CHAP. XXVI.] NEW ORLEANS. Ill 



rishing, and below it numerous shrubs just burst 

 ing into leaf. In many gardens of the suburbs, the 

 almond and peach trees were in full blossom. In 

 some places the blue-leaved palmetto, and the leaves 

 of a species of iris (/m cuprea\ were very abundant. 

 We saw a tavern called the &quot; Elysian Fields Coffee 

 House,&quot; and some others with French inscriptions. 

 There were also many houses with porte-cocheres, 

 high roofs, and volets, and many lamps suspended 

 from ropes attached to tall posts on each side of the 

 road, as in the French capital. We might indeed 

 have fancied that we were approaching Paris, but for 

 the negroes and mulattos, and the large verandahs 

 reminding us that the windows required protection 

 from the sun s heat. 



It was a pleasure to hear the French language 

 spoken, and to have our thoughts recalled to the 

 most civilised parts of Europe by the aspect of a 

 city, forming so great a contrast to the innumerable 

 new towns we had lately beheld. The foreign ap 

 pearance, moreover, of the inhabitants, made me feel 

 thankful that it was possible to roam freely and 

 without hindrance over so large a continent, no 

 bureaus for examining and signing of passports, no 

 fortifications, no draw-bridges, no closing of gates at 

 a fixed hour in the evening, no waiting till they are 

 opened in the morning, no custom-houses separating 

 one State from another, no overhauling of baggage 

 by gensdarmes for the octroi, and yet as perfect a 

 feeling of personal security as I ever felt in Ger 

 many or France. 



The largest of the hotels, the St. Charles, being 



