LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

tions accurately on dark nights, and keep up xvith these repeated

changes without ma-
king any mistakes, you
will understand what
is required of a pilot's
peerless memory by
the fickle Mississippi.

I think a pilot's
memory is about the
most wonderful thing
in the world. To
know the Old and
New Testaments by
heart, and be able
to recite them glibly,
forward or backward,
or begin at random
anywhere in the book
and recite both ways
and never trip or
make a mistake, is no
extravagant mass of
knowledge, and no
marvellous faculty,
compared to a pilot's
massed knowledge of
the Mississippi and his
marvellous facility in
the handling of it. I
make this comparison
deliberately, and be-
lieve I am not ex-
panding the truth
when I do it. Many
will think my figure
too strong, but pilots

' A CITY STBKBT.* will not.