w the surface of the adjacent ground, with the trees
remaining upright as before.

New Orleans is seated on the south-east bank of the Mississippi; and,
following the sinuosities of the current, about 109 miles from the Gulf of
Mexico. The river takes here a right-angular sweep, and the city proper is
built on the exterior point of the bend, the _fauxbourgs_ extending at
each side along the banks. At high water the river rises three feet above
any part of the city; consequently, were it not for levees that have been
constructed here, and also along the banks of the river for more than a
hundred miles, at both sides, above and below, the whole country would be
periodically inundated. The fall from the levee to Bayou St. John, which
communicates with _Lac Pontchartrain_, is about thirty feet, and the
distance one mile. This fall is certainly inconsiderable; but I apprehend
that it would be sufficient to drain the streets effectually, if proper
attention were directed to that object.

The city extends only half-a-mile back, and, including the _fauxbourgs_,
about two miles along the river. The streets, being only partially paved,
can never be perfectly cleaned, and stagnant water remains in the kennels
at all seasons; this and the exhalations from the swamps in warm weather,
produce that pestilential scourge with which the place is annually
afflicted. The mortality here last season (the autumn of 1829) has been
variously stated in the public prints at from five to seven thousand, who
died of the yellow fever in the space of about ten weeks. This statement,
however, is erroneous; as, from information which I received from the
sexton of the American grave-yard, and from the number of fresh graves
which I saw there, I am inclined to think that the total amount falls
short of 2500, out of a resident population of less than 40,000 souls.
About 700 were buried in the American grave-yard, and perhaps double that
number in that of the French.

The port of New Orleans presents the most extraordinary medley of any port
in the world. Craft of every possible variety may be seen moored along the
levees, and the markets and adjacent streets crowded with people of almost
every nation in Europe, Africa, and America, who create a frightful
confusion of tongues. A particular part of the quay is appropriated to
each description of craft, and a penalty is enforced for any deviation
from port regulations. The upper part is occupied with flat-b