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Avoyelles, 1 company of infantry,

Oucheta, I do. of cavalry,

Natchitoches, I do. of infantry and 1 of cavalry,

Arkansas, 1 do. of infantry and cavalry,

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Illinois, 4 do. of cavalry

These are always above the com

800

4 do. of infantry Spliment.

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1,000

Provincial regiment of Germans and Acadians, from the first German coast to Iberville,

10 companies, viz. 2 of grenadiers,

8 fusileers,

Mobille and the country east of Lake Ponchartrain, 2 companies of horse and foot incomplete,

120

5,440

The same gentleman alluded to, page [13], makes the number of the militia to amount to 10,340 men within the same limits to which his estimate of the population applies. He distributes them in the several settlements, as follows:

1. The island of New-Orleans, with the opposite margin and the adjacent settlements,

2. The west margin from Manchac, including Pointe Coupee, and extending to the Red River,

3. Atacapas, along the coast, between the Delta of the Mississippi and the river Sabine,

4. Opelousas,

5. Red River, including Bayou Bœuf, Avoyelles, Rapide, and Natchitoches,

6. Ouachita,

7. Concord,

8. Arkansas,

9. New Madrid and its vicinity,

10. Illinois and Missouri,

5,000

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II. The settlements on the east side of the Mississippi, from the American line to the Iberville, and some other settlements,

600

10,340

It is to be observed that none of these statements include the country beyond the river Sabine, nor even all those which lie eastwardly of it. Data are also wanting to give them.

Fortifications.- St. Louis has a lieutenant colonel to com

mand in it, and but few troops.

Baton-Rouge is an ill-con-
In describing the canal.

structed fort, and has about 50 men. of Carondelet, the small fort of St. Jean has been mentioned, as has the block house at the Balize in its proper place. The fortifications of New-Orleans, noticed before, consist of five illconstructed redoubts, with a covered way, palisade and ditch. The whole is going fast to decay, and it is supposed they would be of but little service in case of an attack. Though the powder magazine is on the opposite side of the river, there is no sufficient provision made for its removal to the city, in case of need.

The fort of Plaquemines, which is about twelve or thirteen leagues from the sea, is an ill-constructed, irregular brick work, on the eastern side of the Mississippi, with a ditch in front of the river, and protected on the lower side by a deep creek, flowing from the river to the sea. It is, however, imperfectly

closed behind, and almost without defence there, too much reliance having been placed on the swampiness of the ground, which hardens daily. It might be taken, perhaps, by escalade, without difficulty. It is in a degree ruinous. The principal. front is meant to defend the approach from the sea, and can oppose, at most, but eight heavy guns. It is built at a turn in the river, where ships in general must anchor, as the wind which brings them up so far is contrary in the next reach, which they mostly work through; and they would, therefore, be exposed to the fire of the fort. On the opposite bank are the ruins of a small closed redoubt, called Fort Bourbon, usually guarded by a sergeant's command. Its fire was intended to Hank that of the fort of Plaquemines, and prevent shipping and craft from ascending or descending on that side. When a vessel appears, a signal is made on one side, and answered on the other. Should she attempt to pass without sending a boat on shore, she would be immediately fired upon.

Indians. The Indian nations within the limits of Louisiana are as far known as follows, and consist of the numbers hereafter specified.

On the eastern bank of the Mississippi, about 25 leagues above Orleans, the remains of the nation of Houmas, or Red Men, which do not exceed 60 persons. There are no other Indians settled on this side of the river, either in Louisiana or West Florida, though they are at times frequented by parties of wandering Choctaws.

On the west side of the Mississippi are the remains of the Tounicas, settled near, and above Pointe Coupee on the river, consisting of fifty or sixty persons.

In the Atacapas.- On the lower parts of the Bayou Teche, at about eleven or twelve leagues from the sea, are two villages of Chitimachas, consisting of about an hundred souls.

The Atacapas, properly so called, dispersed thoughout the district, and chiefly on the Bayou or creek of Vermillion, about one hundred souls.

Wanderers of the tribes of Bilexis and Choctaws on Bayou Crocodile, which empties into the Teche, about fifty souls.

In the Opelousas, to the N. W. of Atacapas. Two villages of Alibamas in the centre of the district near the church, consisting of one hundred persons.

Conchates dispersed through the country as far west as the river Sabinas and its neighbourhood, about three hundred and fifty persons.

On the River Rouge.- At Avoyelles, nineteen leagues from the Mississippi, is a village of the Biloni nation, and another on the lake of the Avoyelles, the whole about sixty souls.

At the Rapide, twenty-six leagues from the Mississippi, is a village of Choctaws of one hundred souls, and another of Biloxes, about two leagues from it, of about one hundred more: about eight or nine leagues higher up the Red River is a village of about fifty souls. All these are occasionally employed by the settlers in their neighbourhood as boatmen.

About eighty leagues above Natchitoches on the Red River is the nation of the Cadoquies, called by abbreviation Cados. They can raise from three to four hundred warriors, are the friends of the whites, and are esteemed the bravest and most generous of all the nations in this vast country. They are rapidly decreasing, owing to intemperance and the numbers annually destroyed by the Osages and Choctaws.

There are, besides the foregoing, at least four to five hundred families of Choctaws, who are dispersed on the west side of the Mississippi, on the Ouacheta and Red Rivers, as far west as Natchitoches; and the whole nation would have emigrated across the Mississippi, had it not been for the opposition of the Spaniards and the Indians on that side who had suffered by their aggressions.

On the River Arkansas, etc.- Between the Red River and the Arkansas there are but a few Indians, the remains of tribes

almost extinct.

On this last river is the nation of the same name, consisting of about two hundred and sixty warriors. They are brave, yet peaceable and well-disposed, and have always been attached to the French, and espoused their cause in their wars with the Chickasaws, whom they have always resisted with success. They live in three villages; the first is at eighteen leagues from the Mississippi on the Arkansas River, and the others are at three and six leagues from the first. A scarcity of game on the eastern side of the Mississippi has lately induced a number of Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, &c., to frequent the neighbourhood of Arkansas, where game is still in abundance: they have contracted marriages with the Arkansas, and seem inclined to make a permanent settlement and incorporate themselves with that nation. The number is unknown, but is considerable, and is every day increasing.

On the river St. Francis, in the neighbourhood of NewMadrid, Cape Girardeau, Reviere a la Pomme, and the environs, are settled a number of vagabonds, emigrants from the Delawares, Shawnese, Miamis, Chickasaws, Cherokees, Piorias, and supposed to consist in all of five hundred families: they are at times troublesome to the boats descending the river, and have even plundered some of them, and committed a few murders. They are attached to liquor, seldom remain long in any place, many of them speak English, all understand it, and there are some who even read and write it.

At St. Genevieve, in the settlement among the whites, are about thirty Piorias, Kaskaskias, and Illinois, who seldom hunt, for fear of the other Indians: they are the remains of a nation which, fifty years ago, could bring into the field one thousand two hundred warriors.

On the Missouri.- On the Missouri and its waters are many and numerous nations, the best known of which are: the Osages, situated on the river of same name, on the right bank of the Missouri, at about eighty leagues from its confluence with it: they consist of one thousand warriors, who live in two settlements at no great distance from each other. They are of a gigantic stature and well proportioned, are enemies of the whites and of all other Indian nations, and commit depredations from the Illinois to the Arkansas. The trade of this nation is said to be under an exclusive grant. They are a cruel and ferocious race, and are hated and feared by all the other Indians. The confluence of the Osage River with the Missouri is about eight leagues from the Mississippi.

Sixty leagues higher up the Missouri, and on the same bank, is the river Kanzas, and on it the nation of the same name, but at about seventy or eighty leagues from its mouth. It consists of about two hundred and fifty warriors, who are as fierce and cruel as the Osages, and often molest and ill-treat those who go to trade among them.

Sixty leagues above the river Kanzas, and at about two hundred from the mouth of the Missouri, still on the right bank, is the rivierre Platte, or Shallow River, remarkable for its quicksands and bad navigation; and near its confluence with the Missouri dwells the nation of Octolactos, commonly called Otos, consisting of about two hundred warriors, among whom are twenty-five or thirty of the nation of Missouri, who took refuge among them about twenty-five years since.

Forty leagues up the river Platte you come to the nation of the Panis, composed of about seven hundred warriors in four neighbouring villages. They hunt but little and are ill provided with fire-arms: they often make war on the Spaniards in the neighbourhood of Santa Fe, from which they are not far distant.

At three hundred leagues from the Mississippi and one hundred from the river Platte, on the same bank, are situated the villages of the Mahas. They consisted in 1799 of five hundred warriors, but are said to have been almost cut off last year by the small-pox.

At fifty leagues above the Mahas, and on the left bank of the Missouri, dwell the Poncas, to the number of two hundred and fifty warriors, possessing in common with the Mahas their language, ferocity, and vices. Their trade has never been of much value, and those engaged to it are exposed to pillage and ill-treatment.

At the distance of 450 leagues from the Mississippi, and on the right bank of the Missouri, dwell the Aricaras, to the number of 700 warriors; and 60 leagues above them, the Mandane nation, consisting of about 700 warriors likewise. These two last nations are well disposed to the whites, but have been the victims of the Sioux, or Nandowessies, who being themselves well provided with fire-arms, have taken advantage of the defenceless situation of the others, and have on all occasions murdered them without mercy.

No discoveries on the Missouri, beyond the Mandane nation, have been accurately detailed, though the traders have been

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