This scene
extends one hundred and fifty miles up the river, and is one not
equalled in the world. The plain is continuous and unbroken; nor hill
nor stream intersects it but at two points, where the Plaquemine and La
Fourche leave it to find a nearer way to the sea; and these are so
diminutive, in comparison with all around, that they are passed almost
always without being seen.
The fringe of green foliage which is presented by the trees and shrubs
adorning each homestead, follows in such rapid succession as to give it
a continuous line, in appearance, to the passers-by on the steamer.
These, denuded of timber to the last tree, the immense fields, only
separated by a ditch, or fence, which spread along the river--all
greened with the luxuriant sugar-cane, and other crops, growing so
vigorously as at once to satisfy the mind that the richness of the soil
is supreme--and this scene extending for one hundred and fifty miles,
makes it unapproachable by any other cultivated region on the face of
the globe. Along the Ganges and the Nile, the plain is extensive. The
desolate appearance it presents--the miserable homes of the population,
devoid of every ornament, without comfort or plenty in their
appearance--the stinted and sparse crops, the intervening deserts of
sand, the waste of desolation, spreading away far as the eye can
reach--the streams contemptible in comparison, and the squalid,
degraded, thriftless people along their banks, make it painful to the
beholder, who is borne on his way in some dirty little craft,
contrasting so strangely with the Mississippi steamer.
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