(Previous installment)

David finds much to marvel at in the New World, is befriended by a good man, and begins to make his way upriver toward Nauvoo.

With what rapturous joy the word “land ahoy” comes to the homeward bound mariner and the sea-sick immigrant on board a ship, after having been tossed about for weeks, as we were, on the bosom of the deep.

Everybody was elated, and ran on deck at the word “land ahoy,” from the sailor on watch at the mast head. All eyes were directed along the horizon to see the land. The captain scanned it through his spyglass and pronounced it the low broken coast at the mouth of the Mississippi River which empties its white muddy waters into the Gulf of Mexico, and is seen for miles away out in the ocean, in contrast with the dark blue waters of the gulf.

Many were the expressions of joy and gratitude uttered by all. But I stood, wrapped in thought, contemplating the new world before me, the land of Zion, blessed above all other lands, whereon the Lord’s house was being established by holy apostles and prophets, some of whom had already sealed their testimony with their blood, and brought salvation to a perishing world.

The weather was lovely, a gentle breeze swelled the sails as the ship neared the shore. The pilot came on board to direct the course of the ship over the sand bar at the mouth of the river, where a steam boat hitched on and towed us up the great Father of Waters, the far famed Mississippi, which drains a valley or basin said to contain 1,100,000 square miles, about one seventh part of the North American Continent, and is 4,400 miles long from its utmost source, the head waters of the Missouri.

Next morning, November 23rd, as I told you in my last chapter, we landed at New Orleans, the commercial metropolis of the State of Louisiana, which has a population of 191,000. This city was founded by the French in the year 1717, on a wide, level tract of land near a curve of the river, about one hundred and twenty miles from its mouth, and fronting to the river in the form of a crescent. It is sometimes called the “Crescent City.” It is beautifully constructed, but the ground on which it is built is so wet and spongy that none of the houses have cellars. The surface of the river at high water is from two to four feet above the level of the city. To save it from being overflowed in high water a levee or embankment, from five to twenty-five feet in height, has been raised for about one hundred miles along the river. New Orleans is very sickly during the summer months, and many of the inhabitants migrate to healthier parts during the sickly season. Yet this place is the grand emporium for all the vast region traversed by the Mississippi and its tributaries.

All was confusion and bustle when we landed. Hotel runners besieged the ship, friends of the sailors came to greet them with “welcome home,” men came to do business with the captain, and a motley crowd of wharf loafers came on board defaming each other and profaning the name of the Deity until my spirit was grieved within me, and I longed to be away from such a wicked place. But how to get away and what to do were questions I could not answer, as I was without friends or money. The sailors pressed me to go on shore to get dinner with them. After dinner they went to drinking and some of them got drunk and went to fighting. I concluded there was no society for a Latter-day Saint, with them, and returned to the ship. Everybody had left but the captain and first mate, who were talking in the cabin. I went below in the sailors’ cabin where no one would see or hear me but God, and poured out my soul in prayer that He would direct me aright. Something whispered to me, “Go to the captain and he will befriend you.” I went as directed in full faith that all would be right. As I approached the cabin door the captain said:

“Scottie, what can I do for you?”

In reply I said, “Captain, I am here without friends and means and without a change of clothing, and these I have are shabby. I want to go to work so as to get some means to buy new clothes and take me on to my friends in Nauvoo, Illinois. Can you recommend me where I will get work?”

The captain turned to the mate and said, “How did this young man behave during the passage? Is he a good hand?”

“I have no fault to find with him,” said the mate.

“Well, then,” said the captain, addressing himself to me, “you had better return with us; I want a cabin boy who knows how to behave, and I think you will fill the bill.”

I thanked him kindly for his offer, but said I wished to go on to my friends. “Well,” said he, “if you are determined to go, go at once; this city is no place for a young man like you. But,” said he, “You must have some good clothes.”

Suiting the action to the word, he took his hat and told me to go with him. We went to a clothing store, where he bought me a new suit of clothes, a hat, two white shirts, a pair of shoes, and gave me two five dollar gold pieces to pay my fare up the river.

I returned to the ship, washed and dressed, and went out with the steward to the market.

Everything was new to me. I felt that I was very “green” and ignorant in regard to the manners and customs of the country, and I confess I am ignorant yet; and see, to-day, as much need of learning as I did then; yet there are a great many wicked and filthy habits I never want to learn by experience.

I had never seen a negro nor an Indian until I landed in America. The steamboats reminded me of Noah’s ark, but the strangest thing was to see a man driving cattle hitched to a wagon. I thought that was cruel, but I have learned more about it since then. There seemed to be no end to the fruit and vegetables in the market, and many things I had never seen in Scotland, such as squashes, pumpkins, watermelons and tomatoes. I thought the latter were the finest fruit I ever saw, and must be good to eat; so I bought a picayune’s worth (the smallest coin then in circulation in New Orleans, and valued at six and a quarter cents). I tasted one and spit it out as if it had been poison. The steward saw me and smiled, saying, “You never ate any tomatoes before!” “No,” said I, “and I don’t think I shall ever eat any again!” but I have changed my mind, long since; now I like tomatoes.

I remained in New Orleans two days and I shall never forget the sights, especially the sale of negroes under the hammer; they were sold just as horses or cattle are sold at auction sales. I thought surely God did not approve of selling the souls of men. To me it was all wrong, although I had no doubt the traditions of many led them to think it was right. However, they professed to believe the Bible, and I could not reconcile their actions with that precept which says “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

I took passage on a steamboat for St. Louis on the 25th of November, and went up the river as far as Memphis, in Tennessee, where the cargo and passengers were discharged, the river being frozen over above so as to stop all traffic by water, and, as there were no railroads then in this part of the country. I remained in Memphis all winter, working as the Lord opened my way.

(To be continued)