Day IV...thats 4, not I.V.

At one point in the book, two of the characters are on a riverboat going down the Mississippi River on a steamboat. They are going from Nauvoo to St. Louis. The author describes the scene very well. What happens is, back in the day, if 2 riverboats spotted eachother going the same direction on the river, they would race to get to the port so that they could dock first and unload first, and then be on their way. I guess it got them some good money or something. Anyway, so what happens is the characters' boat spots another boat across the river, and the people on the boat get all excited because they know whats about to happen. They line the rails, and the race begins. The steamer starts pumping out a bunch of smoke, and they can see the other boat doing the same. They race to the middle of the river, trying to keep ahead of the other boat and cut it off. In the end they almost collide, but at the last possible moment, the other boat backs down rather than ram into the other boat, and the 2 characters make it downriver first to the port. I don't really know why I'm saying all of this, other than the fact that I found it interesting and I played a song in a symphony once called the Great Steamboat Race. The song sounds like it would fit the race hand in hand. It even has the whistles, steam sounds, and at the end, it makes it sound like the other boat fades off into the background behind. Its cool. Now I know why the song was written. Cool beans, sweet sauce....you know the drill.