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Show 70 EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. . urn. a cent swamp, rises to it~ heigh~ 8t ~nee ; above the level of th~ Clrc bl~ land. It i~ about three mi les w dt~!fl.e-of course the c.rown ts a ta d b t two-thirds of the ~urface pratne. ,_ . g nearly round' an a ou 0 ll ter, uem . I I d . the parish of Avoyf- es. The inhabitants are me ur. e 0. m >f ,[hyou Rou~e hill, issues a spr!ng From the ~ort?east extenstn ~ould be very ditficu It to determt~e of the most ltmptd water. t d from which it flows is the most ot a whether the spring or the gro~n aLove the st;rin (" the traveller 0 on the emmence u 0 , r o ' d phenomenon. p f a black-oak, surrounded by dogwoo , may be seated at the root o I . . found ev~ n on the borders mulberry' and other trees s~arcedyl> e' ~~e Missi'ssippi' and be within of ]ands li abJe to be over owe ~0 l wateor rests four or five feet one hundred ya~ds of I an~' o~;eo~f ~h~ct~1any instances th~t Louisi_~ n"' deep every s prm~. lt ts t ral roductions touch wtthout mmgaffords where the extreme>; of na u. t p bl I t"d hill arP as <.lis· , m h l 0 f t h IS ll U m y e eVa .- ' ling. Tbe trees an , s ru )S "tb I ich it is every where environ-tinct from those of the swamp '"d' ~. t w I s the most remote from each eJ, as if the two place:; were IS ance other. . ~ f the Tonica nation of Indians reside upon this The poor remam:, 0 . 0 • h 1 When the 1 '\I Th hi story of this tn be IS short and rnelanc o y. ll · - e to Loui siJna in the beginning of the last century, French {?rst cam~I' 0 ' -·Jed on the bank of the 1\iis~issippi be· tb TonJcas or umcas, rest h . e 0 )ow Red nver, at'• 1le mou lh of the bayou that yet bears t e1r name. 0 • ' 1 h the French. The Tonicas \vere always ll1 peace •nd ~m•ty WI chez and the I 11 1718 the French formed an es tablislunent at Nat ' . ersons wh'o f'o rme d I' t were, 1· 11 1729 ' massacre.< .! by the N. ahtc hez tnbed P f lud ians who were theru; ei ves obi i~ed to abandon the" oa;es, ~~ o before' the French aut! th eir allies , amongst whom were t le ofl Y The Natchez 100 k re. fuge j n· tire then remote, and to the F re~c~ mc:s· n banks of the T eusaw river, where th ey remamed concea e un now. , True to the unquenchable nature of Indian r.evenge, the ~a~[h:~s;allied from th eir hiding place, descended the nvers to .To: · vt'll aO'e surpri sed and massacred the greatest part of the tnbe 'r bn1ucta by thios 'i ncursion we re themselves d.1 scovere d . Tl1 e ao overnor. o Louisi ana marched against them, and finally broke up the natwnd Some were killed, others made captive, aml a small party escape and joined the Cadoes. . . The Tonicas sorne time after removed to their present res1 0e nce. where the remainder, forty or fifty perso~s. survive to p.erpetuate the They have adoptt><.l the moues ot culture , and, 10 some. mea-nsuarme e.t he manners and customs of the F rene h . 0 ne or t w? wh.t le fa- mili~s reside amongst them; anu it woul<.l puzzle Mot~tPsqUJeU buns0 «~~f, to determine wh icb of the parties hav.e been m~) s t mflue?ced b.y t i~ tl Each cultivates cotton and matze. The1r cotton 1s earned o 11er. - d Mo · · · canoes to Point Cuupee by the Atchcdalaya ~n JSStSslppl. . d The timber on the hilt is black uak, whne-oak, red-o.ak, lm r~n, red-elm, sweoet gum, poplar (lirioden<.lron,) dogwoml, w1ld che y, and asbo d 1 ded It would be difficult to conceiYe of a more remote an sec u f spot. 0 Surrounded fctr many months with a sea of w.ater, and out o. EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. tl1e course of any thoroughfare, its inhabitants are almost as detached froHl thP world as if they were in an islam! of the Pacitic ocean. From the neighbourhood of this hill flow$ a stream called Bayou Rouge. that enters the Atchatalaya . Farther south another creek, ca lied Bayou Petite Prairie, flows nearly para]leJ to B:1you Rquge, and also falls into Atchafalayao Bayou Rouge enters Atchafalaya about one mile below the head of the great raft in the Jafter, and Bayou Petite Prairie about ten miles lower down There are considerable bodies of excellent land upon each of those two bayous, particularly the Jatter; but the impediment to navigation created by the raft in Atcbafalaya will, it is supposed, prevent their improvement for many years. The region from Opelousas to Bayou Rouge inclusive, might with muc:h propriety be denominated a country of large timber. It is certainly one of the heaviest fore~ts in the world ; and w iJJ, at some future time, become of great importance. Among~t other trees whose timber is valuable, there is an irnmer-1se quantity of very fine whiteoak and cypress. The greater part remains untouched, particularly the oak. 0 Having completed this rapid sketch of the natural features of Opelousas ~nd Attacapas, we may now pass on to their aortificial improvements . Political divisions ,-settlements ,-towns ,-productions.-A ttacapas wa~ first discovered and settled by the French about the middle of the last century. When first established, the whole country bore the name of Attacapas, from a tribe. of Indians resident in the country. Another tribe, named Opelousas, resH..If'd near the head of Teche, from whom that ~ouutry was named. Some years after the tirst settlement, when the inhabitants increased, Opelousas was divided from Attacapas and made a separate comman<.lary ; in which state the two places rem., ined during t_he existence of the Frencb :md Spani. h governments in Lou~siana, a~d _for .some years after the U~ited States exerciseJ politicnl jurisdJctJOn m tb.e country. The lme of demarkation between the twt> posts from the time of their first separation, began at the mouth of the Merme~tau river, ran thence up that str~am to the nwuth of Bayou ~ueue ~ort ue ; thence up that stream to 1ts source ; then by an imagmary ltn.e to the head of Bayou Carrion Crow '· thence down that stream to Its mouth; thence up to the Vermilion to the efflux of Ba. ~ou Fu ilier; thence c.lown that stream to its junction with Teche r.'v~r; ~hence by an imaginary line east to Atchafalaya river. This !umt wdJ no doubt remain perma~ent : the most part of the distance •~. mar~ed out by water-courses, and the remainder i:; known by ob. vwus lmes of connexion. Viewed as natural positions, there is no apparent distinction be~ t~een Ope]o~sas an~ . A!tacap<~s. From the mouth of Atcltalalaya l't.ver to the pme prame m theN. W. part of Opelousas, the intermedt ate coun.tr.y . presents . one uuiform geological structure, though the local. subdJ~ISJons ~ary 10 regard to climate, soi]. and vegetable prod~ c~wns. fhe mmor parts of each of the great portions are 01ore doJSht)ct than are the two great divisions themselves from each otheor. |