BOUNDARIES, SURFACE, &c.~ BOOK If. 
159 
Opelousas have a waving surface, though no where rising into 
hills; those of the Attakapas are flat and level, covered with a 
more luxuriant and a coarser vegetation. The whole country 
is chequered by the woody margins of streams, called bayoux,* 
though different from the refluent waters of the river. The^ 
parts of the country in England, where the grounds are divid¬ 
ed by hedge rows, might seem miniatures of the bold designs 
which nature has displayed in laying off this tract. The fringes 
of wood on the borders of the bayoux seldom exceed a half mile 
in width, and consist of live oak, magnolia, &c. and on the wet 
parts, of cypress. The rivers Teche and Vermillion, have 
the largest tracts of timbered land, and are consequently the best 
settled parts of the prairies. The prairies will be found in the 
aggregate, the least valuable of the public domain ; if they be 
surveyed and laid off, as at present contemplated, it will be im¬ 
possible to sell them for more than a trifle: who would purchase 
a tract of land situated perhaps at the distance of several miles 
from wood or water? The fact is, that the greater part is only 
fit for pasturage, and there is little likelihood, of any other usq 
being made of it, for many years to come. From late observa* 
tions, however, it is probable, that in time trees might be culti¬ 
vated : the soil is growing richer from the manure left by the 
numerous herds of cattle which continually cover it. 
III. The alluvion lands constitute the third division. Much 
erroneous calculation has been indulged on this head. It has 
been a prevailing opinion, that by far the greater part of the 
state is composed of this kind of land. From what I have said, 
it may be seen that it does not constitute more than the fifth of 
the state: but of this portion, there is not more than a fourth 
which can be considered irreclaimable. When I say irreclaim¬ 
able, I do not mean to convey the idea of any physical impossi¬ 
bility, but the great difficulty with which it must be effected, 
and the great length of time which must elapse before it can 
be done. I am well satisfied that there is much less of the west- 
* They are natural drains of the waters accumulated by the rains in 
the prairie; ponds and even lakes are formed in places by tha rains— 
This arises from the uneven surface of the ground. 
