The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-08-19
FOX HUNTING IN WEST FELlC1ANA.
A SHORT SKETCH or ONE OF THE
FAtREsT REGIONS IN LOUISIANA.
A Few Points Concerning the Hospitality
Of IT'S peDuIe


Feliciana means region of happiness. The
colonists who applied such title to West Fe-
liciana were enthusiastically just In their se-
lection of q name for the beautiful country
which they chose for o home
fertile soil, q genial climate and fair
surface are the requisite features to make any
region attractive and its inhabitants happy.
West Feieiana has all these. The country In
a greater part Of the parish surpasses In
beauty any other part OF the South. To at
tempt graphic description might be futile
characteristics might give some faint idea Of
It's general appearance.
Between st. Francsville and the Missis-
sippi boundary line lies the region concerning
which this Is written. Over it's surface broad
waves OF green hills roll away to the north
ward and westward on to the horizon; In
their valleys, coursing over beds Of white
sand clear streams wind their way to the
Mississippi river, while along their bases
dark green groves Of magnolia lend their
majestic grace TO the loveliness OF the land
seape, and, serving to bring out the beauties
Of the hill scenery in stronger relief, an oeca-
sional sonbre forest Of oak and poplar forms
fitting background for the view.
One may ride on horseback as free over
these upheaved hills as In q boat oyer the
waves OF the ocean, and with less inconveni-
enee for the first time, as the terrestrial bill
lows have no tendency TO perpetuate that
eternal law Of upheaval which seems to be a
melancholy duty Of the sad sea waves.
In "the olden golden days'' the people OF
West Feliciana were famed for their wealth,
hospitality and refinement, for these two
latter characteristics they are noted still, If
the stranger among them, who above all
ought to know, can Judge The princely
residences OF some Of the old planters are,
many Of them, still kept in order; others
which seemed more like palaces than private
mansions are going to ruin, and soon will
only be monuments OF an age whose glories
have departed, and which might advantage
ollsiy be hidden from memory so soon as the
ivy and woodbne hide the erllmbling stones
from sight, as the races that rule and the
men that toll have no time for sentiment
now
Among the people Of West Feliciana there
are but few who have saved their fortunes
misrule. Yet all are now b,lsily engaged in
attempting to rebuild that prosperity for
which their country was erstly famed.
The nearest approach to q picture OF West
Feliciana scenery may be seen in the Royal
Academy Of England This is in celebrated
painting OF ''the Weald OF Surry' by Birket
Foster Thesa grand rolling sweep Of coun-
try is there, the majestic groves, the winding
streams: the far off woodlands, with their
distance hue Of blue mellowed into purple by
the red sunlight In Fosters picture an inde-
corous group Of shepherd girls, who are re-
clining on their stornaehs, whose hands are
| under their ehns, and whose heels are en-
gagged in futile efforts at hammering their
| owners backs, somewhat mars the harnoni-
Gus effect Of the whole; but leave these shep-
erdesses out and the picture will do for West
Feliciana just as well. The prettiest land.
scapes In the parish look much more like
England than any part Of America.
In old times the people OF the parish had
English tastes and enjoyed English sports
They owned magnificent baronial estates
they kept fine horses and hounds, and enjoyed
| fox-hunting to the same extent as do the Eng
lish people, while they practised the sport OF
a corresponding scale. One gentleman o
West Feliciana kept pack Of eighty 70,
hounds The fondness for this noble spor
has not decreased, though the hunts are no
such splendid affairs as they were formerly
On the 10th of this month it was our pleas
ure to take part in one Of these hunts. "Fo.
hunting in August The reader may l.
startled at the idea, but on that morning q
daybreak we were well covered In bed whe1
the Judge called us. When we rose we foun
a cool north wind blowing and the tempera
ture nearly as low as it Is usually in October
THE MEET
. was at a certain crossroads store situated o
the estates of Deserta. The Judge and hi
guest, on their arrival at the designated spo
found six or seven gentlemen already ther'
Among these were Messrs. Bains, Fishe1
Howell and Lopez, Of West Felieiana; M
> Turner, of New Orleans, and stranger wit
q red shirt; also Henry Clay, q colored ger
tleman, who acted In the capacity OF drive
E and who had brought along seven black -ant
tan hounds which formed quite an additio
to the numerical strength OF the twelve fin
fox hounds that the gentlemen had brougf
with them. Shortly after the morning gree
, ings were over, Mr.. Bains, who is the fines
= hunter in Louisiana, blew a blast G
= his horn James Fitz James never blev
G nor Katharine Mavoureeen never heard sue
! blast as that. 1t went right to the hear
swept over the nerves as the wind sweeI
:. over the chords of an Eolian harp. It ws
? piano. crescendo and diminuendo, and whe
it's note had ceased the far off hills and Il
7 distant woodlands took up the sound al
6 fioated it's music back again till the strain
9 fell on the ear as soft as that kind of mus
; which seems to.make silence softer. Short
: after it's last echo had died away we hear
the responsive blasts Of several horns, al
: five additions were made to our party. Tv
y of these were the Messrs. Barrow, al
another was young man chiefly conspic
Gus for his youth, and for the various apho
isms which he gratuitously advanced co
. cerning fox-hunting in particular and {
J, other hunting in general. We had altogeth