The lands upon the banks of this stream are remarkably fertile,
entirely alluvial, and decline from the bank to the swamp, generally
some one or two miles distant. This Acadian population was sent here
during the Spanish domination, and with a view to opening up to
cultivation this important tract of country. It was supposed they would
become--under the favorable auspices of their emigration to the
country, and with such facilities for accumulating money--a wealthy and
intelligent population. This calculation was sadly disappointed. The
mildness of the climate and the fruitfulness of the soil combined to
enervate, instead of stimulating them to active industry, without which
there can be no prosperity for any country. A few acres, though half
cultivated, were found sufficient to yield an ample support, and the
mildness of the climate required but little provision for clothing.
Here, in this Eden upon earth, these people continued to live in a
simplicity of primitive ignorance and indolence scarcely to be believed
by any but an actual observer. Their implements of agriculture were
those of two centuries before.
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