Rouvillière, made a favorable report on the state of agriculture in
Louisiana. "The cultivation of the wax tree," says he, "has succeeded
admirably. Mr. Dubreuil, alone, has made six thousand pounds of wax.
Others have obtained as handsome results, in proportion to their
forces; some went to the seashore, where the wax tree grows wild, in
order to use it in its natural state. It is the only luminary used
here by the inhabitants, and it is exported to other parts of America
and to France. We stand in need of tillers of the ground, and of
negroes. The colony prospers rapidly from its own impulse, and
requires only gentle stimulation. In the last three years, forty-five
brick houses were erected in New Orleans, and several fine new
plantations were established." . . . .
The administration of the Marquis of Vaudreuil was long and fondly
remembered in Louisiana, as an epoch of unusual brilliancy, but which
was followed up by corresponding gloom. His administration, if small
things may be compared with great ones, was for Louisiana, with regard
to splendor, luxury, military display, and expenses of every kind,
what the reign of Louis XIV. had been for France. He was a man of
patrician birth and high breeding, who liked to live in a manner
worthy of his rank. Remarkable for his personal graces and comeliness,
for the dignity of his bearing and the fascination of his address, he
was fond of pomp, show, and pleasure; surrounded by a host of
brilliant officers, of whom he was the idol, he loved to keep up a
miniature court, in distant imitation of that of Versailles; and long
after he had departed, old people were fond of talking of the
exquisitely refined manners, of the magnificent balls, of the
splendidly uniformed troops, of the high-born young officers, and of
the many other unparalleled things they had seen in the days of the
_Great Marquis_.
. . . . . . .
The inventories made of the property of the twelve gentlemen, whom the
decree of the Spanish tribunal had convicted of rebellion, afford
interesting proofs of the Spartan simplicity which existed in the
colony. Thus the furniture of the bed-room of Madam Villeré, who was
the wife of one of the most distinguished citizens of Louisiana, and
the grand-daughter of De Lachaise, who came to the colony in 1723 as
ordaining commissary, was described as consisting of a cypress
bedstead, three feet wide by six in length, with a mattress of corn
shucks and one of feathers on the top, a bolster of corn shucks, and a
coarse cotton counterpane or quilt, manufactured probably by the lady
herself, or by her servants; six chairs of cypress wood, with straw
bottoms; some candlesticks with common wax, the candles made in the
country, &c., &c.
The rest of the house was not more splendidly furnished, and the
house itself, as described in the inventory, must have looked very
much like one of those modest and unpainted little wood structures
which are, to this day, to be seen in many parts of the banks of the
river Mississippi, and in the Attakapas and Opelousas parishes. They
are the tenements of our small planters who own only a few slaves, and
they retain the appellation of _Maisons d'Acadiens, or Acadian
houses_.
Villeré's plantation, situated at the German coast, was not large, and
the whole of his slaves, of both sexes and of all ages, did not exceed
thirty-two. His friends and brother conspirators, who were among the
first gentlemen in the land, did not live with more ostentation. All
the sequestrated property being sold, it was found that, after having
distributed among the widows and other creditors what they were
entitled to, and after paying the costs of the trial and inventories,
the royal treasury had little or nothing to receive. . . . . .
There were but humble dwellings in Louisiana in 1769, and he who would
have judged of their tenants from their outward appearance would have
thought that they were occupied by mere peasants, but had he passed
their thresholds he would have been amazed at being welcomed with such
manners as were habitual in the most polished court of Europe, and
entertained by men and women wearing with the utmost ease and grace
the elegant and rich costume of the reign of Louis XV. There, the
powdered head, the silk and gold flowered coat, the lace and frills,
the red-heeled shoe, the steel handled sword, the silver knee buckles,
the high and courteous bearing of the gentleman, the hoop petticoat,
the brocaded gown, the rich head dress, the stately bow, the slightly
rouged cheeks, the artificially graceful deportment, and the
aristocratic features of the lady, formed a strange contrast with the
roughness of surrounding objects. It struck one with as much
astonishment as if diamonds had been found capriciously set by some
unknown hand in one of the wild trees of the forest, or it reminded
the imagination of those fairy tales in which a princess is found
asleep in a solitude, where none but beasts of prey were expected to
roam.
THE TREE OF THE DEAD.
(_From History of Louisiana._)
In a lot situated at the corner of Orleans and Dauphine streets, in
the city of New Orleans, there is a tree which nobody looks at without
curiosity and without wondering how it came there. For a long time it
was the only one of its kind known in the state, and from its isolated
position it has always been cursed with sterility. It reminds one of
the warm climes of Africa or Asia, and wears the aspect of a stranger
of distinction driven from his native country. Indeed with its sharp
and thin foliage, sighing mournfully under the blast of one of our
November northern winds, it looks as sorrowful as an exile. Its
enormous trunk is nothing but an agglomeration of knots and bumps,
which each passing year seems to have deposited there as a mark of
age, and as a protection against the blows of time and of the world.
Inquire for its origin, and every one will tell you that it has stood
there from time immemorial. A sort of vague but impressive mystery is
attached to it, and it is as superstitiously respected as one of the
old oaks of Dodona. Bold would be the axe that would strike the first
blow at that foreign patriarch; and if it were prostrated to the
ground by a profane hand, what native of the city would not mourn
over its fall, and brand the act as an unnatural and criminal deed?
So, long live the date-tree of Orleans street--that time-honored
descendant of Asiatic ancestors!
In the beginning of 1727, a French vessel of war landed at New Orleans
a man of haughty mien, who wore the Turkish dress, and whose whole
attendance was a single servant. He was received by the governor with
the highest distinction, and was conducted by him to a small but
comfortable house with a pretty garden, then existing at the corner of
Orleans and Dauphine streets, and which, from the circumstance of its
being so distant from other dwellings, might have been called a rural
retreat, although situated in the limits of the city. There the
stranger, who was understood to be a prisoner of state, lived in the
greatest seclusion; and although neither he nor his attendant could be
guilty of indiscretion, because none understood their language, and
although Governor Périer severely rebuked the slightest inquiry, yet
it seemed to be the settled conviction in Louisiana, that the
mysterious stranger was a brother of the Sultan, or some great
personage of the Ottoman empire, who had fled from the anger of the
vicegerent of Mohammed, and who had taken refuge in France.
The Sultan had peremptorily demanded the fugitive, and the French
government, thinking it derogatory to its dignity to comply with that
request, but at the same time not wishing to expose its friendly
relations with the Moslem monarch, and perhaps desiring for political
purposes, to keep in hostage the important guest it had in its hands,
had recourse to the expedient of answering that he had fled to
Louisiana, which was so distant a country, that it might be looked
upon as the grave, where, as it was suggested, the fugitive might be
suffered to wait in peace for actual death, without danger or offence
to the Sultan. Whether this story be true or not is now a manner of
so little consequence that it would not repay the trouble of a strict
historical investigation.
The year 1727 was drawing to its close, when on a dark stormy night
the howling and barking of the numerous dogs in the streets of New
Orleans were observed to be fiercer than usual, and some of that class
of individuals who pretend to know everything, declared that by the
vivid flashes of the lightning, they had seen swiftly and stealthily
gliding toward the residence of the _unknown_ a body of men who wore
the scowling appearance of malefactors and ministers of blood. There
afterwards came also a report that a piratical-looking Turkish vessel
had been hovering a few days previous in the bay of Barataria. Be it
as it may, on the next morning the house of the stranger was deserted.
There were no traces of mortal struggle to be seen; but in the garden
the earth had been dug, and _there_ was the unmistakable indication of
a recent grave.
Soon, however, all doubts were removed by the finding of an
inscription in Arabic characters, engraved on a marble tablet, which
was subsequently sent to France. It ran thus: "The justice of heaven
is satisfied, and the date-tree shall grow on the traitor's tomb. The
sublime Emperor of the faithful, the supporter of the faith, the
omnipotent master and Sultan of the world, has redeemed his vow. God
is great, and Mohammed is his prophet. Allah!" Some time after this
event, a foreign-looking tree was seen to peep out of the spot where a
corpse must have been deposited in that stormy night, when the rage of
the elements yielded to the pitiless fury of man, and it thus
explained in some degree this part of the inscription, "the date-tree
shall grow on the traitor's grave."
Who was he, or what had he done, who had provoked such relentless and
far-seeking revenge? Ask Nemesis,--or, at that hour when evil spirits
are allowed to roam over the earth and magical invocations are made,
go and interrogate the tree of the dead.
MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY.
~1806=1873.~
MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY, the "Pathfinder of the Sea," was born in
Spottsylvania County, Virginia, reared in Tennessee, and entered the
Navy in 1825, rising to be lieutenant in 1837. In 1839 he met with an
accident which lamed him for life, and he thenceforward spent his time
in study and investigation of naval subjects. Under the pen-name of
"Harry Bluff," he wrote some essays for the "Southern Literary
Messenger," which produced great reforms in the Navy and led to the
establishment of the Naval Academy at Annapolis.
In 1842 he was appointed superintendent of the Hydrographical Office,
and in 1844, of the National Observatory, at Washington, the latter
position including the former. The observations of winds, currents,
and storms, which he caused to be made during nine years, are embodied
in his "Wind and Current Charts;" and the system thus begun was
adopted by all European countries and has proven of immense benefit
both to commerce and science.
[Illustration: ~Florida State Agricultural College (Main Building),
Lake City, Fla.~]
To him and to Lieutenant John M. Brooke, afterwards Com. Brooke,
C. S. N., belongs the credit of deep-sea soundings; and to him we owe
the suggestion of the submarine telegraphic cable across the Atlantic.
(_See below, letter to Secretary of the Navy._) Cyrus W. Field said,
at a dinner given in 1858 to celebrate the first cable message across
the Atlantic,--"Maury furnished the brains, England gave the money,
and I did the work."
His "Physical Geography of the Sea" has been translated into all the
languages of Europe, and caused Humboldt to say that Maury had founded
a new science. His researches and scientific labors gained him honors
and medals from all scientific societies. His "Navigation" and
"Geographies" are in popular use in our schools. His style is
irresistibly attractive, being clear, strong, elegant, and indicative
of truth in the man behind it.
He entered the Confederate service in 1861, and was employed at first
at Richmond and later as naval agent in Europe. When Lee surrendered,
he was in the West Indies on his way to put in use against Federal
vessels in Southern ports a method of arranging torpedo mines which he
had invented.
He then went to Mexico (1865) and took a position in the Cabinet of
the Emperor Maximilian; but the revolution there (1866) terminated his
relations with that government. After two years in England, he
returned to Virginia and in 1868 became professor of Physics in the
Virginia Military Institute. At this time the University of Cambridge
conferred upon him the degree of LL. D., and the Emperor of the French
invited him to Paris as superintendent of the Imperial Observatory.
His life has been written in a most engaging style by his daughter,
Mrs. Diana Fontaine Maury Corbin.
WORKS.
Navigation.
Scraps from the Lucky Bay, by Harry Bluff.
Rebuilding Southern Commerce.
Wind and Current Charts.
Sailing Directions.
Physical Geography of the Sea.
Series of Geographies.
Physical Survey of Virginia.
Resources of West Virginia (with Wm. M. Fontaine).
Lanes for Steamers Crossing the Atlantic.
Amazon and Atlantic Slopes.
Magnetism and the Circulation of the Atmosphere.
THE GULF STREAM.
(_From Sailing Directions._)
It is not necessary to associate with oceanic currents the idea that
they must of necessity, as on land, run from a higher to a lower
level. So far from this being the case, some currents of the sea
actually run up-hill, while others run on a level. The Gulf Stream is
of the first class. In a paper read before the National Institute in
1844, I showed why the bottom of the Gulf Stream ought, theoretically,
to be an inclined plane, running _upwards_. If the Gulf Stream be 200
fathoms deep in the Florida Pass, and but 100 fathoms off Hatteras, it
is evident that the bottom would be lifted 100 fathoms within that
distance; and therefore, while the bottom of the Gulf Stream runs
up-hill, the top preserves the water-level, or nearly so; for its
banks are of sea-water, and being in the ocean, are themselves on a
water-level. . .
. . . . . . .
I have also, on a former occasion, pointed out the fact, that,
inasmuch as the Gulf Stream is a bed of warm water, lying between
banks of cold water--that as warm water is lighter than
cold--therefore, the surface of the Gulf Stream ought, theoretically,
to be in the shape of a double inclined plane, like the roof a house,
down which we may expect to find a shallow surface or roof current,
running from the middle towards either edge of the stream.
The fact that this roof-current does exist has been fully
established . . . . . . by officers of the navy. Thus, in lowering a
boat to try a current, they found that the boat would invariably be
drifted towards one side or other of the stream, while the vessel
herself was drifted along in the direction of it. . .
This feature of the Gulf Stream throws a gleam of light upon the
_locus_ of the Gulf weed, by proving that its place of growth cannot
be on this side (west) of that stream. No Gulf weed is ever found west
of the axis of the Gulf Stream; and, if we admit the top of the stream
to be higher in the middle than at the edges, it would be difficult to
imagine how the Gulf weed should cross it, or get from one side of it
to the other.
The inference, therefore, would be, that as all the Gulf weed which is
seen about this stream is on its eastern declivity, the _locus_ of the
weed must be somewhere within or near the borders of the stream, and
to the east of the middle. And this idea is strengthened by the report
of Captain Scott, a most intelligent ship-master, who informs me that
he has seen the Gulf weed growing on the Bahama Banks.
DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS.
(_From a Letter to the Secretary of the Navy, 1854, given in Mrs.
Corbin's Life of Maury._[14])
The U. S. brig "Dolphin," lieutenant commanding O. H. Berryman, was
employed last summer upon special services connected with this
office. . . . He was directed also to carry along a line of deep-sea
soundings from the shores of Newfoundland to those of Ireland. The
result is highly interesting upon the question of a submarine
telegraph across the Atlantic, and I therefore beg leave to make it
the subject of a special report.
This line of deep-sea sounding seems to be DECISIVE of the question as
to the practicability of a submarine telegraph between the two
continents _in so far as the bottom of the deep sea is concerned_.
From Newfoundland to Ireland the distance between the nearest points
is about 1600 miles, and the bottom of the sea between the two places
is a plateau which seems to have been placed there especially for the
purpose of holding the wires of the submarine telegraph, and of
keeping them out of harm's way. It is neither too deep nor too
shallow; yet it is so deep that the wires but once landed will remain
forever beyond the reach of the anchors of vessels, icebergs, and
drifts of any kind, and so shallow, that they may be readily lodged
upon the bottom. . . . . . .
A wire laid across from either of the above-named places on this side
to the north of the Grand Banks, will rest on that beautiful plateau
to which I have alluded, and where the waters of the sea appear to be
as quiet and as completely at rest as it is at the bottom of a
mill-pond. It is proper that the reasons should be stated for the
inference that there are no perceptible currents and no abrading
agents at work at the bottom of the sea upon this telegraphic plateau.
I derive this inference from the study of a physical fact, which I
little deemed, when I sought it, had any such bearings.
Lieutenant Berryman brought up, with "Brooke's deep-sea sounding
apparatus," specimens of the bottom from this plateau. I sent them to
Professor Bailey, at West Point, for examination under his microscope.
This he kindly undertook, and that eminent microscopist was quite as
much surprised to find, as I was to learn, that all these specimens of
deep-sea soundings are filled with microscopic shells. To use his own
words, "not a particle of sand or gravel exists in them." These little
shells therefore suggest the fact that there are no currents at the
bottom of the sea whence they come; that Brooke's lead found them
where they were deposited in their burial-place. . . .
Had there been currents at the bottom, they would have swept and
abraded and mingled up with these microscopic remains the _débris_ of
the bottom of the sea, such as ooze, sand, gravel, and other matter;
but not a particle of sand or gravel was found among them. Hence the
inference that these depths of the sea are not disturbed by either
waves or currents. Consequently, a telegraphic wire once laid there
would remain as completely beyond the reach of accident as it would be
if buried in air-tight cases.
HEROIC DEATH OF LIEUTENANT HERNDON.
(_From Maury's Report, in Mrs. Corbin's Life of Maury._[15])
U. S. NATIONAL OBSERVATORY,
WASHINGTON, D. C., _October 19th, 1857_.
SIR,--On the 12th day of September last, at sea, the U. S. mail
steamship "Central America," with the California mails, many of the
passengers and crew, and a large amount of treasure on board,
foundered in a gale [off Cape Hatteras]. The law requires the vessels
of this line to be commanded by officers of the Navy, and Commander
William Lewis Herndon had this one. He went down with his ship,
leaving a glowing example of devotion to duty, Christian conduct, and
true heroism. . . . .
The "Central America," at the time of her loss, was bound from
Aspinwall, viâ Havana, to New York. She had on board, as nearly as has
been ascertained, about two millions in gold, and 474 passengers,
besides a crew, all told, of 101 souls--total, 575.
She touched at Havana on the 7th September last, and put to sea again
at nine o'clock on the morning of the 8th. The ship was apparently in
good order, the time seemed propitious, and all hands were in fine
health and spirits, for the prospects of a safe and speedy passage
home were very cheering. The breeze was from the trade winds quarter
at N. E.; but at midnight on the 9th it freshened to a gale, which
continued to increase till the forenoon of Friday, September 11th,
when it blew with great violence. . .
Up to this time the ship behaved admirably; nothing had occurred
worthy of note, or in any way calculated to excite suspicions of her
prowess, until the forenoon of that day, when it was discovered that
she had sprung a leak. The sea was running high: . . . the leak was so
large that by 1 P. M. the water had risen high enough to extinguish
the fires on one side and stop the engine. . . . Crew and passengers
worked manfully, pumping and baling all Friday afternoon and night,
and when day dawned upon them the violence of the storm was still
increasing. . . . The flag was hoisted union down, that every vessel
as she hove in sight might know they were in distress and wanted
help. . . . . . . .
Finally, about noon of Saturday the 12th, the gale began to abate and
the sky to brighten. . . . At about 2 P. M. the brig "Marine," Captain
Burt, of Boston, bound from the West Indies to New York, heard
minute-guns, and saw the steamer's signals of distress. She ran down
to the sinking ship, and though very much crippled herself by the
gale, promised to lay by. . . . The steamer's boats were ordered to be
lowered--the "Marine" had none that could live in such a sea. . . .
All the women and children were first sent to the brig, and every one
arrived there in safety. Each boat made two loads to the brig,
carrying in all 100 persons.
By this time night was setting in. The brig had drifted to leeward
several miles away from the steamer; and was so crippled that she
could not beat up to her again.
Black's (the boatswain) boat alone returned the second time. Her
gallant crew had been buffeting with the storm for two days and
nights without rest, and with little or no food. The boat itself had
been badly stove while alongside with the last load of passengers. She
was so much knocked to pieces as to be really unserviceable, nor could
she have held another person. Still those brave seamen, inspired by
the conduct and true to the trust imposed in them by their Captain,
did not hesitate to leave the brig again, and pull back through the
dark for miles, across an angry sea, that they might join him in his
sinking ship, and take their chances with the rest. . . . . .
As one of the last boats was about to leave the ship, her commander
gave his watch to a passenger with the request that it might be
delivered to his wife. He wished to charge him with a message for her
also, but his utterance was choked. "Tell her----." Unable to proceed,
he bent down his head and buried his face in his hands for a moment as
if in prayer, for he was a devout man and a Christian.
In that moment, brief as it was, he endured the great agony; but it
was over now. . . . He had resolved to go down with his ship. Calm and
collected, he rose up from that mighty struggle with renewed vigour,
and went with encouraging looks about the duties of the ship as
before. . . .
After the boat which bore Mr. Payne--to whom Herndon had entrusted his
watch--had shoved off, the Captain went to his state-room and put on
his uniform; . . . . . then walking out, he took his stand on the
wheel-house, holding on to the iron railing with his left hand. A
rocket was sent off, the ship fetched her last lurch, and as she went
down he uncovered. . . .
Just before the steamer went down, a row-boat was heard approaching.
Herndon hailed her; it was the boatswain's boat, rowed by "hard hands
and gentle hearts," returning from on board the brig to report her
disabled condition. If she came alongside she would be engulfed with
the sinking ship. Herndon ordered her to keep off. She did so, and was
saved. This, as far as I have been able to learn, was his last order.
Forgetful of self, mindful of others, his life was beautiful to the
last, and in his death he has added a new glory to the annals of the
sea.
[A handsome monument to his memory stands in the Parade-ground of the
Naval School at Annapolis.]
FOOTNOTES:
[14] By permission of Mrs. Corbin.
[15] By permission of Mrs. Corbin.
WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS.
~1806=1870.~
WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS was born and reared in Charleston, South
Carolina. His early education was limited; he was for a while clerk in
a drug-store and then he studied law. But his decided taste for
letters soon induced him to devote his entire time and attention to
their cultivation. He wrote rapidly and voluminously, and produced
poems, novels, dramas, histories, biographies, book-reviews,
editorials,--in short, all kinds of writing. He was editor of various
journals at different times, and did all he could to inspire and
foster a literary taste in his generation. His style shows the effect
of haste and overwork.