﻿50 
  HISTORICAL 
  OUTLINE. 
  

  

  other 
  individual; 
  but 
  he 
  was 
  peculiarly 
  unfortunate 
  in 
  

   his 
  expeditions 
  against 
  the 
  Chickasaws, 
  for 
  his 
  failure 
  in 
  

   which 
  the 
  attempted 
  defence 
  in 
  his 
  dispatches 
  to 
  the 
  

   French 
  government 
  did 
  not 
  satisfactorily 
  account 
  nor 
  

   wholly 
  excuse. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  condition 
  and 
  progress 
  of 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   colony, 
  embraced 
  within 
  the 
  limits 
  of 
  our 
  State, 
  for 
  

   more 
  than 
  twenty 
  succeeding 
  years, 
  the 
  accounts 
  of 
  his- 
  

   torians 
  are 
  meagre 
  and 
  unsatisfactory 
  in 
  the 
  extreme. 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  therefore 
  little 
  to 
  chronicle 
  during 
  that 
  long 
  

   period 
  ; 
  yet 
  the 
  archives 
  of 
  the 
  French 
  government 
  

   would 
  doubtless, 
  if 
  carefully 
  explored, 
  afford 
  some 
  ma- 
  

   terials 
  for 
  filling 
  up 
  this 
  broad 
  hiatus 
  in 
  our 
  history. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  colony 
  generally, 
  it 
  is 
  recorded 
  that, 
  during 
  this 
  

   period, 
  its 
  commerce, 
  relieved 
  from 
  the 
  restraint 
  of 
  ex- 
  

   clusive 
  privilege, 
  began 
  to 
  thrive 
  ; 
  its 
  agriculture 
  was 
  

   more 
  prosperous 
  ; 
  indigo 
  was 
  cultivated 
  to 
  a 
  considera- 
  

   ble 
  extent, 
  and 
  with 
  much 
  success 
  ; 
  the 
  rice 
  and 
  tobacco 
  

   produced 
  afforded 
  easy 
  means 
  of 
  remittance 
  to 
  Europe, 
  

   whilst 
  lumber 
  found 
  a 
  market 
  in 
  the 
  West 
  Indies. 
  In 
  

   what 
  degree 
  our 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  province 
  contributed 
  to 
  

   this 
  trade, 
  is 
  not 
  said. 
  

  

  The 
  Chickasaws 
  had 
  for 
  some 
  years 
  been 
  less 
  trouble- 
  

   some, 
  but 
  making 
  an 
  irruption 
  again 
  upon 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   back 
  settlements, 
  the 
  Marquis 
  of 
  Vaudreuil, 
  in 
  1752, 
  

   led 
  an 
  army 
  of 
  seven 
  hundred 
  nien, 
  and 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  

   of 
  Indians, 
  into 
  their 
  country 
  by 
  the 
  route 
  pursued 
  by 
  

   Bienville 
  in 
  his 
  first 
  expedition 
  against 
  that 
  nation. 
  

  

  Finding 
  the 
  Chickasaw 
  towns 
  strongly 
  fortified, 
  and 
  

   defended 
  by 
  block-houses, 
  in 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  which 
  

   they 
  were 
  aided 
  and 
  instructed 
  by 
  the 
  English 
  among 
  

   them, 
  he 
  lost 
  little 
  time 
  in 
  fruitless 
  sieges, 
  but 
  contented 
  

   himself 
  with 
  overrunning 
  their 
  country, 
  destroying 
  their 
  

   crops, 
  and 
  wasting 
  their 
  supplies. 
  The 
  expedition, 
  al- 
  

  

  