LOUISIANA. 



and bayon Grossc Tete on tlie oast and 

 the (.JnuiU river aud the ohaiu of lakes 

 aud bayous which separate it from St. 

 Martin parish on the west, is one of the 

 noted sugar iJarishes of the state. Nearly 

 every bayou has habitable homes aud 

 arable lands on its banks. 



liayous Grosse Tete, Maringouin and Des 

 Glaize furnish belts of highly pro+luctive 

 lands, from oue-half to two miles in 

 width. 



Between the above mentioned bayous 

 extensive swamps prevail, rich in timber. 

 Bayou Alabama and Grand river both 

 furnish plantations on their banks, whiie 

 on the tributaries of the latter, bavons 

 i'igcon and Sorrel, lands have been "par- 

 tially settled and will, when the levees 

 prove protective, be extensively occu- 

 pied by farms and plantations. 



Bayou Plaquemiae, the connecting link 

 between the Mississippi and Grand rivers, 

 now closed at the former, is a large and 

 navigable stream, thickly dotted on its 

 banks with well improved farms and 

 homes. The thriving town of Plaque- 

 muie. situated at the intersection of this 

 bayou with the Slississippi river, owes 

 much of its prosperity to the transporta- 

 tion of products (now chieflv cypress 

 lumber) on this bayou. In the southern 

 part of this parish bayous Gotila and 

 Manufactury furnish arable lands back 

 almost to lake Natchez, bv which they 

 are thoroughly drained. A small por- 

 tion of Iberville parish is on the east 

 bank of the Mississippi river. 



Descending the Mississippi river the 

 next parish encountered is Ascension, 

 covering both sides of the river with its 

 larger area on the eastern side. This is 

 one of the leading sugar parishes of the 

 state and contains some of the finest 

 estates in this or any other countrv. 

 Bayou Lafourche, one of the few original 

 bayous of the Mississippi river still left 

 unclosed, debouches from the river at 

 this point and flows on to the gulf 

 through the parishes of Assumption and 

 Lafourche, furnishing along its banks 

 some of the most fertile lands on the 

 globe. The town of Donaldsonville, once 

 the rival of New Orleans and Baton 

 Rouge, is situated at the intersection of 

 these streams and is the county seat. 



The large plantations of ■(his parish are 

 along the river and bayou Lafourche, 

 but small and prosperous farms are found 

 on the smaller bayous in the eastern 

 portion of the parish. It is highlv prob- 

 able that some of the lauds in the 

 uorthefn portion of the parish are not al- 

 luvial, but belong to the bluff formation, 

 which here finds its southernmost exten- 

 sion on the eastern side of the Mis- 

 sissippi river. 



A further descent of the river brings 

 us -to the parish of St. James, occupying 

 also both sides of the river, with much the 

 larger portion on ihe eastern, or rather 

 here, the northern side, for at Jefferson 

 College, in this parish, the rivor turns 

 almost due east, and pursues this general 

 direction until it has passed the city of 

 New Orleans. The high land on the river 

 is main'.y occupied with extensive sugar 

 plantations, and is extremelv fertile. 

 North of this hind are to be found the 

 vacheries upon which the famous Berinue 

 tobacco is grown. Here the drainage is 

 into lake Maurepas, mainly through Des 

 Acad ions. 



South of the river the cultivated border 

 belt on the bayous is suddenly contracted 

 by the appearance of the marsh prairies 

 •which fringe lake Des Al'.emands, and 



extend westward in a belt of about six 

 miles in width a little bevond the princi- 

 pal meridian of the public survey of this 



ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST 



parish comes next in order, occunyln" 

 both sides of the river, wiMi the ■'.x-^ec- 

 portion also on the northern (m- eastern 

 bank of the rivor. It iucludes the whole 

 ot lake Maurepas (the upper edee of 

 which IS tlie northorn boundary of the 

 parish) and pass Manchac on the north 

 .a.id lake Des -Mloiuands .ju th.-^ smith' 

 Between these lakes and the river are 

 to he found extensive tracts of highlv 

 productive lands, all in excellent state of 

 cultivation. In this pari.sh the raising of 

 vegetables for market is quite extensive- 

 ly practiced, and the fields of cane aud 

 market gardens frequently alternate 

 Ihe parish oi. 



ST. CIIAULES. 

 on both sides of the river, with the larg- 

 er portion on the southern or western 

 bank, though small in actual area (only 

 284 square miles), has comparatively ;i 

 arge area of fine arable lands on both 

 banks of the river, nearly three miles 

 deep, which are highly improved aud 

 thickly populated. 



Bayou des AUemands, wliicli unites 

 lakes Des AUemands and Washa, and 

 lorms the southern boundarv of this par- 

 ish, IS also spar.sely settled." Bevond this 

 bayou is the gras.sy prairie D'\s AUe- 

 mands, situated in Lnfourcho pirisli and 

 across which the Southern Pacific has 

 constructed its roadbed. 



Jefferson parish stretches from lake 

 1 ontchartraiu. on the north, to P.ara taii;i 

 bay and the gulf, on the .south. Onlv a 

 small portion is north of the .^ris.sis^■,i'opi 

 river, but this small ])ortion. togetlier 

 with the belt on the south side, consti- 

 tues the chief tillable land of the par- 

 ish. On the higher ridges a;'companving 

 bayous Barataria, Dai'iphine and "De.'* 

 lamilles may be found su.gar and rice 

 plantations, and truck gardens. The 

 southern portion is coveri-d with swainji, 

 marsh parairies and sea marsh, intersect- 

 ed by a network of bavous and biKos— 

 resorts of fishermen aud duck hunters 

 Numerous shell heaps are found rising 

 above the general levei, the remains of 

 the clam or gnathodon. which furni.shed 

 food to a race which occupied this state 

 long before its settlement bv the French. 



Bayou Barataria is navigable for small 

 steamers and sailing vessels, and .several 

 canals (Harvey's, Company ami Verref.s) 

 permit of their passage from the Missis- 

 sippi river through this bayou to the 



Grand Isle, a. favorite pleasure resort, 

 situated at the h>vver extremity of Bara- 

 taria bay. is rojiched by a line of steam- 

 ers, whose return trip is alwavs made 

 by this route. 



.Metairie ridge, running though this iiar- 

 ish, between the river laiids and lake 

 Pontchartrain, is densely settled with 

 market gardener.s, who raise fruit and 

 vegetables for the market of New Or- 

 leans. 



ORLE.AKS rAIIISII. 



The city of New Orleans occupies near- 

 ly all of the high land in Orleans pari.sh, 

 and its constantly increasing population 

 are encroaching upon the swamp lauds 

 in tho rear of (he city. In the rear of 

 the city are many market gardens. This 

 parish extends in a northeasterly direc- 



