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CHAPTER VIII.

Richardson's Hotel at New Orleans-Lavand's Planters and Merchants' Hotel-Waiters-Slaves-Laws as to Slaves-Green Peas Bites of Musquitos-Musquito Curtains-Situation of New Orleans -Population-Theatres-Levee-Internal water communicationSteam-boats-Cotton and Sugar-Mr Flint's description of New Orleans-Its Insular situation-Stripe of Fertile Land-Market-placeCleaning of the Streets-Relative number of Americans and French -Sign-posts-Lotteries, &c.-Corps of Gens d'Armes-French Theatre best attended on Sunday-Female Beauty-Manners of Females-Marriages of the Quadroons-Women of Light Character not distinguishable on the Streets of the American Cities-Strict Decorum preserved-Way of spending Sunday-Few Churches-Treatment of Slaves-Sent to Prison and punished by the Gaoler-Number of Slaves for Sale here-Duke of Saxe Weimar's Account of the punishment of a Slave here-Louisianian Laws affecting Slaves and Free Men of Colour-Execution of a Slave-Retrospective effect of the Laws-Newspapers at New Orleans have decreased in number during the last Twenty Years-Reading-Rooms only lately Established-Edinburgh Scotsman Newspaper-Newspapers half French half English-Hackney Coaches at New Orleans-Labourers' wages high-Visits to Plantations-Mr Flint's Account of a Louisianian Plantation-Slaves on the Plantations-Details of Mr Hopkins'. Plantation-Education of Slaves-Capital Error in not Educating them in the British Colonies-Education must precede Emancipation-New Orleans' Battle Ground-Details of the Battle-General Jackson's brief account of it-His great merit consisted in restoring

confidence-His Decision of Character saved New Orleans-His Dictatorial Measures-Money afterwards made of the Cotton BagsPlunder of New Orleans promised by the British Commander to his Army-Booty and Beauty the watchword of the British Army-Authorities for this statement-Villas along the Mississippi-Race Ground-History of the French Territory in North America ceded to the United States in 1803-Count Marbois' History of Louisiana -The French Descent of Mississippi in 1672-The Colony ill-governed-Colonists settled where they chose- French possessions extended to the Gulf of Mexico on the one hand, and to the Alleghanies on the other-Peace after the war of 1754-France cedes to Britain all on the Eastern Bank of the Mississippi but New Orleans-New Orleans and Louisiana given to Spain in 1768-Restored to France in 1800-Treaty in 1803 between Buonaparte and the American Government, resulting in the cession of New Orleans and all the French Territory to the United States-Mr Jefferson's Instructions to the Negociators Buonaparte, foreseeing that Louisiana would be captured by Britain, resolved to sell it to the United States before the commencement of the War in 1803-Opinions as to the expediency of the measure by Marbois and Talleyrand-Two States formed of the cession-Louisiana and Missouri-Extent of country acquired by the United States since the Treaty of 1783-Western CountryAstoria-United States send Geometers and men of Science to establish the limits of its peaceable Conquest-Marbois' Opinion of the change in New Orleans since the cession-Gratitude of Louisiana to Munroe and Jefferson.

March and April 1830.

RICHARDSON's hotel at New Orleans had been recommended to me, but it was full, and, not without difficulty, I got a room in the Planters and Merchants' hotel, kept by Mr Lavand. This was a large house, and quite full. The waiters all slaves, hired from their masters,―many of them very fine-looking men. Their masters receive from twenty to twenty-five dollars a month for their work, and board and washing are all

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furnished to them from the hotel. The value of a slave is prodigiously increased when he is instructed as a waiter, and can perform his duty well. If a young man, his value rises from 500 dollars to 1800 dollars,-and even so high as 3000 dollars. The highest value attaches to such slaves as not only are good waiters, but who can read and write. But a slave is not now allowed to be taught to read or to write in the State of Louisiana, nor in most of the slave-holding states.

Two things struck me as remarkable at the hotel on the day when I reached it. At the dinner, which was very abundant, on a very long horse-shoe table, there was a larger quantity of green peas, just at the period of their greatest perfection, than I ever saw produced anywhere before. This was on the 22d March. Then, on the evening of the same day, or rather on the following night, I suffered more from the bites of musquitos than I have ever done before or since. I went to bed, never dreaming of musquitos in the month of March, and after being in the steam-boat during the two preceding nights, slept most soundly, so that I was an easy prey to these troublesome insects. When I awoke in the morning I was absolutely alarmed by the swelling of my legs and ankles, which had been the chief object of attack; and I found no pity shown me when I made my complaint to the chamber-maid of the mischief she had occasioned, by not giving me a hint that the enemy was in the field, so that I might have provided for my defence by procuring a musquito curtain. She smiled when I told her my unhappy condition. She had, she

said, put a musquito curtain upon the bed, and never doubted my having recourse to it. The musquito curtain is formed in this way. A tester is made of thick muslin, about the length and breadth of the bed, to which is attached a curtain four or five feet high, without openings at the sides. This curtain thus made, and suspended so as to admit its being folded beneath the bed-clothes, generally has the effect of excluding the attack of the musquito. I must confess, however, although perhaps this might be owing to my want of skill in the use of the curtain, that I, again and again, while at New Orleans, found that the enemy had broke through the protecting curtain, and had not left me altogether uninjured. The first night, however, was by far the worst.

The musquito curtain is universal among all classes of people here; indeed the loss of rest from the sting of the musquito has been frequently known to bring on fever.

A cup of hot coffee was introduced immediately after dinner at the hotel, and I found was very common everywhere here.

New Orleans is situated on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, about 100 miles from the mouth of the river, on ground perfectly flat, and as there are few steeples it makes no striking appearance. The whole city is built in the form of a parallelogram composed of six complete squares, with suburbs, called Fauxbourgs, which are rapidly increasing. The streets in the old city are. hardly forty feet wide. The cathedral is at the head

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of a square; it is an old building with four towers, and massive walls, ornamented with figures of saints in the niches. It is the only public building at all imposing. Public institutions, though numerous, are built in an unpretending style. There are very few churches in reference to the population, which is now approaching to 50,000 persons. The French theatre is in the city, and the American one in the suburbs. The houses are chiefly of brick, many of them stuccoed externally of a white or yellow colour. The doors of many of the houses in the narrow streets open at once into the street itself. The doors are often left open during the day, and curtains substituted.

The river here, which is above half a mile broad, is confined by a bank of earth, or gravel, called the levee, which is very requisite, as the streets of New Orleans are a few feet lower than the river, so that in walking through them the hulls of large vessels in the river appear to a passenger, and really are, much higher than the pavement on which he is walking.

The tide is hardly perceptible at New Orleans. The water of the river is very muddy, but when filtered is considered wholesome.

The situation of New Orleans is admirable for a commercial city. A forest of masts is seen along the levee, and the ships, the bank of the river being steep, are easily approached, and their cargoes delivered, or put on board by means of large wooden platforms. There is no occasion for wharfs or piers. The extent of boat navigation from New Orleans into the interior is far