17$ VIEWS OF LOUISIANA. 
from the fields to attend them for whole days and nights. Where 
the levee happens not to be sufficiently high, earth must be added; 
where it appears to crumble in, slabs must be placed to protect 
it; where rains have rendered it spongy and loose, every appear¬ 
ance of a hole made by crawfish must be watched and filled up. 
Hence, it often occurs, that from the weakness or negligence of 
some individual, both he and his neighbors are ruined. 
' It has often been a matter of surprise to me that works upon 
which so much depend, should be constructed in a manner so 
rude and trifling. A few moments are sufficient to destroy the 
labor and industry of twenty years- It was remarked, that the 
steam boat in high water, under way, might with ease pass over 
the levee; I was never more struck with the infant state of im¬ 
provements in this country, and the want of public spirit, than in 
viewing the work upon which the Louisianian depends for the 
security of his all: a prodigious volume of water rolling over 
his head, prevented only by a slight mound of earth from over¬ 
whelming him and all he possesses. But he does not sleep 
soundly. In 1811,* in the season of high water, for six weeks the 
coast presented a scene of continual anxiety and apprehension; 
the hands withdrawn from the fields, and kept watching day and 
night, arid adding to their breastwork as the river rose. If the 
expense, labor, loss of time, and the destruction of property, 
were estimated and formed into a general fund, it would have 
been sufficient to have erected a work capable of withstanding 
the highest flood, and rendered them perfectly secure for the 
future'. If in the season of high water, the least storm of wind 
were to arise, there are scarcely any of the present levees which 
would not give way and the whole country be laid under water. 
But until the season comes the danger is not feared, and noth¬ 
ing is done until it is too late; those who escape resolve to be 
prepared for the next year, but this is soon forgotten. Last year 
(1812) the water rose much less than in ordinary years, and 
scarcely passed over the banks, yet at this time, a storm of wind 
* This was still more the case in the present year 1813, the water 
rose higher than in 1811, by six or eight inches, and had they not been 
somewhat prepared by the former season, they must have been totally 
destroyed. 
