Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. II.djvu/384

Rh seems to like the title very well), contributes many a racy and amusing addition to this mythology of the West. See here two specimens.

“A man, one of the men of the West, was standing on the shore of the Mississippi, when a steamer blew up in the air, on which he exclaimed, ‘By G—! the Americans are a great people!’ ” A common exclamation in the great West on every occasion.

“Another man, a Viking on the Mississippi, struck his boat upon a snag in the river, and as he himself hung upon this, he exclaimed, while his boat was dashed to pieces—

“Another man, a passenger in one of the Mississippi steamers, lately got into a quarrel with another passenger. They went upon the upper deck and exchanged a few shots, and then came down again as if they had only been playing at ball. One of these gentlemen looked rather pale and went into his cabin, but came out morning, noon, and evening, regularly to his meals for two days; on the third, however, he was found dead in his bed, with five bullets in his body.”

One must confess that this was taking the matter coolly. A certain humorous exaggeration seems to be characteristic of the inhabitants of the West, as well in their combatant disposition as in expression. Kentucky is particularly accused of this, and gives occasion for many amusing stories. Thus it is told of a Kentucky man, that he boasted of the fertility of the soil of Kentucky in the following words—“If we manure well, and sow corn (maize), we shall get about one hundred and fifty grains for each one; if we sow without manure, we get one hundred; and if we neither manure nor sow, we get about fifty.”