Carlisle Weekly Herald from Carlisle, Pennsylvania • 1

AIM. JLJLlLlA. CARLISLE, (Piun.) Printed by WILLIAM ALEXANDER, Jus. at Two Dollars. per Annum.

NUMBER 24. WEDNESDAY, NQ-MBH 7S, 1803. VOLUME II. Rapide, Natchitoches, Arkanfas, and the II- only at high water, but will then admit of I luiois. The following IMPORTANT TRACT was.

on Monday communicated to Con- Prefidem of the United ptftfs by the bUtcS. craft of from 60 to 70 tons burthen. On both banks of this creek arc Settlements, oiks plantation deep, for near 15 leagues, and. they are divided into two parifhes. The.

fcttlers are numerous though poor, and the culture is univerfally cotton. On all creeks making from the Miffiffippi, the foil is the fame as on the bank of the river, and the border is the highefl part of it from whence it defcends gradually to the fwamp. In no from the richnefs of the foil may be made place of importance. Cotton is produce of thefe fettlements, but they have likewife a confiderable Indian trade. The river Rouge, or Red river, 'is ufed to communicate with the frontiers of New-Mexico.

Concord Arkanfas St. Charks and St. Andrew, iffc. There is no other fettlement on the Mif-fiflippi except the fmall one called Concord oppofite to the Natches, till you come to the Arkanfas liver, whofe mouth is 250 league piace on the low lands is their depth more In the Illinois there are commandant, ot New Madrid, St. Genevieve, New Bourbon, Sc.

Charles and St. Andrews, all fubordinate to the commandant general. Baton Rogue having been made a g6vcrn-ment, fubteq jenily to the treaty of limits with Spain, the polls of Manchac and Thompson's creek, or Feliciana were added to it. Chapitculas has fometimes been regarded as a feparate command, but is now included within the jurifdiction of the city. The lower part of the river has likewife had oc-calionally a parate commandant.

Many of the prcfent ellallifhrnents arc feparated from each other by imrneme and trackkfa deferts, having no communication with each other by laud, except now and then a folitaty hi (lance of itt being atieinpted by hunters, who havetofwim rivers, cxpofe than fufnees for one plantation, before you above New-Orleans. Here there are but a few families, who come to the low grounds incapable of culti vation. I his creek affords ne of the communications to the two populous and rich fettltments of Atacapas and Opeloufas formed 011 and near the fmall livers Tcche and Vermillion which flow into the bay of Mexico. But the principal and fwifteft communication is- by the Bayou or creek of Piaqnemines, whofe entrance into the Mif- JIN JtCCOBST Of OU.IS1 AM A. 1 BsHag an al ft rati of Dosnmtnts, in the Offices of tit Departments if State and if the Trea- fur j.

The objeftof the following pages is tocon-folidate the information refpedting the prcfent (late of Louifiana, furnilhed to the Executive by Ceveral individuals a-mong the bell informed on that fubjecl. OF the province of Louisiana no general map, fufiiciently correct to be depended up-on has been publifhed, or has any yet been procured from a private fource. It is indeed probable, that furveyshave uever been made upon fo cxteofive a fcale as tp afford the means of laying down the various regions of a country, which, in fome of its pai ls, appears to have been but explored. "1 BOUHDAUFS. 1 V-5 TflC prefent boundaries of Louiliana, are more attached to the Indian trade (by which they live) than to cultivation.

There is no fettlement from this place to New-Ma-hid, which is in itfelf inconfidcrable. Afcending the river you come to Cape Girardeau, St. Genevieve and St. Lewis, where, though the inhabitants are numerous, they raife little for exportation, and content tbem-felves with trading with the Indians and working a few lead mines. This countiy is very fertile, efpeciaily on the batiks of the MifTouri, where there have been foimed two fettlements, called St.

Charles and St. Andrew, mollly by emigrants from Kentucky. The peltry procured in the Illinois is the heft fent to the Atlantic market and the thrmfelve to the inclemency of fnTsppi is feven leagues higher upon the fame and carry their provifions on.th.eir backs for Cde, and thirty-two above New-Orleans, I'hefe fettlements abound in. cattle and a time proportioned to the length of jhetr liorfes, have a large quantity of good land in their vicinity, and may be made of great importance. A part of their produce is fent I.y fea to New-Orleans, but the greater part is carritd in batteaux by the creeks above journey.

This is particulauy the cafe on the weft of the Miffiffippi, where the communication is kept up only by water, between the capital and :the.dillant ment three months being required to convey intelligence from the one to the other by the Miffiffippi. The ufual diftance ac- compliflied by a boat in afcending, is five leagues per day; The rapidity of the rent in the fpring fcafon efpeciaily, when the waters ot all the rivers are high, facilitates the defceiit, fo that the fame voyage by water, which requires three or four months to perform from the capital, may ot the Mmiliippi, though very extenfive, are' at prcfent involved in fome obfeurity. Data are tqually wanting fign with prccilion northern extent. Piom the I'curce cf the Miffiffippi it is bounded eaftwardly fcy the middle of the channel of that river to the 31ft degree of Thence, it is afferted upon very be made lo it jn from twelve to fixteen days. wrong grounds, that according to its limits, 1 rt when ormerjy po.Tv.flid by France, it VThe principal fettlements in Louifiana are on the MifJiflippi, which bejritts to be culti- itretcht-s to the call, as far, at leaft, as the river Ferdigo.

wFu'ch runs into the bay of or the river Mobile It may be confident, with the view of mentioned. Vr Baton Rouge and its dependencies. Immediately above the Iberville, and on both fides of the Miffiffippi lies the parifli Manchac, which extends four leagues on the river, and is n'ell cultivated. Above it commence the fettlement of Baton Rouge, extending about nine leagues. It is remark-ablees being the firft place where the high lai.d is contiguous to the river, and here it forms a bluff from 30 to 40 above the rife of the river.

Mere the fettle-'TBiiiis extend a confiderable way back on rlie call fide and this pariih has hat of rhomplon 6 tm. S.ra fnhor. dmate lo it. I he mouth of the tint ot thefe cretks is about 49 leagues from New-Orleans, and that of the latter 2 or 3 leagues higher up. They run fiom north call to fouth weft, and their head waters are 1101th of the 31ft degree of latitude.

Their banks have the belt foil, and the greatefl numbir of good cotton plantations of any part of Louifiana, and are allowed to be the garden of it. Pointe Coupee and Faujfe Riviere. Above Baton Rouge, at the diftance cf 50 leagues from New-Orleans, and on the weft fide ot the Miffiffippi is Poiute Coupee, a populous and n'ch fettlement, extending 8 leagues along the river. Its produce is cotton. Behind it, on an old bed of the liver, now a lake, whofe outlets are clofed up, is the fettlement of Fauffe Riviere, which is well cultivated.

In the lpace now defcribed from the fea as high as and including the laft mentioned fettlement, is contained three-fourths of the population, and feven-eights of the riches of Louifiana. From the fettlement of Pointe Coupee on the Miffiffippi to Cape Girardeau above the mouth of the Ohio, there is no land on the weft fide, that is not overllowed in the fpring to the diftance of 8 or 10 leagues from the river with from to 12 feet of water, except a fmall fpot near New-Madrid fo that in the whole extent there is no poffi-bility of forming a confiderable fettlement contiguous to the river on that fide. The eaftern bank has in this refpeel a decided ad quantity is very confideiable. Lead is to be had with eafe, and in fuch quantities as to fupply all Europe, if the population were fufficicnt to work the numerous mines to be found within two three feet from the fur-face in various parts of the country. The fctikmtnts abut the Illinois were firft made by the Canadian-, and their inhabitants ft ill rcfcmble them in their averfion to labour, 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 diftance from the capital, the number of blacks dimi- iiilh below thai of the the former Vh iilantatlons in its vicinity. General Dcfripiion of Upper Lcuiiana. When compared with the Indiana terrU tory, the face of the country in Upper Louiliana is more broken, though the foil is equally fertile. It is a faft not to be con-ttfted, that the weft fide of the river poffcf-. fes fome advantages not generally incident to thofe regions.

It is elevated and healthy and well watered with a varitty of large llreams, calculated for mills and other water works. From Cape Girardeau, above the mouth of the Ohio, to the MifTouri, the laud on the eaft fide of the Miffiffippi is low and flat, and occafionalry expofed to inundations that on the Louifiana fide, contiguous to the river, is generally much higher, find in many places very rocky on the fhore. Some of the heights exhibit a fcene truly pidurefque. They rife to ajicight of at Jeaft 300 feet, faced with per pea dicular lime and free carved into various fhape and figures by the hand of nature, aid afford the appearance of a multitude of an-t ique towers. From the tops of thefe eleva-tions, the land gradually Hopes back from the river, without gravel or tock, end is covered with valuable timber.

It may be faid with truth that, for fertility of foil, no part of the world exceeds the borders of the Miffiffippi the land yields an abundance of all the necelTaries of life, and almofl fpontane-oufly; very little labour being required in the cultivation of the earth. That part ef Upper Louifiana, which borders on North Mexico, is one immenfe parin'e it produces nothing but grafs it is filled with bufTa-loe, deer, and other kind of game the land is reprefented as too rich for the growth of foieft trees. It is pretended that Upper Louifiana contains in its bowels many filver and copper mines, and various fpecimens of both are exhibited. Several trials have been made to afcertain the fad but the want of fit ill in the artifb has hitherto left the fubjed undecided. The falt-works are alfo pretty numerous fome belong to individuals others to the public.

They already yield an abundot, vnted about twenty leagues fiom the fea, ihK plantations are vet thin, and owned by the poordi. people. Alcending you fee them impiovc on each fide, till you reach the' cityt whkh is ii'uated on the tall bank, on a bend cf the river, 35 leagues from the fca. -CLapUcuhs, Firft aud Secnr.d German Coajls, Cdtuhancfe Fuurche and llerxule. V.

The be ft and moil improved are above the city, and comprehend, what is. there known by the ParoifTe de Chapitoulas, Premier and fecond Cote des Allcmands, and extends-16 leagues. Above this begins the parifh of Cataha-nofe, or firft Acadian fettlement, extending eight leagues on the river. Adjoining it and Hill afcending is the fecond Acadian fettlement or parifh of the Fouche, which extends about fix leagues. The parifli of Iberville then commences, and is bounded on the eatl fide by the liver of the fame name, which, though dry a great part of the year, yet, when the Miffiffippi is raifed, it communicates with the lake3 Maurepns Panchar-train, and through them with the fta, and tiius forms what is called the ifhnd of New Orleans.

Except on the point jiifl below the Iberville the country from New-Orleans 13 fettled the wlrole way aloim the river, and prefents a fcene of uninterrupted plantations in the fight of each other, whole fronts to the- Miillffippi are all cleared, and occupy on ihat uir from 5 to i acres with a depth of 40 fo that a plantation of 5 acres in front contains 300. A few fu-g-ar plantations are formed in the parilh of Catahanofe, but the remainder is devoted to cotton and provifions, Bnd the whole is on excellent foil incapable of being exhaulled. The plantations are but one deep on the ifland of New Orleans, and on the oppofite fide of the river as far as the mouth of the Iberville, which is 35 leagues above New-Orleans. Bayou Be La Fourcbe Alacnpas, and Ojd- tufas. About 1 5 leagues from the lafl mr place on the weft fide of the Mifliirippi, the" creek or Bayou of the Fourche, calii-d in old maps La Rivier des Chiumachrs, flows from the MifTuTippi, and communicates with the fa to the weft the Belite.

The entrance to the Miffiffippi is navigable tin fe notes tn remark, that Louiilana, in-xluding the'. Mobile fettltments, was difco- -vertd anl peopled by the Finth, whofe monarchs made feveral grants of its trade, in particular to Mr. Crofar in 7 1 2, and fome ycais afterwards, with his acquicf-cence, to the well known company projected by Mr. Law. company was leliis-quifhed in the year 1 73 1.

By a cret convention "on the '3d November, the French government ceded fo much of the province as lies beyond the Miflifiippi, S3 well as the iflund of New-Orleans, to Spain, and, by the tieatyof peace which followed in 1 763, the 'whole territory of France and Spain call ward of the middle of the Miffiffippi to Iberville, thence through the middle of that river, and the lakes Mauvepas and Ponchartruiii to the fea, was ceded to Great Britain. Spain having conquered the Flo-ridas from Great Britain during our rcvo-Iutionaiy war," they were confirmed to her by the treaty of peace of 17S3. By the treaty of St. Idelfonfo, of the tllofOcl. 1 800, his Catholic Majefty promifes and en-gages on his part to cede back to the French Republic, flit months after the full and entire execntion of the conditions and ftipula-tions therein, contained, relative to the duke of Parma, the colony or province of Louiliana, with the fume extent that it ailu'dh'y has in the hands of Spain, that it had wheu France pofltlTed it, and fuch as it ought- to be after the treaties fubfequently entered into betweeft Spain and other ftatfs." This treaty was confirmed and enforced by that cf Madrid, of the 2ift March, i8o.

From France it palled to us by the treaty of the 30th of April lad, with a reference to the above daufe as defcriplive ol the limits ceded. Divlflons of t'a Prcvlnce. The province as held by Spain, including apart of Welt Florida, is laid off into the following principal divifions Mobile, from Balife to the city, New-Orleans and the country on both fides lake Ponchartrain, firfl and fecond German coalls, Cataha-uofe, Fourche, Venezuela, Iberville, Gal-er-Town, Baton Rouge, Pointe Couper, Opeloufas, Ouachita, AvoyclLs, vantage over the wellcrn, as there are on it many fituations which efieclually command the river. Red River and its Settlements. On the weft fide of the Miffiffippi, 70 leagues from New-Orleans, is the mouth of Red river, on whofe banks and vicinity are the fettlements of Rapide, Avoyelles and Natchitoches, all of them thriving and populous.

The latter is fituate 75 leagues up the Red river. On the north fide of the Red river a few leagues from its jundlion with the Miffiffippi, is the Black river, on one of whofe branches, a cofiderable way up, is the infant fettlement of Ouachita, which.