24 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES 
ing that Avery Island has stood above sea level since that time. 
Remains of man have been found associated with the bones, but 
paleontologists have not been fully convinced that they were 
contemporaneous. 
The fact that the salt marshes stand above sea level indicates that 
Avery and the other islands can not be very old, for in such a moist 
climate reduction of the salt by solution would progress rapidly, 
although possibly the salt is rising at a rate to keep pace with solution. 
Although Avery Island and the other mounds rise but slightly above 
the general low plain and marsh, they have some notable characteris- 
tics of flora, due mainly to soil differences, and also some peculiarities 
of animal and insect life. 
A sanctuary for herons and other birds, established on Avery Island 
in 1894, is locally estimated to give refuge to over 100,000 herons, the 
same birds returning year after year. Some of the birds are labeled, 
and a record is kept of their zones of migration. Many wild fowl 
winter in Louisiana, but the draining of wet lands has diminished 
their former plentiful food supply, so that now large numbers of birds 
move on to Central America and Mexico. Myriads of blue geese 
come from their breeding grounds in Baffin Land to spend the winters 
in this region. As the number of birds has decreased, the sale of wild 
birds has been made illegal, and the hunting season and the bag limit 
are much reduced. On Avery Island also is a large arboretum in 
which a great variety of semitropical plants have been assembled. 
On this island is manufactured the famous tabasco sauce, a fiery but 
savory essence of a special pepper imported from Mexico, which 
thrives in the warm climate of this region; many of these peppers are 
also dried and ground for flavoring. The cultivation of this pepper 
and the bottling and shipping of the sauce give occupation to many 
persons living near New Iberia. Another special industry here is a 
paper mill in the east edge of the town that utilizes rice straw, a mate- 
rial which is largely wasted under ordinary conditions of harvesting. 
Considerable sugarcane is raised near New Iberia, and corn and 
vegetables are grown. 
One of the most noticeable topographic features in the vicinity of 
New Iberia is the northward-facing margin of the Hammond terrace, 
10 to 15 feet high, which extends northwestward from that place. 
It is ascended by the railroad a short distance west of New Iberia. 
Beyond Segura it forms the south bank of Spanish Lake, on some maps 
called Tasse Lake, which lies between it and the natural levee that 
Bayou Teche has built up. To the west it merges into the general 
upland which lies west of the lowlands of the Mississippi Valley. 
