252            DEPARTURE FROM MONTGOMERY.
prettily undulating surface. From one height I enjoyed a fine view of the river, which is truly, even at this distance from the sea, a noble object. After a walk of three hours I returned to the inn, having fortunately succeeded in throwing off by exercise, the fever and fatigue of a restless night.
In the Southern States, there is little of that stirring spirit of improvement so apparent in the regions of the West. The towns and villages are without appearance of business, and the number of dilapidated —if the word may be applied to structures of wood-houses, indicates a decreasing, rather than an augmenting population. In Montgomery, many houses had been deserted, and the Court-house seemed fast falling into decay.
At four o'clock p. m., we started in the mail-stage for Fort Mitchell. There were unfavourable reports1 abroad of the state of the rivers, which were asserted to be impassable; but I had so often experienced thatf difficulties, formidable at a distance, become insignifV cant on nearer approach, that I determined to pusb1 on at all hazards. In the present case, my detenru-" nation was unlucky, for it involved both my compa-"