Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-05-17
WHERE SUGAR IS KING.
A Visit to ths Great Sag IT Cans Region OF
Isoufsiana.


follows 70 his paper from New Iberia.
La: Tae "Teshe" is a synonym for
beauty an the richest fertility. It is
lovely land, wash by the waters Of
bayou large enough to bear crafts
and give this name to the soil through
which it flows. 1t is strange coun-
try, nest ing in the midst of running
waters that put out in all dire stions,
from the Atchafalaya. that strange
and unnatural waterway that now
threatens with destruction by its
devious currents the rich lowlands Of
Louisiana. There may be somewhere
more deligl ltful region than this,
but doubt whether, taking it all in
all, there is one having happier com
bination of all that tends to the wealth
and comfort Of man. 1t has rich al
luvial soil, such as skirts the banks of
many of our Northern rivers. 1t is as
level as a prairie and free from every
obstruction to easy cultivation. The
fields are rich in an easy and generous
yield of the choicest gifts of nature.
Many of the choicest products of a
tropical cline also add their beauty
and perfume to please the eye and
charm the senses The banks Of the
bayou are shaded by the spreading
branches of the live oak, and even in
the swamps Of cypress and fir trees,
this evergreen monarch of the forest
stands like lord among his vassals.
While being like in formation, this
plain is unlike the great wastes of land
in the West. 1t is spIendidly wooded,
often too well watered and the breezes
fresh from the tropics kill the frosts
of winter. The sun shines so warmly
all the year that it keeps vegetation
alive and the flowers in bloom.
1t is picturesque and romantic
land, crowded with scenes and en-
dowed with a climate that arouse, the
fancy and fill its people with senti
ment and desire for the easy acqUisi
ton of all that Is fascinating in life
The atmosphere and nature seem to
combine not only in gracious offerings
Of soil and foliage to man, but in
giving lavishly to woman, who finds
dwelling place here the choicest of
gifts. They grow up beautiful and
the form rounds well and early. The
climate and a plentiful use Of the open
air make their faces fresh and cheerful
as full moon and paint their cheeks
with the bloom of "the peach, that is
the emblem of beauty"
1t is no wonder that this country
and this people wear the most romantic
traditions. Long years ago it was
settled by the Aeadians, who, after
their banishment from over the ocean,
wandered into this land of flowers and
sunshine from the banks Of the great
lakes of the far North. French is
till the native tongue of the parish,
and the "reminiscences of the weary
wanderings that preceded the settle
ment of the Acadians in this fruitful
region are still told around the hearth
stones of the descendants of that race,
who first settled here, cleared away the
waste and planted crops. 1t was here
that Longfellow found much upon
which to build his great poem, and the
story of Evangeline is to-day the pride
Of the native creole. A great oak tree
on the banks of the Teche is still
pointed cut as one spot where Evange-
line and Father Felician rested after
they had missed Gabriel, on the waters
of the Atchafalaya. The tree still
bears her name and is sacredly pre-
served. The people respect the fiction
that the poet built for them as though
it was the most sacred fact Of history.
Rich and lovely as the country is, il
pays an ample penalty to the caprice Of
nature for its superior charms. It is
encompassed with anetwork of streams
that seem to reverse all natural laws
in their rise and flow. Every bayou in
the lowlands of Louisiana will over
spread its banks at the whim of the
Mississippi, for all of the numberless
and nameless ones that drain the
State south of the Red river draw their
water from the "Father of Rivers y
Nature when it fashioned this land,
dug trench along every ridge. or
gave the water license to doit. There
fore the highest land is elong the banks
Of streams, and the drainage is from,
instead of into, the bayous. This curl
Gus reversal Of the general law govern
ing waterways naturally brings the
homes Of the planters upon the banks
of the rivers from which the great
estates slope back, and the acres that
are planted are usually lower than the
water flow. For this reason the bayous
on either side, especially in the coun-
try about which I am writing, are
sl1irted for miles by beautiful homes
and fourishing plantations, where the
sugar cane grows in its perfection and
where the beautiful foliage and lovely
flowers make fitting home for the
hamming bird and honey bee.
Crafts Of ordinary dimensions can
come direct from old ocean and take
the products of the soil from the home