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162 The great cotton ships cannot come to up to Mobile. There is however, a magnificent bay, in the form of a great lake with a narrow inlet from the sea, in which they ride at anchor, waiting for their cargoes, at a distance of between thirty & forty miles from the city. I counted thirty seven of these ships. They were almost all English. Some said there was not a single American among them. A few years ago far the greater part of them would have been American but since they have taxed heavily everything received into the country, or manufactured in it they have ceased to be able to build, or to sail ships as cheaply as we can.

I shall never forget the day I unclear on the Gulf of Mexico in going from Mobile to New Orleans. The air was fresh & had just the slightest movement in it. The sky was unclouded, & the sun delightfully warm. We have pleasant enough days at home occasionally, but this belonged to quite another order of things. And as the darkness came on, the night was as fine & bright, after its kind, as the day had been. Many sat talking on the deck till long after the sun was down. Some I suppose felt that this would be their only day on the Gulf of Mexico.