Mfm •mm ■ ■■■'Mm ^, KOMANCE AND REALISM OF ITHE SOUTHERN GULF COAST Sip ;.Va BY MINNIEWALTERMYERS. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ChapL2_lb Copyright M._ Shelf_.Mli.. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 0/ c X c c ROMANCE AND REALISM OF THE SOUTHERN GULF COAST BY MINNIE WALTER MYERS )K cincinnati , The Robert Clarke Company 1898 ■ ,,MC-to7 ^"""is^J!^' ^^P 181898^ ^'fer of Covf!5. ' TWO COPIED HtGtlVED. B176 Copyright, 1S9S, By Minxih: Waltkr Mykks. To My Father, HARVEY W. WALTER, AND MY BROTHERS, P^RANK, AVENT, AND JAMES WALTER. With an exalted heroism that forgot all consideration of self, they faced the terrors of an epidemic, and sacrificed them- selves that others might live. ^''Greater love hath fio man thati this, that a man lay do'vn his life for his friejidsT PREFACE. Acknowledgments are due for assistance re- ceived from Claiborne's '' History of Missis- sippi ; " Gayarre's "Romances of Louisi- ana History;" Alcee Fortier's ''Louisiana Studies ; " '' The Sketch-book of New Or- leans ; " ''In Acadia," by Margaret Avery Johnston ; " Letters on the Gulf Coast," by R. A. Wilkinson ; " New Orleans, the Place and the People," by Grace King; "Legends and Lyrics of the Gulf Coast," by Laura F. Hins- dale, and " Ethnological Reports." The history of a country is incomplete with- out the preservation of its romances. Col- lecting, condensing and arranging the material for this little volume has been tedious but fascinating work. The author has endeavored to make each scene characteristic and pro- gressive from the founding of Louisiana to the present time. The Author. Memphis, April, 1898. Vll CONTENTS. Chapter I. Indians of the Sea Coast, . . 7 II. Early Romance History, . . 17 III. Creoles, Acadians and Plantation Scenes, ...... 37 IV. New Orleans, its Romances and Picturesque Charms, . . 64 V. Beauvoir and the Mysterious Music OF the Sea, . . . . -95 VI. Past and Present, . . . 117 ix ILLUSTRATIONS. View from Mexican Gulf Hotel, Pass Chris- tian, ...... Frontispiece PAGE Martha Washington Oak, ..... 5 Squaw and Papoose, . . . . . 19 Old French Quarter, ...... 34 Avenue of Oaks, ...... 54 Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral, . . 73 Drive on the Beach, ..... 91 Beauvoir, ........ 96 Church of the Redeemer, . . . .114 The Ring in the Oak, . . . . . 127 xi ROMANCE AND REALISM OF THE SOUTHERN GULF COAST. CHAPTER L The great Sun Chiefs of the Natchez tribe greeted the first morning beams of their celes- tial brother with a prolonged howl, then wav- ing their hands from east to west, they showed him his daily path. They did not know, however, nor could their great medicine men foretell them, that the sun of Indian happiness and prosperity would also cross the great Father of Waters, and would set in western darkness never to rise again. The Choctaw Indian, the stoic of the woods, boasted in the face of Tecumseh's embittered eloquence in i8ti, that Choctaw hands had never been stained in the blood of the white man. To him they had thrown open their wigwams, and offered, with proverbial Indian hospitality, to divide their maize. The pale- face accepted the half, and then seized the fields upon which it grew. In the beginning, Romance and Realism such was the European gentleman and the un- tutored savage. Even as Romulus and Remus were nurtured by a wolf, so were the infant ancestors of the Choctaws nurtured by a panther. When they were large enough to go into the woods the great book-maker gave them their bows and arrows and an earthen pot, and said to them, *' I give you these hunting grounds for your homes. When you leave them you die." He then disappeared in the woods. But now, where are they? The answer comes back to us in the lament of the Choctaw chief ; its beauty can never be marred, though it has been so often repeated. '' Brother, when you were young we were strong. We fought by your side, but our arms are now broken. You have grown large ; my people have become small. My voice is weak. It is not the voice of a warrior, but the wail of an infant ; I have lost it in mourning over the misfortunes of my people. These are their graves, and in these aged pines you hear the ghosts of the departed. Twelve winters ago our chief sold our country. If the dead had been counted it would never have been made ; but, alas ! though they stood around they could not be seen and heard. Their tears come in of the Southern Gulf Coast. the rain-drops, and their voice in the wailing- wind. When you took our country you prom- ised us land. Twelve times have the trees dropped their leaves, and yet we have received no land. Is this truth? Grief has made chil- dren of us ; my people are small ; their shadow scarcely reaches to your knee ; they are scat- tered and gone." No scholarly address could have furnished more profound eloquence. No rules of rhetoric were needed to improve the imagery of the red man. As the child of nature he drew his pict- ures directly from her heart. The white man talks learnedly of an eclipse of the sun. and explains the scientific reasons for it. The Indians knew, however, that these dark disks upon its surface meant that black squirrels were attacking it to devour it. With wild alarm the whole tribe beat their drums and kettles, screamed, shot their arrows at the sun, and made every possible noise to frighten the squirrels. Surely they must have been squirrels, for after a short or prolonged warfare they disappeared, and the sun shone again with all his brilliance. These same noises frightened away the evil spirits of the dead. The tallest tree fell beneath the touch of the Romance and Realism white man, but the Indian could tell of his an- cient mammoth kindred, who devoured every thing, and, breaking down the forests, made the Mississippi prairies. A terrible earthquake had killed all but one. Affrighted, he had fled at one mighty leap across the Mississippi at Memphis and sought refuge in the Rocky Mountains. At a time of great drought the elk and buf- falo also fled across the Mississippi river, but the Biloxi Indian could tell you that the buf- falo would forever carry with him the evidence of his defeat by their great Ancient of Frogs. This Ancient of Frogs was endowed by his grandmother with wonderful strength. The first antagonist he met was a panther, but the frog threw him against a tree and broke his jaw ; then he encountered a bear, but throwing him against a tree he broke off his tail, which has ac- counted ever since for the short tail of the bear on the southern shore. When he met the buf- falo he threw him against a tree and broke the bufl^alo's back, and to this day the latter bears a hump in evidence of his defeat. The last conflict was with a deer, whose leg was broken, but the Ancient of Frogs formed a great friend- ship for the deer. Now when we hear the shrill *'pes! pes!" of the frogs, mingled with the 4 of the Southern Gulf Coast. < Cfc, J %5 r Romance and Realism sounds of the splashing waves and sighing pines, we know that he is giving warning of danger to the deer and telling him that the hunters are near. The Biloxi Indians never allowed a child to step over a grindstone, knowing that it would stop his growth. How clearly interwoven are the superstitions of different nations ! The writer well remembers as a child that her dear old black mammy would say to her : " Chile, don' yer neber lay down on de flo, an let nobody step ober yer, kase ef yer do yer won't neber gro' no mo." The history of Natchez and Biloxi is so ^ closely connected that it is almost a link with- in a link. The Natchez tribe did not dwell so directly upon the coast as the Biloxis, Pasca- goulas, Choctaws and others, but they felt that it belonged equally to them. It was their frequent camping ground. There grew the giant oaks a thousand years old, whose roots striking deep into the earth found what Ponce de Leon sought in vain — the fountain of youth. Each spring they budded forth in their vernal freshness of beauty ; the southern nightingale, the mocking bird, sang amongst their branches, and the long gray moss hung from each limb and stirred gently with every breeze. The 6 of the Southern Gulf Coast. Indian loved the fragrant orange and magnolia trees, the soft balmy air, the palmettos uplift- ing their dagger-shaped leaves, the tall tremb- ing reeds, the soft murmur of the pines, the stately cypress, and the ever-restless but musi- cal sounds of the sea. Some writers describe the Natchez as equal- ing the Montezumas in splendor ; but their wigwams were rude and rough, and even their temple of the sun was only an oven-baked structure. It had simply a rough altar, and shelves around the wall with baskets contain- ing the bones of the Great Suns ; on lower shelves there were baskets containing the bones of favorite attendants, who had been killed to attend them to the Happy Hunting Grounds. Outside there was a fence of sharp pickets, and upon the point of each was the skull of an enemy. When a warrior entered the hut of the Great Sun, the latter would be seated upon his bed of rude mats, and there was a stone in the middle of the room. The warrior howled when he entered, and before saluting the Great Sun he would run around the stone in the middle of the room three times, howling each time ; the more he howled the greater the favor that would be extended to him. If he were of Romance and Realism small importance the Great Sun noticed him only with a slight grunt; if more in favor the grunt would be more pronounced, but the war- rior could never answer him without first homing. ^.J^^When we study the customs and traditions of other people we are apt to receive many of them with a quiet smile of ridicule ; but we should pause when we consider some of our own beliefs and matters of etiquette. The im- pression that we receive of a picture depends greatly upon the light in which it is viewed. ^^;;;?=^ississippi was the first state in the Union to enact a law giving to woman the control of her own property ; now it has emancipated her from all disabilities of coverture ; but few per- sons know that the original statute was sug- gested by the tribal customs of the Chickasaw Indians in the northern part of the state. The despised squaw, who bore the heat and burden of the day, reached forth her small brown hands and struck off the shackles that bound her more civilized sister. Under the Chickasaw law the husband acquired no right to the prop- erty of the wife which she owned at the time of her marriage, or to the subsequent ac- quests, and no part was subject to the debts of her husband. The marriage ties were often 8 of the Southern Gulf Coast. Hghtly made and hghtly broken ; there were no divorce suits ; but when husband and wife agreed to separate, the children belonged to the mother. Her rights were acknowledged supreme. Many of the Indian laws were very just. When the husband and wife died leaving no children, the wife's relative^ generally took the property, unless the husband had built the house entirely, when his relatives inher- ited it. Nothing could be fairer, for the In- dian w^oman generally did all the work and built the home. Her life was one of absolute drudgery; but her burdens were laid upon a perfectly healthy body, one of God's greatest blessings, that does not generally come through doors closed to the fresh air of heaven and to bodies enervated by luxury. In those days there were in the forest no sanitariums filled with delicate women. The realistic thought will obtrude itself, that, if the white man has taken the burdens from the back of woman, he has sometimes, with refined cruelty, inflicted burdens upon her aching heart that are too heavy for her endurance. Without any woman's suffrage movement, but in the quietest way, the Choctaw girl pos- sessed in matters of courtship rights that are not granted to the Nineteenth Century girl. 9 Romance and Realism The latter must wait in modest silence until she is wooed and won, though her heart should flutter like a bird and her cheeks crimson when she hears the footstep of her beloved. To the Indian girl belonged the privilege of giving the *' first banter." This was done gen- erally by squeezing the hand of her brave or by stepping upon his foot. Should he presume to give the first banter, she and all the squaws could fall upon him and beat him most unmer- cifully. In the majority of tribes the Indian could marry the sister of his dead wife. The peace of the tribe was not annually disturbed by the ghost of a deceased-wife's-sister bill. The students of Yale and Harvard find no greater pleasure in the game of football than the red men of the southern shore. Par- ticularly did they delight in the intricate game of ball played with a crooked stick, and they were fully equal to the present pro- gressive age in the excitement and extent of their betting. An Indian runner could travel fifty miles a day, and when he brought war news he entered the village with a war-whoop. This was taken up by every one he met until he reached the town-house, in front of the pub- lic square. In health and symmetry of body the American Indian almost equaled the classic lO of the Southern Gulf Coast. Greek. Disease and deformity were compara- tively unknown among them. Their system of massage was as efficient as our own or that of the Romans. Around their blazing fires in the evening, or in the soft summer moonlight, tradition told them of their history, philosophy, religion and customs. To them the white man's "speaking bark " was unknown; tradition and sign lan- guage constituted their encyclopaedia. There were so many tribes and dialects that in sign language they were most proficient. "Action is eloquence, and the eyes of the ignorant More learned than their ears." Their green corn dance was their annual jubilee, when all wrongs except murder were forgiven. This was the season when fresh fires were built, and the year started with new happiness. Nor shall we believe that their dancing was irregular and unpracticed. Their intricate and regular steps equaled the drills of our modern gymnasium, and with the dance was mingled the sound of their joyous laughter and rude but rhythmic music. Nature smiled upon her happy -hearted children. The immense live oaks, clad in their drapery of moss, lifted their umbrageous arms above, shielding them 1 1 Romance and Realism from sun and storm ; and the sea, catching the sounds of their revelry, held them in its depths, and gives them to us now in strange, mysteri- ous music. Nor did the heart of the Indian throb only with physical and material being. To him were given some of the fine instincts of right and wrong that would have done honor to the Virginia Cavalier or the New England Puritan. When they borrowed an article, they returned it promptly at the promised time. When con- demned to death for murder, the Indian was free to go where he would until the day of ex- ecution, when he presented himself, made a mark around his heart for a target, and calmly met his doom. For him no officers of the law were needed. They were keenly sensitive to ridicule and disgrace, and suicides among them for these causes were not unfrequent. Although they never mentioned their dead after burial, who knows what real bitter tears may have been mingled with their weird cry over the cold bodies, or what weight of bereavement and loss may have lingered in their hearts un- der a stolid exterior ? Nor do we know what vague thoughts they may have had of the Great Spirit — the Giver of Breath. The yearning to know the truth is universal. 12 of the Southern Gulf Coast The Natchez idea of heaven was a perpetual feast of green corn, venison and melons, and hades was to eat spoiled fish and alligators. Even as the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution and all other patriots love their country, so did the Indian love his — before it was taken from him. The proudest boast of a Choctaw was, '' I am a Choctaw." They loved not only their country, but also their homes and children ; and they loved their wives, how- ever much they may have abused them — a characteristic sometimes observed in civilized as well as savage life. It is said the Pasca- goula Indians, who dwelt in Southern Missis- sippi on the banks of the Escatawpa, loved its shores so dearly that nowhere else would they consent to be buried. When called away, either in the chase or upon the war-path, they first stooped and drank of the flowing Esca- tawpa, for there was some charm in its waters that always brought back the wanderer. Even now it is said : " He who drinks of Escatawpa's tide His bones must rest on Escatawpa's side." Time was marked by bundles of sticks, one stick being withdrawn for each day. In this connection is told one of the sweetest stories 13 Romance and Realism of Fort Rosalie, now Natchez. The Natchez and Chickasaws had agreed to attack and sur- prise the fort at a certain time ; but Stellona, a princess of the royal blood, precipitated the attack of the Natchez before the Chickasaws came by extracting two arrows from the bun- dle. This she did to save the life of her French lover. Lieutenant De Mace. / There is scarcely a place in this charmed re- gion of the South which does not have its ro- mance. Even now, when the halcyon birds are flying in Indian summer, a soft gray haze is seen on the coast. This is said to be the smoke from the mysterious furnaces of the God of Pottery, who taught the Indians their knowl- • edge of it, and who lingers here reluctant to leave these shores. One of the most charming characteristics of nearly all Indian tribes was their hospitality. They regarded it more of a duty than a virtue. They considered that the Great Spirit gave the land equally to all, and that it was their duty to entertain the stranger and the needy — the first because he was away from home, and the latter because the land belonged equally to him. In the majority of Indian tribes, there were no stated hours for meals, but the pot was always kept boiling for the benefit of any 14 of the Southern Gulf Coast. who might come hungry. Even the most worthless of the tribe was never denied food ; but a lazy man who begged was so covered with ridicule that an Indian tramp was rarely seen. In this respect the American tramp is far ahead of the Indian. Buckets of ridicule may be poured over him without injury to his feelings, if the ridicule is only intermixed with a few cold biscuits and cups of coffee. A number of Indian families generally lived together, sharing things in common. At pres- ent the communistic feeling is growing in the United States. Carried to an extreme, and in the hands of ignorant and lawless classes, this may lead us to grave evils, but it lends an in- terest to this Indian custom. Ethnologists call our attention to the custom as tending to the final equalization of subsistence. They assert that hunger and destitution could not prevail in one end of a village while plenty prevailed in the other end of it. In this chapter the habits of the Choctaw Indians have especially been considered be- cause they were the friends of the early colo- nists. The writer is indebted to Claiborne's History of Mississippi lor much interesting in- formation. Chactas and Chicks-a, two brothers, came 15 Romance and Realism from the west led by a pole held by invisible hands. The pole stopped when it crossed the river and reached Mississippi soil. Chicks-a went to the northern part of Mississippi, and his tribe of Chickasaws became followers of the Red Cross of St. George ; while Chactas founded the Choctaw tribe in Southern Mis- sissippi and Alabama, and they followed the Lily of France. Thus the foreigners brought with them to this country their seeds of envy and discord, and planted them in the hearts of the red men. Perhaps it may be claimed that these pages have idealized the character of the Indian, and the character of the pale face has been depreciated. The terrible war-whoop, and the glittering tomahawk are shudderingly re- membered ; but, turning the light of truth upon civilized history, we read of the Salem witch- craft, with its horrors, the Spanish Inquisition, the persecution of the Christian and the Jew, and the tyranny of unbounded power in every age. Realizing all this, and realizing that we have taken from the Indian his home and nearly exterminated his people, we should at least bury him with a requiem of justice. i6 of the Southern Gulf Coast. CHAPTER II. The humming bird foretold to the Biloxi In- dians the arrival of strangers ; it was also to them the bird of truth. What myriads of them must have fluttered their brilliant wings in the sunlight on that fateful morning, in 1699, when the Indian dis- covered the great black birds with white wings, skimming slowly and gracefully the blue waters of their bay. Silently and swiftly the little birds of truth flew above them, trying in vain to tell the red men how freiorhted with change this scene was to them. Try- ing in vain to tell them that these strange creat- ures came from the old to the new world to change its customs, its people, and the very aspect of nature. How strange it was to them when the royal looking Iberville and his younger, but not less noble-looking brother, Bienville, stepped upon the shore in their gorgeous dress, and with their retinue knelt beneath the golden cross, and took possession of the country in the name of their God and their king. More startling still 17 Romance and Realism was the cannon's voice from its cloud of smoke as it went thundering over the waters. To the Biloxians their Thunder Being was so strange and mysterious that his name was never mentioned in cloudy weather. Fearful were they that he would hear them, and in his wrath frown down upon them in clouds of rain and storm. It was only when he was far away and the sun was shining, that they told, in awe- struck tones, the stories of his power. Yet these strange pale faces brought their thunder with them, and, though the sun was shining, it spoke or remained silent at their command. These were not, however, the first white men to step upon Mississippi soil. With his brilliant but ill-fated cortege, with his Anda- lusian steeds, his high hopes and bitter dis- appointments, Hernando de Soto had swept from Florida to the banks of the Father of Waters, which he first discovered just below the site of the present city of Memphis in May, 1 54 1. He did not realize that this mighty river, which was to be the source of wealth and prosperity to so many others, would be to him the sepulcher of his hopes, his ambitions, and his body. About one hundred and thirty years after- ward, in 1673, Father Marquette and Joliet 18 of the Southern GuU Coast. A squaw and papoose. Romance and Realism came down from Quebec and sailed down its waters as far as Arkansas. Being convinced that it emptied into the gulf, they returned to Quebec and reported their discovery amidst the wildest rejoicings. In 1682, Cavelier de la Salle was at the mouth of the Mississippi, and took possession of it in the name of France. When Iberville and Bienville landed on the southern coast, the pulse of the country from north to south was beginning to throb with new and certain life ; but while La Salle had planned a French colony in the South, Iberville and Bienville founded at Biloxi, in 1699, the first settlement of the great State of Louisiana. The sound is divided from the Gulf of Mexico by a number of islands lying at vary- ing distances from the shore. Between them are channels and passes leading into the gulf. Nearly all of these islands are low, sandy, and unprepossessing, but there is not one that has not its strange legends, and that has not been connected with the history of the sea-coast. Ship Island, the largest and most important, was so named by the French because it was the best roadstead for vessels. Its harbor has always been remarkably safe against storms. It has not only been a refuge for ships in time 20 of the Southern Gulf Coast. of peace, but it has also been of greatest im- portance in time of war. During the war of 1812, Packenham's fleet was anchored in it; and during our late civil war, one of the first movements of the federal troops was the cap- ture of Biloxi and Ship Island. During his reign in New Orleans, General Butler named the fort at Ship Island *'Fort Massachusetts" in honor of his native state. In this fort he confined persons whom he desired to punish. Cat Island was so named because when the French reached it, they found upon it a small animal, somewhat resembling both a fox and a cat. One of Iberville's men exclaimed, '' This is the land of cats." This cat, however, was the American raccoon, which has since become so dear to the American darkies' heart and appetite that from it he has derived his sobriquet of " coons." The American coon has borne his part in the history of the country, and is not to be ignored. In the memorable campaign of 1840, many wildly cheering processions of Whigs were headed by miniature log cabins with coons perched above them — the campaign of log cabins, coons, and hard cider. Who does not remember also the coonskin brigade of 21 Romance and Realism Georgia, the coonskin caps, the rolHcking coon and '' 'possum " hunts of the South? One of the most terrible incidents in the early history of the colony happened at Cat Island. Duroux, the governor, an exacting tyrant, frequently stripped his men naked when they displeased him, and left them all night on Cat Island exposed to the mosquitoes and sand-flies. His men mutinied and killed him, but they were captured ; one of them was broken on a wheel, and one placed alive in his coffin and his body sawed in two. It is said that a pirate's ship was wrecked on Cat Island, and that it now lies in the sand deeply buried. Sand storms have blown over and covered it, but sailors affirm that now when a storm rages, the lost souls of the pirates are heard wailing through the wind. An amusing incident is told as to the man- ner in which the Isle au Pois derived its name. When the French were encamped there, they were attacked by *' small flies or cousins" (mosquitoes), and they fled in such panic that they forgot and left their bag of peas on the island. They could successfully compete with other nations on land and sea, but the mos- quito was too much for them. The history of Dauphine Island is as closely 22 of the Southern Gulf Coast. interwoven with the early settlement of Louis- iana as that of Ship Island. In 1701, Bienville received instructions to transfer the seat of government from Fort Maurepas, at Biloxi, to Mobile, and Dauphine Island became to Mobile what Ship Island had been to Biloxi — its place of anchorage and supply station. Gayarre tells us that when the French reached the isl- and they found it covered with bones, and re- alized that some awful tragedy had been en- acted there, "but tradition, when questioned, lays her choppy finger upon her skinny lips, and answers not." From finding these skele- tons the island was first called Massacre Island, but it was afterward changed to Dauphine, in honor of the Count of Dauphine, who ceded his province to the French monarch. In com- pliment to him, the wife of the eldest born son of the King of France was called Dauphine, and her husband the Dauphin. During the first thirteen years of its strug- gling existence, the little colony was often pinched by want and absolute famine. Some- times they were reduced to the necessity of eating acorns, and several times Bienville scat- tered them among the Indians to prevent actual starvation. Bienville was the second governor, Sauvolle 23 Romance and Realism having been the first. Chivalric, brave, wealthy, and talented, Sauvolle had loved and been loved by one of the noblest women of the court of Louis the Fourteenth, but suddenly there came to him the terrible realization of a great physical trouble. Grief-stricken, he gave up his love, the brilliant court, and all that was dear to him, to face the dangers of the new country and calmly wait the end that heart trouble was likely at any time to bring to him. He died in Biloxi and was buried there. Dazzled by a knowledge of the treasures of gold and silver found by Pizarro in Peru and Cortez in Mexico, the French sought vainly for mines only. They remained de- pendent on the mother country, and were blind to the riches of earth and air around them. While our ancestors were starving in their search for gold, the Indians were enjoying the following appetizing cuisine, as described by Claiborne : Tom-ful-la was their favorite and standing dish. It consisted of corn soaked in lye to take off the husks, then thoroughly boiled with bear's oil, and sometimes the kernels of walnuts and hickory nuts. They barbecued a slice of turkey breast, venison, and bear meat together. They likewise pounded walnuts and hickory nuts, passed them through boiling wa- 24 of the Southern Gulf Coast. ter, and then through strainers of fine basket work, and this produced a Hquor the color and consistency of cream, and of rich and fine flavor. In 1708, after nine years existence, there were only about three hundred people in the colony, and they had the most meager posses- sions. In his charming book, the Romances of Louisiana History, Gayarre has not only given us history, but he has touched those rugged times with poetry, and written of them with " a quill dropped from cupid's wing." In this chapter are given glimpses of his pathetic romances of Sauvolle and Crozat ; also, the attractive romances of Bienville, Boisbriant. and the Petticoat Insurrection, with their quaint phases and humor. In 1705, in a ship sent by Louis XIV, were twenty girls who had been carefully selected by the Bishop of Quebec from irreproachable families in Paris. While he had not intention- ally deceived them, they came impressed with expectations of a rich and splendid country, but they found immediately the hardships and dangers of pioneer life. In a few months, when the provisions brought by the ship were exhausted, they were reduced to a sole diet of corn. Even in those early days, Paris led in artistic fashions and tastes, and the Parisian Romance and Realism girl longed for her dainty surroundings and even a few bon-bons. The Petticoat Insur- rection began against the corn diet. They de- clared that the Bishop of Quebec had deceived them, and that they would leave at the first opportunity. Like sensible, true women, how- ever, they reconciled themselves to the situa- tion, and bravely endured their part of the hardships. The number of these girls was wholly in- adequate to supply the demand. They were lodged in a house to themselves, and during the day they were selected by the French bachelors, but at night a sentinel was placed at the door. Dumont tells us that the last one left was any thing but beautiful — in fact, looked more like a guardsman than a girl. But so great was the desire of these men for homes and domestic happiness that a fight for her possession was imminent. The commandant hearing of it, required the rivals to draw lots for her. The colony languished until 1 7 1 2, when it was leased to the great French merchant, Anthony Crozat, for fifteen years, with extraordinary privileges. His principal obligation in return was to send every year to Louisiana two ship-loads of colonists, and after nine years to 26 of the Southern Gulf Coast. assume all the expenses of the government. Around this period in the history of the little colony Gayarre weaves one of his prettiest romances. Crozat had been the son of a peasant, but he was foster-brother to one of the greatest patricians of France. His foster-brother be- came his benefactor, educated him, and se- cured for him a fine position in a commercial house. He married his employer's daughter, and after his death, with his wife's inheritance and his own brilliant successes, he became one of the wealthiest merchants of France. His wife and only child, a daughter, were his idols, and when his wife died his whole heart was centered on his daughter — refined, frail and beautiful as a lily. The dowager Duchess, touched with the lone- liness of the motherless girl, asked her to visit her palace. There the beautiful Andrea learned to love, with all the intensity of her being, the sole heirto all these princely possessions, but he was soon betrothed to another equal to him in rank and station. When the preparations for the nuptials began, heartbroken, Andrea return- ed to her father and he learned the secret of her love. Almost crazed with this great grief in her life, he determined to do the one thing 27 Romance and Realism that could prevent the marriage. It was be- lieved that the noble girl who was to marry the son of his foster-brother loved another ; equal to her in rank, he could not wed her because his patrician estate was hopelessly bankrupt. Crozat went to him, gave him a royal sum, and told him that it was due to his estate from an injustice of many years ago. In bewildered surprise the sum was accepted, and he married the woman he loved and who loved him. Then Crozat confessed to the dowager Duchess and told her of his daugh- ter's breaking heart. The Duchess listened in stern sadness, but it was impossible! While she loved the beautiful Andrea, the difference in rank was too great, nor could Andrea marry her son unless her father "was a Medici, a ruler of provinces, and had a historical name." Crozat thought of the new country, with its untold riches and boundless territory, and de- termined to risk every thing for the happiness of his child. Such is the romance of Crozat's possession of the small colony on the sea- board. If Gayarre confesses to giving the story a few touches of his imagination in re- gard to Andrea's name, her death and that of her father after the failure of the enterprise, the story is not the less pathetic, and prob- 28 of the Southern Gulf Coast. ably quite as authentic as many other historic records. Cadillac was the first governor appointed by Crozat, and the selection could not have been more unfortunate. He was utterly lack- ino- in diplomacy, and was narrow-minded and arrogant. Crozat had promised to him a share of the profits from any mines that he would discover, and his patrician poverty was only exceeded by his avarice. Iberville, SauvoUe and Bienville had received and welcomed each friendly demonstration from the Indians, and treated their customs with respect. When Iberville landed at Biloxi the Indians rubbed his face with white dirt in testimony of their friendship; but when Cadillac was sailing up the Mississippi river and the Natchez Indians offered him their calumet, he scorned to touch with his lordly lips a pipe that had been in the mouth of an Indian. A few days after this the Natchez killed four Canadians ; they could not understand Cadillac's manner, and be- lieved it to be a delaration of war. The word calumet is derived from the Nor- ■ man w^ord chalumeaii, and signifies the reed or rustic pipe smoked by Norman peasants. The French introduced the word into Canada. A most unique Indian masquerade party 29 Romance and Realism was given in the early days of the colony, and combined within itself all the elements of comedy and tragedy. In order to impress the Indians with the magnificence of the French court, a party of them was induced to visit Paris. Among them was the daughter of the Illinois chief. She was very beautiful, and loved the commander of the French fort in the country of the Illinois. There was also with the party that went to France a young sergeant, Dubois. The French court received their novel visitors with enthusiastic welcome. A deer-hunt was planned for the warriors at the Bois de Bou- logne, and the Indian maidens were toasted, feted, and were the belles of the hour. The Indian princess was converted to Christianity, and at court her marriage with Dubois was celebrated with brilliant pomp, and the king appointed Dubois captain and commandant of the Illinois country. All of the party were loaded with presents, and returned to New Orleans delighted with themselves and their entertainers. Dubois and his Indian bride seemed to be happy for a time ; but she wearied of her civ- ilization masquerade, and longed more and more for the freedom of forest life. Finally 30 of the Southern Gulf Coast. she entered into a conspiracy with her tribe, and the members of the French garrison, in- ckiding Dubois, were massacred. The savage instinct was irrepressible. With the first Natchez war is interwoven another romance of those early days, but it is a story of love, disappointment, revenge, and the furv of a woman scorned. Cadillac, in his churlish arrogance, made discord with every element around him, and, jealous of Bien- ville's popularity, was especially antagonistic to him. Cadillac nad a daughter, but alas ! she was not fair, having in face and figure inherited her father's qualities ; but she looked upon Bienville's noble face and stately form, and felt that it would be sweet to lean upon his strong arm during those troublous times. Her heart went out more than half way to meet him. Cadillac considered the situation, and, think- ing that such a marriage would be an advan- tage to him, sent for Bienville and made the offer of marriag^e to him. Astonished and amused, Bienville declined it. Then was Cadillac's small soul lashed into a fury of re- venge. He determined to destroy Bienville, and again sending for him, ordered him with a force of thirty-four men to attack the Natchez 31 Romance and Realism and avenge the death of the four Canadians. Bienville protested that with such a force it would be impossible, but Cadillac's law was like that of the Medes and Persians. Bienville started with his little company, and determined to do by strategy what he could not accomplish by force. This was in 1716. He first went to an island in the Mississippi, op- posite the Tunicas and eighteen leagues below Natchez. Pretending to wish to trade with them, he captured the "Great Sun" and his two brothers, the " Stung Serpent " and " The Little Sun." By his treaty with them they agreed to build a substantial fort at Natchez. While Iberville, Bienville, Tonti and others had visited this place before, and occasionally hunters had settled there, this may be regarded as the first permanent settlement ol the beau- tiful city of Natchez. It was named Fort Rosalie in honor of the Countess Pontchar- train. Thus Bienville ended the war without bloodshed, founded Natchez, and defended the citadel of his own heart. This was not the first time during Bienville's life on the seashore that Cupid had sent his hurtling arrows above his head. The first en- counter, however, was not of such a personal nature. 32 of the Southern Gulf Coast. In 1705, when Louis the XIV sent over the twenty girls, they were chaperoned by a widow, charming and irresistible, as widows always have been and always will be. Major Boisbriant, Bienville's cousin, lost his heart to her, and his was not a case of unrequited love. All went smoothly until Bienville's strong op- position stemmed the current. Major Bois- briant yielded, but the lady, with woman's in- domitable will, remained firm and indignant. La Salle and the Curate de la Vente had given Bienville much trouble by their intrigues and slanderous reports of him at court, and now the aggrieved widow added her words of in- dignant protest. In a letter to the prime min- ister she writes of Bienville's tyranny in every department, and especially her own wrongs. She annihilates him with this closing sentence : "It is therefore evident that he has not the necessary qualifications to be governor of this colony." He was, however, retained as gov- ernor, and the marriage did not take place. Still, we see the early independence of the women of this country, and that they soon be- came not only a social and domestic, but also political element. When the French girls came over they found formidable rivals in those first women of 33 Romance and Realism > o of the Southern Gulf Coast. the South who dwelt by the sea. The French and Canadians sought them for wives, and who can wonder when we read Claiborne's description of them : " The dusky maidens of Mississippi, with their flashing eyes and volup- tuous forms, their delicate hands and feet, and their raven hair that brushed the dewdrops as they walked, modestly drooping their glances at the approach of a warrior. The Choctaw language was beautiful, and some of the women sang well, their voices low and sweet, corresponding with their gentle manners and modest deportment. But they were gay, so- cial, fascinating, and their laugh like the ripple of a brook over its pebbly bed." After reading this description who can won- der that if the conqueror took from the Indian girl her lands and her wild, sweet freedom, he often gave her in return for it his true, chival- ric love ? It is a misfortune of life that the step of realism often touches so close upon the heel of romance, that it crushes out the flowers of imagination. As we see the Indian of the present day, listless, dull, swarthy and slouchy, sitting in the French market, the thought in- voluntarily presents itself, did poetry throw over those early^ days the halo of romance, or 35 Romance and Realism has civilization only given to the poor In- dian its physical enervation without supply- ing- the mental qualities to withstand its temp- tations ? 36 of the Southern Gulf Coast. CHAPTER III. In 1 71 7, Bienville was reappointed governor, and the seat of government was moved from Mobile and Dauphine Island to Biloxi. As the old fort had been burned at what is now called Ocean Springs, New Biloxi was built upon the point of land to the west of the bay immediately fronting Ship Island. In March, 1718, Bienville selected the present site of New Orleans between what are now Canal and Esplanade streets, and set fifty men to clearing away the trees. Owing to the differences of Bienville and Hubert, the seat of government was not transferred to New Orleans until 1722, after which this city grad- ually became the Paris of the South. The French were devoted to the mother country, and felt that it was infamous when, in 1763, Louis XV induced his cousin, Charles III, of Spain to take Louisiana off his hands. So in- dignant were the French against Spanish do- minion that in 1768 they rebelled against it, but they were defeated and their leaders exe- cuted. This is one of the darkest tragedies of Louisiana history. 37 Romance and Realism Afterward, however, the Spanish rule was very lenient and just. Governor Gayoso and Governor Galvez were especially beloved, and Governor Miro was so popular that when Ten- nessee was settled, the central portion of the state was named for him. In the treaty of peace between Great Britain, Spain and France, the Spaniards acquired New Orleans, but the greater part of the Mississippi seaboard was ceded to Great Britain and prospered under British rule. Governor Galvez, however, after- ward recaptured it. Spain was not unwilling when she ceded her Louisiana territory to France by the treaty of Ildefonso in 1800. She feared for her Mexican possessions, and thought France would be a rampart between her and the United States. Although New Orleans was so long under the dominion of the Spaniards, the Spanish language was spoken officially only, the French being retained for social and family circles. Although loyal citizens of this country, the French have never given up their language as Spaniards, Germans or Italians have done imder like circumstances. Much information is gained on these sub- 38 of the Southern Gulf Coast. jects from Mr. Alcce Fortier, professor of French lano^uao^e and hterature in Tulane Uni- versity, New Orleans. He tells us that so generally was the French language spoken in Louisiana that in the legislature of the state, there was a regular interpreter appointed for each house at a salary of ^2,000; it was his duty to translate, if required, the speeches and motions of the members. It was, it seems, very amusing to see a Creole representative abusing an American colleague, who remained perfectly unconcerned until the interpreter translated the hostile address ; then the party attacked would suddenly rise and reply in vehement terms, which had also to be trans- lated before the opposing member could reply. The court rooms were provided with French, English and Spanish interpreters, and the juries divided as evenly as possible between English and French. When the case was being presented in English, the French were excused, and when it was argued in French, the English were excused. Together they retired to the jury room, and by some mar- velous process generally arrived at a correct verdict. The Creoles of Louisiana are the white de- scendants of the French and Spanish colonists, 39 Romance and Realism and have in their veins some of the blue blood of the noblest families of France and Spain. The depreciatory light in which Mr. George W. Cable has represented them in his works has aroused their just indignation. Dr. W. H. Holcomb says of them: "These men were the root stock or foundation head of the Creole civilization, a social state distinguished for the courage and honorable bearing of its men, the beauty and refinement of its women, and the highly polished manners of both sexes." The pretty quadroon girls who wait in the hotels on the southern seacoast claim with perfect equanimity that they are Creoles. This is somewhat bewildering to strangers and a very unjust reflection of color on the subject. Possibly no word in the English language has been more abused than the word Creole. The names of many places in this region are not only historic, but have a story within a story. The French name Baton Rouge not only indicates French possession, but it tells an Indian story. The Houmas, after they had won a victory over the Tunicas, planted upon that spot a " baton rouge," or " red stick," to signify that the Tunicas were never to cross it on the war-path. Louisiana was named for the French king, 40 of the Southern Gulf Coast. and the two large lakes near New Orleans for two prime ministers — Pontchartrain and Maure- pas. Pontchartrain, a man of great talent and sterling integrity, was chancellor of France un- der Louis XIV. Maurepas, minister of Louis XV, was a man of great ability, but dissolute habits. Pearl river was so called because there the Indians found the shells with which they scraped out their canoes after burning them, and within these shells they often found beautiful pearls. Yazoo river means the *' river of death," and Amite river was so named because there Iberville found the Indians most friendly. One of the first names given by the Span- iards to the Mississippi river was '' The River of the Holy Ghost;" other Spanish names were Rio Grande, Rio Esconnido ; La Salle first called it St. Louis, and afterward Colbert ; La Palisade was one of the French names, from the number of snags and drift-wood in the passes at the mouth of the river. Mal- bou-chia was the name given to it by the In- dians of the East, but the Indians of the West called it Me-ac-cha-sippi, Me-she-o-be, Mec-a- she-ba, and Meche Sepe, all signifying the Father of Waters. Justin Winsor tells us that the original spell- ing of Mississippi, the nearest approach to 41 Romance and Realism the Algonquin word, is Meche Sebe, a form still commonly used by the Louisiana Creoles. Tonty suggested Miche Sepe ; Father Laval, Michisepe, which by Father Labatt was soft-- ened into Misisipi. Marquette added the first ( s in Missisipi, and some other explorer added \ a second s in Mississipi, as it is spelled in i France to-day. No one knows who added a . second p in Mississippi, for it was generally spelled with one p when the United States bought Louisiana. Free navigation of the Mississippi, a much- vexed question, was granted in 1795, and the first steamboat came down the river in 181 1. There is not, perhaps, in the history of Mis- " sissippi, a name that graces its pages more than that of Claiborne. It has always been an honored one. Governor Claiborne had been governor of the Mississippi Territory, but when Orleans Territory was formed in 1804, he was appointed its governor, and appointed first state governor of Louisiana in 181 2. In 18 10, the Mississippi seaboard was divided into the parishes of Biloxi and Pascagoula, and the year afterward Governor Claiborne sent Dr. Flood to establish these parishes. A good idea of the sea-shore at that time may be gathered 42 of the Southern Gulf Coast. from his communication to Governor Clai- borne : *' In compliance with your instructions, I embarked in the Alligator on the 5th, and proceeded to Mr. Simon Favre's, on the east- ern bank of Pearl river. He is a planter, owns a large stock, and is an educated and very agreeable gentleman. He accepted the commission with pleasure, and will make an energetic officer, and seems greatly to value the respect you have for him. I hoisted the flag of the United States at Bay St. Louis on the 8th, and handed the commission to Phillip Saucier, a venerable gentleman of prepossess- ing manners and with a patriarchal appear- ance. Next day, displayed the flag at the Pass, and proceeded to the Bay of Biloxi, where I found Mr. Ladnier and gave him the commission. He is a man of excellent sense, but can neither read nor write, nor can any in- habitant of the Bay of Biloxi that I can hear of They are all along this beautiful coast a primitive people of mixed origin, retaining the gayety and politeness of the French blended with the abstemiousness and indolence of the Indian. They plant a little rice and a few roots and vegetables, but depend for subsist- ence chiefly on game and fish. I left with all 43 Romance and Realism these appointees copies of the laws, ordi- nances, etc., but few laws will be wanted here. The people are universally honest. There are no crimes. The father of the family or the oldest inhabitant settles all disputes. The population of Pascagoula parish is about 350 ; of the parish of Biloxi, 420, chiefly of French and Creoles. A more inoffensive and inno- cent people may not be found. They seem to desire only the simple necessities of life and to be let alone in their tranquillity." But the Mississippi seaboard has caught the spirit of the times, and feels surging through its every vein the nervous life and progress of the Nineteenth Century. Not so, however, with all the people of the coast, for there is still a people in Louisiana charming in primi- tive simplicity. As Charles Dudley Warner tells us, the peculiarity of this community is in its freedom from all the hurry and worry and information of modern life. For them the customs and knowledge of 1755 are quite suf- ficient, and while some of them are cultured men and women, the majority can neither read nor write, considering that this especial phase of the worry and information of modern life is unnecessary. In 1605, a small French settlement was 44 of the Southern Gulf Coast. made in Nova Scotia — the word Acadian is derived from the word Aquoddie, an Indian term for a fish called the pollock. These people were of exquisite simplicity of charac- ter and habits. "Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers, — Dwelt in the love of God and man. Alike were they free from Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics. Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows ; But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of their owners ; There the richest was poor and the poorest lived in abun- dance." They were most loyal in their devotion to France, but when they passed under the reign of the English this loyalty was feared, espe- cially as their numbers increased alarmingly. Finally they were expelled by the English from their beautiful homes, and, penniless and heart-broken, drifted along the Atlantic shore. Many places gave them homes, but the dearest spot discovered by them was the beautiful country near New Orleans watered by the Teche. There they were welcomed with gen- 45 Romance and Realism erous hospitality ; there they found their own language, a genial climate, and rich soil. Longfellow has immortalized the sufferings of the Acadians in his beautiful poem of Evan- geline — Evangeline, the daughter of Benedict, and Gabriel Lajeunesse, the son of Basil the blacksmith. Separated from her love in that dreadful eviction from their home, for years she vainly sought him ; vainly sought him in the fair Louisiana country : '' ' Sunshine of Saint Eulalie ' was she called; for that was the sunshine, Which, as the farmers believed, would load their orchard with apples. He was a valiant youth, and his face, like the face of the morning, Gladdened the earth with its light, and ripened thought into action. Far asunder on separate coasts the Acadians landed. Scattered were they, like flakes of snow, when the wind from the north-east Strikes aslant through the fogs that darken the banks of Newfoundland. Friendless, homeless, hopeless, they wandered from city to city. Sometimes she lingered in towns, till, urged by the fever within her, 46 of the Southern Gulf Coast. Urged by a restless longing, the hunger and thirst of the spirit, She would commence again her endless search and en- deavor ; Sometimes in churchyard strayed, and gazed on the crosses and tombstones, Sat by some nameless grave, and thought that perhaps in its bosom. He was already at rest, and she longed to slumber beside him. Thus did that poor soul wander in want and cheerless dis- comfort Bleeding, barefooted over the shards and thorns of ex- istence. But Evangeline's heart was sustained by a vision, that faintly Floated before her eyes, and beckoned her on through the moonlight. It was the thought of her brain that assumed the shape of a phantom Through those shadowy aisles had Gabriel wandered be- fore her. And every stroke of the oar now brought him nearer and nearer. Filled was her heart with love, and the dawn of an open- ing heaven Lighted her soul in sleep with the glory of regions ce- lestial. Nor that day, nor the next, nor yet the day succeeding, Found they trace of his course, in lake or forest or river, Nor, after many days had they found him. 47 Romance and Realism Gabriel was not forgotten. Within her heart was his image, Clothed in the beauty of love and youth, as last she be- held him. Only more beautiful made by his deathlike silence and absence. Into her thoughts of him time entered not, for it was not. Over him years had no power ; for he was not changed but transfigured; He had become to her heart as one who is dead, and not absent ; Patience and abnegation of self, and devotion to others. This was the lesson a life of trial and sorrow had taught her. So was her love diffused, but, like to some odorous spices. Suffered no waste nor loss though filling the air with aroma. Other hope had she none, nor wish in life, but to Meekly follow with reverent steps the sacred feet of her Savior. Thus many years she lived as a sister of mercy; fre- quenting Lonely and wretched roofs in the crowded lanes of the city. Where distress and want concealed themselves from the sunhght Where disease and sorrow in garrets languished neglected. All was ended now, the hope and the fear and the sorrow, All the aching of heart, the restless, unsatisfied longing, All the dull, deep, pain, and constant anguish of patience! And as she pressed once more the lifeless head to her bosom. Meekly she bowed her own, and murmured, ' Father, I thank Thee.'" 48 of the Southern Gulf Coast. A charming little book, "In Acadia," by Margaret Avery Johnston (Mrs. William Pres- ton Johnston), gives a complete picture of the Acadians. In striking contrast to them were the Bara- tarians who lived on the southern coast of Louisiana. The story of one is like a still fair landscape with softly floating clouds above it ; that of the other like the rushing, seething waters of Niagara, carrying every thing before its strong current ; one wanted little here be- low, the other reached out its grasping hands for all the luxuries of the earth ; the romance of one was instinct with the gentlest passions that could stir the human heart, the romance of the other was a dare-devil recklessness and thrilling adventures — for the Baratarians were the followers of the Lafitte brothers, the bold buccaneers and terrors of the sea. Barataria really included all the gulf coast between the Mississippi river and Bayou LaFourche, but the home of the Lafittes was on the beautiful island of Grand Terre on Barataria Bay. Miss Grace King gives us the possible derivation of the word : It will be re- membered that Barataria was the name of the island presented by the frolicsome duchess to Sancho Panza for his sins as he learned to 49 Romance and Realism remember it. How or wlien the name came to Louisiana is still to be discovered, whether di- rectly from Don Quixote or from the source which supplied Le Sage with it ; the etymology of the word Barateaii meaning Barato, cheap things. When Lafitte was outlawed and a reward of- fered for his capture, under an assumed name he accidentally met Madame Claiborne, and so charmed was she with the fascinating stranger, that when she returned to the Governor she was most enthusiastic. Grand Terre is now deserted except, as Laf- cadio Hearn beautifully describes it, by "a whirling flower-drift of sleepy butterflies." Cable tells us that in 1795 New Orleans was nothing but a market town. The Cathedral, the Convent of the Ursulines, five or six cafes, and about a hundred houses were all of it. Only two dry-goods stores — pins, ^20.00 a paper, and poor people had to use thorns for pins. A needle cost 50 cents, stock- ings $5.00 a pair, postage on a letter 50 cents. The fashions and etiquette allowed only silks and velvets for visits of ceremony, and though you smothered you obeyed these tyrannical laws ! Many amusing stories are told of the great 50 of the Southern Gulf Coast. formahty of those early days, but at the same time there was often blended with it a humor- ous brusqueness and frontier independence. Claiborne gives us a story of camp-life : In 1798 the first United States troops that came down the Mississippi were quartered at Fort Adams. Gen. Wilkinson, Col. Hamtramck, Maj. Butler, Capt. Green and other officers were merry over their punch one night, and the general by some accident got his queue singed off. Next day he issued an order forbidding any officer to appear with a queue. Major Butler refused to obey, and was put under ar- rest. Soon after he was very sick, and when he knew he could not live he made his will, and gave instructions for his burial, which he knew would be attended by the whole command. '' Bore a hole," said he, "through the bottom of my coffin right under my head, and let my queue come through it, that the d — d old ras- cal may see that even when dead I refuse to obey his order." These directions were liter- ally complied with. That early period was not characterized by the freedom of action and speech which is now enjoyed by our Republic. When the strug- gling colonists demanded of Cadillac that all nations should be allowed to trade freely with 51 Romance and Realism them, and that when they were dissatisfied they could move out of the province, he was most indignant. He wrote an angry letter to the Prime Minister saying : " Freedom of trade and freedom of action ! A pretty thing ! What would become of Crozat's privileges?" Fortunately, however, all the governors of that time were not Cadillacs. Having given a chapter to the Indians, we now reach a class of people much nearer to us, and that will most probably remain in Dixie so long as there is a cotton row to be followed by a negro, a plow and a mule. The very men- tion of the South brings visions of white cotton fields and looming above them the woolly heads and shiny teeth of the darkey. The responsibilities of life weigh more heavily upon him now, and his laughter is not so frequent as it used to be ; but his sunny disposition is a her- itage of the tropics, and he will always be happy and improvident. Before entering upon this subject a few words are due to King Cotton, the staple of the South. Immediately upon the seacoast the at- mosphere is rather too damp for its production, but a few miles inland and the Mississippi val- ley produces the finest grade of cotton, mak- ing New Orleans one of the largest cotton-ship- 52 of the Southern Gulf Coast. phig ports of the world. A variety of cotton seed is used in Mississippi, but for many years one of the most popular was the Mexican seed. This was introduced into the United States by a diplomatic ruse, it is said. The story is told that Gen. Wilknison sent Walter Burling Oi' Natchez on a diplomatic mission to Mexico in 1806. He dined with the viceroy and re- quested some Mexican seed, but as this was against the Mexican law. the viceroy declined. He told Mr. Burling laughingly over his wine, however, that he could take as many Mexican dolls as he wished, and it was tacitly under- stood that these dolls should be stuffed with cotton seed. In 1708 Bienville wrote to the government to obtain authority to exchange Indians for ne- groes. '*We shall give," said he, "three In- dians for two negroes. The Indians, when in the islands, will not be able to run away, the country being unknown to them, and the ne- groes would not dare to become fugitives in Lousiana because the Indians would kill them." This does not seem to have met with any fa- vorable consideration, and the proposition re- flects no credit on a man of Bienville's fine character The entire ring of it makes an unpleasant impression. When Crozat gave up his lease in 171 7, the 53 Romance and Realism c > < of the Southern Gulf Coast. West India Company leased it for twenty-five years, and in the charter bound itself to introduce 3,000 Africans. Thus early in the history of New England, Virginia and Louisiana the blight of slavery was imprinted on the colonies. In July, 1720, the first cargo of negroes came. No humanitarian could advocate slavery, and there was doubtless pathetic physical and men- tal suffering on those terrible slave ships. We should remember, however, that these simple, ignorant blacks were taken from their homes of absolute darkness and superstition, and that many " Mars Chans" and " Meh Ladies " were waiting on these southern shores to hold them in such gentle bonds and teach them such loving service, that they forgot that they were slaves. Slavery has existed in some forms in all ages ; but nowhere upon the pages of history do we find any- thing like the tender, inexplic- able and devoted bond between the Southern master and his slave. In that sweet long ago what Southern child could forget the delight of a visit to '' de quar-. ters " — the rows of nicely whitewashed negro cabins near the white house. There our de- voted hosts bustled around with noisy hospi- tality, drawing down from the loft some of their 55 Romance and Realism treasures of hickory nuts, walnuts, and other goodies ; roasting eggs for us in the ashes, giving to us risen pone corn-bread and fresh vegetables — for every cabin was provided with its little patch of ground at the back. And the little piccaninnies rolled over each other on the floor, like black kittens, a sable heap of delight ''Oh, de cabin at de quarters, in de ole plantation days, Wid de garden patch behine it an' de godevine by de do'. An' de do'yard sot wid roses, whar de chillun runs an plays, An' de streak o' sunshine, yaller-like, er slantin' on de flo'!" As for mammy, such a thing as rebellion against her was almost undreampt of, for she was high in authority. The lessons that she taught us in good manners were correct in the extreme, for had she not been '' 'mongst de white folks long 'nuff ter know?" Some of the other lessons that she taught sank deep in childish memory. You must always burn and not throw away your hair, because the birds will pick it up to make their nests, and that will make you crazy. If a child teething looks at himself in the mirror his teething will be pain- 56 of the Southern Gulf Coast. ful. If you have a sore on the tip of your tongue it is a sign that you have Hed. If you forget what you were going to say, it is a sign that you were going to He. If you sweep the feet of a child with a broom, it will make him walk early. To cure a wart take a green pea, rub it on the wart, then take the pea and wrap it in a piece of paper and throw it away ; the person who will pick it up will get the wart. You must watch for a full moon if you want to make soap. In those days, if the smiling but determined mothers had not asserted their au- thority and trimmed their babies' finger nails, they would have grown out like little birds' talons and scratched their tender faces. The nurses always insisted that to trim the nails would make the child steal. The greatest terror was felt of the will-o'- the-wisp. We were told that so surely as we should go out of the yard after dark, without a grown person, this unknown fiendish spirit would catch us and drag us over bogs and through bushes, exclaiming all the time, " I have you ! I have you ! " All such stories had a perfect fascination for the children, and the more startling their char- acter, told by these black mammies in the flick- ering firelight or by the ghostly moonlight, the 57 Romance and Realism greater was the shuddering deHght which they produced. Southerners are not more superstitious than other people, and they show their wonderful strength of character in throwing off these numberless superstitions that they absorbed almost with their first breath of intellio-ence from these devoted attendants. Mr. Fortier mentions all of these supersti- tions and many more in his "Louisiana Stud- ies," and his description of New Year's Day, on the southern coast, gives such a vivid and charming scene of plantation life in Louisiana, that it is repeated in full : "At daylight, on the first of January, the rejoicing began on the plantation ; every thing was in an uproar, and all the negroes, old and young, were running about, shaking hands and exchanging wishes for the new year. The servants employed at the house came to awaken the master and mistress and the chil- dren. The nurses came to our beds to present their soithaits. To the boys it was always, ' Mo souhaite ke vou bon gar^on, fe plein I'argent e ke vou bienhereux ; ' to the girls, ' Mo souhaite ke vou bon ^^, ke vou gagnin ein mari riche e plein piti. ' "Even the very old and infirm, who had not 58 of the Southern Gulf Coast. left the hospital for months, came to the house with the rest of r ate lie j^ for their gifts. These they were sure to get, each person receiving a piece of an ox killed expressly for them, several pounds of flour, and a new tin pan and spoon. The men received, besides, a new jean or cottonade suit of clothes, and the wo- men a dress and a most gaudy handkerchief, or tignon, the redder the better. Each woman that had had a child during the year received two dresses instead of one. After the soiiJiaits were presented to the masters, and the gifts were made, the dancing and singing began. The scene was indeed striking, interesting and weird. Two or three hundred men and women were there in front of the house, wild with joy and most boisterous, although always re- spectful. ''Their musical instruments were, first, a barrel with one end covered with an ox-hide — this was the drum ; then two sticks and the jawbone of a mule, with the teeth still on it — this was the violin. The principal musician bestrode the barrel and began to beat on the hide, singing as loud as he could. He beat with his hands, with his feet, and sometimes, when quite carried away by his enthusiasm, with his head also. The second musician 59 Romance and Realism took the sticks and beat on the wood of the barrel, while the third made a dreadful music by rattling the teeth of the jawbone with a stick. Five or six men stood around the musicians and sang without stopping. All this produced a most strange and savage music, but, withal, not disagreeable, as the negroes have a very good ear for music, and keep a pleasant rhythm in their songs. These dancing songs generally consisted of one phrase, repeated for hours on the same air. ''In the dance called carabine, and which was quite graceful, the man took his danseuse by the hand, and made her turn around very rap- idly for more than an hour, the woman waving a red handkerchief over her head, and every one singing — ' Madame Gobar, en sortant di bal, Madame Gobar, tignon li tombe.' - "The other dance, called ///6 of the Southern Gulf Coast. more simple and touching than an epitaph in Girod Cemetery: "Mammy, aged 84; a faithful servant. She lived and died a christian." After the disastrous fires of 1780 and 1794, the temporary French frame houses were superseded by the substantial Spanish houses with their tiled roofs, their quaint balconies jutting far over the streets to be socially near their neighbors across the way, their great open courts, odd windows, and all that goes to make the picturesque. In his book, " The Manhattaner in New Or- leans," Oakey Hall was most enthusiastic over the names of the streets in New Orleans, and pronounced them more beautiful than those of any other city in the Union. They mark the pro- gress of the city step by step. Ursuline tells us of the arrival of the good nuns in 1727, the first real educators of the city ; Hospital street, the founding of the hospital ; the Napoleonic craze was marked by the names of a number of streets — Napoleon avenue, Jena, Auster- litz, and a number of others. In their love for the classics, any number of Greek and Latin names were adopted. They captured all the Muses and Graces, but their names are so filtrated through French pronunciation 87 Romance and Realism that Parnassus itself could scarcely recognize its representatives. The monuments of the city are not all cast in bronze and marble in cold commemora- tion of the dead, but many of them are the homes for the living, the sick, and suffering; or they open the halls of knowledge to the struggling masses, and give them footholds into higher walks of life. And around some of these buildings are woven such stories of romance that we forget the realism of their brick and mortar, awd through and through they become to us palaces beautiful. To John McDonogh the public schools owe untold gratitude, and yet his life was one of bitter disappointment, and his days were spent in sorrow and isolation. When a young man, he came from Baltimore to New Orleans, and his elegant bachelor home was the center of gayety and refinement. He loved and was beloved by a beautiful accomplished girl, but she was a Roman Catholic and he was a Protestant, and her parents were unyielding in their opposition. She joined the Ursuline nuns, and he closed his beautiful home and became a business automaton. There was only one bright spot to him in each year as it passed — when she became Mother Superior 88 of the Southern Gulf Coast. of the Convent, he with others was allowed on New Year's Day a brief, ceremonious call. So entirely did he deny himself all the luxuries of life that he was often slightingly mentioned as a miser. But his soul was not slumbering, for when it winged its flight from the worn-out, dis- crepit, and lifeless body, a will was found with tenderest provision for the poor and needy. His vast wealth was divided between the schools of Baltimore and New Orleans, and a pathetic clause in his will asked that little chil- dren would come and lay flowers on his grave once a year. Judah Touro also loved and was beloved, but the objection of her family was insur- mountable. He buried his broken heart in a life of active business and broad charity. To himself he denied every luxury, but to the needy his purse was open. For the Dispersed of Judah he built a magnificent synagogue, the ground alone costing $60,000. The Touro Infirmary cost $40,000; he gave $20,000 to the Bunker Hill monument, $40,000 to the Jewish Cemetery, at Newport, Rhode Island, and any number of other charities. Every city has its examples of transition from poverty to wealth, or from wealth to poverty, 89 Romance and Realism but for these changes of fortune New Orleans seemed to have an underlying current of sen- timent peculiarly her own. Julian Poydras commenced his career in New Orleans with a pack on his back, yet in a few years he entertained at his home, with royal magnificence, Louis Phillippe, Duke of Orleans, and his party, and it is said he fur- nished the exiled prince with money. At his death he left twelve hundred slaves, with in- structions that they should be freed — this, unfortunately, however, was never done. He founded the Poydras Asylum, a college for indigent orphans, and gave innumerable other charities. To several parishes he bequeathed $30,000, the interest of which was to be given each year to the dowerless young girls who married during the year. Mr. Poydras was never married, but who can tell what tender memory may have dwelt in the heart that re- ceived this poetic inspiration to give to others that sweetest of all blessings — dearer than fame, dearer than wealth — domestic happiness. In New Orleans was erected the first statue in the United States to a woman — and that woman was simply a washerwoman, a dairy woman and baker — who drove her own cart and delivered her goods at back doors, and 90 of the Southern Gulf Coast. cr p c Romance and Realism could neither read nor write ; but when she died, the highest dignitaries of the city honored her memory, and her statue in its homely at- tire, was placed in front of one of the orphan asylums that she had befriended. The orphans of the city were in great need, and in her cart she gathered every-where food and old clothes for them, and she gave to them with lavish generosity from her small earnings ; but the more she gave the more fortune seemed to smile on her, until her bakeries grew from small beginnings to immense profitable estab- lishments, and all the orphans of the city con- sidered her their best friend. There are several varieties of that being poetically described by Rudyard Kipling, as "A rag, a bone, and a hank of hair." Some are pieces of delicate, beautiful bric-a-brac intended only for parlor ornament ; some are utterly without ornament, but with hearts that radiate sunshine all about them, and with strong shoulders that not only bear their own burdens, but those of the helpless and dependent. Such a woman was Margaret Haughery, and there is no name enshrined with more rever- ence and respect in the hearts of New Orleans people than that of this lowly but wonderful philanthropist. 92 of the Southern Gulf Coast. It is impossible to mention all the charming incidents of New Orleans in one chapter, nor to dwell on its many elegant clubs, its regattas, its sports, its universities, libraries, public buildings, nor its many wonderful characters. It was here that Adah Isaacs Menken com- menced her brilliant checkered career ; here that Paul Morphy lived, the champion chess player of the world, who received in London, Paris and elsewhere royal ovations ; and in New Orleans was commenced the wonderful law suit of Myra Clark Gaines, which dragged its slow length along for many years. To history is left the details of the exultant welcome given to the hero of Chalmette, and the despair and disorder of New Orleans when in 1862 Farragut entered it. A city of burn- ing cotton, its fine docks at Algiers destroyed, its gutters running with molasses, its stores opened for the people to help themselves, in order that such supplies should not fall into the hands of the enemy. Nor shall we dwell on that period after the war when the noble state of Louisiana was given over to the rule of the carpet-bagger and the negro — when the state hall of the old St. Louis Hotel that had echoed to the silver-tongued eloquence of refinement and culture resounded to corn-field 93 Romance and Realism lung power, of which the following is a sample: ''Dat de gen'lm from de parish of St. Ouelquechose was developing assurtions and expurgating ratiocinations clean agin de fust principles of law and equity." 94 of the Southern Gulf Coast. CHAPTER V. BEAUVOIR AND THE MYSTERIOUS MUSIC OF THE SEA. The sea-coast has felt each heart-throb of the nation's history. She has welcomed to her shore the heroes of her own and other lands. In the depths of her solitude, brave men have dreamed of the future greatness of this country, and nature has smiled upon their budding hopes, or wept with them over the sere and yellow leaf of their failures and dis- appointments. Nature is a confidante who never betrays the most exquisite suffering, who never jars us by idle words, but in her own sweet, silent way uplifts, soothes, and comforts. It is here that the rippling waters of the gulf bring the languor of the tropics to meet the thrifty energy of the North, and here the refugees from San Domingo, France, and all the points of the earth have wept over a past that could not be recalled, or found oblivion of their troubles in renewed prosperity and happiness. Changing with each season, nature 95 Romance and Realism « of the Southern Gulf Coast. here is always beautiful — as beautiful now as when, two hundred years ago, La Salle took possession of the lands of Louisiana and the g-reat river in the name of his kinp;, and the cathedral bells of Canada rang out exultant over the fame of his great discovery — bells, however, that soon tolled the news of his death by the assassin's blow. His only heritage of the vast area that he had discovered was six feet of ground as a resting-place ; the only earthly possession that the greatest can claim after life's fitful fever is over. The name oi the fort of Croeve Coeur testified that when he reached the last days of his long and noble life, he was broken-hearted. It was here that the youthful Bienville, the father of Louisiana, brought a statesmanship that has not since been excelled, and that taught him to deal successfully with the In- dians. Here he fought his battles of victory and defeat, and bore all the hardships of pio- neer life, until, calumniated by his rivals, he became broken-spirited and discouraged. In his old age, he turned his reluctant steps to France, but left his heart and dearest hopes with the land of his adoption. The end of life has often brought to the 97 Romance and Realism great hearts of the earth misconstruction and sorrow. It has not been many years since these sad sea waves sang the requiem of Southern woe, and soothed the last days of a man who em- bodied the rise and fall of Confederate hopes — Jefferson Davis. Beauvoir, with its beautiful view of the sea, is one of the favorite spots of interest to both northern and southern tourists. There are some visitors to Beauvoir frivolous and indif- ferent, but before the silent grandeur of the place the light laughter and jesting words are hushed. There is an indescribable influence in the stately oaks with their mournful swaying gray moss, the broad verandas with their fluted columns, the silence of the deserted rooms, the white draperies that enwrap furni- niture and bric-a-brac and stand around like ghostly phantoms, the books that seem to be falling from the shelves from disuse and old age, the empty chair in which Mr. Davis thought and planned his book, "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government," the floating cobwebs, the crumbling plastering and the tangled flower beds and undergrowth. — These teach earth's inexorable law that all things ani- mate and inanimate, exalted and humble, must 98 of the Southern Gulf Coast. yield to destruction and oblivion. There is something in the sorrows of a great man which appeals to the latent nobility of every heart, and in all ages the chivalry of the victor to the vanquished has met with the plaudits of the earth, but it is not the object of this little book to enter into the rights and wrongs of the civil war, for Time's obliterating touch is rapidly re- moving the scars of that unfortunate period. Even now, in a distressed island, the honor of the United States is jealously guarded by an ex-Confederate General. With his own hands he has placed the old flag above his couch. At night his last glance rests upon it as dreams of home and native land succeed the anxious responsibilities of the day ; and when morning comes, his first waking glance dwells upon its brilliant folds, and his devotion to it can not be questioned. In this crisis of his country's history, the great, loyal heart of Fitzhugh Lee knows no sectional lines of North and South, but he does know that a Solid South is ready to rise in de- fense of the nation's honor. It had been far better for the world from the beginning, however, had the gates of Janus never unclosed, for when war descends, even upon the most civilized nations, it means deso- 99 Romance and Realism lation, pain and anguish, and the trail of the serpent is over it all. Soon after the late war, Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey welcomed to her home, Beauvoir, the Confed- erate President and his family. She was a woman of fine mind and gener- ous impulses. She was not only a good histo- rian, but a fine linguist. Brilliant and restless, she had felt an infinite longing all her life for something higher and better than the ordinary routine of life, and in making her home the refuge for a broken heart, she found the peace of a mission fulfilled. Her friendship for Mrs. Davis had begun in their schooldays, and alternately they acted as amanuensis for Mr. Davis in preparing the first volume of his book. As the home of Mr. Davis, Beauvoir bes^ came the Mecca of the South and a spot of j greatest interest to the North. Visitors from| all sections of the United States were received with a simple hospitality that befitted his for- tunes, and the refined, cultivated atmosphere of his home gave to it an indescribable charm. It was most natural that Mr. Davis's friends should be enthusiastic over him, but the fol- lowing sketch of him has been given by the TOO of the Southern Gulf Coast. historian, Mr. James Redpath, a Hfelong poHti- cal opponent : '' He seemed the ideal embodiment of sweetness and light. I never heard him speak an unkind word of any man. His man- ner could best be described as gracious, so exquisitely refined, so courtly, yet heart-warm. The dignity of most of our public men reminds one of the hod-carrier's 'store suit.' Mr. Davis's dignity was as natural and charming as the perfume of the rose — the fitting ex- pression of a serene, benign, and comely moral nature." One rare characteristic he possessed, which should have recommended him to his stronorest opponents : it is said of him that " he was an orator who gave close attention to the neces- sity of stopping when he was done." Many brilliant men, from time immemorial, have been unable to stop when they were done, whether it was a flight of oratory, a social call, or any of those pleasant scenes in life when a little would be most bright and restful, and a little too much would be most witless and bur- densome. The life of Mr. Davis was one of strange and romantic vicissitudes. At West Point, he was the classmate of R. E. Lee, and when the lOI Romance and Realism Black Hawk was begun, it is said that at Fort Snelling he administered to Abraham Lincoln his first oath of allegiance to the United States. In that wild frontier life, these two young men, who were afterward to figure so conspicuously in the history of their country, learned the art of Indian warfare, and saw an eagle's feather added to a warrior's head-dress for each scalp he took. There they went to the gumbo balls of Wisconsin, where a bowl of gumbo and an ample slice of bread consti- tuted the refreshments, and an old-fashioned fiddle furnished the music, and gave more pleasure than is often given now by a full or- chestra to tired revelers. The tragic death of Mr. Lincoln was a great misfortune to the South. Genial and kind- hearted, he had shown a desire, after the sur- render, to be just to that section of country. The man who had so long dwelt in the shadow of stage tragedy sent a thrill of horror through the North and South by his last acting. Both Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Davis were social and possessed a keen sense of humor, and to Mr. Davis especially this was a buoy- ant comfort in the last scenes of his life. An appeal to the humorous side of his nature was almost irresistible, as instanced by I02 of the Southern Gulf Coast. the following note received during one of the darkest periods of the war : Dear J/r. Preside^it : — I want you to let Jeems C. of Company Oneth, South Carolina Regiment, come home and get married. Jeems is willin', I is willin', his mammy says she is willin', but Jeems' Captain he aint willin'. Now, when we are all willin' cep'n Jeems' Captain, I think you might let up and let Jeems come. I'll make him go straight back when he's done got married and fight just as hard as ever. Your affectionate friend, etc. Mrs. Davis tells us, in her Memoirs of Mr. Davis, that he could not refuse this earnest request from an '' affectionate friend." Much has been said of the reckless extrava- gance of Southern people, but perhaps this extravagance reached its height during the war. While the thrifty New Englander was giving $5.00 an ounce for quinine, the spend- thrift Southerner, in 1865, did not hesitate (when he could get it) to pay ;f 1,700.00 an ounce. He gave from $125.00 to $150.00 for a pair of shoes, $300.00 for a barrel of flour, $3,000.00 for a plain suit of clothes, and 103 Romance and Realism $125.00 for a penknife. A dinner for one man sometimes cost $500.00 ; but, then, who has not heard of the Southern tables laden with every delicacy that could be desired? At this time the people absolutely seemed to fail to appreciate the value of their money, and sometimes threw it away or burned it. The unique fashions also have never been dupli- cated before or since. Ladies adopted the custom of wearing shoes made from old sails and carpets ; they used parched sweet pota- toes, corn or okra for coffee ; homespun dresses had never been at such a premium since pioneer days, and silks and velvets were entirely out of style. In fact the description of the eccentric fashions of that time could easily fill a large and interesting volume. Strangely enough for a fashion book, however, it would be one that could only be read 'twixt a smile and a tear. When the Liberty Bell was taken from Philadelphia to New Orleans, Mr. Davis met it at Biloxi, January 26, 1885. The committee invited him most cordially to go with them to New Orleans, and in response to a speech of welcome Mr. Davis spoke with an eloquence that thrilled his hearers. His little grand- 104 of the Southern Gulf Coast. daughter patted the bell with her tiny hands and lisped, '' God bless the dear old bell." Mr. Davis died in New Orleans on the 6th of December, 1889. One by one, nearly all of the leaders of the North and the South have answered to the last call and sleep in their last camping ground. Perhaps no one has versed these thoughts more beautifully than Mrs. Margaret Hunt Brisbane : "Sleep, brothers, sleep! Your fame will keep As fresh and pure as the winds that sweep O'er ferny fell and fen ; In whiter tents than we ever knew, In peace eternal, grand and true, To-day the fallen gray and blue Are camped with God." Very near Beauvoir is the Sea Shore Camp Ground of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It belongs to the New Orleans, Mobile and Sea Shore District Conference. It is quite a charming place, and has a frontage of 1,400 feet and is two miles deep. This camp ground proves that the good old customs are not all obsolete, and who knows but that these soul- stirring Methodist hymns, as they are carried far out over the gulf in wave after wave of 105 Romance and Realism sound, are not caught beneath the water and given back to us in that strange, mysterious music of the sea ? Some of the old negroes tell that in that long ago when their sea-shore revivals were held, many of their members "came through" with religious ecstacy, and rushing into the sea believed it to be the river Jordan washing away their sins. They say that the sea imprisoned these wild shouts and singing, and that the storms free these sounds and they come back to us in strange, fitful notes. When we reach the poetic subject of the mysterious music of the gulf, Science bends her knitted brows in thought, and a wild, sweet range is given to the touch of romance. Some of the legends regarding this music are given in the following poem, written by Mrs. Laura F. Hinsdale : "There is a time when summer stars are glowing, And night is fair along the Southern shore, The sailor resting when the tide is flowing Hears somewhere near below his waiting oar A haunting tone, now vanishing, now calling, Now lost, now luring like some elfin air; In murmurous music fathoms downward falling, It seems a dream of song imprisoned there. io6 of the Southern Gulf Coast. The legend tells a phantom ship is beating On yonder bar, a wanderer evermore, Its rhythmic music, evanescent, fleeting, Stirs the lagoon and echoes on the shore. O ! phantom ship, dost near that port Elysian Where radiant rainbow colors ever play ? Shall hope's mirage return a blessed vision. And canst thou find a joy of yesterday ? The legend tells of a pale horseman fleeing Whose steed the gnomes with metals strange have shod, Who on and on, a distant summit seeing. His way pursues in ocean paths untrod. His spectral hoofs by the evangel bidden In far Carillons beat in measure low. Elusive tone !- dost near where that is hidden Which made the music of the long ago ? The legend tells of sirens of the ocean That wander, singing, where the sea palms rise. And through the songs intense and measured motion I seem to hear their soft imprisoned sighs. They lure me like the spell of a magician — Once more I see the palaces of Spain, I feel the kindling thrill of young ambition — The tide sweeps on, the song is lost again. The legend tells of vocal sea sands sifting. With vibrant forces, resonant and strong. And on the surging sand-dunes fretting, drifting. Like broken hearts that hide their grief in song. Tell me, white atoms, in your sad oblation Of drift that lies so deep that none may scan. Is it forgotten in God's great creation Who formed the fleeting hour-glass life of man ? 107 Romance and Realism The legend tells of those who long have slumbered, A forest race too valorous to flee, Who when in battle by their foes outnumbered With clasping hands came singing to the sea. The ocean drew them to her hidden keeping. The stars watched o'er them in the deep above — Their death lingers, but the tones of weeping Tell the eternity of human love." This last verse embodies the sweetest, sad- dest, and most generally accepted of all the legends. This music is heard more distinctly at Pascagoula than any other point on the coast. The sound is like that of an Eolian harp when stirred by a soft, gentle wind. This is the pathetic story of the Pascagoula tribe : It was one of the most powerful on the sea- coast, and ruled over what is now Pascagoula, Scranton, and Moss Point. Olustee, the son of the chief, while hunting, met Miona, the daughter of a neighboring chief, and together they learned the sweet old story. Olustee begged that she would come to his people and be the light of his wigwam, but with tears she told him that her father had pledged her to the fierce Otanga, the chief of the Biloxis. Her love for Olustee, however, proved to be greater than her fear of her father, and, yielding to his entreaties, she fled with him to Pascagoula. io8 of the Southern Gulf Coast. Coosa, his father, the great chief, was charmed with her beauty, sweetness, and grace, and the next day, 'midst the rejoicing of the tribe, the nuptials were to take place. The wrathful Otanea heard of the flight of his bride, and joining her father, they fell that night upon the sleeping tribe of the Pascagoulas. Bravely the latter fought, but Olustee, seeing that his tribe was about to be conquered, begged that they would deliver him to the enemy, as he had been the cause of strife, but Miona said : " Otanga wants but me, And, as this bloody war was for my sake. Give me to him, and he will leave thee free." The brave warriors swore, however, that they would either save their chieftain and his bride or perish with them in the sea ; that their tribe should never be in subjection to the hated Biloxians. And so, when all hope was lost, squaws and children led the way, the braves followed with chants of victory, and all plunged into the sea. The last victims, after a tender embrace, being Olustee and the beautiful Miona. Together they went to the Happy Hunting Grounds. Bienville heard this music of the sea, and records it in his narrative ; but neither poetry 109 Romance and Realism nor science has yet discovered the Rosetta stone by which the mystery can be solved. In the Popular Science Monthly (April, 1890), Mr. Chas. E. Chidsey has an article on the mysterious music of Pascagoula. He ad- vances the theory of Darwin and Charles Kingsley as to similar music heard on the southern coast of France. In his '' Descent of Man," Darwin says: "The last point which need be noticed is that fishes are known to make various noises, some of which are de- scribed as musical. Dr. Dufosse, who has especially attended to this subject, says that the sounds are voluntarily produced in several ways by different fishes; by the friction of the pharyngeal bones ; by the vibration of certain muscles attached to the swim bladder, which serves as a resounding board, and by the vi- bration of the intrinsic muscles of the swim bladder. By this latter means, the Trigla produces pure and long drawn sounds, which range over nearly an octave. But the most interesting case for us is that of two species of Ophidium, in which the males alone are provided with a sound-producing apparatus, consisting of small, movable bones with proper muscles in connection with the swim bladder. The drumming of the Unbrinas in the Euro- 1 10 of the Southern Gulf Coast. pean seas is said to be audible from a depth of twenty fathoms, and the fishermen of Ro- chelle assert that the males alone make the noise during spawning time, and that it is pos- sible, by imitating it, to take them without bait." Prof. G. Brown Goode, in his "Amer- can Fishes," mentions several species to which the name "drum" has been given, because of their ability to produce sound. But who would believe that this dream of song comes from a drum or any other kind of fish, when we can enter the vast realms of fancy and learn that it is sound from a phantom ship, or the echo from the spectral hoofs of the pale horseman's steed as he pursues the oceans paths, or that it is the siren's alluring voice or imprisoned sighs, or that it is the vocal sea sands drifting, or the lament of Indian ro- mance ? Like a mirage from the past, tradition brings to us visions of romance and adventure with every step that we take upon this enchanted shore. Even the flowers distill their fragrance with memories of the past, and the white Cherokee rose bends and blooms as sweetly now as it did in that night of long ago, when its soft radiance illuminated the pathway of the good Father Davion. Lost in the tangled III Romance and Realism depths of palmetto and swaying reeds, he vainly sought the pathway to Fort Louis. At last the light from a Cherokee encampment gleamed upon him, and there he found refuge. That night he prayed long and earnestly that he might be restored to his people. Sleep came and '' In a dream he saw once more his mother's tender eyes Bending above him in the Hght that fell from Paradise." Pointing to a snow-white flower, she told him that it would lead him to his home. In a pathway of light the roses descended from Heaven to earth, and above them he saw amone the stars, the Master's crown of thorns. Waking, he found, with joyous wonder, the flowers blooming around him, and extending far into the depths of the forest. Ever before him they sprang up to mark his pathway — '^ Follow," they seemed to whisper, "for we are leading thee Onward and ever onward to the old fort by the sea." Over white sand dunes they led him, and when swollen bayous were reached, they tangled their tiny tendrils into strong bridges upon which he crossed. On and on they led him until at Fort Louis he heard the joyous welcome of Sauvolle and his comrades. And in 112 of the Southern Gulf Coast. the forest we still find this Cherokee rose " with its snow-flake petals and heart of golden light." Sometimes on dark summer nights when moon and stars forget to shine, a soft light descends upon the waters illuminating sea and shore, and the mariner stills the uplifted oar and bows his head in reverential memory of woman's faith and woman's love. In the early days of the colony, when the little band struggled with disease and hard- ship, famine stalked into their midst, and, lift- ing its skinny hand, laid a deadly touch upon its victims. The grand monarch, hearing the voice of his children crying for bread, sent a ship across the stormy waters laden with all that could relieve their distress. The white sails were about to be unfurled when a beautiful woman, Eona, tearful and flushed, knelt at the feet of her king, and begged that her lover, only yesterday given to her in the bonds of wedlock, should not be sent to this far-away land of unknown trial and danger. ''What!" said the king with reprovmg glance. " Do you forget his duty as a soldier, and would you unnerve the courage that should rescue the destitute and starving? " 113 Romance and Realism c pressing his visitors with the fact that the fools are not all dead yet, nor all born yet. In the rectory yard of Biloxi, a giant live 126 of the Southern Gulf Coast. n 5' ft) O Romance and Realism oak stands in the majestic beauty of its old age. In the long ago, its young branches twined a circlet that blessed two happy hearts ; a circlet that is still distinctly visible, and tells to each passer-by its strange, sweet story of Indian romance. A Biloxi chief discovered that his daughter loved the son of another chief — his bitterest enemy. When the young people pleaded their love, he turned from them with flashing eyes, and pointing wrathfully to the young oak above, exclaimed : "No! The young fawn can never be the light of your wigwam until a ring grows in the branches of yonder oak." And then — O, wonder of wonders ! — during the succeeding night, a terrific storm twisted the young branch into a distinct ring, that grew as firm as the tree itself. The terrified old chief felt that nature commanded a blessing that he dared not refuse. For what could have w^orked such a marvel but the touch of the dreaded Thunder Being ? '' In Sunny Mississippi," Julian Ralph tells us of the sensuous, dreamy, delicious, soothing nature of the sea-coast fever, and that no one who has it would be cured of it on any ac- count ; that a patient with it will be observed 128 of the Southern Gulf Coast. to talk rationally and to sustain ordinary light conversation, but will on no account move from a chair, unless it is to drop into the next vacant seat. He tells of the northern editor to whom was handed a New Orleans paper containing the account of the burning of his business house • but the editor pushed it away, saying : " Let her burn. I am here for rest, and don't want business mixed up with it." In the early days of the colony, domestic ties and happiness were left in the homes be- yond the sea, and the prattle of little children was unknown in the rude cabin of the pioneer. In the love of beautiful Indian girls, there was the fascination of unlicensed freedom and a demoralization of the finer instincts. When refined, cultivated women and civilization came, as they always do, hand in hand, many of the bronzed, rugged men welcomed them eagerly, but with others an effort was required to wake them from the moral torpor into which they had fallen. Premiums were offered to the men who would marry, and premiums were given for children. In the French and Canadian colo- nies, men were offered a year's pay and their discharge from the army if they would marry. 129 Romance and Realism But now the coast resounds with the voices of happy children ; their white, dimpled fingers smooth away the cares of maturer years, and the soft, bracing air cures all childish ailments. It is the children's paradise of birds and flow- ers and dancing waters. The small army of invaders march into the sea and embrace it, for they love it. There is a saying that the sea has no friends, and that its salt waters are made of women's tears. They tell us that when its charms tempt the mariners far out upon its surface, its treacherous smiles are often changed to tempests, and they are drawn beneath the raging waters, or the Lorelei charms them upon the rocks of destruction. They tell us, too, of an island, fair and beautiful, that stood out in the sea, a seeming haven of rest for the weary man of business, or a flower-strewn pathway for the child of fashion and frivolity. There a Lethean for- getfulness of care and the distant, noisy world wrapt them in delightful content, and little recked they when, as the evening shadows fell, a cloud no larger than a man's hand ap- peared in the distant blue sky. And when the gentle evening breeze stiffened into a gale, and the waves broke with a dull boom upon 130 of the Southern Gulf Coast. the shore, it was to the revelers only the ex- hilaration of a beautiful danger far removed. The ball-room's mingled sounds vied with the tempest's noise without ; — the sounds of mingled music and laughter, the gentle mur- mur of friendship, or the impetuous words that woke with the dawn of love. But the sea, envious of this joyous scene, dashed its strong waves against the building, and shook it with fearful power. The cruel waters suddenly crept over the ball-room floor, over the satin slippers and dancing feet ; trembling words were stayed upon pallid lips ; the wild instinct of flight was met with a fiercer invasion of the waters, and the sway- ing, fainting figures were engulfed in seething waves. The morning dawned upon a sea that was calm and beautiful, but it held within its sepulchral depths over a hundred lifeless forms that only a few hours before had been instinct with happiness and hope. A Lost Island had sunk far beneath its depths, and ever after- ward was only a memory of tragic horror. / The sea, however, is always beautiful — beautiful beyond description when the sublime tempest seems to mingle sea and sky in a scene of tumultuous ruin, and beautiful beyond 131 Romance and Realism words, when in the enchanting calm of a sum- mer morning, it breaks upon the shining sands of the shore ''with a lace-Hke frill of foamy ripples and wavelets." Not alone do the voices of children and beautiful homes contrast the past with the present, but commerce and trade are opening every avenue of business and speak of the progress of the Nineteenth Century. The time has passed when the Indian roamed these shores with passive possession, and thought that a gunshot was a brave, but a letter was a fraud. The white man's speak- ing bark speeds from the morning's press to every point of the compass. The realized prophecy that thought shall fly around the world in the twinkling of an eye is not more wonderful than the progress of steam, and the electric illumination that reveals to us the hidden secrets of science. Man, the inventor and discoverer, pauses with astonishment at the wonders of his creation, and often some modern convenience of every-day life starts a train of thought, boundless in its possibilities. Back in the thirties many of these things would only have been considered wild flights of imagination, for as late as 1839, there were no telegraphs nor railroads in Mississippi. 132 of the Southern Gulf Coast. In the early settlement of the sea-coast, the vision of expectancy went no further than buffalo wool and pearl fisheries, and gems that would rival those of Peru and Mexico. The colonists starved in the midst of unknown riches. Crozat lost millions there, the India Company lost over twenty millions and the king over fifty millions. But now the country blooms like a garden. The Alsatians and Germans, the first gardeners! who were tempted here by John Laws' brillianti bubble, little dreamed of the vast possibilitv of the trade which they commenced. Vege- tables of every variety are raised ; also figs, pears, peaches, plums, pomegranates, pecan nuts, persimmons, oranges, etc. The Concord, Scuppernong Delaware and Ives Seedling give to the coast magnificent vineyards, and the industries of wine making, agriculture, and dairying flourish ; sheep and hogs also thrive. Immense quantities of the rarest and richest fruits and vegetables are shipped from the coast. The breath of the tropics is wafted to the frozen North to tell them that summer lives to come to them again, and that it always gladdens this beautiful sea-shore of the sunny South. Mississippi's forest territory is more than twenty-one millions of acres. The rapid 133 Romance and Realism development of the state can be partially ap- preciated from the fact that in 1880 capital in- vested in manufacturing was $257,244,000, and in 1894 it was $800,000,000; the value of manufactured products in 1880 was $457,454,- ']^^, and in 1894 it was $1,000,000,000. On the sea-coast, vessels from all parts of the earth wait to be laden with lumber from the great southern pine belt — Moss Point alone having a sawmill worth a quarter of mil- lion dollars. King Cotton's fleecy staple is shipped ; all the products of agriculture and manufacture, and the great product of Louisi- ana, the vast Sugar Bowl of America. And the world is happier that there is such a South- land to send forth her treasures. All along the sea-shore stand the immense live oaks, like giant sentinels bringing past and present together, and from their branches swings the beautiful Spanish moss. "As by some fairy fingers spun It trembles to the wind's soft sigh. It sways to kisses of the sun As cloud-wreaths mingle in the sky. The wild bird gathers for her brood The floss to line her sylvan nest. It screens her tender solitude And softly veils her bed of rest." 134 of the Southern Gulf Coast. It was on the southern sea-shore that the genius of Audubon, the great Louisiana natu- raHst, first awoke. The brilHant plumage of Louisiana birds won his boyish admiration, and afterward became themes of scientific study that made his name world-wide. Here are found all varieties of birds that are a source of delight to the man of science, or to the reckless sportsman. Nor does the destructive touch of the latter spare the snipe, so sacred to the Biloxian, because that bird was the sister of the Thunder Being. ^^.^^^ Along the coast are vast canneries, that ship ^ vegetables, fruit and fish, and the diamond- back terrapin farms equal the famous ones of Maryland. There are woolen and cotton fac- tories, and the rod and reel are a source of pleasure and profit. Here are found black bass, pompano, sheepshead, redfish, and too many others to mention. Their marvelous and resplendent coloring lifts the heart invol- untarily to the Creator of this beautiful world. To us are given the treasures of earth, sea and sky. Yellow fever, a visitor so much dreaded in the past, is gradually but surely being con- quered by improved and scientific knowledge of the disease. For eighteen years it did not 135 Romance and Realism lift its saffron head, but when in 1897 its waves of terror swept over the South, the disease, by. contrast with the past, proved to be a terror in name only. On the sea-coast the fainting heart of the invalid is revived, his pale cheeks are bronzed by aquatic sports, and the blood flows stronger through his weakened body. He sleeps while the mocking-bird fills the night air with trills of purest melody, and, dreaming of heavenly rest, he forgets the pain and weariness of living. The wide halls sweep from end to end of airy houses, and the verandas encircling shadows tempt one to constant enjoyment of fresh- air treatment. When frost lays its lace-like net-work on the windows of northern homes, here they are opened wide for the warm, sweet air that is perfumed by the jasmine, the magnolia and the orange flowers, and roses climbing to the tops of trellises mingle their rainbow hues o( beauty. With it all, like a refrain of soft, rippling music, there is that strange, in- explicable, but restful influence of the sea : "Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me As I gaze upon the sea ! All the old romantic legends, All my dreams, come back to me. 136 of the Southern Gulf Coast. Sails of silk, and ropes of sandal, Such as gleam in ancient lore; And the singing of the sailors, And the answer from the shore ! Till my soul is full of longing For the secret of the sea. And the heart of the great ocean Sends a thrilling pulse through me." 137 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 498 478 A e lite mm