by which the innkeepers were of course benefited.  At St. Paul I found that the majority of the guests were inhabitants of the town, boarding at the hotel, and thus dispensing with the cares of a separate establishment.  I do not know what was charged for such accommodation at St. Paul, but I have come across large houses at which a single man could get all that he required for a dollar a day.  Now Americans are great consumers, especially at hotels, and all that a man requires includes three hot meals, with a choice from about two dozen dishes at each.

From St. Paul there are two waterfalls to be seen, which we, of course, visited.  We crossed the river at Fort Snelling, a rickety, ill-conditioned building standing at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, built there to repress the Indians.  It is, I take it, very necessary, especially at the present moment, as the Indians seem to require repressing.  They have learned that the attention of the Federal government has been called to the war, and have become bold in consequence.  When I was at St. Paul I heard of a party of Englishmen who had been robbed of everything they possessed, and was informed that the farmers in the distant parts of the State were by no means secure.  The Indians are more to be pitied than the farmers.  They are turning against enemies who will neither forgive nor forget any injuries done.  When the war is over they will be improved, and polished, and annexed, till no Indian will hold an acre of land in Minnesota.  At present Fort Snelling is the nucleus of a recruiting camp.  On the point between the bluffs of the two rivers there is a plain, immediately in front of the fort, and there we saw the newly-joined Minnesota recruits going through their first military exercises.  They were in detachments of twenties, and were rude enough at their goose step.  The matter which struck me most in looking at them was the difference of condition which I observed in the men.  There were the country lads, fresh from the farms, such as we see following the recruiting sergeant through English towns; but there were also men in black coats and black trowsers, with thin boots, and trimmed beards—­beards which had been trimmed till very lately; and some of them with beards which showed that they were no longer young.  It was inexpressibly melancholy to see such men as these twisting and turning about at the corporal’s word, each handling some stick in his hand in lieu of weapon.  Of course, they were more awkward than the boys, even though they were twice more assiduous in their efforts.  Of course, they were sad and wretched.  I saw men there that were very wretched—­all but heart-broken, if one might judge from their faces.  They should not have been there handling sticks, and moving their unaccustomed legs in cramped paces.  They were as razors, for which no better purpose could be found than the cutting of blocks.  When such attempts are made the block is not cut, but the razor is spoiled.  Most unfit for the commencement of a soldier’s life were some that I saw there, but I do not doubt that they had been attracted to the work by the one idea of doing something for their country in its trouble.