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 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

informed that many large navigable rivers discharge their waters into it, far above it, and that there are many numerous nations settled on them.

The Sioux, or Mandowessies, who frequent the country between the north bank of the Missouri and Mississippi, are a great impediment to trade and navigation. They endeavour to prevent all communication with the nations dwelling high up the Missouri, to deprive them of ammunition and arms, and thus keep them subservient to themselves. In the winter they are chiefly on the banks of the Missouri, and massacre all who fall into their hands.

There are a number of nations at a distance from the banks of the Missouri, to the north and south, concerning whom but little information has been received. Returning to the Mississippi, and ascending it from the Missouri, about 75 leagues above the mouth of the latter, the river Moingona, or Riviere de Moine, enters the Mississippi on the west side; and on it are situated the Ayoas, a nation originally from the Missouri, speaking the language of the Otachatas. It consisted of 200 warriors before the small-pox lately raged among them.

The Saes and Renards dwell on the Mississippi, about 300 leagues above St. Louis, and frequently trade with it. They live together, and consisted of 500 warriors: their chief trade is with Michilimakinac, and they have always been peaceable and friendly.

The other nations on the Mississippi higher up, are but little known to us. The nations of the Missouri, though cruel, treacherous, and insolent, may doubtless be kept in order by the United States if proper regulations are adopted with respect to them.

It is said that no treaties have been entered into by Spain with the Indian nations westward of the Mississippi, and that its treaties with the Creeks, Choctaws, &c., are in effect superceded by our treaty with that power of the 27th October, 1795.

Of Lands and Titles.- The lands are held in some instances by grants from the crown, but mostly from the colonial government. Perhaps not one-quarter part of the lands granted in Louisiana are held by complete titles; and of the remainder a considerable part depends upon a written permission of a commandant. Not a small proportion is held by occupancy with a single verbal permission of the officer last mentioned.

This

practice has always been countenanced by the Spanish government, in order that poor men, when they found themselves a little at ease, might, at their own conveniencey, apply for and obtain complete titles. In the mean time such imperfect rights were suffered by the government to descend by inheritance, and even to be transferred by private contract. When requisite, they have been seized by judicial authority, and sold for the payment of debts.

Until within a few years the governor of Upper Louisiana was authorized to make surveys of any extent. In the exercise of this discretionary power, some abuses were committed; a few small monopolies were created. About three years ago he was restricted in this branch of his duty, since which he has been only authorised to make surveys to emigrants in the following manner: two hundred acres for each man and wife, fifty acres for each child, and twenty acres for each slave. Hence the quantity of land allowed to settlers depended on the number in each family; and for this quantity of land they paid no more than the expense of survey. These surveys were necessary to entitle the settlers to grants; and the governor, and after him the intendant at New-Orleans, was alone authorised to execute grants on the receipt of the surveys from the settlers. The administration of the landoffice is at present under the care of the intendant of the province.

There are no feudal rights nor noblesse.

It is impossible to ascertain the quantity of lands granted, without calling on the claimants to exhibit their titles. The registry being incomplete, and the maps made by the different surveyors-general having been burnt in the fires of NewOrleans of 1788 and 1794, no estimate has been obtained.

All the lands on both sides of the Mississippi from the distance of sixteen leagues below New-Orleans to Baton-Rouge are granted to the depth of forty acres, or near half a league, which is the usual depth of all grants. Some have double and triple grants, that is to say, they have twice or thrice forty acres in depth; and others have grants extending from the Mississippi to the sea or the lakes behind them. In other parts of the country the people, being generally settled on the banks of creeks or rivers, have a front of from six to forty acres, and the grant almost invariably expresses a depth of forty acres. All the lands ungranted in the island of New

Orleans or on the opposite bank of the Mississippi are sunken, inundated, and at present unfit for cultivation, but may, in part, be reclaimed at a future day by efforts of the rich and enterprising.

Cultivation of Sugar.- The sugar-cane may be cultivated between the river Iberville and the city, on both sides of the river, and as far back as the swamps. Below the city, however, the lands decline so rapidly that beyond fifteen miles the soil is not well adapted to it. Above the Iberville the cane would be affected by the cold, and its produce would therefore be uncertain. Within these limits the best planters admit that one-quarter of the cultivated lands of any considerable plantation may be planted in cane, one-quarter left in pasture, and the remaining half employed for provisions, &c., and a reserve for a change of crops. One Parisian arpent of one hundred and eighty feet square may be expected to produce, on an average, twelve hundred weight of sugar and fifty gallons of

rum.

From the above data, admitting that both sides of the river are planted for ninety miles in extent and about three-fourths of a mile in depth, it will result that the annual product may amount in round numbers to twenty-five thousand hogsheads of sugar, with twelve thousand puncheons of rum. Enterprising young planters say that one-third or even one-half of the arable land might be planted in cane. It may also be remarked that a regular supply of provisions from above at a moderate price would enable the planter to give his attention to a greater body of land cultivated with cane. The whole of these lands, as may be supposed, are granted; but in the Atacapas country there is undoubtedly a portion, parallel to the seacoast, fit for the culture of the sugar-cane. There vacant lands are to be found, but the proportion is at present unknown.

In the above remarks the lands at Terre aux Bœuf, on the Fourche, Bayou St. Jean, and other inlets of the Mississippi, south of the latitude supposed to divide those which are fit from those which are unfit for the cultivation of the cane, have been entirely kept out of view. Including these and taking onethird instead of one-fourth of the lands fit for sugar, the produce of the whole would be fifty thousand instead of twentyfive thousand hogsheads of sugar.

The following quantities of sugar, brown, clayed, and refined,