Louisiana produces no black mulberries: but from the sea to the

Arkansas, which is an extent of navigation upon the river of two

hundred leagues, we meet very frequently with three kinds of

mulberries; one a bright red, another perfectly white, and a third

white and sweetish. The first of these kinds is very common, but the

two last are more rare. Of the red mulberries they make excellent

vinegar, which keeps a long time, provided they take care in the

making of it to keep it in the shade in a vessel well stopped,

contrary to the practice in France. They make vinegar also of bramble

berries, but this {213} is not so good as the former. I do not doubt

but the colonists at present apply themselves seriously to the

cultivation of mulberries, to feed silk-worms, especially as the

countries adjoining to France, and which supplied us with silk, have

now made the exportation of it difficult.

The olive-trees in this colony are surprisingly beautiful. The trunk

is sometimes a foot and a half diameter, and thirty feet high before

it spreads out into branches. The Provençals settled in the colony

affirm, that its olives would afford as good an oil as those of their

country. Some of the olives that were prepared to be eat green, were

as good as those of Provence. I have reason to think, that if they

were planted on the coasts, the olives would have a finer relish.

They have great numbers and a variety of kinds of walnut-trees in

this country. There is a very large kind, the wood of which is almost

as black as ebony, but very porous. The fruit, with the outer shell,

is of the size of a large hen's egg: the shell has no cleft, is very

rough and so hard as to require a hammer to break it. Though the fruit

be very relishing, yet it is covered with such a thick film, that few

can bestow the pains of separating the one from the other. The natives

make bread of it, by throwing the fruit into water, and rubbing it

till the film and oil be separated from it. If those trees were

engrafted with the French walnut, their fruit would probably be

improved.

Other walnut-trees have a very white and flexible wood. Of this wood

the natives make their crooked spades for hoeing their fields. The nut

is smaller than ours, and the shell more tender; but the fruit is so

bitter that none but perroquets can put up with it.

The Hicori bears a very small kind of nut, which at first sight one

would take for filberts, as they have the same shape and colour, and

their shell is as tender, but within they are formed like walnuts.

They have such an excellent relish, that the French make fried cakes

of them as good as those of almonds.

Louisiana produces but a few filberts, as the filbert requires a poor

gravelly soil which is not to be met with in this {214} province,

except in the neighbourhood of the sea, especially near the river

Mobile.

[Illustration: Sweet Gum or Liquid-Amber]

The large chesnuts are not to be met with but at the distance of one

hundred leagues from the sea, and far from rivers in the heart of the

woods, between the country of the Chactaws and that of the Chicasaws.

The common chesnuts succeed best upon high declivities, and their

fruit is like the chesnuts that grow in our woods. There is another

kind of chesnuts, which are called the Acorn chesnuts, as they are

shaped like an acorn, {215} and grow in such a cup. But they have the

colour and taste of a chesnut; and I have often thought that those

were the acorns which the first of men were said to have lived upon.

The Sweet-Gum, or Liquid-Ambar (Copalm) is not only extremely common,

but it affords a balm, the virtues of which are infinite. Its bark is

black and hard, and its wood so tender and supple, that when the tree

is felled you may draw from the middle of it rods of five or six feet

in length. It cannot be employed in building or furniture, as it warps

continually; nor is it fit for burning on account of its strong smell;

but a little of it in a fire yields an agreeable perfume. Its leaf is

indented with five points like a star.

I shall not undertake to particularize all the virtues of this

Sweet-Gum or Liquid-Ambar, not having learned all of them from the

natives of the country, who would be no less surprised to find that we

used it only as a varnish, than they were to see our surgeons bleed

their patients. This balm, according to them, is an excellent

febrifuge; they take ten or a dozen drops of it in gruel fasting, and

before their meals; and if they should take a little more, they have

no reason to apprehend any danger. The physicians among the natives

purge their patients before they give it them. It cures wounds in two

days without any bad consequences: it is equally sovereign for all

kinds of ulcers, after having applied to them for some days a plaster

of bruised ground-ivy. It cures consumptions, opens obstructions; it

affords relief in the colic and all internal diseases; it comforts the

heart; in short, it contains so many virtues, that they are every day

discovering some new property that it has.

CHAPTER III.

Of Forest Trees.

Having described the most remarkable of their fruit trees, I shall now

proceed to give an account of their forest trees. White and red cedars

are very common upon the coast. The incorruptibility of the wood, and

many other excellent properties which are well known, induced the

first French settlers to build their houses of it; which were but very

low.

{216} [Illustration: Cypress]

Next to the cedar the cypress-tree is the most valuable wood. Some

reckon it incorruptible; and if it be not, it is at least a great many

years in rotting. The tree that was found twenty feet deep in the

earth near New Orleans was a cypress, and was uncorrupted. Now if the

lands of Lower Louisiana are augmented two leagues every century, this

tree must have been buried at least twelve centuries. The cypress

grows very straight and tall, with a proportionable thickness. They

commonly {217} make their pettyaugres of a single trunk of this tree,

which will carry three or four thousand weight, and sometimes more. Of

one of those trees a carpenter offered to make two pettyaugres, one of

which carried sixteen ton, and the other fourteen. There is a cypress

at Baton Rouge, a French settlement twenty-six leagues above New

Orleans, which measures twelve yards round, and is of a prodigious

height. The cypress has few branches, and its leaf is long and narrow.

The trunk close by the ground sometimes sends off two or three stems,

which enter the earth obliquely, and serve for buttresses to the tree.

Its wood is of a beautiful colour, somewhat reddish; it is soft,

light, and smooth; its grain is straight, and its pores very close. It

is easily split by wedges, and though used green it never warps. It

renews itself in a very extraordinary manner: a short time after it is

cut down, a shoot is observed to grow from one of its roots exactly in

the form of a sugar-loaf, and this sometimes rises ten feet high

before any leaf appears: the branches at length arise from the head of

this conical shoot. [Footnote: This is a mistake, according to

Charlevoix.]

The cypresses were formerly very common in Louisiana; but they have

wasted them so imprudently, that they are now somewhat rare. They

felled them for the sake of their bark, with which they covered their

houses, and they sawed the wood into planks which they exported at

different places. The price of the wood now is three times as much as

it was formerly.

The Pine-tree, which loves a barren soil, is to be found in great

abundance on the sea coasts, where it grows very high and very

beautiful. The islands upon the coast, which are formed wholly of

shining sand, bear no other trees, and I am persuaded that as fine

masts might be made of them as of the firs of Sweden.

All the south parts of Louisiana abound with the Wild Laurel, which

grows in the woods without any cultivation: the same may be said of

the stone laurel, but if a person is not upon his guard he may take

for the laurel a tree natural to the country, which would communicate

its bad smell to every thing it is applied to. Among the laurels the

preference ought to be {218} given to the tulip laurel (magnolia)

which is not known in Europe. This tree is of the height and bulk of

one of our common walnut-trees. Its head is naturally very round, and

so thick of leaves that neither the sun nor rain can penetrate it. Its

leaves are full four inches long, near three inches broad, and very

thick, of a beautiful sea-green on the upperside, and resembling white

velvet on the under-side: its bark is smooth and of a grey colour; its

wood is white, soft and flexible, and {219} the grain interwoven. It

owes its name to the form of its great white flowers, which are at

least two inches broad. These appearing in the spring amidst the

glossy verdure of the leaves, have a most beautiful effect. As the top

is naturally round, and the leaves are ever-green, avenues of this

tree would doubtless be worthy of a royal garden. After it has shed

its leaves, its fruit appears in the form of a pine apple, and upon

the first approach of the cold its grain turns into a lively red. Its

{220} kernel is very bitter, and it is said to be a specific against

fevers.

[Illustration: _Magnolia_ (on p. 218)]

[Illustration: _Sassafras_ (on p. 219)]

The sassafras, the name of which is familiar to botanists on account

of its medicinal qualities, is a large and tall tree. Its bark is

thick, and cracked here and there; its wood is some what of the colour

of cinnamon, and has an agreeable smell. It will not burn in the fire

without the mixture of other wood, and even in the fire, if it should

be separated from the flaming wood, it is immediately extinguished as

if it were dipped in water.

The maple grows upon declivities in cold climates, and is much more

plentiful in the northern than the southern parts of the colony. By

boring it they draw from it a sweet syrup which I have drunk of, and

which they alledge is an excellent stomachic.

The myrtle wax-tree is one of the greatest blessings with which nature

has enriched Louisiana, as in this country the bees lodge their honey

in the earth to save it from the ravages of the bears, who are very

fond of it, and do not value their stings. One would be apt to take it

at first sight, both from its bark and its height, for that kind of

laurel used in the kitchens. It rises in several stems from the root;

its leaf is like that of the laurel, but not so thick nor of such a

lively green. It bears its fruit in bunches like a nosegay, rising

from the same place in various stalks about two inches long: at the

end of each of those stalks is a little pea, containing a kernel in a

nut, which last is wholly covered with wax. The fruit, which is very

plentiful, is easily gathered, as the shrub is very flexible. The tree

thrives as well in the shade of other trees as in the open air; in

watry places and cold countries, as well as in dry grounds and hot

climates; for I have been told that some of them have been found in

Canada, a country as cold as Denmark.

This tree yields two kinds of wax, one a whitish yellow, and the

other green. It was a long time before they learned to separate them,

and they prepared the wax at first in the, following manner. They

threw the grains and the stalks into a large kettle of boiling water,

and when the wax was detached {221} from them, they scummed off the

grains. When the water cooled the wax floated in a cake at the top,

and being cut small, bleached in a shorter time than bees wax. They

now prepare it in this manner; they throw boiling water upon the

stalks and grains till they are entirely floated, and when they have

stood thus a few minutes, they pour off the water, which carries the

finest wax with it. This wax when cold is of a {222} pale yellow

colour, and may be bleached in six or seven days. Having separated the

best wax, they pour the water again upon the stalks and grains, and

boil all together till they think they have separated all the wax.

Both kinds are exported to our sugar islands, where the first is sold

for a hundred sols the pound, and the second for forty.

[Illustration: TOP: _Myrtle Wax Tree_--BOTTOM: _Vinegar tree (Acacia or

Locust)_ (on p. 221)]

This wax is so brittle and dry that if it falls it breaks into several

pieces; on this account however it lasts longer than that of France, and

is preferred to it in our sugar islands, where the latter is softened by

the great heats, and, consumes like tallow. I would advise those who

prepare this wax to separate the grain from the short stalk before they

boil it, as the stalk is greener than the grain, and seems to part easily

with its colour. The water which serves to melt and separate the wax is

far from being useless. The fruit communicates to it such an astringent

virtue, as to harden the tallow that is melted in it to such a degree,

that the candles made of that tallow are as firm as the wax candles of

France. This astringent quality likewise renders it an admirable specific

against a dysentery or looseness. From what I have said of the myrtle

wax-tree, it may well be believed that the French of Louisiana cultivate

it carefully, and make plantations of it.

The cotton-tree (a poplar) is a large tree which no wise deserves the

name it bears, unless for some beards that it throws out. Its fruit

which contains the grain is about the size of a walnut, and of no use;

its wood is yellow, smooth, somewhat hard, of a fine grain, and very

proper for cabinet work. The bark of its root is a sovereign remedy

for cuts, and so red that it may even serve to dye that colour.

The acacia (locust) is the same in Louisiana as in France, much more

common, and less streight. The natives call it by a name that

signifies hard wood, and they make their bows of it because it is very

stiff. They look upon it as an incorruptible wood, which induced the

French settlers to build their houses of it. The posts fixed in the

earth must be entirely {223} stripped of their bark, for

notwithstanding their hardness, if the least bark be left upon them

they will take root.

[Illustration: _Poplar ("Cotton Tree")_]

The holm-oak grows to a surprising bulk and height in this country; I

have seen of them a foot and a half diameter, and about 30 feet from

the ground to the lowest branches.

The mangrove is very common all over America. it grows in Louisiana

near the sea, even to the bounds of low water mark. It is more

prejudicial than useful, inasmuch as {224} it occupies a great deal of

good land, prevents sailors from landing, and affords shelter to the

fish from the fishermen.

[Illustration: _Black Oak_]

Oak-trees abound in Louisiana; there are some red, some white, and

some ever-green. A ship-builder of St. Maloes assured me that the red

is as good as the ever-green upon which we set so high a value in

France. The ever-green oak is most common toward the sea-coasts, and

near the banks of rivers, consequently may be transported with great

ease, and {225} become a great resource for the navy of France.

[Footnote: Eleven leagues above the mouth of the Mississippi, on the

west side, there is great plenty of ever-green oaks, the wood of which

is very proper for the timbers of ships, as it does not rot in water.

_Dumont_, I. & 50.

Accordingly the best ships built in America are well known to be those

that have their timbers of ever-green oak, and their plank of cedar,

of both which there are great plenty on all the coasts of Louisiana.]

I forgot to mention a fourth kind of oak, namely the black oak, so

called from the colour of its bark. Its wood is very hard, and of a

{226} deep red. It grows upon the declivities of hills and in the

savannahs. Happening after a shower of rain to examine one of these

which I cut down, I observed some water to come from it as red as

blood, which made me think that it might be used for dying.

[Illustration: _Linden or Bass Tree_ (on p. 225)]

The ash is very common in this country; but more and better upon the

sea-coasts than in the inland parts. As it is easy to be had, and is

harder than the elm, the wheel-wrights make use of it for wheels,

which it is needless to, ring with iron in a country where there are

neither stones nor gravel.

The elm, beech, lime, and hornbeam, are exactly the same in Louisiana

as in France; the last of these trees is very common here. The bark of

the lime-tree of this country is equally proper for the making of

ropes, as the bark of the common lime; but its leaf is twice as large,

and shaped like an oblong trefoil leaf with the point cut off.

The white woods are the aspen, willow, alder and liart. This last

grows very large, its wood is white and light, and its fibres are

interwoven; it is very flexible and is easily cut, on which account

they make their large pettyaugres of it.

CHAPTER IV.

Of Shrubs and Excrescences.

The ayac, or stinking-wood, is usually a small tree, seldom exceeding

the thickness of a man's leg; its leaf is of a yellowish green,

glossy, and of an oval form, being about three inches in length. The

wood is yellow, and yields a water of the same colour, when it is cut

in the sap: but both the wood and the water that comes from it have a

disagreeable, smell. The natives use the wood for dying; they cut it

into small bits, pound them, and then boil them in water. Having

strained this water, they dip the feathers and hair into it, which it

is their custom to dye first yellow, and then red. When they intend to

use it for the yellow dye, they take care to cut the wood in the

winter, but if they want only a slight colour they never mind the

season of cutting it.

{227} [Illustration: _Box Elder or Stink-wood Tree_]

The machonchi, or vinegar-tree, is a shrub with leaves, somewhat

resembling those of the ash; but the foot-stalk from which the leaves

hang is much longer. When the leaves are dry the natives mix them with

their tobacco to weaken it a little, for they do not love strong

tobacco for smoaking. The wood is of an astringent nature, and if put

into vinegar makes it stronger.

{228} [Illustration: TOP: _Cassine or Yapon_--BOTTOM: _Tooth-ache Tree or

Prickly Ash_]

The cassine, or yapon, is a shrub which never grows higher than 15

feet; its bark is very smooth, and the wood flexible. Its leaf is very

much indented, and when used as tea is reckoned good for the stomach.

The natives make an intoxicating liquor from it, by boiling it in

water till great part of the liquor evaporate.

The tooth-ache tree does not grow higher than 10 to 12 feet. The

trunk, which is not very large, is wholly covered over with {229}

short thick prickles, which are easily rubbed off. The pith of this

shrub is almost as large as that of the elder, and the form of the

leaf is almost the same in both. It has two barks, the outer almost

black, and the inner white, with somewhat of a pale reddish hue. This

inner bark has the property of curing the tooth-ach. The patient rolls

it up to the size of a bean, puts it upon the aching tooth, and chews

it till the pain ceases. Sailors and other such people powder it, and

use it as pepper.

[Illustration: TOP: _Passion Thorn or Honey Locust_--BOTTOM: _Bearded

Creeper_]

{230} [Illustration: _Palmetto_]

The passion-thorn does not rise above the height of a shrub; but its

trunk is rather thick for its height. This shrub is in great esteem

among the Natches; but I never could learn for what reason. Its leaf

resembles that of the black thorn; and its wood while it is green is

not very hard. Its prickles are at least two inches long, and are very

hard and piercing; within half an inch of their root two other small

prickles grow out from them so as to form a cross. The whole trunk is

covered {231} with these prickles, so that you must be very wary how

you approach it, or cut it.

The elder-tree is exactly like that of France, only that its leaf is a

little more indented. The juice of its leaves mixed with hog's lard is

a specific against the haemorrhoids.

The palmetto has its leaves in the form of an open fan, scolloped at

the end of each of its folds. Its bark is more rough and knotty than

that of the palm-tree. Although it is less than that of the East

Indies, it may however serve to the same purposes. Its wood is not

harder than that of a cabbage, and its trunk is so soft that the least

wind overturns it, so that I never saw any but what were lying on the

ground. It is very common in Lower Louisiana, where there are no wild

oxen; for those animals who love it dearly, and are greatly fattened

by it, devour it wherever they can find it. The Spanish women make

hats of its leaves that do not weigh an ounce, riding-hoods, and other

curious works.

The birch-tree is the same with that of France. In the north they make

canoes of its bark large enough to hold eight persons. When the sap

rises they strip off the bark from the tree in one piece with wedges,

after which they sew up the two ends of it to serve for stem and

stern, and anoint the whole with gum.

I make not the least doubt but that there are great numbers of other

trees in the forests of Louisiana that deserve to be particularly

described; but I know of none, nor have I heard of any, but what I

have already spoken of. For our travellers, from whom alone we can get

any intelligence of those things, are more intent upon discovering

game which they stand in need of for their subsistence, than in

observing the productions of nature in the vegetable kingdom. To what

I have said of trees, I shall only add, from my own knowledge, an

account of two singular excrescences.

The first is a kind of agaric or mushroom, which grows from the root

of the walnut-tree, especially when it is felled. The natives, who are

very careful in the choice of their food, gather it with great

attention, boil it in water, and eat it with {232} their gruel. I had

the curiosity to taste of it, and found it very delicate, but rather

insipid, which might easily be corrected with a little seasoning.

The other excrescence is commonly found upon trees near the banks of

rivers and lakes. It is called Spanish beard, which name was given it

by the natives, who, when the Spaniards first appeared in their

country about 240 years ago, were greatly surprised at their

mustachios and beards. This excrescence appears like a bunch of hair

hanging from the large branches of trees, and might at first be easily

mistaken for an old perruque, especially when it is dancing with the

wind. As the first settlers of Louisiana used only mud walls for their

houses, they commonly mixed it with the mud for strengthening the

building. When gathered it is of a grey colour, but when it is dry its

bark falls off, and discovers black filaments as long and as strong as

the hairs of a horse's tail. I dressed some of it for stuffing a

mattress, by first laying it up in a heap to make it part with the

bark, and afterwards beating it to take off some small branches that

resemble so many little hooks. It is affirmed by some to be

incorruptible: I myself have seen of it under old rotten trees that

was perfectly fresh and strong.

CHAPTER V.

_Of Creeping Plants._

The great fertility of Louisiana renders the creeping plants extremely

common, which, exclusive of the ivy, are all different from those

which we have in France. I shall only mention the most remarkable.

The bearded-creeper is so called from having its whole stalk covered

with a beard about an inch long, hooked at the end, and somewhat thicker

than a horse's hair. There is no tree which it loves to cling to so much

as to the sweet gum; and so great is its sympathy, if I may be allowed

the expression, for that tree, that if it grow between it and any other

tree, it turns solely towards the sweet gum, although it should be at

the greatest distance from it. This is likewise the tree upon which

{233} it thrives best. It has the same virtue with its balm of being a

febrifuge, and this I affirm after a great number of proofs. The

physicians among the natives use this simple in the following manner.

They take a piece of it, above the length of the finger, which they

split into as many threads as possible; these they boil in a quart of

water, till one third of the decoction evaporate, and the remainder is

strained clear. They then purge the patient, and the next day, upon the

approach of the fit, they give a third of the decoction to drink. If the

patient be not cured with the first dose, he is again purged and drinks

another third, which seldom fails of having the wished-for effect. This

medicine is indeed very bitter, but it strengthens the stomach; a

singular advantage it has over the Jesuits bark, which is accused of

having a contrary effect.

There is another creeper very like salsaparilla, only that it bears

its leaves by threes. It bears a fruit smooth on one side like a

filbert, and on the other as rough as the little shells which serve

for money on the Guinea coast. I shall not speak of its properties;

they are but too well known by the women of Louisiana, especially the

girls, who very often have recourse to it.

Another creeper is called by the native physicians the remedy against

poisoned arrows. It is large and very beautiful; its leaves are pretty

long, and the pods it bears are narrow, about an inch broad, and eight

inches long.

The salsaparilla grows naturally in Louisiana, and it is not inferior

in its qualities to that of Mexico. It is so well known that it is

needless to enlarge upon it.

The esquine partly resembles a creeper and partly a bramble. It is

furnished with hard spikes like prickles, and its oblong leaves are

like those of the common creeper (liane;) its stalk is straight, long,

shining, and hard, and it runs up along the reeds: its root is spungy,

and sometimes as large as one's head, but more long than round.

Besides the sudorific virtue which the esquine possesses in common

with the salsaparilla, it has the property of making the hair grow,

and the women among the natives use it successfully with this view.

{234} They cut the root into small bits, boil them in water, and wash

their heads with the decoction. I have seen several of them whose hair

came down below their knees, and one particularly whose hair came

lower than the ankle bones.

[Illustration: TOP: _Bramble_--BOTTOM: _Sarsaparilla_]

Hops grow naturally in the gullies in the high lands.

Maiden-hair grows in Louisiana more beautiful, at least as good as

that of Canada, which is in so great repute. It {235} grows in gullies

upon the sides of hills, in places that are absolutely impenetrable to

the most ardent rays of the sun. It seldom rises above a foot, and it

bears a thick shaggy head. The native physicians know more of its

virtues than we do in France.

The canes or reeds which I have mentioned so often may be divided into

two kinds. One kind grows in moist places to the height of eighteen

feet, and the thickness of the wrist. The natives makes matts, sieves,

small boxes, and other works of it. Those that grow in dry places are

neither so high nor so thick, but are so hard, that before the arrival

of the French, the natives used splits of those canes to cut their

victuals with. After a certain number of years, the large canes bear a

great abundance of grain, which is somewhat like oats, but about three

times as large. The natives carefully gather these grains and make

bread or gruel of them. This flour swells as much as that of wheat.

When the reeds have yielded the grain they die, and none appear for a

long time after in the same place, especially if fire has been set to

the old ones.

The flat-root receives its name from the form of its root, which is

thin, flat, pretty often indented, and sometimes even pierced through:

it is a line or sometimes two lines in thickness, and its breadth is

commonly a foot and a half. From this large root hang several other

small straight roots, which draw the nourishment from the earth. This

plant, which grows in meadows that are not very rich, sends up from

the same root several straight stalks about eighteen inches high,

which are as hard as wood, and on the top of the stalks it bears small

purplish, flowers, in their figure greatly resembling those of heath;

its seed is contained in a deep cup closed at the head, and in a

manner crowned. Its leaves are about an inch broad, and about two

long, without any indenting, of a dark green, inclining to a brown. It

is so strong a sudorific, that the natives never use any other for

promoting sweating, although they are perfectly acquainted with

sassafras, salsaparilla, the esquine and others.

The rattle-snake-herb has a bulbous root, like that of the tuberose,

but twice as large. The leaves of both have the same {236} shape and

the same colour, and on the under side have some flame-coloured spots;

but those of the rattle-snake plant are twice as large as the others,

end in a very firm point, and are armed with very hard prickles on

both sides. Its stalk grows to the height of about three feet, and

from the head rise five or six sprigs in different directions, each of

which bears a purple flower an inch broad, with five leaves in the

form of a {237} cup. After these leaves are shed there remains a head

about the size of a small nut, but shaped like the head of a poppy.

This head is separated into four divisions, each of which contains

four black seeds, equally thick throughout, and about the size of a

large lentil. When the head is ripe, it will, when shaken, give the

same sound as the tail of a rattle-snake, which seems to indicate the

property of the plant; for it is the specific remedy against the bite

of that dangerous reptile. The person who has been bit ought

immediately to take a root, bite off part of it, chew it for some

time, and apply it to the wound. In five or six hours it will extract

the whole poison, and no bad consequences need be apprehended.

[Illustration: _Rattlesnake herb_ (on p. 236)]

Ground-ivy is said by the natives to possess many more virtues than

are known to our botanists. It is said to ease women in labour when

drank in a decoction; to cure ulcers, if bruised and laid upon the

ulcered part; to be a sovereign remedy for the head-ach; a

considerable quantity of its leaves bruised, and laid as a cataplasm.

upon the head, quickly removes the pain. As this is an inconvenient

application to a person that wears his hair, I thought of taking the

salts of the plant, and I gave some of them in vulnerary water to a

friend of mine who was often attacked with the head-ach, advising him

likewise to draw up some drops by the nose: he seldom practised this

but he was relieved a few moments after.

The Achechy is only to be found in the shade of a wood, and never

grows higher than six or seven inches. It has a small stalk, and its

leaves are not above three lines long. Its root consists of a great

many sprigs a line in diameter, full of red juice like chickens blood.

Having transplanted this plant from an overshadowed place into my

garden, I expected to see it greatly improved; but it was not above an

inch taller, and its head was only a little bushier than usual. It is

with the juice of this plant that the natives dye their red colour.

Having first dyed their feathers or hair yellow or a beautiful citron

colour with the ayac wood, they boil the roots of the achechy in

water, then squeeze them with all their force, and the expressed

liquor serves for the red dye. That which was naturally white before

it was dyed yellow, takes a beautiful scarlet; {238} that which was

brown, such as buffalo's hair, which is of a chesnut colour, becomes a

reddish brown.

[Illustration: TOP: _Red Dye Plant_--BOTTOM: _Flat Root_]

I shall not enlarge upon the strawberries, which are of an excellent

flavour, and so plentiful, that from the beginning of April the

savannahs or meadows appear quite red with them. I shall also only

just mention the tobacco, which I reserve for the article of

agriculture; but I ought not to omit to take notice, that hemp grows

naturally on the lands adjoining to the lakes {239} on the west of the

Missisippi. The stalks are as thick as one's finger, and about six

feet long. They are quite like ours both in the wood, the leaf, and

the rind. The flax which was sown in this country rose three feet

high.

I cannot affirm from my own knowledge that the soil in this province

produces either white mushrooms or truffles. But morelles in their

season are to be found in the greatest abundance, and round mushrooms

in the autumn.

When I consider the mild temperature of this climate, I am persuaded

that all our flowers would succeed extremely well in it. The country

has flowers peculiar to itself, and, in such abundance, that from the

month of May till the end of summer, you can hardly see the grass in

the meadows; and of such various hues that one is at a loss which to

admire most and declare to be the most beautiful. The number and

diversity of those flowers quite enchant the sight. I will not however

attempt to give a particular account of them, as I am not qualified on

this head to satisfy the desires of the curious, from my having

neglected to consider the various flowers themselves. I have seen

single and small roses without any smell; and another kind of rose

with four white petals, which in its smell, chives, and pointal,

differed in nothing from our damask roses. But of all the flowers of

this country, that which struck me most, as it is both very common and

lasts a long time, is the flower called Lion's Mouth. The flowers

which decorate its stalk, its shady colours, its blowing for more than

three months, justly entitle it to the preference before all other

flowers. It forms of itself an agreeable nosegay; and in my opinion,

it deserves to be ranked with the finest flowers, and to be cultivated

with attention in the gardens of our kings.

As to cotton and indigo, I defer speaking of them till I come to the

chapter of agriculture.

{240}

CHAPTER VI.

_Of the Quadrupedes._

Before I speak of the animals which the first settlers found in

Louisiana, it is proper to observe, that all those which were brought

hither from France, or from New Spain and Carolina, such as horses,

oxen, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and others, have multiplied and

thriven perfectly well. However it ought to be remarked, that in Lower

Louisiana, where the ground is moist and much covered with wood, they

can neither be so good nor so beautiful as in Higher Louisiana, where

the soil is dry, where there are most extensive meadows, and where the

sun warms the earth to a much greater degree.

The buffalo is about the size of one of our largest oxen, but he

appears rather bigger, on account of his long curled wool, which makes

him appear to the eye much larger than he really is. This wool is very

fine and very thick, and is of a dark chesnut colour, as are likewise

his bristly hairs, which are also curled, and so long, that the bush

between his horns often falls over his eyes, and hinders him from

seeing before him; but his sense of hearing and smelling is so

exquisite as in some measure to supply the want of the other. A pretty

large bunch rises on his shoulders in the place where they join to the

neck. His horns are thick, short, and black; and his hoof is also

black. The cows of this species have small udders like those of a

mare.

This buffalo is the chief food of the natives, and of the French also

for a long time past; the best piece is the bunch on the shoulders,

the taste of which is extremely delicate. They hunt this animal in the

winter; for which purpose they leave Lower Louisiana, and the river

Missisippi, as he cannot penetrate thither on account of the thickness

of the woods; and besides loves to feed on long grass, which is only

to be found in the meadows of the high lands. In order to get near

enough to fire upon him, they go against the wind, and they take aim

at the hollow of the shoulder, that they may bring him to the ground

at once, for if he is only slightly wounded, he runs against his

enemy. The natives when hunting seldom {241} choose to kill any but

the cows, having experienced that the flesh of the male smells rank;

but this they might easily prevent, if they did but cut off the

testicles from the beast as soon as he is dead, as they do from stags

and wild boars. By killing the males there is less hazard of

diminishing the species than by killing the females; and besides, the

males have much more tallow, and their skins are the largest and best.

[Illustration: Top: _Panther or Catamount_--BOTTOM: _Bison or Buffalo_]

{242} These skins are an object of no small consideration. The natives

dress them with their wool on, to such great perfection, as to render

them more pliable than our buff. They dye them different colours, and

cloath themselves therewith. To the French they supply the place of

the best blankets, being at the same time very warm and very light.

The stag is entirely the same with that of France, only he is a little

larger. They are only to be found in Upper Louisiana, where the woods

are much thinner than in Lower Louisiana, and the chesnuts which the

stag greatly loves are very common.

The deer is very frequent in this province, notwithstanding the great

numbers of them that are killed by the natives. According to the

hunters, he partly resembles the stag, the rein-deer, and the

roe-buck. As to myself, I can only say what I have seen; that he is

about four feet high, has large horns bending forwards, and decorated

with several antlers, the ends of which are formed somewhat like a

rose; that his flesh is dry like that of ours, and when he is fat

tastes like mutton. They feed in herds, and are not in the least of a

fierce nature. They are excessively capricious, hardly remain a moment

in one place, but are coming and going continually. The natives dress

the skin extremely well, like buff, and afterwards paint it. Those

skins that are brought to France are often called does skins.

The natives hunt the deer sometimes in companies, and sometimes alone.

The hunter who goes out alone, furnishes himself with the dried head of

a deer, with part of the skin of the neck fastened to it, and this skin

is stretched out with several hoops made of split cane, which are kept

in their places by other splits placed along the inside of the skin, so

that the hands and arms may be easily put within the neck. Being thus

provided, he goes in quest of the deer, and takes all necessary

precautions not to be discovered by that animal: when he sees one, he

approaches it as gently as possible, hiding himself behind a bush which

he carries in his hand, till he be within shot of it. But if, before he

can come near enough, the buck shakes its head, which is a sign that he

is going to make some {243} capers and run away, the hunter immediately

counterfeits the cries of those animals when they call each other, in

which case the buck frequently comes up towards him. He then shews the

head which he holds in his hand, and by lowering and lifting his arm by

turns, it makes the appearance of a buck feeding, and lifting his head

from time to time to graze. The hunter still keeps himself behind the

bush, till the buck comes near enough to him, and the moment he turns

his side, he fires at the hollow of his shoulder, and lays him dead.

[Illustration: _Indian Deer Hunt_]

{244} When the natives want to make the dance of the deer; or if they

want to exercise themselves merrily; or if it should happen that the

Great Sun inclines to such sport, they go about an hundred of them in

a company to the hunting of this animals, which they must bring home

alive. As it is a diverting exercise, many young men are generally of

the party, who disperse themselves in the meadows among the thickets

in order to discover the deer. They no sooner perceive one than they

advance towards him in a wide crescent, one point of which may be a

quarter of a league from the other. Part of the crescent draws near to

him, which frightens him away to another point; that part likewise

advancing, he immediately flies back to the other sidee. He is kept

thus running from one side to another a considerable time, on purpose

to exercise the young men, and afford diversion to the Great Sun, or

to another Little Sun, who is nominated to supply his place. The deer

sometimes attempts to get out and escape by the openings of the

crescent, in which case those who are at the points run forwards, and

oblige him to go back. The crescent then gradually forms a circle; and

when they perceive the deer beginning to be tired, part of them stoop

almost to the ground, and remain in that posture till he approaches

them, when they rise and shout: he instantly flies off to the other

side, where they do the same; by which means he is at length so

exhausted, that he is no longer able to stand on his legs, and suffers

himself to be taken like a lamb. Sometimes, however, he defends

himself on the ground with his antlers and forefeet; they therefore

use the precaution to seize upon him behind, and even in that case

they are sometimes wounded.

The hunters having seized the deer present it to the Great Sun, or in

his absence, to the person whom he sent to represent him. If he says,

_well_, the roe-buck is immediately opened, and its four quarters

carried to the hut of the Great Sun, who gives portions of them to the

chief men among the hunters.

The wolf is not above fifteen inches high, and of a proportionable

length. He is not so brown as our wolves, nor so fierce and dangerous;

he is therefore more like a dog than a wolf, especially the dog of the

natives, who differs from him {245} in nothing, but that he barks. The

wolf is very common in the hunting countries; and when the hunter

makes a hut for himself in the evening upon the bank of a river, if he

sees the wolf, he may be confident that the buffaloes are not at a

very great distance. It is said, that this animal, not daring to

attack the buffalo when in a herd, will come and give notice to the

hunter that he may kill him, in hopes of coming in for the offals. The

wolves are actually so familiar, that they come and go on all sides

when looking for something to eat, without minding in the least

whether they be near or at a distance from the habitations of men.

In my time two very large black wolves were seen in Louisiana. The

oldest inhabitants, and those who travel to the remotest parts of the

colony, declared that they had never before seen any such; from whence

it was concluded, that they were foreign wolves which had lost their

way. Fortunately they killed them both; for one of them was a she-wolf

big with young.

The bear appears in Louisiana in winter, as the snows, which then

cover the northern climates, hinder him from procuring a subsistence

there, and force him southwards. If some few are seen in the summer

time, they are only the slow young bears, that have not been strong

enough to follow the herd northwards. The bear lives upon roots and

fruits, particularly acorns; but this most delicate food is honey and

milk. When he meets with either of these last, he will suffer himself

to be killed than quit his prize. Our colonists have sometimes

diverted themselves by burying a small pail with some milk in it

almost up to the edge in the ground, and setting two young bears to

it. The contest then was which of the two should hinder the other from

tasting the milk, and both of them so tore the earth with their paws,

and pulled at the pail, that they generally overturned the milk,

before either of them had tasted of it.

In opposition to the general opinion, which supposes the bear a

carnivorous animal, I affirm, with all the inhabitants of this colony,

and the neighbouring countries, that he never feeds upon flesh. It is

indeed to be lamented that the first {246} travellers had the

impudence to publish to the world a thousand false stories, which were

easily believed because they were new. People, so far from wishing to

be undeceived, have even been offended with those who attempted to

detect the general errors; but it is my duty to speak the truth, for

the sake of those who are willing to hear it. What I maintain here is

not a mere conjectural supposition, but a known fact over all North

America, which may be attested by the evidence of a great number of

people who have lived there, and by the traders who are going and

coming continually. There is not one instance can be given of their

having devoured men, notwithstanding their great multitudes, and the

extreme hunger which they must sometimes have suffered; for even in

that case they never so much as touch the butchers meat which they

meet with.

The bears seldom quit the banks of the Missisippi, as it is there that

they can best procure a subsistence; but when I lived at the Natchez

there happened so severe a winter, that those animals came from the

north in such numbers that they starved each other, and were very

lean. Their great hunger obliged them to quit the woods which line the

banks of the river: they were seen at night running among the

settlements; and they sometimes even entered those court-yards that

were not well shut; they there found butchers meat exposed to the open

air, but they never touched it, and eat only the corn or roots they

could meet with. Certainly on such occasion as this, and in such a

pressing want, they would have proved carnivorous, if it had been in

the least degree their natural disposition.

But perhaps one will say, "It is true they never touch dead flesh; it

is only living flesh that they devour." That is being very delicate

indeed, and what I can by no means allow them: for if they were

flesh-eaters, I greatly suspect that, in the severe famine which I

have spoken of, they would have made a hearty meal of the butchers

meat which they found in the court-yards; or at least would have

devoured several persons, who fell in their way, which they never did.

The following fact however will be a more compleat answer to this

objection.

{247} Two Canadians, who were on a journey, landed on a sand-bank,

when they perceived a bear crossing the river. As he appeared fat, and

consequently would yield a great deal of oil, one of the travellers

ran forwards and fired at him. Unhappily however he only slightly

wounded him; and as the bears in that case always turn upon their

enemy, the hunter was immediately seized by the wounded bear, who in a

few moments squeezed him to death, without wounding him in the least

with his teeth, although his muzzle was against his face, and he must

certainly have been exasperated. The other Canadian, who was not above

three hundred paces distance, ran to save his comrade with the utmost

speed, but he was dead before he came up to him; and the bear escaped

into the wood. Upon examining the corpse he found the place, where the

bear had squeezed it, pressed in two inches more than the rest of the

breast.

Some perhaps may still add, that the mildness of the climate of

Louisiana may have an effect upon the disposition of the bears, and

prevent them from being so voracious as those of our continent; but I

affirm that carnivorous animals retain the same disposition in all

countries. The wolves of Louisiana are carnivorous as well as those of

Europe, although they differ in other particulars. The tigers of

Africa, and those of America, are equally mischievous animals. The

wild-cats of America, though very different from those of Europe,

have however the same appetite for mice when they are tamed. It is the

same with other species, naturally inclined to live upon other

animals; and the bears of America, if flesh-eaters, would not quit the

countries covered with snow, where they would find men and other

animals in abundance, to come so far in search of fruits and roots;

which kind of nourishment carnivorous animals refuse to taste.

[Footnote: Since I wrote the above account of the bears, I have been

certainly informed, that in the mountains of Savoy there are two sorts

of bears. The one black, like that of Louisiana, and not carnivorous;

the other red, and no less carnivorous than the wolves. Both turn upon

their enemy when wounded.]

Bears are seen very frequently in Louisiana in the winter time, and

they are so little dreaded, that the people sometimes {248} make it a

diversion to hunt them. When they are fat, that is about the end of

December, they cannot run so fast as a man; therefore the hunters are

in no danger if they should turn upon them. The she-bears are

tolerably fat when they are big with young; but after they have

littered they quickly become lean.

The bears usually arrive in Louisiana towards the end of autumn; and

then they are very lean, as they do not leave the north till the earth

be wholly covered with snow, and find often but a very scanty

subsistence in their way southwards. I said above, that those animals

seldom go to any great distance from the river; and on both banks

travellers meet with such a beaten path in winter, that to those who

are not acquainted with it, it appears like the track of men. I

myself, the first time I observed it, was deceived by it. I was then

near two hundred miles from any human dwelling, yet the path at first

appeared to me as if it had been made by thousands of men, who had

walked that way bare-footed. Upon a narrower inspection however, I

observed, that the prints of the feet were shorter than that of a man,

and that there was the impression of a claw at the end of each toe. It

is proper to observe that in those paths the bear does not pique

himself upon politeness, and will yield the way to nobody; therefore

it is prudent in a traveller not to fall out with him for such a

trifling affair.

The bears, after they have been a short time in the country, and found

abundance of fruits, turn fat and lazy, and it is then the natives go

out to hunt them. The bear, when he is fat, huts himself, that is,

retires into the hollow trunk of some rotten tree that has died on

end. The natives, when they meet with any of those trees, which they

suspect contains a bear in it, give two or three strong blows against

the trunk, and immediately run behind the next tree opposite to the

lowest breach. If there be a bear within, he appears in a few minutes

at the breach, to look out and spy the occasion of the disturbance;

but upon observing nothing likely to annoy him, he goes down again to

the bottom of his castle.

The natives having once seen their prey, gather a heap of dried canes,

which they bruise with their feet, that they may {249} burn the

easier, and one of them mounting upon a tree adjoining to that in

which the bear is, sets fire to the reeds, and darts them one after

another into the breach; the other hunters having planted themselves

in ambuscade upon other trees. The bear is quickly burned out of his

habitation, and he no sooner appears on the outside, than they let fly

their arrows at him, and often kill him before he gets to the bottom

of the tree.

He is no sooner dead than some of the hunters are dispatched to look

for a deer, and they seldom fail of bringing in one or two. When a

deer is brought, they cut off the head, and then take off the skin

whole, beginning at the neck, and rolling it down, as they cut it,

like a stocking. The legs they cut off at the knee-joints, and having

cleaned and washed the skin, they stop all the holes except the neck,

with a kind of paste made of the fat of the deer mixed with ashes,

over which they tie several bindings with the bark of the lime-tree.

Having thus provided a kind of cask, they fill it with the oil of the

bear, which they prepare by boiling the flesh and fat together. This

Deer of Oil, as it is called, they sell to the French for a gun, a

yard of cloth, or any other thing of that value. The French, before

they use it, purify it, by putting it into a large kettle, with a

handful of laurel leaves; and sprinkling it when it begins to be hot

with some water, in which they have dissolved a large quantity of

salt. The smoke that rises upon this sprinkling carries off with it

any bad smell the fat may have; they next pour it off into a vessel,

and eight days after there is found on the top of it a clear oil which

serves all the purposes of olive oil; what remains below is a fine

kind of lard, proper for the kitchen, and a sovereign remedy for all

kinds of pains. I myself was cured of the rheumatism in my shoulder by

it.

The Tiger is not above a foot and a half high, and long in proportion:

his hair is somewhat of a bright bay colour, and he is brisk as all

tigers naturally are. His flesh when boiled tastes like veal, only it

is not so insipid. There are very few of them to be seen; I never saw

but two near my settlement; and I have great reason to think that it

was the same beast I saw both times. The first time he laid hold of my

dog, who barked and howled; but upon my running towards him the {250}

tiger left him. The next time he seized a pig; but this I likewise

rescued, and his claws had gone no deeper than the fat. This animal is

not more carnivorous than fearful; he flies at the sight of a man, and

makes off with greater speed, if you shout and halloo as he runs.

[Illustration: TOP: _Wild Cat_--MIDDLE: _Opossum_--BOTTOM: _Skunk_]

The Cat-a-mount is a kind of wild cat, as high as the tiger, but not

so thick, and his skin is extremely beautiful. He is a great destroyer

of poultry, but fortunately his species is rare.

{251} Foxes are so numerous, that upon the woody heights you

frequently see nothing but their holes. As the woods afford them

plenty of game, they do not molest the poultry, which are always

allowed to run at large. The foxes are exactly shaped like ours, but

their skin is much more beautiful. Their hair is fine and thick, of a

deep brown colour, and over this rise several long silver-coloured

hairs, which have a fine effect.

The Wild Cat has been improperly so called by the first French

settlers in Louisiana; for it has nothing of the cat but its nimble

activity, and rather resembles a monkey. It is not above eight or ten

inches high, and about fifteen long. Its head is like that of a fox;

it has long toes, but very short claws, not made for seizing game;

accordingly it lives upon fruit, bread, and other such things. This

animal may be tamed, and then becomes very frolicksome and full of

tricks. The hair of those that are tame is grey; but of the wild is

reddish; neither of them is so beautiful as that of the fox; it grows

very fat, and its flesh is good to eat. I shall not describe the real

wild cat, as it is entirely like ours.

The Rabbit is extremely common over all Louisiana; it is particular in

this, that its pile is like that of the hare, and it never burrows.

Its flesh is white and delicate, and has the usual taste, without any

rankness. There is no other kind of rabbit or hare, if you please to

call it, in all the colony, than that above described.

The Wood-Rat has the head and tail of a common rat, but has the bulk

and length of a cat. Its legs are short, its paws long, and its toes

are armed with claws: its tail is almost without hair, which serves

for hooking itself to any thing; for when you take hold of it by that

part, it immediately twists itself round your finger. Its pile is

grey, and though very fine, yet is never smooth. The women among the

natives spin it and dye it red. It hunts by night, and makes war upon

the poultry, only sucking their blood and leaving their flesh. It is

very rare to see any creature walk so slow; and I have often catched

them when walking my ordinary pace. When he sees himself upon the

point of being caught, instinct prompts him to counterfeit being dead;

and in this he perseveres with such {252} constancy, that though laid

on a hot gridiron, he will not make the least sign of life. He never

moves, unless the person go to a distance or hide himself, in which

case he endeavors as fast as possible to escape into some hole or

bush.

When the she-one is about to litter, she chooses a place in the thick

bushes at the foot of a tree, after which she and the male crop a

great deal of fine dry grass, which is loaded upon her belly, and then

the male drags her and her burden by the tail to the littering-place.

She never quits her young a moment; but when she is obliged to change

her lodging, carries them with her in a pouch or double skin that

wraps round her belly, and there they may sleep or suck at their ease.

The two sides of this pouch lap so close that the joining can hardly

be observed; nor can they be separated without tearing the skin. If

the she-one be caught carrying her young thus with her, she will

suffer herself to be roasted alive, without the least sign of life,

rather than open the pouch and expose her young ones. The flesh of

this animal is very good, and tastes somewhat like that of a sucking

pig, when it is first broiled, and afterwards roasted on the spit.

The Pole-cat or Skunk is about the size of a kitten eight months old.

The male is of a beautiful black, but the female has rings of white

intermixed with the black. Its ear and its paw are like that of a

mouse, and it has a very lively eye. I suppose it lives upon fruits

and seeds. It is most justly called the Stinking Beast, for its odour

is so strong, that it may be pursued upon the track twenty-four hours

after it has passed. It goes very slow, and when the hunter approaches

it, it squirts out, far and wide such a stinking urine, that neither

man nor beast can hardly approach it. A drop of this creature's blood,

and probably some of its urine, having one day fallen upon my coat

when I was hunting, I was obliged as fast as possible to go home and

change my cloaths; and before I, could use my coat, it was scoured and

exposed for several days to the dew.

The Squirrels of Louisiana are like those of France, excepting one

kind, which are called Flying-Squirrels, because they leap from one

tree to another, though the distance between them be twenty-five or

thirty feet. It is about the size of a {253} rat, and of a deep

ash-colour. Its two fore-legs are joined to its two hind-legs by two

membranes, so that when it leaps it seems to fly, though it always

leaps somewhat downwards. This animal may be very easily tamed; but

even then it is best to chain it. There is another sort, not much

bigger than a mouse, and of a bright bay-colour. These are so familiar

that they will come out of the woods, will enter the houses, and sit

within two yards of the people of the house, if they do not make any

motion; and there they will feed on any maiz within their reach. I

never was so well diverted in my life with the frolics of any animal,

as I have been with the vivacity and attitudes of this little

squirrel.

The Porcupine is large and fine of this kind; but as he lives only

upon fruit, and loves cold, is most common about the river Illinois,

where the climate is somewhat cold, and there is plenty of wild

fruits. The skin, when stripped of the quills, is white and brown. The

natives dye part of the white, yellow and red, and the brown they dye

black. They have likewise the art of splitting the skin, and applying

it to many curious works, particularly to trim the edges of their

deer-skin, and to line small bark-boxes, which are very neat.

The Hedge-hog of Louisiana is in every respect the same with that of

Europe.

I shall not enlarge upon the Beavers, which are universally known,

from the many descriptions we have of them.

The Otters are the same with those of France, and there are but few of

them to be seen.

Some Turtle are seen in this country; but very rarely. In the many

hundred leagues of country that I have passed over, I have hardly seen

above a hundred.

Frogs are very common, especially in Lower Louisiana, notwithstanding

the great number of snakes that destroy them. There are some that grow

very large, sometimes above a foot and a half long, and astonish

strangers at first by their croaking especially if they are in a

hollow tree.

The Crocodile is very common in the river Missisippi. Although this

amphibious animal be almost as well known as {254} those I have just

mentioned, I cannot however omit taking some notice of it. Without

troubling the reader with a description of it, which he will meet with

every where, I shall observe that it shuns the banks of the river

frequented by men. It lays its eggs in the months of May, when the sun

is already hot in that country, and it deposits them in the most

concealed place it can find among grass exposed to the heats of the

south. The eggs are about the size of those of a goose, but longer in

proportion. Upon breaking them you will find hardly any thing but

white, the yolk being about the size of that of a young hen. I never

saw any that were new hatched. The smallest I ever met with, which I

concluded to be about three months old, was as long as a middle-sized

eel, and an inch and a half thick. I have killed one nineteen feet

long, and three feet and a half in its greatest breadth. A friend of

mine killed one twenty-two feet long, and the legs of both these,

which on land seemed to move with great difficulty, were not above a

foot in length. But however sluggish they be on land, in the water

they move with great agility.

This animal has his body always covered with slime, which is the case

with all fishes that live in muddy waters. When he comes on shore his

track is covered with that slime, as his belly trails on the ground,

and this renders the earth very slippery in that part, especially as

he returns by the same path to the water. He never hunts the fish upon

which he subsists; but places himself in ambuscade, and catches them

as they pass. For that purpose he digs a hole in the bank of the

river, below the surface of the water, where the current is strong,

having a small entrance, but large enough within to turn himself round

in. The fish, which are fatigued with the strong current, are glad to

get into the smooth water in that corner, and there they are

immediately seized by the crocodile.

I shall not contradict the accounts of venerable antiquity about the

crocodiles of the Nile, who fall upon men and devour them; who cross

the roads, and make a slippery path upon them to trip passengers, and

make them slide into the river; who counterfeit the voice of an

infant, to draw children into their snares; neither shall I contradict

the travellers who have {255} confirmed those stories from mere

hearsays. But as I profess to speak the truth, and to advance nothing

but what I am certain of from my own knowledge, I may safely affirm

that the crocodiles of Louisiana are doubtless of another species than

those of other countries. In fact, I never heard them imitate the

cries of an infant, nor is it at all probable that they can

counterfeit them. Their voice is as strong as that of a bull. It is

true they attack men in the water, but never on land, where they are

not at all formidable. Besides, there are nations that in great part

subsist upon this animal, which is hunted out by the fathers and

mothers, and killed by the children. What can we then believe of those

stories that have been told us of the crocodile? I myself killed all

that ever I met of them; and they are so much the less to be dreaded,

in that they can neither run nor rise up against a man. In the water

indeed, which is their favourite element, they are dangerous; but in

that case it is easy to guard against them.

The largest of all the reptiles of Louisiana, is the Rattle-Snake:

some of them have been seen fifteen inches thick, and long in

proportion; but this species is naturally shorter in proportion to

their thickness than the other kinds of serpents. This serpent gets

its name from several hollow knots at its tail, very thin and dry,

which make a rattling noise. These knots, though inserted into each

other, are yet quite detached, and only the first of them is fastened

to the skin. The number of the knots, it is said, marks the age of the

serpent, and I am much inclined to believe it; for as I have killed a

great number of them, I always observed, that the longer and thicker

the serpent was, it had the more knots. Its skin is almost black; but

the lower part of its belly is striped black and white.

As soon as it hears or sees a man, it rouses itself by shaking its

tail, which makes a rattling noise that may be heard at several paces

distance, and gives warning to the traveller to be upon his guard. It

is much to be dreaded when it coils itself up in a spiral line, for

then it may easily dart upon a man. It shuns the habitations of men,

and by a singular providence, wherever it retires to, there the herb

which cures its bite, is likewise to be found.

{256} [Illustration: TOP: _Alligator_--MIDDLE: _Rattle Snake_--BOTTOM:

_Green Snake_]

There are several other kinds of serpents to be seen here, some of

which resemble those of France, and attempt to slip into the

hen-houses to devour the eggs and new-hatched chickens. Others are

green, about two feet long, and not thicker than a goose-quill; they

frequent the meadows, and may be seen running over the spires of

grass, such is their lightness and nimbleness.

{257} Vipers are very rare in Lower Louisiana, as that reptile loves

stoney grounds. In the highlands they are now-and-then to met with,

and there they quite resemble ours.

Lizards are very common: there is a small kind of these that are

called Cameleons, because they change their colour according to that

of the place they pass over. [Footnote: When the Cameleon is angry, a

nerve rises arch-wise from his mouth to the middle of his throat; and

the skin which covers it is so stretched as to remain red, whatever

colour the rest of the body be. He never does any hurt, and always

runs away when observed.]

Among the spiders of Louisiana there is one kind that will appear very

extraordinary. It is as large, but rather longer than a pigeon's egg,

black with gold-coloured specks. Its claws are pierced through above

the joints. It does not carry its eggs like the rest, but encloses

them in a kind of cup covered with its silk. It lodges itself in a

kind of nut made of the same silk, and hung to the branches of the

trees. The web which this insect weaves is so strong, that it not only

stops birds, but cannot even be broken by men without a considerable

effort.

I never saw any Moles in Louisiana, nor heard of any being seen by

others.

CHAPTER VII.

_Of Birds, and Flying Insects_.

Birds are so very numerous in Louisiana, that if all the different

kinds of them were known, which is far from being the case at present,

the description of them alone would require an entire volume. I only

undertake the description of all those which have come within my

knowledge, the number of which, I am persuaded, will be sufficient to

satisfy the curious reader.

The Eagle, the king of the birds, is smaller than the eagle of the

Alps; but he is much more beautiful, being entirely white, excepting

only the tips of his wings, which are black. As he is also very rare,

this is another reason for heightening his value to the native, who

purchase at a great price the large {258} feathers of his wings, with

which they ornament the Calumet, or Symbol of Peace, as I have

elsewhere described.

When speaking of the king of birds, I shall take notice of the Wren,

called by the French Roitelet (Petty King) which is the same in

Louisiana as in France. The reason of its name in French will plainly

enough appear from the following history. A magistrate, no less

remarkable for his probity than for the rank he holds in the law,

assured me that, when he was at Sables d'Olonne in Poitou, on account

of an estate which he had in the neighbourhood of that city, he had

the curiosity to go and see a white eagle which was then brought from

America. After he had entered the house a wren was brought, and let

fly in the hall where the eagle was feeding. The wren perched upon a

beam, and was no sooner perceived by the eagle, than he left off

feeding, flew into a corner, and hung down his head. The little bird,

on the other hand, began to chirp and appear angry, and a moment after

flew upon the neck of the eagle, and pecked him with the greatest

fury, the eagle all the while hanging his head in a cowardly manner,

between his feet. The wren, after satisfying its animosity, returned

to the beam.

The Falcon, the Hawk, and the Tassel are the same as in France; but

the falcons are much more beautiful than ours.

The Carrion-Crow, or Turky Bustard, is of the size and shape of a

Turky-cock; his head is covered with red flesh, and his plumage is

black: he has a hooked beak, but his toes are armed with very small

talons, and are therefore very improper for seizing live game, which

indeed he does not chuse to attack, as his want of agility prevents

him from darting upon it with the rapidity of a bird of prey.

Accordingly he lives only upon the dead beasts that he happens to meet

with, and yet notwithstanding this kind of food he smells of musk.

Several people maintain, that the Carrion-Crow, or Carancro, is the

same with our Vulture. The Spaniards forbid the killing of it under

pain of corporal punishment; for as they do not use the whole carcase

of the buffaloes which they kill, those birds eat what they leave,

which otherwise, by rotting on the ground, would, according to them,

infect the air.

{259}

The Cormorant is shaped very much like a duck, but its plumage is

different and much more beautiful. This bird frequents the shores of

the sea and of lakes, but rarely appears in rivers. Its usual food is

fish; but as it is very voracious, it likewise eats dead flesh; and

this it can tear to pieces by means of a notch in its bill, which is

about the size of that of a duck.

The Swan of Louisiana are like those of France, only they are larger.

However, notwithstanding their bulk and their weight, they often rise

so high in the air, that they cannot be distinguished but by their

shrill cry. Their flesh is very good to eat, and their fat is a

specific against cold humours. The natives set a great value upon the

feathers of the Swan. Of the large ones they make the diadems of their

sovereigns, hats, and other ornaments; and they weave the small ones

as the peruke-makers weave hair, and make coverings of them for their

noble women. The young people of both sexes make tippets of the skin,

without stripping it of its down.

The Canada-Goose is a water-fowl, of the shape of a goose; but twice

as large and heavy. Its plumage is ash-coloured; its eyes are covered

with a black spot; its cries are different from those of a goose, and

shriller; its flesh is excellent.

The Pelican is so called from its large head, its large bill, and

above all for its large pouch, which hangs from its neck, and has

neither feather nor down. It fills this pouch with fish, which it

afterwards disgorges for the nourishment of its young. It never

removes from the shores of the sea, and is often killed by sailors for

the sake of the pouch, which when dried serves them as a purse for

their tobacco.

The Geese are the same with the wild geese of France. They abound upon

the shores of the sea and of lakes, but are rarely seen in rivers.

In this country there are three kinds of Ducks; first, the Indian

Ducks, so called because they came originally from that country. These

are almost entirely white, having but a very few grey feathers. On

each side of their head they have flesh of a more lively red than that

of the Turky-cock, and they are larger than our tame ducks. They are

as tame as those of {260} Europe, and their flesh when young is

delicate, and of a fine flavour. The Wild Ducks are fatter, more

delicate, and of better taste than those of France; but in other

respects they are entirely the same. For one you see in France you may

here count a thousand. The Perching-Ducks, or Carolina Summer-Ducks,

are somewhat larger than our teals. Their plumage is quite beautiful,

and so changeable that no painting can imitate it. Upon their head

they have a beautiful tuft of the most {261} lively colours, and their

red eyes appear like flames. The natives ornament their calumets or

pipes with the skin of their neck. Their flesh is very good, but when

it is too fat it tastes oily. These ducks are to be met with the whole

year round; they perch upon the branches of trees, which the others do

not, and it is from this they have their name.

[Illustration: TOP: _Pelican_--BOTTOM: _Wood Stock_ (on p. 260)]

The Teal are found in every season; and they differ nothing from those

of France but in having a finer relish.

The Divers of Louisiana are the same with those of France: they no

sooner see the fire in the pan, than they dive so suddenly that the

shot cannot touch them, and they are therefore called Lead-Eaters.

The Saw-bill has the inside of its beak indented like the edge of a

saw: it is said to live wholly upon shrimps, the shells of which it

can easily break.

The Crane is a very common water-fowl; it is larger than a turkey,

very lean, and of an excellent taste. It eats somewhat like beef, and

makes very good soup.

The Flamingo has only a little down upon its head; its plumage is

grey, and its flesh good.

The Spatula has its name from the form of its bill, which is about

seven or eight inches long, an inch broad towards the head, and two

inches and a half towards the extremity; it is not quite so large as a

wild goose; its thighs and legs are about the height of those of a

turkey. Its plumage is rose-coloured, the wings being brighter than

any other part. This is a water-fowl, and its flesh is very good.

The Heron of Louisiana is not in the least different from that of

Europe.

The Egret, or White Heron, is so called from tufts of feathers upon

the wings near the body, which hinder it from flying high; it is a

water-fowl with white plumage; but its flesh tastes very oily.

The Bec-croche, or Crook-bill, has indeed a crooked bill, with which

it seizes the cray-fish upon which it subsists. Its {262} flesh has

that taste, and is red. Its plumage is a whitish grey; and it is about

the size of a capon.

[Illustration: TOP: _Flying Squirrel_--MIDDLE: _Roseate

Spoon-bill_--BOTTOM: _Snowy Heron_]

The Indian Water-Hen, and the Green-Foot, are the same as in France.

The Hatchet-Bill is so called on account of its bill, which is red,

and formed like the edge of an ax. Its feet are also Of a beautiful

red, and it is therefore often called Red-Foot. As {263} it lives upon

shell-fish, it never removes from the sea-coast, but upon the approach

of a storm, which is always sure to follow its retiring into the

inland parts.

The King-Fisher excels ours in nothing but in the beauty of its

plumage, which is as various as the rainbow. This bird, it is well

known, goes always against the wind; but perhaps few people know that

it preserves the same property when it is dead. I myself hung a dead

one by a silk thread directly over a sea-compass, and I can declare it

as a fact, that the bill was always turned towards the wind.

The Sea-Lark and Sea-Snipe never quit the sea; their flesh may be eat,

as it has very little of the oily taste.

The Frigate-Bird is a large bird, which in the day-time keeps itself

in the air above the shore of the sea. It often rises very high,

probably for exercise; for it feeds upon fish, and every night retires

to the coast. It appears larger than it really is, as it is covered

with a great many feathers of a grey colour. Its wings are very long,

its tail forked, and it cuts the air with great swiftness.

The Draught-Bird is a large bird, not much unlike the Frigate-Bird, as

light, but not so swift. The under-part of its plumage is chequered

brown and white, but the upper-part is of greyish brown.

The Fool is of a yellowish colour, and about the size of a hen; it is

so called, because it will suffer a man to approach it so near as to

seize it with his hand: but even then it is too soon to cry victory;

for if the person who seizes it does not take the greatest precaution,

it will snap off his finger at one bite.

When those three last birds are observed to hover very low over the

shore, we may most certainly expect an approaching storm. On the other

hand, when the sailors see the Halcyons behind their vessel, they

expect and generally meet with fine weather for some days.

Since I have mentioned the Halcyon, I shall here describe it. It is a

small bird, about the size of a swallow, but its beak {264} is longer,

and its plumage is violet-coloured. It has two streaks of a yellowish

brown at the end of the feathers of its wings, which when it sits

appear upon its back. When we left Louisiana, near an hundred halcyons

followed our vessel for near three days: they kept at the distance of

about a stone-cast, and seemed to swim, yet I could never discover

that their feet were webbed, and was therefore greatly surprised. They

probably live upon the small insects that drop from the outside of the

vessel when sailing; for they now-and-then dived, and came up in the

same place. I have some suspicion that, by keeping in the wake of the

ship, they float after it without swimming; for when they happened to

be out of the wake of the ship, they were obliged to fly, in order to

come up with the ship again. This bird is said to build its nest of

the glutinous froth of the sea close upon the shore, and to launch it

when a land breeze arises, raising one of its wings in the form of a

sail, which receiving the wind, helps to carry it out to sea.

I shall now proceed to speak of the fowls which frequent the woods,

and shall begin with the Wild-Turky, which is very common all over the

colony. It is finer, larger, and better than that in France. The

feathers of the turky are of a duskish grey, edged with a streak of

gold colour, near half an inch broad. In the small feathers the

gold-coloured streak is not above one tenth of an inch broad. The

natives make fans of the tail, and of four tails joined together, the

French make an umbrella. The women among the natives weave the

feathers as our peruke-makers weave their hair, and fasten them to an

old covering of bark, which they likewise line with them, so that it

has down on both sides. Its flesh is more delicate, fatter, and more

juicy than that of ours. They go in flocks, and with a dog one may

kill a great many of them. I never could procure any of the turky's

eggs, to try to hatch them, and discover whether they were as

difficult to bring up in this country as in France, since the climate

of both countries is almost the same. My slave told me, that in his

nation they brought up the young turkies as easily as we do chickens.

The Pheasant is the most beautiful bird that can be painted, and in

every respect entirely like that of Europe. {265} Their rarity, in my

opinion, makes them more esteemed than they deserve. I would at any

time prefer a slice off the fillet of a buffalo to any pheasant.

[Illustration: TOP: _White Ibis_--MIDDLE: _Tobacco Worm_--BOTTOM: _Cock

Roach_]

The Partridges of Louisiana are not larger than a wood-pigeon. Their

plumage is exactly the same with that of our grey partridges; they

have also the horse-shoe upon the breast; they perch upon trees, and

are seldom seen in flocks. Their {266} cry consists only of two strong

notes, somewhat resembling the name given them by the natives, who

call them Ho-ouy. Their flesh is white and delicate, but, like all the

other game in this country, it has no _fumet_, and only excels in the

fine taste.

The Woodcock is very rare, because it is only to be met with in

inhabited countries. It is like that of France; its flesh is white,

but rather plumper and more delicate than that of ours, which is owing

to the plenty and goodness of its fruit.

The Snipe is much more common than the woodcock, and in this country

is far from being shy. Its flesh is white, and of a much better relish

than that of ours.

I am of opinion that the Quail is very rare in Louisiana; I have

sometimes heard it, but never saw it, nor know any Frenchman that ever

did.

Some of our colonists have thought proper to give the name of Ortolan

to a small bird which has the same plumage, but in every other respect

does not in the least resemble it.

The Corbijeau is as large as the woodcock, and very common. Its

plumage is varied with several shady colours, and is different from

that of the woodcock; its feet and beak are also longer, which last is

crooked and of a reddish yellow colour; its flesh is likewise firmer

and better tasted.

The Parroquet of Louisiana is not quite so large as those that are

usually brought to France. Its plumage is usually of a fine sea-green,

with a pale rose-coloured spot upon the crown, which brightens into

red towards the beak, and fades off into green towards the body. It is

with difficulty that it learns to speak, and even then it rarely

practices it, resembling in this the natives themselves, who speak

little. As a silent parrot would never make its fortune among our

French ladies, it is doubtless on this account that we see so few of

these in France.

The Turtle-Dove is the same with that of Europe, but few of them are

seen here.

The Wood-Pigeons are seen in such prodigious numbers, that I do not

fear to exaggerate, when I affirm that they sometimes {267} cloud the

sun. One day on the banks of the Missisippi I met with a flock of them

which was so large, that before they all passed, I had leisure to fire

with the same piece four times at them. But the rapidity of their

flight was so great, that though I do not fire ill, with my four shots

I brought down but two.

These birds come to Louisiana only in the winter, and remain in Canada

during the summer, where they devour the corn, as they eat the acorns

in Louisiana. The Canadians have used every art to hinder them from

doing so much mischief, but without success. But if the inhabitants of

those colonies were to go a fowling for those birds in the manner that

I have done, they would insensibly destroy them. When they walk among

the high forest trees, they ought to remark under the trees the

largest quantity of dung is to be seen. Those trees being once

discovered, the hunters ought to go out when it begins to grow dark,

and carry with them a quantity of brimstone which they must set fire

to in so many earthen plates placed at regular distances under the

trees. In a very short time they will hear a shower of wood-pigeons

falling to the ground, which, by the light of some dried canes, they

may gather into sacks, as soon as the brimstone is extinguished.

I shall here give an instance that proves not only the prodigious number

of those birds, but also their singular instinct. In one of my journeys

at land, when I happened to be upon the bank of the river, I heard a

confused noise which seemed to come along the river from a considerable

distance below us. As the sound continued uniformly I embarked, as fast

as I could, on board the pettyaugre, with four other men, and steered

down the river, keeping in the middle, that I might go to any side that

best suited me. But how great was my surprise when I approached the

place from whence the noise came, and observed it to proceed from a

thick short pillar on the bank of the river. When I drew still nearer to

it, I perceived that it was formed by a legion of wood-pigeons, who kept

continually flying up and down successively among the branches of an

ever-green oak, in order to beat down the acorns with their wings. Every

now and then some alighted to eat the {268} acorns which they themselves

or the others had beat down; for they all acted in common, and eat in

common; no avarice nor private interest appearing among them, but each

labouring as much for the rest as for himself.

Crows are common in Louisiana, and as they eat no carrion their flesh

is better tasted than that of the crows of France. Whatever their

appetite may be, they dare not for the carrion crow approach any

carcass.

I never saw any Ravens in this country, and if there be any they must

be very rare.

The Owls are larger and whiter than in France, and their cry is much

more frightful. The Little Owl is the same with ours, but much more

rare. These two birds are more common in Lower Louisiana than in the

higher.

The Magpye resembles those of Europe in nothing but its cry; it is

more delicate, is quite black, has a different manner of flying, and

chiefly frequents the coasts.

The Blackbirds are black all over, not excepting their bills nor their

feet, and are almost as large again as ours. Their notes are

different, and their flesh is hard.

There are two sorts of Starlings in this country; one grey and

spotted, and the other black. In both the tip of the shoulder is of a

bright red. They are only to be seen in winter; and then they are so

numerous, that upwards of three hundred of them have been taken at

once in a net. A beaten path is made near a wood, and after it is

cleaned and smoothed, it is strewed with rice. On each side of this

path is stretched a long narrow silken net, with very small meshes,

and made to turn over at once by strings fastened to the stick that

stretches the end of it. The starlings no sooner alight to pick up the

grain, than the fowler, who lies concealed with the strings in his

hand, pulls the net over them.

The Wood-pecker is much the same as in France; but here there are two

kinds of them; one has grey feathers spotted with black; the other has

the head and the neck of a bright red, and the rest of the body as the

former. This bird lives upon the {269} worms which it finds in rotten

wood, and not upon ants, as a modern author would have us believe, for

want of having considered the nature of the things which he relates.

The bird, when looking for its food, examines the trunks of trees that

have lost their bark; it clasps by its feet with its belly close to

the tree, and hearkens if it can hear a worm eating the wood; in this

manner it leaps from place to place upon the trunk till it hears a

worm, then it pierces the wood in that part, pricks the worm with its

hard and pointed tongue, and draws it out. The arms which nature has

furnished it with are very proper for this kind of hunting; its claws

are hard and very sharp; its beak is formed like a little ax, and is

very hard; its neck is long and flexible, to give proper play to its

beak; and its hard tongue, which it can extend three or four inches,

has a most sharp point with several beards that help to hold the prey.

The Swallows of this country have that part yellow which ours have

white, and they, as well as the martins, live in the woods.

The Nightingale differs in nothing from ours in respect to its shape

or plumage, unless that it has the bill a little longer. But in this

it is particular that it is not shy, and sings through the whole year,

though rarely. It is very easy to entice them to your roof, where it

is impossible for the cats to reach them, by laying something for them

to eat upon a lath, with a piece of the shell of a gourd which serves

to hold their nest. You may in that case depend upon their not

changing their habitation.

The Pope is a bird that has a red and black plumage. It has got that

name perhaps because its colour makes it look somewhat old, and none

but old men are promoted to that dignity; or because its notes are

soft, feeble, and rare; or lastly, because they wanted a bird of that

name in the colony, having two other kinds named cardinals and

bishops.

The Cardinal owes its name to the bright red of the feathers, and to a

little cowl on the hind part of the head, which resembles that of the

bishop's ornament, called a camail. It is as large as a black-bird,

but not so long. Its bill and toes are {270} large, strong, and black.

Its notes are so strong and piercing that they are only agreeable in

the woods. It is remarkable for laying up its winter provision in the

summer, and near a Paris bushel of maiz has been found in its retreat,

artfully covered, first with leaves and then with small branches, with

only a little opening for the bird itself to enter.

The Bishop is a bird smaller than the linnet; its plumage is a

violet-coloured blue, and its wings, which serve it for a cope, are

entirely violet-colour. Its notes are so sweet, so variable, and

tender, that those who have once heard it, are apt to abate in their

praises of the nightingale. I had such great pleasure in hearing this

charming bird, that I left an oak standing very near my apartment,

upon which he used to come and perch, though I very well knew, that

the tree, which stood single, might be overturned by a blast of wind,

and fall upon my house to my great loss.

The Humming-Bird is not larger even with its feathers than a large

beetle. The colour of its feathers is variable, according to the light

they are exposed in; in the sun they appear like enamel upon a gold

ground, which delights the eyes. The longest feathers of the wings of

this bird are not much more than half an inch long; its bill is about

the same length, and pointed like an awl; and its tongue resembles a

sowing-needle; its feet are like those of a large fly. Notwithstanding

its little size, its flight is so rapid, that it is always heard

before it be seen. Although like the bee it sucks the flowers, it

never rests upon them, but supports itself upon its wings, and passes

from one flower to another with the rapidity of lightening. It is a

rare thing to catch a humming-bird alive; one of my friends however

had the happiness to catch one. He had observed it enter the flower of

a convolvulus, and as it had quite buried itself to get at the bottom,

he ran forwards, shut the flower, cut it from the stalk, and carried

off the bird a prisoner. He could not however prevail upon it to eat,

and it died four days after.

The Troniou is a small bird about the size of a sparrow; its plumage

is likewise the same; but its beak is slenderer. Its notes seem to

express its name.

{271} The French settlers raise in this province turkies of the same

kind with those of France, fowls, capons, &c. of an excellent taste.

The pigeons for their fine flavour and delicacy are preferred by

Europeans to those of any other country. The Guinea fowl is here

delicious.

In Louisiana we have two kinds of Silk-worms; one was brought from

France, the other is natural to the country. I shall enlarge upon them

under the article of agriculture.

The Tobacco-worm is a caterpillar of the size and figure of a

silk-worm. It is of a fine sea-green colour, with rings of a silver

colour; on its rump it has a sting near a quarter of an inch long.

These insects quickly do a great deal of mischief, therefore care is

taken every day, while the tobacco is rising, to pick them off and

kill them.

In summer Caterpillars are sometimes found upon the plants, but these

insects are very rare in the colony. Glow-worms are here the same as

in France.

Butterflies are not near so common as in France; the consequence of

there being fewer caterpillars; but they are of incomparable beauty,

and have the most brilliant colours. In the meadows are to be seen

black grasshoppers, which almost always walk, rarely leap, and still

seldomer fly. They are about the size of a finger or thum, and their

head is shaped somewhat like that of a horse. Their four small wings

are of a most beautiful purple. Cats are very fond of grasshoppers.

The Bees of Louisiana lodge in the earth, to secure their honey from

the ravages of the bears. Some few indeed build their combs in the

trunks of trees, as in Europe; but by far the greatest number in the

earth in the lofty forests, where the bears seldom go.

The Flies are of two kinds, one a yellowish brown, as in France, and

the other black.

The Wasps in this country take up their abode near the houses where

they smell victuals. Several French settlers endeavored to root them

out of their neighbourhood; but I acted otherwise; for reflecting,

that no flies are to be seen where the {272} wasps frequent, I invited

them by hanging up a piece of flesh in the air.

The quick-stinger is a long and yellowish fly, and it receives its

name from its stinging the moment it lights. The common flies of

France are very common also in Louisiana.

The Cantharides, or Spanish flies, are very numerous, and larger than

in Europe; they are of such an acid nature, that if they but slightly

touch the skin as they pass, a pretty large blister instantly rises.

These flies live upon the leaves of the oak.

The Green-flies appear only every other year, and the natives

superstitiously look upon their appearance as a presage of a good

crop. It is a pity that the cattle are so greatly molested by them,

that they cannot remain in the fields; for they are extremely

beautiful and twice as large as bees.

Fire flies are very common; when the night is serene they are so very

numerous, that if the light they dart out were constant, one might see

as clearly as in fine moonshine.

The Fly-ants, which we see attach themselves to the flower of the

acacia, and which disappear when that flower is gone, do not proceed

from the common ants. The fly ants, though shaped like the other kind,

are however longer and larger. They have a square head; their colour

is a brownish red bordered with black; they have four red and grey

wings, and fly like common flies, which the other ants do not even

when they have wings.

The Dragon-flies are pretty numerous; they do not want to destroy them

because they feed upon moskitos, which is one of the most troublesome

kind of insects.

The Moskitos are famous all over America, for their multitude, the

troublesomeness of their buzzing and the venom of their stings, which

occasion an insupportable itching, and often form so many ulcers, if

the person stung does not immediately put some spittle on the wound.

In open places they are less tormenting; but still they are

troublesome; and the best way of driving them out of the houses is to

burn a little brimstone in {273} the mornings and evenings. The smoke

of this infallibly kills them, and the smell keeps others away for

several days. An hour after the brimstone has been burnt, the

apartments may be safely entered into by men.

By the same means we may rid ourselves of the flies and moskitos,

whose sting is so painful and so frequent during the short time they

fly about; for they do not rise till about sun-set, and they retire at

night. This is not the case with the Burning-fly. These, though not

much larger than the point of a pin, are insupportable to the people

who labour in the fields. They fly from sun-rising to sun-setting, and

the wounds they give burn like fire.

The Lavert is an insect about an inch and a quarter long, a little

more than a quarter broad, and a tenth part of an inch thick. It

enters the houses by the smallest crevices and in the night-time it

falls upon dishes that are covered even with a plate, which renders it

very troublesome to those whose houses are only built of wood. Bue

they are so relishing to the cats, that these last quit everything to

fall upon them wherever they perceive them. When a new settler has

once cleared the ground about his house, and is at some distance from

the woods, he is quickly freed from them.

In Louisiana there are white ants, which seem to love dead wood.

Persons who have been in the East-Indies have assured me, that they

are quite like those which in that country are called _cancarla_, and

that they would eat through glass, which I never had the experience

of. There are in Louisiana, as in France, red, black, and flying ants.

{274}

CHAPTER VIII.

_Of Fishes and Shell-Fish_.

Though there is an incredible quantity of fishes in this country, I

shall however be very concise in my account of them; because during my

abode in the country they were not sufficiently known; and the people

were not experienced enough in the art of catching them. The most of

the rivers being very deep, and the Missisippi, as I have mentioned,

being between thirty-eight and forty fathoms, from its mouth to the

fall of St. Anthony, it may be easily conceived that the instruments

used for fishing in France, cannot be of any use in Louisiana, because

they cannot go to the bottom of the rivers, or at least so deep as to

prevent the fish from escaping. The line therefore can be only used

and it is with it they catch all the fish that are eaten by the

settlers upon the river. I proceed to an account of those fish.

The Barbel is of two sorts, the large and the small. The first is

about four feet long, and the smallest of this sort that is ever seen

is two feet long, the young ones doubtless keeping at the bottom of

the water. This kind has a very large head, and a round body, which

gradually lessens toward the tail. The fish has no scales, nor any

bones, excepting that of the middle: its flesh is very good and

delicate, but in a small degree vary insipid, which is easily

remedied; in other respects it eats very like the fresh cod of the

country.

The small is from a foot to two in length. Its head is shaped like

that of the other kind; but its body is not so round, nor so pointed

at the tail.

The Carp of the river Missisippi is monstrous. None are seen under two

feet long; and many are met with three and four feet in length. The

carps are not so very good in the lower part of the river; but the

higher one goes the finer they are, on account of the plenty of sand

in those parts. A great number of carps are carried into the lakes

that are filled by the overflowing of the river, and in those lakes

they are found {275} of all sizes, in great abundance, and of a better

relish than those of the river.

[Illustration: Top: _Cat Fish_--Middle: _Gar Fish_--Bottom: _Spoonbill

Catfish_]

The Burgo-Breaker is an excellent fish; it is usually a foot and a

foot and a half long: it is round, with gold-coloured scales. In its

throat it has two bones with a surface like that of a file to break

the shell-fish named Burgo. Though delicate, it is nevertheless very

firm. It is best when not much boiled.

{276} The Ring-Skate is found in the river up as far as New Orleans,

but no higher. It is very good, and no way tough. In other respects it

is exactly like that of France.

The Spatula is so called, because from its snout a substance extends

about a foot in length, in the form of an apothecary's Spatula. This

fish, which is about two feet in length, is neither round or flat, but

square, having at its sides and in the under part bones that forman

angle like those of the back.

No Pikes are caught above a foot and a half long. As this is a

voracious fish, perhaps the Armed-fish pursues it, both from jealousy

and appetite. The pike, besides being small, is very rare.

The Choupic is a very beautiful fish; many people mistake it for the

trout, as it takes a fly in the same manner. But it is very different

from the trout, as it prefers muddy and dead water to a clear stream,

and its flesh is so soft that it is only good when fried.

The Sardine or small Pilchard of the river Missisippi, is about three

or four fingers in breadth, and between six and seven inches long; it

is good and delicate. One year I salted about the quantity of forty

pints of them, and all the French who eat of them acknowledged them to

be Sardines from their flesh, their bones, and their taste. They

appear only for a short season, and are caught by the natives, when

swimming against the strongest current, with nets made for that

purpose only.

The Patassa, so called by the natives for its flatness, is the roach

or fresh-water mullet of this country.

The Armed-Fish has its name from its arms, and its scaly mail. Its

arms are its very sharp teeth, about the tenth of an inch in diameter,

and as much distant from each other, and near half an inch long. The

interval of the larger teeth is filled with shorter teeth. These arms

are a proof of its voracity. Its mail is nothing but its scales, which

are white, as hard as ivory, and about the tenth of an inch in

thickness. They are near an inch long, about half as much in breadth,

end in a {277} point, and have two cutting sides. There are two ranges

of them down the back, shaped exactly like the head of a spontoon, and

opposite to the point of the scale has a little shank, about three

tenths of an inch long, which the natives insert into the end of their

arrows, making the scale serve for a head. The flesh of this fish is

hard and not relishing.

There are a great number of Eels in the river Missisippi, and very

large ones are found in all the rivers and creeks.

The whole lower part of the river abounds in Crayfish. Upon my first

arrival in the colony the ground was covered with little hillocks,

about six or seven inches high, which the crayfish had made for taking

the air out of the water; but since dikes have been raised for keeping

off the river from the low grounds, they no longer shew themselves.

Whenever they are wanted, they fish for them with the leg of a frog,

and in a few moments they will catch a large dish of them.

The Shrimps are diminutive crayfish; they are usually about three

inches long, and of the size of the little finger. Although in other

countries they are generally found in the sea only, yet in Louisiana

you will meet with great numbers of them more than an hundred leagues

up the river. In the lake St. Louis, about two leagues from New

Orleans, the waters of which, having a communication with the sea, are

somewhat brackish, are found several sorts both of sea fish, and fresh

water fish. As the bottom of the lake is very level, they fish in it

with large nets lately brought from France.

Near the lake, when we pass by the outlets to the sea, and continue

along the coasts, we meet with small oysters in great abundance, that

are very well tasted. On the other hand, when we quit the lake by

another lake that communicates with one of the mouths of the river, we

meet with oysters four or five inches broad, and six or seven long.

These large oysters eat best fried, having hardly any saltness, but in

other respects are large and delicate.

Having spoken of the oysters of Louisiana, I shall take some notice of

the oysters that are found on the trees at St. Domingo. When I arrived

at the harbour of Cape François in {278} my way to Louisiana, I was

much surprised to see oysters hanging to the branches of some shrubs;

but M. Chaineau, who was our second captain, explained the phaenomenon

to me. According to him, the twigs of the shrubs are bent down at high

water, to the very bottom of the shore, whenever the sea is any ways

agitated. The oysters in that place no sooner feel the twigs than they

lay hold of them, and when the sea retires they appear suspended upon

them.

Towards the mouths of the river we meet with mussels no salter than

the large oysters above mentioned; and this is owing to the water

being only brackish in those parts, as the river there empties itself

by three large mouths, and five other small ones, besides several

short creeks, which all together throw at once an immense quantity of

water into the sea; the whole marshy ground occupies an extent of ten

or twelve leagues.

There are likewise excellent mussels upon the northern shore of the

lake St. Louis, especially in the river of Pearls; they may be about

six or seven inches long, and sometimes contain pretty large pearls,

but of no great value.

The largest of the shell-fish on the coast is the Burgo, well known in

France. There is another fish much smaller and of a different shape.

Its hollow shell is strong and beautiful, and the flat one is

generally black; some blue ones are found, and are much esteemed.

These shells have long been in request for tobacco-boxes.

{279}

THE HISTORY OF LOUISIANA

BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I.

_The Origin of the Americans._

The remarkable difference I observed between the Natchez, including in

that name the nations whom they treat as brethren, and the other

people of Louisiana, made me extremely desirous to know whence both of

them might originally come. We had not then that full information

which we have since received from the voyages and discoveries of M. De

Lisle in the eastern parts of the Russian empire. I therefore applied

myself one day to put the keeper of the temple in good humour, and

having succeeded in that without much difficulty, I then told him,

that from the little resemblance I observed between the Natchez and

the neighbouring nations, I was inclined to believe that they were not

originally of the country which they then inhabited; and that if the

ancient speech taught him any thing on that subject, he would do me a

great pleasure to inform me of it. At these words he leaned his head

on his two hands, with which he covered his eyes, and having remained

in that posture about a quarter of an hour, as if to recollect

himself, he answered to the following effect:

"Before we came into this land we lived yonder under the sun,

(pointing with his finger nearly south-west, by which I understood

that he meant Mexico;) we lived in a fine country where the earth is

always pleasant; there our Suns had their abode, and our nation

maintained itself for a long time against the ancients of the country,

who conquered some of our villages {280} in the plains, but never

could force us from the mountains. Our nation extended itself along

the great water where this large river loses itself; but as our

enemies were become very numerous, and very wicked, our Suns sent some

of their subjects who lived near this river, to examine whether we

could retire into the country through which it flowed. The country on

the east side of the river being found extremely pleasant, the Great

Sun, upon the return of those who had examined it, ordered all his

subjects who lived in the plains, and who still defended themselves

against the antients of this country, to remove into this land, here

to build a temple, and to preserve the eternal fire.

"A great part of our nation accordingly settled here, where they lived

in peace and abundance for several generations. The Great Sun, and

those who had remained with him, never thought of joining us, being

tempted to continue where they were by the pleasantness of the

country, which was very warm, and by the weakness of their enemies,

who had fallen into civil dissentions, in consequence of the ambition

of one of their chiefs, who wanted to raise himself from a state of

equality with the other chiefs of the villages, and to treat all the

people of his nation as slaves. During those discords among our

enemies, some of them even entered into an alliance with the Great

Sun, who still remained in our old country, that he might conveniently

assist our other brethren who had settled on the banks of the Great

Water to the east of the large river, and extended themselves so far

on the coast and among the isles, that the Great Sun did not hear of

them sometimes for five or six years together.

"It was not till after many generations that the Great Suns came and

joined us in this country, where, from the fine climate, and the peace

we had enjoyed, we had multiplied like the leaves of the trees.

Warriors of fire, who made the earth to tremble, had arrived in our

old country, and having entered into an alliance with our brethren,

conquered our ancient enemies; but attempting afterwards to make

slaves of our Suns, they, rather than submit to them, left our

brethren who refused to follow them, and came hither attended only

with their slaves."

{281} Upon my asking him who those warriors of fire were, he replied,

that they were bearded white men, somewhat of a brownish colour, who

carried arms that darted out fire with a great noise, and killed at a

great distance; that they had likewise heavy arms which killed a great

many men at once, and like thunder made the earth tremble; and that

they came from the sun-rising in floating villages.

The ancients of the country he said were very numerous, and inhabited

from the western coast of the great water to the northern countries on

his side the sun, and very far upon the same coast beyond the sun.

They had a great number of large and small villages, which were all

built of stone, and in which there were houses large enough to lodge a

whole village. Their temples were built with great labour and art, and

they made beautiful works of all kinds of materials.

But ye yourselves, said I, whence are ye come? The ancient speech, he

replied, does not say from what land we came; all that we know is,

that our fathers, to come hither, followed the sun, and came with him

from the place where he rises; that they were a long time on their

journey, were all on the point of perishing, and were brought into

this country without seeking it.

To this account of the keeper of the temple, which was afterwards

confirmed to me by the Great Sun, I shall add the following passage of

Diodorus Siculus, which seems to confirm the opinion of those who

think the eastern Americans are descended from the Europeans, who may

have been driven by the winds upon the coasts of Guiana or Brazil.