Garrett Elliott Pendergrast

“ At Baton Rouge, on both sides of the river, the face of the country assumes one uniform champaign appearance, the highest part of the earth being that directly on the banks of the river; so that when the river is swelled by the spring floods beyond its banks, the water, which escapes in this way, never gets back to its parent stream; but discharges itself on the west into the bay of St. Bernard, and on the east into lake Ponchantran and the bay of Pensacola. However, the quantity which passes by these routs is much less now than it formerly was ”

“ Baton Rouge, the last place at which we see high land, in descending the Mississippi, must, I think, originally have been the confines of the Mexican Gulf; for, if here we preserve an east course, we pretty generally find the same appearance in the complexion of the earth and its productions, that are to be met with at the entrance of lake Ponchantrain into the gulf ”

“ The elevated country on the east side of the river, at this place, is extremely poor, producing only a few plants and those of a very arid complexion, such as the quercus alba, sideroxylon, rhus, smilax, bryonia, rubus, &c. But on the west side, nothing can be more strikingly opposite than the character which the face of the country assumes. After palling the valley, we come into a moderately elevated country, well watered, of a rich black soil, abounding in a great variety of vegetables ”

“ So many gentlemen have wreathed their brows with the laurels of ingenuity, by volunteering their services in this gaseous investigation, that the simple enumeration of their several names, would be exceeding the limits which time has prescribed to this essay. ”

“ The frequent alternations which the earth and vegetables undergo at this place, in passing from a moist to a dry state, render it one of the greatest laboratories of noxious effluvia any where on the Mississippi. Certain it is, that it is more uniform the year round; for it continues to produce its effects long after the common causes in other situations have ceased to exist. ”

“ Without light, nature was lifeless, inanimate, and dead. A benevolent God, by producing light, has spread organization, sensation, and thought over the surface of the earth."
Twenty or thirty years ago, the lakes between Baton Rouge and the Natches were so intimately connected with each other, that the people used, in order to avoid the impetuous current of the Mississippi, to pass with their large row-boats from one to the other with facility ”

“ Continuing south, the same character will apply to all the country between a parallel line drawn forty miles east from the Mississippi, and another twenty miles west from the Tombigby river, as far as the head waters of the Yazow, where the soil (with the exception of perhaps about one hundred miles in length, and thirty in breadth, which is extremely fertile, and swelled into healthful irregularities) changes its clayey complexion for one that is poor and sandy; preserving the same barren appearance all the way to the settlements on the Pearl river. ”

“ As the specifick gravity of air impregnated with water is much less than pure air, a vertical motion, or rising up of this aqueous air, and a rushing in of more dense air to fill up the vacuum, will be continually going on; and thus a large quantity of heat abstracted from the adjacent atmosphere. This observation receives considerable confirmation from situations such as have been mentioned enjoying more uniform breezes than other situations less contiguous to the river. ”

“ As the spring and summer advance, the winds blow chiefly from between south-east and south-west, with frequent variations from all points of the compass. During the hot season, the winds are frequently remarked to follow the progress of the sun; being found at north-east in the morning, and, shifting round, die away in the evening at South S. West. The summer evenings are generally still until between eight and nine o'clock, when a fine cool zephyr from the west or south-west sets in. The months of June and July compose the hottest part of the year. ”

“ Those who have suffered from the diseases of the warm season, by the middle of November, from the fine weather which prevails at this season, begin to regain their strength, and usual vivacity; and from this time until the first of May, the people of this country enjoy as good health as perhaps any of their more northern neighbours. ”

“ Many situations back are much lower; and from Baton Rouge to the sea it is uniformly the case, that the farther you recede from the Mississippi the lower the country becomes.
I am indebted to William Dumbar, Esq. of the Mississippi Territory, for the following observations.
The winds of this country, in the winter season, are extremely variable, seldom blowing three days successively from the same point. The north-west winds bring us the severest cold. ”

“ It may be considered as a general rule, that all winds during winter, blowing from the east of the meridian, bring rain, and those from the west, dry weather. The east and south-east winds are not abundantly charged with moisture, as the opposite points are always the driest. The north-east, during this season, are most disagreeable, but seldom prevail for any length of time. ”

“ Experiment III. An ounce measure of oxygen air added to two of this air in the eudeometer of Volta could not be exploded by the electrick spark. But upon adding a second measure of oxygen, the explosion was very loud, and one measure and a half disappeared. The air left in the eudeometer was found to contain carbonick acid, which was proved by passing one hundred parts through lime water, which was rendered turbid, and twelve and a half parts were absorbed, giving the quantity of the carbonick acid. ”

“ Added to a more moderate climate during this period, their systems have the advantage of being worn down to a reduced state of excitability, which enables them to resist the morbid tendency of the few catarrhal affections which occasionally appear at this time. Thus it is a rare occurrence for a cynanche to become dangerous ”