Page images
PDF
EPUB

Six

to south, and is said to be thirty-five miles in circumference. The Sabine Lake, through which run the waters of the river of the same name, is twenty-five miles long, and twelve wide. Mr Darby observes, that the coast from the mouth of the Sabine to that of the Atchafalaya is so marshy, that an army, with its implements of war, could not get into the country, except by the channels of the rivers and bayous, where a small force could stop their progress. Some of the lakes of the upper country, which have a communication with Red river, are from thirty to fifty miles in circumference, and rise and fall with this stream. miles above the mouth of Red river is Long Lake, fourteen miles long, and three wide. Lake Ocassu, forty miles below Natchitoches, is a considerable sheet of water. At the distance of a few miles from this place, there are two other lakes, one of which is fifty, and the other thirty, miles in circumference. Both have a channel of communication with Red river. Ten miles above Natchitoches is Lake Noix, fifty miles in circumference, which sends its waters into Red river, by the channel called Rigolet du Bon Dieu. Eight miles higher is Spanish Lake, fifty miles in circumference, which rises and falls with Red river; and twenty leagues higher is Lake Bistineau, sixty miles in length, running in a direction with the river, at the distance of from three to fifteen miles, with an average depth of water from fifteen to twenty feet.

Islands.-At the mouth of Pearl river there is an island six or seven miles in length, and from four to five in breadth. It contains some salt marshes, but

the greatest part consists of high land, favourable to the growth of esculent plants. From New Orleans to the mouth of the Mississippi, a distance of 1257 miles, there are 149 islets in the river.

Extent of Navigable Waters.-The Mississippi Proper is navigable in Louisiana, 632 miles. Ibberville and the lakes east of New Orleans, 250. Amite river, 100. Tangipao, Tangipao, Chefuncti, and the bayous Castain, La Combe, and Baucofuca, 300. Pearl river and Bogue Chitto, 100. Bayous Atchafalaya, Plaquemines, Lafourche, and others leaving the Mississippi, 300. Red river in Louisiana, 450. Bayous and lakes of Red river, 500. Washita, and its tributary lakes and rivers, 1500. Teche, Vermillion, Sabine, &c. 550. Gulf coast, bays, and lakes, 1000.—In all, 5682.

Minerals.-Iron ore is found in the hilly country where the Sabine and Black rivers take their rise. A mass of native iron, three feet five inches in length, and two feet four inches in breadth, weighing upwards of 3000 pounds, has been lately discovered near Red river. Silver ore is said to abound above Natchitoches, near one of the villages of Cadodaquioux. According to the account given by Jonathan Swift, a company was formed about the year 1778 for working this mine, of which he was the agent; a quantity of dollars had been struck from the metal at different times; but, from fear of discovery, the workmen, in 1791, left the place, which they were afterwards unable to find.* Limestone exists on Red river, where there

* Ohio Navigator, Appendix, p. 253. Also Dupratz, Vol. I. p. 303.

is also a rock which serves for millstones. Alum is found on Red river, in latitude 33, 146 miles west from the Mississippi. Coal is found on the Washita, Sabine, and Red river, and also on the borders of a lake in the neighbourhood of Natchitoches. Potters' earth lies at the depth of from ten to thirty feet along the Mississippi. There are salt springs (belonging to Mr Postlethwait) near Natchitoches, on the Washita and Sabine rivers, and near the Ocatahoolu lake. Salt might be manufactured in abundance on the

coast.

Vegetable Kingdom.-Acacia, three horned. Andromeda, red leaved. Arrow wood, of several species. Arbutus, or strawberry tree. Common, red, water, and thorny ash. Birch, black birch. Beech. Bow-wood, or yellow dye-wood. Blackberry. Catalpa. Chincapin, which grows throughout the state on the borders of the overflown lands. Barbed creeper. Balm tree. Cypress.* Cedar red is found in great plenty, and very valuable. Cotton tree. Passina yapon (Ilex vomitoria); an infusion of the leaves, which has an inebriating effect, is drank by the Indians at their public meetings. Wild cherry. Cane. Dogwood. Elm, red elm, swamp elm, winged elm. Sweet gum tree.

* The cypress tree is often from six to ten feet in diameter, and it is generally employed for the construction of houses, for fences, and canoes. A canoe of this wood, not more than an inch thick, will carry from 3000 to 4000 pounds. Some trees grow to a prodigious size. One noticed by Dupratz, at Baton Rouge, was twelve fathoms in circumference,

Liquidambar styraciflua, in a great variety of soils, on the highest hills and deepest swamps, from thirty to forty feet high. Hornbeam. Holm oak. Hickery, or walnut; bitternut; swamp hickery; nutmeg hickery; black walnut; pignut hickery; shell-bark hickery. Holly, or Dohoon. Jessamine, yellow, Carolina, (Bignonia sempervirens.) Ironwood, or silver thorn. Locust, black locust. Musquito wood. White laurel. Linden tree. Red bay. Sassafras. Spicewood. Magnolia glauca, white bay. Mangrove, Conocarpus procumbens. Maple, red and black. Misletoe. Mulberry, red and Spanish. Myrtle, candleberry, or wax

Oak, white, water, Spanish, † black jack, &c. Papaw. Passion thorn, a shrub covered with prickles in the shape of a cross. Palmetto. Persimon. Plane tree. Poplar. Wild plum. pitch-pine. Sumac. Poison vine. leaved. Sycamore, or buttonwood.

Pine, loblolly;

Styrax, smooth

[ocr errors]

Swamp wood

grows to the height of twelve or fifteen feet, in marshes where the roots are always under water. Tupelo. Black gum. Winterberry. The vine is so common,

*The black maple or black sugar tree is not common. Some trees are seen on the borders of the bayou Sara, Thompson's, and Alexander's creeks; but it is rarely found south of the 31st degree of latitude.

Mr Darby remarks, that the Spanish oak indicates the transition from the recent to the more ancient alluvion, as this tree cannot live where the inundation exceeds twelve or fifteen inches.

Winterberry grows near the sea and elevated parts of Opelousas. The Indians make use of a decoction of its berries and leaves, which, owing to its inebriating qualities, is called the liquor of valour.

says Dupratz, that whatever way you walk from the sea coast to the distance of 500 leagues northward, you cannot proceed 100 steps without meeting with

one.

Animals.―The bison, or buffalo, called by the Spaniards cebow, has nearly disappeared from within the limits of this state. Some few are yet seen in the south-western parts, in the prairies, to the west of Opelousas, and north of Red river. They were formerly very numerous, and their flesh was the chief food of the Indians and of the French for a considerable time after the colony was planted. Wild horses are often seen between Red river and the Sabine. Deer are no longer common, except in the county of Opelousas. Bears are not in plenty, except in the Washita county, where they are hunted by parties of twenty or thirty men, for the profit which they bring. Some of the fattest have given 120 French pots of oil. In winter this animal lodges in the trunks of trees, twenty or thirty feet high. Wolves are still numerous in the uninhabited parts; and, when hungry, they sometimes approach dwelling-houses. The cougouar (called the tiger) is sometimes seen in the woods. His favourite prey is the deer, which he seizes as a cat does a mouse. The lynx, called tiger cat, is also rare. It kills the buffalo, by leaping from a tree on the neck of this animal, and tearing the nerves and blood-vessels asunder. The cat of the woods is not uncommon. The colour is a silver grey, its length about fifteen inches, and height eight or ten. It feeds on birds and shell-fish, sometimes on fruit and vege

« PreviousContinue »