New-York tribune., 1877-11-10

i
No forests touch the bayou, but there unbroken
succession of fine plantations from its mouth all the
way up to New-Ibcria The shores rise sharply from
the water 10 hight OF fifteen twenty feet, and
from this ridge. where stand the planters houses,
the alCrers' cottages, and the sugar-ms, the cane
fields slope gently back to the cypress swamps This
conformation Of the land secures the essential thing
TO successful sugar cultue-good drainage The
surface water runs off into the swamp through
suiccs in the leyees and only on the swamp side Is
it necessary to protect the plantations from over
Gow. The banks of the stream still as Eyange-
line saw them,
"Ovcrshadowcd nv oaks from whose branches
Garlands OF Spanish and my iisetoe haunted
And the whole region answers well the description
of Basil tho Blacksmith
Here hungry Winter congeals the blood like the
Here no Stony ground provOEcs the wrath of the
Smoothly the pow runs through the soil like keel
All the year orange in blossom, and grass
More in single night than in a whole Canadian
No description can do Justice to the beauty of the
spreading live oak trees whose branches are thicky
hung with long festoons of silvergray nor is
il easy to give the reader adequate idea OF the
sense of peace and plenty conveyed by the we'll |
TILED fields the comfortable dwellings of the plant
ers the clustering villages of the coored laborers
the frequent sugar-mis, the cattle pasturng on the
banks and the pretty white bridges spanning the
bayou at intervals of scarcely mile apart NO, NO
where in the South can there be found such long
panorama of rural beauty and prosperity. Inc
planters suffered severely by the war, ana they hau
scarcely began to get on their 1eet ailtlWald "heh
successive years of overflow Frustrated them again.
Now they are making money fast, and are paying
of their debts and putting their places In Order.
There is no crop in the world cultivated on large
scale that.pays so handsomely as the sugar-cane.
The tourists whose journeys the reader is
following slept the latter part of the night at New
IBERIA IN little musty French hotel, and ate pro-
dig1Ous breakfast next morning. The oblglng land
lord as if TO demonstrate the gastron0mic resources
of the country set before them food enough for
dozen hungry men. Eggs mutton chops, beefsteak,
fish, papabots-the best game bird in Louisiana
coffee wine, and milk were the main items in this
repast. Walking through the village aftcrward
they heard everybody, black and white, chattering
French and picked up a newspaper printed hail IN
French and half in English, called Oh IFS French
page lie SUcJieI de ia LOusiGEe. The population they
discovered is an admlXture OF people OF EhenSh,
Spanish African, and French dcscent-the latltf
element dividing itself into creOes, or direct de
scendants of French Immigrants, ana has"lls, ile
corrupted name gwen 70 persons HeHflhg lHc;I
origin from the eXiles of Acadia Hiring dllam-
dated vehicle and handsome young man with
Spanish face to drive ii, thc tourists set out across
lovely green prairie called Au Large, bound
for Pctlt Ansc Island, ten miles away among Jic
MARSHES at the head of Ncunlhon Bay. A palr oI
looked wholly incapable of getting through lne
serious work in hand, but once ont on the praule
they dashed over the green {Hil aho ."IHUEi IHIUEii
marshes, ponds, and creeks with surprising puck
PRAIRIE.
The prairie stretches away to the northwest
for a distance of seyenty-tye miles and broad
ems at IFS upper end to width of twenty-five miles.
II is covered with grass and flowers, dotted with
rain-water ponds and creased with little water
courses called c0ultts. Herds of cattle and horses
craze upon it, Not tenth of lis surface Is fenced.
The Inhabitants are principally Acadians who raise
stock fJr the NcW-OHcans market and cultivate
small Enclosures of corn, cotton, potatoes and cane
Unimprovcd land, as rich rs any IN Illinois,
can be bought in large or small quantities
at prices ranging from S3 to - an acre. Birl-lIc
abonds upon the pralre; hocks oi swallows skim
its surface. tall cranes, some black and some snowy
white, stalk iu the ponds; tulkey-biZEuds hoiI
conventions in the clumps OF hNe-Oaks; snlpc are
plentiful and il is the home of the papab0t long
ueckcd gray bird about as biz quail, whose
flesh i, best in midsummer, when ne ldt!ens Oh
Spanish flies. Hall way across the pldiue the tlaN-
elcrs were a>tOnlshcd at the mancuVeIs OF horse
and cart that dashed here and there IN circles and
ANGLES. I'm the cart were two young men, one armed
with % gun. They suddenly VceTcd and bore down oh
the travellers at rapi galI"2' Ihe l'i win tAe
gun raised thc piece TO ~ shoulder ana he9 anu
down fell paYubOt. TINS is the way "i hunting
these birds. hey are reused from the grass 10y
runnugrapldly over the prairie ana SHOT as they
rise.
Petit Anse Island is approached from the prairie
across an eXecIable plank-road laid on a causeWay
for long mile acTos, the marshes. 1t is about two
miles ID diameter with a very uneven surface rising
in some places to the hight of 200 feet above the
tdc-watcr i'm the bayous that crawl around its base
Nearly i'm the middle is the wonderful deposit OF
rock-saIt discovered in 1862, from which the Con-
federate armies were supplied until Gen. Bankss
forces captured the neghboring country and burned
the works. The deposit area Of ! 60 acres
and il covered with feet OF soil. How thick it IS
no one knows, no bottom having been found by
drilling to depth of 50 feet The salt is III solid
masses of perfectly pure crystals, and Is taken out
t.,, hIqstin0 like coal None has been mined for !
tion and to the low rate at winch turks lsiahd Slt
i. land down in NeW-Oreans by the cotton ships
that bring for ballast There rs horse railroad 10
q BAYOU leading ont to NermllnOn Bay, but only
small vessels can come M to the landing The cutting
of a short canal would give facilities iOr getting
tbc salt 10 market in large quantities at low cost.
Ii VIII probably not be long before the mine VIII
prove q fortune 20 It's oWnerS Ihc island DtlOhes 10
.ludpe Avery, a venerable gentleman. Who lives
upon 1T with his children and grandchildren, and
dispenses generous hospitality. Isolated from the
world as the family is, its members are as much an
couyant of affairs The most intelligent residents
of cities. Better conversation q; more gracious
manner, could not Dc found in Boston or New-lOrk.
The talk ran upon the literature, politics,
and news of the day. and was only localized by the
desire of the visitors To learn all they could about
the island and its Surroundings Then thelr hosts
displayed close acquaintance with the botany,
natural history. and Indian antiquities OF
the place, and led the way to a museum
OF cuiiOsitcs filling quaint little building
ovcrgIOWn with honeysuckles. When the visitors
left toward evening to return 10 the town they found
il hard To determine whether they felt most surprise
al the culture and cordial hospitality OF the lords and
ladies of this singular manor or the attractions and
novelties of the estate lset, with MS orange groves
its sugar and cotton fields, It's salt lne aud MS VIDE
outlo0k over the deSOate marshes that stretched to