The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-05-16


there adjoining until this day. Evaugeline
10 made TO take the precise route now taken
by, the ,steamers with the sterp paddle
wheels. viz, from the Atcbafalaya into the
Bayou Teche, and up that romantic stream,
whose tranquil beauties could not stay the
steps of her restless lover until her coming.
For when the good priest said to her
Gabriel traly is near thee; for not far away tho
On the banks Of the Teche the towns of St. Maur
is the land with it. prairies and fore.ts of
Under tho garden Of flowers; and the buess of
Bending above, and resting its dome the walls
They who dwell there have named it the Eden Of
che arose and continued her journey
The third part of the poem opens with a
description OF the Teche prairies, whereon
the father of Gabriel, turned herdsman fed
iris focks, who asks her the question: so
,...,'. o,... If You came by the Atchafalaya,
How ss s SaS nhers eeounered my Gabrielle boat
Which question she answer could only by
The NOES and the mistletoe, tsuch as, the,
RFuids cut dowa, With golden hatchets at.
Yule-tide; the dove-cots-s Loves per-
petual gym Dol in scenes of endless wooIpg,
and endless contention Of rivals the bees
and the humming birds; the great groves
of oaks skirtiDg the iimittess prairies y the
weodland d meeting the fewery surf Of the
prairie !. the npm berless herds of kline
quietly grazing in the medows the prairie
Into whose sea Of flowers the sun was
slowly deseendfbg;' the house of timbers
hewn from the cypress tree, with itse roof
large and 1luw; coh slender, columns sup.
ported, rose wgeathed, vine encircled, with
spacious .veranda, All these the reader
will fnd in tEvangeline.' One of these
pictures shall venture to reproduce-the
twilight scene on the Bayou "' Fac
Softly the evening came the from the Western
Like magician, extended his golden wand DER the
Seemed al hre at the touch and melted and mingled
Hanging between two skies, a cloud with edges of
Foated the boat with it's dripping oars on the motion.
less water. -
Then from a neghboring thioket. the mocking bird,
Swinging aloft on willow spray that hung DER the
Shook from his little throat suoh floods of delicious
That the whole air and the woods and tho wave.
Paintive at first the notes and cad then soaring
Seemed they guide follow the revels frenzied
Single then heard in sorrowul low lamenta-
Till having gathered them an he flung them abroad in
No one who has not heard our Southern
nightingale, that efish Pack of sweet
singers, the hooking bird, whose rame and
the fidelity of this reproduction of it's etyle.
Steaming slowly up the Bayou, which,
very wide at Brashear, orr starting point
had gradually narrowed as we assembled il
although still of dimensions sufficiently
respectable to entitle it to the appelfation
OF liver in Europe-we reached New
Iberia before dawn, and here the steamer
stopped to resume her voyage further up
the stream. to, St. Martinsvilie, in the
morning. Our stopping point, however,
had already been reached, for one of the
objects and chief inducements of our jour-
neg had been'to visit what is called the
SRttf Island, oua tiIs property of Judge
Avery, distant, eight miles, as the, crow
flies across the open prairie, which lies
hack Of the flourishing little town of New |
iberia, where we disembarked, if 30 large d |
word may be used for soleasy a proceeding |
az Stepping ashore on, q, bank to which we |
bad been running so,close mostaof thetimey
motiop would be easy; and the Yatar was
not deep enough to drown an adult, even |
had he' fallen short and pumped in
The chief exports of New Iberia consist
of gggsand chickens, of'which great quanri.
ties are shipped to New Orleans. The
of the Acadians seem to
have Inherited secrets in fowl craft, which I
give them monopoly Id this profitable |
small com merce.9 On the return "Trip Of the
steamer Iberia, which brought us up, $50
dozen eggs amt two hundred chickens were
sent, down from this little village alone.
Sugar and cotton transportation, from this
parish is very heavy in season.
The writsF here INDUCES in an extended
description of the salt mine on the Island
fsPetit Apse lpow. called AveFy's from the,
name of its oWner), giving its history, from
he thine. of the, discovery of immense
beds of rock salt, sixteen feet below the
d4Faceoof the soil. This was I'D 1862, wtfsD {
ait WAS very scarce in the confederacy,
nd the 6 oyerp ent i'm mediately took steps 9
Q secure the prize, He says ,s.s.- |
Incredible quantities Of pottery we're a
brown out OF, the pits by the miners, ming \
ed With fragments OF bones of extinct
uadrnpeds ihibedded in the soil, and over
wing the salt,rock. Professor Fors!fey, -
Tho visited the island. I'M 1867, speaks OF
eeing cane baskets pottery, stone hatch
- 81 largo stone anvil thrown ont in