106 SITE OF NEW ORLEANS. [CHAP. XXVIII. 



pointed. He will admire many a villa and garden in the sub 

 urbs, and in the uncultivated space beyond, the effect of uneven 

 and undulating ground is produced by the magnificent growth of 

 cypress and other swamp timber, which have converted what 

 would otherwise have formed the lowest points in the landscape 

 into the appearance of wooded eminences. From the gallery of 

 the cupola we saw the well-proportioned, massive square tower 

 of St. Patrick s Church, recently built for the Irish Catholics, the 

 dome of the St. Louis Hotel, and immediately below us that fine 

 bend of the Mississippi, where we had just counted the steamers 

 at the wharf. Here, in a convex curve of the bank, there has 

 been a constant gain of land, so that in the last twenty-five years 

 no less than three streets have been erected, one beyond the oth 

 er, and all within the line of several large posts of cedar, to which 

 boats were formerly attached. New Orleans was called the 

 Crescent City, because the First Municipality was built along 

 this concave bend of the Mississippi. The river in this part of 

 its course varies in breadth from a mile to three-quarters of a mile, 

 and below the city sweeps round a curve for eighteen miles, and 

 then returns again to a point within five or six miles of that from 

 which it had set out. Some engineers are of opinion that as the 

 isthmus thus formed is only occupied by a low marsh, the cur 

 rent will in time cut through it, in which case the First Munic 

 ipality will be deserted by the main channel. Even should this 

 happen, the prosperity of a city which extends continuously for 

 more than six miles along the river would not be materially af 

 fected, for its site has been admirably chosen, although originally 

 determined in some degree by chance. The French began their 

 settlements on Lake Pontchartrain because they found there an 

 easy communication with the Gulf of Mexico. But they fixed 

 the site of their town on that part of the great river which was 

 nearest to the lagoon, so as to command, by this means, the nav 

 igation of the interior country. 



March 5, 1846. From New Orleans I made a short excur 

 sion with Dr. Carpenter and Dr. M Cormac to Lake Pontchar 

 train, six miles to the northward. We went first along the 

 shell road&quot; by the Bayou St, John s, and then returned by the 



