CHAPTER XXXVIII. Mr. Dickens has a Word.--Best Dwellings and their Furniture.--Albums and Music.--Pantelettes and Conch-shells.--Sugar-candy Rabbits and Photographs.--Horse-hair Sofas and Snuffers.--Rag Carpets and Bridal Chambers.
CHAPTER XXXIX. Rowdies and Beauty.--Ice as Jewelry.--Ice Manufacture.--More Statistics.--Some Drummers.--Oleomargarine versus Butter.--Olive Oil versus Cotton Seed.--The Answer was not Caught. --A Terrific Episode.--A Sulphurous Canopy.--The Demons of War.--The Terrible Gauntlet.
CHAPTER XLIV. French and Spanish Parts of the City.--Mr. Cable and the Ancient Quarter.--Cabbages and Bouquets.--Cows and Children.--The Shell Road. The West End.--A Good Square Meal.--The Pompano.--The Broom- Brigade.--Historical Painting.--Southern Speech.--Lagniappe.
CHAPTER LV. A second Generation.--A hundred thousand Tons of Saddles.--A Dark and Dreadful Secret.--A Large Family.--A Golden-haired Darling. --The Mysterious Cross.--My Idol is Broken.--A Bad Season of Chills and Fever.--An Interesting Cave.
CHAPTER LX. The Head of Navigation.--From Roses to Snow.--Climatic Vaccination.--A Long Ride.--Bones of Poverty.--The Pioneer of Civilization.--Jug of Empire.--Siamese Twins.--The Sugar-bush.--He Wins his Bride.--The Mystery about the Blanket.--A City that is always a Novelty.--Home again.
APPENDIX. A B C D
THE 'BODY OF THE NATION'
BUT the basin of the Mississippi is the Body of The Nation. All the other parts are but members, important in themselves, yet more important in their relations to this. Exclusive of the Lake basin and of 300,000 square miles in Texas and New Mexico, which in many aspects form a part of it, this basin contains about 1,250,000 square miles. In extent it is the second great valley of the world, being exceeded only by that of the Amazon. The valley of the frozen Obi approaches it in extent; that of La Plata comes next in space, and probably in habitable capacity, having about eight-ninths of its area; then comes that of the Yenisei, with about seven-ninths; the Lena, Amoor, Hoang-ho, Yang-tse-kiang, and Nile, five-ninths; the Ganges, less than one-half; the Indus, less than one-third; the Euphrates, one-fifth; the Rhine, one-fifteenth. It exceeds in extent the whole of Europe, exclusive of Russia, Norway, and Sweden. It would contain austria four times, germany or spain five times, france six times, the british islands or italy ten times. Conceptions formed from the river-basins of Western Europe are rudely shocked when we consider the extent of the valley of the Mississippi; nor are those formed from the sterile basins of the great rivers of Siberia, the lofty plateaus of Central Asia, or the mighty sweep of the swampy Amazon more adequate. Latitude, elevation, and rainfall all combine to render every part of the Mississippi Valley capable of supporting a dense population. As a dwelling-place for civilized man it is by far the first upon our globe.
EDITOR'S TABLE, HARPER'S MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY 1863