ceeded by the chamaerops Louisiana; which in turn is followed by the clambering smilax.

Near the banks of all the streams where the arundo exists, grow also great quantities of the phytolacca decandra, (poke,) sambucus rubra, morus scabra, and rubus fruticosus, vegetables peculiarly indicative of a fertile soil.

The vitis verrucosa seems to have found a soil extremely well adapted to its organization. The greatest quantity of that vine that perhaps exists in any spot of equal extent in America, is between Opelousas church and the hill of Bayou Rouge. The vitis laciniosa, and vitis riparia, overhang the streams. Several species of dwarf trees, and shrubs of little consequence, might swell this catalogue, but I trust, what is presented, will suffice to give the reader an enlarged idea of the great variety and importance of the vegetable productions of this remarkable spot.

On ascending the hills from the foregoing tract, an important change is at once perceived; now are seen the juglans squamosa, juglans porcina, quercus ferruginea; and advancing to the waters of the Mermentau, the pinus rigida insensibly increases in quantity.

The liriodendron tulipifera now entirely ceases, the juglans nigra and populus angulata become rare. The woods have an entirely different aspect; the arundo gigantea, and chamaerops Louisiana, are superceded by the vaccinium stamineum, vaccinium arboreum, and other shrubs usually found on thin soil.

The prairies vary with the sections to which they are attached. In the N. E. they partake the fertility of the alluvion; on the N. towards the pine forests, the soil of the prairies differs but little from that of the

adjacent woods. The S.W. prairies are flat, and have much of the character of the sea marsh. It is indeed difficult to point out where the line of demarkation between the prairie and marsh exists.

The specific term of Pine Woods was given to the N. W. from the pinus rigida forming the greatest part of the timber; but on the banks of most of the streams the pine is admixed with other trees, the most common species of which are quercus tinctoria, quercus phellos, quercus alba, nyssa aquatica, liquidamber styraciflua, diospiros virginiana, fraxinus tomentosa, juglans poreina, juglans aquatica, and the laurus sassafras. The cornus florida, and cerasus caroliniana, with various species of vaccinium, mingle themselves amongst the more majestic trees.

On the different creeks are many spots of good second rate land, but like the neighbouring prairies, this pine region invites rather the pastoral than agricultural emigrant.

In brief, the relative pursuits of the inhabitants of Opelousas will no doubt preserve their present form. Those near, or on the alluvion and adjacent parts, will continue to cultivate a soil that is not in many other places either equalled or excelled; whilst in the distant prairies and pine forests, the sterile soil will compel the retention of cattle as support and staple.

The advance of population will at length induce the people to turn their attention to the rivers that intersect Opelousas, and withdraw a portion of their commerce from its present channel.

Pitch, tar, and turpentine, might be made in any given quantity; neither has yet been attended to, by the inhabitants, to an amount worth notice.

The staples of Opelousas at this time, are cotton,

A

cattle, hides, tallow, cheese, beef, and pork. It has been disputed which of the two former yields the highest revenue on the same labour and capital. This question must remain without solution; so much depends upon local position, that no decisive data exists to render the contrast satisfactory.

It is no doubt, however, much more facile for new settlers to commence a pastoral than an agricultural establishment. The land suitable to the former being of much less value than that necessary for the latter.

There are few persons, whose capital puts it in their power, but will prefer the certainty of agriculture to all other pursuits whatever. Perhaps some individuals could however be found in Opelousas, who unite more than ever was done elsewhere; the three natural stages of man's progress, hunting, tending their flocks, and ploughing the glebe.

I may terminate these remarks upon Opelousas, by pronouncing it deserving, in a high degree, the eulogy pronounced in the motto to this work upon all Louisiana.

STATISTICS

OF THE

STATE OF LOUISIANA.

CHAP. V.

NORTH-WEST SECTION OF THE STATE; GENERAL VIEW; SOIL; CLIMATE; PRODUCTIONS; PAROCHIAL DIVISIONS.

THE Sabine river* has obtained more attention from becoming the temporary boundary between the United States and the Spanish internal provinces, and part of the permanent western limit of the state of Louisiana, than it would be entitled to claim from the magnitude of its column, or the fertility of its shores. This river discharges itself into the gulph of Mexico, in 29° 23′ N. lat. and in 93° 57′ west from Greenwich, 16° 57′ W. from Washington city. The depth of water at the mouth of the Sabine, is not more than four feet on the bar, at ordinary tides. The mouth of the river is wider than could be expected from the quantity of water it discharges into the gulph of Mexico.

No prospect can be more awfully solitary, than that from the mouth of the Sabine. A few trunks of trees

* The Sabine river, as described in this chapter, includes matter not connected with the N. W. section of the state of Louisiana; but I considered that it would render the subject more perspicuous, to give an entire picture of the Sabine under one point of view.

thrown on shore by the surf of the sea, and scattered clumps of myrtle, are the only objects that arrest the eye, from the boundless expanse of the gulph, and the equally unlimited waste of prairie. No habitation of man appears in view to cheer the voyager. No herds grazing on the green plain, recall his domestic sensations. The deep solemn break of the surge, the scream of the sea-fowl, the wind sighing mournfully through the myrtle, and a lone deer bounding along the shore, are the only objects that vary the monotony of the scene; the only sounds that interrupt the awful silence of this remote region. In the language of an elegant and interesting writer, it is one of those "unbounded prospects, where the imagination is not "less oppressed than surprised by the greatness of "the spectacle. The mind, distressed, seeks on every "side in vain for an object on which to repose, finds only a solitude that saddens, an immensity that con"founds*"

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Ascending the Sabine, about twelve miles from its mouth, the river expands into a wide shallow lake, of ten or twelve miles wide and twenty-five long, with a bearing N. E. and S. W. At the northern extremity of this lake, enters both the Sabine and Nétchez. At their junction with the lake, these two rivers are nearly of the same width, about 300 yards. A line of seashell banks are found along the shore of the lake, between the Sabine and Nétchez. On the point on the left shore of the Sabine, an immense mound of those shells are found, covered with dwarf trees, which serve as a land-mark in coming up the lake, to point out the real entrance into the river. Except a few scatter

* Abbe Barthelemy.-Travels of Anacharsis.