OCR Text |
Show \ EMIGRANT'S GUlDE. 7tl . ' The a?·undo aquatt.c a J·S un known in the and province of Texas. . it i~ found to form large brakes upon ~he higher part~ o~ t~e .co~ntryl .w F~rt St. Philip, and upo11 the shores ot all banks of the MI:;SJSSlppt be o d L b nks are low The arunJo . t the west war w llOSe a . . . t· t the otber streams ·o . . . border never extenJing more than or~ or ~quatica forms a beau~Jfu'ld •e This grameu is extremely susceptible fifty feet fron: ~he wat~r e g \\rhen the author was at the mouth of Sa-of decomposJtJOn by fiOst. b . d at the head of the lake near . fl8IG) 1C) earnve bine in the wmter o -- fD b r and found the arundo aqua-the 30o N. lat. on the 20th o ec~m t~ 'nio-~ts of the ~I st and (~2d, tica still untouched by frost: but m e tircl . and in less than one very severe frost destroyed the . can~ ~n an~ .parched as if blighted week afterwards, the stalk~- .a~pear.~nd rJle small ponds covered with by fire: the ground '~ra.~ rdo~en~ e beyond what could be expected ice: the weather was, muee ' sever ' in that latitude. . fll ore tender than the arundo The other lesser gramma _ar~ s \· ~ frost that would be resisted nquatica, and of cour::;e ~u?rm~ ? a l~oo N 'lat has often tbe dry by the latter. The p.ramcs f' e owl . h th~ grain bas been cut. In bb} l.l ct of fieltlc:- rom w 11c f h · stu e- l.{e aspe i:J ~ suffer. but when to the ruin o t eir such cases the cattle at~d l;o~tes l . h .is often the case as low as 30o food, is added snow an s .ee , w llC oscJ animals is really pitia- 30' N. lat. the situatiOI~ ot the poor exp j U-07 d 1812 snow fell ble. In the months. of January l800,d ·atio'n.anThe sto;m of 1807, at Opelousds of consiJerable deptb and uz h more destructive to the though it occasioned less sno~v, was mucttenJed with a keen N. W. l i tl ~ f 1310 · the former was a . d catt e t 1an l:lt o . - ' IJ . [i 11 d by sleet, and term mate wind, commenced With co ram o owe f F bruar rravc with snow: but the residue of the mont~ ~~~r~rlte OSeV('~lth ofyFt.:bb.ruvcry warm p.l~~sant \\/a-~~1~:·t inOn a::~:~l~~ 1 with clear calm weather. ary, anothe1 severe IO;:, ~ ' l d. d other stagThe latter frost was so intense as to freeze t la pon s_, an . ell nant waters as. Io w as t·he "a u If of Mexico. The spnng was ramy I 1 d the middle of l\rfarch when tbe seasou changed to (. ry an w~rm .. A phenomenon en~ueJ the storm in J anuar'y, that stafger\~l~e we~~~ d n . of man ersons. No injurious effects upon t 1e ca . . a ~r~~ tiblc fo~ Fome . time, Lut suddenly they were found to be u,rm~ pb h p d The malady bad all the appearance of a real pleunsy . thye tc aotutslaen wse.r e not reJuced much· m. fl es h ' . bu t ~e 11 _.a n d die.d in a few c: Jer h ours. . rrh ose w b'Jcll r"o covered ' nrere weak until la1te Ill ~tubm nu ght. The swine seemed also affected in the s;mhe ~an~erf ho:n:~scat~le in by many persons, that Ol)e-fourth part o t e s oc o d S of the the country pcrisbeu. The horses and mul.es escape • orne be-old inhabitants ob~erved, th3t a similar fatalrty had occurred once fore in their recollection, preceded also by severe frost: we a· If makina of hay anJ providing shelter for stock m storml y n ther were ftlo becom' e genera l 0 b~.-ec t s 0 f ru ral economy ' bt le· re ctah e Le ;ery little doubt of an ample pecuniar>: . rec~rnpens~ h e~~~dant consequence. Whilst the wid_e spre~d praHle g1ves sue a summer rancre provision for wmter will be neglected.- fi bl n "C·· \Vhether bs h' eep could be rear~ d m· 0 pe 1o usas a s pro ta e o .. 1 t , rount of tbet. r wool, has never been ascer.t am· e d • +Mu os t of the p an ~ 'EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. ers hav~ some sheep; but the quality of the wool is generaJJy coarse: ~he mutton is t!Xc.eJJeut. How far the wool could be improved by tbe intruduction of other breeds, remains open to experiment. As far as pasturage and the climate are concerned, there is tlo reason to doubt but sheep coulJ be multiplied. to any supposable extent. The dry pine tracts that seem to forbid attempts at agriculture, might probably be beneficially employed as sheepfolds. l"r1)m the review we ha\re given of the temperature of the climate, and the operation of frost, the reader will be able to form a reasonable estimate of the probability of success in the cultivation of the vine and oli'r·e, in Opelousas and Attacapas. Tkle essential difference in the respective climates of the basin of the· Mobile, the valley of the Mississippi, anu the extensive prairies of Louisiana and Texas, has also been exhibited. It will be seen that the line of climate does not corresponJ with the parallels of ]atitu<le. Though the 33° N. 1at.-;v has· been correctly assumed as a general line of demarkation between the climates of this continent, yet the regions near the delta of the Mississippi show a deviation from this boun da ry. A line drawn from tbe junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, to the mnuth of the SauirJe, would very nearly follow the· course of the itJtermediate climates;, with the exception of that part intersecting tbe lVJ ississippi. \JVithin fifteen or twenty miles from that greal river an indentation exists ,. carrying the cooler temperature of the more northern regions 1~ or 15 minutes of latitude f<1rther south. • \Vhen treating of the olive tree,·j· it wiiJ be ~hown how far · any of the countries previously reviewed will suit the growth of thQt tree. It would sweJJ the subject beyond its comparative share of atteiJtion, to give in detail all that could be repeated re pecting Opelousas and Attacapas. The following te1ble exhibit5 the most important ve getable productions of this interesting coun try. A professed botanist would find the eastern part of ·Opelousas, in relation to the objects of his research, one of the most rich and produ ctive regions on tbis glu be, particularly in forest trees. Of aJJ the species of tree mentioned in the following list, the Buckeye and Papaw .excepted, the largest individuals ever seen by the author, were fouud between Prairie BeJlevue and the bill of Bayou Rouge ; the most remarkable of which are the quercus t inctoria, querclis macroc~rpon, cupressu,s disticha, liriodendron tnlipifera, juglans nigra, jugL::ms a<-1uatica, and laurus sassafras, Acer rubrum, Acernegundo, . Andromeda racemo~a, Annona triloba, Betula lenta, :Gignonia catalpa,+ Red flowering mapl~, Box elder, · Sorrel tree, Papaw, Black birch, on Mermentau, Catalpa, · ·* Sec pnge 31. t See chnp. iv. l This free appears to ue au indigenous tree in the ea!'terrJ woods of Ope lou-. s~s, where it gt·ows in almost all kinds of soil. The extreme durability of its WOID~ and ~ts rapid growth, hn,~e contributed to give it hi~h c timation alllongSt |