Victor Hugo - "Actes et Paroles, Vol. 4"

Voltaire [Pseudonym of Francois Marie Arouet] - "Vie de Moliere [Pseudonym of Jean Baptiste Poquelin]"

Various - "Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 7, May 14, 1870"

Joseph Cottle - "Reminiscences of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey"

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History of Louisisana by Le Page Du Pratz

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All to the north of the Missouri is entirely unknown, unless we give
credit to the relations of different travellers; but to which of them
shall we give the preference? In the first place, they almost all
contradict each other: and then, men of the most experience treat them
as impostors; and therefore I choose to pay no regard to any of them.

Let us therefore now repass the Missisippi, in order to resume the
description of the lands to the east, and which we quitted at the
river Wabache. This river is distant from the sea four hundred and
sixty (three hundred) leagues; it is reckoned to have four hundred
leagues in length, from its source to its confluence into the
Missisippi. It is called Wabache, though, according to the usual
method, it ought to be called the Ohio, or Beautiful River; seeing the
Ohio is known under that name in Canada, before its confluence was
known: and as the Ohio takes its rise at a greater distance off than
the three others, which mix together, before they empty themselves
into the Missisippi, this should make the others lose their names; but
custom has prevailed on the occasion. [Footnote: But not among the
English; we call it the Ohio.] The first river known to us, which
falls into the Ohio, is that of the Miamis, which takes its rise
towards lake Erie.

It is by this river of the Miamis that the Canadians come to
Louisiana. For this purpose they embark on the river St. Laurence, go
up this river, pass the cataracts quite to the bottom of Lake Erie,
where they find a small river, on which they also go up to a place
called the Carriage of the Miamis; because that people come and take
their effects, and carry them on their backs for two leagues from
thence to the banks of the river of their name, which I just said
empties itself into {162} the Ohio. From thence the Canadians go down
that river, enter the Wabache, and at last the Missisippi, which
brings them to New Orleans, the capital of Louisiana. They reckon
eighteen hundred leagues [Footnote: It is but nine hundred leagues.]
from the capital of Canada to that of Louisiana, on account of the
great turns and windings they are obliged to take.

The river of the Miamis is thus the first to the north, which falls
into the Ohio; then that of the Chaouanons to the south; and lastly,
that of the Cherakees; all which together empty themselves into the
Missisippi. This is what we call the Wabache, and what in Canada and
New England they call the Ohio. This river is beautiful, greatly
abounding in fish, and navigable almost up to its source.

To the north of this river lies Canada, which inclines more to the
east than the source of the Ohio, and extends to the country of the
Illinois. It is of little importance to dispute here about the limits
of these two neighbouring colonies, as they both appertain to France.
The lands of the Illinois are reputed to be a part of Louisiana; we
have there a post near a village of that nation, called Tamaroueas.

The country of the Illinois is extremely good, and abounds with
buffalo and other game. On the north of the Wabache we begin to see
the Orignaux; a species of animals which are said to partake of the
buffalo and the stag; they have, indeed, been described to me to be
much more clumsy than the stag. Their horns have something of the
stag, but are shorter and more massy; the meat of them, as they say,
is pretty good. Swans and other water-fowl are common in these
countries.

The French Post of the Illinois is, of all the colony, that in which
with the greatest ease they grow wheat, rye, and other like grain, for
the sowing of which you need only to turn the earth in the slightest
manner; that slight culture is sufficient to make the earth produce as
much as we can reasonably desire. I have been assured, that in the
last war, when the flour from France was scarce, the Illinois sent
down to New Orleans upwards of eight hundred thousand weight thereof
in {163} one winter. Tobacco also thrives there, but comes to maturity
with difficulty. All the plants transported thither from France
succeed well, as do also the fruits.

In those countries there is a river, which takes its name from the
Illinois. It was by this river that the first travellers came from
Canada into the Missisippi. Such as come from Canada, and have
business only on the Illinois, pass that way yet: but such as want to
go directly to the sea, go down the river of the Miamis into the
Wabache, or Ohio, and from thence into the Missisippi.

In this country there are mines, and one in particular, called De la
Mothe's mine, which is silver, the assay of which has been made; as
also of two lead-mines, so rich at first as to vegetate, or shoot a
foot and a half at least out of the earth.

The whole continent north of the river of the Illinois is not much
frequented, consequently little known. The great extent of Louisiana
makes us presume, that these parts will not soon come to our
knowledge, unless some curious person should go thither to open mines,
where they are said to be in great numbers, and very rich.




CHAPTER VIII.

_Of the Agriculture, or Manner of cultivating, ordering, and
manufacturing the Commodities that are proper Articles of Commerce. Of
the Culture of_ Maiz, Rice, _and other Fruits of the Country. Of the_
Silk-worm.


In order to give an account of the several sorts of plants cultivated
in Louisiana, I begin with Maiz, as being the most useful grain,
seeing it is the principal food of the people of America, and that the
French found it cultivated by the Indians.

Maiz, which in France we call Turkey corn, (and we Indian-corn) is a
grain of the size of a pea; there is of it as large as our sugar-pea:
it grows on a sort of husks, (Quenouille) in ascending rows: some of
these husks have to the {164} number of seven hundred grains upon
them, and I have counted even to a greater number. This husk may be
about two inches thick, by seven or eight inches and upwards in
length: it is wrapped up in several covers or thin leaves, which
screen it from the avidity of birds. Its foot or stalk is often of the
same size: it has leaves about two inches and upwards broad, by two
feet and a half long, which are chanelled, or formed like gutters, by
which they collect the dew which dissolves at sun-rising, and trickles
down to the stalk, sometimes in such plenty, as to wet the earth
around them for the breadth of six or seven inches. Its flower is on
the top of the stalk, which is sometimes eight feet high. We
ordinarily find five or six ears on each stalk, and in order to
procure a greater crop, the part of the stalk above the ears ought to
be cut away.

For sowing the Maiz in a field already cleared and prepared, holes are
made four feet asunder every way, observing to make the rows as
straight as may be, in order to weed them the easier: into every hole
five or six grains are put, which are previously to be steeped for
twenty-four hours at least, to make them rise or shoot the quicker,
and to prevent the fox and birds from eating such quantities of them:
by day there are people to guard them against birds; by night fires
are made at proper distances to frighten away the fox, who would
otherwise turn up the ground, and eat the corn of all the rows, one
after another, without omitting one, till he has his fill, and is
therefore the most pernicious animal to this corn. The corn, as soon
as shot out of the earth, is weeded: when it mounts up, and its stalks
are an inch big, it is hilled, to secure it against the wind. This
grain produces enough for two negroes to make fifty barrels, each
weighing an hundred and fifty pounds.

Such as begin a plantation in woods, thick set with cane, have an
advantage in the Maiz, that makes amends for the labour of clearing
the ground; a labour always more fatiguing than cultivating a spot
already cleared. The advantage is this: they begin with cutting down
the canes for a great extent of ground; the trees they peel two feet
high quite round: this operation is performed in the beginning of
March, as then the sap is in motion in that country: about fifteen
days after, the canes, {165} being dry, are set on fire: the sap of
the trees are thereby made to descend, and the branches are burnt,
which kills the trees.

On the following day they sow the corn in the manner I have just
shewn: the roots of the cane, which are not quite dead, shoot fresh
canes, which are very tender and brittle; and as no other weeds grow
in the field that year, it is easy to be weeded of these canes, and as
much corn again may be made, as in a field already cultivated.

This grain they eat in many different ways; the most common way is to
make it into Sagamity, which is a kind of gruel made with water, or
strong broth. They bake bread of it like cakes (by baking it over the
fire on an iron plate, or on a board before the fire,) which is much
better than what they bake in the oven, at least for present use; but
you must make it every day; and even then it is too heavy to soak in
soup of any kind. They likewise make Parched Meal [Footnote: See Book
III, Chap. I.] of it, which is a dish of the natives, as well as the
Cooedlou, or bread mixt with beans. The ears of corn roasted are
likewise a peculiar dish of theirs; and the small corn dressed in that
manner is as agreeable to us as to them. A light and black earth
agrees much better with the Maiz than a strong and rich one.

The Parched Meal is the best preparation of this corn; the French like
it extremely well, no less than the Indians themselves: I can affirm
that it is a very good food, and at the same time the best sort of
provision that can be carried on a journey, because it is refreshing
and extremely nourishing.

As for the small Indian corn, you may see an account of it in the
first chapter of the third Book; where you will likewise find an
account of the way of sowing wheat, which if you do not observe, you
may as well sow none.

Rice is sown in a soil well laboured, either by the plough or hoe, and
in winter, that it may be sowed before the time of the inundation. It
is sown in furrows of the breadth of a hoe: when shot, and three or
four inches high, they let water into the furrows, but in a small
quantity, in proportion as it grows, and then give water in greater
plenty.

{166} The ear of this grain nearly resembles that of oats; its grains
are fastened to a beard, and its chaff is very rough, and full of
those fine and hard beards: the bran adheres not to the grain, as that
of the corn of France; it consists of two lobes, which easily separate
and loosen, and are therefore readily cleaned and broke off.

They eat their rice as they do in France, but boiled much thicker, and
with much less cookery, although it is not inferior in goodness to
ours: they only wash it in warm water, taken out of the same pot you
are to boil it in, then throw it in all at once, and boil it till it
bursts, and so it is dressed without any further trouble. They make
bread of it that is very white and of a good relish; but they have
tried in vain to make any that will soak in soup.

The culture of the Water-melon is simple enough. They choose for the
purpose a light soil, as that of a rising ground, well exposed: they
make holes in the earth, from two and a half to three feet in
diameter, and distant from each other fifteen feet every way, in each
of which holes they put five or six seeds. When the seeds are come up,
and the young plants have struck out five or six leaves, the four most
thriving plants are pitched upon, and the others plucked up to prevent
their starving each other, when too numerous. It is only at that time
that they have the trouble of watering them, nature alone performing
the rest, and bringing them to maturity; which is known by the green
rind beginning to change colour. There is no occasion to cut or prune
them. The other species of melons are cultivated in the same manner,
only that between the holes the distance is but five or six feet.

All sorts of garden plants and greens thrive extremely well in
Louisiana, and grow in much greater abundance than in France: the
climate is warmer, and the soil much better. However, it is to be
observed, that onions and other bulbous plants answer not in the low
lands, without a great deal of pains and labour; whereas in the high
grounds they grow very large and of a fine flavour.

The inhabitants of Louisiana may very easily make Silk, having
mulberries ready at hand, which grow naturally in the {167} high
lands, and plantations of them may be easily made. The leaves of the
natural mulberries of Louisiana are what the silk-worms are very fond
of; I mean the more common mulberries with a large leaf, but tender,
and the fruit of the colour of Burgundy wine. The province produces
also the White Mulberry, which has the same quality with the red.

I shall next relate some experiments that have been made on this
subject, by people who were acquainted with it. Madam Hubert, a native
of Provence, where they make a great deal of silk, which she
understood the management of, was desirous of trying whether they
could raise silk-worms with the mulberry leaves of this province, and
what sort of silk they would afford. The first of her experiments was,
to give some large silk-worms a parcel of the leaves of the Red
Mulberry, and another parcel of the White Mulberry both upon the same
frame. She observed the worms went over the leaves of both sorts,
without shewing any greater liking to the one than to the other: then
she put to the other two sorts of leaves some of the leaves of the
White-sweet or Sugar-Mulberry, and she found that the worms left the
other sorts to go to these, and that they preferred them to the leaves
of the common Red and White Mulberry. [Footnote: See an account of
these different sorts of Mulberry, in the notes at the end of this
Volume.]

The second experiment of Madam Hubert was, to raise and feed some
silk-worms separately. To some she gave the leaves of the common White
Mulberry, and to others the leaves of the White Sugar-Mulberry; in
order to see the difference of the silk from the difference of their
food. Moreover, she raised and fed some of the native silk-worms of
the country, which were taken very young from the mulberry-trees; but
she observed that these last were very flighty, and did nothing but
run up and down, their nature being, without doubt, to live upon
trees: she then changed their place, that they might not mix with the
other worms that came from France, and gave them little branches with
the leaves on them, which made them a little more settled.

{168} This industrious lady waited till the cocoons were perfectly
made, in order to observe the difference between them in unwinding the
silk; the success of which, and of all her other experiments, she was
so good as to give me a particular account of. When the cocoons were
ready to be wound, she took care of them herself, and found that the
wild worms yielded less silk than those from France; for although they
were of a larger size, they were not so well furnished with silk,
which proceeded, no doubt, from their not being sufficiently
nourished, by their running incessantly up and down; and accordingly
she observed that they were but meagre; but notwithstanding, their
silk was strong and thick, though coarse.

Those who were fed with the leaves of the Red Mulberry made cocoons
well furnished with silk; which was stronger and finer than that of
France. Those that were fed upon the leaves of the common White
Mulberry, had the same silk with those that were fed on the leaves of
the Red Mulberry. The fourth sort, again, that had been fed with the
leaves of the White Sugar-Mulberry, had but little silk; it was indeed
as fine as the preceding, but it was so weak and so brittle, that it
was with great difficulty they could wind it.

These are the experiments of this lady on silk-worms, which every one
may make his own uses of, in order to have the sorts of silk,
mulberries, or worms, that are most suitable to his purpose, and most
likely to turn to his account: which we are very glad of this
opportunity to inform them of, that they may see how much society owes
to those persons who take care to study nature, in order to promote
industry and public utility.




CHAPTER IX.

_Of_ Indigo, Tobacco, Cotton, Wax, Hops, _and_ Saffron.


The high lands of Louisiana produce a natural Indigo: what I saw in
two or three places where I have observed it, grew at the edges of the
thick woods, which shews it delights in a good, but light soil. One of
these stalks was but ten or twelve inches high, its wood at least
three lines in diameter, and of as {169} fine a green as its leaf; it
was as tender as the rib of a cabbage leaf; when its head was blown a
little, the two other stalks shot in a few days, the one seventeen,
the other nineteen inches high; the stem was six lines thick below,
and of a very lively green, and still very tender, the lower part only
began to turn brown a little; the tops of both were equally ill
furnished with leaves, and without branches; which makes it to be
presumed, that being so thriving and of so fine a growth, it would
have shot very high, and surpass in vigour and heighth the cultivated
Indigo. The stalk of the Indigo, cultivated by the French at the
Natchez, turned brown before it shot eleven or twelve inches; when in
seed it was five feet high and upwards, and surpassed in vigour what
was cultivated in the Lower Louisiana, that is, in the quarter about
New Orleans: but the natural, which I had an opportunity of seeing
only young and tender, promised to become much taller and stouter than
ours, and to yield more.

[Illustration: Indigo.]

The Indigo cultivated in Louisiana comes from the islands; its grain is
of the bigness of one line, and about a quarter longer, brown and hard,
flatted at the extremities, because it is compressed in its pod. This
grain is sown in a soil prepared like a garden, and the field where it
is cultivated is called the Indigo-garden. In order to sow it, holes are
made on a straight line with a small hoe, a foot asunder; in each hole
four or five {170} seeds are put, which are covered with earth; great
care is had not to suffer any strange plants to grow near it, which
would choak it; and it is sown a foot asunder, to the end it may draw
the fuller nourishment, and be weeded without grazing or ruffling the
leaf, which is that which gives the Indigo. When its leaf is quite come
to its shape, it resembles exactly that of the Acacia, so well known in
France, only that it is smaller.

It is cut with large pruning-knives, or a sort of sickles, with about
six or seven inches aperture, which should be pretty strong. It ought
to be cut before its wood hardens; and to be green as its leaf, which
ought, however, to have a bluish eye or cast. When cut it is conveyed
into the rotting-tub, as we shall presently explain. According as the
soil is better or worse, it shoots higher or lower; the tuft of the
first cutting, which grows round, does not exceed eight inches in
heighth and breadth: the second cutting rises sometimes to a foot. In
cutting the Indigo you are to set your foot upon the root, in order to
prevent the pulling it out of the earth; and to be upon your guard not
to cut yourself, as the tool is dangerous.

In order to make an Indigo-work, a shed is first of all to be built:
this building is at least twenty feet high, without walls or flooring,
but only covered. The whole is built upon posts, which may be closed
with mats, if you please: this building has twenty feet in breadth,
and at least thirty in length. In this shed three vats or large tubs
are set in such a manner, that the water may be easily drained off
from the first, which is the lowermost and smallest. The second rests
with the edge of its bottom on the upper edge of the first, so that
the water may easily run from it into the one below. This second vat
is not broader but deeper than the first, and is called the Battery;
for this reason it has its beaters, which are little buckets formed of
four ends of boards, about eight inches long, which together have the
figure of the hopper of a mill; a stick runs across them, which is put
into a wooden fork, in order to beat the Indigo: there are two of them
on each side, which in all make four.

The third vat is placed in the same manner over the second, and is as
big again, that it may hold the leaves; it is called the {171}
Rotting-tub, because the leaves which are put into it are deadened,
not corrupted or spoiled therein. The Indigo-operator, who conducts
the whole work, knows when it is time to let the water into the second
vat; then he lets go the cock; for if the leaves were left too long,
the Indigo would be too black; it must have no more time than what is
sufficient to discharge a kind of flower or froth that is found upon
the leaf.

The water, when it is all in the second vat, is beat till the
Indigo-operator gives orders to cease; which he does not before he has
several times taken up some of this water with a silver cup, by way of
assay, in order to know the exact time in which they ought to give
over beating the water: and this is a secret which practice alone can
teach with certainty.

When the Indigo-operator finds that the water is sufficiently beaten,
he lets it settle till he can draw off the water clear; which is done
by means of several cocks one above another, for fear of losing the
Indigo. For this purpose, if the water is clear, the highest cock is
opened, the second in like manner, till the water is observed to be
tinged; then they shut the cock: the same is done in all the cocks
till all the Indigo be in a pap at the bottom of the second vat. The
first, or small vat, serves only to purify the water which is found to
be tinged, and let run while clear.

When the Indigo is well settled, they put it in cloth bags a foot and
six inches wide, with a small circle at top, which helps to receive
the Indigo with ease; it is suffered to drain till it gives no more
water: however, it must be moist enough to spread it in the mould with
a wooden knife or spatula.

In order to have the seed, they suffer it to run up as many feet as
they foresee shall be necessary for seed; it shoots four or five feet
high, according to the quality of the soil. There are four cuttings of
it in the islands, where the climate is warmer; three good cuttings
are made in Louisiana, and of as good a quality at least as in the
islands.

Tobacco, which was found among the Indians of Louisiana, seems also to
be a native of the country, seeing their ancient tradition informs us,
that from time immemorial they {172} have, in their treaties of peace
and in their embassies, used the pipe, the principal use of which is
that the deputies shall all smoke therein. This native Tobacco is very
large; its stalk, when suffered to run to seed, shoots to five feet
and a half and six feet; the lower part of its stem is at least
eighteen lines in diameter, and its leaves often near two feet long,
which are thick and succulent, its juice is strong, but never
disorders the head. The Tobacco of Virginia has a broader but shorter
leaf; its stalk is smaller, and runs not up so high; its smell is not
disagreeable, but not so strong; it takes more plants to make a pound,
because its leaf is thinner, and not so full of sap as the native.
What is cultivated in the Lower Louisiana is smaller, and not so
strong; but that made in the islands is thinner than that of
Louisiana, but much stronger, and disorders the head.

In order to sow Tobacco, you make a bed on the best piece of ground
you are master of, and give it six inches in heighth; this earth you
beat and make level with the back of a spade; you afterwards sow the
seed, which is extremely fine, nearly resembling poppy seed. It must
be sown thin, and notwithstanding that attention, it often happens to
be too thick. When the seed is sown, the earth is no longer stirred,
but the seed is covered with ashes the thickness of a farthing, to
prevent the worms from eating the tobacco when it is just shooting out
of the earth.

As soon as the tobacco has four leaves, it is transplanted into a soil
prepared for it, put into holes a foot broad made in a line, and
distant three feet every way; a distance not too great, in order to
weed it with ease, without breaking the leaves.

The best time for transplanting it is after rain, otherwise you must
water it: in like manner, when the seed is in the earth, if it rains
not, you must gently sprinkle it towards evening, because it is
somewhat slow in rising, and when it is sprouted it requires a little
water. You must lightly cover the plant in the day time with some
leaves plucked the night before; a precaution on no account to be
dispensed with, till the young plant has fully struck root. You must
also daily visit the {173} tobacco, to clear it of caterpillars, which
fasten upon it, and would entirely eat it up, if they are not
destroyed. The tobacco-caterpillar is of the shape of a silk-worm, has
a prickle on its back towards its extremity; its colour is of the most
beautiful sea-green, striped with silver-streaks; in a word, it is as
beautiful to the eye as it is fatal to the plant it is fond of.

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Turkey is restoring the citizenship of its most famous 20th century poet Nazim Hikmet over 50 years after it branded him a traitor.

Hikmet, a communist who died in exile in Moscow in 1963, was imprisoned in Turkey for more than a decade. He was stripped of his Turkish nationality in 1951 because of his communist views, but despite a ban on his poetry which remained in place until 1965, has remained one of Turkey's best-loved poets. His work, much of which was written in prison, including his masterpiece Human Landscapes, has been translated into more than 50 languages.

"This is very good news," said Richard McKane, Hikmet's English translator. "The restoration of his Turkish citizenship is long overdue: the people of Turkey and his readers are owed that."

Immortalised by Pablo Neruda, with whom he shared the Soviet Union's International Peace Prize in 1950, with the lines "Thanks for what you were and for the fire / which your song left forever burning", Hikmet was also supported by Jean-Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso. Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, when given the editorship for a day of Turkish newspaper Radikal two years ago, used the example of Hikmet in his cover story to criticise the lack of freedom of expression in Turkey. In 2000, 500,000 Turks petitioned the government to restore Hikmet's citizenship rights and repatriate his remains.

Deputy prime minister Cemil Cicek told the Associated Press that it was time for the government to change its mind about Hikmet. "The crimes which forced the government to strip him of his citizenship at that time are no longer considered a crime," the BBC quoted him as saying.

Hikmet, whose remains are currently in Russia, had said that he wished to be buried in Turkey in his 1953 poem Testament, translated by Ruth Christie. "Friends if it's not my lot to see the day / of independence... / if I die before that day / - and it seems I will - / bury me in a village graveyard in Anatolia / and if it's fitting / and a plane tree grows at my head, / then there's no need for a gravestone or anything else."

Cicek said that Hikmet's family would now decide whether to ship his remains back to his homeland.

Hikmet introduced free verse to Turkey in the 1930s, with his themes ranging from war to love. Despite his imprisonment he retained a deep passion for Turkey. "I love my country", he wrote in one of his poems. "I swung in its lofty trees, I lay in its prisons. Nothing relieves my depression like the songs and tobacco of my country."

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