(FROM THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES DEMOCRAT OF MARCH 29,1882.)VOYAGE OF THE TIMES-DEMOCRAT'S RELIEF BOAT THROUGH THE INUNDATEDREGIONS
IT was nine o'clock Thursday morning when the 'Susie'
left the Mississippi and entered Old River,or what is now called the mouth of the Red.Ascending on the left,a flood was pouring in through and over the levees on the Chandler plantation,the most northern point in Pointe Coupee parish.The water completely covered the place,although the levees had given way but a short time before.
The stock had been gathered in a large flat-boat,where,without food,as we passed,the animals were huddled together,waiting for a boat to tow them off.On the right-hand side of the river is Turnbull's Island,and on it is a large plantation which formerly was pronounced one of the most fertile in the State.
The water has hitherto allowed it to go scot-free in usual floods,but now broad sheets of water told only where fields were.
The top of the protecting levee could be seen here and there,but nearly all of it was submerged.
The trees have put on a greener foliage since the water has poured in,and the woods look bright and fresh,but this pleasant aspect to the eye is neutralized by the interminable waste of water.We pass mile after mile,and it is nothing but trees standing up to their branches in water.
A water-turkey now and again rises and flies ahead into the long avenue of silence.A pirogue sometimes flits from the bushes and crosses the Red River on its way out to the Mississippi,but the sad-faced paddlers never turn their heads to look at our boat.The puffing of the boat is music in this gloom,which affects one most curiously.
It is not the gloom of deep forests or dark caverns,but a peculiar kind of solemn silence and impressive awe that holds one perforce to its recognition.
We passed two negro families on a raft tied up in the willows this morning.
They were evidently of the well-to-do class,as they had a supply of meal and three or four hogs with them.Their rafts were about twenty feet square,and in front of an improvised shelter earth had been placed,on which they built their fire.
The current running down the Atchafalaya was very swift,the Mississippi showing a predilection in that direction,which needs only to be seen to enforce the opinion of that river's desperate endeavors to find a short way to the Gulf.
Small boats,skiffs,pirogues,etc.,are in great demand,and many have been stolen by piratical negroes,who take them where they will bring the greatest price.
From what was told me by Mr.C.P.Ferguson,a planter near Red River Landing,whose place has just gone under,there is much suffering in the rear of that place.
The negroes had given up all thoughts of a crevasse there,as the upper levee had stood so long,and when it did come they were at its mercy.On Thursday a number were taken out of trees and off of cabin roofs and brought in,many yet remaining.
One does not appreciate the sight of earth until he has traveled through a flood.At sea one does not expect or look for it,but here,with fluttering leaves,shadowy forest aisles,house-tops barely visible,it is expected.In fact a grave-yard,if the mounds were above water,would be appreciated.The river here is known only because there is an opening in the trees,and that is all.
It is in width,from Fort Adams on the left bank of the Mississippi to the bank of Rapides Parish,a distance of about sixty miles.
A large portion of this was under cultivation,particularly along the Mississippi and back of the Red.When Red River proper was entered,a strong current was running directly across it,pursuing the same direction as that of the Mississippi.
After a run of some hours,Black River was reached.
Hardly was it entered before signs of suffering became visible.
All the willows along the banks were stripped of their leaves.
One man,whom your correspondent spoke to,said that he had had one hundred and fifty head of cattle and one hundred head of hogs.
At the first appearance of water he had started to drive them to the high lands of Avoyelles,thirty-five miles off,but he lost fifty head of the beef cattle and sixty hogs.
Black River is quite picturesque,even if its shores are under water.
A dense growth of ash,oak,gum,and hickory make the shores almost impenetrable,and where one can get a view down some avenue in the trees,only the dim outlines of distant trunks can be barely distinguished in the gloom.
A few miles up this river,the depth of water on the banks was fully eight feet,and on all sides could be seen,still holding against the strong current,the tops of cabins.
Here and there one overturned was surrounded by drift-wood,forming the nucleus of possibly some future island.
In order to save coal,as it was impossible to get that fuel at any point to be touched during the expedition,a look-out was kept for a wood-pile.
On rounding a point a pirogue,skilfully paddled by a youth,shot out,and in its bow was a girl of fifteen,of fair face,beautiful black eyes,and demure manners.The boy asked for a paper,which was thrown to him,and the couple pushed their tiny craft out into the swell of the boat.
Presently a little girl,not certainly over twelve years,paddled out in the smallest little canoe and handled it with all the deftness of an old voyageur.The little one looked more like an Indian than a white child,and laughed when asked if she were afraid.
She had been raised in a pirogue and could go anywhere.
She was bound out to pick willow leaves for the stock,and she pointed to a house near by with water three inches deep on the floors.
At its back door was moored a raft about thirty feet square,with a sort of fence built upon it,and inside of this some sixteen cows and twenty hogs were standing.The family did not complain,except on account of losing their stock,and promptly brought a supply of wood in a flat.