grants of its trade, in particular to Mr. Crosat in 1712, and some years afterwards, with his acquiescence, to the wellknown company projected by Mr. Law. This company was relinquished in the year 1731. By a secret convention on the 3d November, 1762, the French government ceded so much of the province as lies beyond the Mississippi, as well as the island of New-Orleans, to Spain, and by the treaty of peace which followed in 1763 the whole territory of France and Spain eastward of the middle of the Mississippi to the Iberville, thence through the middle of that river, and the lakes Maurepas and Ponchartrain to the sea, was ceded to Great Britain. Spain having conquered the Floridas from Great Britain during our Revolutionary War, they were confirmed to her by the treaty of peace of 1783. By the treaty of St. Ildefonso, of the 1st of October, 1800, his Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part to cede back to the French Republic, six months after the full and entire execution of the conditions and stipulations therein contained, relative to the Duke of Parma, "the colony or province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it actually has in the hands of Spain, that it had when France possessed it, and such as it ought to be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other states." This treaty was confirmed and enforced by that of Madrid of the 21st March, 1801. From France it passed to us by the treaty of the 30th of April last, with a reference to the above clause, as descriptive of the limits ceded.

Divisions of the Province. The province as held by Spain, including a part of West Florida, is laid off into the following principal divisions: Mobille, from Balise to the city, NewOrleans and the country on both sides of Lake Ponchartrain, first and second German coasts, Catahanose, Fourche, Venezuela, Iberville, Galvez-Town, Baton-Rouge, Pointe Coupee, Atacapas, Opelousas, Ouachita, Avoyelles, Rapide, Natchitoches, Arkansas, and the Illinois.

In the Illinois there are commandants, at New-Madrid, St. Genevieve, New Bourbon, St. Charles and St. Andrews, all subordinate to the commandant general.

Baton-Rouge having been made a government, subsequently to the treaty of limits, etc., with Spain, the posts of Manchac and Thompson's Creek, or Feliciana, were added to it.

Chapitoulas has sometimes been regarded as a separate command, but is now included within the jurisdiction of the

city.

The lower part of the river has likewise had occasionally a separate commandant.

Many of the present establishments are separated from each other by immense and trackless deserts, having no communication with each other by land, except now and then a solitary instance of its being attempted by hunters, who have to swim rivers, expose themselves to the inclemency of the weather, and carry their provisions on their backs for a time, proportioned to the length of their journey. This is particularly the case on the west of the Mississippi, where the communication is kept up only by water, between the capital and the distant settlements, three months being required to convey intelligence from the one to the other by the Mississippi. The usual distance accomplished by a boat in ascending is five leagues per day.

The rapidity of the current in the spring season especially, when the waters of all the rivers are high, facilitates the descent, so that the same voyage by water, which requires three or four months to perform from the capital, may be made to it in from twelve to sixteen days. The principal settlements in Louisiana are on the Mississippi, which begins to be cultivated about twenty leagues from the sea, where the plantations are yet thin, and owned by the poorest people. Ascending, you see them improve on each side, till you reach the city, which is situated on the east bank, on a bend of the river, 35 leagues from the sea,

Chapitoulas, First and Second German Coasts.— Catahanose. Fourche and Iberville. The best and most approved are above the city, and comprehend what is there known by the Paroisse de Chapitoulas, Premier and Second Cote des Allemands, and extends 16 leagues.

Above this begins the parish of Catahanose, or first Acadian settlement, extending eight leagues on the river. Adjoining it and still ascending is the second Acadian settlement or parish of the Fourche, which extends about six leagues. The parish of Iberville then commences, and is bounded on the east side by the river of the same name, which, though dry a great part of the year, yet, when the Mississippi is raised, it communicates with the lakes Maurepas and Ponchartrain, and through them with the sea, and thus forms what is called the island of New-Orleans. Except on the point just below the Iberville the country from New-Orleans is settled the whole way along

the river, and presents a scene of uninterrupted plantations in `sight of each other, whose fronts to the Mississippi are all cleared and occupy on that river from 5 to 25 acres with a depth of 40, so that a plantation of 5 acres in front contains 200. A few sugar plantations are formed in the parish of Catahanose; but the remainder is devoted to cotton and provisions, and the whole is an excellent soil, incapable of being exhausted. The plantations are but one deep on the island of New-Orleans, and on the opposite side of the river as far as the mouth of the Iberville, which is 35 leagues above NewOrleans.

Bayou de Fourche. Atacapas and Opelousas.- About 25 leagues from the last-mentioned place on the west side of the Mississippi, the creek or Bayou of the Fourche, called in old maps La Riviere des Chitamaches, flows from the Mississippi, and communicates with the sea to the west of the Balise. The entrance of the Mississippi is navigable only at high water, but will then admit of craft of from 60 to 70 tons' burthen. On both banks of this creek are settlements, one plantation deep, for near 15 leagues; and they are divided into two parishes. The settlers are numerous, though poor; and the culture is universally cotton. On all creeks making from the Mississippi the soil is the same as on the bank of the river; and the border is the highest part of it, from whence it descends gradually to the swamp. In no place on the low lands is there depth more than suffices for one plantation, before you come to the low grounds, incapable of cultivation. This creek affords one of the communications to the two populous and rich settlements of Atacapas and Opelousas, formed on and near the small rivers Teche and Vermillon which flow into the Bay of Mexico. But the principal and swiftest communication is by the Bayou or creek of Plaquemines, whose entrance into the Mississippi is 7 leagues higher up on the same side, and 32 above NewOrleans. These settlements abound in cattle and horses, have a large quantity of good land in their vicinity, and may be made of great importance. A part of their produce is sent by sea to New-Orleans, but the greater part is carried in batteaux by the creeks above mentioned.

Baton-Rouge and its Dependencies. Immediately above the Iberville and on both sides of the Mississippi lies the parish of Manchac, which extends four leagues on the river, and is well cultivated. Above it commences the settlement of Baton

Rouge, extending about 9 leagues. It is remarkable as being the first place where the high land is contiguous to the river, and here it forms a bluff from 30 to 40 feet above the greatest rise of the river. Here the settlements extend a considerable way back on the east side, and this parish has that of Thompson's Creek and Bayou Sara subordinate to it. The mouth of the first of these creeks is about 49 leagues from New-Orleans, and that of the latter 2 or 3 leagues higher up. They run from north-east to south-west, and their head-waters are north of the 31st degree of latitude, Their banks have the best soil and the greatest number of good cotton plantations of any part of Louisiana, and are allowed to be the garden of it.

Pointe Coupee & Fausse Riviere.— Above Baton-Rouge, at the distance of 50 leagues from New-Orleans, and on the west side of the Mississippi, is Pointe Coupee, a populous and rich settlement, extending 8 leagues along the river. Its produce is cotton. Behind it, on an old bed of the river, now a lake, whose outlets are closed up, is the settlement of Fausse Riviere, which is well cultivated.

In the space now described from the sea as high as and including the last-mentioned settlement is contained three-fourths of the population and seven-eighths of the riches of Louisiana. From the settlement of Pointe Coupee on the Mississippi to Cape Girardeau above the mouth of the Ohio there is no land on the west side that is not overflowed in the spring to the distance of 8 or 10 leagues from the river, with from 2 to 12 feet of water, except a small spot near New-Madrid, so that in the whole extent there is no possibility of forming a considerable settlement contiguous to the river on that side. The eastern bank has in this respect a decided advantage over the western, as there are on it many situations which effectually command the river.

Red River and its Settlements.- On the west side of the Mississippi, 70 leagues from New-Orleans, is the mouth of the Red River, on whose banks and vicinity are the settlements of Rapide, Avoyelles, and Natchitoches, all of them thriving and populous. The latter is situate 75 leagues up the Red River. On the north side of the Red River, a few leagues from its junction with the Mississippi, is the Black River, on one of whose branches, a considerable way up, is the infant settlement of Ouachita, which from the richness of the soil may be made a place of importance. Cotton is the chief produce of these settle

'ments, but they have likewise a considerable Indian trade. The river Rouge, or Red River, is used to communicate with the frontiers of New Mexico.

Concord.- Arkansas.— St. Charles and St. Andrew, &c.— There is no other settlement on the Mississippi except the small one called Concord, opposite to the Natchez, till you come to the Arkansas River, whose mouth is 250 leagues above New-Orleans.

Here there are but a few families, who are more attached to the Indian trade (by which chiefly they live) than to cultivation. There is no settlement from this place to New-Madrid, which is itself inconsiderable. Ascending the river, you come to Cape Girardeau, St. Genevieve, and St. Louis, where, though the inhabitants are numerous, they raise little for exportation, and content themselves with trading with the Indians and working a few lead mines. This country is very fertile, especially on the banks of the Missouri, where there have been formed two settlements, called St. Charles and St. Andrew, mostly by emigrants from Kentucky. The peltry procured in the Illinois is the best sent to the Atlantic market, and the quantity is very considerable. Lead is to be had with ease, and in such quantities as to supply all Europe, if the popula tion were sufficient to work the numerous mines to be found within two or three feet from the surface in various parts of the country. The settlements about the Illinois were first made by the Canadians, and their inhabitants still resemble them in their aversion to labor and love of a wandering life. They contain but few negroes, compared to the number of the whites; and it may be taken for a general rule that, in proportion to the distance of the capital, the number of blacks diminish below that of the whites, the former abounding most on the rich plantations in its vicinity.

General Description of Upper Louisiana.- When compared with the Indiana territory, the face of the country in Upper Louisiana is rather more broken, though the soil is equally fertile. It is a fact not to be contested that the west side of the river possesses some advantages not generally incident to those regions. It is elevated and healthy and well watered with a variety of large, rapid streams, calculated for mills and other water works. From Cape Girardeau, above the mouth of the Ohio, to the Missouri, the land on the east side of the Mississippi is low and flat and occasionally exposed to inundations;