﻿52 
  HISTORICAL 
  OUTLINE. 
  

  

  therefore, 
  if 
  Kerlerec 
  proved 
  unequal 
  to 
  the 
  crisis 
  which 
  

   the 
  colony 
  was 
  rapidly 
  approaching. 
  

  

  France 
  and 
  England 
  having 
  engaged 
  in 
  a 
  war, 
  the 
  

   final 
  issue 
  was 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  Canada, 
  and 
  with 
  it 
  the 
  loss 
  

   of 
  all 
  the 
  possessions 
  of 
  France 
  in 
  North 
  America. 
  

  

  By 
  the 
  treaty 
  of 
  Paris 
  of 
  the 
  16th 
  of 
  February, 
  1763, 
  

   all 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  colony, 
  embraced 
  in 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  

   Mississippi 
  was 
  ceded 
  to 
  Great 
  Britain, 
  terminating 
  the 
  

   French 
  rule 
  over 
  that 
  district, 
  which 
  had 
  lasted 
  sixty- 
  

   four 
  years. 
  

  

  It 
  becomes 
  interesting 
  to 
  inquire, 
  at 
  this 
  juncture 
  of 
  

   the 
  affairs 
  of 
  the 
  colony, 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  then 
  situation 
  of 
  the 
  

   once 
  promising 
  settlements 
  made 
  near 
  Natchez, 
  and 
  on 
  

   the 
  Yazoo, 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  were 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  

   so 
  largely 
  and 
  liberally 
  reinforced 
  with 
  emigrants 
  and 
  

   laborers, 
  about 
  the 
  period 
  when 
  the 
  colony 
  was 
  placed 
  

   under 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Company. 
  

  

  What 
  had 
  become 
  of 
  the 
  extensive 
  plantations 
  and 
  

   the 
  hundreds 
  of 
  emigrants 
  and 
  slaves 
  that 
  had 
  been 
  set- 
  

   tled 
  upon 
  them? 
  Conjecture 
  alone 
  must 
  answer 
  the 
  in- 
  

   quiry, 
  for 
  our 
  historians 
  have 
  failed 
  to 
  enlighten 
  us. 
  

   With 
  all 
  the 
  disadvantages 
  of 
  climate 
  and 
  exposure, 
  

   these 
  people 
  could 
  not 
  probably 
  have 
  so 
  speedily 
  per- 
  

   ished 
  by 
  the 
  ordinary 
  course 
  of 
  nature, 
  and 
  the 
  massacre 
  

   cannot 
  account 
  for 
  all, 
  certainly 
  not 
  for 
  a 
  tithe 
  of 
  those 
  

   settled 
  on 
  the 
  Yazoo. 
  

  

  Many 
  of 
  them 
  doubtless 
  wandered 
  off 
  among 
  the 
  

   Choctaws, 
  became 
  traders 
  and 
  hunters, 
  adopting 
  their 
  

   mode 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  intermarrying 
  with 
  them, 
  founding 
  

   families, 
  perhaps, 
  as 
  the 
  Laflours, 
  Jusans, 
  and 
  others, 
  

   whose 
  descendants 
  yet 
  remain 
  ; 
  the 
  residue 
  probably 
  

   withdrew 
  to 
  the 
  newly-founded 
  city 
  of 
  New 
  Orleans, 
  

   and 
  contributed 
  to 
  its 
  population 
  ; 
  the 
  negroes 
  perhaps 
  

   being 
  transferred 
  to 
  the 
  plantations 
  nearer 
  the 
  city. 
  

  

  