SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 17 
now the principal occupations are agriculture, shipping crabs, and 
reparing shells for chicken feed and other uses. The shells are 
brought from the large reef of Pointe au Fer in Atchafalaya Bay, 30 
miles southwest of Morgan City. One of the water routes of com- 
merce in the region now is by the Grand River and a 7-foot canal 
through Plaquemine Lock, which enters the Mississippi River 20 
miles below Baton Rouge. 
The projected Intracoastal Waterway is to follow Bayou Boeuf into 
the Atchafalaya River at Morgan City and thence go westward 
through Wax Bayou.” 
After crossing the Atchafalaya River over a long bridge the train 
reaches Berwick, a companion town to Morgan City and sharing 
with it the river trade and crab industry. In the 
region west of Berwick much of the land is under 
cultivation in sugarcane, but some woodland remains. 
An abandoned sugar mill (Glenwild) is conspicuous 
north of the railroad 3 miles west of Berwick. 
A typical small sugar plantation may be seen just north of the 
tracks 2 miles beyond Patterson (near Calumet siding), with groups 
of whitewashed houses for laborers and many very large, handsome 
moss-hung live oaks. 
The principal outlet of Grand and Sixmile Lakes, at a point about 
4 miles north of Patterson, is regarded as the beginning of the lower 
Atchafaiayia River, and into it empties the famous 
Bayou Teche (Indian for Snake Bayou) at a point 
about 2 miles north of the town. This bayou origi- 
nates far to the northwest. Running along the west 
side of the great alluvial valley of the Mississippi, it 
has built up a typical bayou ridge, 10 to 20 feet high, that is exten- 
sively settled and cultivated. The railroad is built upon this ridge 
from Patterson through Franklin, Baldwin, Jeanerette, and New 
Iberia, and in places the water of the bayou is visible from the train. 
With its many plantations, fine houses, luxuriant gardens, and hand- 
some live oaks and pecan trees, it is one of the most interesting fea- 
tures in southern Louisiana. The bayou is a useful waterway, 
although at present the traffic is light. 
In early days the bayous and rivers were highways of travel to “re 
Acadians and other settlers, who built their houses overlooking th 
Berwick. 
Elevation 14 feet. 
Population 1,679. 
New Orleans 82 miles. 
Patterson. 
— 8 feet. 
Population 2,206. 
New Grleans 88 miles. 
45 This waterway is being built by the 
Government to provide an inside chan- 
nel along the coast from New Orleans 
to Corpus Christi (at a cost of $16,- 
000,000) and, eventually, to the Rio 
Grande at Point Isabel. The bill 
passed by Congress in 1927 provides 
for a canal 100 feet wide to carry 9 feet 
y 
are to be utilized, some of them, how- 
ever, requiring deepening and straight- 
ening. For much of its course it is 
from 10 to 20 miles south of the 
Southern Pacific lines. 
