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LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH.-NO. 6. 
LETTERS PROM THE SOUTH.—No. 6. 
New Orleans has a character and position as 
distinct and peculiar, as the territory of which it is 
the commercial, and up to the present time, has 
been the legislative capital; (a) and as the natural 
depot for two-thirds of the productive area of the 
United States, a brief notice of it may appropriately 
occupy a place in an agricultural journal. 
DeSoto, in 1539 or ’40, was undoubtedly the 
first European who traversed the country bordering 
upon the outlets of the Mississippi ; but like all 
the early Spanish adventurers, his object was gold 
and the precious metals, and he has left no obser¬ 
vations on the country worthy of attention. In 
1674, Joliet and Marquette, two French traders 
from Canada, discovered the river via the St. Law¬ 
rence, the great northern lakes, the Fox and Ouis- 
consin (as it formerly was and always should be 
written). In 1683, La Salle, Father Hennepin, and 
Tonti, entered the river from the same starting 
point, via the the lakes and the Illinois. La Salle 
explored it to the mouth, and Hennepin above the 
Falls of St. Anthony. The latter soon after went 
to Europe and published an account of his disco¬ 
veries, and named the whole region about the mouth 
and west of the river, Louisiana. La Salle returned 
to Canada, and thence to Europe, where he fitted 
out a small squadron, for the purpose of establish¬ 
ing a French colony on the Mississippi, but missing 
the mouths, he passed on to the Bay of Espiritu 
Santo, at the mouth of the Guadaloupe, there land¬ 
ed in 1685, built a fort, and took formal possession 
of the country for the Crown of France. This bold 
and enterprising discoverer was murdered by his 
own men, in 1687, while pursuing with unwearied 
efforts the object of his expedition by land. In 
1698, another expedition was fitted out in France, 
under D’Ibberville and his brother Bienville, who 
after coasting along the northern shore of the Gulf 
of Mexico, and visiting Pensacola (then a Spanish 
settlement), and Mobile Bay, finally entered the 
Mississippi and formed a settlement. 
New Orleans was first occupied in the spring of 
1717, where barracks were erected, and a city laid 
out and named from the then regent of France. It 
occupies the left bank of the river, in latitude 29° 
57' N., and longitude 13° 9' W. from Washington. 
When it came into possession of the United States 
by purchase, in 1803, it contained about 8,000 in¬ 
habitants. In 1810 it had increased to 17,242. By 
the census of 1840, its population was 102,000, 
and it is now estimated at near 120,000. 
This is a rapid increase within a comparatively 
short period; but those who predict a destiny for it 
far in advance of all other American cities, have 
not duly considered the past, or anticipated the fu¬ 
ture. If we take a period from the close of the 
late war, since which our national industry has 
become essentially modified, and manufactures, as 
well as commerce, have become important elements 
in the growth of commercial emporia, we shall find 
that Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and even Pitts¬ 
burg and Cincinnati, with their suburbs, have kept 
nearly an even pace with her in relative growth 
while New York has immeasurably distanced her 
in the increase of wealth and population. If 
we look to the future, we shall see the mighty 
efforts that the principal Atlantic cities are making 
(and which are fully sustained by the respective 
States they represent) to draw off to their own ports 
the rich products of the Mississippi valley. Already 
the Ohio is tapped by f ve canals , and one railroad ; 
( b ) the Mississippi will be reached from Lake Michi¬ 
gan, by a large canal the coming autumn; and a 
railroad from Philadelphia; and still another, with 
a canal terminating in Baltimore, will ere long 
stretch out their giant arms into the Ohio, to grasp 
the trade and products of the fertile West. And 
all this is but the beginning of the avenues which 
will be opened within the coming half century, by 
the indomitable energies of the East. Neither 
mountains nor valleys, neither distance nor expense, 
are any permanent hindrances to the progress of these 
highways of commerce ; and although all may not 
be withdrawn by these commercial channels, yet 
enough will be diverted to check that rapid and ex¬ 
cessive growth of New Orleans which some have 
so confidently predicted. 
There are, moreover, some local hindrances here 
that will aid the incessant, uncompromising rivalry 
of the East. Its present somewhat insalubrious 
and enervating climate may be partially remedied 
by clearing and drainage, and a strict conformity 
both in habits and regimen to its peculiarities ; the 
high rate of freights on the rivers (c); the excessive 
expense of vessels in reaching this port from the 
bar ( d ); and the onerous duties levied on most of 
the produce sent here, in the shape of inspection 
fees (e), may all be mitigated hereafter, and reduced 
to the lowest standard of remuneration for the ne¬ 
cessary services rendered. But there is still the 
great objection that New Orleans is and for ever will 
be 1,000 miles farther from Europe than the north¬ 
ern cities; and consequently, freights, from this 
and other inevitable causes, must be much higher 
than from those ports. Manufactures will never 
become an important element in her growth; and 
without these, no city ever reached or long main¬ 
tained an overshadowing ascendency among enter¬ 
prising rivals, where they were assiduously 
cherished. 
Yet after abating so much from the overweening 
anticipations of some of her zealous sons, we may 
still concede a steady, rapid, irresistible growth to 
this large and enterprising city. Her advantages 
are manifest, and cannot, by any combination of 
events, be wholly inoperative. The navigable 
waters which flow past this city, drain a million 
and a half square miles of territory, more uniformly 
fertile than any other on the face of the globe. 
And nearly the whole of this is easily accessible 
for a large part of the year, by steamboats, through 
its numerous bayous, rivers, and lakes. These are 
generally navigable, too, at a season when the other 
avenues to the East are fast locked by ice, and soon 
after the products are gathered in, and the farmers 
and planters have most leisure to push them forward 
to a market. It is the only capital that can ever be 
established for an extensive region of fertile country 
immediately surrounding it, and which is destined 
ere long to contain a dense population; and if the 
peculiarity of its situation, and the circumstances 
which must for ever govern it, will not admit of its 
becoming one of mechanical or manufacturing im 
