THE HOUSEBOAT BOOK The Log of a Cruise from Chicago to New Orleans BY WILLIAM F. WAUGH [Illustration: Decoration] THE CLINIC PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO 1904 COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY WILLIAM F. WAUGH. PRESS OF THE CLINIC PUBLISHING CO. CHICAGO. [Illustration: THE HELEN W. OF CHICAGO.] CONTENTS. PAGE I. Prelude 5 II. Gathering Information 9 III. Preparations 13 IV. The First Shipwreck 23 V. The Canal 27 VI. The Illinois River 40 VII. Building the Boat 46 VIII. The Lower Illinois 55 IX. Towing 68 X. St. Louis 77 XI. The Mississippi 81 XII. Cairo and the Ohio 90 XIII. Duck Shooting 103 XIV. Snagged in Tennessee Chute 109 XV. Mooring 116 XVI. A Levee Camp 118 XVII. Vicksburg 128 XVIII. River Pirates 133 XIX. The Atchafalaya 136 XX. Melville. Deer Hunting 141 XXI. Baton Rouge. The Panther 150 XXII. The Bobcat 163 XXIII. Ascending the Atchafalaya 167 XXIV. Ducking at Catahoula Lake 173 XXV. Some Louisiana Folks 185 XXVI. From Winter to Summer in a Day 192 XXVII. Voyage Ended 196 XXVIII. Dangers and Delights 199 XXIX. Results 205 CHAPTER I. PRELUDE. Once upon a time there was a doctor who, after many years spent in that pursuit concluded to reform. But strong is the influence of evil associates, and those who had abetted him in his old ways still endeavored to lead him therein. One day his good angel whispered in his ear the magic words, "House boat;" and straightway there arose in his mental vision the picture of a broad river, the boat lazily floating, children fishing, wife's cheery call to view bits of scenery too lovely for solitary enjoyment, and a long year of blissful seclusion where no tale of woe could penetrate, no printer's devil cry for copy. Incidentally the tired eyes could rest, and the long stretches of uninterrupted time be transmuted into creative work; with no banging telephone or boring visitor to scatter the faculties into hopeless desuetude. Sandwich with hours busy with those recuperative implements, the rod and gun, the adventures and explorations incident to the trip, and here was a scheme to make the heart of a city-tired man leap.