The emigrant's guide to the western and southwestern states and territories : comprising a geographical and statistical description of the states, ouisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio ; the territories of Alabama, Missouri, and Michigan ; and the western parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New-York...

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ElHIGRAN'r'S GUlDE. from the various prairies with which it is e~viro.nf"d, and at Carron's lan ding is a large creek. A branch flowmg ~rom the e ~stwar~ of Onelousas court-house, joins Bayrm Grand Lou1s at Carron s land.m~. The stream, now bearing the name of Bayou. C.arron, flo~vs .. ,'~· little more than half a mile, diviJes; one part runnmg to the S. E. forms the Teche, and the other part continuing the name of Bayou Ca~ron, after a course of less than two miles, falls into the Courta?le.au nver. In the olJ maps of land in Opelousas, Bayou Grand Louas. JS named Teche ; of which latter it is realiy the source. Aft~r leavmg. Bayou C::trron the 'feche flows· to the southeast seven mtles, rece1ves an outlet ~f the Courtablcau, which leaves that river .at Bar~'s. Below the junction the streams flow to the soufhward ten miles_, and re­ceives from the west BayotJ Bourbee. Tbis latter strea~ IS formed from the various Jrains of the prairies to the southward of Opelousas church. lb extreme northern source is, as has been observed, th~ee miles north of the latter place ; but is at the church only a mere dram ; continues to the £outh about eight miles, and is augmented by Chre­tien's Bayou, <l: large creek from Prairie ~ellev~e; it_ ~hen turns southeast alonrr the GranJ Coteaux, about four mdes, d1v1des ; une part turninrr c~st enters the Teche, the other south, receives Bayou Carrion Cr~w three miles uelow, and thence the united stream bears the· name o'fVermihon river. In the latter, three miles Lelow t e en­trance of Carrion Crow, Bayou Pont Brule comes in from th~ eas~­ward. The Vermilion continues to flow southw(;trd ten miles ; JS augmented by the Bayou Qu-eue Tortue, from the vicinity of St. ~ar­tinsville and turns to the southwest, sixteen or seventeen rrules. Within 'a very small distance from the 30° N. lat. the Vermilion again bends to the southeast ten miles, and then assumes a south oour~ e of twelve miles, falls into VenniJion bay. Below the Q,ueue 1"'ortue, no creeks of any note enter the V ermiliop . . The eHstern division of Bayou Bourbe bears the name of Bayou Fusilier, and is the last tributary stream which enters the 'feche. Below the Fusilier the Teche forms an immense bend to the eastward, southward, and westward, of twelve miles, in a channel almost as uni­form as if formeJ by art ; it then recurves again southeastward five mile~, and assumes .a south course fifteen mile.s; passes St. Martins­ville, and tlows to M. St. Maur's plantation, where commences the F'ausse point benJ. This Jatter curve is twert ty two miles in circuit. and yet the river comes again .with in less than 1 ~ miles of M. St. 1\1dur's house. 'll1c river then rapidly turns to the southward, and aljoul h\'O mi1es from ~ h is turn, pas c New Ibe ria. It is oHiy niue miles fr }m t. 1\Lnl in~vi He to New I beria by land, and. upwards of thirty by water. Below New lberia, the T'eche flows twenty mil!:!s southeast to JU. Sorrel's plantation. T he river then turns to the eastward, and in a direct Jistancc ot thi rteen miles, to the court· house of 't. Mary's ; fo rms two gre at bends ; the upper ~f thirteen anc! tbe low~r hventy mites. Below the latter beuJ the n­VE! r flows a little soud1 of e..~st twenty-five miles, anJ faHs into the At­cbafalaya. Tu\i'. entire.l•mgth of the Teche, i Bay{m Gr nd Louis is inclyde~ , exce~ds one hundred and seventy mil es. There exi. ts no known n­l'er on the globe with traits of exact analogy to the TecL1e ; mauy of EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 5,9 its features are peculiar to itself. On examination of the country thronah which it flows, the mintf is left at a lo -s to accouJJt fur He possi bility of a river being formed .where its chan11el is situ ~ ted. In the gem·ntl structure of its hanks, it bears a resemblance to thE> Mis­si;.- sippi, but that single feature excepted, no olher likeness between the two rivPrs exi sts; and the Teche differs more again from the Vermilion, Mermentau, Calcasiu, and Sabine, than even from the Mis. ·~s rppi. It is by analogy that verbal uescriptions are under~tood, and for that simple re:Json, it is almost impossible to describe the 'Teche, in ~langua~e conveyina clear conception5 of the object ; as there is no river with which it can be correctly compared. The reader may, as far as possible, conceive a stream of upwards of one hundred miles i.n length, aradually widening and deepening without any vi sible source of augrnentation. At th~ mouth of Bayou Fusilier, the '"fcche is at low water not more than three feet deep, and about fifty yards from high ba11k to high bank ~ and where it enters the Atchofahlya, it is upwards of two hundred yards wide, and more than twenty in depth. Vessels drawing five feet water go up to New Iberia. The tide often flows above that place. Thourrll . there are, when the magnitude of the stream is estimated, some of the most extensive bends in the Tecbe that can be found in any k~own river, yet the channel is, as has been noticed, so extremely regular as to imitate if not surpass the efforts of art. · The banks are high ; and sloping gradualJy from the 'vater, rise ~ar ab0ve any swell ever known in the river. Though evidently formed by alluvion. the banks of the Tt--che mu~t ,have be n accumu­lated by means of a situation of things that no longer exists. There must have been a time when a body of water annually inundated this coun~ry .; but those floods have found another vent, for ages past; and at th1s hme, the banks of the Teche inherit the inexhaustible fer­tility of alluvial soil, without subjecting their inhabitants to the in~ convenience of inundation. At this eJ:>Och it is difficult to conceive of any lands being superior to t.h_ose of the Tech~ ; . and however formed, they richly repay their ~ulhvators. We Will resume the subject of the local positions of this nver, and the vegetable productions, after completing a topographi­cal sketch of the country under review. The .Courtableau is tbe stream of tbe cultivated parts of Opelousas t~at _umtes that fine country with the regions watered by the Missis­SIPP•: S~· much ha~ been observed respectiug the Courtableau, when treatmg of the navigable routes from N cw Orleans to . Opelousas and Atta~apag, as much to abridge the labour of detail in this pJ:1ce. It Will be sufficient to observe, that the Courtableau is formed by the confluent streams of the Bayous, Crocodile, and Brnuf; which after flowing fr01n the pine hills S. W. of Alexandria in Hapides. in a n~arly r~arallel course of about seventy miles by a direct line. unita e1ght miles north of Opelousas church, and forms the Courtableau. More will be given in the seC]uel respecting this river. We will take u~ ,the description of the prairies of Ope~ousas anJ Attacapas, which lVJII complete tbe natura.! topography of the country.