254 LIFE ON MISSISSIPPI.
fiame-houses were still grouped in the same old flat plain, and en-
vironed by the same old forests. It was as tranquil as formerly, and
apparently had neither grown nor diminished in size. It was said
that the recent high water had invaded it and damaged its looks.
This was surprising news; for in low water the river bank is very
high there (fifty feet), and in my day an overflow had always been
considered an impossibility. This present flood of 1882 will doubtless
be celebrated in the river's history for several generations before a
deluge of like magnitude shall be seen. It put all the unprotected
low lands under water, from Cairo to the mouth; it broke down the
levees in a great many places, on both sides of the river j and in
some regions south, when the flood was at its highest, the Mississippi
was seventy miles wide! a number of Eves were lost, and the destruc-
tion of property was fearful. The crops were destroyed, houses
washed away, and shelterless men and cattle forced to take refuge on
scattering elevations here and there in field and forest, and wait in
peril and suffering until the boats put in commission by the national
and local governments and by newspaper enterprise could come and
rescue them. The properties of multitudes of people were under
water for months, and the poorer ones must have starved by the
hundred if succour had not -been promptly afforded.1 The water
had been falling during a considerable time now, yet as a rule we
found the banks still under water.
1 For a detailed and interesting description of the great flood, written on
board of the New Orleans Times-DtMocratf$ relief-boat, see Appendix A.