ship continued on her way. The
cook was very glad to meet a compatriot; and, as he was getting dinner,
he had several nice dishes, from which he treated his new friend. But
the pilot's services were soon needed in the pilot-house. He spoke a
little English, consisting mainly of nautical terms.

He took his place on the starboard side of the wheel, with Quartermaster
Bangs on the other side, steering himself; perhaps because he was not
willing to trust his English in giving orders. But the quartermaster
seconded all his movements, and they steered together in silence. The
ship was soon well in the river, and the passengers had enough to do in
observing the shores on both sides.

There were many openings in the banks of bayous and cut-offs, and the
land was as flat as it had been during the last hundred miles of the
voyage. The soil was very rich, and produced abundant crops where it
was cultivated. A very few villages were to be seen; but each of them
had its temple or pagoda, and the houses hardly differed from those they
had seen in Siam.

"I suppose this is all an alluvial soil, Brother Avoirdupois," said Dr.
Hawkes, as the ship was passing a rice-field.

"So say the books I have consulted, Brother Adipose Tissue. It is just
the right land for rice, and that is the staple product of all this
region," replied Uncle Moses.

Both of these gentlemen weighed about two hundred and twenty-six pounds
apiece, and they continued to call each other by the appropriate names
they had given each other even before the ship left New York on her
voyage all over the world.

"What is alluvial soil, Doctor?" asked Mrs. Blossom, who had read very
little besides her Bible and denominational newspaper.

"It is the soil or mud which is brought to its location by the action of
water; and here it is brought down by the mighty river which spreads
itself out into a delta where we are," replied the doctor
good-naturedly, and without a smile at the ignorance of the worthy lady;
for though her education had been greatly neglected, she was esteemed
and respected by all on board, for in sickness she had been the nurse of
the patients. "It is just the right soil for rice," he added.

"I have seen so many rice-fields out here, that I should like to know
something more about them," suggested the good lady.

"Naturalists class it as a kind of grass; but I will not vex you with
any hard words. Rice is the food of about one-third of all the peopl