﻿«u 



liOmSIAKA. 



LOmSIAMA. 



«M 



Th* oountry axtending from Rad Rirer on the wast to tha 

 Mladaippi Kirrr on tha aait ooniuta moatly of alarated woodUnd, 

 aapacMllT that portion whieh Uaa west of tha Waahita or Ouachita 

 Bivar. Id thia ragion, ea^t of Laka nitUneau, ia the higfaaat laud of 

 Louiaiana. It oonaiata of numarona hilla riaing from 100 to 200 feat 

 above their baae : thay are eorared with treaa, chiefly pine and oak, 

 thinly intanperaMl with aah, hickory, and dog-wood, luid produce a 

 luxuriant herbage in aummar nud Hpring. Farther east uieae hilla 

 aink into a aandy plain, which extonda to the Waahita and river 

 Ikeuf, a confluent of the former ; it ia moatly covered with pine- 

 foreat ; but the river bottomi are wide, and have a fertile aoiL The 

 country on both nidea of the Black river, which ia formed by the 

 jonelioD uf the river Bosuf with the Waahita, raaemblea in every 

 raa p ee t the leaa inundated part of the delta. But between the river 

 BcBuf and the Miuiasippi, and especially along the banks of the latter, 

 ia a low tract travened by the river Tenaaa, a confluent of Black 

 river, which ia likewiae inundated by the water whidi issuea from 

 tha Misaiasippi in the first half of the je«r. Narrow atripa along the 

 river become quite dry in the aecond half of the year, but the 

 greater part of this tract is a swamp, which produeea fine timber-trees, 

 •specially cypreaa. From these forests New Orieans is supplied with 

 lumber and fueL 



Along the east bank of the Miaaisaippi extends an elevated country, 

 broken by numerooa streams. Ita projections, worn away by the 

 action of the river, are known by the name of Bluffii. They rise more 

 than 100 feat above the alluvial plains near the Mississippi. These 

 hills continue eastward for 15 or 20 milea from the banks, nnd lie 

 seatterrd about in wild confusion. They are overgrown by mingled 

 forests of oak, aweetgnm, poplar, tulip-treo, hickory, and soma pine, 

 and have an almost uniformly productive soil. By degrees the hills 

 disappear, and are followed by a plain which is considerably elevated 

 above the delta. This plain baa a sandy sterile soil, and i^ entirely 

 overgrown with pitch-pine. On the south it does not extend to the 

 lakes of Uaurepas and Pontchartrain, but begins imperceptibly to 

 lower, at a distance of about 10 milcK, until it advances to the river 

 Amite and the lakes, where it terminates in narrow swamps, which 

 line the bonks of the river and lakes. The soil, though light, is well 

 adapted to the cultivation of cotton, of which there are numerous 

 plantations, and the extensive pino-forosts produce abundance of pitch 

 and tor. 



The MUtimippi becomes the boundary of Louisiana at its moat 

 north-eastern comer, 33" N. lat., but receives no accession of water 

 from the right until it has attained 31° N. lat., where it ia joined by 

 the united waters of Red and black rivers, wliich together probably 

 drain a tract of 100,000 aqnare miles, and bring down an immense 

 body of water during the spring months. From 31° X. lat, the 

 Kississippi, which has formed the boundary of the st«to for 450 niilcg, 

 ran* wholly in the state of Louisiana ; the remainder of its course 

 being about 850 miles. Where it enters the state the Mississippi 

 ■ends oif its first great branch, the AtchafaUya, here called the Chafolio, 

 which, flowing in a aouthem and aouth-eaatom direction, traverses 

 the lowest part of the delta, enters the south-eastern part of lake 

 Chetinucheo, and iaauing from it, paaaea through the marshes into 

 Atchafsiaya Bov. Lake Cbetimaehes, or Grand Lake, is about 'iO 

 milea long and from 2 to 6 miles wide ; at its aouthem extremity it is 

 40 feet deep. It is connected with the Atchofalaya by aeveral natural 

 diannel', which traverse the intervening country, and divide it into 

 many iahmda, making a kind of nt-t-work. From the Atchafalaya the 

 Miinaippi flowa iu a general sonth-eastcro direction, but with many 

 gmX bends. About 30" 20' N. h»t, the river sends ofl' the second 

 great branch, the Iberville, which rans eastward, and joins the Amite 

 river. The united stream falls into Lake Maurepas, s circular sheet 

 of water about 8 miles in diameter. This lake is united to the lake 

 of Pontchartrain by the Pass of Manchac Lake Pontchartrain is in 

 the form of an ellipse 20 miles by 32 miles, and from 18 to 20 feet 

 deep ; it ia connected with Lake Boi^c by two channels, of which 

 the aouthem is called Chef Menleur, and the northern the liiKolets. 

 By meana of the St John's Bayou, a small river which falls into its 

 •onthem shore, and a short canal, out from the St John to New 

 Orleaas, Lake Pontchartrain has become the medium of communioa- 

 tion between a considerable district of the interior and the oommeroiol 

 eopiul of the stair. Lake Borgne, though denominated a Uke is 

 '••Uy » bay of tha Qulfof Mexico, and connected with it by the Paaa 



M»Jr*!'"°*' * '"* "''*• **•<"' *•"> *ffl"« <»f the Iberville, the 

 jUaaiMippi aeoda off another branch to the west, the PUquemule^ 

 which is only milea long, and joina the AtchafaUya. Though it haa 

 only wotw during the high flood, it is imporUnt for the internal 

 MT^tton. Fwther down oocurs the last gnat efflux of the Miaris- 

 5??'.^^° ^ '^'»"«*"> («»e Fork). It leaves the principal river at 

 DaaaMaonville, and flows in a aonth-esstera direction for »0 milea ; it 

 "^i.^ t? ''^.^f •'** **"' ""* "'""''• vessels drawing 4 or 6 feet to 

 wrtbio SO milas of ita efflux ; but the upper part of its course is very 

 ^^"ffro" September to M«rch. From the efflux of the La Fourcho 

 the Miaaiaaippi flowa cost to the town of New Orleans, and thence to 

 the sea in a aonth-enstcra direction. Shortly before it raaohes the 

 Oulf of Mexico it diviHaa into six branches, colled the West, South- 

 west, South, East, North-aast, and L'Outre Poao. The most frequented 

 is the East Pass, with 13 feet water at ordinary Udaa ; the South-west 



The other pasoes have from 

 The deoth of the 



Pass is neoriy as deep as the East Pass. 

 5 to 8 feet water, but they are rarely frequented, 

 water increoses rapidly in the channels, so thst it is upwards of 30 

 feet within a mile from the bars, and still greater farther upwarda, 

 [MlBSisaiPFi.] In the inundated tract there ia a great number of 

 Ukea of different liiaa. The largest ia lake Quooho, or Barataria, 

 aouth-suuth-weat of New Orleana, which is 22 miles long and 6 miles 

 wide. As these lakes are united, either with one another or with the 

 chief branches of the Mississippi, some of them facilitate the internal 

 navigation, especially Lake Palourde and Lake Verret, which ore united 

 with one another and with the Atchofalaya and La Fourche, branobM 

 of the Missisaippi. 



Red River, which rises in the Rocky Mountains, traverses Louisiana 

 with o general southeast course of 200 miles, but by the windings uf 

 the river of above 300 miles. Shortly after it enters tha state com- 

 mences the depression mentioned above, and known as the Raft, 

 which consists of a swampy extension of the river, 20 to 30 miles wide, 

 and extending for a length of 70 miles. The water having become 

 obstructed by fallen timber has forced fur itself a number of new 

 channels, most of them shallow, which have likewiae in their turn 

 become blocked by the trees brought down by floods, so that during 

 certain aeasons the whole width of the tract might occaaionolly be 

 traversed on horseback. The United States government lias however 

 recently, at a great expense, caused so much of the raft to be removed 

 ai to admit the passage of steam-vessels. The navigation is again 

 interrupted by the rapids in 31' 20' N. lot., where two ledges of rocks 

 extend across the channel about three-quarters of a mile from each 

 other ; but when the water is high tlie rocks form no obstruction to 

 the passing of bouts. Its principal affluents are Block river and the 

 ISayou de lion Dieu. 



The other riven of Louisiana are unimportant oa channels of navi- 

 gation. The Sabine, wbicli divides the country tm\a Texas, rises in 

 the lastmcutioned state, and has a generally southern course of 300 

 miles. Bifure it enters the sea it flows into a shallow lake 30 milea 

 long, and from 3 to 5 niilos wide. Iu ordinary tides there is not 

 above 3 feet water on its bnr. It is navigable throughout Louisiana 

 by steamers of light draught East of the Sabine is the Calcosiu, which 

 rises in the angle between the Red river and Sabine, flows parallel to 

 the Sabine at a distance of about 35 miles, expands near its mouth 

 likewise iuto a large but shallow lake, and has also only 3 feet water 

 on its bar. Ita course ia upwards of 200 miles. The Mermentou, 

 which flows to the east of tho Calcaaiu, is properly only the channel 

 by which Lake Mermentou discharges its waters into tho Oulf of 

 Mexico. This lake is of considerable extent, and receives most of the 

 waten which originate on the prairies of Opelous.is, but the different 

 streams unite before they enter the marshes iu one river, which 

 receives the name of Mermentou, and soon afterwards falls into the 

 lake. It is not better adapted for navigation than tho Sabiu'j and 

 Calcosiu. Sixty miles east of the mouth of tho Mermentou are two 

 large boys, Vermilion Bsy and Cote Blanche Boy, which are united 

 by several posaea with the Gulf of Mexico. The bays hove 12 foet of 

 water, but the passes ouly 5 or 6 feet. Vermilion Boy receives the 

 river of the some name, which rises on the prairies of Opelousss 

 30° 30' N. lat, and runs in o general southern course about 80 miles. 

 It is navigable for vessels of 5 feet draught to a considerable distance. 

 The canals in tlie state are the Orleana Bank Canal, extending from 

 New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain ; the Barataria Canal from New 

 Orleans to Berwick Boy ; Lake Veret Canal from Lake Vcret to La 

 Fourche River ; and a ^ort line from New Orleans to the Boy of 

 St. John's. 



Louisiana hos been slower than most of the states in adopting rail- 

 way communication. The only lines in operation in June 1854 were 

 the Clinton and Port Hudson railway, uniting those places, 24 miles 

 long ; the Mexican Oulf railway, from New Orleans to Proctorsville, 27 

 miles ; the Milucburg and Lake Pontchartrain, from New Orleans to 

 Milneburg, 6 miles ; the New Orleans and Carrollton, uniting the towns 

 so named, 6 miles ; and tho West Fulicion, 26 miles. A convention was 

 however held some time back at New Orleana, of representatives of the 

 South-Westem States, with a view to the adoption of o very extensive 

 system of railways for facilitating intercommunication betvreen those 

 states, and o more ready aooeaa to the ports of the Mexican Oulf In 

 consequence of the resolutions then passed several extensive lines of 

 railway have been projected, some of which ore now in course of con- 

 struction. Of these lines commenced or projected the princii>al ore 

 the New Orleans, Opelousss, and Great Western, 213 miles long; 

 the Vicksburg and Shreve-port, 207 miles ; and the Now Orleans, Jack- 

 son, and Great Northern, 61 miles. It haa also been proposed to the 

 feneral government to improve the navigation of the Mississippi below 

 lew Orlsana. 

 Gcoloffi), Mineralogy, Ac. — The rocks of Lonisiona consist almost en- 

 tirely of Eocene and later deposits. The oldest ore the Upper Cretaceous 

 strata, green-sandstone, and marl, ontlyera apparently of the great 

 cntoccous formations of Texas, which ore said to occur in the north- 

 western and northern ports of the state. Almost the whole of the 

 remainder of the state west of the valley of the Mississippi, with tho 

 exception of the lower course of the Red river, appeora to consist of 

 Eocene strata, consisting of a white limestone, sandstone, marls, and 

 red and white clays.^rbe middle and upper strata (Miooeoe and 



