We arrived, a fine morning about nine o'clock, at Memphis in Tennessee, and lay-to to put out freight. We had just sat down, and were regaling ourselves with a substantial breakfast, when one of the boilers burst, with an explosion that resembled the report of a cannon. The change was sudden and terrific. Between fifty and sixty persons were killed and wounded. The scene was the most horrifying that can be imagined--the dead were shattered to pieces, covering the decks with blood; and the dying suffered the most excruciating tortures, being scalded from head to foot. Many died within the hour; whilst others lingered until evening, shrieking in the most piteous manner. The persons assembled on shore displayed the most disgusting want of sympathy; and most of the gentlemen passengers took care to secure their luggage before rendering any assistance to the unfortunates. A medical gentleman, who happened to be on board (a Doctor Otis, I think, from Carolina), was an exception. This gentleman--and gentleman he really was, in every respect--attended with the most unremitting care on all the wounded without distinction. A collection was made by the cabin passengers, for the surviving sufferers. The wretch who furnished oil on the occasion, hearing of the collection, had the conscience to make a charge of sixty dollars, when the quantity furnished could not possibly have amounted to a third of that sum. The boiler recoiled, cutting away part of the bow, and the explosion blew up the pilot's deck, which rendered the vessel totally unfit for service. I remained three days at Memphis, and visited the neighbouring farms and plantations. Several parties of Chickesaw Indians were here, trading their deer and other skins with the townspeople. This tribe has a reservation about fifty miles back, and pursues agriculture to a considerable extent. After the massacre and extermination of the Natchez Indians, by the Christians of Louisiana, the few survivors received an asylum from the Chickesaws; who, notwithstanding the heavy vengeance with which they were threatened, could never be induced to give up the few unhappy "children of the Sun" who confided in their honour and generosity: the fugitives amalgamated with their protectors, and the Natchez are extinct.