OCR Text |
Show EM1GRANT'S GUIDE. 1 ~ 1 d upwards of a week. At able quantity • an d rema· m· :Li on ft 1Jc a ~guroaurny :812, snow r'e 11 near Iy . a the same place, in tla~ '?onth o al Ja rs 'on the gruund; and late .m r t . dep1h (lnd remamed ~ever t) l s of the Pride of ln<.ha, •A'oo _Jln I c 14 'the blo~-;or . s an,l tender 1rtahnc Je~tton and even the fiow - pn • o ' . p~arhes, e co . ' (Melia Azed.rach ,) the r:;~ d~'troyed. w if ers ::tnd twi!!~ of the oak. , d a~ tlw Te<Yion of snow ; fe ·A bout :=~o' oN · I·a t · ma·y .b e af ~sllu'r ne belo,.w tlHt n para 11 e 1· When the # any instances occur of tt~ af· ~~gof the earth, ne;lrly a _foot doeep~ . fell anJ Jay uport the sur dCt • t New lbena, 30 02 sant oOwp elous..ts, t IJ ere was oftly a heavy ram a N. lat. . . . bPtweP-n the line w.here snow There !" a smgular comctJencc The !Jighest point m, or ne~r ceast>;.;, an d sugar ca ne. C. (•JI.J menhce s. the suu::~·r C(lne h as b ee n cultt -. tlw valley of the M~s:-J~slppt,30~: le2r~ N . . ht."'or but a little north of vatcd to ao.I van t Cl gP • ~,~ about M attempts ll ave b ec~ 11 made to the line of occasional snow 1 o a~ lat. some of which pr?duced cultivote su~Cl' cane, .above 3 ~ .et occurred, whrre the existence delu..;i (:'results, as no m.;,tnn~E:' ha:, Y. ·. s when attempted in places of H·a at · phmt wa~ no t . founu (Hecarwu , wbere snow had been trE:>q~e~t. teorologica1 analogies, that ought The.r e. arel . veg. etda bdle in ano ur ombes ervatw. ns o n climate. . The orange. never to bt'" < tsr_eg~r e flourish. farther north than the sugar can~' tree in Europe IS found to ffect bas been observed; but m in Nurth America , the contrary e .veaetables be cultivated to a_J" neither place, c~m one of .th~se tw~ dcstr~ction, by frost. In Lou~svautage, where the otlaer IS hab~ t t 30o 05' in the delta of the l\IJs· i~na, the ora~ge tree ceas;s~ a o~5 minutes of latitude more south-sissippi, and m Attacapas or wan.lly. l considerable advantage would be There can he no d<Jubt t lat . bl to uestructiot' by frost, were ~!!. ,'~ i. ned , i. f the seP.d do f .v egae ptaobslietiso nh aa s ep ossi" bl e. This precaution has Lrought trom as nor wtn. . . . th cotton cane, and orange, been enti t('ly ner;lectcd m Lo~tsJ.ana ' ~ ics ' have aH bceu imr)(lrteu from WJlhm the .tr JP ~· ts upon the climate, The came t h I tl most exten:o;Jve euec . . f Dt l a5 ~ le . . . . . is the inundatiOn o soil, rmd health of the mhalntauts ~f LomFsian~ an attentive observaM · · · · d its ccnHuent nvers. ro · d the 1\lt~,. tss•ppl, an , . tlle author is well convmce • J r .: a lar1sc ot many years, b tton r..n aiJC uul~l ng. I'd ext.e nt o f th e m. unu. I at~ ·,ons that annually su Im erg. e that tnc cau!'es Gl •• : .. . , •• ' • have hitherto been very roue l mas-tlJC utdta of the 1\'h .si;-,SJ,lPI rHe;); l d r: n 1806 to 1814, the ' · l D · the time tnat e apse 1rDI • . ur tr f•r :-toot . uruw . . tt vel empiO\.'ed in snrveymg ::~ut hor ot· 1 • ·k w~~ every season ac Y J d hll:· wut . :-; d f th 1\JT' 'ssippi Atchafabya an l rrlowcd l:m s o e l.u.t!:::Sl ' d . in and ne ~~~· t IC (\ \o f ' . I l . fJhenomena of the inuu attOns , .I . J olH:' t' Vf'u t 1C VariOUS d j' a Rt·u nver..:. an , . ~ . ' -- j A calculation of the groun now; I • as the ~r prc .;;cn. c ! dH. m.,eht:~. .f 't II 'lrca excite astonish- .! . 1 1 • 11 w d 1 rom 1 s sma • . ' · / bit' to :n:t ua ~u 111tU:lo , l' b I' , hole cuuntries are every mrnt in the nt :nds ot those w JO c Je\e Wt . y~: ar bi l und \~ r W <tt~ r. . b east to those on the The di ,:LJilfP in Width fr?n:. th~ hJghhJan3<.13~ oNn t let to· t'be mouth of the l\1. · ,.,· sfromte, . a. . · we. t sH.! t> of lhr 1 ::>~ 1 "· ·1 PP1 ' 1 ' - • A loint~ the Island o1 R cd river' at a medium, twenty tmles. t two I : ' I EMIGRANT'S GUTDE. 13 Si ·iJy and Providence_ Jake,. the o.vt>rfl.own lands a~e contracte.d .to Je~~ thau twelve milts m a d1rect lme from the margm uf the MtssJssil'Pi · Abo\o·e the mouth of Red r·,·er the medium width of the overfl l ,Wil Jands may b(· aswrrwn at twPnly miles; this will yield between 31° and 33° N. lat. 2770 ~ quare milt's, BE-<low 21° N. lat. as far a!, r.be ~fflux oJ L<dl)Urcht!, about UO mile:, in length, the extent of tht inundation doe~ not vary much from 40 in breadth, givjng 3 ~00 square miles area. Ail the country below the efflux of the Lafourche, is reached by the ovedlow of the Mississippi river, and is eq11 ::d to 2370 squarp miles: this lar.tP-r sum, ::tdded to the two former, (Ti .·es 8340 ~quare miles as the entire overflow of the Mississippi in the state of Louisiana ; and if to thi::~, be added 2550 square miles for the inundated lands of RN1 river, the whole superficies in the state liable to o\o·erflow, will amount to 10,890 square miles. Of this extent, nol oue half is actually co\·ered annually with water. The imtnedi· at~ banks of almost all the streams are seldom, and many of them never inundated. There are suflicient data to establish the fact, that the actually overflowed parts of the state of Louisiana, fall short Df 4000 square miles, or less than one twelfth part of the whole surf<ice of th<-: ~t:lte. In the state of Mississippi, the inundation is so confined in its width, and so often iuterrupted entirely by the projecting bluffi, that it does not exceed, if it indeed an!ouots to l 000 quar~ wiles. Thus tht-. entire surface of country to which the inu11Ja tious extend, falls short of 12,000. and the area absoluteJy sub· merged, of 5000 square miles; being less than the eighteenth part of the two states of Mi~sissippi and Louisiana. Amongst the many unfounded concJusions that have been drawn, reJattve to ••1ost parts ot America, several of the most absurd relate to tht pLenomt· na attending the l\1ississippi. 1\'lr. Hutchins considered floating timber as one of the principal causes of the change::; in the course of that river, and this opinion, though obviously contradictory to the common laws of nature, has been tr::mscribcd into almu!5t every work on the subject since its fir::,t pui>Ji~ation. To any person who has visited and examined with e~ny ci rcum .. pection the operations of nature in the delta of the Missisiippi, the causes of change will appear to lie much deeper, and to be more efficacious, than fl()a.ting tret>s. He will also find, that the changes themselves ltave been overrated Leyond measure. There is not the smalle£t trace of evidence in the country, to justify the conclu. iun that the Mississippi has ever LJowed in a channel very different f~om that in which it is now confined. The lakes in its vicinity are aJ(evidentJy. remains of former bends of the river; they Jif1er essentially from other lakes of the country. Lake Providence, Yazoo, St. Joseph, St. Johr1, Concordia, Homochitta, and Fausse riviere, have traits of resemblance to the pre ent bends of the river, and to each other ; but their appearance entirely differs from Pontchatrain, Mausepas, Cbetimaches, and the Jakes in the inundated lands of Red riv r • The entire deJta bas, no doubt, been formed by the alluvion borne clown by the surplus water of the various rivers that fl<,w over it, principally the Mississippi; but the streams themselves are as much confined to constant channels as other rivers. The idea that rhe ri~ |