New Orleans daily crescent., 1866-06-07

NuMBER sIxTY-NIEE.

We have spoken of the floods of the great Mis-
sissippi, but what may not be so universally know
is the peculiar quality of this water-one that dis
tingushes it from nearly all other rivers Of tn
giobe-we mean its incoruptible nature. Aye
{ sea captains, who had provided themseve
with water taken out of the middle of the stream
have carried it around the whole terrestrial globe
} and found it as sweet and as sound as when frs
poured into the water casks Nay, we have beer
assured that no length Of time will breed worm
in this same water when preserved in well secure,
vessels, either of wood or some other material
This valuable property Of the Mississippi elemen
must be ascribed to its constituents Of whicI
calcium, it is well known, is one Of the mos
conspicuous. Now it may be this same matera
which may contribute, perhaps to another pecu
arity Of the water of our stream to wit tha
acting as an aperient for to people who are no
fully accustomed to the use Of this water, it YER
often, in the first few days, will serve as a gent
purgative and it has also been recommended as
corrective; in certain cases, Of sterility When ",
made our appearance upon the leyee banks il
1916, we then observed a number Of water car
men, who would descend the slope Of the bank o
the river, and out of the very eddy tide ill the
tumbril cask, with which they supplied their Gus
toners. whole cask-full was then sold in the
city proper, which extended not very far from
the river, for half Spanish dollar; by retail sale
a couple Of small water buckets were sold for a
4 pieayune, or 64 cents.
The Mississippi water being exceedingly muddy
or turbid, particularly during the spring months,
or high floods, it had to be iftrated through sand
stones, or purified in large earthen jars, imported
principally from Marseilles, by some alum or some
peach kernels; after which process it became per-
feetly llmpid and palatable There were naturally
number eff houses provided with cisterns and
wells, yet many families being habituated to the
use Of the river water would prefer this latter one
The yellow or loan color of the Mississippi water
may be seen out in the Gulf, at a very considerable
distance from the mouths or etflux of this river
and after having mingled with the open sea water
its distinctive qualities even are perceptible at
certain seasons of the year. upon the various oyg-
ter banks which surround the Gulf shores to the
right and left of this great water stream. This
influence consists in the effect upon the biyalves
by softening and whitening their pulpy flesh, and
rendering them little salty in that condition peo-
pie call them milky oysters, and they are not as
much valued by amateurs than when more salinous
and less pulpy or fat The most tasteful oysters.
some pretend to say, are those nourished entirely
by the heavy, green salt water of the sea, and
unmixed by any Of the sweet water from out oil
the rivers or the inland lakes of our lower delta
This species of oysters when in the middle of sum
ner and part of autumn is, however liable 10
,anse some bowel complaints, on account of GER
ain copperas dispositions, which they contract
lnder this other extreme Of the Gulf water when
'ntirely deprived of its usual admixture of Misss
ippi contribution.
Our readers will observe that one peculiarity of
he great Mississippi river consists in its having
'ery little ebb and fow This arises, no doubt, in
he first instance, from its almost ever full and
apid current towards the sea, and again on ac
ount of its southern eiflux, for it is remarkable
hat there exists but little influence of the tides
lpon the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
Unlike the shores of Nova Scotia, at Halifax, or
he northern part of France, at the Faaiser of St,
Ialo, where the spring foods oecasioned by the
'hases OF the moon, sometimes reach to the enor-
nous hight of forty and fifty feet, we hardly ever,
n the late fall and summer months, when the Mis-.
issppt is at its lowest stand perceive any greater
ide than perhaps half foot or So in the stand of
he water, At that season of the year. say from
he latter part of August to the beginning of De.
ember. when the rains in the upper rivers again
'egin to furnish the great valley stream with
lew supplies, the water opposite even our
ity has then green, ,Abeautiful sea-colored tint
uite in contrast with its usual loamy or yelowish
boxing surface. Although, from the appearance
4 the high water season, one would suppose that
he Mississippi actually flows upon the higher part
the delta, still this is mere delusion, as the
reat depth of the stream at once establishes the
lct that it flows in the lowest channel of the alu
la tfApt and HAT ife l.,
ireumjacent lands is occasioned by its being con-
ned between the high river banks or Ievees, dur
lg the period of Its high stages. /
It is, however, perfectly true, that the water :
vel OF stand OF the river branches at Bayou Man
nae on the left bank, as well the Lafourche on v
le right bank, if not even as high as the Bayou a
laquemine, indicates at those points the exact fl
herence between the high banks of the Missis- I
ppi towards the lake and sea shore levels to- wit:
e difference of some twelve or fourteen feet. a
rom this state of facts it is evident that if it were
1t for the protection of the river dam or leyee.
e whole of the delta area, from this point down h
ard to the sea, would in the season of high water al
ark, be flooded its natural banks or shores {,
the extent of one or two feet, without fail; Il
me few isolated spots perhaps, excepted that fl
~ be found here and there, as some knobs or m
locks, in the otherwise universal level plain of
delta alluyia Hence tits self conclusive that IL
rural establishments could have been erected @
thout the previous dyking of this to be- cult. m
ted lands; and when we have reeounted in some sa
'mer number, how the first country farms and I'll
cherries were formed upon the slopes or high H
ges of the GENTLY and Metairie neighborhoods. bi
ls easily comprehended that these spots
'se naturally pointed out to the first settlers by Er
shorlgnes themselves, as the dryest and best dr.
reels OF land betwees the lake and the, river, de
q the vegetation with which these grounds co
're covered alsoindoated that there alone could pr
eolohlsts venture to make permanent lodge III,
INT IN the otherwise wholly covered water waste bv
ring the season of floods, before any dyking of
river had been begun. Such scene Of ,ysle. ~
DDS is every year TO be witnessed in such looai Of
}, for instance, as the moath Of Red river In
ere, when the Mssissippiis low, the banks pre. 70,
trom l2 to 20, aye sometimes 40 feet of eleva tbe
yet when the season. of high water sets in. eai
this terra frma disappears, and the whole i
ntry, though covered with vegetation nav, hei
ng forest trees represents but one vast waterv unf
tie. so, also, Would be the immediate neigh pro
lood OF our metropolis, were we not protected and
'ur levee dykes, and our superduous rain water sty
a drained OFF by the steam.power hydraulic 5
ne pumps, that reject over the back dykes fror
elementof disturbance towards Lakes Pont, sale