Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. II.djvu/293

Rh red stone standing on a plain near the river. I was told that this stone and all large stones of this kind, are regarded as sacred by the Indians, who swear by them, and around which they hold their councils, believing that they are the abiding-place of a divinity.

In the afternoon we shall reach St. Paul's, the goal of our journey and the most northern town on the Mississippi. I am sorry to reach it so soon; I should have liked this voyage up the Mississippi to have lasted eight days at least. It amuses and interests me indescribably. These new shores, so new in every way, with their perpetually varying scenes; that wild people with their camps, their fires, boats, their peculiar manners and cries—it is a continual refreshment to me. And to this must be added that I am able to enjoy it in peace and freedom, from the excellent arrangement of the American steamboats for their passengers. They are commonly three-decked; the middle-deck being principally occupied by the passengers who like to be comfortable. Round this deck runs a broad gallery or piazza roofed in by the upper deck, within which are ranged the passengers' cabins side by side all round the vessel. Each cabin has a door in which is a window opening into the gallery, so that one can either enter the gallery this way or enjoy the scenery of the shore from the cabin itself; it has also another door which opens into the saloon. The saloon aft, is always appropriated to the ladies, and around this are their cabins; the second great saloon also, used for meals, is the assembling-place of the gentlemen. Each little apartment, called a state-room, has commonly two berths in it, the one above the other: but if the steamer is not much crowded, one can easily obtain a cabin entirely to one's self. These apartments are always painted white, and are neat, light, and charming; one could remain in them for days with the utmost pleasure. The table is generally well and amply supplied; and the fares, comparatively speaking,