Wherever we stopped, it seemed as if the people
at the hotels, from the landlord to the lowest servant, could not do
enough for us. At Atlanta, Augusta, Mobile, and other places, where
we made our stay long enough to get a little acquainted, my son and
myself were daily taken out to ride, and were shown everything of
interest that was to be seen. Henry did not enjoy this journey more
than I did-to me as well as to him, the trip was one prolonged
pleasure, and by the time we reached New Orleans nearly a month
after we left New York, my son had so recuperated that I had every
hope of his speedy and full restoration.
It was the beginnings of winter when we reached New Orleans; but
during the whole month of December while we remained in that city,
winter, if indeed it was winter, which we could hardly believe, was
only a prolongation of the last beautiful autumn days we had left at
the north. Now Orleans was then at the very height of prosperity;
business was brisk, money was plenty, the ships of all nations and
countless steamboats from St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville and all
points up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers lay at the levee. The
levee itself, from end to end, for miles along the river front, was
one mass of merchandise which had come to the city, or was awaiting
shipment. I had never seen a livelier city. Indescribably gay, too,
was New Orleans that winter. The city was full of strangers; the
hotels were thronged; there were balls every night; the theatres
were crowded, and everybody seemed bent on having a good time.
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