amp, and attempted to
make the passage. The "young Napoleon," urged his horse upon the
floating timber, and at once sank over neck and saddle. His staff
dashed after him, floundering in the same way; and when they had
splashed and shouted, till I believed them all drowned, they turned and
came to shore, dripping and discomfited. There was another Napoleon,
who, I am informed, slid down the Alps into Italy; the present
descendant did not slide so far, and he shook himself, after the manner
of a dog. I remarked with some surprise, that he was growing obese;
whereas, the active labors of the campaign had reduced the dimensions of
most of the Generals.

I secured my horse, and placed a drummer-boy beside him, to prevent
abduction or mistake; then stripping from top to toe, and holding my
garments above my head, I essayed the difficult passage; as a
commencement, I dropped my watch, but the guard-hook caught in a log and
held it fast. Afterward, I slipped from the smooth butt of a tree, and
thoroughly soused myself and clothing; a lumber-man from Maine, beheld
my ill luck, and kindly took my burden to the other side. An estuary of
the Chickahominy again intervened, but a rough scow floated upon it,
which the Captain of Engineers sent for me, with a soldier to man the
oars. I neglected to "trim boat," I am sorry to add, although admonished
to that effect repeatedly by the mariner; and we swamped in four feet of
water. I resembled a being of one of the antediluvian eras, when I came
to land, finally, and might have been taken for a slimy Iguanodon. I
sacrificed some of my under clothing to the process of cleansing and
drying, and so started with soaking boots, and a deficiency of dress, in
the direction of Savage's. Passing the "bottom," or swamp-land, I
ascended a hill, and following a lane, stopped after a half hour at a
frame-mansion, unpainted, with some barns and negro-quarters contiguous,
and a fine grove of young oaks, shading the porch. An elderly gentleman
sat in the porch, sipping a julep, with his feet upon the railing, and
conversing with a stout, ruddy officer, of decidedly Milesian
physiognomy. When I approached, the latter hurriedly placed a chair
between himself and me, and said, with a stare--

"Bloodanowns! And where have ye been? Among the hogs, I think?" I
assured him that I did not intend to come to close quarters, and that it
would be no object on my part to contaminate him. The old gentleman
called for