hour; when low, it is about two miles according to some accounts, but Mr Darby states, that it does not exceed one.

Harbours.-Below Madisonville, on the right bank of the Chefuncti river, two miles from its entrance into Lake Ponchartrain, there is a good harbour for building and repairing vessels. In 18:2, a light frigate was built here for the defence of the lakes. It is twenty-six miles south-east of New Orleans, and persons travelling thence to Natchez by the lake go ashore at this place. The Bayou St John is a port of delivery. Vessels may unload there, or at the basin

of the canal Carondelet.

Roads.-Except along the levee, or bank of the Mississippi, no road has yet been opened; the communication is chiefly by water. There is a kind of road leading from Natchitoches by the Sabine river to Nagodoches and San Antonio. It is proposed to establish a line of mail stages from Lexington in Kentucky to New Orleans.

History. The existence of the Mississippi was first made known to the French colonists in Canada, by the Indians, about 1660. In the year 1680, De la Salle, in hopes of finding an easy route to the Southern Ocean, by this great river, passed down the Illinois, and descended with some of his party to the Mexican Gulf; while Father Hennepin, a Franciscan friar, Ducan, and others, ascended 300 leagues to the falls of St Anthony, by the Ohio. The former took possession of the country in the name of his king; and returning to Montreal, he proceeded to France to solicit his

Encour

permission to enter the Mississippi by sea. aged in this enterprise, he sailed for the Gulf of Mexico, but, owing to the low situation of the coast and strength of the current, he was carried considerably to the west of this river, and disembarked at the mouth of the Guadaloupe, in the bay of St Bernard, in the year 1684. He planted the French standard on the river Colorado, or the Aux Cannes, and shortly after fell a victim to the perfidy of his men; but some of his companions returned to Canada.

In the year 1696 the Spaniards, jealous of the discoveries of the French, established Pensacola, to the east of the river Perdido. The first who entered the Mississippi by sea was Le Moine d'Hibberville, a Canadian naval officer of great reputation, who, in 1699, laid the foundation of the first colony at Biloxi. In order to people the country there were sent from France a number of young women, and soldiers who had been labourers; who received grants of land, and were provided with cattle, poultry, and grain. The colony was transferred in 1702 from Biloxi to the Isle of Dauphin, but did not prosper.† In 1708 new colonists were sent from France under the direction of the

* See Joutels's Narrative, and the Maps of Delisle and other geographers, on which his road is traced.

Jefferys, in his history of the discovery and settlement of this country, states, that, in 1654, the river Mississippi was discovered by Colonel Wood, who spent ten years in ascertaining its course; also by Captain Bolt in 1670; and in 1698, by Dr Coxe of New Jersey, who ascended the stream 100 miles, and took possession of the country under the name of Carolana.

Commissary D'Artagnette, and two years afterwards Isle Dauphin was plundered by the English. In the year 1712 Antoine Crozat, who, in the commerce with India, had amassed a fortune of 40,000,000, purchased a grant of this country, with the exclusive right of commerce for sixteen years. In the letters-patent

were included all the rivers which flow into the Mississippi, and all the lands, coast, and islands situated on the Gulf of Mexico, between Carolina on the east, and Old and New Mexico on the west. The whole colony at this period, owing to the unhealthy situation, and other disadvantages, consisted only of 400 whites, 20 negro slaves, and 300 head of cattle. In 1713 different establishments were made on the river Wabash, in the Illinois territory. In the year 1713, De St Denis, with a view to trade with the Mexican provinces, ascended Red river with thirty men, and erected the fort of Natchitoches, from which he crossed through the Cenis nation to the Spanish establishment on the river Del Norte, and returned in 1716. In 1717 Crozat, disappointed in his speculations concerning this country, gave up the grant; and another was made of it, for the space of twenty-five years, in favour of the Mississippi Commercial Company. For the purpose of encouraging adventurers thither, the country was represented as rich in mines of gold and silver, and abounding in every desirable commodity. A new government was formed, consisting of a governor, intendant, and royal council, each with distinct and separate functions. And grants of lands were made to individuals at different points of the coast, and on the

banks of the Mississippi as high as the Arkansas. In 1718, New Orleans, which previously consisted of a few hovels constructed by traders from the Illinois country, was extended under the direction of the go. vernor-general, Mr de Bienville, according to the plan of the engineer De la Tour. The company to whom Louisiana now belonged sent persons to Natchez, in 1720, for the purpose of cultivating tobacco, and establishing a fort and warehouse in that place. Every person who came to settle, and exercise his profession, was entitled to 120 acres of land. A company of miners were also sent to work the silver and lead mines near the fort of St Louis, or Illinois. For some time French criminals, and women of bad fame, were imported; but this practice was discontinued on a remonstrance from the Company. In 1721, De la Harpe, in the quality of captain commander, was sent with a detachment of twenty-two men to discover an emerald rock supposed to exist in the river Arkansas, which he was unable to find, though he ascended more than 250 leagues. In 1722, De Paugé, the second engineer of the colony, established the Balize at the mouth of the river Mississippi, as a guide and protection for vessels ascending the river. In 1724, a royal edict was issued for the expulsion of the Jews, as declared enemies of the Christian name, in the space of three months from the date thereof, under pain of confiscation of body and goods.

In 1729, the colony was disturbed by Indian hostilities, and in consequence of this and other disccur.. agements, the company gave up the country in 1731

to the king. * In 1762, (3d. Nov.) the cabinet of Versailles, fearing that the loss of her northern possessions in Canada would bring about that of the country of Louisiana, the colony, by a secret treaty, was ceded to Spain, as an indemnity for expences incurred during the war; and, at the same time, the Floridas were made over to England. By the peace of Paris, signed the following year, (10th Feb.) the limits between the French and English possessions were fixed. In 1764, Don Antonio de Ulloa arrived at New Orleans in quality of Spanish governor, with a detachment of troops; and finding that the inhabitants were strongly inclined to remain under the French domination, and that the expences of the government would far exceed the amount of revenue, he wrote to his court against the cession, and remained two years in the country without taking possession of it in a formal manner. In the year 1769, O'Reilly, in quality of governor and intendant general, arrived with 4500 regular troops, a good train of artillery, stores, and ammunition, with which he drove away all the English Protestants and Jews, prohibited all commerce except with Spain and her Islands, and established a courtmartial for the trial of the French officers who re

* In 1752, the French force in Louisiana consisted of 37 French companies of 50 men each, and 2 Swiss companies of 75 each, stationed as follows: the garrison of New Orleans, 957 men; of Mobile, 475; of Illinois, 300; of Arkansas, 50; of Natchez, 50; of Natchitoches, 50; of Pointe Coupée, 50; of the German settlement, 50; in all, 2000.-Vandreuil's Letter to the Court as Governor of Canada.