Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1870-11-05

peTitCt tcNtl W tiic iuhc SnOfci
where the marsh or prairie Is about
two feet above the lake surface. The
plantation field extends back mile
from the river. The land must have
been cleared nearly century and a
half ago, as, according to the parish
records, the grants which now form
Philipon Misunderstanding from
the river to the lake, aud containing
about thirteen thousand acres Of land
were made by the French Govern
ment I'm 172 .-'24, with subsequent
Conversations In the rear during the
spanish domination.
Back of the plantation field through
Which the canal runs, for two miles
ON the line of the work, is q dense
cypress swamp, with an almost inn
penetrable underground of palmetto
and semi. tropical plants. From the
head of Bayou Dupress to Lake
Borgne, extends that remarkable prai-
rie, or marsh, which everywhere
skirts the shore of the delta of the
formation by means of which main
ly the delta slowly projects itself out
into the Gulf of Mexico. 1t is COM
posed almost entirely of decayed veg
etable matter-is, In other words, an
immense peat-b0g, overgrown with
tall grass and rushes In the summer.
Could this peat-bog, several miles In
width, and several hundred miles in
length slow formation of which,
mainly from decayed grasses and
plants, with light sentiment from the
river, must have required many
thousands of years-be covered with
with stratum of earth or successive
strata, we should have, in some re.
mote age, bed of Ignite, then lay
er of coal.
The whole world probably does not
furnish Il better location to study the
way in which the ancient coal-bed>
were formed than this semi-tropical
region at the mouth ofthe Mississippi
One can see going on before his eyes
the very process by means of which
the delta of the Mississippi and that
great alluv!al plain which reaches up
to Cairo, embracing altogether some
thirty thousand square miles of terri
tory, have been gradually formed.
The solitary surroundings-no one
would suppose himself to be within
twenty miles of the great city of New
Orleans-cary the thoughts back t.
the rem 1te ages of the world. Now
and then one catches in the bayou the
gleam of a gar pike, the Lepidosteus
of naturalists, cuirassed monster
whose race has entirely disappeared
in the Old World, and which has de
scended from those early geological
ages when Il plated armor was neces
sary to protect the ganOid from the
attacks of the ichthyosaurus anG
kindred monsters, and the still more
terrible convulsiOnS of the natura
world. Venerable live oaks are scat.
tered along the bayou, while on the
shore Of Lake Borgne are shell bank.
literally miles in length, and contain
ing almost inexhaustible supplies o
the shells now used in making road,
in the vicinity OF New Orleans. The
presence of broken pieces of pottery
fof crude stone implements, aud of III,
bones of small animals, as also tn,
traces of fires in the calcined shells
indicated beyond question that thes,
shell-heaps, like the kitchen OfIal
heaps OF Scandinavia, are of artificial
origin. But what periods of time anC
swarms of population must hav,
been required for their slow forma
{ ton! The bayou Is almost alive will
alligators, 1t being possible in sunny
weather to count hundred of tn,
saurian in single passage over tn,
line of the canal. They are yer,
tame, and after meal-times swarm
around the dredges to pick up the re
fuse thrown over. The alligator i
Obliged to raise his head out of g wa
ter in ordelito masticate its food. On
|, monster, at least twenty feet il
length, occasionally shows himscl
in B you Dupres. ....
|, The Improvements in the navigation
ofUpper Mississippi and its tributarie
the completion of Il direct and almos
airline railroad to New York by tn
!, building of the New Orleans, Mobil
and Chattanooga road, and its eXten
sion to Texas, and ultimately to tn,
Pacific, only thirteen hundred and six
ty miles from New Orleans, the open
. ing of the New Orleans, Baton Roug
aud Vicksburg railroad, with a bruncl
!, to Shreveport, TO connect with tn,
Southern Pacific, all of which pro
jects are now In process of execution
will make New Orleans the New
York of the South, and secure to he
soon million of Inhabitants. He
lines of steamships already run to TIL,
. Florida and Texas p rts, to Havana
Baltimore, New York, Boston, Liv
erpool, Havre, Hamburg and Bre
, men. But few more years and sh,
will have regular lines to Southern
Europe, Asia, Rio Janeiro, La Quay
IA, Chagres, and other West Indian
Central and South American ports.
The total value of he product
from the interior received ut New
Orleans during the year ending Sept
4, 800, amounted to $l87, $50, ,65S
transported mainly on the fleets o
steamboats, aud barges navigating tn,
|. Mississippi. During the ten year
ending with 1851, the value of th'
products which reached the seaboar(
via the Mississippi river was SS57, ,65S,
! l6i-almost double the value of thos
, iloated down the Hudson. Durinl
the last eleven months, the receipt
of cotton at New Orleans have reach
) ed | ,l37, 900 bales, against 7s3,695 II
the previous business year, and abOu
forty-two per cent. of the entire crop
: Among other items, during the las
, year, We're 2S, ,0j6 hogshcads and Al 1,
27l boxes OF tob ,cco, 545, IA sacks q
. cotton seed, l,320, 2}0 sacks of shelle,
, corn, and l,276,92l barrels of flour.
New Orleans IS also the natura
, market for Mississippi, Alabamu
Southwestern Georgia, and Wester
: Florida. She has received 1913 bale
, of cotton in n single year via tn
t Mississippi Sound. During the las
/ year, some 50,OOO,OO0 feet of lumber
; .OO, 600 barrels of charcoal, 900 ban
t rels of oysters, and 25,0O0 barrels {
: resin, were brought in on the two Gu
' nails in the city-to say nothing {
I wood, bricks, sand and shingles.
Q The four States comprise regio
p larger than Great Britain and lr,
: land, and are constantly increasin
: in commerce, wealth aud population