128 
VIEWS OP LOUISIANA, 
this* the inhabitants cut during summer, to feed their horfees. Xt. 
grows in the rich bottoms, and in great abundance through the 
common fields; cattle are extremely fond of it. After the har¬ 
vest is completed, the barriers of the fields are opened, and all 
the cattle of the village permitted to be turned in. Horses put 
into the field before this period, (for each one has generally a 
part of his lot in grass) are tied to long ropes, which are fasten¬ 
ed to stakes. 
Besides the lots, in the great field, the principal inhabitants? 
have of late years, opened plantations, within some miles of the 
town; and the (greater part of the stock formerly seen about this 
place, has been removed to the country farms: in consequence 
of which, the passengers are enabled to go through the streets 
without danger of being jostled by horses, cows, hogs, and oxen? 
which formerly crowded them. 
ST. CHARLES, 
As well as the two places before described, is the seat of 
justice of the district bearing its name. It contains three hun¬ 
dred inhabitants, a considerable proportion of them Americans. 
There are two or three stores, which, besides supplying the 
country people of the neighbourhood, have some trade with In¬ 
dian or white hunters, in furs and peltries. But this is in a 
great measure, the residence of that class of French inhabitants, 
whose occupation is that of engagees , or boatmen. Several gen¬ 
teel families also reside here. 
The village is situated on the north side of the Missouri, 
twenty miles from the junction. It is built on a very narrow 
space, between the river and the bluff, admitting but one street 
a mile in length. A short distance below, the bottom becomes 
wide; the hills behind the village are extremely rough, and 
scarcely susceptible of tillage. The Missouri is yearly washing 
away the ground on which this place stands. The common field 
situated two miles lower down. 
