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Show '72 EMJGRANT'S GUIDE. It ·ts f rom a conv'1ction oftbis natural assimilation , that. thi s fine region h b in this work trea ted of as one connected su dace. . as een l 1· 'f l d d a ti Leaving Renthrop's ferry, at the mout 1 o. . ec ·~· . an . a .v . ~Cin 0 to the Pine prairie, while ign~rant of. the poiJttcal terntonal dtvJs~ons, I t ller Wo11 1J con-- ider h11n 'ielf m one and the same country , he t If rave · . · · · · , cou 1(J not percQive an. y of tb.o !:ie ma, rks, " that pomt out a diVISIOn m ~be families of organtzed e xt :-~ tenc e. . . . . A more rapid and astoni shing tran stliOn IS not:. conceivable, than. b th deep dark and !:lilent gloom of the lllund ateu lands ot el ween e , ' · f l 'd Atchafalaya, and the open, light, and cheerful e ~pan s tot~ o t 1e WI e spreaJ prairies of Ope1ousas anJ Alta c ~ ra.s . Th~s pleasmg and really oelightful change is (l JTIOilgsl the certa111 Items of reward, th at . e ~~ ry indiviJual will receive, who pa ·ses at any season o~ the Y.eai _trom N w Orleans to either Opelousas or Attacapas. After belll?; many ~aeys confined in the ri,·cr~, expo~e.d ~o be at, musq~.1c loes, and .rn,an! severe Tlr~vations , to pass m. ~ few rnmute~ from tlu.s scene o'f stlcnce and suffenng, to an ocean oi hght, to. the ~Jew of .expanses ~here the eye finds no limit but the distar~t honz??' IS a d~ltght ~f wbtch no anticipation can gi.ve ~n ade9uate Hlt>a •. I o be enJoyed,~~ n:ust_ ?e felt. It is one of the mcrdcnts m human ltfe where the pursUit ts pam, and the possession pl easure ; where the soft and glowing landscape repays, and cheats not the weary voyager. In an ev.entful life, the author rec alls this amongst the few, the very few instances where recollection of the past. does not embitt~r the present.. . . The various roads and nver routes bemg delrneated, the reader IS now to be informed of the means of entering the country. If hi5 progress is by the mouth of Tecbe into Attacapas, the first ~bject that ~ill claim bi~ attention after lanu ing at R(~ ntbrop's ferry, will be the nch Lauk~ of Teche, lined with live oak, blacl< oak, sweet gum, and lau ~ rei magnolia ; t~1e arable margin narrow ~ and extending Jown the Atchafalaya five or six miles below the mouth of Teche. Ascendi-ng the latter river to Sorrel's, no great change in the physiognomy or production of the country will be found ;-prairies extending along the river, but very confined in their width, often interrupted by wood· Jand reaching to the margin of the stream. At Sorrel's the prairie at unce expands, and introduces the traveller to the almost interminal>le savann:-~s that reach from that place to Rio Grand del Norte. Above Sorrel 's as far as New iberia, the Te· che retains its distinctive character, though the adj acent country announces the vicinity of other regions. The bend of Fausse point, in its wide sweep, rttl..!rns again almost to the place of outset, and at Mad. St. Maur's, tbe sugar cane still enuures the vicissitudes of the climate. Here the Tcche, retaining the fertility of its shores, turns to the northward. At the lower extremity of Faussc point bend, stands Nt:>w Iberia ~ on the west or right bank of Teche. J f elegance of site, or beauty of prosflect, could of themselves confer prosperity, no town could have a hi gher claim than New Iberia. It stands at the head of schooner navigation, in one of the nwst fertile and best cultivated p~uts of Attacapas. This village stands upon the extremity of a merely perceptible eminence) which leaving the banks of Teche, pur· ' . E'MIGRANT,S GUIDE. sues a nortll\vest direction, and forms the sf'ttlement of CotP. Ge~, bt:>tweeu New I be ria and the V crmilion river. Though but little elevated abo\'e the banks of Teche, the soil of this ridgP is essentially Jifferent. Crossing) or rather only interrupted by VermiJion, this ridge forms the Penault settlement, west of the latter stream. and tur~ing north, extenJs through Opelousas, and graJually gainiu~ l:'levation , becomes, near l{ed river, hills of con~iderable height. Schistose sand-stone becomes visible at tbe base of these hills on the head waters of Bayou's Breuf and Crocodile. Tber~ h.-.s been no instance of stone in <~ny consiJerable quantity being found either on the ~urface or by digging in any part of Attacapas, or the lower parts of Opelousas. . New Iberia, though situated upon ground twenty feet ab,•ve the highest floods that can now take place, rests evidently upon alluvial soil. The site of this town is lht:! point of contact between two bodies of Jand, which though both have drawn their material ~ from one source, have been· deposited at long and distant intervals of time. The hiiJs are. in many respects better adapted to agriculture than the banks of Techc. The former are more roJiing than the latter, of. course Jess liable to injury from excessive rains Betweeu New Iberia and Opelousas church. foiJowing the ridge of hills, are svme·of the best populatf-!d, b~st cultivated, and certainly most pleasaut parts of the couniry. Cote Ge:e. Penault, Gr:md Cor. e.: aux, anJ the ueighbourbood of Opelousas church are examples. It would be entirely impossible to fix any general price to lane!." in th<:' range of these settlement ~ ; so· much dt'pt-nds upon situ ation and other c(mtingenc.ies, that the extremes wouhJ be from four ur fiVf~ to forty or fifty Jollars per acre. J n genHal the lan d ~ herf' are cht:•etper th an 011 the Tl'che ; oftt->n more so than the real diffNeuce iu tbe re-spc ~ ti\'e advautages of the two pbces. · D•~ scendi r .6 tlae Vermilion below Cote Geie. the land~, particularly on the Past bauk, prest>rve lhe a s p~ct of that se ttlement. Th<: V P.T· m41ion Jiffers tntaUy from tht• Teche. The former fluw .- through Jow inurH.latet.l bottoms, the high land seldom reachmg the rn (t rgin of the strealll ; the Techt· contrarywi~e, having the highc5t part of its adjacent Janus on the imrneJiatt' baok. .Exten!'ive marsher;, in the true meaning of tlu~ tt'rm, are found on Vermilion. and ut rare I y occu-r Dt'ar tilt' Tech~, ant.! never on its h<mks. In re ality the v e rruiliun repre sents the rivers which flow into the Mexican gulf we5t of Atcnaf~ l laya ; the Teche represents the Mi ~si ss l p fJi and other streams wlwse banks are t(,rm(•d from recent alluviou. Tile lands upon Vern1i li.m ar<' , however, extremely fertile, auJ though the phy s iogn ~.~my of the stream bearg a strong family re~emhlarace to the Mertnf'ntau, Calcasiu, and Sabine, yet in point of production the soil it w<:~ters falls but ; little below that of the 'I'eche. St. Martinsville, the present seat of justice for the parish of St. .Mar tins, is the largest town, Natchito~IJes excepteJ, in Loui siana we. tot' the Atch ;l fal~y a river. lt stands upo11 the we. t bank .,f f'eclw at N. )af. ~1 1° 10', nine miiE:·s by Jand, and t!. irty !wo t,y water a bove Nt' \' l ~ ! t : na The wound upon whi r.h Sr. M p i, : vii i ·~ '" iJIJ,it, is too dat, and the streets an: t".ces:::iniy auuudJ iu wet \\'talht:r. 10 |