CHAPTER XV.

Pensacola _taken by Surprize by the_ French. _Retaken by the_ Spaniards.

_Again retaken by the_ French, _and demolished_.

Before I go any farther, I think it necessary to relate what happened

with respect to the Fort of Pensacola in Virginia. [Footnote: The

author must mean Carolina.] This fort belongs to the Spaniards, and

serves for an {101} Entrepot, or harbour for the Spanish galleons to

put into, in their passage from La Vera Cruz to Europe.

Towards the beginning of the year 1719, the Commandant General having

understood by the last ships which arrived, that war was declared

between France and Spain, resolved to take the post of Pensacola from

the Spaniards; which stands on the continent, about fifteen leagues

from Isle Dauphine, is defended by a staccado-fort the entrance of the

road: over against it stands a fortin, or small fort, on the west

point of the Isle St. Rose; which, on that side, defends the entrance

of the road: this fort has only a guard-house to defend it.

The Commandant General, persuaded it would be impossible to besiege

the place in form, wanted to take it by surprise, confiding in the

ardor of the French, and security of the Spaniards, who were as yet

ignorant of our being at war with them in Europe. With that view he

assembled the few troops he had, with several Canadian and French

planters, newly arrived, who went as volunteers. M. de Chateauguier,

the Commandant's brother, and King's Lieutenant, commanded under him;

and next him, M. de Richebourg, Captain. After arming this body of

men, and getting the necessary supplies of ammunition and provisions,

he embarked with his small army, and by the favour of a prosperous

wind, arrived in a short time at his place of destination. The French

anchored near the Fortin, made their descent undiscovered, seized on

the guard-house, and clapt the soldiers in irons; which was done in

less than half an hour. Some French soldiers were ordered to put on

the cloaths of the Spaniards, in order to facilitate the surprising

the enemy. The thing succeeded to their wish. On the morrow at

day-break, they perceived the boat which carried the detachment from

Pensacola, in order to relieve the guard of the fortin; on which the

Spanish march was caused to be beat up; and the French in disguise

receiving them, and clapping them in irons, put on their cloaths; and

stepping into the same boat, surprised the sentinel, the guard-house,

and at last the garrison, to the very Governor himself, who was taken

in bed; so that they all were made prisoners without any bloodshed.

{102} The Commandant General, apprehensive of the scarcity of

provisions, shipped off the prisoners, escorted by some soldiers,

commanded by M. de Richebourg, in order to land them at the Havanna:

he left his brother at Pensacola, to command there, with a garrison of

sixty men. As soon as the French vessel had anchored at the Havanna,

M. de Richebourg went on shore, to acquaint the Spanish Governor with

his commission; who received him with politeness, and as a testimony

of his gratitude, made him and his officers prisoners, put the

soldiers in irons and in prison, where they lay for some time, exposed

to hunger and the insults of the Spaniards, which determined many of

them to enter into the service of Spain, in order to escape the

extreme misery under which they groaned.

Some of the French, newly enlisted in the Spanish troops, informed the

Governor of the Havanna, that the French garrison left at Pensacola

was very weak: he, in his turn, resolved to carry that fort by way of

reprisal. For that purpose he caused a Spanish vessel, with that which

the French had brought to the Havanna, to be armed. The Spanish vessel

stationed itself behind the Isle St. Rose, and the French vessel came

before the fort with French colours. The sentinel enquired, who

commanded the vessel? They answered, M. de Richebourg. This vessel,

after anchoring, took down her French, and hoisted Spanish colours,

firing three guns: at which signal, agreed on by the Spaniards, the

Spanish vessel joined the first; then they summoned the French to

surrender. M. de Chateauguiere rejected the proposition, fired upon

the Spaniards, and they continued cannonading each other till night.

On the following day the cannonading was continued till noon, when the

Spaniards ceased firing, in order to summon the Commandant anew to

surrender the fort: he demanded four days, and was allowed two. During

that time, he sent to ask succours of his brother, who was in no

condition to send him any.

The term being expired, the attack was renewed, the Commandant bravely

defending himself till night; which two thirds of the garrison availed

themselves of, to abandon their Governor, {103} who, having only

twenty men left, saw himself unable to make any longer resistance,

demanded to capitulate, and was allowed all the honours of war; but in

going out of the place, he and all his men were made prisoners. This

infraction of the capitulation was occasioned by the shame the

Spaniards conceived, of being constrained to capitulate in this manner

with twenty men only.

As soon as the Governor of the Havanna was apprised of the surrender

of the fort, vainly imagining he had overthrown half his enemies at

least, he caused great rejoicings to be made in the island, as if he

had gained a decisive victory, or carried a citadel of importance. He

also sent off several vessels to victual and refresh his warriors,

who, according to him, must have been greatly fatigued in such an

action as I have just described.

The new Governor of Pensacola caused the fortifications to be repaired

and even augmented; sent afterwards the vessel, named the Great Devil,

armed with six pieces of cannon, to take Dauphin Island, or at least

to strike terror into it. The vessel St. Philip, which lay in the

road, entered a gut or narrow place, and there mooring across, brought

all her guns to bear on the enemy; and made the Great Devil sensible,

that Saints resist all the efforts of Hell.

This ship, by her position, served for a citadel to the whole island,

which had neither fortifications nor intrenchments, nor any other sort

of defence, excepting a battery of cannon at the east point, with some

inhabitants, who guarded the coast, and prevented a descent. The Great

Devil, finding she made no progress, was constrained, by way of

relaxation, to go and pillage on the continent the habitation of the

Sieur Miragouine, which was abandoned. In the mean time arrived from

Pensacola, a little devil, a pink, to the assistance of the Great

Devil. As soon as they joined, they began afresh to cannonade the

island, which made a vigorous defence.

In the time that these two vessels attempted in vain to take the

island, a squadron of five ships came in sight, four of them with

Spanish colours, and the least carrying French hoisted to {104} the

top of the staff, as if taken by the four others. In this the French

were equally deceived with the Spaniards: the former, however, knew

the small vessel, which was the pink, the Mary, commanded by the brave

M. Iapy. The Spaniards, convinced by these appearances, that succours

were sent them, deputed two officers in a shallop on board the

commodore: but they were no sooner on board, than they were made

prisoners.

They were in effect three French men of war, with two ships of the

Company, commanded by M. Champmelin. These ships brought upwards of

eight hundred men, and thirty officers, as well superior as subaltern,

all of them old and faithful servants of the King, in order to remain

in Louisiana. The Spaniards, finding their error, fled to Pensacola,

to carry the news of this succour being arrived for the French.

The squadron anchored before the island, hoisted French colours, and

fired a salvo, which was answered by the place. The St. Philip was

drawn out and made to join the squadron: a new embarkation of troops

was made, and the Mary left before Isle Dauphine.

On September the 7th, finding the wind favourable, the squadron set

sail for Pensacola: by the way, the troops that were to make the

attack on the continent, were landed near Rio Perdido; after which the

ships, preceded by a boat, which shewed the way, entered the harbour,

and anchored, and laid their broad sides, in spite of several

discharges of cannon from the fort, which is upon the Isle of St.

Rose. The ships had no sooner laid their broad-sides, but the

cannonade began on both sides. Our ships had two forts to batter, and

seven sail of ships that lay in the harbour. But the great land fort

fired only one gun on our army, in which the Spanish Governor, having

observed upwards of three hundred Indians, commanded by M. de St.

Denis, whose bravery was universally acknowledged, was struck with

such a panick, from the fear of falling into their hands, that he

struck, and surrendered the place.

The fight continued for about two hours longer: but the heavy metal of

our Commodore making great execution, the Spaniards cried out several

times on board their ships, to {105} strike; but fear prevented their

executing these orders: none but a French prisoner durst do it for

them. They quitted their ships, leaving matches behind, which would

have soon set them on fire. The French prisoners between decks, no

longer hearing the least noise, surmised a flight, came on deck,

discovered the stratagem of the Spaniards, removed the matches, and

thus hindered the vessels from taking fire, acquainting the Commodore

therewith. The little fort held out but an hour longer, after which it

surrendered for want of gunpowder. The Commandant came himself to put

his sword in the hands of M. Champmelin, who embraced him, returned

him his sword, and told him, he knew how to distinguish between a

brave officer, and one who was not. He made his own ship his place of

confinement, whereas the Commandant of the great fort was made the

laughing-stock of the French.

All the Spaniards on board the ships, and those of the two forts were

made prisoners of war: but the French deserters, to the number of

forty, were made to cast lots; half of them were hanged at the

yard-arms, the rest condemned to be galley-slaves to the Company for

ten years in the country.

M. Champmelin caused the two forts to be demolished, preserving only

three or four houses, with a warehouse. These houses were to lodge the

officer, and the few soldiers that were left there, and one to be a

guard-house. The rest of the planters were transported to Isle

Dauphine, and M. Champmelin set sail for France. [Footnote: At the

peace that soon succeeded between France and Spain, Pensacola was

restored to the last.]

The history of Pensacola is the more necessary, as it is so near our

settlements, that the Spaniards hear our guns, when we give them

notice by that signal of our design to come and trade with them.

{107}

THE HISTORY OF LOUISIANA

BOOK II.

_Of the Country, and its Products_.

CHAPTER I.

_Geographical Description of Louisiana. Its Climate_

Louisiana that part of North America, which is bounded on the south by

the Gulf of Mexico; on the east by Carolina, an English colony, and by

a part of Canada; on the west by New Mexico; and on the north, in part

by Canada; in part it extends, without any assignable bounds, to the

Terrae Incognitae, adjoining to Hudson's Bay. [Footnote: By the

charter granted by Louis XIV. to M. Crozat, Louisiana extends only

"from the edge of the sea as far as the Illinois," which is not above

half the extent assigned by our author.] Its breadth is about two

hundred leagues, [Footnote: According to the best maps and accounts

extant, the distance from the Missisippi to the mountains of New

Mexico is about nine hundred miles, and from the Missisippi to the

Atlantic Ocean about six hundred; reckoning sixty miles to a degree,

and in a straight line.] extending between the Spanish and English

settlements; its length undetermined, as being altogether unknown.

However, the source of the Missisippi will afford us some light on

this head.

The climate of Louisiana varies in proportion as it extends northward:

all that can be said of it in general is, that its southern parts are

not so scorching as those of Africa in the {108} same latitude; and

that the northern parts are colder than the corresponding parts of

Europe. New Orleans, which lies in lat. 30°, as do the more northerly

coasts of Barbary and Egypt, enjoys the same temperature of climate as

Languedoc. Two degrees higher-up, at the Natchez, where I resided for

eight years, the climate is far more mild than at New Orleans, the

country lying higher: and at the Illinois, which is between 45° and

46°, the summer is in no respect hotter than at Rochelle; but we find

the frosts harder, and a more plentiful fall of snow. This difference

of climate from that of Africa and Europe, I ascribe to two causes:

the first is, the number of woods, which, though scattered up and

down, cover the face of this country: the second, the great number of

rivers. The former prevent the sun from warming the earth; and the

latter diffuse a great degree of humidity: not to mention the

continuity of this country with those to the northward; from which it

follows, that the winds blowing from that quarter are much colder than

if they traversed the sea in their course. For it is well known that

the air is never so hot, and never so cold at sea, as on land.

We ought not therefore to be surprised, if in the southern part of

Louisiana, a north wind obliges people in summer to be warmer

cloathed; or if in winter a south wind admits of a lighter dress; as

naturally owing, at the one time to the dryness of the wind, at the

other, to the proximity of the Equator.

Few days pass in Louisiana without seeing the sun. The rain pours down

there in sudden heavy showers, which do not last long, but disappear

in half an hour, perhaps. The dews are very plentiful, advantageously

supplying the place of rain.

We may therefore well imagine that the air is perfectly good there;

the blood is pure; the people are healthy; subject to few diseases in

the vigour of life, and without decrepitude in old age, which they

carry to a far greater length than in France. People live to a long

and agreeable old age in Louisiana, if they are but sober and

temperate.

This country is extremely well watered, but much more so in some

places than in others. The Missisippi divides this {109} colony from

north to south into two parts almost equal. The first discoverers of

this river by the way of Canada, called it Colbert, in honour of that

great Minister. By some of the savages of the north it is called

Meact-Chassipi, which literally denotes, The Ancient Father of Rivers,

of which the French have, by corruption formed Missisippi. Other

Indians, especially those lower down the river, call it Balbancha; and

at last the French have given it the name of St. Louis.

Several travellers have in vain attempted to go up to its source;

which, however, is well known, whatever some authors, misinformed, may

alledge to the contrary. We here subjoin the accounts that may be most

depended upon.

M. de Charleville, a Canadian, and a relation of M. de Biainville,

Commandant General of this colony, told me, that at the time of the

settlement of the French, curiosity alone had led him to go up this

river to its sources; that for this end he fitted out a canoe, made of

the bark of the birch-tree, in order to be more portable in case of

need. And that having thus set out with two Canadians and two Indians,

with goods, ammunition, and provisions, he went up the river three

hundred leagues to the north, above the Illinois: that there be found

the Fall, called St. Antony's. This fall is a flat-rock, which

traverses the river, and gives it only between eight or ten feet fall.

He caused his canoe and effects to be carried over that place; and

that embarking afterwards above the fall, he continued going up the

river an hundred leagues more to the north, where he met the Sioux, a

people inhabiting that country, at some distance from the Missisippi;

some say, on each side of it.

The Sioux, little accustomed to see Europeans, were surprized at seeing

him, and asked whither he was going. He told them, up the Missisippi to

its source. They answered, that the country whither he was going was

very bad, and where he would have great difficulty to find game for

subsistence; that it was a great way off, reckoned as far from the

source to the fall, as from this last to the sea. According to this

information, the Missisippi must measure from its source to its mouth

between fifteen and sixteen hundred leagues, as they reckon eight

hundred leagues from St. Antony's Fall to the sea. This {110} conjecture

is the more probable, as that far to the north, several rivers of a

pretty long course fall into the Missisippi; and that even above St.

Antony's Fall, we find in this river between thirty and thirty-five

fathom water, and a breadth in proportion; which can never be from a

source at no great distance off. I may add, that all the Indians,

informed by those nearer the source, are of the same opinion.

Though M. de Charleville did not see the source of the Missisippi, he,

however, learned, that a great many rivers empty their waters into it:

that even above St. Antony's Fall, he saw rivers on each side of the

Missisippi, having a course of upwards of an hundred leagues.

It is proper to observe, that in going down the river from St.

Antony's Fall, the right hand is the west, the left the east. The

first river we meet from the fall, and some leagues lower down, is the

river St. Peter, which comes from the west: lower down to the east, is

the river St. Croix, both of them tolerable large rivers. We meet

several others still less, the names of which are of no consequence.

Afterwards we meet with the river Moingona, which comes from the west,

about two hundred and fifty leagues below the fall, and upwards of an

hundred and fifty leagues in length. This river is somewhat brackish.

From that river to the Illinois, several rivulets or brooks, both to

the right and left, fall into the Missisippi. The river of the

Illinois comes from the east, and takes its rise on the frontiers of

Canada; its length is two hundred leagues.

The river Missouri comes from a source about eight hundred leagues

distant; and running from north-west to south-east, discharges itself

into the Missisippi, about four or five leagues below the river of the

Illinois. This river receives several others, in particular the river

of the Canzas, which runs above an hundred and fifty leagues. From the

rivers of the Illinois and the Missouri to the sea are reckoned five

hundred leagues, and three hundred to St. Antony's Fall: from the

Missouri to the Wabache, or Ohio, an hundred leagues. By this last

river is the passage from Louisiana to Canada. This voyage is

performed from New Orleans by going up the Missisippi to the Wabache;

which they go up in the same manner quite to {111} the river of the

Miamis; in which they proceed as far as the Carrying-place; from which

there are two leagues to a little river which falls into Lake Erie.

Here they change their vessels; they come in pettyaugres, and go down

the river St. Laurence to Quebec in birch canoes. On the river St.

Laurence are several carrying-places, on account of its many falls or

cataracts.

Those who have performed this voyage, have told me they reckoned

eighteen hundred leagues from New Orleans to Quebec. [Footnote: It is

not above nine hundred leagues.] Though the Wabache is considered in

Louisiana, as the most considerable of the rivers which come from

Canada, and which, uniting in one bed, form the river commonly called

by that name, yet all the Canadian travellers assure me, that the

river called Ohio, and which falls into the Wabache, comes a much

longer way than this last; which should be a reason for giving it the

name Ohio; but custom has prevailed in this respect. [Footnote: But

not among the English; we call it the Ohio.]

From the Wabache, and on the same side, to Manchac, we see but very

few rivers, and those very small ones, which fall into the Missisippi,

though there are nearly three hundred and fifty leagues from the

Wabache to Manchac. [Footnote: That is, from the mouth of the Ohio to

the river Iberville, which other accounts make but two hundred and

fifty leagues.] This will, doubtless, appear something extraordinary

to those unacquainted with the country.

The reason, that may be assigned for it, appears quite natural and

striking. In all that part of Louisiana, which is to the east of the

Missisippi, the lands are so high in the neighbourhood of the river,

that in many places the rain-water runs off from the banks of the

Missisippi, and discharges itself into rivers, which fall either

directly into the sea, or into lakes.

Another very probable reason is, that from the Wabache to the sea, no

rain falls but in sudden gusts; which defect is compensated by the

abundant dews, so that the plants lose nothing by that means. The

Wabache has a course of three hundred {112} leagues, and the Ohio has

its source a hundred leagues still farther off.

In continuing to go down the Missisippi, from the Wabache to the river

of the Arkansas, we observe but few rivers, and those pretty small.

The most considerable is that of St. Francis, which is distant thirty

and odd leagues from that of the Arkansas. It is on this river of St.

Francis, that the hunters of New Orleans go every winter to make salt

provisions, tallow, and bears oil, for the supply of the capital.

The river of the Arkansas, which is thirty-five leagues lower down,

and two hundred leagues from New Orleans, is so denominated from the

Indians of that name, who dwell on its banks, a little above its

confluence with the Missisippi. It runs three hundred leagues, and its

source is in the same latitude with Santa-Fé, in New Mexico, in the

mountains of which it rises. It runs up a little to the north for a

hundred leagues, by forming a flat elbow, or winding, and returns from

thence to the south-east, quite to the Missisippi. It has a cataract,

or fall, about the middle of its course. Some call it the White River,

because in its course it receives a river of that name. The Great

Cut-point is about forty leagues below the river of the Arkansas: this

was a long circuit which the Missisippi formerly took, and which it

has abridged, by making its way through this point of land.

Below this river, still going towards the sea, we observe scarce any

thing but brooks or rivulets, except the river of the Yasous, sixty

leagues lower down. This river runs but about fifty leagues, and will

hardly admit of a boat for a great way: it has taken its name from the

nation of the Yasous, and some others dwelling on its banks.

Twenty-eight leagues below the river of the Yasous, is a great cliff

of a reddish free-stone: over-against this cliff are the great and

little whirlpools.

From this little river, we meet but with very small ones, till we come

to the Red River, called at first the Marne, because nearly as big as

that river, which falls into the Seine. The Nachitoches dwell on its

banks, and it was distinguished by the name of that nation; but its

common name, and which it still bears, is that of the Red River. It

takes its rise in New Mexico, {113} forms an elbow to the north, in

the same manner as the river of the Arkansas, falls down afterwards

towards the Missisippi, running south east. They generally allow it a

course of two hundred leagues. At about ten leagues from its

confluence it receives the Black River, or the river of the Wachitas,

which takes its rise pretty near that of the Arkansas. This rivulet,

or source, forms, as is said, a fork pretty near its rise, one arm of

which falls into the river of the Arkansas; the largest forms the

Black River. Twenty leagues below the Red River is the Little

Cut-point, and a league below that point are the little cliffs.

From the Red River to the sea we observe nothing but some small

brooks: but on the east side, twenty-five leagues above New Orleans,

we find a channel, which is dry at low water. The inundations of the

Missisippi formed this channel (which is called Manchac) below some

high lands, which terminate near that place. It discharges itself into

the lake Maurepas, and from thence into that of St. Louis, of which I

gave an account before.

The channel runs east south-east: formerly there was a passage through

it; but at present it is so choaked up with dead wood, that it begins

to have no water [Footnote: Manchac is almost dry for three quarters

of the year: but during the inundation, the waters of the river have a

vent through it into the lakes Ponchartrain and St. Louis. _Dumont_, II.

297.

This is the river Iberville, which is to be the boundary of the

British dominions.] but at the place where it receives the river

Amité, which is pretty large, and which runs seventy leagues in a very

fine country.

A very small river falls into the lake Maurepas, to the east of

Manchac. In proceeding eastward, we may pass from this lake into that

of St. Louis, by a river formed by the waters of the Amité. In going

to the north of this lake, we meet to the east the little river

Tandgipao. From thence proceeding always east, we come to the river

Quéfoncté, which is long and beautiful, and comes from the Chactaws.

Proceeding in the same route, we meet the river Castin-Bayouc: we may

afterwards quit the lake by the channel, which borders the same

country, {114} and proceeding eastward we meet with Pearl River which

falls into this channel.

Farther up the coast, which lies from west to east, we meet St.

Louis's Bay, into which a little river of that name discharges itself:

farther on, we meet the river of the Paska-Ogoulas: and at length we

arrive at the Bay of Mobile, which runs upwards of thirty leagues into

the country, where it receives the river of the same name, which runs

for about a hundred and fifty leagues from north to south. All the

rivers I have just mentioned, and which fall not into the Missisippi,

do in like manner run from north to south.

_Description of the Lower_ Louisiana, _and the Mouths of the_

Missisippi.

I return to Manchac, where I quitted the Missisippi. At a little

distance from Manchac we meet the river of the Plaqumines; it lies to

the west, and is rather a creek than a river. Three or four leagues

lower down is the Fork, which is channel running to the west of the

Missisippi, through which part of the inundations of that river run

off. These waters pass through several lakes, and from thence to the

sea, by Ascension Bay. As to the other rivers to the west of this bay,

their names are unknown.

The waters which fall into those lakes consist not only of such as

pass through this channel, but also of those that come out of the

Missisippi, when overflowing its banks on each side: for, of all the

water which comes out of the Missisippi over its banks, not a drop

ever returns into its bed; but this is only to be understood of the

low lands, that is, between fifty and sixty leagues from the sea

eastward, and upwards of a hundred leagues westward.

It will, doubtless, seem strange, that a river which overflows its

banks, should never after recover its waters again, either in whole or

in part; and this will appear so much the more singular, as every

where else it happens otherwise in the like circumstances.

It appeared no less strange to myself; and I have on all occasions

endeavoured to the utmost, to find out what could {115} produce an

effect, which really appeared to me very extraordinary, and, I

imagine, not without success.

From Manchac down to the sea, it is probable, and even in some degree

certain, that all the lands thereabouts are brought down and

accumulated by means of the ooze which the Missisippi carries along

with it in its annual inundations; which begin in the month of March,

by the melting of the snow to the north, and last for about three

months. Those oozy or muddy lands easily produce herbs and reeds; and

when the Missisippi happens to overflow the following year, these

herbs and reeds intercept a part of this ooze, so that those at a

distance from the river cannot retain so large a quantity of it, since

those that grow next the river have stopt the greatest part; and by a

necessary consequence, the others farther off, and in proportion as

they are distant from the Missisippi, can retain a much less quantity

of the mud. In this manner the land rising higher along the river, in

process of time the banks of the Missisippi became higher than the

lands about it. In like manner also these neighbouring lakes on each

side of the river are remains of the sea, which are not yet filled up.

Other rivers have firm banks, formed by the lands of Nature, a land of

the same nature with the continent, and always adhering thereto: these

sorts of banks, instead of augmenting, do daily diminish, either by

sinking, or tumbling down into the bed of the river. The banks of the

Missisippi, on the contrary, increase, and cannot diminish in the low

and accumulated lands; because the ooze, alone deposited on its banks,

increase them; which, besides, is the reason that the Missisippi

becomes narrower, in place of washing away the earth, and enlarging

its bed, as all other known rivers do. If we consider these facts,

therefore, we ought no longer to be surprised that the waters of the

Missisippi, when once they have left their bed, can never return

thither again.

In order to prove this augmentation of lands, I shall relate what

happened near Orleans: one of the inhabitants caused a well to be sunk

at a little distance from the Missisippi, in order to procure a

clearer water. At twenty feet deep there was found a tree laid flat,

three feet in diameter: the height of the earth was therefore

augmented twenty feet since the fall or lodging of that tree, as well

by the accumulated mud, as by the {116} rotting of the leaves, which

fall every winter, and which the Missisippi carries down in vast

quantities. In effect, it sweeps down a great deal of mud, because it

runs for twelve hundred leagues at least across a country which is

nothing else but earth, which the depth of the river sufficiently

proves. It carries down vast quantities of leaves, canes and trees,

upon its waters, the breadth of which is always above half a league,

and sometimes a league and a quarter. Its banks are covered with much

wood, sometimes for the breadth of a league on each side, from its

source to its mouth. There is nothing therefore more easy to be

conceived, than that this river carries down with its waters a

prodigious quantity of ooze, leaves, canes and trees, which it

continually tears up by the roots, and that the sea throwing back

again all these things, they should necessarily produce the lands in

question, and which are sensibly increasing. At the entrance of the

pass or channel to the south-east, there was built a small fort, still

called Balise. This fort was built on a little island, without the

mouth of the river. In 1734 it stood on the same spot, and I have been

told that at present it is half a league within the river: the land

therefore hath in twenty years gained this space on the sea. Let us

now resume the sequel of the Geographical Description of Louisiana.

The coast is bounded to the west by St. Bernard's Bay, where M. de la

Salle landed; into this bay a small river falls, and there are some

others which discharge their waters between this bay and Ascension

bay; the planters seldom frequent that coast. On the east the coast is

bounded by Rio Perdido, which the French corruptedly call aux Perdrix;

Rio Perdido signifying Lost River, aptly so called by the Spaniards,

because it loses itself under ground, and afterwards appears again,

and discharges itself into the sea, a little to the East of Mobile, on

which the first French planters settled.

From the Fork down to the sea, there is no river; nor is it possible

there should be any, after what I have related: on the contrary, we

find at a small distance from the Fork, another channel to the east,

called the Bayoue of le Sueur: it is full of a soft ooze or mud, and

communicates with the lakes which lie to the east.

{117} On coming nearer to the sea, we meet, at about eight leagues

from the principal mouth of the Missisippi, the first Pass; and a

league lower down, the Otter Pass. These two passes or channels are

only for pettyaugres. From this place there is no land fit to tread

on, it being all a quagmire down to the sea. There also we find a

point, which parts the mouths of the Missisippi: that to the right is

called the South-Pass, or Channel; the west point of which runs two

leagues farther into the sea than the point of the South-east Pass,

which is to the left of that of the South Pass. At first vessels

entered by the South-east Pass, but before we go down to it, we find

to the left the East-Pass, which is that by which ships enter at

present.

At each of these three Passes or Channels there is a Bar, as in all

other rivers: these bars are three quarters of a league broad, with

only eight or nine feet water: but there is a channel through this

bar, which being often subject to shift, the coasting pilot is obliged

to be always sounding, in order to be sure of the pass: this channel

is, at low water, between seventeen and eighteen feet deep. [Footnote:

I shall make no mention of the islands, which are frequent in the

Missisippi, as being, properly speaking, nothing but little isles,

produced by some trees, though the soil be nothing but a sand

bottom.]

This description may suffice to shew that the falling in with the land

from sea is bad; the land scarce appears two leagues off; which

doubtless made the Spaniards call the Missisippi Rio Escondido, the

Hid River. This river is generally muddy, owing to the waters of the

Missouri; for before this junction the water of the Missisippi is very

clear. I must not omit mentioning that no ship can either enter or

continue in the river when the waters are high, on account of the

prodigious numbers of trees, and vast quantities of dead wood, which

it carries down, and which, together with the canes, leaves, mud, and

sand, which the sea throws back upon the coast, are continually

augmenting the land, and make it project into the Gulf of Mexico, like

the bill of a bird.

I should be naturally led to divide Louisiana into the Higher and

Lower, on account of the great difference between {118} the two

principal parts of this vast country. The Higher I would call that

part in which we find stone, which we first meet with between the

river of the Natchez and that of the Yasous, between which is a cliff

of a fine free stone; and I would terminate that part at Manchac,

where the high lands end. I would extend the Lower Louisiana from

thence down to the sea. The bottom of the lands on the hills is a red

clay, and so compact, as might afford a solid foundation for any

building whatever. This clay is covered by a light earth, which is

almost black, and very fertile. The grass grows there knee deep; and

in the bottoms, which separate these small eminences, it is higher

than the tallest man. Towards the end of September both are

successively set on fire; and in eight or ten days young grass shoots

up half a foot high. One will easily judge, that in such pastures

herds of all creatures fatten extraordinarily. The flat country is

watery, and appears to have been formed by every thing that comes down

to the sea. I shall add, that pretty near the Nachitoches, we find

banks of muscle-shells, such as those of which Cockle-Island is

formed. The neighbouring nation affirms, that according to their old

tradition, the sea formerly came up to this place. The women of this

nation go and gather these shells, and make a powder of them, which

they mix with the earth, of which they make their pottery, or earthen

ware. However, I would not advise the use of these shells

indifferently for this purpose, because they are naturally apt to

crack in the fire: I have therefore reason to think, that those found

at the Nachitoches have acquired their good quality only by the

discharge of their salts, from continuing for so many ages out of the

sea.

If we may give credit to the tradition of these people, and if we

would reason on the facts I have advanced, we shall be naturally led

to believe, and indeed every thing in this country shews it, that the

Lower Louisiana is a country gained on the sea, whose bottom is a

crystal sand, white as snow, fine as flour, and such as is found both

to the east and west of the Missisippi; and we may expect, that in

future ages the sea and river may form another land like that of the

Lower Louisiana. The Fort Balise shews that a century is sufficient to

extend Louisiana two leagues towards the sea.

{119}

CHAPTER II.

_The Author's Journey in_ Louisiana, _from the Natchez to the River St.

Francis, and the Country of the Chicasaws._

Ever since my arrival in Louisiana, I made it my business to get

information in whatever was new therein, and to make discoveries of

such things as might be serviceable to society. I therefore resolved

to take a journey through the country. And after leaving my plantation

to the care of my friends and neighbours, I prepared for a journey

into the interior parts of the province, in order to learn the nature

of the soil, its various productions, and to make discoveries not

mentioned by others.

I wanted to travel both for my own instruction, and for the benefit of

the publick: but at the same time I desired to be alone, without any

of my own countrymen with me; who, as they neither have patience, nor

are made for fatigue, would be ever teazing me to return again, and

not readily take up either with the fare or accommodations, to be met

with on such a journey. I therefore pitched upon ten Indians, who were

indefatigable, robust, and tractable, and sufficiently skilled in

hunting, a qualification necessary on such journeys. I explained to

them my whole design; told them, we should avoid passing through any

inhabited countries, and would take our journeys through such as were

unknown and uninhabited; because I travelled in order to discover what

no one before could inform me about. This explication pleased them;

and on their part they promised, I should have no reason to be

dissatisfied with them. But they objected, they were under

apprehensions of losing themselves in countries they did not know. To

remove these apprehensions, I shewed them a mariner's compass, which

removed all their difficulties, after I had explained to them the

manner of using it, in order to avoid losing our way.

We set out in the month of September, which is the best season of the

year for beginning a journey in this country: in the first place,

because, during the summer, the grass is too high for travelling;

whereas in the month of September, the meadows, the grass of which is

then dry, are set on fire, and {120} the ground becomes smooth, and

easy to walk on: and hence it is, that at this time, clouds of smoke

are seen for several days together to extend over a long track of

country; sometimes to the extent of between twenty and thirty leagues

in length, by two or three leagues in breadth, more or less, according

as the wind sets, and is higher or lower. In the second place, this

season is the most commodious for travelling over those countries;

because, by means of the rain, which ordinarily falls after the grass

is burnt, the game spread themselves all over the meadows, and delight

to feed on the new grass; which is the reason why travellers more

easily find provisions at this time than at any other. What besides

facilitates these excursions in Autumn, or in the beginning of Winter,

is, that all works in the fields are then at an end, or at least the

hurry of them is over.

For the first days of our journey the game was pretty rare, because

they shun the neighbourhood of men; if you except the deer, which are

spread all over the country, their nature being to roam indifferently

up and down; so that at first we were obliged to put up with this

fare. We often met with flights of partridges, which the natives

cannot kill, because they cannot shoot flying; I killed some for a

change. The second day I had a turkey-hen brought to regale me. The

discoverer, who killed it, told me, there were a great many in the

same place, but that he could do nothing without a dog. I have often

heard of a turkey-chace, but never had an opportunity of being at one:

I went with him and took my dog along with me. On coming to the spot,

we soon descried the hens, which ran off with such speed, that the

swiftest Indian would lose his labour in attempting to outrun them. My

dog soon came up with them, which made them take to their wings, and

perch on the next trees; as long as they are not pursued in this

manner, they only run, and are soon out of sight. I came near their

place of retreat, killed the largest, a second, and my discoverer a

third. We might have killed the whole flock; for, while they see any

men, they never quit the tree they have once perched on. Shooting

scares them not, as they only look at the bird that drops, and set up

a timorous cry, as he falls.

{121} Before I proceed, it is proper to say a word concerning my

discoverers, or scouts. I had always three of them out, one a-head, and

one on each hand of me; commonly distant a league from me, and as much

from each other. Their condition of scouts prevented not their carrying

each his bed, and provisions for thirty-six hours upon occasion. Though

those near my own person were more loaded, I however sent them out,

sometimes one, sometimes another, either to a neighbouring mountain or

valley: so that I had three or four at least, both on my right and left,

who went out to make discoveries a small distance off. I did thus, in

order to have nothing to reproach myself with, in point of vigilance,

since I had begun to take the trouble of making discoveries.

The next business was, to make ourselves mutually understood,

notwithstanding our distance: we agreed, therefore, on certain

signals, which are absolutely necessary on such occasions. Every day,

at nine in the morning, at noon, and at three in the afternoon, we

made a smoke. This signal was the hour marked for making a short halt,

in order to know, whether the scouts followed each other, and whether

they were nearly at the distance agreed on. These smokes were made at

the hours I mentioned, which are the divisions of the day according to

the Indians. They divide their day into four equal parts; the first

contains the half of the morning; the second is at noon; the third

comprizes the half of the afternoon; and the fourth, the other half of

the afternoon to the evening. It was according to this usage our

signals were mutually made, by which we regulated our course, and

places of rendezvous.

We marched for some days without finding any thing which could either

engage my attention, or satisfy my curiosity. True it is, this was

sufficiently made up in another respect; as we travelled over a

charming country, which might justly furnish our painters of the

finest imagination with genuine notions of landskips. Mine, I own, was

highly delighted with the sight of fine plains, diversified with very

extensive and highly delightful meadows. The plains were intermixed

with thickets, planted by the hand of Nature herself; and interspersed

with hills, running off in gentle declivities, and with {122} valleys,

thick set, and adorned with woods, which serve for a retreat to the

most timorous animals, as the thickets screen the buffaloes from the

abundant dews of the country.

I longed much to kill a buffalo with my own hand; I therefore told my

people my intention to kill one of the first herd we should meet; nor

did a day pass, in which we did not see several herds; the least of

which exceeded a hundred and thirty or a hundred and fifty in number.

Next morning we espied a herd of upwards of two hundred. The wind

stood as I could have wished, being in our faces, and blowing from the

herd; which is a great advantage in this chace; because when the wind

blows from you towards the buffaloes, they come to scent you, and run

away, before you can come within gun-shot of them; whereas, when the

wind blows from them on the hunters, they do not fly till they can

distinguish you by sight; and then, what greatly favours your coming

very near to them is, that the curled hair, which falls down between

their horns upon their eyes, is so bushy, as greatly to confuse their

sight. In this manner I came within full gun-shot of them, pitched

upon one of the fattest, shot him at the extremity of the shoulder,

and brought him down stone-dead. The natives, who stood looking on,

were ready to fire, had I happened to wound him but slightly; for in

that case, these animals are apt to turn upon the hunter, who thus

wounds them.

Upon seeing the buffalo drop down dead, and the rest taking to flight,

the natives told me, with a smile: "You kill the males, do you intend

to make tallow?" I answered, I did it on purpose, to shew them the

manner of making him good meat, though a male. I caused his belly to

be opened quite warm, the entrails to be taken out directly, the

bunch, tongue, and chines to be cut out; one of the chines to be laid

on the coals, of which I made them all taste; and they all agreed the

meat was juicy, and of an exquisite flavour.

I then took occasion to remonstrate to them, that if, instead of

killing the cows, as was always their custom, they killed the bulls,

the difference in point of profit would be very considerable: {123}

as, for instance, a good commerce with the French in tallow, with

which the bulls abound; bull's flesh is far more delicate and tender

than cow's; a third advantage is, the selling of the skins at a higher

rate, as being much better; in fine, this kind of game, so

advantageous to the country, would thereby escape being quite

destroyed; whereas, by killing the cows, the breed of these animals is

greatly impaired.

I made a soup, that was of an exquisite flavour, but somewhat fat, of

the broth boiled from the marrow-bones of this buffalo, the rest of

the broth serving to make maiz-gruel, called Sagamity, which to my

taste surpassed the best dish in France: the bunch on the back would

have graced the table of a prince.

In the route I held, I kept more on the sides of the hills than on the

plains. Above some of these sides, or declivities, I found, in some

places, little eminences, which lay peeled, or bare, and disclosed a

firm and compact clay, or pure matrix, and of the species of that of

Lapis Calaminaris. The intelligent in Mineralogy understand what I

would be at. The little grass, which grows there, was observed to

droop, as also three or four misshapen trees, no bigger than one's

leg; one of which I caused to be cut down; when, to my astonishment, I

saw it was upwards of sixty years standing. The neighbouring country

was fertile, in proportion to its distance from this spot. Near that

place we saw game of every kind, and in plenty, and never towards the

summit.

We crossed the Missisippi several times upon Cajeux (rafts, or floats,

made of several bundles of canes, laid across each other; a kind of

extemporaneous pontoon,) in order to take a view of mountains which

had raised my curiosity. I observed, that both sides of the river had

their several advantages; but that the West side is better watered;

appeared also to be more fruitful both in minerals, and in what

relates to agriculture; for which last it seems much more adapted than

the East side.

Notwithstanding our precaution to make signals, one of my scouts

happened one day to stray, because the weather was {124} foggy; so

that he did not return at night to our hut; at which I was very

uneasy, and could not sleep; as he was not returned, though the

signals of call had been repeated till night closed. About nine the

next morning he cast up, telling us he had been in pursuit of a drove

of deer, which were led by one that was altogether white: but that not

being able to come up with them, he picked up, on the side of a hill,

some small sharp stones, of which he brought a sample.

These stones I received with pleasure, because I had not yet seen any

in all this country, only a hard red free-stone in a cliff on the

Missisippi. After carefully examining those which my discoverer

brought me, I found they were a gypsum. I took home some pieces, and

on my return examined them more attentively; found them to be very

clear, transparent, and friable; when calcined, they turned extremely

white, and with them I made some factitious marble. This gave me hopes

that this country, producing Plaster of Paris, might, besides, have

stones for building.

I wanted to see the spot myself: we set out about noon, and travelled

for about three leagues before we came to it. I examined the spot,

which to me appeared to be a large quarry of Plaster.

As to the white deer above mentioned, I learned from the Indians, that

some such were to be met with, though but rarely, and that only in

countries not frequented by the hunters.

The wind being set in for rain, we resolved to put ourselves under

shelter. The place where the bad weather overtook us was very fit to

set up at. On going out to hunt, we discovered at five hundred paces

off, in the defile, or narrow pass, a brook of a very clear water, a

very commodious watering-place for the buffaloes, which were in great

numbers all around us.

My companions soon raised a cabin, well-secured to the North. As we

resolved to continue there for eight days at least, they made it so

close as to keep out the cold: in the night, I felt nothing of the

severity of the North wind, though I lay but lightly covered. My bed

consisted of a bear's skin, and two robes or coats of buffalo; the

bear skin, with the flesh side {125} undermost, being laid on leaves,

and the pile uppermost by way of straw-bed; one of the buffalo coats

folded double by way of feather-bed; one half of the other under me

served for a matrass, and the other over me for a coverlet: three

canes, or boughs, bent to a semicircle, one at the head, another in

the middle, and a third at the feet, supported a cloth which formed my

tester and curtains, and secured me from the injuries of the air, and

the stings of gnats and moskitto's. My Indians had their ordinary

hunting and travelling beds, which consist of a deer skin and a

buffalo coat, which they always carry with them, when they expect to

lie out of their villages. We rested nine days, and regaled ourselves

with choice buffalo, turkey, partridge, pheasants, &c.

The discovery I had made of the plaster, put me to look out, during our

stay, in all the places round about, for many leagues. I was at last

tired of beating about such fine plains, without discovering the least

thing, and I had resolved to go forward to the North when at the

noon-signal the scout a-head waited to shew me a shining and sharp

stone, of the length and size of one's thumb, and as square as a joiner

could have made a piece of wood of the same bigness. I imagined it might

be rock-crystal; to be assured thereof, I took a large musquet flint in

my left hand, presenting its head, or thick end, on which I struck with

one of the edges of the crystal, and drew much more fire than with the

finest steel: and notwithstanding the many strokes I gave, the piece of

crystal was not in the least scratched or streaked.

I examined these stones, and found pieces of different magnitudes,

some square, others with six faces, even and smooth like mirrors,

highly transparent, without any veins or spots. Some of these pieces

jutted out of the earth, like ends of beams, two feet and upwards in

length; others in considerable numbers, from seven to nine inches;

above all, those with six panes or faces. There was a great number of

a middling and smaller sort: my people wanted to carry some with them;

but I dissuaded them. My reason was, I apprehended some Frenchman

might by presents prevail on them to discover the place.

{126} For my part, I carefully observed the latitude, and followed, on

setting out, a particular point of the compass, to come to a river

which I knew. I took that route, under pretense of going to a certain

nation to procure dry provisions, which we were in want of, and which

are of great help on a journey.

We arrived, after seven days march, at that nation, by whom we were

well received. My hunters brought in daily many duck and teal. I

agreed with the natives of the place for a large pettyaugre of black

walnut, to go down the river, and afterwards to go up the Missisippi.

I had a strong inclination to go up still higher north, in order to

discover mines. We embarked, and the eleventh day of our passage I

caused the pettyaugre to be unladen of every thing, and concealed in

the water, which was then low. I loaded seven men with the things we

had.

Matters thus ordered, we set out according to the intention I had to

go to the northward. I observed every day, with new pleasure, the more

we advanced to that quarter, the more beautiful and fertile the

country was, abounding in game of every kind: the herds of deer are

numerous; at every turn we meet with them; and not a day passed

without seeing herds of buffaloes, sometimes five or six, of upwards

of an hundred in a drove.

In such journeys as these we always take up our night's lodging near

wood and water, where we put up in good time: then at sun-set, when

every thing in nature is hushed, we were charmed with the enchanting

warbling of different birds; so that one would be inclined to say,

they reserved this favourable moment for the melody and harmony of

their song, to celebrate undisturbed and at their ease, the benefits

of the Creator. On the other hand, we are disturbed in the night, by

the hideous noise of the numberless water-fowls that are to be seen on

the Missisippi, and every river or lake near it, such as cranes,

flamingo's, wild geese, herons, saw-bills, ducks, &c.

As we proceeded further north, we began to see flocks of swans roam

through the air, mount out of sight, and proclaim {127} their passage

by their piercing shrill cries. We for some days followed the course

of a river, at the head of which we found, in a very retired place, a

beaver-dam.

We set up our hut within reach of this retreat, or village of beavers,

but at such a distance, as that they could not observe our fire. I put

my people on their guard against making any noise, or firing their

pieces, for fear of scaring those animals; and thought it even

necessary to forbid them to cut any wood, the better to conceal

ourselves.

After taking all these precautions, we rose and were on foot against the

time of moonshine, posted ourselves in a place as distant from the huts

of the beavers, as from the causey or bank, which dammed up the waters

of the place where they were. I took my fusil and pouch, according to my

custom of never travelling without them. But each Indian was only to

take with him a little hatchet, which all travellers in this country

carry with them. I took the oldest of my retinue, after having pointed

out to the others the place of ambush, and the manner in which the

branches of trees we had cut were to be set to cover us. I then went

towards the middle of the dam, with my old man, who had his hatchet, and

ordered him softly to make a gutter or trench, a foot wide, which he

began on the outside of the causey or dam, crossing it quite to the

water. This he did by removing the earth with his hands. As soon as the

gutter was finished, and the water ran into it, we speedily, and without

any noise, retired to our place of ambush, in order to observe the

behaviour of the beavers in repairing this breach.

A little after we were got behind our screen of boughs, we heard the

water of the gutter begin to make a noise: and a moment after, a beaver

came out of his hut and plunged into the water. We could only know this

by the noise, but we saw him at once upon the bank or dam, and

distinctly perceived that he took a survey of the gutter, after which he

instantly gave with all his force four blows with his tail; and had

scarce struck the fourth, but all the beavers threw themselves pell-mell

into the water, and came upon the dam: when they were all come thither,

one of them muttered and mumbled to the {128} rest (who all stood very

attentive) I know not what orders, but which they doubtless understood

well, because they instantly departed, and went out on the banks of the

pond, one party one way; another, another way. Those next us were

between us and the dam, and we at the proper distance not to be seen,

and to observe them. Some of them made mortar, others carried it on

their tails, which served for sledges. I observed they put themselves

two and two, side by side, the one with his head to the other's tail,

and thus mutually loaded each other, and trailed the mortar, which was

pretty stiff, quite to the dam, where others remained to take it, put it

into the gutter, and rammed it with blows of their tails.

The noise which the water made before by its fall, soon ceased, and

the breach was closed in a short time: upon which one of the beavers

struck two great blows with his tail, and instantly they all took to

the water without any noise, and disappeared. We retired, in order to

take a little rest in our hut, where we remained till day; but as soon

as it appeared, I longed much to satisfy my curiosity about these

creatures.

My people together made a pretty large and deep breach, in order to

view the construction of the dam, which I shall describe presently: we

then made noise enough without further ceremony. This noise, and the

water, which the beavers observed soon to lower, gave them much

uneasiness; so that I saw one of them at different times come pretty

near to us, in order to examine what passed.

As I apprehended that when the water was run off they would all take

flight to the woods, we quitted the breach, and went to conceal

ourselves all round the pond, in order to kill only one, the more

narrowly to examine it; especially as these beavers were of the grey

kind, which are not so common as the brown.

One of the beavers ventured to go upon the breach, after having

several times approached it, and returned again like a spy. I lay in

ambush in the bottom, at the end of the dam: I saw him return; he

surveyed the breach, then struck four blows, which saved his life, for

I then aimed at him. But these {129} four blows, so well struck, made

me judge it was the signal of call for all the rest, just as the night

before. This also made me think he might be the overseer of the works,

and I did not choose to deprive the republic of beavers of a member

who appeared so necessary to it. I therefore waited till others should

appear: a little after, one came and passed close by me, in order to

go to work; I made no scruple to lay him at his full length, on the

persuasion he might only be a common labourer. My shot made them all

return to their cabins, with greater speed than a hundred blows of the

tail of their Overseer could have done. As soon as I had killed this

beaver, I called my companions; and finding the water did not run off

quick enough, I caused the breach to be widened, and I examined the

dead.

I observed these beavers to be a third less than the brown or common

sort, but their make the same; having the same head, same sharp teeth,

same beards, legs as short, paws equally furnished with claws, and

with membranes or webs, and in all respects made like the others. The

only difference is, that they are of an ash-gray, and that the long

pile, which passes over the soft wool, is silvered, or whitish.

During this examination, I caused my people to cut boughs, canes, and

reeds, to be thrown in towards the end of the pond, in order to pass

over the little mud which was in that place; and at the same time I

caused some shot to be fired on the cabins that lay nearest us. The

report of the guns, and the rattling of the shot on the roofs of the

cabins, made them all fly into the woods with the greatest

precipitation imaginable. We came at length to a cabin, in which there

were not six inches of water. I caused to undo the roof without

breaking any thing, during which I saw the piece of aspin-tree, which

was laid under the cabin for their provisions.

I observed fifteen pieces of wood, with their bark in part gnawed. The

cabin also had fifteen cells round the hole in the middle, at which

they went out; which made me think each had his own cell.

I am now to give a sketch of the architecture of these amphibious

animals, and an account of their villages; it is thus {130} I call the

place of their abode, after the Canadians and the Indians, with whom I

agree; and allow, these animals deserve, so much the more to be

distinguished from others, as I find their instinct far superior to

that of other animals. I shall not carry the parallel any farther, it

might become offensive.

[Illustration: TOP: _Beaver_--MIDDLE: _Beaver lodge_--BOTTOM:

_Beaver dam_]

The cabins of the beavers are round, having about ten or twelve feet

in diameter, according to the number, more or {131} less, of fixed

inhabitants. I mean, that this diameter is to be taken on the flooring

at about a foot above the water, when it is even with the dam: but as

the upper part runs to a point, the under is much larger than the

flooring, which we may represent to ourselves, by supposing all the

upright posts to resemble the legs of a great A, whose middle stroke

is the flooring. These posts are picked out, and we might say, well

proportioned, seeing, at the height this flooring is to be laid at,

there is a hook for bearing bars, which by that means form the

circumference of the flooring. The bars again bear traverses, or cross

pieces of timber, which are the joists; canes and grass complete this

flooring, which has a hole in the middle to go out at, when they

please, and into this all the cells open.

The dam is formed of timbers, in the shape of St. Andrew's cross, or

of a great X, laid close together, and kept firm by timbers laid

lengthwise, which are continued from one end of the dam to the other,

and placed on the St. Andrew's crosses: the whole is filled with

earth, clapped close by great blows of their tails. The inside of the

dam, next the water, is almost perpendicular; but on the outside it

has a great slope, that grass coming to grow thereon, may prevent the

water that passes there, to carry away the earth.

I saw them neither cut nor convey the timbers along, but it is to be

presumed their manner is the same as that of other Beavers, who never

cut but a soft wood; for which purpose they use their fore-teeth,

which are extremely sharp. These timbers they push and roll before

them on the land, as they do on the water, till they come to the place

where they want to lay them. I observed these grey Beavers to be more

chilly, or sensible of cold, than the other species: and it is

doubtless for this reason they draw nearer to the south.

We set out from this place to come to a high ground, which seemed to

be continued to a great distance. We came the same evening to the foot

of it, but the day was too far advanced to ascend it. The day

following we went to its top, found it a flat, except some small

eminences at intervals. There appeared to be very little wood on it,

still less water, and least of all stone; though probably there may be

some in its bowels, having {132} observed some stones in a part where

the earth was tumbled down.

We accurately examined all this rising ground, without discovering any

thing; and though that day we travelled upwards of five leagues, yet

we were not three leagues distant from the hut we set out from in the

morning. This high ground would have been a very commodious situation

for a fine palace; as from its edges is a very distant prospect.

Next day, after a ramble of about two leagues and a half, I had the

signal of call to my right. I instantly flew thither; and when I came,

the scout shewed me a stump sticking out of the earth knee high, and

nine inches in diameter. The Indian took it at a distance for the

stump of a tree, and was surprised to find wood cut in a country which

appeared to have been never frequented: but when he came near enough

to form a judgement about it, he saw from the figure, that it was a

very different thing: and this was the reason he made the signal of

call.

I was highly pleased at this discovery, which was that of a lead-ore.

I had also the satisfaction to find my perseverance recompensed; but

in particular I was ravished with admiration, on seeing this wonderful

production, and the power of the soil of this province, constraining,

as it were, the minerals to disclose themselves. I continued to search

all around, and I discovered ore in several places. We returned to

lodge at our last hut, on account of the convenience of water, which

was too scarce on this high ground.

We set out from thence, in order to come nearer to the Missisippi:

through every place we passed, nothing but herds of buffaloes, elk,

deer, and other animals of every kind, were to be seen; especially

near rivers and brooks. Bears, on the other hand, keep in the thick

woods, where they find their proper food.

After a march of five days I espied a mountain to my right, which

seemed so high as to excite my curiosity. Next morning I directed

thither my course, where we arrived about three in the afternoon. We

stopped at the foot of the mountain, where we found a fine spring

issuing out of the rock.

{133} The day following we went up to its top, where it is stony.

Though there is earth enough for plants, yet they are so thin sown,

that hardly two hundred could be found on an acre of ground. Trees are

also very rare on that spot, and these poor, meagre, and cancerous.

The stones I found there are all fit for making lime.

We from thence took the route that should carry us to our pettyaugre,

a journey but of a few days. We drew the pettyaugre out of the water,

and there passed the night. Next day we crossed the Missisippi; in

going up which we killed a she-bear, with her cubs: for during the

winter, the banks of the Missisippi are lined with them; and it is

rare, in going up the river, not to see many cross it in a day, in

search of food: the want of which makes them quit the banks.

I continued my route in going up the Missisippi quite to the Chicasaw

Cliffs, (Ecores à Prud'homme) where I was told I should find something

for the benefit of the colony: this was what excited my curiosity.

Being arrived at those cliffs we landed, and concealed, after unlading

it, the pettyaugre in the water; and from that day I sought, and at

length found the iron-mine, of which I had some hints given me. After

being sure of this, I carefully searched all around, to find Castine:

but this was impossible: however, I believe it may be found higher up in

ascending the Missisippi, but that care I leave to those who hereafter

shall choose to undertake the working that mine. I had, however, some

amends made me for my trouble; as in searching, I found some marks of

pit-coal in the neighbourhood, a thing at least as useful in other parts

of the colony as in this.

After having made my reflections, I resolved in a little time to

return home; but being loth to leave so fine a country, I penetrated a

little farther into it; and in his short excursion I espied a small

hill, all bare and parched, having on its top only two trees in a very

drooping condition, and scarce any grass, besides some little tufts,

distant enough asunder, which grew on a very firm clay. The bottom of

this hill was not so barren, and the adjacent country fertile as in

other parts. {134} These indications made me presume there might be a

mine in that spot.

I at length returned towards the Missisippi, in order to meet again the

pettyaugre. As in all this country, and in all the height of the colony

we find numbers of buffaloes, elk, deer, and other game; so we find

numbers of wolves, some tigers, Cat-a-mounts, (Pichous) and

carrion-crows, all of them carnivorous animals, which I shall hereafter

describe. When we came near the Missisippi we made the signal of

recognition, which was answered, though at some distance. It was there

my people killed some buffaloes, to be dressed and cured in their

manner, for our journey. We embarked at length, and went down the

Missisippi, till we came within a league of the common landing-place.

The Indians hid the pettyaugre, and went to their village. As for

myself, I got home towards dusk, where I found my neighbours and slaves

surprised, and at the same time glad, at my unexpected return, as if it

had been from a hunting-match in the neighbourhood.

I was really well pleased to have got home, to see my slaves in

perfect health, and all my affairs in good order: But I was strongly

impressed with the beauties of the countries I had seen. I could have

wished to end my days in those charming solitudes, at a distance from

the tumultuous hurry of the world, far from the pinching gripe of

avarice and deceit. There it is, said I to myself, one relishes a

thousand innocent delights, and which are repeated with a satisfaction

ever new. It is there one lives exempt from the assaults of censure,

detraction, and calumny. In those delightsome meadows, which often

extend far out of sight, and where we see so many different species of

animals, there it is we have occasion to admire the beneficence of the

Creator. To conclude, there it is, that at the gentle purling of a

pure and living water, and enchanted with the concerts of birds, which

fill the neighbouring thickets, we may agreeably contemplate the

wonders of nature, and examine them all at our leisure.

I had reasons for concealing my journey, and stronger reasons still to

suppress what I had discovered, in order to avail myself thereof

afterwards: but the crosses I underwent, and {135} the misfortunes of

my life, have, to this day, prevented me from profiting by these

discoveries, in returning to that charming country, and even so much

as to lay them before the public.

CHAPTER III.

_Of the Nature of the Lands of Louisiana. The Lands on the Coast._

In order to describe the nature of this country with some method, I

shall first speak of the place we land at, and shall therefore begin

with the coast: I shall then go up the Missisippi; the reverse of what

I did in the Geographical Description, in which I described that river

from its source down to its mouth.

The coast, which was the first inhabited, extends from Rio Perdido to

the lake of St. Louis: this ground is a very fine land, white as snow,

and so dry, as not to be fit to produce any thing but pine, cedar, and

some ever-green oaks.

The river Mobile is the most considerable of that coast to the east.

[Footnote: This river, which they call Mobile, and which after the

rains of winter is a fine river in spring, is but a brook in summer,

especially towards its source. _Dumont_, II, 228.] It rolls its waters

over a pure sand, which cannot make it muddy. But if this water is

clear, it partakes of the sterility of its bottom, so that it is far

from abounding so much in fish as the Missisippi. Its banks and

neighbourhood are not very fertile from its source down to the sea.

The ground is stony, and scarce any thing but gravel, mixt with a

little earth. Though these lands are not quite barren, there is a wide

difference between their productions and those of the lands in the

neighbourhood of the Missisippi. Mountains there are, but whether

stone fit for building, I know not.

In the confines of the river of the Alibamous (Creeks) the lands are

better: the river falls into the Mobile, above the bay of the same

name. This bay may be about thirty leagues in length, after having

received the Mobile, which runs from {136} north to south for about

one hundred and fifty leagues. On the banks of this river was the

first settlement of the French in Louisiana, which stood till New

Orleans was founded, which is at this day the capital of the colony.

The lands and water of the Mobile are not only unfruitful in all kinds

of vegetables and fish, but the nature of the waters and the soil

contributes also to prevent the multiplication of animals; even women

have experienced this. I understood by Madam Hubert, whose husband was

at my arrival Commissary Director of the colony, that in the time the

French were in that post, there were seven or eight barren women, who

all became fruitful, after settling with their husbands on the banks

of the Missisippi, where the capital was built, and whither the

settlement was removed.

Fort St. Louis of Mobile was the French post. This fort stands on the

banks of that river, near another small river, called Dog River, which

falls into the bay to the south of the fort.

Though these countries are not so fertile as those in the

neighbourhood of the Missisippi; we are, however, to observe, that the

interior parts of the country are much better than those near the sea.

On the coast to the west of Mobile, we find islands not worth

mentioning.

From the sources of the river of the Paska-Ogoulas, quite to those of

the river of Quefoncté, which falls into the lake of St. Louis, the

lands are light and fertile, but something gravelly, on account of the

neighbourhood of the mountains that lie to the north. This country is

intermixt with extensive hills, fine meadows, numbers of thickets, and

sometimes with woods, thick set with cane, particularly on the banks

of rivers and brooks; and is extremely proper for agriculture.

The mountains which I said these countries have to the north, form

nearly the figure of a chaplet, with one end pretty near the

Missisippi, the other on the banks of the Mobile. The inner part of

this chaplet or chain is filled with hills; which {137} are pretty

fertile in grass, simples, fruits of the country, horse-chesnuts, and

wild-chesnuts, as large, and at least as good as those of Lyons.

To the north of this chain of mountains lies the country of the

Chicasaws, very fine and free of mountains: it has only very extensive

and gentle eminences, or rising grounds, fertile groves and meadows,

which in springtime are all over red, from the great plenty of wood

strawberries: in summer, the plains exhibit the most beautiful enamel,

by the quantity and variety of the flowers: in autumn, after the

setting fire to the grass, they are covered with mushrooms.

All the countries I have just mentioned are stored with game of every

kind. The buffalo is found on the most rising grounds; the partridge

in thick open woods, such as the groves in meadows; the elks delight

in large forests, as also the pheasant; the deer, which is a roving

animal, is every where to be met with, because in whatever place it

may happen to be, it always has something to browse on. The ring-dove

here flies in winter with such rapidity, as to pass over a great deal

of country in a few hours; ducks and other aquatick game are in such

numbers, that wherever there is water, we are sure to find many more

than it is possible for us to shoot, were we to do nothing else; and

thus we find game in every place, and fish in plenty in the rivers.

Let us resume the coast; which, though flat and dry, on account of its

sand, abounds with delicious fish, and excellent shell-fish. But the

crystal sand, which is pernicious to the sight by its whiteness, might

it not be adapted for making some beautiful composition or

manufacture? Here I leave the learned to find out what use this sand

may be of.

If this coast is flat, it has in this respect an advantage; as we

might say, Nature wanted to make it so, in order to be self-defended

against the descent of an enemy.

Coming out of the Bay of Paska-Ogoulas, if we still proceed west, we

meet in our way with the Bay of Old Biloxi, where a fort was built,

and a settlement begun; but a great fire, spread by a violent wind,

destroyed it in a few moments, which in prudence ought never to have

been built at all.

{138} Those who settled at Old Biloxi could not, doubtless, think of

quitting the sea-coast. They settled to the west, close to New-Biloxi,

on a sand equally dry and pernicious to the sight. In this place the

large grants happened to be laid off, which were extremely

inconvenient to have been made on so barren a soil; where it was

impossible to find the least plant or greens for any money, and where

the hired servants died with hunger in the most fertile colony in the

whole world.

In pursuing the same route and the same coast westward, the lands are

still the same, quite to the small Bay of St. Louis, and to the

Channels, which lead to the lake of that name. At a distance from the

sea the earth is of a good quality, fit for agriculture; as being a

light soil, but something gravelly. The coast to the north of the Bay

of St. Louis is of a different nature, and much more fertile. The

lands at a greater distance to the north of this last coast, are not

very distant from the Missisippi; they are also much more fruitful

than those to the cast of this bay in the same latitude.

In order to follow the sea-coast down to the mouth of the Missisippi,

we must proceed almost south, quitting the Channel. I have elsewhere

mentioned, that we have to pass between Cat-Island, which we leave to

the left, and Cockle-Island, which we leave to the right. In making

this ideal route, we pass over banks almost level with the water,

covered with a vast number of islets; we leave to the left the

Candlemas-Isles, which are only heaps of sand, having the form of a

gut cut in pieces; they rise but little above the sea, and scarcely

yield a dozen of plants, just as in the neighbouring islets I have now

mentioned. We leave to the right lake Borgne, which is another outlet

of the lake St. Louis, and continuing the same route by several

outlets for a considerable way, we find a little open clear sea, and

the coast to the right, which is but a quagmire, gradually formed by a

very soft ooze, on which some reeds grow. This coast leads soon to the

East Pass or channel, which is one of the mouths of the Missisippi,

and this we find bordered with a like soil, if indeed it deserves the

name of soil.

There is, moreover, the South-east Pass, where stands Balise, and the

South Pass, which projects farther into the sea. {139} Balise is a

fort built on an island of sand, secured by a great number of piles

bound with good timber-work. There are lodgings in it for the officers

and the garrison; and a sufficient number of guns for defending the

entrance of the Missisippi. It is there they take the bar-pilot on

board, in order to bring the ships into the river. All the passes and

entrances of the Missisippi are as frightful to the eye, as the

interior part of the colony is delightful to it.

The quagmires continue still for about seven leagues going up the

Missisippi, at the entrance of which we meet a bar, three fourths of a

league broad; which we cannot pass without the bar-pilot, who alone is

acquainted with the channel.

All the west coast resembles that which I mentioned, from Mobile to

the bay of St. Louis; it is equally flat, formed of a like sand, and a

bar of isles, which lengthen out the coast, and hinder a descent; the

coast continues thus, going westward, quite to Ascension Bay, and even

a little farther. Its soil also is also barren, and in every respect

like to that I have just mentioned.

I again enter the Missisippi, and pass with speed over these

quagmires, incapable to bear up the traveller, and which only afford a

retreat to gnats and moskittos, and to some water-fowl, which,

doubtless, find food to live on, and that in security.

On coming out of these marshes, we find a neck of land on each side of

the Missisippi; this indeed is firm land, but lined with marshes,

resembling those at the entrance of the river. For the space of three

or four leagues, this neck of land is at first bare of trees, but

comes after to be covered with them, so as to intercept the winds,

which the ships require, in order to go up the river to the capital.

This land, though very narrow, is continued, together with the trees

it bears, quite to the English Reach, which is defended by two forts;

one to the right, the other to the left of the Missisippi.

The origin of the name, English Reach, (Detour aux Anglois) is

differently assigned. I made enquiry of the oldest of the country, to

what circumstance this Reach might owe its {140} name. And they told

me, that before the first settlement of the French in this colony, the

English, having heard of the beauty of the country, which they had,

doubtless, visited before, in going thither from Carolina by land,

attempted to make themselves masters of the entrance of the

Missisippi, and to go up the river, in order to fortify themselves on

the first firm ground they could meet. Excited by that jealousy which

is natural to them, they took such precautions as they imagined to be

proper, in order to succeed.

The Indians on their part, who had already seen or heard of several

people (French) having gone up and down the Missisippi at different

times; the Indians, I say, who, perhaps, were not so well pleased with

such neighbours, were still more frightened at seeing a ship enter the

river, which determined them to stop its passage; but this was

impossible, as long as the English had any wind, of which they availed

themselves quite to this Reach. These Indians were the Ouachas and

Chaouachas, who dwelt to the west of the Missisippi, and below this

Reach. There were of them on each side of the river, and they lying in

the canes, observed the English, and followed them as they went up,

without daring to attack them.

When the English were come to the entrance of this Reach, the little

wind they had failed them; observing besides, that the Missisippi made

a great turn or winding, they despaired of succeeding; and wanted to

moor in this spot, for which purpose they must bring a rope to land:

but the Indians shot a great number of arrows at them, till the report

of a cannon, fired at random, scattered them, and gave the signal to

the English to go on board, for fear the Indians should come in

greater numbers, and cut them to pieces.

Such is the origin of the name of this Reach. The Missisippi in this

place forms the figure of a crescent, almost closed; so that the same

wind which brings up a ship, proves often contrary, when come to the

Reach; and this is the reason that ships moor, and go up towed, or

tacking. This Reach is six or seven leagues; some assign it eight,

more or less, according as they happen to make way.

{141} The lands on both sides of this Reach are inhabited, though the

depth of soil is inconsiderable. Immediately above this Reach stands

New Orleans, the capital of this colony, on the east of the

Missisippi. A league behind the town, directly back from the river, we

meet with a Bayouc or creek, which can bear large boats with oars. In

following this Bayouc for the space of a league, we go to the lake St.

Louis, and after traversing obliquely this last, we meet the Channels,

which lead to Mobile, where I began my description of the nature of

the soil of Louisiana.

The ground on which New Orleans is situated, being an earth accumulated

by the ooze, in the same manner as is that both below and above, a good

way from the capital, is of a good quality for agriculture, only that it

is strong, and rather too fat. This land being flat, and drowned by the

inundations for several ages, cannot fail to be kept in moisture, there

being, moreover, only a mole or bank to prevent the river from

over-flowing it; and would be even too moist, and incapable of

cultivation, had not this mole been made, and ditches, close to each

other, to facilitate the draining off the waters: by this means it has

been put in a condition to be cultivated with success.

From New Orleans to Manchac on the east of the Missisippi, twenty-five

leagues above the capital, and quite to the Fork to the west, almost

over-against Manchac, and a little way off, the lands are of the same

kind and quality with those of New Orleans.

CHAPTER IV.

_Quality of the Lands above the_ Fork. _A Quarry of Stone for building_.

_High Lands to the East: Their vast Fertility. West Coast: West Lands:

Saltpetre_.

To the west, the Fork, the lands are pretty flat, but exempt from

inundations. The part best known of these lands is called Baya-Ogoula,

a name framed Bayouc and Ogoula, which signifies the nation dwelling

near the Bayouc; there having been a nation of that name in that

place, when the first Frenchmen {142} came down the Missisippi; it

lies twenty-five leagues from the capital.

[Illustration: _Indians of the North leaving in the winter with their

families for a hunt_]

But to the east, the lands are a good deal higher, seeing from Manchac

to the river Wabache they are between an hundred and two hundred feet

higher than the Missisippi in its greatest floods. The slope of these

lands goes off perpendicularly from the Missisippi, which on that side

receives but few rivers, and those very small, if we except the river

of the Yasous, whose course is not above fifty leagues.

All these high lands are, besides, surmounted, in a good many places,

by little eminences, or small hills, and rising grounds running off

lengthwise, with gentle slopes. It is only when we go a little way

from the Missisippi, that we find these high lands are over-topped by

little mountains, which appear to be all of earth, though steep,

without the least gravel or pebble being perceived on them.

The soil on these high lands is very good; it is a black light mold,

about three feet deep on the hills or rising grounds. This upper earth

lies upon a reddish clay, very strong and stiff; the lowest places

between these hills are of the same nature, {143} but there the black

earth is between five and six feet deep. The grass growing in the

hollows is of the height of a man, and very slender and fine; whereas

the grass of the same meadow on the high lands rises scarce knee deep;

as it does on the highest eminences, unless there is found something

underneath, which not only renders the grass shorter, but even

prevents its growth by the efficacy of some exhalations; which is not

ordinarily the case on hills, though rising high, but only on the

mountains properly so called.

My experience in architecture having taught me, that several quarries

have been found under a clay like this, I was always of opinion there

must be some in those hills.

Since I made these reflections, I have had occasion, in my journey to

the country, to confirm these conjectures. We had set up our hut at

the foot of an eminence, which was steep towards us, and near a

fountain, whose water was lukewarm and pure.

This fountain appeared to me to issue out of a hole, which was formed

by the sinking of the earth. I stooped in order to take a better view

of it, and I observed stone, which to the eye appeared proper for

building, and the upper part which was this clay, which is peculiar to

the country. I was highly pleased to be thus ascertained, that there

was stone fit for building in this colony, where it is imagined there

is none, because it does not come out of the earth to shew-itself.

It is not to be wondered, that there is none to be found in the Lower

Louisiana, which is only an earth accumulated by ooze; but it is far

more extraordinary, not to see a flint, nor even a pebble on the

hills, for upwards of an hundred leagues sometimes; however, this is a

thing common in this province.

I imagine I ought to assign a reason for it, which seems pretty

probable to me. This land has never been turned, or dug, and is very

close above the clay, which is extremely hard, and covers the stone,

which cannot shew itself through such a covering: it is therefore no

such surprise, that we observe no stone out of the earth in these

plains and on these eminences.

{144} All these high lands are generally meadows and forests of tall

trees, with grass up to the knee. Along gullies they prove to be

thickets, in which wood of every kind is found, and also the fruits of

the country.

Almost all these lands on the east of the river are such as I have

described; that is, the meadows are on those high grounds, whose slope

is very gentle; we also find there tall forests, and thickets in the

low bottoms. In the meadows we observe here and there groves of very

tall and straight oaks, to the number of fourscore or an hundred at

most: there are others of about forty or fifty, which seem to have

been planted by men's hands in these meadows, for a retreat to the

buffaloes, deer, and other animals, and a screen against storms, and

the sting of the flies.

The tall forests are all hiccory, or all oak: in these last we find a

great many morels; but then there grows a species of mushrooms at the

feet of felled walnut-trees, which the Indians carefully gather; I

tasted of them, and found them good.

The meadows are not only covered with grass fit for pasture, but

produce quantities of wood-strawberries in the month of April; for the

following months the prospect is charming; we scarce observe a pile of

grass, unless what we tread under foot; the flowers, which are then in

all their beauty, exhibit to the view the most ravishing sight, being

diversified without end; one in particular I have remarked, which

would adorn the most beautiful parterre; I mean the Lion's Mouth (_la

gueule de Lion_).

These meadows afford not only a charming prospect to the eye; they,

moreover, plentifully produce excellent simples, (equally with tall

woods) as well for the purposes of medicine as of dying. When all

these plants are burnt, and a small rain comes on, mushrooms of an

excellent flavour succeed to them, and whiten the surface of the

meadows all over.

Those rising meadows and tall forests abound with buffaloes, elk, and

deer, with turkeys, partridges, and all kinds of game; consequently

wolves, catamounts, and other carnivorous animals are found there;

which, in following the other animals, destroy and devour such as are

too old or too fat; and when the {145} Indians go a hunting, these

animals are sure to have the offal, or hound's fee, which makes them

follow the hunters.

These high lands naturally produce mulberry-trees, the leaves of which

are very grateful to the silk-worm. Indigo, in like manner, grows

there along the thickets, without culture. There also a native tobacco

is found growing wild, for the culture of which, as well as for other

species of tobacco, these lands are extremely well adapted. Cotton is

also cultivated to advantage: wheat and flax thrive better and more

easily there, than lower down towards the capital, the land there

being too fat; which is the reason that, indeed, oats come there to a

greater height than in the lands I am speaking of; but the cotton and

the other productions are neither so strong nor so fine there, and the

crops of them are often less profitable, though the soil be of an

excellent nature.

In fine, those high lands to the east of the Missisippi, from Manchae

to the river Wabache, may and ought to contain mines: we find in them,

just at the surface, iron and pit-coal, but no appearance of silver

mines; gold there may be, copper also, and lead.

Let us return to Manchac, where I quitted the Missisippi; which I

shall cross, in order to visit the west side, as I have already done

the east. I shall begin with the west coast, which resembles that to

the east; but is still more dry and barren on the shore. On quitting

that coast of white and crystal sand, in order to go northward, we

meet five or six lakes, which communicate with one another, and which

are, doubtless, remains of the sea. Between these lakes and the

Missisippi, is an earth accumulated on the sand, and formed by the

ooze of that river, as I said; between these lakes there is nothing

but sand, on which there is so little earth, that the sand-bottom

appears to view; so that we find there but little pasture, which some

strayed buffaloes come to eat; and no trees, if we except a hill on

the banks of one of these lakes, which is all covered with ever-green

oaks, fit for ship-building. This spot may be a league in length by

half a league in breadth; and was called Barataria, because enclosed

by these lakes and their outlets, to form almost an island on dry

land.

{146} These lakes are stored with monstrous carp, as well for size as

for length; which slip out of the Missisippi and its muddy stream,

when overflowed, in search of clearer water. The quantity of fish in

these lakes is very surprising, especially as they abound with vast

numbers of alligators. In the neighbourhood of these lakes there are

some petty nations of Indians, who partly live on this amphibious

animal.

Between these lakes and the banks of the Missisippi, there is some

thin herbage, and among others, natural hemp, which grows like trees,

and very branched. This need not surprise us, as each plant stands

very distant from the other: hereabouts we find little wood, unless

when we approach the Missisippi.

To the west of these lakes we find excellent lands, covered in many

places with open woods of tall trees, through which one may easily

ride on horseback; and here we find some buffaloes, which only pass

through these woods because the pasture under the trees is bitter; and

therefore they prefer the grass of the meadows, which lying exposed to

the rays of the sun, becomes thereby more savoury.

In going still farther west, we meet much thicker woods, because this

country is extremely well watered; we here find numbers of rivers,

which fall into the sea; and what contributes to the fertility of this

land, is the number of brooks, that fall into these rivers.

This country abounds with deer and other game; buffaloes are rare; but

it promises great riches to such as shall inhabit it, from the

excellent quality of its lands. The Spaniards, who bound us on that

side, are jealous enough: but the great quantities of land they

possess in America, have made them lose sight of settling there,

though acquainted therewith before us: however, they took some steps

to traverse our designs, when they saw we had some thoughts that way.

But they are not settled there as yet; and who could hinder us from

making advantageous settlements in that country?

I resume the banks of the Missisippi, above the lakes, and the lands

above the Fork, which, as I have sufficiently acquainted {147} the

reader, are none of the best; and I go up to the north, in order to

follow the same method I observed in describing the nature of the

lands to the east.

The banks of the Missisippi are of a fat and strong soil; but far less

subject to inundations than the lands of the east. If we proceed a

little way westward, we meet land gradually rising, and of an

excellent quality; and even meadows, which we might well affirm to be

boundless, if they were not intersected by little groves. These

meadows are covered with buffaloes and other game, which live there so

much the more peaceably, as they are neither hunted by men, who never

frequent those countries; nor disquieted by wolves or tigers, which

keep more to the north.

The country I have just described is such as I have represented it,

till we come to New Mexico: it rises gently enough, near the Red

River, which bounds it to the north, till we reach a high land, which

was no more than five or six leagues in breadth, and in certain places

only a league; it is almost flat, having but some eminences at some

considerable distance from each other: we also meet some mountains of

a middling height, which appear to contain something more than bare

stone.

This high land begins at some leagues from the Missisippi, and

continues so quite to New Mexico; it lowers towards the Red River, by

windings, where it is diversified alternately with meadows and woods.

The top of this height, on the contrary, has scarce any wood. A fine

grass grows between the stones, which are common there. The buffaloes

come to feed on this grass, when the rains drive them out of the

plains; otherwise they go but little thither, because they find there

neither water, nor saltpetre.

We are to remark, by the bye, that all cloven-footed animals are

extremely fond of salt, and that Louisiana in general contains a great

deal of saltpetre. And thus we are not to wonder, if the buffalo, the

elk, and the deer, have a greater inclination to some certain places

than to others, though they are there often hunted. We ought therefore

to conclude, that there is more saltpetre in those places, than in such

as they {148} haunt but rarely. This is what made me remark, that these

animals, after their ordinary repass, fail but rarely to go to the

torrents, where the earth is cut, and even to the clay; which they lick,

especially after rain, because they there find a taste of salt, which

allures them thither. Most of those who have made this remark imagine

that these animals eat the earth; whereas in such places they only go in

quest of the salt, which to them is so strong an allurement as to make

them bid defiance to dangers in order to get at it.

CHAPTER V.

_Quality of the Lands of the_ Red River. _Posts of the_ Nachitoches. _A

Silver Mine. Lands of the_ Black River.

The Banks of the Red River, towards its confluence, are pretty low,

And sometimes drowned by the inundations of the Missisippi; but above

all, the north side, which is but a marshy land for upwards of ten

leagues in going up to the Nachitoches, till we come to the Black

River, which falls into the Red. This last takes its name from the

colour of its sand, which is red in several places: it is also called

the Marne, a name given it by some geographers, but unknown in the

country. Some call it the River of the Nachitoches, because they dwell

on its banks: but the appellation, Red River, has remained to it.

Between the Black River and the Red River the soil is but very light,

and even sandy, where we find more firs than other trees; we also

observe therein some marshes. But these lands, though not altogether

barren, if cultivated, would be none of the best. They continue such

along the banks of the river, only to the rapid part of it, thirty

leagues from the Missisippi. This rapid part cannot justly be called a

fall; however, we can scarce go up with oars, when laden, but must

land and tow. I imagine, if the waterman's pole was used, as on the

Loire and other rivers in France, this obstacle would be easily

surmounted.

The south side of this river, quite to the rapid part, is entirely

different from the opposite side; it is something higher, {149} and

rises in proportion as it approaches to the height I have mentioned;

the quality is also very different. This land is good and light, and

appears disposed to receive all the culture imaginable, in which we

may assuredly hope to succeed. It naturally produces beautiful fruit

trees and vines in plenty; it was on that side muscadine grapes were

found. The back parts have neater woods, and the meadows intersected

with tall forests. On that side the fruit trees of the country are

common; above all, the hiccory and walnut-trees, which are sure

indications of a good soil.

From the rapid part to the Nachitoches, the lands on both sides of

this river sufficiently resemble those I have just mentioned. To the

left, in going up, there is a petty nation, called the Avoyelles, and

known only for the services they have done the Colony by the horses,

oxen, and cows they have brought from New Mexico for the service of

the French in Louisiana. I am ignorant what view the Indians may have

in that commerce: but I well know, that notwithstanding the fatigues

of the journey, these cattle, one with another, did not come, after

deducting all expenses, and even from the second hand, but to about

two pistoles a head; whence I ought to presume, that they have them

cheap in New Mexico. By means of this nation we have in Louisiana very

beautiful horses, of the species of those of Old Spain, which, if

managed or trained, people of the first rank might ride. As to the

oxen and cows, they are the same as those of France, and both are at

present very common in Louisiana.

The south side conveys into the Red River only little brooks. On the

north side, and pretty near the Nachitoches, there is, as is said, a

spring of water very salt, running only four leagues. This spring, as

it comes out of the earth, forms a little river, which, during the

heats, leaves some salt on its banks. And what may render this more

credible is, that the country whence it takes its rise contains a

great deal of mineral salt, which discovers itself by several springs

of salt water, and by two salt lakes, of which I shall presently

speak. In fine, in going up we come to the French fort of the

Nachitoches, built in an island, formed by the Red River.

{150} This island is nothing but sand, and that so fine, that the wind

drives it like dust; so that the tobacco attempted to be cultivated

there at first was loaded with it. The leaf of the tobacco having a

very fine down, easily retains this sand, which the least breath of

air diffuses every where; which is the reason that no more tobacco is

raised in this island, but provisions only, as maiz, potatoes,

pompions, &c. which cannot be damaged by the sands.

M. de St. Denis commanded at this place, where he insinuated himself

into the good graces of the natives in such a manner, that, altho'

they prefer death to slavery, or even to the government of a

sovereign, however mild, yet twenty or twenty-five nations were so

attached to his person, that, forgetting they were born free, they

willingly surrendered themselves to him; the people and their Chiefs

would all have him for their Grand Chief; so that at the least signal,

he could put himself at the head of thirty thousand men, drawn out of

those nations, which had of their own accord submitted themselves to

his orders; and that only by sending them a paper on which he drew the

usual hieroglyphics that represent war among them, with a large leg,

which denoted himself. This was still the more surprising, as the

greatest part of these people were on the Spanish territories, and

ought rather to have attached themselves to them, than to the French,

if it had not been for the personal merits of this Commander.

At the distance of seven leagues from the French Post, the Spaniards

have settled one, where they have resided ever since M. de la Motte,

Governor of Louisiana, agreed to that settlement. I know not by what

fatal piece of policy the Spaniards were allowed to make this

settlement; but I know, that, if it had not been for the French, the

natives would never have suffered the Spaniards to settle in that

place.

However, several French were allured to this Spanish settlement,

doubtless imagining, that the rains which come from Mexico, rolled and

brought gold along with them, which would cost nothing but the trouble

of picking up. But to what purpose serves this beautiful metal, but to

make the people vain and idle among whom it is so common, and to make

them {151} neglect the culture of the earth, which constitutes true

riches, by the sweets it procures to man, and by the advantages it

furnishes to commerce.

Above the Nachitoches dwell the Cadodaquious, whose scattered villages

assume different names. Pretty near one of these villages was

discovered a silver mine, which was found to be rich, and of a very

pure metal. I have seen the assay of it, and its ore is very fine.

This silver lies concealed in small invisible particles, in a stone of

a chesnut colour, which is spongy, pretty light, and easily

calcinable: however, it yields a great deal more than it promises to

the eye. The assay of this ore was made by a Portuguese, who had

worked at the mines of New Mexico, whence he made his escape. He

appeared to be master of his business, and afterwards visited other

mines farther north, but he ever gave the preference to that of the

Red River.

This river, according to the Spaniards, takes its rise in 32 degrees

of north latitude; runs about fifty leagues north-east; forms a great

elbow, or winding to the east; then proceeding thence south-east, at

which place we begin to know it, it comes and falls into the

Missisippi, about 31° and odd minutes.

I said above, that the Black River discharges itself into the Red, ten

leagues above the confluence of this last with the Missisippi: we now

proceed to resume that river, and follow its course, after having

observed, that the fish of all those rivers which communicate with the

Missisippi, are the same as to species, but far better in the Red and

Black Rivers, because their water is clearer and better than that of

the Missisippi, which they always quit with pleasure. Their delicate

and finer flavour may also arise from the nourishment they take in

those rivers.

The lands of which we are going to speak are to the north of the Red

River. They may be distinguished into two parts; which are to the

right and left of the Black River, in going up to its source, and even

as far as the river of the Arkansas. It is called the Black River,

because its depth gives it that colour, {152} which is, moreover,

heightened by the woods which line it throughout the Colony. All the

rivers have their banks covered with woods; but this river, which is

very narrow, is almost quite covered by the branches, and rendered of

a dark colour in the first view. It is sometimes called the river of

the Wachitas, because its banks were occupied by a nation of that

name, who are now extinct. I shall continue to call it by its usual

name.

The lands which we directly find on both sides are low, and continue

thus for the space of three or four leagues, till we come to the river

of the Taensas, thus denominated from a nation of that name, which

dwelt on its banks. This river of the Taensas is, properly speaking,

but a channel formed by the overflowings of the Missisippi, has its

course almost parallel thereto, and separates the low lands from the

higher. The lands between the Missisippi and the river of the Taensas

are the same as in the Lower Louisiana.

The lands we find in going up the Black River are nearly the same, as

well for the nature of the soil, as for their good qualities. They are

rising grounds, extending in length, and which in general may be

considered as one very extensive meadow, diversified with little

groves, and cut only by the Black River and little brooks, bordered

with wood up to their sources. Buffaloes and deer are seen in whole

herds there. In approaching to the river of the Arkansas, deer and

pheasants begin to be very common; and the same species of game is

found there, as is to the east of the Missisippi; in like manner

wood-strawberries, simples, flowers, and mushrooms. The only

difference is, that this side of the Missisippi is more level, there

being no lands so high and so very different from the rest of the

country. The woods are like those to the east of the Missisippi,

except that to the west there are more walnut and hiccory trees. These

last are another species of walnut, the nuts of which are more tender,

and invite to these parts a greater number of parrots. What we have

just said, holds in general of this west side; let us now consider

what is peculiar thereto.

{153}

CHAPTER VI.

_A Brook of Salt Water: Salt Lakes. Lands of the River of the_ Arkansas.

_Red veined Marble: Slate: Plaster. Hunting the Buffalo. The dry

Sand-banks in the_ Missisippi.

After we have gone up the Black River about thirty leagues, we find to

the left a brook of salt water, which comes from the west. In going up

this brook about two leagues, we meet with a lake of salt water, which

may be two leagues in length, by one in breadth. A league higher up to

the north, we meet another lake of salt water, almost as long and

broad as the former.

This water, doubtless, passes through some mines of salt; it has the

taste of salt, without that bitterness of the sea-water. The Indians

come a great way off to this place, to hunt in winter, and make salt.

Before the French trucked coppers with them, they made upon the spot

pots of earth for this operation: and they returned home loaded with

salt and dry provisions.

To the east of the Black River we observe nothing that indicates

mines; but to the west one might affirm there should be some, from

certain marks, which might well deceive pretended connoisseurs. As for

my part, I would not warrant that there were two mines in that part of

the country, which seems to promise them. I should rather be led to

believe that they are mines of salt, at no great depth from the

surface of the earth, which, by their volatile and acid spirits,

prevent the growth of plants in those spots.

Ten or twelve leagues above this brook is a creek, near which those

Natchez retreated, who escaped being made slaves with the rest of

their nation, when the Messrs. Perier extirpated them on the east side

of the river, by order of the Court.

The Black River takes its rise to the north-west of its confluence,

and pretty near the river of the Arkansas, into which falls a branch

from this rise or source; by means of which we may have a

communication from the one to the other with a middling carriage. This

communication with the river of the {154} Arkansas is upwards of an

hundred leagues from the Post of that name. In other respects, this

Black River might carry a boat throughout, if cleared of the wood

fallen into its bed, which generally traverses it from one side to the

other. It receives some brooks, and abounds in excellent fish, and in

alligators.

I make no doubt but these lands are very fit to bear and produce every

thing that can be cultivated with success on the east of the

Missisippi, opposite to this side, except the canton or quarter

between the river of the Taensas and the Missisippi; that land, being

subject to inundations, would be proper only for rice.

I imagine we may now pass on to the north of the river of the

Arkansas, which takes its rise in the mountains adjoining to the east

of Santa Fé. It afterwards goes up a little to the north, from whence

it comes down to the south, a little lower than its source. In this

manner it forms a line parallel almost with the Red River.

That river has a cataract or fall, at about an hundred and fifty

leagues from its confluence. Before we come to this fall, we find a

quarry of red-veined marble, one of slate, and one of plaster. Some

travellers have there observed grains of gold in a little brook: but

as they happened to be going in quest of a rock of emeralds, they

deigned not to amuse themselves with picking up particles of gold.

This river of the Arkansas is stored with fish; has a great deal of

water; having a course of two hundred and fifty leagues, and can carry

large boats quite to the cataract. Its banks are covered with woods,

as are all the other rivers of the country. In its course it receives

several brooks or rivulets, of little consequence, unless we except

that called the White River, and which discharges itself into the

curve or elbow of that we are speaking of, and below its fall.

In the whole tract north of this river, we find plains that extend out

of sight, which are vast meadows, intersected by groves, at no great

distance from one another, which are all tall woods, where we might

easily hunt the stag; great numbers {155} of which, as also of

buffaloes, are found here. Deer also are very common.

From having seen those animals frightened at the least noise,

especially at the report of a gun, I have thought of a method to hunt

them, in the manner the Spaniards of New Mexico do, which would not

scare them at all, and which would turn to the great advantage of the

inhabitants, who have this game in plenty in their country. This

hunting might be set about in winter, from the beginning of October,

when the meadows are burnt, till the month of February.