Saddle and Mocassin

The following sketches were made at different times and during various cruises in the United States. The earlier ones are fairly close records of the scenes and incidents which they profess to describe. The author's movements in the country referred to in the two latter were, however, too desultory to admit of similar treatment; in some cases the author traversed the same ground two or three times, and remained for weeks without gleaning anything that would be of interest to the ordinary reader. In the trips detailed in this part of the book, therefore, the author has occasionally introduced characters and materials that do not strictly belong in the situations assigned to them. In fact, the author's object has been rather to present two characteristic studies of local color than bare records of the travels that afford a pretext for them.