April 17th. Commences with warm and pleasant weather. At five-thirty A. M., called all hands, and hove up anchor; got under way, and were once more stemming the current of the Mississippi, which is none other than a four-knot one, by the way. In many instances the residences of the rich and affluent planters or merchants looked to be deserted by the owners, and the overseer and negroes working in the fields were the only parties to be seen. What an example of the ravages of war! and how many fair ones occupy apartments in some of these dwellings, closed up, as I have said, as if they were haunted and deserted, who have a husband, father, brother, or other relative, in this war, fighting against their country, and, according as they have been made to believe by corrupt politicians and arch traitors, for their rights, their altars, and their firesides; when, if the truth were known, they had taken up arms to overthrow the best government the sun ever shone upon, and substituted a monarchy, placing bad men in power—a government for a few, not for a whole. How men can, in this enlighted age, become so deluded, is a wonder.
