The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-10-02

From the mouth of the Teche t
Washington, on the Cocodrie, the ives
ban rises gradually and regularly, un
til above the latter point it forms bluffs
elevated seventy to one hundred fee
above tide water AS seen from the
stream, therefore, the country appears
hilly, and hence, probably, have ariser
the popular names of" Cote Gelee" anc
"Grand Couteau," which, to the obser
yer travelling from Iberia to OpeIousas
and Vile Platte, seem singularly in
appropriate, as he looks in vain for any
thing deserving the name on the level
or slightly rolling prairie plateau, which
is highest near the edge the OF
the Mississippi bottom, and slopes in
general to the SSW., as indicated by
the drainage of the country towards the
Nezpique and Mentau. In the south
ern and eastern portions OF this region,
too, the surface deposit of fertile, brown
subsoil loan is tlickcst the fertility of
of the country, on the whole, decreasing
gradually as We advance northwestward
from the Teche. The outcrops on the
streams, as well as the phenomena OBJ
served 10 wells; show the entire prairie
region to be underlaid by the strata
equivalent to those of the Port Hudson
bluff, where down to a certain point, we
likewise observe decrease in the con-
ditions of fertility OF the materials from
above downwards As the serface of
the formation was, doubtless, originally
level in the east and west direction, it
is probable that the white, ashy soils
which prevail in the level pine woods
and pine prairies of northwest St. Lam
dry and north Calcasieu, are derived
from the arid white and yellow siliceous
sits and hardpans so prominent in the
upper portion of the Port Hudson pro-
file. An inspection Of tbis profile also
suggests what is true for the greater
part of the prairie region, viz: that
while in the shallow wells (l5 to IS feet,
according to location,) good drinkable-
though not very cold, and frequently
limy-water may be obtained: wells of
greater depth will strike fetid clays
and bad water, unless sunk entirely be-
low the Port Hudson strata. And, as
will appear hereafter, artesian water
can, doubtless, be obtained at moderate
depths over the entire region.
Few sections OF the United States
indeed, can offer such induceu ents to
settlers as the prairie region between
the Mississippi bottom, the Nezpique
and Mentau. Healthier by far than
the prairies of the Northwest, famed
by the sea breeze, well watered-the
scarcity of wood rendered of less mo-
ment by the blandness of the climate
and the extraord mary rapidity with
which natral hedges eau be grown for
fences, while the exuberantly fertile
soil produces both sugar cane and cot
ton in profusion, continuing to do so in
many cases after seventy years exhaus-
tive cul.ure-well might the Teche be
styled by its enthusiastic inhabitants
the "Garden of louisiana" But
large part of this peculiarly agricultu-
raj region is now merely a range for
herds of cattle, and in its. northern
portion, where intelligent culture is
more necessary, as the soil is less thrift
ty, quarter or half bale of cotton per
acre is oftentimes raised where an en-
tire bale should be the minimum, if
Justice is done to the soil. The streams
are usually bordered by fertile hon.
NOES, quarter to a half mile wide,
we'll timbered with lowland oaks,
sweet gum, magnolia and poplar, Lirt-
odendrou, and more or less elevated
above the stream, according to distance
from the coast.
An undulating line laid through
Vile Platte in WSW, direction to the
Calcasieu river, forms the northern linn
it of the prairie country; beyond, the
Port Hudson strata overlaps Older form
ations in undulating uplands, which,
east of the Nezpique waters, are fertile
and timbered, chiefly with oak and
some short-leaved pine, but west
of that stream form level and marshy,
or slightly undulating long leaf pine
woods, possessing white siliceous soil,
mingled with black gravel" (bog iron
ore,) of which numerous specimens are
exposed to view by the labors of in
dustrious crawfsh-the only tillers of
that soil at the present time. A sim
liar soil only winter, prevails in the So
called " bay gall ''-marshy flats, over
grown with a dense thicket of "bay
CALLS" Laurus corolinensis, candleberry,
and other shrubs-in which some of the
smaller tributaries of the Nezpique and
Calcasieu rivers take their rise.
The prairies Of northeast Calcasieu
are very level, often marshy with
grey. asby soil, and are dotted with
clumps of long-leave pine, while low
shrub, Styraz puloerulenta, covers
densely the lower grounds. AS we ad,
vance southward, black jack and post
oak, mingling with the pine testify Of
an improvement in the soil, Oh which
innumerable herds of cattle and horses
find luxuriant pasturage, while the
houses of the pastoral population are
dotted along the watercourses to the
right and feft. These streams usually
have their lead in low, marshy fats,
but are often bordered by bodies of
good, arabic land, we'll timbered. In
the more southerly portion, however,
within forty or fifty miles of the coast,
the clumps and strips of timber disap-
pear altogether-the Calcasieu prairie
proper being a treeless, perfectly level
plain, whose soil improves to the south
ward, in consequence of the arEoach
to the surfce of a calcarieus clay strat-
um, which is frequently exposed in
washes. It is also struck in wells at
the town of Lake Charles, occasionally
with beds of marine shells, as in the