New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-07-23
REPUBLICAN, SATURDAY, JULY % 1879:

gathering moss for living. Although the
canal is only six miles long, the sluggish
pace of the boat occupies three hours in
making the distance. A knot of high old
chaps on board find it terribly dull and
tedious, and one is fain to beg an old
colored auntie, who sat tanning
herself with palmetto leaf on the bank,
to help us along with her fan. BLESS your
soul, honey" she says, 1--WE enough to do
to fan myself" At eleven we enter Bayou
| Barataria. The water is rather shallow,
and the aquarial vegetation thickens. The
shores are skirted by tall expresses, lifting
| high their scraggy arms, vainly struggling
to free themselves from the remorseless
folds of the hungry, parasitical moss which
saps their life.
AT the intersection of Bayou Denny the
stream widens grows clear and deepens.
The woodland changes from cypress to live
oak, and the river grows more romantic.
Up and down its limpid depths Laftte, the
pirate, years ago, piled his sharp-cut canoe.
And somewhere amid the oaken groves
along its banks he captive held for
time, and then restored to their
homes, two beautiful maidens rescued from
vessel wrecked in the gulf. For two or
three hours we glide rapidly along, but
soon the scene varies, and the narrow river
changes gradually to broad expanse or
lagoon dotted with tiny islands; the hard
oak bottom becomes a low, salt marsh bed,
and the vessel in its sinuous course, pro-
ceeds very slowly and cautiously.
This sluggish pace by no means suits the
young bloods on board, notwithstanding
Father Rye and Monsieur Heidsick glow
and sparkle to make them happy. One
more impatient than the rest, is fain to call,
in accents most imploring, upon his titular
deity" Great Scott" Who this superior
being is we have no idea, and can
only wonder if it be the shade of
the "Bard of Abbotsford, or the Hero of
Lrndy's Lane, or famous Captain Scott, at
sight of whose rife the coon would always
come down. At 4 P. NJ. we emerge into
Lake Petite, and from thence into Grand
Lake or Barataria Bay. The Gulf is plainly
seen, and its cool, refreshing breezes are
felt. At 5 p. NJ. the lighthouse,
like a gittering silver shaft, APP
pears against the evening sky,
and Fort Livingston, like a bright emerald
mound, is plainly visible in the distance.
Gradually we near the shore, and at seven
o'clock reach the narrow spit of land
on which the mariners friendly guide
is placed, its round, bright eye
cleaning brightly to warn of
danger. Here we land, and for a time
bid adieu to the little craft which has
brought us safely to our destination. We
stand upon the beach and wave her good
night as she leaves us to carry the rest of her
passengers five miles onward to Grand Isle.
On Monday evening the first of a series of
'sociables'' will be given at the Amte City
Hotel, Colonel George II. Clarke, proprie-
tor, under the auspices of the principal
gentlemen of Amite and neighborhood. The
preparations and the management denote
that the ..sociables" will be time of plea
SAINT enjoyment This will be easily under
stood by all who have ever made Clarke's
Hotel place of sojourn, and it is hardly
necessary to say that trip on the jackson