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of the popular air had subsided, a wish was expressed by some of the English and Scotch who were present, that the amusements of the evening should be terminated by the singing of 'God save the Queen.' After the satisfaction which they had shown, and the applause which they had lavished on the American air, her Majesty's subjects were certainly justified in thinking that the compliment should be returned, and that their countryman would be allowed to agree in their request; but, to my regret and surprise, (for I should have imagined that the Americans would have been both more liberal and more courteous,) they put a decided veto on the proposition. The discussion that ensued was beginning to grow rather stormy, when the Britishers' thought it more prudent to withdraw their motion, and to relinquish the anticipated pleasure of hearing their old national anthem performed in the United States.

I doubt whether, under ordinary circumstances, the Americans would have raised these objections, but the English government and country is just now decidedly unpopular, and the state of uncertainty in regard to the Oregon Question keeps the minds both of men and women in a state of ferment and irritation. I confess that there are moments in which I almost long for a declaration of war between the two countries, not from any vindictive or even martial feelings, but because I am tired of hearing

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the majority of the people boast so much of what they would and could do, in case of a struggle for Oregon actually taking place. All their boastings, however, are in themselves so exceedingly ridiculous, that they, as well as the terms in which they are couched, are becoming a standing joke, even with their own people, and, as far as we are concerned, generally excite more laughter than displeasure.

It was not without feelings of great interest that we visited the house once occupied by Louis Philippe, in the early part of his eventful life. It is a detached house, by no means large, and is situated in that quarter of the city still inhabited by the remains of the French noblesse: it is surrounded by a verandah, and is pointed out with great respect to strangers, as the abode of the son of 'Egalité.'

In the same part of the town, and not far from this interesting spot, is the Slave Bazaar, as it may be called, for there the negroes, men and women, all dressed in their best, are generally to be seen, waiting for customers. On the appearance of any one likely to become a purchaser, they are marched out, and their merits enlarged upon by their respective owners. They looked cheerful enough, for Providence has happily endowed them with light hearts, as a counterbalance to the evils of their condition. But what condition has not its

COTTON PRESSES.

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evils? And who can say, that the All-Wise Dispenser of good and evil has not apportioned to each of us a more equal division of both, than at a cursory view would sometimes appear.

The cotton presses at New Orleans are very extensive buildings; we visited one, the front of which extended for nearly two hundred and fifty yards, and it is capable of storing 25,000 bales of cotton. The process of pressing is performed by steam and, with wonderful rapidity, each bale being compressed into half its original bulk. Our friends and acquaintances grow rapidly in number, and invitations come thick and fast. Numerous are those we have received to spend any time on the plantations of some of our kind friends after the New Orleans season, when they return to the country; and we should gladly accept some of them could our stay in the south be prolonged.

I believe that people in England have very little idea of the riches and hospitality of some of the southern planters: we are acquainted with some, who, I am told, have as many as two thousand vassals in the shape of negroes, and their enormous fortunes are spent, not only in dissipation and hospitality, but also in ameliorating the condition of those who are thus dependent upon them. We have heard so many different accounts in England of the treatment of the slaves on the plantations, that we have determined to judge for ourselves

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SUGAR PLANTATION.

how far any of them are true, and have, therefore, planned two expeditions-one up the river, and the other to that part of the Attakapas bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, where are to be found some of the sugar plantations originally established, and still possessed by Spaniards. The gentleman whose sugar plantations on the Mississippi we have engaged to visit, resides about eighty miles up the river, and possesses about two hundred and fifty slaves. After a prosperous voyage, we were received, on our landing from the steamer, with great kindness by Mr. and Mrs. M., who were awaiting our arrival. The house stands in a grove of orange trees, which had in their season been loaded with fruit, for we saw the golden balls lying in heaps upon the ground as we walked up the avenue leading from the river's bank to the dwelling-house.

We were very glad to find that we had arrived at the most opportune moment for witnessing the manufacture of the sugar, half the crop being already got in, and the whole process of grinding and boiling being in full activity. The former process is effected by steam, and the juice which is thus expressed runs into different circular boilers, generally about six or eight feet in diameter, and three in depth, underneath which are fires; as the sugar boils, the scum which rises to the surface is skimmed off. The contents are then emptied

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into another boiler, where, after having undergone nearly a similar process, they are allowed to cool. The greatest nicety seems to be required in the boiling process, and in this appears to consist the great art of manufacturing sugar, the object being to effect the boiling in such a manner as to procure from the juice, when cool, the greatest degree of granulation. The juice which remains in the bottoms of the pans, after the sugar on the surface has been removed, is called molasses, and the sugar is valued according to its whiteness, and the peculiar manner in which it is crystalized.

I am told that a boiling process has lately been discovered by which the quality of the sugar is very much improved, as it has the effect of rendering it nearly white, and thus increasing its value by nearly one-half. This method is called boiling in vacuo, and consists in having the boilers made with a double case, so that the juice never comes in contact with that part of the iron which is immediately exposed to the flame. By this method the sugar escapes being burnt, and, consequently, has no longer the brown hue which, when boiled by the old process, it always more or less assumes.

We spent a considerable time in the sugar-house, which is a large brick building, with a tall chimney at one end. The negroes seemed to be as cheerful and merry a set of people as I ever saw, although for the last four or five days they had been very