The roof is first put on, and the floors laid. When this mud
dries thoroughly it is white-washed; the house is then complete, and
presents quite a neat appearance. It will continue to do so if the
white-washing is annually continued. If, however, this is neglected,
the lime falls off in spots, and the primitive mud comes out to view:
then the appearance is anything but pleasant. No pains are taken to
ornament their yards, or gather about them comforts. There is a pig or
two in a pen in the corner of the yard, a hen-roost immediately at the
house, a calf or two at large, and numerous half-starved, mangy
dogs--and innumerable ragged, half-naked children, with little, black,
piercing eyes, and dishevelled, uncombed hair falling about sallow,
gaunt faces, are commingling in the yard with chickens, dogs, and
calves. A sallow-faced, slatternly woman, bareheaded, with uncared-for
hair, long, tangled, and black, with her dress tucked up to her knees,
bare-footed and bare-legged, is wading through the mud from the bayou,
with a dirty pail full of muddy Mississippi water.
A diminutive specimen of a man, clad in blue cottonade pants and
hickory shirt, barefooted, with a palm-leaf hat upon his head, and an
old rusty shot-gun in his hands, stands upon the levee, casting an
inquiring look, first up and then down the bayou, deeply desiring and
most ardently expecting a wandering duck or crane, as they fly along
the course of the bayou.
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