The convicts have been sent out from the prisons to help pile the sacks of earth on the levees, and companies of engineers are stationed at all the weak spots along them, to guard against the banks giving way. All along the river people are sending petitions to the various mayors and governors, begging them to forbid the river steamers travelling during the night, and to have them move as slowly as possible during the day. The wash from the paddle-wheels after they pass has done a great deal of damage, and in many places has helped to break the levees. [Illustration: _The Mississippi flood. A Typical scene._] In several of the river towns all business has been forbidden, and all the men ordered to go to the levees and help to shore them up. The slightest extra ripple of the waters at New Orleans brings them over the banks and floods the streets, but the banks are still safe. * * * * * England has just presented a very valuable manuscript to us, that has long been kept in the Bishop of London's palace at Fulham. This book is called the log of the _Mayflower_, and is an account of the first voyage of the Pilgrim Fathers, and a history of the Plymouth Plantation. Several previous attempts have been made to get this manuscript from England, but it has remained for Ambassador Bayard to secure the gift for us. The manuscript is supposed to have been written by Gov. William Bradford, and if this is true, it can hardly be the log of the _Mayflower_, because the log is usually kept by the captain. Every ship that sails the sea keeps a log, or log-book, in which is entered the progress the ship is making, and any facts of interest as they occur. It is in reality the ship's diary, but it is called a log-book, because its chief object is to record the speed of the vessel. This speed is found by using an instrument called a log, which is attached to a line, divided into equal spaces by knots. These are placed certain distances apart, so many to a mile. The log is made in such a way that it will remain almost stationary in the water when thrown overboard. The line, wound upon a reel, is allowed to run out for a few seconds; the number of knots that have been paid off the reel are counted, and in this way the speed of the vessel is calculated. The book in which the record is kept is called a "log"-book. The book that England is giving to us is probably the diary of William Bradford, which he kept while on board the _Mayflower_, and it is said to record the account of the colony after the landing, and to contain many interesting accounts of the treaties with the Indians. It is to be kept in the Boston Public Library. * * * * * The Tariff Bill has been hurried through the House of Representatives, and, having passed that House, has now gone up to the Senate. There seems to have been a good deal of haste in the manner this was done.