words, New Orleans will be Americanised. Progress and
civilisation will gain by this, at the expense--according to the
sentimental school--of the poetic and picturesque.

Two distinct cities, then, are there in New Orleans. Each has its
Exchange distinct from the other--a distinct municipal court and public
offices--each has its centre of fashionable resort--its favourite
promenade for the _flaneurs_, of which the South-western metropolis can
boast a large crowd--its own theatres, ballrooms, hotels, and cafes. In
fact, a walk of a few paces transports one into quite a different world.
The crossing of Canal Street is like being transferred from Broadway to
the Boulevards.

In their occupations there is a wide difference between the inhabitants
of the two quarters. The Americans deal in the strong staples of human
life. The great depots of provisions, of cotton, of tobacco, of lumber,
and the various sorts of raw produce, will be found among them. On the
other hand, the finer fabrics, the laces, the jewels, the modes and
modistes, the silks and satins, and all articles of _bijouterie_ and
_virtu_, pass through the lighter fingers of the Creoles--for these
inherit both the skill and taste of their Parisian progenitors. Fine
old rich wine-merchants, too, will be found in the French part, who have
made fortunes by importing the wines of Bordeaux and Champagne--for
claret and champagne are the wines that flow most freely on the banks of
the Mississippi.

A feeling of jealousy is not wanting between the two races. The strong
energetic Kentuckian affects to despise the gay pleasure-loving
Frenchman, while the latter--particularly the old Creole noblesse--
regard with contempt the _bizarrerie_ of the Northern, so that feuds and
collisions between them are not infrequent. New Orleans is, _par
excellence_, the city of the duello. In all matters of this kind the
Kentuckian finds the Creole quite his equal--his full match in spirit,
courage, and skill. I know many Creoles who are notorious for the
number of their duels. An opera-singer or _danseuse_ frequently causes
half a score or more--according to her merits, or mayhap her demerits.
The masqued and quadroon-balls are also frequent scenes of quarrel among
the wine-heated bloods who frequent them. Let no one fancy that life in
New Orleans is without incident or adventure. A less prosaic city it
would be hard to find.

These subjects did _not_ come before my mind