USA > Louisiana > Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana > Part 14
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As the Chafalia is considered of some importance in se- veral points of view, we propose to give some further account of it in the next chapter.
'The usual water communications between New Orleans, and the Atacapas, and Apalousas, are by means of the La Fourche and Plaquemines. 'The cultivable lands on each side of all the outlets, at least for some distance be- low their heads, are similar to those on the Mississippi, much limited by low grounds and cypress swamps. The settlements on the La Fourche extend downwards about forty five miles, and comprehend upwards of two hun-'
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dred families, mostly Spaniards, who are by no means in affluent circumstances. They cultivate rice, corn, cotton, and flax, and also afford to the New Orleans market considerable quantities of provisions. The borders of all the outlets furnish good ranges for cattle, and swine, and multitudes of them are raised without much expense to- the owners.
The Delta produces various kinds of excellent fruit ; such as sweet and sour oranges, figs in great plenty, some lemons, limes, citrons, and shaddock; garden grapes of several kinds ; fox and wild black grapes ; peaches, quin- ces, plums, and some good pears; the apples are fit only for tarts ; pomegranates and strawberries ; excellent water and musk mellons of all kinds in abundance ; wild cher- ries, mulberries, blackberries, and dewberries. The coun- try to the north of lake Pontchartraine furnishes plenty of whortleberries.
Vegetables of most kinds are likewise common to the country ; particularly sweet and Irish potatoes, though the latter are indifferent; and fresh seed is required every year from the northward ; every kind of peas and beans, carrots and parsnips ; the best of lettuce and various o- ther salads ; cabbage, spinage, artichokes, the egg fruit, red peppers, tomatoes, pepper grass, cucumbers, pump- , kins of an excellent quality, asparagus, turnips, mush- rooms, pastaches, and many other valuable articles.
. In the swamps are found plenty of cypress trees. They are tall and majestic, and some of them grow to a large size. These swamps produce olive trees, so called, be : cause they bear a fruit similar in appearance to the real olive. The wood of them is white and beautiful, and serves to adorn many articles of cabinet work. On the dry or more elevated lands appear the great magnolia ; . but this tree does not answer the extravagant description · given of it by Bartram. On the same kind of ground ap- pear the ash, three kinds of live oak, the cotton wood,
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which is a species of the poplar, the button wood, or syca- more, and a tree called unknown wood, because it has no name, nor is it known to what tribe it belongs; it is of considerable size, and bears a small berry, with a stone, something like the cherry ; grafts of peaches and plums take on it. Here likewise grow red and shrub oaks, hiccory, sassafras, and the peccon tree, the nut of which is fine, and deemed by some superior to the shell bark and walnut. The elm is found on many plantations, but it is not indigenous. The wet grounds are generally covered with willows. The persimmon trees are numer- ous. They grow to a great size, and their fruit is much , . larger, and deemed better, than that found in any part of the Atlantic states. The cucumber tree bears an elongated green fruit, which much resembles the garden cucumber in appearance. The pawpaw is produced in great perfection. Most of the low lands are covered with underwood, vines, supple jacks, and cane; so that it is extremely difficult, and in most instances impossible, to penetrate them. On some of the highest grounds, a- long the water courses, the cane frequently grows to the height of thirty five or forty feet. Bears formerly inha- bited these impervious recesses ; but population and agri- culture have rendered them less numerous.
The climate on the lower Mississippi has never been fairly represented. It may be said with truth to be uni- formly the same along the banks of that river from New Madrid to the sea. The inhabitants, who live at and near the latter place, as well as below it, situated within the vicinity of the swamps, are as sickly as those in the Delta, and the same diseases prevail among them. It is true, that the atmosphere at New Orleans, and below it, is more abundantly charged with vapours and miasmata, than that six degrees more to the north ; but it is equally true, that the Delta is always more or less refrigerated
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by the sea breezes, which serve to correct the poisonous exhalations, and thereby to produce an equality of climate, as it respects health, for nearly one thousand miles along the Mississippi. This equality is wholly confined to the low grounds and swamps; it is by no means sustained on the long chains of elevated grounds in their rear, and be- yond their influence.
The Delta is much more sickly than the native inha- bitants are disposed to allow, and by no means so insalu- brious as is believed in the Atlantic states. The consti- tutions of those born and educated in that country, are adapted to the climate ; and the creoles can hardly con- ceive of a portion of the globe more healthful than their own, or less pregnant with dangerous diseases. Several per- sons more than seventy, and some over eighty years of age, are now living in that quarter. Just before the cession, three died in New Orleans, neither of whom was less than one hundred years old.
Diseases of the intermittent kind, prevail in all parts of the Delta; and in New Orleans, a highly inflamma- tory bilious fever, occasionally makes its appearance. Strangers, much more than natives, are apt to fall vic- tims to the endemics of the country, particularly the boatmen from the Ohio. Those unaccustomed to the cli- mate, and of intemperate habits, exposing themselves to the heats and dews, are sure to experience dangerous maladies. But strangers of contrary habits, who avoid fatigues and the excessive heats of summer, seldom com- plain of any thing more than a troublesome lassitude and debility. It is well known that the best livers enjoy the best health; and that those who subsist on unwholesome or unsuitable provisions, and are not sufficiently shelter- ed from the extremes of the climate, are candidates for a sick bed, if not for the grave. It is a truth confirm- ed by long experience, that more perish from the want
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of medical aid, proper nourishment, and attendance, than from the virulent nature of prevalent diseases.
"Strangers who reside in New Orleans, and sometimes the native inhabitants of that city, are occasionally attack- ed with an inflammatory bilious fever, which has gradu- ally obtained the name of yellow fever. : There is no proof of its contagious effects : On the contrary it has never been communicated to nurses and attendants. Ma- ny have died in the highest state of inflammation, and be- fore their deaths vomited a substance like coffee grounds ; their families and friends were in the same room with them, and no injury was experienced.
Perhaps the soldiery of the United States have suffered . more from the climate on the lower Mississippi than any other class, and several reasons may be assigned for this excess. The first is, that our garrisons in that quarter are situated amid the vapors of the swamps. The se- cond is, that their profession is unavoidably productive of many evils. . They are obliged, in the performance of in- dispensable duties, to experience the extremes of heat and cold, and the other vicissitudes of the weather; liable to constant privations of comfortable shelter, and often fur- . nished with provisions, either bad in quality, or not adap- ted to the climate. The third is, that our soldiery are unfortunately too much addicted to intemperance, and the sick among them not always furnished with the shelter, and never with the nourishment and other comforts, which their situations in a warm and humid climate require. Recruits, particularly from the middle and eastern states, on their arrival in that country, are usually seized with moderate intermittents; which, from want of the aids al- ready mentioned, gradually assume a dangerous type, and in too many instances terminate in death.
There is a vast difference between the atmosphere along the Mississippi, and that a few miles only from
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the swamps. The soldiery who have been stationed in the Apalousas, and at Nachitoches, enjoyed excellent health; while those quartered at the Chickasaw bluffs, fort Adams, and other places on the banks of the lower Mississippi, were severely afflicted with sickness. The fatal diseases experienced by the troops on the elevated grounds at Columbian spring in the summer of 1807, were not contracted at 'that place. These troops were quartered the preceeding rainy winter at New Orleans; they ascended the river in the early part of summer to fort Adams, where they encamped on a low bottom in the neighbourhood of the swamps, and necessarily re- mained in tents for several weeks. Ilence their systems were gorged with a complication of animal, vegetable, and other noxious effluvia, which predisposed them to the attacks of violent disorders. This state of things was unavoidable; but it is adduced here as a proof, that men exposed for any considerable time to the pestilent regions of the swamps, will be subsequently attacked by danger- ous diseases. Another proof is this; men detached from healthful positions in the summer season, and employed in boats for two or three weeks on the Mississippi, are af- terwards generally seized with the intermittents of the country. In fine, the high grounds on the lower Missis- sippi, if not within the influence of the swamps, are pro- 'ductive of nearly as much health among the so'diery and others, as is usually enjoyed, under like circumstances, in any of the Atlantic states.
If the people in the D. ita are annually exposed to fevers, they are mostly exempted from some other painful mala- dies, which prevail in more salubrious climates. Con- sumptions, rheumatisms, and cutaneous complaints, are almost unknown among them ; the gravei and stone in the bladder are equally rare. From 1739 to 180 ), two cases only of the latter occurred in New Orleans. The people
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in this quarter retain their sight longer than those in more northern regions ; and this is attributed to the scarcity of snow among them.
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'T'he creoles or natives of the country, are sprightly, active in a remarkable degree, and gentle in their man- Ders. The females of New Orleans are handsome both in their shapes and features, and possess ease and grace in their movements and conversation. The men are de- ficient in literature, but display a good share of genius and penetration. In the early part of life they attend to dancing, riding, and music.
An alluvial soil cannot be supposed to abound in rock. Neither on the island of Orleans, nor along the immense flat country on the west side of the Mississippi, below the mouth of the Onio, is even a single pebble to be found. .
SKETCHES OF LOUISIANA.
CHAPTER V.
OF THE COUNTRY BETWEEN THE MOUTH OF THE CHAFALIA AND THE ARKANSAS; BETWEEN RED RIVER AND THE RIO BRAVO.
THE distance from the mouth of the Chafalia, on the gulf to its outlet near Red river, following its meanders, is about one hundred and eighty miles ; and the distance from the latter river to the Arkansas is estimated at ra- ther more than four hundred miles, according to the course of the Mississippi. In this chapter will be includ- ed some sketches of the country to the westward of Red River and the Chafalia, and to the northward of the gulf.
It must not be supposed that what is called the Delta, includes all the lands formed by alluvion : On the con- trary, these lands extend along almost all the great rivers nearly to their sources ; and those occasionally deluged by the freshes on the Mississippi, continue to some dis-
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tance above the mouth of the Ohio. But the high- er the Mississippi is ascended from its mouth, the more elevated are the lands on its banks. Perhaps the only reason why the Delta is usually limited to the Cha- falia on the north and west, is, because the country be- low it is more generally flooded than that above it.
The territory now to be noticed is of great extent, and is as little known as any other part of Louisiana. A small portion of it only has been explored. The Spani- . ards have formed some settlements on its borders, and they exercise a, jurisdiction over a considerable extent of country, which we conceive to be embraced by the treaty of cession. These circumstances, added to their extreme jealousy and caution, and a variety of other obstacles to discovery, serve to keep us in a great measure ignorant of the south western part of the territory within our claims.
As the Chafalia divides the Delta from what is called the elevated country, a more particular description of it, than we have hitherto given, will be necessary in this place.
This outlet, on leaving the Mississippi about three miles below Red river, is nearly two hundred yards wide ; in low water it is about eighteen feet, and in high water about thirty three feet in depth. Thirty miles from the Mississippi, it is obstructed by a raft of wood, bound to- gether by a heterogeneous mixture of ligneous and other matter. In the course of twenty miles the navigation is choaked by ten or twelve similar rafts; and it is calcula- ted that the aggregate obstruction occasioned by them is not less than nine, miles. Some of them form good bridges, and are passable at all.seasons. Many of them are covered with willow trees, and a considerable pro- portion of them are ten inches diameter. These. rafts rise and fall with the water, and are therefore justly ter- med floating bridges.
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CHAFALIA TO ARKANSAS, &c.
Below these rafts the Chafalia affords a beautiful sheet of water, at least as far down as Cow island, from seven- ty five, to one hundred and fifty yards wide, and from twenty five to thirty feet deep in the dry seasons. At Cow island the stream is divided; one part spreads into a large lake; the other part continues its course, and seems to maintain its usual breadth and depth. The current of the Chafalia is gentle till it is joined by the Plaquamines about one hundred and fifty miles from the outlet on the Mississippi, where its velocity is considerably increased. It communicates with lake Natchez by means of several bayous, the largest of which is bayou Long. This bayou is connected with lake Flat, Grand river, and Grand lake, by means of several bayous, most of which are navigable in the season of high water. Grand lake is about forty miles long, and from three to ten miles wide, into which the Chafalia is emptied by a'channel of about two hun- dred and fifty yards wide; and a depth of nearly forty feet. It then passes through Berwick bay, which is from half a mile to two miles wide, and from sixty to eighty · feet deep; and after a course of about twelve miles, it falls into Vermillion bay, which is an arm of the gulf. The navigation of the Chafalia is obstructed by a bank of oysters, which stretches across it in Vermillion bay, over which there is seldom more than eight or nine feet of water. The bayou - Tersh, which affords a navigable communication with the settlements in the Atakapas, joins the Chafalia near Grand lake. In the season of low wa- ter the tide flows to Cow island.
There is an island of about three miles in circumference, situated in the gulf, a few miles to the westward of the mouth of the Chafalia, elevated more than two hundred feet above the level of the sea, and connected with the main land by a low marsh. Most of the islands along the shores of the Mexican gulf, exhibit this proud pre-eminence, while the country for a great depth is most of the time covered
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with water. Some of them are impregnated with sul- phur, and one of them has been known to be on fire for at least three months.
. . The Atakapas and Apalousas are situated on the right bank of the Chafalia. The first bounds on the gulf, and the second joins it on the north, and spreads between it and Red river. These include the oldest and most opu -. lent settlements in this quarter. Those in the Atakapas are generally formed along the Bayou Tersh, and some other bayous of inferior note. The lands near the Cha- falia are low and swampy, though some of them abound in excellent timber. Most of those along the sea coast are also covered with swamps and marshes; yet small tracts are occasionally found sufficiently elevated for cul- tivation, and extremely fertile. The interior of the dis- trict is diversified by prairies and bayous ; and along the latter, to the depth of two or three hundred yards, plenty of wood is to be found. The lands suitable for cultivation extend in narrow borders along on each side of the bay- ous; the rest is low and boggy, and fit only for the pastu- rage of cattle. Such, however, is the number of bayous, that the elevated lands are nearly equal in quantity to those of a low and spungy nature. The soil is of a luxu- riant quality, calculated for the growth of the sugar cane, tobacco, cotton, indigo, corn, and rice. Perhaps the lands along these bayous are not exceeded in fertility by any tracts of the same extent in Louisiana. The country is pleasant, and the inhabitants are furnished with plenty of fish, oysters, crabs, and wild fowl ; as also with the orange, and all the other fruits, vegetables, and plants, incident to the Delta. The climate in this district is nearly similar to that of the Delta ; with this advantage, however, that it is refreshed by breezes from the sea. In fine, this dis- trict is intersected by small navigable streams, and the inhabitants communicate with the sea and New Orleans with the greatest facility. Vessels of sixty or eighty tons
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CHAFALIA TO ARKANSAS, &c.
burthen may enter the Chafalia by way of the sea, and pass some distance up the Tersh. But the most conve- nient navigation to New Orleans is by means of the lower part of the Chafalia, Plaquamines, La Fourche, and the Mississippi.
: -The Apalousas is situated to the north of the Atakapas, . and the best settlements in it are about fifty miles to the southwest of the outlet of the Chafalia on the Mississippi. The intermediate lands are low and swampy, and covered with water during the wet seasons. The lands in this district are much more elevated than those of the Atakapas; but they are less fertile, and the orange tree, and sugar cane appear in less perfection, though they are cultivated to advantage. The country is beautiful and pleasant, and covered with a variety of extensive prairies. It is inter- sected by a number of navigable streams. These are bordered with woods, which yield fuel and timber, and afford a pleasing variety to the view. This district is le- vel, but not flat ; and in the spring of the year, the face of the country appears like a boundless meadow, covered with immense herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and gangs of horses. This scene is diversified by the houses and plantations scattered along the edges of the woods. Cot- ton and cattle are at present the staple commodities of the district; but the inhabitants are about to direct their attention to the culture of the sugar-cane, which is much more profitable. This has hitherto been delayed from the want of capitals to carry it on. The profits arising from crops of sugar, in successful years, are very consi- derable ; each good slave will annually earn his master from four hundred, to four hundred and fifty dollars. But the culture of this article is frequently attended by accidents, against which no human prudence can provide. Sometimes the fields of sugar-cane are levelled by torna- does, or sudden gusts of wind ; at others they are blight- ed by early frosts. "These accidents are less frequent in
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the Atakapas, where the country is much lower, and where early frosts are not common. It has been obser, ved, that sugar-cane does not grow in Egypt, and in some other eastern countries, to the north of the twenty- ninth degree. In Louisiana it flourishes pretty well one degree and a half further north. When this district was first settled, indigo was the staple commodity ; but the. planters gradually turned their attention to cotton. In the culture of this article, each slave will earn his master from two hundred and fifty to three hundred dollars per annum ; it requires no other capital than land and labour -. ers, and it is liable to no other accidents than what re- sult- from the common vicissitudes .of the weather. In cultivating sugar and cotton, large fortunes have been made .; Soon after the American revolution, a great number of enterprising adventurers from the United States removed into the Mississippi territory and lower Louisiana. At that period most of them were poor ; but their industry soon made them opulent, and a considera; ble number of them can at this time boast of an annual income of from fifteen to twenty five thousand dollars. ~
The lands to the westward of the Chafalia are so si- tuated as to enable the planters to pursue several objects to advantage. In addition to their cotton and sugar-cane, they raise vast numbers of cattle. This is attended with very little expense, as the prairies are covered with grass during the whole of the year. Some persons own several thousand head of cattle. It is common for them to milk; from eighty to one hundred and twenty cows, and to mark more than one thousand calves each year. This may seem incredible to some, but nothing is more true. An advantageous market for beef, hides, butter, cheese, and tallow, always exists in New-Orleans ; and these arti- cles are transported to that city with facility, and without much expense, It is estimated among the planters, that
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CHAFALIA TO ARKANSAS, &c.
the stock of a vaccary doubles every four years, and that of a cotton plantation every three years.
At the proper season there are plenty of deer and wild - turkies in the two districts we have described. They are frequently run down by the hunters on horseback, and noosed by a cord, which is thrown with astonishing dex- terity, even at full speed.
The natural growth in these districts is similar to what we find in the Delta, intermixed with several species of trees incident to the elevated country. ` Near the -mouth of the Chafalia, numerous clusters of live oak are found.
The population of these two districts may be estima-
: ted at about three thousand one hundred whites, and three thousand slaves. About one thousand two hundred and fifty of the former are enrolled in the militia.
The climate in this quarter is deemed much more healthful than in any other part of the low country. A- gues and fevers sometimes prevail; but they seldom as- sume a dangerous type : They are usually of short dura- tion, and readily yield to medicine, if seasonably admi- nistered. . Few. countries produce more old people in proportion to the population, or larger families of chil- dren. These two districts are constantly fanned by the breezes from the sea : and to these must be attributed the prevalence of so much health. They temper the heat of the sun, and deprive the vapors, and perhaps the mias- mata, occasioned by the bayous and swamps, of their per- nicious qualities. The air is remarkably soft, and pleasant to the feelings.
All the country about the gulf is evidently alluvial. At what time it was redeemed from the sea, no one can conjecture ; but as some of the oldest inhabitants can re- member when the lands were less dry, much oftener flooded, and to a much greater extent and height, than at present, perhaps its redemption is much nearer to our time than many are willing to allow. At the mouth of
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the Mississippi the land constantly advances into the gulf ; and there is every reason to believe, that its advan- ces are equally rapid at the mouth of the Chafalia, and along the shores of the gulf. No doubt the elevated is- lands, scattered along the coast, and already in most in- stances connected with the main land by marshes, were not long ago situated at some distance in the sea. These. projections are caused by the deposition of the sediment from the rivers, particularly from the Mississippi. The gulf of Mexico, though of great extent, is filed with shoals and sand banks, especially near the land, which render the navigation dangerous; and the materials of which they are composed, have been rolled from the sour- ces of the great rivers.
Red river joins the Mississippi just below the thirty- first degree. It is about five hundred yards broad at its . mouth ; but it gradually contracts to about three hundred or two hundred and fifty yards as it is ascended. The lower part of this river, for about fifty miles, rolls through the Mississippi swamps. A short distance below where it receives Black river, about twenty seven miles . from its mouth, it approaches within three miles of the Mississippi, and then flows in nearly a parallel direction to it, till they unite their waters. The country for this . distance exhibits a gloomy prospect; it presents to the eye a world of waters. The author of these sketches as- cended Red river in February 1809, at which time, ow- ing to the swell of the Mississippi, the whole country was buried about ten feet under water; and it was then about six feet below its usual rise. Only two or three elevated spots of ground appeared, where boats were able to land, and these were but a few yards in circum- ference. The first appearance of any lands not occasion- allv flooded is in the neighborhood of the Avoyelles ; and even between this place and the rapids, at a distance of more than one hundred miles from the Mississippi, most
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