484 LOUISIANA. 



In most of these parishes there is no town at which the seat of jus* 

 tice may be fixe a. 



Climate. ...The climate bears a strong resemblance to that of 

 South Carolina and Georgia. The winters are mild. In fact the ap- 

 pearance of the country is little different throughout the year ; win- 

 ter has not the dreary aspect which it wears in the northern states, 

 but vegetation seems to bloom in every season. The months of De- 

 cemoer, January and February, are the most pleasant : at this time 

 the air is dry and elastic ; there are bracing frosts, though seldom 

 any snow. The sun, during this period, is as warm as in April or 

 May in the northern states, and garden vegetables are in great perfec- 

 tion. The nights are however cool, and cold piercing north-west 

 winds sometimes prevail for a few days; but, generally, fires may be 

 dispensed with. The month of March is less agreeable, from the 

 frequency of storms, and cold winds. April, May, and June, are 

 pleasant; the heat of the sun, which otherwise would be excessive, 

 is moderated by various causes. This being the time of the annual 

 floods, the immense body of fresh water which is every where found 

 over the surface of the country, cools and refreshes the air : this, 

 together with the frequency of the sea breezes, renders the heat less 

 sultry. The months July, August, and September, constitute the 

 fatal period in this climate. The great river has now returned within 

 its banks, leaving every where stagnant waters, which, together 

 with all the variety of putrefactions, animal and vegetable, common 

 at this season, and the slime deposited by the river, exhaling a bale- 

 ful stench, render the climate exceedingly disagreeable, and sow the 

 seeds of disease. Soon after this time bilious fevers begin to be uni- 

 versally prevalent; few escape an attack more or less virulent. To 

 persons advanced in life, and valetudinarians, the climate is perhaps 

 the best in America. The number of diseases prevalent is small, 

 and they nearly all partake more or less of a bilious character. By 

 the month of October the causes of disease subside, but the following 

 month is rainy and unpleasant. The short winter which succeeds is 

 scarcely of sufficient duration to restore the exhausted system. On 

 coming from the north, abou the latter end of November, and re- 

 maining until the middle of July, the climate will appear one of the 

 finest in the world. About the period of the autumnal equinox, the 

 most dreadful hurricanes prevail. One of these, which occurred in 

 August 1812, destroyed nearly all the shipping then at the levee, in 

 front of the city, did much injury to the houses, andjblew down many 

 trees on the banks of the rivei\ The rains are remarkably heavy ; 

 they literally " sport cataracts;" The fields are completely inundated, 

 anc-l in the upland districts, the ravines or streamlets, which a short 

 time before were almost dry, became in a few minutes impassable. 



Rivers. ...The Mississippi, within this state, is from one to two 

 miles wide, of great depth, and has a most majestic appearance. 

 The banks on each side are low, but rendered picturesque from the 

 beautiful assemblages of trees, and the neat houses of the planters. 

 The embankment of the river, or as it is calif d, the ievee, extends 

 on each sine, about one hundivd and thirty miles, and is generally a 

 slurht mcund of earth/, of a sufficient thickness, to restrain the waiers 

 a ould otherwise overflow the adjacent lands every season. The 



j 5 pass between he ievee and the fields. 



The R^d rivei : 3 the nort'i-%wst =, n section of Louisi- 



ana, is ft long narrow stream, and for aearly three hundred miles 



