New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-07-15
cALcAsIEU AND ITS INHABITANTS.
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CHAPTER V.
The Creole hd5itdHs are generally extremely
loquacious, but any allusion TO the pirates who
formerly infested the lake they will take refuge
in a stolid silence and " je ne sais rien kind
Of air, which is not surprising when we consider
their close connection with the buccaneers. 1t
is also generally known that one or two Of their |
most venerable compatrots have not always led |
the quiet and mouotonous life Of n " vdcher" |
of the prairies but the reputat on Of pirate |
would not at the present time be the most re- |
spectacle heritage for their children they pre-
serve a prudent silence upon the former events |
Of their life. and only when en- boisson" do |
they condescend to claim the acquiescence of
Latitte and Black Beard.
Hackberry, on Lake Calcasieu, was strong
hold OF John Teach, or Teche, better known by
the name of Black Beard He made it "a deposit
for his valuables and place of concealment for
the prisoners whom he did not wish to destroy
1t is hardly possible to realize that lovely island
with its empowering trees its thickets Of the
Acacia Farnesana, which perfume the air with
a rich and pungent Odor, could have ever been
the scene Of the wild orgies of the most aban-
doned set of miscreants who ever polluted the
earth.
There, according to popular tradition, Black
Beard caused one Of his men who had displeased
him, to be stripped, his body smeared with
honey. and well secured to tree, where he left
him, to be destroyed by mosquitoes and other
insects Certainly if the mosquitoes Of those
days resembed in numbers and venom the pres
ent generation, which every East wind brings
from the marshes the poor wretch must have
had hut a short lease Of tortured life
Lahtte was better known in Calcasieu as a
contrahandst than as a pirate. The few acts
of violence which he committed within the cog
nizance Of the inhabitants seem to have pro-
ceeied more from desire to secure his own au-
thority against the insubordiultion Of his law
less crew than from wanton and upiustifable
love Of cruelty. He found Cacasieu secret
and profitable market for the disposal Of slaves
and contraband articles which he brought here
in great numbers and quantity and which We're
purchased by the wealthy planters of the ada-
cent parishes, at little more than quarter Of
their actual value
He has left some traces of his frequent visits
to this place The trees under which he buried
his treasures are still to be seen with their APP
propriate marks, although the money has long
since vanished. One spot on the Calcasieu river
known by the name Of " l. lie d'ArgeIt, Money
Iiill,) abounds in these landmarks and more
labor and time have been vainly spent there in
digging for chimerical treasure than would have
suticed to cultivate one of the NEST extensive
plantations in Louisiana.
1t Is, probably, owing TO the unforgotter
wealth of the buccaneers that the imagination
of the Calcasen Is 50 deeply imhued with i'm.
| ages Of golden splendor. In a miserable howell
in want Of the comm0ncst necessaries of life
he consoles himself for the abject poverty Of hi.
menage by the unbounded extravaganza of hi,
fancy TIE thirsty traveller will turn with dis
. appointment from the deceittul mirage which
leads his weary steps astray, but the Calcasien
on the contrary, seems to find the shadow Of
substance a sufficient consolation for the actua
evils which address. themselves to his every
sense. lie shuts his eyes to the stern realt,
and passes his life in hopes that thediscovery 0
some buried hoard may convert into actua
y viands the uusubstantial enjoyments of his Bar
needles feast. If you speak Of him of the ste
rility of the soil which he half cutivates, h
will answer you by the story of brig whicl
lies at the bottom Of Black Bayou, filled will
gold and jewels, which is 10 be discovered b.
some beautiful maiden, and at her signal ris
by from the waters and deposit its treasures at he
- feet, or you will hear Of the golden cannon
q Spanish doubloons concealed 10y the pirates o.
some inaccessible island, to which however
=" some patron saint may direct his steps
The beggar who dreams himself king differ
" in nothing from the actual monarch, save in til
shortness of his reign but the Caleasen ha
discovered the rare art of proonging the drear
IN. through the whole period of needy existence
tie The secret lies in his incidence, which finds
easier to imagine the possession OF plentiful
meal tHup 10 WOFh naru 10 OBTAIN one. NlN
him tree to shade him from the summer sun
a cracked fiddle to attune his soul to harmo
ny" an innumerable quantity Of shuck cigars
and sturdy wife to plow the fields, and yo
= have before you the pic 'urc Of a contented phi
losopher in all the enjoyment of the doice ia
nititte of life His pleasure can only be in
creased by becoming the listener to some won
= derful legend, for tale OF the marvellous
ed filled with all kinds Of supernatural ncongrui
lpS tp as HON
will rejoice with unutterabe satisfaction at til
= riumphs of Jack, the Giant Killer, and equa
if not surpass, that doughty hero, in the rela
tion Of his own encounters with the evil spirit
"whitc, black and gray whom, he positivel
- asserts, are the cause Of every misfortune III
der the sun, The very idea of natural caus'
= he rejects as an impiety or absurdity not to |
listened to, and in truth he finds it most cony'
nent to lay the weight of his own misdemeal
ors upon this invisible gentry, the scape- goa
of his every sin Of omission or commission
v They sometimes assume the shape of wolf
= defour the sheep which he had neglected to s
cure in their fold, or bring scarcity Of Il
grain which his incidence had refused to cult
vate
Argument is worse than useless against tn
:. cherished belief His father or grandfath
were The witnesses or victims of supernatur
I. visitations, and how can he be so unduttul
ms, to doubt their word. 6 Ah,' he will exclair
lyon are Incredible but you have never hea
the troubles which want of faith brought up
,hio L'Amirand' :
+ CHAPTER VI.
. L'Amrand was n native Of France, wi
>, however, had past the greater part of To-
! life in Cacasieu. Like his countrymen, in ge
eral, he was skeptieal upon every subject viii
ss could not present itself in tangible, or at lea
a reasonable form He never applied to t
conjurors for charms to cure his own distemp,
Or those Of his beasts, and in fact classed tl
=, very respectable community and their cabali